International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 70 (2014) 185–191

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International Journal of
Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrmms

Experimental investigation of the effect of temperature

on the mechanical behavior of Tournemire shale
M. Masri a, M. Sibai a, J.F. Shao a,n, M. Mainguy b
a
Laboratory of Mechanics of Lille, UMR8107 CNRS, University of Lille, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France
b
TOTAL Scientific and Technical Center, Pau, France

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper is devoted to the experimental investigation of the effect of temperature on the mechanical
Received 26 February 2013 behavior of a typical anisotropic clayey rock, the Tournemire shale. Hydrostatic and conventional triaxial
Received in revised form compression tests are first performed under room temperature for two principal loading orientations,
27 March 2014
respectively parallel and perpendicular to the bedding planes. The obtained results confirm an
Accepted 5 May 2014
anisotropic mechanical behavior observed by the previous works. Further, hydrostatic and triaxial
compression tests with different confining pressures are carried out under different temperatures up to
Keywords: 250 1C. With the increase of temperature, there is a significant decrease of Young's modulus and the
Anisotropic rocks compression failure strength but an increase of the overall deformability of material. The temperature
Temperature effect
change also affects the anisotropic response related to the deformation of bedding planes.
Deformation
& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Failure
Shale
Clayey rock

1. Introduction
Clayey rocks are recently extensively investigated in various
engineering contexts: geological disposal of nuclear waste, heavy
oil and shale gas exploitation, geothermal engineering, etc.
In some situations clayey rocks act as a geological barrier or cover
layer due to their low permeability. In other ones clayey rocks
constitute reservoir formations such as in shale gas production.
However, in all cases, the clayey rocks are subjected to combined
mechanical loads, changes of fluid pressure and temperature. It is
thus primordial to investigate the hydromechanical and thermo-
mechanical behaviors of such rocks in order to evaluate the
integrity and durability of structures in such complex contexts.
Due to their specific microstructure, mineralogical composition
and geological evolution history, the clayey rocks manifest aniso-
tropic mechanical, hydraulic and thermal behaviors. Due to the
presence of parallel bedding planes, the clayey rocks can be
considered as transversely isotropic materials. A number of pre-
vious experimental studies have been devoted to the characteriza-
tion of elastic, plastic and failure behaviors of various clayey rocks.
Without giving an exhaustive list of such works, some syntheses of
representative experimental data can be found in [1–4]. Uniaxial
and triaxial compression tests have generally been performed on
rock samples drilled in different orientations with respect to the
n
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jian-fu.shao@polytech-lille.fr (J.F. Shao).
bedding planes. Both elastic moduli and failure stress are affected
by the loading orientation, as well as the macroscopic failure
mode. For instance, with the loading orientation perpendicular to
the bedding planes, the material failure is related to the onset of
localized shear band passing through bedding planes while a
splitting failure mode is found when the applied stress is parallel
to the bedding planes. The minimal failure strength is generally
found when the loading orientation is around 451 and the material
failure is inherently related to the sliding of bedding planes.
Further, due to the presence of clay minerals such as smectite,
the mechanical behavior of clayey rocks is also very sensitive to
water content. A number of experimental investigations have been
conducted in order to determine mechanical behaviors of clayey
rocks under different saturations conditions for instance [5–7] just
to mention some recent works. Due to the capillary force among
other factors, the elastic modulus and failure stress generally
increase with desaturation. However, due to material heterogene-
ity and low permeability leading to a strong hydric gradient,
the drying process is also an important cause of micro-cracking.
This desiccation damage can significantly modify the permeability
and heat conductivity of rocks and then the integrity of geological
barrier and cover layer. Concerning thermal effects on mechanical
behavior, a series of experimental studies have been devoted to
clay [8], soft clayey rocks [9,10] and only very few studies to hard
clayey rocks [11,12,13]. Most of these works have focused at
the hydromechanical characterization of engineered and geologi-
cal barriers for geological disposal of nuclear waste. In general,
the plastic consolidation stress is reduced by the increase of

