Cracking behavior of rock containing non-persistent joints with various joints inclinations

Non-persistent joints are commonly observed in the rock mass, and play a significant role in the stability of rock engineering. A detailed understanding of the cracking process is critical for the evaluation and control of the stability of surrounding rock. Using a three-dimensional Particle Flow Code (PFC), the influence of the joints inclination on the mechanical behavior and the associated cracking process and displacement field of specimens containing non-persistent joints were investigated in this study. First, the micro parameters used in the PFC3D model were calibrated based on the mechanical properties of the experimental material. Next, cubical specimens containing 9 non-persistent joints were created using the particle deletion method. The results of the simulated compressive experiment show that different joints inclinations result in variations in the mechanical properties and failure modes of specimens containing non-persistent joints. The internal fracture patterns in PFC3D were compared with that of the reconstructed model from X-ray CT scanning. Finally, further detailed research on the cracking process and displacement field mode were conducted to reveal the failure mechanism of specimens containing non-persistent joints with various joints inclinations.