Salt rock has been recognized as an ideal medium for energy storage or oil and gas storage because of its good creep characteristics and self-healing. Accurate characterization and prediction of the complex mechanical behaviour of salt rock is the basis for ensuring the safety of the underground space utilization project of salt caverns. Based on proposed parameters of hardening and other characteristic factors

in this study

a new creep fatigue constitutive model is developed for salt rock considering complex loading and unloading path. Based on the dislocation mechanism of salt rock deformation

hyperbolic damping elements are introduced as state variables to characterize the degree of rock hardening. The influence of loading and unloading history on the deformation behavior of salt rock is considered according to the evolution of hardening parameters. Based on the stress-strain relation of the classical Norton model

a basic mathematical relation is established for the creep fatigue constitutive model. By assuming the initial nucleation length and considering the material fracture toughness

the stress-strain relation is modified for the range of adjacent failure stage (accelerated deformation stage) based on a newly introduced crack growth factor. In this manner

the proposed model can well predict the plastic deformation characteristics under complex loading and unloading paths such as conventional creep

cyclic loading and unloading

lower limit interval cyclic loading and unloading

trapezoidal wave creep cyclic loading and unloading. The model can also better characterize the interaction between constant load creep and cyclic loading and unloading. Most of the model parameters have clear physical meanings in the new developed creep fatigue constitutive model. Parameter a represents the relation factor between stress and deformation rate in the steady-state deformation stage of salt rock

parameter b determines the relation factor in the first stage of deceleration deformation stage of salt rock

and parameters of and  represent the initial crack nucleation amount and crack growth rate factor

respectively. The  and jointly affect / modify the stress-strain relation at the critical failure stage of the model.