Blow-up Modes in Fracture of Rock Samples and Earth’s Crust Elements

Abstract

It is well known that the final stage of macroscopic fracture develops as a catastrophe in a superfast blow-up mode. However, the specific features of this stage are well studied only on large scales of earthquakes. Of particular interest for fracture prediction are both the stage of superfast catastrophic fracture and the mechanical behavior of the medium in the state of self-organized criticality prior to transition of fracture to the blow-up mode in order to reveal precursors of fracture transition to the catastrophic stage. This paper studies experimentally and theoretically the mechanical behavior of the medium prior to the catastrophic stage and transition to the blow-up mode. Rock samples (marble and artificial marble) were tested in three-point bending and uniaxial compression tests. The lateral surface velocities of loaded samples were recorded using a laser Doppler vibrometer. The recording frequency in measurements was 48 kHz, and the determination accuracy of the velocity amplitude was 0.1 μm/s. The estimated duration of the blow-up fracture stage is 10–20 ms. The mechanical behavior of samples in the experimental conditions, including the catastrophic fracture stage, is simulated numerically. The damage accumulation model parameters are determined from a comparison with the experimental data. Certain features of the mechanical response prior to catastrophic fracture are revealed which can be interpreted as fracture precursors.