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2014.05.007
1365-1609/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
186 M. Masri et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 70 (2014) 185–191

temperature and this leads to a thermal plastic collapse of material temperature of 300 1C. An acquisition system and a micro-
under constant stresses. The increase of temperature can also computer were used to register the experimental data. The axial
enhance the creep deformation of clayey rocks. However, in most displacement was measured by a pair of LVDTs which were placed
previous studies, the value of temperature was often limited to locally between the bottom and upper surfaces of sample. Con-
100 1C. For some engineering applications, for instance the heavy cerning the lateral strain in transversely isotropic materials, two
oil production by the steam assisted gravity drainage technique, lateral strains should generally be measured, respectively in the
there is a need to investigate the mechanical behavior of hard parallel and perpendicular directions to the bedding planes.
clayey rocks under higher temperature [14]. The objective of the However, for the sake of simplicity and putting the emphasis on
present work is then to complete these existing investigations by the temperature effects, only the global radial strain of sample is
carrying out new laboratory tests on a typical hard clayey rock measured using a specifically designed ring. It is a circumferential
with higher values of temperature up to 250 1C. The emphasis is (circular) metal ring on which a complete strain gage bridge is
given to the characterization of thermal effects on the deformation glued. This ring is able to measure radial compaction and dilation
and compression strength behaviors in relation with its anisotro- of the sample but not able to distinguish two lateral strains in
pic structure. The experimental results expected will provide the anisotropic materials.
background for further constitutive modeling and numerical In the present work, hydrostatic tests, uniaxial compression
analysis of engineering structures. tests and triaxial compression tests were performed on the
samples of shale cored in two principal orientations. Three con-
fining pressures (5, 10 and 20 MPa) and five values of temperature
(20, 100, 150, 200 and 250 1C) were considered. For each test, the
2. Material studied and experimental procedure
sample was first heated until the desired value of temperature.
The confining pressure or hydrostatic stress was then increased
The anisotropic material studied in this work is upper Toarcian
with a constant rate of 0.573 MPa/min before the loading of axial
massive shale taken from the Tournemire site in the Massif Central
stress. Uniaxial and triaxial compression tests were performed
region of France. This is a typical clayey sedimentary rock located
under the axial strain-controlled condition with an axial strain rate
between two aquifer limestone layers and affected by faults and
of 10
6/s. As mentioned above, the shale has a very low perme-
fractures of tectonic origin. The average mineralogical composi-
ability. It is very difficult to obtain a fully saturated state. For the
tions of the shale are: 27.5% kaolinite, 16.5% illite, 19% quartz, 15%
sake of simplicity, all the tests in this work were performed on the
calcite, 2.7% chlorite, 8.3% I/S (interstratifier) and 11% others
samples with the natural saturation state without resaturation
(pyrite, siderite, feldspars, etc.). The typical values of porosity
phase. Further, all the tests were realized under pseudo drained
and density at different temperatures are presented in Table 1 [2].
condition but without controlling the evolution of pore pressure.
The initial permeability of the shale is very low and ranges
Moreover, under high temperature levels, there could be a change
from10
19 m2 to 10
21 m2 . The natural water content in the shale
in the physical state of pore water such as vaporization and related
varies from 4.5% to 8% [6]. Cubic blocks of about 40 cm were cut
impacts on the mechanical behavior of the shale. These aspects are
from the experimental gallery of the Tournemire underground
not studied in the present work which is limited to the analysis of
research laboratory. In order to avoid the modification of the water
global behavior of the shale under different values of temperature.
content and keep the shale in the state as close as possible to that
in situ, the shale blocks from the site were covered by a waterproof
coating (Rubson) until preparation of samples in the laboratory.
All the tests presented in this paper were performed on
3. Main results and discussions
cylindrical samples with 37 mm in diameter and 74 mm in height.
The samples were bored with air pressure from the cubic blocks
3.1. Hydrostatic compression tests
and prepared with caution to reduce the disturbance of the
material. The emphasis of this work is put on the temperature
Hydrostatic compression tests are generally used to identify the
effects on the mechanical behavior of shale; only two groups of
anisotropic behavior of Tournemire shale. Such tests are ideally
samples are considered and they are respectively bored in the
conducted on cubic sample allowing the determination of three
perpendicular and parallel directions to the bedding planes of
principal strains regarding the structural framework of rock.
the shale.
However, for the sake of simplicity, only cylindrical samples drilled
The mechanical tests were carried out in a home-designed high
in the perpendicular orientation were tested. Therefore, the axial
pressure autonomous triaxial cell with a self-compensated axial
strain indicates the deformation in the direction perpendicular to
piston. This cell is composed of three independent pressure
the bedding planes. The evolutions of axial and radial strains
chambers. A lower chamber is used to apply the confining
versus confining stress are shown in Fig. 1 for five values of
pressure. The axial stress or displacement is generated with the
temperature. It clearly observed that the axial strain is much
help of an independent upper pressure chamber. A third pressure
greater than the radial strain. Considering that the axial strain is in
chamber is designed to compensate the effect of confining
the perpendicular direction to bedding planes while the radial one
pressure on the axial stress. This cell was designed to perform
in the parallel direction. This result confirms that the shale
hydrostatic, uniaxial and triaxial tests under different tempera-
presents a transversely isotropic property of deformation. The
tures. For this purpose, the cell is equipped with a temperature-
axial strain is clearly nonlinear due to the progressive closure of
controlled heating collar which can provide a maximal
bedding planes. Concerning the thermal effects, the deformation
of shale in both orientations is enhanced by the temperature
Table 1
increase. This heating-induced volumetric compaction has also
Porosity and density of shale at different temperatures [6].
been observed on clays and other clayey rocks [8–10]. It seems
Temperature (1C) Porosity (%) Density (g=cm3 ) that there is a reduction of plastic consolidation stress threshold
by the increase of temperature. Further, we compared the axial
65 8.35 2.72 strain obtained in the present work under room temperature with
80 8.53 2.73
150 13.7 2.76
that reported in [2] on a cubic sample and found a good
concordance between two series of tests.
 M. Masri et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 70 (2014) 185–191 187

