Failure and Mechanical Behavior of Transversely Isotropic Rock under Compression-Shear Tests: Laboratory Testing and Numerical Simulation

Abstract The failure and mechanical behavior of transversely isotropic rock are significantly affected by the original bedding planes. Until now, few studies have been performed to investigate the influence of the geometrical and mechanical parameters of the bedding planes on the fracture characteristics of transversely isotropic rocks under planar shear fracture loading conditions. For this purpose, experimental and numerical compression-shear tests on double-notched specimens are conducted to investigate the fracturing characteristics of transversely isotropic rock under planar shear fracture loading. The experimental study that focuses on the influence of bedding plane inclination on fracture load, fracture pattern and AE evolution, and six inclination angles is conducted in this study. Based on the flat joint contact model (for the rock matrix) and smooth joint contact model (for the original bedding plane) in PFC2D (particle flow code), the microscale fracturing process of transversely isotropic rock with different inclinations is simulated and analyzed. The results show that the inclination has an important influence on the fracture load and fracture pattern, and the maximum and minimum fracture loads are obtained for specimens with inclination angles of 30° and 60°, respectively. Moreover, the strength and spacing of the original bedding planes also play an important role in fracture loads. Higher bedding plane strength and wider bedding plane spacing result in higher fracture loads. In addition, with a moderate inclination angle, transversely isotropic rock with higher bedding plane strength tends to form cracks that cut through the rock matrix. However, with the decrease in the bedding plane strength, more fractures form along the bedding planes.