Abstract
The fracture characters are important index to study the strength and deformation behavior of rock mass in rock engineering. In order to investigate the influencing mechanism of loading conditions on the strength and macro-mesoscopic fracture character of rock material, pre-cracked granite specimens are prepared to conduct a series of uniaxial compression experiments. For parts of the experiments, stress relaxation tests of different durations are also conducted during the uniaxial loading process. Furthermore, the stereomicroscope is adopted to observe the microstructure of the crack surfaces of the specimens. The experimental results indicate that the crack surfaces show several typical fracture characters in accordance with loading conditions. In detail, some cleavage fracture can be observed under conventional uniaxial compression and the fractured surface is relatively rough, whereas as stress relaxation tests are attached, relative slip trace appears between the crack faces and some shear fracture starts to come into being. Besides, the crack faces tend to become smoother and typical terrace structures can be observed in local areas. Combining the macroscopic failure pattern of the specimens, it can be deduced that the duration time for the stress relaxation test contributes to the improvement of the elastic–plastic strain range as well as the axial peak strength for the studied material. Moreover, the derived conclusion is also consistent with the experimental and analytical solution for the pre-peak stage of the rock material. The present work may provide some primary understanding about the strength character and fracture mechanism of hard rock under different engineering environments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bieniawski ZT (1967) Mechanism of Brittle Fracture of Rock: Part II—Experimental Studies. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci Geomech Abstr 4(4):407–423
Blair SC, Cook NGW (1998) Analysis of compressive fracture in rock statistical techniques: part I. A non-linear rule-based model. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 35(7):837–848
Brace WF, Paulding BW, Scholz C (1966) Dilatancy in the fracture of crystalline rocks. J Geophys Res 71:3939–3953
Chiaia B, Vervuurt A, Van Mier JGM (1997) Lattice model evaluation of progressive failure in disordered particle composites. Eng Fract Mech 57(2–3):301–318
Cristofolini L (2015) Overview of digital image correlation. In: Alessandro F, Giorgio O, Luca C (eds) Experimental stress analysis for materials and structures, vol 4. Springer series solid and structural mechanics, Switzerland, pp 187–213
Denys K, Coppietersa S, Seefeldtb M, Debruynea D (2016) Multi-DIC setup for the identification of a 3D anisotropic yield surface of thick high strength steel using a double perforated specimen. Mech Mater 100:96–108
Feng XT, Chen SL, Zhou H (2004) Real-time computerized tomography (CT) experiments on sandstone damage evolution during triaxial compression with chemical corrosion. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 41(2):181–192
Gdoutos EE (2005) Fracture mechanics. Solid mechanics and its applications, Springer, Dordrecht, Holland, pp 15–56
Grady DE, Kipp ME (1979) The micromechanics of impact fracture of rock. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci Geomech Abstr 16(5):293–302
Haeri H (2015) Crack analysis of pre-cracked brittle specimens under biaxial compression. J Min Sci 51(6):1091–1100
Hallbauer DK, Wagner H, Cook NGW (1973) Some observations concerning the microscopic and mechanical behaviour of quartzite specimens in stiff, triaxial compression tests. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci Geomech Abstr 10(6):713–726
Hazzard JF, Young RP, Maxwell SC (2000) Micromechanical modeling of cracking and failure in brittle rocks. J Geophys Res 105(B7):16683–16697
Hoek E, Bieniawski ZT (1965) Brittle fracture propagation in rock under compression. Int J Fract 1(3):137–155
Horii H, Nemat-Nasser S (1985) Compression-induced microcrack growth in brittle solids: axial splitting and shear failure. J Geophys Res 90(NB4):3105–3125
Hudson JA, Brown ET, Fairhurst C (1971) Optimizing the control of rock failure in servo-controlled laboratory tests. Rock Mech 3:217–224