Hydrostatic stress (MPa) 70 Deviatoric stress Pc=5 MPa

(MPa)
20
60
σ1
50 σ3 σ3
15
axial (20 C°) 40

radial (20 C°)

axial (100 C°) 30
10
radial (100 C°) T=20 C°
axial (150 C°) 20
T=100 C°
σ1 radial (150 C°) T=150 C°

5 σ3 σ3 axial (200 C°) 10 T=200 C°

radial (200 C°) Radial strain Axial strain T=250 C°
axial (250 C°) 0
-0.01 -0.005 0 0.005 0.01 0.015
radial (250C°)
Strains
0 Fig. 3. Stress–strain curves during triaxial compression tests with θ¼ 901 and
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 5 MPa confining pressure and with different values of temperature.

Fig. 1. Axial and radial strains during hydrostatic compression tests on perpendi-
90 Deviatoric stress Pc=10 MPa
cular samples under different temperatures.
(MPa)
80
50 Deviatoric stress Pc=0 MPa
T=20 C° (MPa) 70 σ1
T=100 C°
σ3 σ3
T=150 C° 40 σ1 60

T=200 C° σ3 σ3 50
T=250 C°
30 40
T=20 C°
30 T=100 C°

20 T=150 C°
20
T=200 C°
10 T=250 C°
10 Radial strain Axial strain
0
-0.01 -0.005 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02
Radial strain Axial strain
0 Fig. 4. Stress–strain curves during triaxial compression tests with θ¼ 901 and
-0.006 -0.004 -0.002 0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 10 MPa confining pressure and with different values of temperature.
Fig. 2. Stress–strain curves during uniaxial compression tests with θ¼ 901 and
different values of temperature. 100 Deviatoric stress Pc=20 MPa
(MPa)
90

3.2. Uniaxial and triaxial compression tests 80

70 σ1
These tests were also conducted on cylindrical samples drilled 60 σ3 σ3
in two principal orientations, respectively parallel and perpendi-
cular to the bedding planes. Let θ be the angle between the axial 50

