Investigation on Crack Coalescence Behaviors for Granite Containing Two Flaws Induced by Cyclic Freeze-Thaw and Uniaxial Deformation in Beizhan Iron Mining, Xinjing, China

This work is aimed at investigating the effect of freeze-thaw (F-T) cycle on the crack coalescence behavior for granite samples containing two unparallel flaws under uniaxial compression. The flaw geometry in the samples was a combination of an upper inclined flaw with a horizontal flaw underneath. After the uniaxial compression experiments, macroscopic crack pattern description and the mesoscopic posttest CT imaging were used to reveal the effects of F-T cycle on the crack coalescence morphology at the rock bridge area. Results show that the stress–strain curves present a fluctuating growth trend and stress drop phenomenon becomes weaker with increasing F-T cycles. In addition, three different kinds of cracks (tensile-wing cracks, oblique shear cracks, and antiwing cracks) were observed, and the crack coalescence pattern was influenced by the F-T cycles and approach angle. A mix of tensile and shear failure occurs for the sample subjected to weak F-T treatment, and simple tensile failure occurs for the sample subjected to high F-T treatment. Moreover, CT imaging reveals a crack network pattern at the rock bridge area, and it is found that the fracture degree deceases with increasing F-T cycles and increases with the increasing approach angle. It suggests that the rock bridge area can be easily fractured for the sample subjected to high F-T cycles. Results of this study can provide theoretical foundation for the instability predication of fractured rock structures in cold regions.