Modeling temperature dependence of tensile fracture strength for rocks considering phase transition and the direct effect of thermal damage

Accurately and conveniently acquiring the tensile fracture strength of rocks at different temperatures is vital no matter for the security or economical design of deep underground engineering projects. Extensive testing in the laboratory, assisted with fitting approaches, is the main method to obtain the high-temperature tensile fracture strength in the available literature. However, the high-temperature destruction test is difficult to conduct and requires numerous time and resources. In this work, considering the main physical mechanisms such as phase transition and thermal damage that affect the tensile fracture strength of rocks at high temperatures, theoretical models for predicting their temperature-dependent tensile fracture strength (TDTFS) are established based on the Force-Heat Equivalence Energy Density Principle. The presented models achieve great prediction on the different variation trends of tensile strength below and above the phase transition temperature, as well as the corresponding sudden change of strength. For rocks without phase transition, the presented model only needs some physical parameters tested at room temperature can get a good prediction capacity on the TDTFS. Moreover, a new theoretical characterization model of the equivalent thermal damage parameter was presented and take a comparison with the previous model. Finally, the potential applications and limitations of the TDTFS model are further discussed. The application threshold of the presented TDTFS models is relatively low, and they may therefore be suitable as a method for providing a rapid and preliminary evaluation of strength at a large temperature range for rock engineering.