Deformation characteristics of sedimentary rock due to continuous changes of moisture content in wetting process

In recent years, the number of cases where tunnels are constructed in sedimentary rock layers has increased. It is essential to investigate the deformation characteristics of sedimentary rocks for predicting tunnel deformation. The mechanical properties of sedimentary rocks are widely varied due to moisture content. The rocks are dried by tunnel excavation and wetted by groundwater gushing or backfilling. It is necessary to grasp the changes of deformation characteristics of sedimentary rocks due to moisture changes. In this study, soaking tests were conducted on Neogene period Japanese tuff sampled at Utsunomiya, Japan. In the test, the cylindrical tuff specimens are air dried by over 240 hours at first. Then the tuff specimens are taken in pure water with measuring deformations in detail. There are no effective stress increases by soaking and only uniform matric suction are acted on the specimen without any restraints. The results demonstrated that strain tensor was reached to stable state for 2 - 3 days, and the value of the normal strain perpendicular to the bedding plane is greater than the other normal components and shear strains are also observed in both cases. Although the orientation of the maximum principal strain is in the near of the bedding orientation at the initial dry state, the orientation are suddenly rotated to the normal orientation of the bedding plane. It means that the principal orientation of anisotropy are rotated due to continuous moisture changes.