Fracture of brittle rock under dynamic loading conditions
The phenomenon of fracture in rock under rapidly applied loads is a topic of great current interest and importance because of its potential utilization in energy exploration and military applications. Under dynamic tensile loads, rocks exhibit a highly inelastic brittle response. This inelastic response is due principally to the interaction and growth of microcracks (both pre-existing and nucleated during the loading process). The existence of these microcracks renders portions of the rock volume incapable of carrying load. This is reflected in the decrease of the stiffness of the material. Consequently, the dynamic fracture process in rock may be modeled as a continuous accrual of damage where the damage is defined to be the volume fraction of material that has been stress relieved by multiple crack growth. Such a model has been developed by the authors, and a brief description of the model development will be presented in this paper. Application of this model to the dynamic fracture of concrete fracture specimens and oil shale blasting operations is included to demonstrate the utility of the model. Strain softening and damage localization have been predicted by the model in the dynamic fracture of concrete specimens. For oil shale blasting operations, predicted results agree very well with experimental data from field tests.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 5615924
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-84-2583C; CONF-8506128-1; ON: DE85012596
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 4. international symposium on the fracture mechanics of ceramics, Blacksburg, VA, USA, 18 Jun 1985; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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