Temperature effects on the mechanical properties of slates in triaxial compression test

High geothermal temperatures appear to be unfavorable for the construction of tunnels in slate rocks with high overburden. To investigate the mechanical characteristics of slates at various levels of geothermal temperature, conventional triaxial compression tests at different levels of confining stress were carried out at 4 different temperatures from 20°C to 120°C. The obtained results show high confining pressures weaken the thermal effects on rock mechanical characteristics while higher temperatures enhance the effect of confining pressure. At higher levels of confining stress the thermal effects on the rock strength characteristics decrease. The higher the temperature, the larger is the effect of confining pressure on the mechanical characteristics of the slate. Increase of temperature leads to a decrease of the peak strength but increases the deformability and ductility of the slate, the thermo effect on the peak strength and Poisson’s ratio is larger than on the elastic modulus. Higher temperatures reduce the shear strength of slate, the decrease is mainly caused by a decrease of the cohesion. In general, the slate samples fail in shear failure.