Influence of constrained conditions on the character of deformation and fracture of block media under shear loads

We investigate some mechanisms of the response, including fracture, of block geomedia to nonequiaxial compression in shear by the movable cellular automaton method. For a characteristic of the degree of nonequiaxiality it is proposed to use a dimensionless parameter which, according to calculations, is efficiently applicable to determine the deformation mode of a medium under constrained shear conditions. It is shown that increasing the compressive stress in the shear direction shortens the stage of quasiplastic deformation of a geomedium and decreases its shear strength. This is because mesoscale mechanisms of interblock discontinuity assume a leading part in the deformation and fracture of the geomedium with increasing the degree of constraint. The effect shows up, among other things, as an increase in effective dilatation rate of the shear zone due to the change of lower-scale deformation mechanisms for mechanisms of higher structural levels.