Research of Transitional Failure Mode as Damage Evolution in Rock Wall

The stress condition of tunnel surrounding rock mass is complex. The stress concentration of in situ brittle rock mass caused by excavation results in localized damage evolution parallel to the free face, which is called surface instability. The rock wall shows the transition characteristics of the failure mode with the distance from the surface to the depth. Low strength surface instability and transition failure modes of the tunnel’s rock wall are common in deep condition but cylindrical specimens cannot simulate stress state of rock wall surface well in conventional rock mechanics tests. This paper conducted the indoor experimental study of the biaxial stress state and studied the surface instability of samples. An indoor test device for the simulation of transitional surface failure of the rock wall was developed. Through a biaxial stress loading test on the rectangular rock sample, the damage process and crack development of rock samples were analyzed, and the law of stress and strain related to the failure mode transition was characterized as well. Based on test results and strength analysis, an explanation of the failure theory and its corresponding model are proposed based on the maximum strain strength theory. Furthermore, this paper concludes that the failure mode of surface instability presents transition feature from brittle to ductile with the increase of distance from the surface to depth.

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