RockMechanics as a Multtdisciplinary Soence,Roegiers (ed.

)
1991 Balkema, Rotterdam. ISBN90 6191 194 X

Fracture spacing, density, anddistribution in layered rockmasses: Results froma newexperimental technique
H.Wu & D. D. Pollard

Department ofApplied EarthSciences, Stanford University, Calif.

ABSTRACT: The evolution of fracture patterns has been studied in a series of experiments underdisplacement boundary conditions with a new technique in which a thin brittle lacquer layer is applied to a PMMA sheet. The effects of time, strain magnitude,strainrate, straincycling and layer thickness were investigated. Six basic parameters recorded duringeachexperiment werenumber of cracks, average length,total length, spacing,spatialdensity,and propagation velocity. Our resultsdocumenthow these parameters evolveasthe fracturesetdevelops underthe differentstrainhistories.
1 INTRODUCTION

The purposes of thisstudyare:(1) to developmethods for forecasting fracturegeometry for applications in fracturedoil and gasreservoirs and fracturedrock wasteisolation problems; and (2) to understand the rock fractureprocess'and the evolutionof fracture patterns for application in geological problems. We believethat thesesimulations of cracking maybe appropriate to thegrowth of natural joint sets andthus makeit possible to observe the wholeprocess of evolution of a joint set. Geologists havereported systematic relationships between fracture spacing andbed thickness in layeredrock masses (Pollardand Aydin 1988), but the explanations for

theserelationships are not entirelysatisfactory. To help understand the process of fracture generation in layered materials we haveconducted a series of experiements under uniaxialstrain with a newtechnique. The advantages of thenewtechnique include: (1) noprecast cracks arenecessary; (2) properties of thesample areapproximately thesame; (3) thickness of thebrittlelayercan be adjusted arbitrarily withincertain limitations; (4) the strain field in the coating is approximately uniform; (5) cracking is stable andeasily controlled, soall details of the cracking canberecorded by a videoor stillcamera; and(6) preparatory workfor each
experiment is masonably simple.

As preliminary results we present therelationships among thickness andnumber of cracks, length, spacing, andspatial density (Underwood 1972). These crack geometric
parameters aredescribed asfunctions of strainmagnitude, strainrate,time andnumber

of cycles for the same thickness. In thispaper, we reporton a systematic study of a

singlesetof cracks. 2 EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE

In order to understand the fracurebehaviourof brittle layeredmaterialswe have conducted a seriesof fractureexperiments with a brittle coating, the ST-65F/18C
stresscoat produced by Electrix Industries, Inc., P.O.Box J, RoundLake, IL60073.
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displacement control

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--1 (PMMA) , 31.4cm 1

(a) (b)

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Time = 0
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Figure 2. The effect of time.

1176

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erge ength
Total length

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150

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Time (mln)

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0.0

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; 2

: 4

.... 6

10

12

o
(J)

4'o

8)

60

lOO

(1) Length of cracks (mm)

Time (rain)

Figure 2. Theeffect of time. Constant strain = 3.34x10 -3 andthickness = 0.187ram.

(a-d) crack patternsfor the times of 0, 5, 20, and 120 minutes.(e) Number of cracks, average length, and total length. (f) Average spacing. (g) Spatial density. (h) Distributionof crackswith different lengths,0-1, 1-2.... 7-8ram. The five bars are for the five different times. (i) Propagation velocitiesvs. lengthof cracksfor the intervals of 0-5, 5-20, 20-40, and40-120 minutes.O) Averagevelocityfor all cracks vs. time.

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2.1 Properties of thecxpcrimcntal materials

Theexperimental material, thebrittle coating, is sensitive to a verysmall strain of about 500 fora thickness of 0.1mm.Thecracked coating layer which covers theloaded test partindicates clearly thedirections of both principal strains bytheorientation of cracks andtheamount of stxain by crack density (DallyandRiley 1978). In order to knowand
controlthedeformation of thecoating, we usedthePMMA (Polymethyl methacrylate,

plexiglas, or acrylic)sheet to txansmit strain to thecoating in an areaof 10 x 10cm

(Figure la).

