Investigation and modeling on fatigue damage evolution of rock as a function of logarithmic cycle

Abstract The fatigue damage behavior of granite under constant and variable amplitude loadings is studied. The experimental analysis reveals that there is a three‐stage law for the fatigue damage evolution as a function of absolute or relative cycle and the inverted‐S damage model proposed by the author, in this case, is capable of representing the damage behavior of rock. However, when the logarithmic cycle is considered, there are only two stages, i.e. steady and accelerated stages and the fatigue damage evolution greatly depends on the properties of rock and stress level. Accordingly, the fatigue damage evolution curves have been categorized into three types. Then, the effect of maximum stress, amplitude and fatigue initial damage on the damage evolution of rock is investigated. The analysis reveals that the damage evolution greatly depends on these influencing factors. The fatigue life decreases with the increase in the maximum stress, amplitude and fatigue initial damage due to the decrease in the proportion of the first stage to the whole fatigue process and the increase in the damage rate in the first stage. Meanwhile, a linear‐exponential formula is used to model the fatigue damage behavior of rock subjected to cyclic loading. This damage model is superior to the inverted‐S damage model in the convenience of establishment of critical instability point. The physical meanings of its constants have been illuminated and the applicability of this model to constant and variable amplitude cyclic loading explored. The fitting results for the test data show that this damage model can properly represent the fatigue damage behavior of rock. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.