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Effects of grain dissolution–diffusion sliding and hydro-mechanical interaction on the creep deformation of soft rocks

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Abstract

The creep deformation behaviour of soft rocks is one of the most important research fields in geotechnical engineering. In this study, a theoretical model was developed to investigate the coupled effects of the grain dissolution–diffusion sliding and the hydro-mechanical interaction on the creep behaviour of soft rocks. Experimental results validated the model. The results demonstrate that the creep of soft rocks is primarily dependent on the shear stress on the sliding surface, the average thickness of the hydrated film and the amplitude of the cosinusoidal sliding surface. These three parameters can be used to describe the meso-mechanism of soft rock creep stages, i.e. the transient creep stage, steady-state creep stage, and accelerated creep stage. In addition, this study’s findings show that the chemical potential field promotes the mineral dissolution and diffusion on the grain sliding surface and changes its morphology, thereby resulting in the redistribution of stress.

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Acknowledgements

The research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant Nos. 41472257, 41530638, 41372302), the National Key Research and Development Project (Grant Nos. 2017YFC1501201, 2017YFC0804605), the Special Fund Key Project of Applied Science and Technology Research and Development in Guangdong (Grant Nos. 2015B090925016, 2016B010124007), and the Special Support Programme for High Level Talents in Guangdong (Grant No. 2015TQ01Z344).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 135 XinGangXiLu, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Zhen Liu, Cuiying Zhou & Yanhao Liang

  2. Research Center for Geotechnical Engineering and Information Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 135 XinGangXiLu, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Zhen Liu, Cuiying Zhou, Batong Li & Yanhao Liang

  3. Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

    Lihai Zhang

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  1. Zhen Liu
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Correspondence to Cuiying Zhou.

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Liu, Z., Zhou, C., Li, B. et al. Effects of grain dissolution–diffusion sliding and hydro-mechanical interaction on the creep deformation of soft rocks. Acta Geotech. 15, 1219–1229 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-019-00823-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-019-00823-9

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