Experimental Study on Conductivity Anisotropy of Limestone Considering the Bedding Directional Effect in the Whole Process of Uniaxial Compression

Experimental studies were conducted on the changes of the potential differences in different directions during the uniaxial compression on limestone samples parallel and normal to the bedding plane. In the test, electric current was supplied at both ends of the samples, and concurrent measurement was conducted in four measuring lines at a 45-degree angle to each other. First, the change laws of the potential differences in different directions and the similarities and differences of rock samples were summarized. In regards to the uniaxial compression properties and crack growth, the above-mentioned similarities and differences were further analyzed. Then, the anisotropy factor was introduced to further explore the response characteristics. It was found that the anisotropic changes of rock samples went through three stages during the uniaxial compression process, providing a reference for describing the properties in different failure stages of rock samples and obtaining precursory information about the fracture. Besides, the relationship between the peak stress and initial potential difference in a direction normal to the current direction was obtained by means of data fitting, providing a new method of predicting the uniaxial compressive strength of rock samples. According to the preceding analysis, this paper studied rock anisotropy by considering the bedding directional effect in terms of conductivity and provided a reference for subsequent study on rock materials’ properties and engineering practices.