Rock Mechanics
K. Abdolghanizadeh; M. Hosseini; M. Saghafiyazdi
Abstract
Natural and artificial materials including rocks and cement-based materials such as concrete and cement mortar are affected both physically and chemically by various natural factors known as weathering factors. The freeze-thaw process, as a weathering factor, considerably affects the properties of rocks ...
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Natural and artificial materials including rocks and cement-based materials such as concrete and cement mortar are affected both physically and chemically by various natural factors known as weathering factors. The freeze-thaw process, as a weathering factor, considerably affects the properties of rocks and concrete. Therefore, the effect of the freeze-thaw process on the physical and mechanical properties of materials should be taken into account in areas with the risk of this process. Given that few studies have been conducted on the effect of the freeze-thaw process on the fracture toughness, in this work, we aimed at investigating the effects of the freeze-thaw cycles and freezing temperature on the mode I and mode II fracture toughness of cement mortar. To this end, specimens were exposed to 0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 freeze-thaw cycles, and the mode I and mode II fracture toughness was determined in different cycles. The effect of freezing temperature in a freeze-thaw cycle on the mode I and mode II fracture toughness was also investigated. The damage factor was also defined based on the effective porosity of cement mortar, and its changes with the number of freeze-thaw cycles and mode I and mode II fracture toughness were studied. Finally, the decay function model provided by Mutluturk was investigated. According to the results obtained, the mode I and mode II fracture toughness of cement mortar decreased linearly with increase in the number of freeze-thaw cycles. The mode I and mode II fracture toughness decreased linearly with increase in the freezing temperature in a freeze-thaw cycle. The damage factor increased with increase in the number of freeze-thaw cycles, and, additionally, its relationship with mode I and mode II fracture toughness exhibited a linear behavior.
Rock Mechanics
M. Hosseini; A. R. Khodayari
Abstract
In an era of continued economic development around the globe, numerous rock-related projects including mining and gas/oil exploration are undertaken in regions with cold climates. Winters in the Iranian western and northwestern provinces are characterized by a high precipitation rate and a cold weather. ...
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In an era of continued economic development around the globe, numerous rock-related projects including mining and gas/oil exploration are undertaken in regions with cold climates. Winters in the Iranian western and northwestern provinces are characterized by a high precipitation rate and a cold weather. Under such conditions, rocks are exposed to long freezing periods and several freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles. It is thus necessary to examine the impact of these cycles on the physical and mechanical properties of rocks. Considering the abundant sandstone resources in Iran, in this work, we focused on the Lushan sandstone by investigating the effects of F-T cycles and freezing temperatures on the uniaxial and triaxial compressive strengths, cohesion, internal friction angle, and elastic modulus of the rocks. To study the impact of the number of F-T cycles on the strength of rocks, the specimens frozen at -16 °C were subjected to 1, 4, 8, 16, and 32 F-T cycles. Similar tests were also carried out on the specimens frozen at -24 °C. Furthermore, a number of tests were undertaken at the ambient temperature (25 °C) on specimens that did not undergo an F-T cycle. According to the results obtained, an increase in the number of F-T cycles and freezing temperatures reduced the uniaxial and triaxial compressive strengths, cohesion, internal friction angle, and elastic modulus due to the growth of the existing cracks and the nucleation of new cracks in the rock. Consequently, the effective porosity increased, whereas the dry specific gravity decreased with more F-T cycles and lower freezing temperatures.
Rock Mechanics
M. Hosseini; A. R. Khodayari
Abstract
The fracture mechanics examines the development and expansion of cracks in solids and how they affect the deformation of materials. The stress intensity factors at the tip of the crack and the critical stress intensity factors or fracture toughness of materials are considered in the relevant criteria. ...
