ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The characterization of the complicated processes of rock deformation and failure has become the most fundamental matter when attempting to solve rock-engineering problems. Theoretical and laboratory experimental studies have indicated that energy plays an important role during rock deformation and failure. A series of uniaxial cyclic compression tests were conducted and the results were analyzed in order to discover the rule of energy conversion during the entire process from initial loading to ultimate breaking. Two kinds of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the deformation and failure of rocks-energy dissipation and energy release. A damage evolution equation was derived based on an analysis of energy dissipation and it has been validated to be quite consistent with experimental results. From the viewpoint of mechanics, rock deformation and failure is a process from partial damage to local fracture and eventually to overall collapse. From the viewpoint of thermodynamics, such a deformation and failure process is an irreversible process which involves energy dissipation and energy release.
