Parameter studies on the mineral boundary strength influencing the fracturing of the crystalline rock based on a novel Grain-Based Model

•The Flat-Joint contact is incorporated into grain-based model to model the minerals.•Effects of mineral boundary properties on the crystalline rocks are investigated.•Mineral boundary stiffness controls the deformation process of crystalline rocks.•Strengthening mineral boundaries is likely to promote the generation of micro cracks. The grain-based model (GBM) in two-dimensional Particle Flow Code (PFC2D) is widely employed to investigate the mechanical response characteristics of crystalline rocks under external load considering the realistic petrographic texture. However, due to the poor self-locking effect of the Parallel-Bond (PB) inside the minerals and unreasonable parametric assignment for the Smooth-Joint (SJ) at the mineral boundaries, the original GBM cannot reproduce the exact microcracking process of brittle rocks. To solve the problem, the novel grain-based model (nGBM) composed of the Flat-Joint (FJ) and the SJ was proposed in our previous research, which not only enhances the rotational resistance of particles, but also improves the simulation of the mineral boundaries. In this study, the nGBM was carefully established and calibrated based on the properties of Alxa porphyritic granite. A series of simulation tests of uniaxial compression, triaxial compression and direct tension under different mineral boundary parametric conditions were carried out to observe the deformation, microcracking and failure behaviors of the nGBM. Quantitative analyses of the mineral boundary properties and the mechanical behaviors of the numerical specimen revealed the extremely complicated relationships between them, which can help explain the micromechanical damage process of crystalline rocks and provide valuable reference for the model calibration.