Experimental investigation on the anisotropy of friction property for dry and water-saturated rock

Friction properties of rock are closely connected with the anisotropy. The anisotropy of rock friction can provide a valuable assessment for geotechnical and geological engineering. In this study, the rotary friction tests were conducted to analyze the water effect on the friction property and the friction anisotropy of the four types of rock. The drilling response model (DD-model) was employed to characterize the rotary friction behavior of the rocks. The parameters of this model include the three types of friction parameters: 1/sigma, mu, and f, where 1/sigma and mu are constant, and f is a variable. A quantitative method is proposed for assessing the anisotropy of rock friction. The results of the rotary friction tests indicate that the relation between torque force and thrust force conforms to the DD-model. The changes of two friction constants 1/sigma and mu from dry state to water-saturated state suggest that the water effect on the friction strength of the rocks exhibits significant anisotropy. The friction strength determined by the friction variable f increases first, then decreases, and finally stabilizes with the increasing of depth. AI(f) is an anisotropy index calculated by the proposed method. The percentage difference of the average value of AI(f) between water-saturated and dry states shows the degree of the water effect on the friction anisotropy of the rocks, mudstone (MU) > granite (GR) > fine sandstone (FS) > argillaceous siltstone (AS). The quantitative model is hopefully constructed for characterizing the relation between the anisotropic friction strength of rock and the moisture state in future.