The impact of bedding planes on microwave-induced damage in rock at the field scale: a numerical model

The feasibility of microwave heating-assisted rock breakage technology in geotechnical engineering has been widely explored. However, the limited knowledge of the impact of the contrast properties between different bedding planes and outer formation stresses limits its application at the field scale. In this work, the mechanics of mineral processing, rock breakage, and unconventional gas and oil exploitation were first characterized. A coupled model is subsequently proposed to govern the coupling process of microwave heating and induce inhomogeneous deformation and stress in various bedding planes. Three stress forms are considered in this approach: horizontal stress, normal stress, and shear stress. With the assistance of the finite element method, the stress conditions of bedding planes composed of rock under free swelling, constant stress, and constant volume were addressed. A bedding plane characterized by high microwave adsorption ability is usually compressed by a bedding plane characterized by low microwave adsorption ability. The bedding ore is under the condition of free swelling during mineral processing, whereas in the remaining two scenarios, the bedding rock is stress controlled. The tensile and compressive stresses can reach their maximum values under the condition of free swelling. The outer formation stress reduces the values of tensile and compressive stresses but has little impact on the shearing stresses. Additionally, this work provides criteria for defining an a priori evaluation of the effectiveness of microwave treatment of bedded ore and rock for different geotechnical engineering applications.