Experimental Study on Mechanical Properties and Failure Mechanism of Damaged Sandstone

Solid materials such as rocks can contain primary defects, and internal defects are activated in the event of mining disturbance, which causes rock damage and destruction. Therefore, it is of great significance for rock engineering to study the mechanical properties and failure mechanism of damaged rock. In this study, damaged prefabricated crack sandstone specimens were prepared with the cyclic loading-unloading test, and the uniaxial loading test was carried out with damaged specimens. The evolution law of peak strength, elastic modulus, and peak strain of specimens with different damage degrees was studied, the quantitative relationship between the P-wave velocity and the damage degree was obtained, and the acoustic emission (AE) count and energy evolution characteristics of specimens with different damage degrees were analyzed. The energy evolution law of damaged specimens was revealed, and with the increase in damage degree, the elastic energy stored in the specimens can be converted into crack propagation more quickly, and the dissipated energy density increases rapidly, resulting in complete rock failure. The research results can provide theoretical support for the stability analysis and control of underground engineering rock mass in the event of multiple disturbances.