stress and the bedding planes. In Fig. 2, we present the stress– 40

T=20 C°
strain curves obtained from the uniaxial compression tests for the 30
perpendicular direction (θ ¼90o) and under five values of tem-
T=100 C°
20 T=150 C°
perature. Typically, one observes an elastic brittle behavior of shale T=200 C°
with a sharp post-peak softening response occurred at small 10
T=250 C°
Radial strain Axial strain
axial strains. However, the mechanical behavior of shale becomes 0
-0.01 -0.005 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02
slightly more ductile under higher values of temperature.
The strains obtained at peak stress are significantly increased Fig. 5. Stress–strain curves during triaxial compression tests with θ¼ 901 and
while there is a drastic diminution of peak stress. As in hydrostatic 20 MPa confining pressure and with different values of temperature.
compression tests, the heating process enhances the deformation
of shale in particular in the perpendicular direction to bedding direction can be formulated regarding the thermal effects. On the
planes. In Figs. 3 to 5, we show the experimental results obtained other hand, through the comparison of results between two
from triaxial compression tests respectively with 5, 10 and 20 MPa loading orientations, the anisotropic behavior of shale is once
confining pressures, for the same loading orientation and same more observed. The axial strains for θ ¼90o are systematically
values of temperature. Again, one can observe a significant greater than those for θ ¼ 01 at a same value of stress. This
influence of heating process on the mechanical behavior of shale. difference can be mainly attributed to the compressibility of
The heating leads to a significant diminution of the mechanical bedding planes of the shale. The volumetric deformation of the
compression strength but enhances the deformability and ductility shale is also analyzed. Under low temperatures (less than 150 1C),
of shale. Further, in a more classical way, the mechanical behavior the shale exhibits a clear contractance–dilatancy transition and
of shale is affected by confining pressure. the dilatancy is more important when the confining pressure is
The experimental results obtained from uniaxial and triaxial lower. The increase of temperature enhances the deformability
compression tests on samples in the parallel direction are shown and contractance of the shale. Further, the volumetric dilatancy
in Figs. 6 to 9. Similar remarks as those for the perpendicular of the shale also depends on the temperature. In Figs. 10 and 11,
188 M. Masri et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 70 (2014) 185–191

45 Deviatoric stress Deviatoric stress

Pc=0 MPa (MPa)
(MPa)
100
40 T=20 C°
90
T=100 C°
35
T=150 C° 80
σ1 Pc=20 MPa

30 T=200 C°
70 σ1
T=250 C° σ3 σ3
60 σ3 σ3
25
50
20
40 T=20 C°
15 T=100 C°
30
T=150 C°
10 20 T=200 C°
T=250 C°
10
5 Radial strain Axial strain
Radial strain Axial strain 0
0 -0.01 -0.005 0 0.005 0.01 0.015
-0.002 -0.001 0 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007
Fig. 9. Stress–strain curves during triaxial compression tests with θ¼ 01 and
Fig. 6. Stress–strain curves during uniaxial compression tests with θ¼ 901 and 20 MPa confining pressure and with different values of temperature.
different values of temperature.

Deviatoric
Deviatoric stress stress (MPa) T=200 C°
(MPa) Pc=5 MPa 60
60

σ1 50
50
σ3 σ3

40 σ1
40
T=20 C°
σ3 σ3
T=100 C° 30
30 T=150 C°
T=200 C°
20
T=250 C° Pc=5 MPa
20 Pc=10 MPa
10 Pc=20 MPa
10 Volumetric strain
0
Radial strain Axial strain -0.0005 0 0.0005 0.001
0
-0.01 -0.005 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 Fig. 10. Volumetric strains during triaxial compression tests with different confin-
ing pressures for θ¼ 01and 200 1C.
Fig. 7. Stress–strain curves during triaxial compression tests with θ ¼01 and 5 MPa
confining pressure and with different values of temperature.

Deviatoric stress 60
T=20 C° (MPa) Pc=10 MPa
Deviatoric
T=100 C° stress (MPa)
90 T=200°C
T=150 C° σ1 50
T=200 C° 80
σ3 σ3
T=250 C°
70 σ1
40
60 σ3 σ3
50
30
40
Pc=5 MPa
30
20 Pc=10 MPa
20 Pc=20 MPa
10
Radial strain Axial strain 10
0
-0.02 -0.015 -0.01 -0.005 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 Volumetric strain
0
Fig. 8. Stress–strain curves during triaxial compression tests with θ¼01 and 0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025 0.003
10 MPa confining pressure and with different values of temperature.
Fig. 11. Volumetric strains during triaxial compression tests with different confin-
ing pressures for θ¼ 901 and 200 1C.
we show the volumetric strains versus deviatoric stress in the
various triaxial compression tests performed in two loading volumetric strains are observed due to the expansion of bedding
orientations at 200 1C. It is observed that the volumetric dilatancy planes. In Figs. 12 and 13, we show some examples of tested shale
of the shale is enhanced in the samples in the parallel orientation samples from uniaxial and triaxial compression tests in two
(θ ¼0o). Indeed, in this orientation, there could be an expansion of loading directions. In general, a brittle splitting failure is observed
bedding planes due to deviatoric stress while in the orientation in uniaxial compression tests and in triaxial compression tests
θ ¼90o the bedding planes are closed leading to a large compres- under low confining pressures. In triaxial tests, the material failure
sive axial strain. Such a consequence of bedding planes deforma- is characterized by a localized shear band whose inclination
tion is also observed at the temperature of 250 1C (not shown increases with confining pressure. Further, for triaxial tests per-
here). As a difference, for θ ¼90o, the total volumetric strain of formed in the perpendicular loading orientation, the failure mode
shale remains in contractance for all confining pressures at 200 1C seems to be more complex and can be characterized by multiple
(and at 250 1C, not shown here) while for θ ¼0o, dilatant fractures and highly compaction zones.
 M. Masri et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 70 (2014) 185–191 189

