Influences of bedding angle and soaking time on the mechanical behaviour of silty mudstone: laboratory testing and theoretical modelling

Silty mudstone is highly susceptible to the influence of hot and humid environments, leading to the deterioration of its mechanical properties presenting a geohazard and even resulting in geological disasters. Accurately characterizing the effects of bedding and water–rock interaction on the mechanical behaviour of silty mudstone is a crucial prerequisite for the protection and reinforcement of silty mudstone slopes. To this end, uniaxial compression tests and Brazilian splitting tests were conducted to examine the mechanical properties of bedded silty mudstone. Based on the test results, the effects of bedding angle and soaking time on mechanical properties such as tensile strength, uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus of bedded silty mudstone were revealed. The test results showed that the tensile strength increased exponentially with increasing bedding angle. The observed split failure patterns of bedded silty mudstone encompassed splitting–pulling damage, shear damage and splitting damage. The uniaxial compressive strength of silty mudstone exhibited a U-shaped variation with an increase in bedding angle. The specimen with a bedding angle of 45° had the lowest uniaxial compressive strength at 7.64 MPa. Furthermore, the elastic modulus of silty mudstone was positively correlated with the bedding angle. The failure patterns of bedded silty mudstone under uniaxial compression included splitting-tension damage, shear-slip damage and splitting-shear damage. The saturated tensile strength, uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus of bedded silty mudstone exhibited an exponential decrease with increasing soaking time. The test data confirmed the applicability of the Jaeger equation to the uniaxial compressive strength of bedded silty mudstone. Subsequently, a modified Hoek–Brown failure criterion was derived by combining fracture mechanics theory and test results and introducing a softening factor. The parameters A , D and m in the above failure criterion decreased exponentially with increasing soaking time and an empirical Hoek–Brown failure criterion considering the soaking time was established. Compared with previous theoretical models, this model is more adaptable to the actual engineering situation, which results in more accurate calculations.