Fracture Network Localization Preceding Catastrophic Failure in Triaxial Compression Experiments on Rocks

McBeck, Jessica; Ben-Zion, Yehuda; Renard, François

doi:10.3389/feart.2021.778811

Fracture Network Localization Preceding Catastrophic Failure in Triaxial Compression Experiments on Rocks

Journal Article · Mon Nov 29 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Frontiers in Earth Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.778811· OSTI ID:1833432

McBeck, Jessica; Ben-Zion, Yehuda; Renard, François

We quantify the spatial distribution of fracture networks throughout six in situ X-ray tomography triaxial compression experiments on crystalline rocks at confining stresses of 5–35 MPa in order to quantify how fracture development controls the final macroscopic failure of the rock, a process analogous to those that control geohazards such as earthquakes and landslides. Tracking the proportion of the cumulative volume of fractures with volumes >90th percentile to the total fracture volume, $\sum v_{90} / v_{t o t}$ indicates that the fracture networks tend to increase in localization toward these largest fractures for up to 80% of the applied differential stress. The evolution of this metric also matches the evolution of the Gini coefficient, which measures the deviation of a population from uniformity. These results are consistent with observations of localizing low magnitude seismicity before large earthquakes in southern California. In both this analysis and the present work, phases of delocalization interrupt the general increase in localization preceding catastrophic failure, indicating that delocalization does not necessarily indicate a reduction of seismic hazard. However, the proportion of the maximum fracture volume to the total fracture volume does not increase monotonically. Experiments with higher confining stress tend to experience greater localization. To further quantify localization, we compare the geometry of the largest fractures, with volumes >90th percentile, to the best fit plane through these fractures immediately preceding failure. The r ² scores and the mean distance of the fractures to the plane indicate greater localization in monzonite than in granite. The smaller mean mineral diameter and lower confining stress in the granite experiments may contribute to this result. Tracking these various metrics of localization reveals a close association between macroscopic yielding and the acceleration of fracture network localization. Near yielding, $\sum v_{90} / v_{t o t}$ and the Gini coefficient increase while the mean distance to the final failure plane decreases. Macroscopic yielding thus occurs when the rate of fracture network localization increases.

View Journal Article

Research Organization:: Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0016520

OSTI ID:: 1833432

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1981067

Journal Information:: Frontiers in Earth Science, Journal Name: Frontiers in Earth Science Vol. 9; ISSN 2296-6463

Publisher:: Frontiers Media SACopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: Switzerland

Language:: English

References (56)