In order to further examine the temperature effects on Table 2

mechanical behavior of shale, we present the experimental values Experimental values of compression strength for different confining pressures and
temperatures.
of peak stress obtained in uniaxial and triaxial compression tests
in Table 2 for five values of temperature and four values of T (1C) Pc (MPa) Peak deviatoric stress (MPa)
confining pressure. Note that we compared the failure stresses at
20 1C obtained in the present work with those given in [2], and we θ¼ 01 θ¼ 901
have observed a good accordance between two series of tests.
20 0 39.67 44.02
As an illustration, in Fig. 14, we show the failure surfaces (lines) in 5 58.04 57.63
the classical p–q plane based on the experimental values of peak 10 76.84 76.15
stress obtained in triaxial compression tests performed under 20 91.08 86.76
different temperatures in the perpendicular direction. It is seen 100 0 35.41 40.43
5 53.26 53.91
that the failures surfaces are nonlinear with a strong dependency
10 73.36 72.33
on mean stress. This nonlinearity is further enhanced by the 20 88.32 84.63
increase of temperature. The shale presents a very low intrinsic 150 0 30.97 32.34
cohesion. There is a significant diminution of frictional coefficient 5 46.34 46.01
(variable slope of failure surface) due to the increase of tempera- 10 67.61 67.91
20 79.51 79.58
ture. The similar results can be observed in the parallel loading 200 0 24.79 26.33
orientation (not shown here). Further, the compressive strength in 5 37.29 33.56
the parallel direction is close to that in the perpendicular direction, 10 48.43 46.01
as observed in many previous works. According to the previous 20 55.66 52.88
250 0 17.85 21.49
5 24.82 28.53
10 35.66 37.69
20 39.97 43.09

100 Deviatoric stress

(MPa)
90

80

70
σ1
60
σ3 σ3
50

40
T=20 C°
30 T=100 C°

20 T=150 C°
T=200 C°
10 T=250 C°
Mean stress (MPa)
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Fig. 12. Examples of tested shale samples from uniaxial and triaxial compression
tests in parallel direction (the numbers denote loading orientation angle, confining Fig. 14. Failure surface in p–q plane obtained for loading orientation θ¼ 901 and at
pressure and temperature). different values of temperature.

Fig. 13. Examples of tested shale samples from uniaxial and triaxial compression tests in perpendicular direction (the numbers denote loading orientation angle, confining
pressure and temperature).
190 M. Masri et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 70 (2014) 185–191

Young's 0.35
16000
modulus (MPa)
Poisson's Ratio σ1
14000 σ3 σ3
0.3
σ1
12000
σ3 σ3 0.25
10000
0.2
8000
T=20 C°
T=100 C° 0.15
6000
T=150 C° T=20 C°
4000 T=200 C° 0.1 T=100 C°
T=250 C° T=150 C°
2000 0.05 T=200 C°
Confining pressure (MPa) T=250 C°
0 Confining pressure (MPa)
0 5 10 15 20 25 0
0 5 10 15 20
Fig. 15. Variation of axial Young's modulus versus confining pressure for different
Fig. 17. Variation of Poisson's ratio versus confining pressure for different values
values of the temperature and with loading orientation θ¼ 901.
of temperature in loading orientation θ¼ 901.

