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To explore the influence of the working face excavation rate on the rock deformation mechanism and seepage characteristics, deformation and seepage tests of sandstone under different loading and unloading stress paths, such as constant axial pressure unloading confining pressure and loading axial pressure unloading confining pressure, were carried out. Particle Flow Code in 3 Dimensions (PFC3D) and Python were used to realize fluid-solid coupling, and numerical simulation calculations were performed along the test path to analyze the influence of the unloading rate on the fine-scale deformation mechanism and permeability characteristics of sandstone, and the relationship between crack type and permeability was obtained. A sandstone fracture mechanics model is established to analyze the stress concentration degree at the end of the branch crack of the test path. The results show that the rate of confining pressure unloading is inversely proportional to the strain. Additionally, permeability correlates with the principal stress difference in an exponential manner. Interestingly, the sensitivity of permeability to stress shows an inverse trend with the unloading rate of confining pressure. Furthermore, there exists a linear relationship between permeability and the number of cracks. During the unloading process, tensile cracks predominate, and the propagation of shear cracks lags behind that of tensile cracks. The proportion of tensile cracks decreases with the increase of the unloading rate when the axial pressure is unchanged but increases when axial pressure is added, resulting in axial compression deformation and expansion deformation along the unloading direction. These research outcomes offer theoretical insights for the prudent selection of mining rates, and they hold significant implications for mitigating water inrush disasters in deep mining operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coral reef limestone is a biogenic limestone with a hyperdeveloped pore structure. The complex structural features of coral reef limestone can directly affect its mechanical and seepage characteristics, which are not yet well-understood. The pore structure information of two coral reef limestone specimens, including one with coarse pores (CR-C) and one with fine pores (CR-F), was obtained by combining CT scanning technology, 3D visualization reconstruction, and pore identification algorithms. The pore structure characteristics were interpreted considering the porosity's spatial variability, fractal dimension, and tensorial anisotropy. A seepage tensor derived from the geometry component of Hagen-Poiseuille's law was proposed to assess the seepage anisotropy, which was then verified through seepage simulations along different directions. It was found that the spatial distribution of the porosity of CR-C was less uniform than that of CR-F. Both testing specimens had distinct pore structures with obvious directionality that varied with sampling size. Seepage simulations on a representative elementary volume (REV) of CR-C revealed that the permeability along the identified dominant seepage direction was indeed the largest. Some empirical correlations between the permeability and the deviation angle from the dominant seepage direction were established. This study highlights the importance of considering structural anisotropy when interpreting the properties of coral reef limestone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the bond-slip behavior between textile reinforced concrete (TRC)-confined concrete and rebars both at ambient temperature and after ISO 834 standard fire was investigated experimentally through pull-out tests. The failure modes, ultimate load, average ultimate bonding stress and energy consumption were obtained and discussed. Effects of rebar diameters (12 mm, 14 mm and 16 mm), bonding lengths (2.5d, 5d and 7.5d) and high-temperature exposure durations (30 min and 60 min) on the bonding behavior between TRC-confined concrete and rebars were examined emphatically. It was observed that the damage modes of specimens changed from pull-out failure at ambient temperature into splitting failure for both TRC-confined specimens and companion unconfined specimens exposed to high temperatures. The results obtained demonstrated that both the ultimate load and the average ultimate bonding stress can be significantly improved by the utilization of TRC jackets after 30 min exposure, and the increment of the average ultimate bonding stress can reach up to 90% as compared to those unconfined specimens. However, the enhancement of TRC jackets became unobvious after 60 min. Finally, based on test results and Prigogine's dissipative structure theory, the energy analysis of bond-slip curves was evaluated to verify the enhancement of TRC jackets quantitatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]