Rockburst is one of the major geological hazards in the construction of deep-buried and high-geotemperature tunnels. Using triaxial compression tests and acoustic emission (AE) techniques, this paper conducts a preliminary exploratory investigation on the deformation and failure characteristics, mechanical parameters, acoustic emission responses and energy evolution laws of typical rockburst-prone rocks under confining pressures of 10–30 MPa and temperatures of 100–250 °C. The results show that within the research scope, sandstone exhibits brittle characteristics including compaction, linear elasticity, crack initiation and propagation, stable crack propagation stage, accelerated crack propagation stage, and stress drop stage. Within a certain range, peak strength and damage strength increase with the rise in confining pressure and temperature. The elastic modulus increases with rising confining pressure. The damage point may be the critical point of energy conversion and acoustic emission activity. After damage, the work done by external forces is mainly converted into dissipated energy. With the intensification of surrounding rock damage, the ratio of elastic strain energy to total energy gradually decreases, while the ratio of dissipated energy to total energy gradually increases. Acoustic emission activity increases significantly at the damage point and reaches its peak at the peak strength. The cumulative acoustic emission ring count and cumulative energy increase slowly before the peak and grow rapidly after the peak. Under thermo-mechanical action, new cracks in sandstone preferentially initiate along grain boundaries, and the inconsistent deformation between grains will promote the formation of transgranular cracks. The connection, convergence and final penetration of cracks lead to sample failure. The elevation of temperature and confining pressure can enhance the bearing capacity of sandstone, indicating that a high-temperature and high-stress environment may be conducive to the occurrence of rockbursts. The research results provide scientific support for an in-depth understanding of the mechanical behavior and instability risk of rockburst in deep-buried and high-geotemperature tunnels, and can provide a theoretical basis for rockburst prevention and control of high-geotemperature tunnels of the CZ Railway.
Li et al. (Tue,) studied this question.