Young's perpendicular direction to bedding planes. Two lateral strains

36000 modulus (MPa) should be measured, for instance, using two pairs of strain gages
32000 glued on the lateral surface of sample respectively in the parallel
and perpendicular directions to bedding planes. The anisotropic
28000
σ1 Poisson's ratios of Tournemire shale at room temperature were
24000 σ3 σ3 studied by [2]. In the present work, only the global radial strain is
measured using the circular (circumferential) ring and it is not
20000
possible to distinguish the two lateral strains. Therefore, only the
16000 T=20 C° variation of Poisson's ratio in the tests performed in the perpen-
12000 T=100 C° dicular direction is discussed. In Fig. 17, the evolutions of Poisson's
T=150 C° ratio are also shown for the perpendicular direction. Poisson's
8000 T=200 C° ratio of shale decreases with confining pressure but increases with
4000 T=250 C° heating process. Similar results are also found for the parallel
confining pressure (MPa) direction.
0
0 5 10 15 20 25

Fig. 16. Variation of axial Young's modulus versus confining pressure for different
4. Conclusions
values of the temperature and with loading orientation θ¼ 01.

The effects of temperature on the mechanical behavior of

studies on the Tournemire shale [1,2], it was observed that the
minimal failure strength was found for loading orientations
between 301 and 601. To complete, the effects of temperature
on the elastic behavior are discussed. The elastic behavior of
material should be determined from unloading–reloading cycles.
The anisotropic elastic behavior of Tournemire shale at room
temperature was investigated in [1,2]. In the present work, only
monotonic tests were conducted. Therefore, we have studied the
elastic behavior of shale under different values of temperature
only on the initial linear parts of stress–strain curves. For this
purpose, we have determined Young's modulus from the tangent
slope of the initial linear part of axial strain curve obtained in a
triaxial compression test. In Figs. 15 and 16, we show the evolution
of Young's modulus versus confining pressure for the different
values of temperature. One can see that Young's modulus sig-
nificantly increases with confining pressure and decreases with
heating process. There is a strong anisotropy of Young's modulus
which is much higher in the parallel direction than in the
perpendicular one. This difference is related to the compaction
deformation of bedding planes. However, Young's modulus is
more sensitive to confining pressure in the parallel direction than
in the perpendicular one due to a stronger effect of confining
pressure on the deformation of bedding planes for the parallel
direction. Finally, we have also determined Poisson's ratio which is
calculated as the ratio between the radial and axial strains during
the initial linear parts of stress–strain curves in triaxial compres-
sion tests. Note that for a transversely isotropic rock, two values of
Poisson's ratio should be determined. This can be done from a
triaxial compression test performed on a sample drilled in the
Tournemire shale have been investigated through a series of
hydrostatic, uniaxial and triaxial compression tests. As the pursuit
of the previous investigations on the same material [2,7], only two
loading orientations have been considered respectively parallel
and perpendicular to bedding planes. The results obtained,
together with those reported by the previous works confirm that
the shale presents a transversely isotropic elastoplastic behavior
and a strong dependency on confining pressure. The anisotropic
mechanical behavior is inherently affected by the local deforma-
tion of bedding planes. As a consequence, Young's modulus in the
parallel direction is higher than that in the perpendicular one
while being more sensitive to confining pressure. The material
failure mode is also influenced by the compaction and expansion
of bedding planes leading to a more pronounced transition from
brittle to ductile behavior in the parallel direction. As a new result
of the present work, the mechanical behavior of the shale is
significantly affected by the variation of temperature. With
the increase of temperature, there is a diminution of Young's
modulus, an increase of Poisson's ratio and a decrease of compres-
sion strength through the diminution of frictional coefficient.
The increase of temperature enhances the deformability and
ductility of shale as well as the nonlinearity of failure surface.
The experimental results obtained in this work provide an inter-
esting background for numerical modeling of thermo-mechanical
behavior of anisotropic clayey rocks. The macroscopic investiga-
tions of the present work could be completed with microstructural
analyses on the relevant mechanisms related to the effects of
temperature on the mechanical behavior of clayey rocks. Finally,
the effects related to the change of physical state of pore water
 M. Masri et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 70 (2014) 185–191
under high levels of temperature were not investigated in this
work and should be considered in future studies.
Acknowledgment
The present work was partially supported by TOTAL and NSFC
grant n111272114 to JF Shao.
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