Abstract: Various types of pore defects are formed in rocks due to natural effects and human activities, in order to investigate the mechanical properties and energy evolution of rock samples with pores under impact loads, the dynamic compression numerical simulations using the finite element software ANSYS/LS-DYNA and the Holmquist-Johnson-Cook (HJC) constitutive model were conducted. These simulations involved rock samples with varying pore areas, featuring both circular and square pores. Then, the influence of pore shape and area on the strength and deformation characteristics of rock samples is analyzed, and the characteristics of crack development in rock samples with different pore size and shape are examined. Finally, the energy conversion mechanism during the impact-induced failure for various types of rock samples is elucidated. The results show that the peak stress and elastic modulus of rock samples with pores are consistently lower than those of intact rock samples, and they decrease exponentially and linearly with the increase of pore area, respectively. Under the impact load, the cracking time of the rock sample with pores is earlier than that of the intact rock sample. The degree of fragmentation of rock samples is positively correlated with pore area. Under the same pore area, square pores had a more significant deteriorating effect on the rock samples compared to round pores. With the increase of pore area, the transmitted energy decreases gradually, and the dissipated energy increases gradually. The energy consumption density of both round and square pore samples showed a linear increase. The deterioration of the rock samples by the pores is obvious, and the deterioration of the square pores is stronger than that of the round pores, and the energy evolution law is closely related to the damage pattern. The research results of this paper can provide references for rock engineering construction and disaster prevention and mitigation under dynamic loads.