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Acta Geodynamica et Geomaterialia

 
Title: THREE-DIMENSIONAL UNIAXIAL DISCRETE ELEMENT SIMULATION AND MESOSCOPIC ANALYSIS OF THERMAL DAMAGE AT HIGH TEMPERATURE IN SANDSTONE
 
Authors: Liang Guang Chuan, Zhao Qi Hua, Wang Bo, Lu Lu and Wang Shuai
 
DOI: 10.13168/AGG.2026.0017
 
Journal: Acta Geodynamica et Geomaterialia, Vol. 23, No. 2 (222), Prague 2026
 
Full Text: PDF file (1.9 MB)
 
Keywords: Sandstone, Thermal damage at high temperature, Micro-scale evolution, Crack network, Mechanical response.
 
Abstract: In view of the severe thermal hazards induced by high temperatures in deep underground engineering, a thermo-mechanical coupling model based on PFC3D is adopted to investigate the microstructural evolution and mechanical characteristics of sandstone subjected to high-temperature thermal damage. The results show that: (1) The expansion of thermally induced cracks has a threshold effect and heterogeneous characteristic. The cracking degree increased sharply in the temperature range of 800°C-1000°C. Thermally induced cracks presented a central concentration phenomenon and gradually weakened from the core region to both ends of the rock specimen; (2) The incubation stage of thermal damage was mainly dominated by local shear slip. As the temperature increased, thermal deformation triggered the widespread initiation of tensile fractures, leading to a transition of the failure mode to tensile-shear joint yield; (3) The crack network has undergone an evolutionary process from locally preferred orientation to overall randomness distribution. The comprehensive uniformity index indicates that thermal stress will drive the failure behavior of rock, prompting a transition from anisotropy to uniform disintegration; (4) Based on the three-dimensional contact microstructure diagram, it was found that heating below 400°C would promote the polarization of the force chain. Local strengthening would lead to a slight increase in uniaxial compressive strength, and the thermal damage variable value was relatively low. However, after exceeding 600 °C, the main skeleton collapsed, causing the thermal damage variable approaching 0.8.
 
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