Physical and mechanical behaviors of a thermal-damaged coarse marble under uniaxial compression

• Thermal damage has a great effect on physical and mechanical properties of the rock specimen.
• With increasing temperature, the non-linearity in the initial deformation stage is gradually enhanced.
• The stress–strain curves can be well simulated using a phenomenological model.

Temperature is an important factor that influences physical and mechanical properties of rocks. This paper studies the physical and mechanical behaviors of a thermal-damaged coarse marble in uniaxial compression tests. Specimens are heated to 200, 400, and 600 °C and then cooled down to room temperature (25 °C) for testing. When the specimens are exposed to high temperatures, their color changes significantly and many microcracks are generated in the specimens. As the applied temperature increases, the longitudinal wave velocity, uniaxial compressive strength, and Young's modulus decrease gradually and the peak strain that corresponds to the peak strength increases. With the increase of temperature, the non-linearity in the initial deformation stage is enhanced and the stress–strain behavior changes from brittle to ductile. The complete stress–strain curves of the thermal-damaged coarse marble are then simulated using a phenomenological model. It is found that the simulated stress–strain curves are in good agreement with the test results.