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Geomechanics and Engineering
  Volume 35, Number 4, November25 2023 , pages 333-366
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/gae.2023.35.4.333
 


A review of experimental and numerical studies on crack growth behaviour in rocks with pre-existing flaws
G. Sivakumar and V.B. Maji

 
Abstract
    Rock as a mass generally exhibits discontinuities, commonly witnessed in rock slopes and underground structures like tunnels, rock pillars etc. When these discontinuities experiences loading, a new crack emerges from them which later propagates to a macro scale level of failure. The failure pattern is often influenced by the nature of discontinuity, geometry and loading conditions. The study of crack growth in rocks, namely its initiation and propagation, plays an important role in defining the true strength of rock and corresponding failure patterns. Many researchers have considered the length of the discontinuity to be fully persistent on rock or rock-like specimens by both experimental and numerical methods. However, only during recent decades, there has been a substantial growth in research interest with non-persistent discontinuities where the crack growth and its propagation phenomenon were found to be much more complex than persistent ones. The non-persistence fractures surface is generally considered to be open and closed. Compared to open flaws, there is a difference in crack growth behaviour in closed or narrow flaws due to the effect of surface closure between them. The present paper reviews the literature that has contributed towards studying the crack growth behaviour and its failure characteristics on both open and narrow flaws subjected to uniaxial and biaxial compression loading conditions.
 
Key Words
    biaxial compression; non-persistent discontinuity; pre-existing flaw; uniaxial compression
 
Address
G. Sivakumar: Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jammu, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir 181221, India
V.B. Maji: Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600036, India
 

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