Rate effect of coral reef limestone and its application in underground engineering design of reef islands
PhD student (SA-Res)
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Kai Wu |
Supervisors
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Dr Meng Qingshan(University of Chinese Academy of Sciences) | Prof Yinghui Tian | Dr Shubhrajit Maitra |
Project Start Date: September, 2020
Project Details
Coral reef limestone (CRL) is a biomass limestone formed by reef-building corals and other biological skeletons. In the freshwater underflow zone of the continental shelf, carbonate rocks primarily composed of calcite and aragonite are formed after seawater erosion, dissolution, and dolomitization. Biological and geological factors cause numerous biological pores, dissolution pores, and initial cracks inside CRL. CRL is primarily distributed in tropical and subtropical marine areas, which is an essential part of island reefs and a crucial load-bearing body for island reef engineering structures. Practical engineering involved in CRL layer includes Underground space development of reef islands, China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, and Burj Khalifa Tower, etc. The rate effect of rocks involves conventional mechanical problems under creep and quasi-static loading, which have negligible inertial effects, and non-negligible inertial effects under strain rates corresponding to conditions such as earthquakes, ocean hurricanes, blast impacts and nuclear explosion. Therefore, my work aims to utilize non-destructive testing methods such as CT scanning, high-speed cameras and acoustic emission to study the rate effect, crack initiation and propagation process, damage mechanisms of CRL under the coupling of pore structure and loading rate.