Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics Characterization of an Anisotropic Shale

Influence of coupled water and thermal treatments on the fracture characteristics of a typical sandstone

Understanding the fracture behavior of rock after coupled water and thermal environment is important for many geotechnical projects. This study examines the influence of coupled water and thermal treatments on the fracture toughness and characteristics of a typical sandstone under mode I and mode II loading conditions. Notched deep beam (NDB) specimens were utilized and subjected to soaking treatments at various water temperatures (23 °C, 60 °C, and 99 °C). The experimental results indicate a significant reduction in both mode I and mode II fracture toughness values, with reductions ranging from 15.4% to 13.2% for mode I and 26.1% to 8.9% for mode II respectively. As the water temperatures increase, a slightly rising trend is observed in both mode I and mode II fracture toughness within the examined temperature range. Sandstone specimens displayed typical brittle fracture characteristics at lower soaking temperatures. For mode I specimens, an increase in ductility was evident with higher soaking temperatures, while the ductile behavior is less pronounced in the mode II specimens. Based on the Maximum Tangential Stress (MTS) criterion and the Generalized Maximum Tangential Stress (GMTS) criterion, the predicted values of mode II fracture toughness and the fracture process zone (FPZ) were discussed. The results show that both the GMTS and MTS criteria exhibit inaccuracies in predicting the mode II fracture toughness of sandstone treated at different soaking water temperatures. However, the GMTS criterion, which incorporates T-stress, demonstrates smaller errors compared to the MTS criterion. The study shows that the radius r0 of the fracture process zone is not a constant under both mode I and mode II loading conditions. The calculation of the fracture process zone radius r0 in the GMTS criterion requires further theoretical and experimental study.

Implementation of a constitutive model for anisotropic rocks based on modified Lade failure criterion

The strength anisotropy for inherent anisotropic rocks presents a challenge to simulate considering the influence of intermediate principal stress. Based on the modified Lade failure criterion, a new anisotropic modified Lade criterion combining an empirical equation is established and verified using published experimental datasets of anisotropic rocks. The incremental constitutive model for anisotropic rocks is derived by using finite difference theory. The dynamic link library (DLL) module of the model is obtained by using the VC++ program, and then the model is validated against various laboratory test results. It is concluded that the proposed criterion and derived model can describe the strength anisotropy of inherent anisotropic rocks well.

Comparative Evaluation on the Coupled Fracture Characteristics for Longmaxi Anisotropic Shale

The shale fracture characteristics are important for realizing the complex hydraulic fracture network, predicting wellbore fracture pressure, and optimizing wellbore trajectory and the rock fragmentation efficiency. Through a three-point bending test of notched semicircular specimens of Longmaxi shale, the coupled relationship of mode-I fracture toughness (Kic), peak fracture force (Pmax), energy release rate (GI), applied work (W), and loading rate was studied by using kernel density analysis method. The results showed that the dynamic characteristics of force-displacement curve exhibited obvious loading angle dependence, including two types of the “deformation accumulation-brittleness” and “deformation accumulation-brittleness-plasticity.” The Kic and GI increased linearly with Pmax increasing. With the increasing of the loading angle, the dispersion degree of Pmax, Kic, GI, and W all increased. The GI increased nonlinearly with the increasing of Kic. With the increasing of the loading rate, the Kic basically increased linearly. The dynamic Kic under static and quasistatic conditions had strong anisotropy. At the high loading rate, the anisotropy index gradually decreased as the loading rate increasing. The results have significant implications for the design of hydraulic fracturing and the exact fracture control of Longmaxi shale.

Study on timing sequence control fracture blasting excavation of deep rock masses with filled joints

During the blasting excavation of deep underground caverns, the effects of the structural surface on crack propagation are usually considered in addition to the clamping effects of high in situ stress. Based on the notched borehole and timing sequence control (TSC) fracture blasting method, this paper studies the effects of different borehole shapes on the degree of damage of the surrounding rock and profile flatness of the rock anchor beams and the effects of different filled joint characteristics on the blasting crack propagation rules. The results show that the damage depth of the surrounding rocks by round hole smooth blasting is approximately twice that by notched hole smooth blasting, by which the profile formed is flatter. The notched primary borehole (PBH) remains a strong guidance for crack propagation in a rock mass with filled joints, while the stress concentration effects of the round target borehole (TBH) cannot fully guide the cracks until they fall within a certain distance between the PBH and TBH. It is favourable for cracks to propagate along the lines between boreholes with larger filled joint strengths and larger angles between boreholes.

Fracture Resistance Analysis of 3D-Printed Polymers

Three-dimensional (3D)-printed parts are an essential subcategory of additive manufacturing with the recent proliferation of research in this area. However, 3D-printed parts fabricated by different techniques differ in terms of microstructure and material properties. Catastrophic failures often occur due to unstable crack propagations and therefore a study of fracture behavior of 3D-printed components is a vital component of engineering design. In this paper, experimental tests and numerical studies of fracture modes are presented. A series of experiments were performed on 3D-printed nylon samples made by fused deposition modeling (FDM) and multi-jet fusion (MJF) to determine the load-carrying capacity of U-notched plates fabricated by two different 3D printing techniques. The equivalent material concept (EMC) was used in conjunction with the J-integral failure criterion to investigate the failure of the notched samples. Numerical simulations indicated that when EMC was combined with the J-integral criterion the experimental results could be predicted successfully for the 3D-printed polymer samples.

Correlational Analytical Characterization of Energy Dissipation-Liberation and Acoustic Emission during Coal and Rock Fracture Inducing by Underground Coal Excavation

This paper uses an acoustic emission (AE) test to examine the energy dissipation and liberation of coal and rock fracture due to underground coal excavation. Many dynamic failure events are frequently observed due to underground coal excavation. To establish the quantitative relationship between the dissipated energy and AE energy parameters, the coal and rock fracturing characteristics were clearly observed. A testing method to analyze the stage traits and energy release mechanism from damage to fracture of the unloading coal and rock under uniaxial compressive loading is presented. The research results showed that the relevant mechanical parameter discreteness was too large because the internal structures of the coal and rock were divided into multiple structural units (MSU) by a few main cracks. The AE test was categorized into four stages based on both the axial stress and AE event parameters: initial loading stage, elastic stage, micro-fracturing stage, and post-peak fracturing stage. The coal and rock samples exhibited minimum (maximum) U values of 60.44 J (106.41 J) and 321.19 J (820.87 J), respectively. A theoretical model of the dissipation energy during sample fracturing based on the AE event energy parameters was offered. The U decreased following an increase in ΣEAE-II/ΣEAE.