Experimental and numerical investigation of laser-induced rock damage and the implications for laser-assisted rock cutting

High-energy laser technology is expected to be applied into deep drilling and tunnel excavation due to its attractive prospects for enhanced hard rock breakage. However, there is still a lack of proper experimental methods and numerical tools to quantitatively evaluate the influence of laser radiation on rock fracture. Combined with our specially designed experimental tests, this work aims to provide a numerical tool to quantitatively...