Investigation on the damage accumulation mechanisms of landslides in earthquake-prone area: Role of loading-unloading cycles

Abstract

Investigating rock damage behavior is crucial for understanding the formation mechanisms of fractured slopes in earthquake-prone areas. However, the current understanding of the nonlinear damage processes and mechanisms of rocks under cyclic loading is insufficient. This study investigated the damage behaviors of metamorphic sandstone, granite, and phyllite under cyclic loading using acoustic emission (AE), infrared thermal imaging, and digital image correlation (DIC) techniques. The experimental results demonstrated that the damage variables based on AE counts, infrared radiation temperature variance (IRTV), and surface deformation variance (SDV) increased with increasing cycles and stress levels. The temperature variation was influenced by lithology and the types of original pores and microcracks. The lag ratio and average lag time of the SDV effectively evaluated the progressive damage process. Specific damage mechanisms were identified, including the “compaction-embedment effect” in metamorphic sandstone, the “crystal incompatible deformation-fracture effect” in granite, and the “defective fracture effect” in phyllite.

Keywords

Fractured slopes / Rock damage / AE / Infrared radiation / Surface deformation

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Ling Zhu: Writing - review & editing, Writing - original draft. Luguang Luo: Methodology, Investigation, Conceptualization. Shenghua Cui: Supervision, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Data curation. Zhihao He: Software, Project administration. Hui Wang: Visualization, Validation. Liangxi Zhang: Project administration, Funding acquisition. Decai Kong: Project administration, Funding acquisition.

Declarations conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

This study was financially sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42307249), and Open Fund for Key Laboratory of Landslide Risk Early-warning and Control, Ministry of Emergency Management of China (No. KLLREC2023K001), and Special Project of Sichuan Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources of China (No. SCDZ-KJXM202406).

References

[1] N.T. Burdine, Rock failure under dynamic loading conditions, Soc. Petrol. Eng. J. 3 (1) (1963) 1-8.

[2] Y.M. Hashash, J.J. Hook, B. Schmidt, I. John, C. Yao, Seismic design and analysis of underground structures, Tunn. Undergr. Space Technol. 16 (4) (2001) 247-293.

[3] J.E. Kendrick, R. Smith, P. Sammonds, P.G. Meredith, M. Dainty, J.S. Pallister, The influence of thermal and cyclic stressing on the strength of rocks from Mount St. Helens, Washington, Bull. Volcanol. 75 (2013) 1-12.

[4] S. Zhang, Y. Lai, X. Zhang, Y. Pu, W. Yu, Study on the damage propagation of surrounding rock from a cold-region tunnel under freeze-thaw cycle condition, Tunn. Undergr. Space Technol. 19 (3) (2004) 295-302.

[5] C. Sorgi, V. De Gennaro, D. Chen,Water-rock interaction mechanisms and ageing processes in chalk, Adv. Data, Methods, Mod. Appl. Geosci. 9 (2011) 163-180.

[6] S. Cattaneo, J.F. Labuz, Damage of marble from cyclic loading, J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 13 (6) (2001) 459-465.

[7] P.A. Hale, A. Shakoor, A laboratory investigation of the effects of cyclic heating and cooling, wetting and drying, and freezing and thawing on the compressive strength of selected sandstones, Environ. Eng. Geosci. 9 (2) (2003) 117-130.

[8] Z. Zhang, R. Zhang, H. Xie, J. Liu, P. Were, Differences in the acoustic emission characteristics of rock salt compared with granite and marble during the damage evolution process, Environ. Earth Sci. 73 (2015) 6987-6999.

[9] K. Du, X. Li, M. Tao, S. Wang, Experimental study on acoustic emission (AE) characteristics and crack classification during rock fracture in several basic lab tests, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 133 (2020) 104411.

[10] J. Bi, Y. Zhao, Z. Wu, J. Li, C. Wang, Research on crack classification method and failure precursor index based on RA-AF value of brittle rock, Theor. Appl. Fract. Mech. 129 (2024) 104179.

[11] Z. Wang, J. Ning, H. Ren, Frequency characteristics of the released stress wave by propagating cracks in brittle materials, Theor. Appl. Fract. Mech. 96 (2018) 72-82.

[12] X. Cai, Z. Zhou, L. Tan, H. Zang, Z. Song, Water saturation effects on thermal infrared radiation features of rock materials during deformation and fracturing, Rock Mech. Rock Eng. (2020) 1-18.

[13] K. Cao, L. Ma, D. Zhang, X. Lai, Z. Zhang, N.M. Khan, An experimental study of infrared radiation characteristics of sandstone in dilatancy process, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 136 (2020) 104503.

[14] H. Song, H. Zhang, Y. Kang, G. Huang, D. Fu, C. Qu, Damage evolution study of sandstone by cyclic uniaxial test and digital image correlation, Tectonophysics 608 (2013) 1343-1348.

[15] X. Pei, S. Cui, L. Zhu, L. Luo, J. Cheng, H. Wang, Q. Yang, Quantitative investigation on localized deformation process of rocks by uniaxial test and digital image correlation, Environ. Earth Sci. 82 (11) (2023) 267.

[16] P. Lin, P. Wei, C. Wang, S. Kang, X. Wang, Effect of rock mechanical properties on electromagnetic radiation mechanism of rock fracturing, J. Rock Mech. Geotech. Eng. 13 (4) (2021) 798-810.

