This book presents mainly experimental studies on the mechanical behavior and damage fracture mechanism of deep rocks including sandstone, marble, mudstone and granite, combining with several advanced technologies of X-ray micro-CT and AE monitoring.
It has several unique features: 1) Investigates the influence of loading path on triaxial strength and deformation behavior of sandstone and marble; 2) Analyzes the effect of borehole size on triaxial strength and deformation behavior of hollow sandstone; 3) Explores the influence of high temperature on triaxial deformation and permeability behavior of sandstone and granite; 4) to reveal the damage fracture mechanism of deep rocks using spatial AE techniques and X-ray micro CT observations. This work will appeal to a wide readership from technicians in the field of geotechnical engineering and engineering geology to scholars carrying out research in the rock mechanics.

Prof. Dr. Sheng-Qi Yang is the vice dean of School of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology. His research interest focuses mainly on deep rock mechanics and underground engineering. He was awarded six national and provincial prizes and serves as the board members of seven international journals, e.g. "Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering", etc. He has also published about 200 papers as the first and corresponding author, in which more than 110 English papers (indexed by SCI) were published in peer-reviewed International Journals.

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Strength and failure behavior of layered sandstone under uniaxial compression and Brazilian test.- Chapter 3. Strength, deformation and damage evolution behavior of red sandstone under triaxial compression.- Chapter 4. Mechanical damage characteristics of red sandstone under triaxial cyclic loading.- Chapter 5. Strength and deformation behavior of red sandstone under simple and complex loading paths.- Chapter 6. Mechanical and fracture behaviors of yellow sandstone under triaxial monotonic and cyclic loading.- Chapter 7. Triaxial strength and deformation failure behavior of coarse marble under six different loading paths.- Chapter 8. Deformation failure characteristics of crystalline marble under triaxial cyclic loading.-  Chapter 9. Strength, deformation and fracture behavior of deeply-buried marble under different confining pressures.- Chapter 10. Mechanical behaviour and damage fracture mechanism of shale under Brazilian compression.- Chapter 11. Mechanical behavior and brittleness characteristics of Longmaxi formation shale under triaxial compression.- Chapter 12. Deformation and damage failure behaviour of mudstone under single-stage and multi-stage triaxial compression.- Chapter 13. Deformation, peak strength and crack damage behavior of hollow sandstone under conventional triaxial compression.-  Chapter 14. Fracturing mechanism of compressed hollow-cylinder sandstone evaluated by X-ray micro-CT scanning.- Chapter 15. Fracture evolution mechanism of hollow sandstone by X-ray micro-CT observations and 3-D numerical simulations.- Chapter 16. Thermal damage and uniaxial mechanical behavior of granite after exposure to different high temperature treatments.- Chapter 17. Triaxial mechanical and permeability behavior of sandstone after exposure to different high temperature treatments.- Chapter 18. Effect of high temperature on the permeability evolution and failure response of granite under triaxial compression.