Study on fracture characteristics and mechanisms of red sandstone under high-voltage pulse discharge

Abstract

Abstract To investigate the influences of geometrical size and discharge voltage of the pulse discharge equipment on the fracture characteristics and mechanisms of sandstone under high-voltage pulses, a series of experiments was conducted using a high-voltage pulse discharge device on sandstone circular disc specimens of sandstone with a thickness of 10 mm. These experiments covered a range of disc diameters ranging from 50 mm to 142 mm and discharge voltages from 15 kV to 40 kV. Through these experiments, the fracture characteristics of sandstone at both macroscopic and microscopic levels were investigated. In the experiments, a quantitative analysis of surface fracture was undertaken based on fracture density and fractal damage. Additionally, using the principle of energy equivalence, numerical simulation methods were used to study the damage evolution process in sandstone. The research results indicate that the formation and distribution of fractures in the sandstone specimens are significantly affected by geometrical size and discharge voltage. By analyzing the interaction between stress waves and fracture propagation, combined with indoor experimental results, the fracture mechanism was revealed. The high temperature and shock wave generated by the plasma channel leads to the crushing zone near the electrode, while the circumferential tensile component of the stress wave can result in radial fractures, and the reflected tensile wave leads to circumferential and radial fractures near the boundary.