[17] J. Bi, L. Ning, Y. Zhao, Z. Wu, C. Wang, Analysis of the microscopic evolution of rock damage based on real-time nuclear magnetic resonance, Rock Mech. Rock Eng. 56 (5) (2023) 3399-3411.

[18] J. Xiao, D. Ding, L. Jiang, G. Xu, Fatigue damage variable and evolution of rock subjected to cyclic loading, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 47 (3) (2010) 461-468.

[19] J. Chai, Y. Liu, Y. OuYang, D. Zhang, W. Du, Application of digital image correlation technique for the damage characteristic of rock-like specimens under uniaxial compression, Adv. Civ. Eng. (2020) 1-11.

[20] T. Li, X. Pei, J. Guo, M. Meng, R. Huang, An energy-based fatigue damage model for sandstone subjected to cyclic loading, Rock Mech. Rock Eng. (2020) 1-11.

[21] W. Li, S. Fang, X. Gao, Y. Han, Method of defining rock damage variable on the basis of wave impedance, Energy Sci. Eng. 11 (10) (2023) 3641-3661.

[22] W.F. Brace, Jr B. W. Paulding, C.H. Scholz, Dilatancy in the fracture of crystalline rocks, J. Geophys. Res. 71 (16) (1996) 3939-3953.

[23] M.K.P.K. Cai, P.K. Kaiser, Y. Tasaka, T. Maejima, H. Morioka, M. Minami, Generalized crack initiation and crack damage stress thresholds of brittle rock masses near underground excavations, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 41 (5) (2004) 833-847.

[24] C.D. Martin, The strength of massive Lac du Bonnet granite around underground openings, University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada, 1993.

[25] S. Cui, Seismic Responses of Wake Interlayer and Initiation Mechanisms of Large Landslide during Strong Earthquake, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China, 2019.

[26] B. Liu, J. Huang, Z. Wang, L. Liu, Study on damage evolution and acoustic emission character of coal-rock under uniaxial compression, Chin. J. Rock Mech. Eng. 28 (S1) (2009) 3234-3238.

[27] A. Cao, G. Jing, Y.L. Ding, S. Liu, Mining-induced static and dynamic loading rate effect on rock damage and acoustic emission characteristic under uniaxial compression, Saf. Sci. 116 (2019) 86-96.

[28] S. Li, H. Lin, S. Hu, R. Cao, X. Luo, Mechanical behavior of anchored rock with an infilled joint under uniaxial loading revealed by AE and DIC monitoring, Theor. Appl. Fract. Mech. 123 (2023) 103709.

[29] J. Li, S. Lian, Y. Huang, C. Wang, Study on crack classification criterion and failure evaluation index of red sandstone based on acoustic emission parameter analysis, Sustainability 14 (9) (2022) 5143.

[30] X. Liu, Z. Liu, X. Li, F. Gong, K. Du, Experimental study on the effect of strain rate on rock acoustic emission characteristics, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 133 (2020) 104420.

[31] L. Wu, C. Cui, N. Geng, J. Wang, Remote sensing rock mechanics (RSRM) and associated experimental studies, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 37 (6) (2000) 879-888.

[32] G. Chen, Y. Li, Y. Chen, J. Ma, Z. Wu, Thermal-acoustic sensitivity analysis of fractured rock with different lithologies, Chin. J. Rock Mech. Eng. 41 (10) (2022) 1945-1957 (In Chinese).

[33] Z. Song, Y. Wang, H. Konietzky, X. Cai, Mechanical behavior of marble exposed to freeze-thaw-fatigue loading, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 138 (2021) 104648.

[34] A.N. Tutuncu, A.L. Podio, M.M. Sharma, Nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of sedimentary rocks, Part II: hysteresis effects and influence of type of fluid on elastic moduli, Geophysics 63 (1) (1998) 195-203.

[35] M. Zhang, L. Dou, H. Konietzky, Z. Song, S. Huang, Cyclic fatigue characteristics of strong burst-prone coal: experimental insights from energy dissipation, hysteresis and micro-seismicity, Int. J. Fatig. 133 (2020) 105429.

[36] S. Xu, X. Feng, B. Chen, Experimental study of skarn under uniaxial cyclic loading and unloading test and acoustic emission characteristics, Rock Soil Mech. 30 (10) (2009) 2929-2934 (In Chinese).

[37] L. Yang, X. Shi, Q. Chen, Y. Wei, M. Zhang, W. Lu, Mechanism and laws of deterioration and damage of gneisses under cyclic loading, Bullet. Geolog. Sci. Technol. 39 (5) (2020) 55-60 (In Chinese).

[38] X. Ni, X. Li, Z. Zhu, Characteristics of meso- damage of granite samples subjected to dynamic uniaxial cyclic loading with different frequencies, Chin. J. Rock Mech. Eng. 30 (1) (2011) 164-169.

[39] S. Cui, X. Pei, Y. Jiang, G. Wang, X. Fan, Q. Yang, R. Huang, Liquefaction within a bedding fault: understanding the initiation and movement of the Daguangbao landslide triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake (Ms=8.0), Eng. Geol. 295 (2021) 106455.

[40] L. Zhu, S. Cui, X. Pei, S. Wang, S. He, X. Shi, Experimental investigation on the seismically induced cumulative damage and progressive deformation of the 2017 Xinmo landslide in China, Landslides 18 (2021) 1485-1498.

[41] X. Pei, S. Cui, L. Zhu, H. Wang, L. Luo, X. Zhang, Sanxicun landslide: an investigation of progressive failure of a gentle bedding slope, Nat. Hazards 111 (2022) 51-78.