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The fracture mechanics examines the development and expansion of cracks in solids and how they affect the deformation of materials. The stress intensity factors at the tip of the crack and the critical stress intensity factors or fracture toughness of materials are considered in the relevant criteria. There are three main modes of applying forces to a crack including the tensile mode, shear mode, and mixed mode. Mode II fracture toughness, which is also called the shear mode, is an important parameter for investigating the rock behaviors. This parameter is used in many different areas such as mining and tunneling. Several methods have been proposed for determining the mode II fracture toughness. In this work, the Punch-True-Shear (PTS) test, standardized by the International Society for Rock Mechanics, was used to determine the fracture toughness while the confining pressure is present. The studied sample was the Lushan sandstone. In this work, notchd cylindrical specimens were prepared for PTS testing. In order to investigate the effect of confining pressure, some tests were conducted in the presence of the confining pressures of 0, 3, 5, 7, and 10 MPa, and to check the effect of temperature, some tests were conducted under 1, 5, and 10 heating and cooling cycles at 60, 100, and 150 ˚C as well as at the ambient temperature (25 °C). The confining pressure of 3 MPa was used in all the tests to examine the effect of temperature. The analyses results showed that with increase in the confining pressure, the mode II fracture toughness and the fracture energy would increase as well. By increasing the number of heating-cooling cycles, the mode II fracture toughness as well as the fracture energy would decrease leading to a reduced fracture toughness and energy for all the three modes of heating specimens up to 60, 100, and 150 ˚C. The effect of the number of heating-cooling cycles on reducing the fracture toughness and fracture energy was greater than the effect of temperature.
Rock Mechanics
A. Akrami; M. Hosseini; H. Sodeifi
Abstract
Hydraulic fracturing is used in the oil industry in order to increase the index of production and processing in the wells whose efficiencies have been dropped due to a long-term harvest or the rocks around the wells are of low permeability. Since the hydraulic fracturing operation is costly, it is of ...
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Hydraulic fracturing is used in the oil industry in order to increase the index of production and processing in the wells whose efficiencies have been dropped due to a long-term harvest or the rocks around the wells are of low permeability. Since the hydraulic fracturing operation is costly, it is of special importance to the project managers to determine the pressure required for hydraulic fracturing and the suitable pump for this operation. The numerical modelings used in this work are aimed to investigate the fracture pressure in the carbonate rocks of Bangestan reservoir in Ahvaz, Iran, and to determine a relationship between the pressure required for fracturing and the confining pressure. In this work, unlike the other ones in this field, the developed numerical models had no initial crack or fracture, and the path of the crack and how the crack grows were studied without any pre-determination and presumption. The results obtained show that, in most cases, the crack starts from the central part of the sample, and is extended to its two ends. The crack extension direction was along the borehole axis inside the sample and perpendicular to the lateral stress. The numerical modeling results were well-consistent with the experimental ones, indicating that the pump capacity constraints in the laboratory could be overcome through numerical modelings.
Rock Mechanics
M. Hosseini
Abstract
Temperature has a significant role in many actions performed on rocks. An example would be the effect of temperature on rocks in the burial of nuclear waste, geothermal energy extraction, deep oil well drilling, and fires in tunnels. In addition, due to diurnal/nocturnal as well as seasonal temperature ...
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Temperature has a significant role in many actions performed on rocks. An example would be the effect of temperature on rocks in the burial of nuclear waste, geothermal energy extraction, deep oil well drilling, and fires in tunnels. In addition, due to diurnal/nocturnal as well as seasonal temperature variations, rocks undergo a process of heating and cooling. In the present work, the effect of temperature as well as heating and cooling cycles on the rock properties was studied. The utilized samples included tuff, andesite, and sandstone. In addition to natural samples, concrete was also studied in this research work. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of temperature on the tensile strength of rocks and the velocity of longitudinal waves in a single heating and cooling cycle of samples as well as evaluating the effect of the number of heating and cooling cycles on the tensile strength of rocks and the velocity of longitudinal waves. In order to investigate the effect of temperature on the tensile strength of rocks as well as the velocity of longitudinal waves in a single heating and cooling cycle, the samples were heated in a furnace. After cooling the samples, the Brazilian and the sound velocity tests were carried out on them. These tests were conducted at the three temperatures of 100, 200, and 300 °C. In order to examine the effect of the number of heating and cooling cycles on the tensile strength and the velocity of longitudinal waves, the samples were heated up to the temperature of 100 °C and then cooled down in order to reach the room temperature. In this case, the work was conducted in the three modes of 5, 10, and 15 cycles. The test results showed that the velocity of longitudinal waves and the tensile strength of samples decreased but their porosity increased. Reduction in the tensile strength varied in different rocks so that the greatest and lowest reduction in the tensile strength was observed in concrete and andesite, respectively.