A boundary element analysis showed thatthecross-shaped outline (Figurela) is the bestfor uniformsixess distribution in thecentersquare area. For thisshape we applied 16, 32, and 160 elements on the four boundaries with the uniformnormalsixess of 4.0 units.Withinthecoating areathedifference of stress betweenanytwopoints is smaller
than2% for the 32-elementboundary.

To geta smooth layerof thecoating andavoidbubbles andflaws,we used a syringe to spread theliquidbrittlecoating intothecoating areasurrounded by a square frame. Theprocedure should be asquickaspossible, otherwise theliquidwill become dense andnoteasilyflow to forma well-distributed surface. After spreading, it takes 24 hours for dryingat a roomtemperature of 22.5C andthentheproperties of thecoating tendto
be stable.The thickness of thedry brittlecoating ranged from 0,124 to 0.249mmfor the corresponding liquidcoating of 4 to 8 cc at 22.5oc. For a thickeror thinner layerthe coating is toosensitive or wouldcrackspontaneously during drying. Reported values for thetensile strength, elongation, Young's modulus andPoisson's ratio of PMMA are 70MPa, 4%, 2,800MPa, and 0.35 (Montella 1985). The reported Poisson's ratio for the brittlecoating is about0.42 (Dally andRiley 1978). The Young's moduli of the PMMA and the coatingtestedin our laboratoryare 3,100MPa and

12,600MPa. Thetotalstxain imposed onthePMMA, 1.33x10 -3to 2.66x10 -3,is much smaller than itselastic yieldstrain of 2.0x10 -2. Thefracture toughness of thePMMA
sheet wasnotreached andthemaximum uniaxialstress wasmuchsmaller thanits yield strengh. Beforethebrittlecoating cracks, thestrain fieldsin bothmaterials arethesame,

i.e.ebxx=ePxx and Ebyy=.Pyy, where superscripts p and b refer tothe PMMA and the
brittlecoating.The stress components in thecoating canbe writtenas

Obxx= Eb [(1-VbVp)OPxx+(Vb-Vp)Oyy]

o. byy= Ebo [(1.VbVp)OPyy+(Vb_Vp)OPxx ]

Ep(1-V' b)

(Dally and Riley 1978) where Ep, Ebare Young's moduli and Vp, Vbare Poisson's ratios
for the PMMA andthe brittlecoating.

2.2 Experimental procedure

Thetesting equipment isa computer-servocontrolled biaxial testing machine which can beused toimpose different strain histories. Thedisplacements of thehydraulic actuators
aremonitored, butmore importantly thedisplacement between twopoints onthePMMA thatstraddles thecoating area is measured by a displacement lansducer (Figure la). The

crack pattern in thecoating was recorded bya 35mm camera. Because thecracks are not
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easilyvisible,a 500w tungsten light was usedto producea set of reflectionsfrom the cracksurfaces on onesideof theuansparent PMMA sheet andthe.pattern of cracks were recorded on the otherside(Figure lb). The photographed crackpatterns are distorted due to the photo angle (Figure lb). After digitizing the relative positionand length of each crack the geometrieswere corrected for thisdistortion.A few cracks initiatedastheresultof edgeeffectsfrom the left or right edge of the coatingand were not includedin the data. We estimatethe measurement precision for totallengthof cracks at about2%.
3 RESULTS 3.1 Constant strain

thickness of coating of 0.187min. Thecrack pattern for 0, 5, 20, and120 minutes were recorded andthe dataare shown in Figures 2a-d. After the6th minuteonly about20 new cracks appeared and20 pairsof cracks joinedtogether, sothe totalnumber is little changed (Figure 2e). The average andtotallengths of cracks increased very quickly withinthefarst 40 minutes andthentended notto increase much. Spacing decreases quickly at thebeginning, then moves slowly (Figure 2f). Spatial density increases butat a decreasing rate(Figure 2g). Thedistribution of cracks withdifferent lengths (Figure
2h) shows a systematic change with time. For the shorter cracks,0-1ram for instance, theirnumber decreases with time;for thelongercracks, 6-7ram,theirnumber increases; and for the medium length, 3-4mm, their numberincreases farstand then decreases.

