Mechanical response and energy evolution of interbedded shales subjected to multilevel constant/increasing-amplitude cyclic loading

This study aims to investigate the effects of fatigue loading paths and interbed structure on the mechanical properties and energy evolution characteristics of shales. In the experiments, shale specimens with five types bedded angles (0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 90°) were prepared, and multilevel constant-amplitude fatigue loading test (MCFT) and multilevel variable-amplitude fatigue loading test (MVFT) were performed. Results indicated that shale's fatigue behaviors were highly affected by the bedding plane angles and the cyclic loading paths. Specifically, with the increasing of bedding angle, the peak strength, total dissipated energy, and total input energy of the shales showed a "U" trend, the ultimate macro-damage mode changed from mixed tension-shear failure to failure along the bedding planes, and the damping ratio firstly increased and then decreased. Test schemes of stepwise increase of the lower stress limit or keeping it constant were the differences between MCFT and MVFT, which significantly influenced the evolution of irreversible deformation of shales. Compared to MVFT, the shale in MCFT displayed reduction in peak strength in the range of 4.3% to 23.9%, greater and more drastic variations in elastic modulus and damping ratios, dissipative energy and elastic strain energy were relatively low by an order of magnitude.