DIC-Based Hydration Absorption Detection and Displacement Field Evolution of Outcrop Porous Sandstone

Abstract

In order to study the hydration absorption behaviors and characteristics of sandstone in Mogao Grottoes in China, the pressure-less hydration absorption experiment on the outcrop porous sandstone of Mogao Grottoes was carried out by using the self-developed real-time monitoring experimental system. The hydration absorption was measured and the curve of hydration absorption with time was drawn. At the same time, the digital image correlation method (DIC) was used to measure the full-field deformation, and the speckle pattern of the sample was analyzed using Match ID, and the displacement field and strain field of the sandstone sample at different hydration absorption moments were computed. Moreover, the sparse area and dense area of sandstone are used as regions of interest (ROI) for DIC analysis. According to the test results, it is concluded that the hydration absorption of sandstone increases rapidly in the initial stage, and gradually tends to be stable with the change of time. This corresponds well with the deformation characteristics of sandstone analyzed using DIC. In the initial stage, the deformation of sandstone increases rapidly. With the change in time, the deformation of sandstone samples gradually slows down. When the hydration adsorption reaches saturation, the sandstone continues to deform for a period of time before stopping hydration absorption. The results of the mercury injection test and the XRD test show that the porosity of the sparse area is larger than that of the dense area and the particle content of the dense area is lower. When the sandstone is saturated with water, the liquid is immersed in the pores between the solid particles, which makes the sparse area more prone to stress concentration, and the deformation in the sparse area is larger. Therefore, when analyzing the hydration absorption deformation of sandstone, the porosity should be considered.