Damage-induced nonassociated inelastic flow in rock salt

The multi-mechanism deformation coupled fracture model recently developed by CHAN, et al. (1992), for describing time-dependent, pressure-sensitive inelastic flow and damage evolution in crystalline solids was evaluated against triaxial creep experiments on rock salt. Guided by experimental observations, the kinetic equation and the flow law for damage-induced inelastic flow in the model were modified to account for the development of damage and inelastic dilatation in the transient creep regime. The revised model was then utilized to obtain the creep response and damage evolution in rock salt as a function of confining pressure and stress difference. Comparison between model calculation and experiment revealed that damage-induced inelastic flow is nonassociated, dilatational, and contributes significantly to the macroscopic strain rate observed in rock salt deformed at low confining pressures. The inelastic strain rate and volumetric strain due to damage decrease with increasing confining pressures, and all are suppressed at sufficiently high confining pressures