Dependence of Dynamic Tensile Strength of Longyou Sandstone on Heat-Treatment Temperature and Loading Rate

As a material for famous historical underground rock caverns, Longyou sandstone (LS) may fail under the combination of high loading rate and high temperature. The thermal damage induced by various heat-treatment temperatures (150, 250, 350, 450, 600 and 850 A degrees C) is first characterized by X-ray Micro-computed tomography (CT) method. The damage variable derived from the average CT value for heat-treated LS specimen and reference specimen without heat treatment was used to quantify the thermal damage. The dynamic tensile strengths of these LS samples under different dynamic loading rates (ranging from 24 to 540 GPa/s) were then obtained using the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system. The dynamic tensile strength of LS increases with the loading rate at a given heat-treatment temperature, and the tensile strength at the same loading rate decreases with the heat-treatment temperature except for 450 A degrees C. Based on the experimental data, an empirical equation was established to relate the dynamic tensile strength of LS to the loading rate and the heat-treatment temperature.