Numerical Simulation of Strength, Deformation, and Failure Characteristics of Rock with Fissure Hole Defect

Abstract

Using discrete element software, namely, particle flow code as two-dimensional program (PFC2D), two types of models were established: vertical fissure hole combination and horizontal fissure hole combination with ratios of major and minor axis of ellipse being 1, 1.2, 1.5, 2, and 3, which corresponded to a total of ten samples. The failure mode, mechanical behavior, and stress state before and after crack generation in elliptical hole crack combination models with different ratios of major and minor axis were analyzed. The crack development, stress field evolution, and acoustic emission characteristics of the vertical fissure model and horizontal fissure model were studied at the optimized ratio of major and minor axis of ellipse being 1.5. The results showed that elliptical hole fissure with different ratios of major and minor axis resulted in the decrease in the strength and elastic modulus of rock and increase in the peak strain of rock. The effect of the horizontal fissure model on the peak strength, peak strain, and elastic modulus of rock was found to be greater than that of the vertical fissure hole model. Ellipses with different ratios of major and minor axis in various models slightly influenced the rock failure modes, and their failure modes corresponded to tensile shear failure and tensile failure. Before crack formation, the tensile stress concentration areas of each model were, respectively, distributed at the upper and lower ends of the vertical fissure and the major axis of ellipse, and the compressive stress concentration areas were distributed at both ends of the major axis of ellipse and the fissure in the horizontal direction. After the model failed, the compressive stress concentration areas of the vertical fissure model and the horizontal fissure model transferred to the left upper part and the right upper part of the model along the left end of the hole and the right end of the fissure, respectively. When the ratio of major and minor axis of ellipse was 1.5, cracks in the vertical model and the horizontal model of fissure developed along the axial direction at the ends of cracks and holes, respectively, and then secondary cracks were generated at the ends of left and right sides. The maximum compressive stress in each stage of the vertical fissure model was greater than that of the horizontal fissure model, and when the model was damaged, its stress release was more.