Dynamic fracturing by successive coseismic loadings leads to pulverization in active fault zones: PULVERIZATION BY SUCCESSIVE LOADINGS Aben, F. M.; Doan, M. -L.; Mitchell, T. M. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 121, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015jb012542	journal	April 2016
Energy budget and propagation of faults via shearing and opening using work optimization Madden, Elizabeth H.; Cooke, Michele L.; McBeck, Jessica Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 122, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017jb014237	journal	August 2017
Critical Evolution of Damage Toward System-Size Failure in Crystalline Rock Renard, François; Weiss, Jérôme; Mathiesen, Joachim Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 123, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017jb014964	journal	February 2018
Effect of width and length on stress intensity factors of internally cracked plates under various boundary conditions Isida, M. International Journal of Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 7, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00184306	journal	September 1971
Complexities of rock fracture and rock friction from deformation of Westerly granite Chen, Ganglin; Spetzler, Hartmut Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH, Vol. 140, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00876873	journal	January 1993
Characterization of Fault Zones Ben-Zion, Y.; Sammis, C. G. Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 160, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/pl00012554	journal	March 2003
Fracture in Westerly Granite under AE Feedback and Constant Strain Rate Loading: Nucleation, Quasi-static Propagation, and the Transition to Unstable Fracture Propagation Thompson, Ben D.; Young, R. Paul; Lockner, David A. Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 163, Issue 5-6 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-006-0054-x	journal	May 2006
Dynamic In Situ Three-Dimensional Imaging and Digital Volume Correlation Analysis to Quantify Strain Localization and Fracture Coalescence in Sandstone Renard, François; McBeck, Jessica; Cordonnier, Benoît Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 176, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-018-2003-x	journal	October 2018
Experimental Study of Brittle Behavior of Clay Shale in Rapid Triaxial Compression Amann, Florian; Kaiser, Peter; Button, Edward Alan Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Vol. 45, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-011-0195-9	journal	November 2011
Evaluation of Methods for Determining Crack Initiation in Compression Tests on Low-Porosity Rocks Nicksiar, Mohsen; Martin, C. D. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Vol. 45, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-012-0221-6	journal	January 2012
Cracking Processes and Coalescence Modes in Rock-Like Specimens with Two Parallel Pre-existing Cracks Zhao, Cheng; Zhou, Yi meng; Zhao, Chun feng Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Vol. 51, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-018-1525-y	journal	June 2018
Experimental Study on Damage and Fracture Characteristics of Beishan Granite Subjected to High-temperature Treatment with DIC and AE Techniques Miao, Shuting; Pan, Peng-Zhi; Zhao, Xingguang Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Vol. 54, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-020-02271-4	journal	November 2020
The failure of brittle porous solids under compressive stress states Sammis, C. G.; Ashby, M. F. Acta Metallurgica, Vol. 34, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-6160(86)90087-8	journal	March 1986
Microcracks in rocks: A review Kranz, Robert L. Tectonophysics, Vol. 100, Issue 1-3, p. 449-480 https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(83)90198-1	journal	December 1983
Characteristic features of local breakdown near a crack-tip in the transition zone from nucleation to unstable rupture during stick-slip shear failure Ohnaka, Mitiyasu; Kuwahara, Yasuto Tectonophysics, Vol. 175, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(90)90138-x	journal	March 1990
Crack growth and faulting in cylindrical specimens of chelmsford granite Peng, S.; Johnson, A. M. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-9062(72)90050-2	journal	January 1972
Development of stress-induced microcracks in Westerly Granite Tapponnier, Paul; Brace, W. F. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts, Vol. 13, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-9062(76)91937-9	journal	April 1976
Micromechanics of faulting in westerly granite Wong, T. -F. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts, Vol. 19, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-9062(82)91631-x	journal	April 1982
The role of microcracking in shear-fracture propagation in granite Moore, D. E.; Lockner, D. A. Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 17, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8141(94)e0018-t	journal	January 1995
Microscale characterization of rupture nucleation unravels precursors to faulting in rocks Renard, François; Cordonnier, Benoît; Kobchenko, Maya Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 476 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.08.002	journal	October 2017
Spatial variations of rock damage production by earthquakes in southern California Ben-Zion, Yehuda; Zaliapin, Ilya Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 512 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.02.006	journal	April 2019
Predicting the proximity to macroscopic failure using local strain populations from dynamic in situ X-ray tomography triaxial compression experiments on rocks McBeck, Jessica; Aiken, John Mark; Ben-Zion, Yehuda Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 543 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116344	journal	August 2020
A non-local visco-elastic damage model and dynamic fracturing Lyakhovsky, Vladimir; Hamiel, Yariv; Ben-Zion, Yehuda Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Vol. 59, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2011.05.016	journal	September 2011
Fault-induced perturbed stress fields and associated tensile and compressive deformation at fault tips in the ice shell of Europa: implications for fault mechanics Kattenhorn, Simon A.; Marshall, Scott T. Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 28, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2005.11.010	journal	December 2006
Characterization of strike-slip fault–splay relationships in sandstone Joussineau, Ghislain de; Mutlu, Ovunc; Aydin, Atilla Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 29, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2007.08.006	journal	November 2007
High-resolution tomography of cracks, voids and micro-structure in greywacke and limestone Zabler, S.; Rack, A.; Manke, I. Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 30, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2008.03.002	journal	July 2008
Simulating brittle fault evolution from networks of pre-existing joints within crystalline rock Moir, Heather; Lunn, Rebecca J.; Shipton, Zoe K. Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 32, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2009.08.016	journal	November 2010
Is the Earth Lazy? A review of work minimization in fault evolution Cooke, Michele L.; Madden, Elizabeth H. Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 66 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2014.05.004	journal	September 2014
The initiation of brittle faults in crystalline rock Crider, Juliet G. Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 77 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2015.05.001	journal	August 2015
