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Experimental and Theoretical Study on the Creep Behavior of a Clayey Rock

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Abstract

An understanding of the creep behavior of clayey rocks is considered fundamental for further development in the fields of nuclear waste underground disposal, underground mine design, strata control, and many other geological phenomena occurring in the earth’s crust. In this research, we performed a series of long-term triaxial compressive tests on a typical clayey rock, which confirmed its high creep potential beyond the creep threshold. Further analysis of the creep mechanism of this clayey rock indicated that two effects—strengthening and damage—are accompanied by the creep process. Additionally, based on the overstress theory and Drucker–Prager cap model, we developed a novel constitutive model considering two creep reference surfaces—cohesion and consolidation. Meanwhile, laws to reflect the strength and damage effect during creep were established and applied to the above constitutive model. Finally, the above theoretical studies were implemented in the finite element method software ABAQUS FEA using the subroutines CREEP and USDFLD. Some theory parameters were verified through back analysis. A comparison between the experimental results and numerical simulations confirmed the superiority of the established theoretical model.

Highlights

  • Clayey rock exhibits high creep potential beyond the creep threshold.

  • Two effects—strengthening and damage—are accompanied by the creep process.

  • A novel creep constitutive model was established.

  • Strengthening and damage laws during creep were developed.

  • Model numerical implementation and parameters determination.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the European Underground Research Infrastructure for Disposal of Nuclear Waste in Clay Environment (EURIDICE) for collaborating on the long-term HM behavior of Boom Clay. Owing to this international cooperation, we could perform the research in this paper. The financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51879258, 51979266, and 51991392) is greatly acknowledged. Appreciations are extended to Sweetland K, who has given valuable suggestions and worked hard on improving the English of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei, China

    Hongdan Yu, Weizhong Chen, Yongshang Ma, Xianjun Tan & Jianping Yang

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  1. Hongdan Yu
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  2. Weizhong Chen
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Correspondence to Hongdan Yu or Weizhong Chen.

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Yu, H., Chen, W., Ma, Y. et al. Experimental and Theoretical Study on the Creep Behavior of a Clayey Rock. Rock Mech Rock Eng 56, 1387–1398 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-03146-6

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