Particle simulation of thermally-induced rock damage with consideration of temperature-dependent elastic modulus and strength

Based on the particle simulation method, a thermo-mechanical coupling particle model is proposed for simulating thermally-induced rock damage. In this model, rock material is simulated as an assembly of particles, which are connected to each other through their bonds, in the case of simulating mechanical deformation, but connected to each other through thermal pipes in the case of simulating heat conduction. The main advantages of using this model are that: (1) microscopic parameters of this model can be directly determined from the related macroscopic ones; (2) the temperature-dependent elastic modulus and strength are considered in an explicit manner, so that thermally-induced rock damage can be realistically simulated in a thermo-mechanical coupling problem. The related simulation results from an application example have demonstrated that: (1) the proposed model can produce similar behaviors to those observed in experiments; (2) the final failure is initiated from the outer surface of the testing sample and propagates toward the borehole; (3) microscopic crack initiation and propagation processes can be reasonably simulated at the cooling stage. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.