Investigation into the time-dependent mechanical behavior of pre-stressed anchor bolts and fractured rock specimens under synchronized tensile loads

Pre-stressed anchor bolts serve as an effective means to reinforce fractured rock masses. The long-term efficacy of their anchoring function significantly impacts the safety throughout the entire lifecycle of rock engineering projects. Over time, fractured rock masses undergo creep deformation, which interacts synergistically with the time-dependent changes in the pre-stress of anchor bolts. In this work, we conduct uniaxial tensile tests and tensile creep tests on fractured rock specimens anchored by pre-stressed bolts, analyzing the coordinated deformation between the pre-stressed anchor bolts and the fractured specimens. Firstly, conventional uniaxial tensile tests were conducted on the pre-stressed anchorage specimen. The study found that the tensile strength of the anchored specimens was significantly higher than that of the unanchored specimens. Additionally, the ability of the specimens to withstand tensile stresses and deformation improved as pre-stress increased. Secondly, uniaxial tensile creep tests were conducted on the prestressed anchored specimens. The results indicate that, as the stress level increases, the creep strain continues to increase. The application of prestress can effectively limit the tensile deformation of the specimen and delay its damage time. The greater the pre-stress, the smaller the instantaneous strain and creep strain rate during the graded loading test. Finally, based on the synergistic deformation of pre-stressed anchor bolts and the creeping rock mass, we establish a constitutive model reflecting the creep properties of fractured rock mass and derive a theoretical viscoelastic creep formula for anchored rock mass under uniaxial tension. Comparing the creep model with the test results shows that this model is highly applicable and accurate in verifying the tensile creep deformation of prestressed anchorage specimens.