Research on the progressive failure process and fracture mechanism of rocks with the structural evolution perspective

• Published in: Journal of structural geology Vol. 154; p. 104484
• Main Authors: Song, Zhixiang, Zhang, Junwen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2022
• Subjects: Fracture mechanism; Progressive failure; Rock mechanics; States adjustment; Structural evolution; States adjustment; Progressive failure; Fracture mechanism; Structural evolution; Rock mechanics
• ISSN: 0191-8141; 1873-1201
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2021.104484

The progressive failure process and fracture mechanism of rocks has been a key scientific issue which needs to be solved. Therefore, the progressive failure process and fracture mechanism of rocks under compression are comparatively analyzed based on the perspectives of energy evolution, rock burst starting and mesoscopic characterization. Then, the structural evolution theory to reveal the progressive failure process and fracture mechanism of rocks is proposed. Additionally, the evolution characteristics of four stages and progressive failure mechanism of rocks under compression are better verified according to the results captured by multiple methods. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The fundamental reason caused the stress changed and transferred is the change of system structure, and the stress is only the external manifestation of system structure changed. (2) The macroscopic instability of rocks occurs in the post-peak sub-instability stage. (3) Critical slowing down theory can provide sufficient evidence for the structural evolution perspective. (4) The driving force of the structure self-adjustment in rocks comes from the activation of its self-organizing and the energy consumption. The conclusions above can provide new ideas and concepts for the fundamental theoretical research of deep rock mechanics, thus provide a certain of theoretical reference for the practice of field engineering.
•The deformation process of rocks can be divided into four structural evolution stages.•The macroscopic instability occurs in the post-peak sub-instability stage.•The fundamental reason caused the stress changed and transferred is the change of system structure.•Critical slowing down theory can provide sufficient evidence for the structural evolution perspective.