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The investigation of seepage model for columnar jointed rock masses during cyclic loading and unloading of confining pressure

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Abstract

Columnar jointed rock masses (CJRM) as a type of jointed rock masses with the distinct structure are widely distributed in nature and have received considerable attention during the last few decades. In this paper, an approach, which is a combination of experiment and graphing method, is proposed to verify the existence of a representative elementary volume (REV) of CJRM during cyclic loading and unloading of confining pressure based on physical model permeability experiments. According to the experiment results, mathematical models for calculating permeability tensor of CJRM were established, and the major principal permeability component (PPC), the minor PPC, and the principal permeability angle (PPA) of CJRM during cyclic loading and unloading of confining pressure are calculated. It was concluded that the existence of a REV of CJRM during cyclic loading and unloading of confining pressure can be verified easily by using the proposed method. During cyclic loading and unloading of confining pressure, a REV does not always exist, especially at high confining pressure. The impacts of confining pressure on the major PPC, the minor PPC, and the PPA are large in the first cyclic loading phase.

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In this paper, all data, models, and code used during the study appear in the submitted article.

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Funding

This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 11702181), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant number 2016M602689), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant number 2018SCU12047).

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Author notes

  1. Zhiming Chao and Guotao Ma contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Failure Mechanics & Engineering Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Zhiming Chao & Guotao Ma

  2. School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    Guotao Ma

  3. Key Laboratory of Deep Underground Science and Engineering (Ministry of Education), School of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Meng Wang

Authors
  1. Zhiming Chao
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  2. Guotao Ma
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Correspondence to Meng Wang.

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Responsible Editor: Zeynal Abiddin Erguler

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Chao, Z., Ma, G. & Wang, M. The investigation of seepage model for columnar jointed rock masses during cyclic loading and unloading of confining pressure. Arab J Geosci 13, 621 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05655-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05655-6

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