Cracking mechanism of rock by pressure pulses

Based on the exploding fracturing principle, an experimental device on rock fracturing was developed to study the rock cracking mechanism by pressure pulses. According to the laws of energy and momentum conservation, the calculation models of the peak pressure and the pressurization rate were presented, which were revised by the 16 times steel core experiments and the models precision were proved for the average relative deviations between the experimental results and the calculated results were 2.56% and 4.04% separately. The calculation models can guide the experiment. Thirty nine times experiments on rock cracking show that shock energy and pressurization rates are the main factors influencing the status of rock cracking and the foremost factor affecting the fracture number is the pressurization rate, which there is an apparent critical pressurization rate. The precise correlation of the fracture number was regressively analyzed by using the gray relational theory and the multivariate second-degree polynomial method on the experiment results. The study is important for the design and application of the explosive fracturing technology in the oil and gas field.