Effects of Unidirectional In Situ Stress on Crack Propagation of a Jointed Rock Mass Subjected to Stress Wave

Abstract

This paper proposes a large-scale experiment combined with multiple cement mortar blocks to simulate stress wave propagation across a jointed rock mass under unidirectional in situ stress. Two identical mortar block models with smooth, dry, and unfilled joints were poured. The stress waves in Model 1 and Model 2 were generated by an electric spark source and a blast-induced source, respectively. The effects of these two excitation sources on stress wave propagation were compared through crack propagation experiments. The experimental results show that the peak value of the transmitted strain wave decreases as the in situ stress increases. The unidirectional in situ stress has a certain inhibitory effect on the stress wave propagation. It also indicates that for Model 1 with the electric spark source, no cracks on the upper surface, but a Livingstone blasting crater at the bottom is generated. For Model 2 with the blast-induced source, cracks on the upper surface and a blasting crater at the bottom are produced. The results verify the similarity between the electric spark source and the explosive source. The two-dimensional finite element program (ANSYS/LS-DYNA) was applied to further simulate the crack propagation of a jointed rock mass under different in situ stresses. The results of numerical simulation verify that the in situ stress has a clear guiding effect on the crack propagation.