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The hydro-mechanical behaviour and the constitutive model of sandy mudstone were investigated in this article. Two groups of hydro-mechanical triaxial compression tests were conducted. The results indicated that the inelastic deformation, damage, permeability and failure of the sandy mudstone were affected by the pore pressure and confining pressure. The hydro-mechanical behaviour was characterised by the coupled elastoplastic damage model. This model was based on the effective stress principle and numerical return mapping algorithms. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to examine the effects of four key parameters on the modelling of elastoplastic and damage behaviour. This study can provide a foundation for physical understanding and mathematical modelling of sandy mudstone under coupled loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-existing joints within a rock mass has a significant effect on the hydro-mechanical properties of the rock mass. The study investigates the hydro-mechanical properties of rock-like materials with intermittent joints under different confining and hydraulic pressures. Cylindrical specimens containing two sets of parallel pre-existing joints were prepared, and the hydro-mechanical experiments under different hydraulic pressures were carried out using a servo-controlled rock triaxial testing system. The test results show that the strength, permeability and deformation properties of the specimens were influenced by the hydraulic pressure. The four stages of evolution of permeability in the deformation process is closely correlated with the development of joints and cracks within the specimen. The relations between volumetric strain and permeability were analyzed and discussed. It is found that the exponential function describes the permeability and volumetric strain relation well in the contraction stage. When the fluid pressure is high, the fluid pressure has a larger impact on the specimen failure mode than the pre-existing thin joints within the specimen in this test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enrich understanding of how fluid flows through the natural filled jointed rock, the permeability experiments of the natural filled jointed dacite rock under repeated loading and unloading conditions are carried out. Experimental results show that the response of permeability of filled jointed dacite rock to confining pressure under repeated loading and unloading conditions is considered as porous media. Permeability and gas pressure are positively correlated under repeated loading and unloading conditions. Relationship between permeability and gas pressure shows that the higher confining pressure, the smaller permeability increasing rate. The calculated equivalent crack apertures are very small at the order of magnitude about 10−8 m. The power law is found to well describe the relationship between equivalent crack aperture and effective stress of natural filled jointed dacite rock. With the parameters determined based on experiment results, an empirical expression is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A triaxial unloading mechanical test is conducted on sandstone considering different initial confining pressures and unloading rates under the effect of hydraulic coupling. The energy evolution of sandstone unloading failure is studied, and the influences of the initial confining pressure and unloading rate on the deformation characteristics and permeability evolution of sandstone are discussed. It is found that the initial confining pressure and unloading rate have a significant impact on the axial and radial strains of the sandstone, and the radial deformation is more sensitive to the unloading process. The energy dissipation of the sandstone sample increases with the increase of the confining pressure and is nonlinearly correlated to the unloading time. The permeability during the unloading deformation of the sandstone decreases with the increase in the initial confining pressure, indicating that the initial confining pressure of unloading has an inhibitory effect on the permeability of the sandstone. The permeability decreases with the increase in unloading rate, indicating that the faster the increase in the unloading rate, the greater the dissipated instantaneous elastic energy, which is accumulated and released during failure. The higher the degree of fracture in the sample, the larger the peak value of permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The triaxial compression tests under different hydraulic pressures and low confining pressure were carried out to study the hydraulic pressure effect on the mechanical properties and permeabilities of layered rock mass. In general, the results show that the increase of hydraulic pressure reduces the peak strength of layered rock mass and the layer structure changes the mechanical properties of rock mass. With the increase of hydraulic pressure, the peak strength of layered rock mass decreases sharply and then slows down. The peak permeabilities of layered rock mass occurred later than the time when the strength come to the peak. The increase of hydraulic pressure will accelerate the propagation of cracks and significantly enhance the peak permeability of layered rock mass. With the increase of the layer number, the effect of hydraulic pressure becomes more distinct. The initial permeability and the peak permeability increase largely. The increase of hydraulic pressure promotes the expansion and penetration of cracks, so the rock mass develops from tensile failure to the composite failure forms including shear failure and interfacial shear slip failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an experimental study on the mechanical behavior and permeability evolution of basalt, drilled from the dam foundation of the Baihetan Hydropower Station in China. Two groups of triaxial unloading creep tests under hydro-mechanical coupling conditions were conducted. Based on the experimental results, creep deformation and failure characteristics of basalt were investigated. It was found that the relationship between the confining pressure and steady creep rate could be described satisfactorily by an exponential function. A tensile-shear failure mode was observed for basalt under the action of unloading confining pressure and hydraulic-mechanical coupling. The permeability evolution of basalt in the unloading creep process exhibited phased characteristics: permeability decreased in the initial loading phase and remained stable for a certain range of confining pressure in the steady creep phase. Exponential functions were also used to describe the evolution of permeability and confining pressure. The results of this study can provide a comprehensive understanding for the long-term stability assessment of basalt under coupled hydro-mechanical conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monzonitic granite is a low-permeability rock. Monzonitic granite formations are ideal for underground storage of oil due to their low permeability and high mechanical strength. In this study, a series of coupled hydromechanical triaxial tests are carried out using monzonitic granite specimens. The influence of confining and fluid pressures on stress, strain, and permeability is investigated. Failure characteristics under different confining and fluid pressures are discussed based on the analysis of macro fracture planes and micro scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The test results show that the change of permeability with stress and strain reflects the deformation stages of compaction, compression, crack propagation, coalesce, and failure of cracks. Due to the low porosity, the change of permeability is small in the initial phases of compaction and compression, whereas there is a significant increase in permeability when new cracks start to develop and coalesce. Confining pressures have a significant impact on the strength and permeability, particularly the crack damage stress of the rock. Compared with confining pressure, the effect of fluid pressure on rock strength and crack damage stress is small. For the monzonitic granite specimens tested, changing the confining pressure results in different failure modes, whereas the fluid pressure has a relatively small effect on the failure modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Natural low-permeability rock of granitic gneiss is excellent material for underground oil depot. Its microstructure and mineral composition are analyzed by SEM-EDS, the triaxial tests under different confining pressures are carried out. The evolution law of gas permeability with stress in the process of deformation and failure is discussed. The permeability property of granitic gneiss is different from that of the rock with large porosity, the curve of permeability with stress in the process of deformation and failure is relatively flat and no large fluctuations, but still reflects the compression, weakening and failure characteristics of rock samples, and the effect of confining pressure on the permeability is not very obvious due to its dense structure and small porosity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Understanding of gas porosity and permeability is important in gas storage, recovery and nuclear waste disposal. In this paper, we focus on the gas porosity and permeability variation of sandstone at different water saturation in loading–unloading cycle. Through an improved method, we prepared the samples with water saturation level from 0 to 81%. The test results suggest that gas effective permeability and porosity are sensitive to confining pressure. This is particularly true in low pressure from 1 to 10 MPa. There is a significant difference between loading and unloading process. This is caused by irreversible deformation of pores and microcracks. The existence of water inside samples leads to a change of permeability on the order of magnitudes from 10−13 to 10−15 m2. Water saturation also influences the sandstone porosity significantly. We observed that the gas relative porosity almost decreases linearly with the increase of water saturation. A simple power law is modified to describe the relationship between gas effective permeability and porosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]