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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mater.
Sec. Structural Materials
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmats.2024.1521874
This article is part of the Research Topic Advanced Materials and Technologies for Sustainable Development of Underground Resources View all 15 articles

A Study on Microscopic Damage Characteristics of Freeze-Thaw Sandstone Cyclic Loading and Unloading Based on DEM

Provisionally accepted
Lichen Sun Lichen Sun Peijie Lou Peijie Lou *Cheng Pan Cheng Pan Penghui Ji Penghui Ji *
  • Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    With the goal of examining the micromechanics damage characteristics of freeze-thaw red sandstone under the influence of cyclic loads, a model of freeze-thaw cyclic rock particles is developed based on DEM numerical simulation in order to investigate and study the micromechanics response mechanism of rocks under the coupling effect of freeze-thaw and cyclic loads. The findings demonstrate that lower rock elastic modulus and higher irreversible strain are driven by longer loading/unloading durations and more frequent freeze-thaw cycles. Its bearing capacity and resistance to deformation are diminished by the damage brought on by freeze-thaw; Rock anisotropy and the spatial organisation of microcracks are significantly altered by different loading techniques;In freeze-thaw rocks, the frequency and intensity of acoustic emission breaking follow the law of normal distribution. Under cyclic stress, samples exposed to several freeze-thaw cycles exhibit an escalation in large-scale fractures, accompanied by a concentrated spatial distribution of acoustic emission events. Three phases may be distinguished in the energy evolution of red sandstone: the initial, accumulation, and release phases. The energy storage capacity is compromised by freeze-thaw degradation, resulting in an elevated conversion rate of dissipative energy and rendering the energy conversion mechanism more unstable. The previously described study results possess considerable relevance for rock engineering construction and catastrophe mitigation in cold climates.

    Keywords: DEM, Freeze-thaw cycle, Cyclic load, acoustic emission, Energy evolution, Microscopic damage

    Received: 03 Nov 2024; Accepted: 26 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sun, Lou, Pan and Ji. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Peijie Lou, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
    Penghui Ji, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China

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