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Mechanical properties and failure modes of discontinuous jointed considering water softening effects

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Abstract

Landslides, as the most frequent geological disasters, are approximated in this study as cofacial discontinuous jointed rock masses subjected to uniaxial compression conditions. Uniaxial compression tests were carried out on 5 groups of yellow sandstone samples with prefabricated cracks from dry to saturated state. The mechanical properties and failure modes of sandstones with coplanar discontinuous joints under different water content are analyzed, combining mechanical, acoustic and digital image correlation methods. The primary findings of the research are as follows: the uniaxial compressive strength of the rock masses decreases nonlinearly with increasing moisture content. The b value of the sample with high water content fluctuates more, the cracks inside the rock are more likely to develop into macroscopic cracks, and the proportion of shear signal is reduced. Based on DIC analysis, with the increase of water content, the cohesion and internal friction angle between rock particles decreases, and more tensile failure occurs in the rock failure process. This leads to easier separation of particles in the vicinity of wing cracks, which are already created in the elastic phase of the rock, and accelerates crack extension. These observations are consistent with the increase in tensile signals from acoustic emissions and the observed failure mode of the specimens. These findings can provide a theoretical reference for slope stability assessment under the background of geological engineering.

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Funding

This paper gets its funding from Projects (42277175) supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project (2023JJ30657) supported by Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China; Guizhou Provincial Major Scientific and Technological Program (2023–425); Hunan Provincial Department of natural resources geological exploration project (2023ZRBSHZ056); The First National Natural Disaster Comprehensive Risk Survey in Hunan Province (2022–70).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, China

    Siyu Chen, Hang Lin, Xing Zhang & Chaoyi Yang

  2. China Railway 5 Engn Grp Co Ltd, Guizhou, 550003, China

    Ke Ou

  3. Yunnan Diqing Non-ferrous Metals Co., Ltd, Shangri-La, 674400, Yunnan, China

    Chaoyi Yang

Authors
  1. Siyu Chen
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  2. Hang Lin
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  3. Ke Ou
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  4. Xing Zhang
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Contributions

Methodology, H.L.; Validation, S.Y.C., H.L. and X.Z; Formal analysis, S.Y.C. and K.O.; Writing—original draft, S.Y.C., H.L. and C.Y.Y.; Writing—review & editing, X.Z., C.Y.Y., and K.O. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hang Lin.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Communicated by: Hassan Babaie

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Chen, S., Lin, H., Ou, K. et al. Mechanical properties and failure modes of discontinuous jointed considering water softening effects. Earth Sci Inform 18, 196 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-025-01694-3

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