Numerical study on failure behavior of brittle rock specimen containing pre-existing combined flaws under different confining pressure

To understand deeply the fracture mechanism of brittle rock material, the rock specimen containing combined flaws (two square holes and one pre-existing fissure) with seven different fissure angles is carried out the numerical simulation by RFPA2D. Numerically simulated results show a good agreement with the experimental results. The crack coalescence behavior of specimen containing combined flaws under uniaxial compression is summarized, which is closely dependent to fissure angle. The stable propagation of original cracks does not lead to a larger AE event, but the coalescence of new cracks causes a larger AE event. The peak strength of specimen containing combined flaws increases with the confining pressure. According to the linear Mohr–Coulomb criterion, the cohesion and internal friction angle of specimen containing combined flaws are obtained, which is found to take on a distinct nonlinear relation with the fissure angle. The accumulated AE events decreases as the confining pressure increases from 0 to 30 MPa, which results mainly from the restraining of higher confining pressures on the initiation and propagation of tensile cracks at the fissure tips and nearby double squares.