Hull D (1999) Fractography: observing, measuring and interpreting fracture surface topography. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Kawamoto T, Ichikawa Y, Kyoya T (1988) Deformation and fracturing behaviour of discontinuous rock mass and damage mechanics theory. Int J Numer Anal Methods Geomech 12(1):1–30
Labuz JF, Biolzi L (2007) Experiments with rock: remarks on strength and stability issues. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 44:525–537
Lee CA, Cundall PA, Potyondy DO (1996) Modeling rock using bonded assemblies of circular particles. In: Proceedings of 2nd North American rock mechanics symposium
Liang CY, Wu SR, Li X, Xin P (2015) Effects of strain rate on fracture characteristics and mesoscopic failure mechanisms of granite. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 76:146–154
Liu HY, Lv SR, Zhang LM, Yuan XP (2015) A dynamic damage constitutive model for a rock mass with persistent joints. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 75:132–139
Martin CD, Chandler NA (1994) The progressive fracture of Lac du Bonnet granite. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci Geomech Abstr 31:643–659
Munoz H, Taheri A, Chanda EK (2016a) Pre-peak and post-peak rock strain characteristics during uniaxial compression by 3D digital image correlation. Rock Mech Rock Eng 49:2541–2554
Munoz H, Taheri A, Chanda E (2016b) Fracture energy-based brittleness index development and brittleness quantification by pre-peak strength parameters in rock uniaxial compression. Rock Mech Rock Eng 49:4587–4606
Rao QH, Sun ZQ, Wang GY, Xu JC, Zhang JY (2001) Microscopic characteristics of different fracture modes of brittle rock. J Cent South Univ Technol 8(3):175–179
Taylor LM, Chen EP, Kuszmaul JS (1986) Microcrack induced damage accumulation in brittle rock under dynamic loading. Comput Meth Appl Mech Eng 55(3):301–320
Van Mier JGM (1997) Fracture processes of concrete: assessment of material parameters for fracture models. CRC Press Inc, Boca Raton
Vasconcelos G, Lourenço P, Alves C, Pamplona J (2009) Compressive behavior of granite: experimental approach. J Mater Civil Eng 21:502–511
Wang Y, Li X, Zhang B, Wu YF (2014) Meso-damage cracking characteristics analysis for rock and soil aggregate with CT test. Sci China Technol Sci 57(7):1361–1371
Wawersik WR, Fairhurst C (1970) Study of brittle rock fracture in laboratory compression experiments. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci Geomech Abstr 7:561–575
Yang HQ, Zhou XP (2010) Experimental investigation of damage evolution of Huanglong limestone under uniaxial compression. China Civil Eng J 43(5):117–123
Yang G, Cai Z, Zhang X, Fu D (2015) An experimental investigation on the damage of granite under uniaxial tension by using a digital image correlation method. Opt Laser Eng 73:46–52
Yang SQ, Ju Y, Gao F, Gui YL (2016) Strength, deformability and X-ray micro-CT observations of deeply buried marble under different confining pressures. Rock Mech Rock Eng 49:4227–4244
Yang HQ, Liu JF, Zhou XP (2017) Effects of the loading and unloading conditions on the stress relaxation behavior of pre-cracked granite. Rock Mech Rock Eng 50(5):1157–1169
Zhang QB, Zhao J (2013) Effect of loading rate on fracture toughness and failure micromechanisms in marble. Eng Fract Mech 102:288–309
Zhang ZX, Kou SQ, Jiang LG, Lindqvist PA (2000) Effects of loading rate on rock fracture: fracture characteristics and energy partitioning. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 37:745–762
Zhao C, Yu ZM, Wang WD, Matsuda H, Morita C (2016) Meso-experimental study of failure mechanism of rock based on uniaxial compression test. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 35(12):2490–2498
Acknowledgements
The financial support from the fundamental research funds for the Natural Science Fund of China (No. 51409026), the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, No. 2014CB046903) and the general project of Chongqing Foundation (cstc2017shmsA30017) is greatly appreciated.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, J., Yang, H., Xiao, Y. et al. Macro-mesoscopic Fracture and Strength Character of Pre-cracked Granite Under Stress Relaxation Condition. Rock Mech Rock Eng 51, 1401–1412 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-018-1399-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-018-1399-z