The evolving energy budget of experimental faults within continental crust: Insights from in situ dynamic X-ray microtomography McBeck, Jessica; Cordonnier, Benoit; Mair, Karen Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 123 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2019.03.005	journal	June 2019
Formation of joints in cooling plutons Bergbauer, Stephan; Martel, Stephen J. Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 21, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8141(99)00082-6	journal	July 1999
Micromechanics of compressive failure and spatial evolution of anisotropic damage in Darley Dale sandstone Wu, Xiang Yang; Baud, P.; Wong, Teng-fong International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Vol. 37, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/s1365-1609(99)00093-3	journal	January 2000
Quasi-static fault growth and cracking in homogeneous brittle rock under triaxial compression using acoustic emission monitoring Lei, Xinglin; Kusunose, Kinichiro; Rao, M. V. M. S. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 105, Issue B3 https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jb900385	journal	March 2000
Dilatancy, brittle strength, and anisotropy of foliated rocks: Experimental deformation and micromechanical modeling: DILATANCY, BRITTLE STRENGTH, AND ANISOTROPY OF FOLIATED ROCKS Rawling, Geoffrey C.; Baud, Patrick; Wong, Teng-fong Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 107, Issue B10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001jb000472	journal	October 2002
Permeability-porosity relationship: A reexamination of the Kozeny-Carman equation based on a fractal pore-space geometry assumption Costa, Antonio Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005gl025134	journal	January 2006
Imaging slow failure in triaxially deformed Etna basalt using 3D acoustic-emission location and X-ray computed tomography Benson, Philip M.; Thompson, Ben D.; Meredith, Philip G. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 34, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL028721	journal	January 2007
Underthrusting-accretion cycle: Work budget as revealed by the boundary element method Del Castello, Mario; Cooke, Michele L. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 112, Issue B12 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007jb004997	journal	January 2007
Diversity of channeling flow in heterogeneous aperture distribution inferred from integrated experimental‐numerical analysis on flow through shear fracture in granite Watanabe, Noriaki; Hirano, Nobuo; Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114, Issue B4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008jb005959	journal	January 2009
Rupture Energetics in Crustal Rock From Laboratory‐Scale Seismic Tomography Aben, Franciscus M.; Brantut, Nicolas; Mitchell, Thomas M. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl083040	journal	July 2019
Dynamics of Microscale Precursors During Brittle Compressive Failure in Carrara Marble Kandula, Neelima; Cordonnier, Benoît; Boller, Elodie Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 124, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jb017381	journal	June 2019
Deformation Precursors to Catastrophic Failure in Rocks McBeck, J. A.; Aiken, J. M.; Mathiesen, J. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 47, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gl090255	journal	December 2020
Permeability porosity relationships from numerical simulations of fluid flow Dardis, Orla; McCloskey, John Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 25, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1029/98gl01061	journal	May 1998
Nucleation and growth of strike slip faults in granite Segall, Paul; Pollard, David D. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 88, Issue B1 https://doi.org/10.1029/jb088ib01p00555	journal	January 1983
Dilatancy in the fracture of crystalline rocks Brace, W. F.; Paulding, B. W.; Scholz, C. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 71, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1029/jz071i016p03939	journal	August 1966
Quasi-static fault growth and shear fracture energy in granite Lockner, D. A.; Byerlee, J. D.; Kuksenko, V. Nature, Vol. 350, Issue 6313 https://doi.org/10.1038/350039a0	journal	March 1991
Volumetric and shear processes in crystalline rock approaching faulting Renard, François; McBeck, Jessica; Kandula, Neelima Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 116, Issue 33 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1902994116	journal	August 2019
Localization and coalescence of seismicity before large earthquakes Ben-Zion, Yehuda; Zaliapin, Ilya Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 223, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggaa315	journal	June 2020
Brittle Failure in Compression: Splitting, Faulting and Brittle-Ductile Transition Horii, H.; Nemat-Nasser, S. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 319, Issue 1549 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1986.0101	journal	September 1986
A deformation rig for synchrotron microtomography studies of geomaterials under conditions down to 10 km depth in the Earth Renard, François; Cordonnier, Benoit; Dysthe, Dag K. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, Vol. 23, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1107/s1600577516008730	journal	June 2016
What allows seismic events to grow big?: Insights from b-value and fault roughness analysis in laboratory stick-slip experiments Goebel, Thomas H. W.; Kwiatek, Grzegorz; Becker, Thorsten W. Geology, Vol. 45, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1130/g39147.1	journal	July 2017
Critical evolution of damage towards system size failure in a crystalline rock Renard, Francois Norstore https://doi.org/10.11582/2017.00025	dataset	January 2017
Volumetric and shear processes in crystalline rock during the approach to faulting Renard, Francois; Oslo, University Of Archive2014 https://doi.org/10.11582/2018.00023	dataset	January 2018
X-ray tomography data of Westerley granite Renard, Francois Archive2014 https://doi.org/10.11582/2021.00002	dataset	January 2021
Measurement of Inequality of Incomes Gini, Corrado The Economic Journal, Vol. 31, Issue 121 https://doi.org/10.2307/2223319	journal	March 1921
The competition between fracture nucleation, propagation, and coalescence in dry and water-saturated crystalline rock McBeck, Jessica A.; Zhu, Wenlu; Renard, François Solid Earth, Vol. 12, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-375-2021	journal	January 2021
The influence of detachment strength on the evolving deformational energy budget of physical accretionary prisms McBeck, Jessica; Cooke, Michele; Souloumiac, Pauline Solid Earth, Vol. 9, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1421-2018	journal	January 2018

Similar Records

Poloidal rotation driven by nonlinear momentum transport in strong electrostatic turbulence

Journal Article · Wed Aug 10 20:00:00 EDT 2016 · Nuclear Fusion · OSTI ID:1290304

Phenomenological study on correlation between flow harmonics and mean transverse momentum in nuclear collisions

Journal Article · Tue Aug 09 20:00:00 EDT 2022 · SciPost Physics Proceedings · OSTI ID:1880881

Comments on one-form global symmetries and their gauging in 3d and 4d

Journal Article · Thu Mar 28 20:00:00 EDT 2019 · SciPost Physics Proceedings · OSTI ID:1504279

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
X-ray tomography
crystalline rock
fractures
localization
triaxial compression

Fracture Network Localization Preceding Catastrophic Failure in Triaxial Compression Experiments on Rocks

Citation Formats

References (56)

Similar Records

Related Subjects