Recycle of resin-based analogue material for geo-mechanical model test

Analogue materials are widely used to simulate prototype rocks in geo-mechanical model tests. The large amounts of solid waste generated by a large-scale model test has always posed problems for studies. The re-use of analogue materials can significantly reduce the cost of geo-mechanical model tests and the resulting environmental problems. However, despite the environmental and economic benefits, there have been few reports on the re-use of analogue materials. In this work, a recycling method for a resin-based analogue material is studied experimentally. More than 300 samples were prepared and tested. By adding a certain amount of resin in solution form to the recycled material, regenerated samples with properties consistent with those of the samples prior to recycling were obtained. Based on a comparative analysis of the test data, an equation is proposed for the calculation of the appropriate amount of resin addition in the recycling process. Thus, a simple and effective recycling method is established for a resin-based analogue material. Verification was performed by independent tests on three group samples with different proportions, and the possibility of repeated recycling was also confirmed. The proposed recycling method makes the cyclic utilization of resin-based analogue material possible and is helpful for reducing the cost and pollution of geo-mechanical model tests.