Experimental study on mechanical properties of granite after freeze–thaw cycling

It is important to understand the effect of freeze–thaw cycles on the mechanical properties of rocks. In this paper, the variation of the uniaxial compressive strength, peak strain, elastic modulus and stress–strain curves of granite subjected to freeze–thaw cycles with different heating temperatures were studied experimentally and the relationships were derived. As the number of freeze–thaw cycles increases, the compressive strength and elastic modulus decrease, while the peak strain decreases. In addition, an increased temperature increases the peak strain while decreasing the compressive strength and elastic modulus. An expression for the initial damage for the adopted rock material due to freeze–thaw cycling was proposed based on the Loland model. The current research has established a solid foundation for further experimental studies on the fatigue behavior of granite after freeze–thaw cycling.