Strength weakening and its micromechanism in water–rock interaction, a short review in laboratory tests

Abstract

Highlights (1) This paper reviews the water weakening on rock strength and its influencing factors. (2) Various microscopic methods for studying the pore characterization and weakening mechanism of WRI are compared and analyzed. (3) We study the weakening mechanism of WRIs using microscopic methods. (4) Future works on WRI laboratory tests were suggested.

Keywords

• Water–rock interaction
• Weakening mechanism
• Water content
• Immersion time
• Wetting–drying cycles
• Microscopic methods