Investigation on damage creep constitutive model of rock under the coupled effect of freeze–thaw cycles and loading.

The investigation on damage creep properties of rock under freeze–thaw conditions are essential for assessing the long‐term stability of rock mass engineering in cold regions. This research analyzed the damage characteristics of rock under the coupled effect of freeze–thaw cycles and loading; the damage variable under the coupled effect of freeze–thaw cycles and loading was proposed. A damage creep constitutive model was developed, and the determination method for the model parameters was proposed. The rationality of the model was calibrated using test data, and the calculation results of the proposed model were compared with classical Nishihara model. Additionally, the research analyzed the variation of model parameters with the number of freeze–thaw cycles and discussed the damage creep mechanisms of rock under the coupled effect of freeze–thaw cycles and loading. Highlights: The creep mechanism of rock under the coupled effect of freeze–thaw cycles and loading was proposed.The damage variable under the coupled effect of freeze–thaw cycles and loading was proposed.A damage creep constitutive model was established based on nonlinear rheological and damage theory.The variation of model parameters with the number of freeze–thaw cycles were analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]