Thetotal constant uniaxial strain, 3.34x10 -3,wasapplied for 120minutes using a

Withincreasing time, cracks become longer even though theuniaxial stress in thecoating
drops continuously. Figure2i shows propagation velocity vs. lengthof cracks for the five intervals of 0-5, 5-20, 20-40, 40-120minutes.With increasing time velocity decreases veryquickly. At a giventimelonger cracks propagate morequicklythan shorter cracks. The average velocity for all cracks (Figure 2j) is function of timewith a negative exponent. After30 minutes, average velocity drops toless than 5%of itsinitial
3.2 Strain magnitude

value.

If the longitudinal strain exceeds thecriticalvaluefor the coating, the total strain magnitude plays animportant rolein propagation. Fourdifferent strain magnitudes, 1.89, 2.38,2.85,and3.34x10 -3were applied withthesame strain rateof 8.88x10-S/sec. increase exponentially withincreasing strain magnitude, except spacing which islinear in

Thethickness of thecoating is0.187mm. Theresults show that thecrack parameters

strain magnitude (Figures 3a-c).Figure 3dshows that withincreasing strain, notonly long cracks, but also short cracks increase innumber. Most longer cracks are originally fromgroups of enechelon flaws and isolated flaws extend veryslowly.Theangle between aline through the centers ofenechelon cracks and the direction ofapplied strain
increases withincreasing strain magnitude.
3.3 Strain rate

Five strain rates,8.88x10 -7, x10 -6, x10-5,x10-4,x10-3/sec, areconsidered with the
thecrackparameters vs. logarithmic strain rate. The totalnumber of cracks increases

same total strain of3.55x10 -3,and acoating thickness of0.187mm. Figures 4a-c show

farst and then decreases withincreasing strain rate(Figure 4a). Forthelowest ratemost
ratenumber of cracks, on thecontary, is smaller thanthatfor a lower strain rate. The

cracks areshort, onlyabout 0.Smm, andthemaximum is 5mm, Forthehighest rate most cracks arebetween 8-13mm and themaximum is 47mm.Forthisgreatest strain

reason isthat, fora higher strain rate,propagation of cracks is sofastthat some flaws
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100'

(a)

Strain (xO.001)

(b)

Strain (xO.001)

0.4'

0.3

, 0.2
..,,

300 [] 1.887exp oo1[] P'J3.34Oexp(-3)

12.37Sexp(-3)

[] 2.SSlexp (-3)

0.(

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6 7 8

(c)

Strain (xO.001)

(d) Lengthof cracks(mm)

Figure 3. Theeffect of strain magnitude. Strains = 1.89, 2.38, 2.85, and 3.34x10 -3,
strain rate = 8.88x10-5/sec, andthickness = 0.187min. (a) Numberof cracks, average

length, andtotallength.(b) Average spacing. (c) Spatial density. (d) Distribution of

differentstrainmagnitudes.

crackswith differentlengths,0-1, 1-2.... 8-9min. The four bars are for the four

0-

Tota

/"
-5 -4

length
-3 -2

(a)

log(strain rate)

(b)

log(strain rate)

Figure4. The effectof strain rate.

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S.SSexp(-) S.SSexp(-$) 12 S.SSexp(-4)

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-7

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10

(c)

log(strain rate)

(d) ength of cracks(ram)

Figure4. The effectof strain rate. Strain rates = 8.88x10 -7, 10-6, 10-5, 10 -4, and 10-3

/see, strain = 3.55x10-3, and thickness -- 0.187mm. (a) Number of cracks, average
length, andtotallength.(b) Average spacing.(c) Spatial density.(d) Distribution of
cracks with different lengths,0-1, 1-2.... 9-10mm. The five bars are for the five
different strain rates.

]]//'Avernge length

,c:

Number cracb
-

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-

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(a)

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40

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umber of cycles

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0.5

lg
g 80
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Cycles
1
8

(c)

Numberof cycles

(d) Length of'crack (ram)

Figure 5. Theeffect of strain cycling.Strain = 2.66x10 -3,number of cycles = 100,

strain rate = 8.88x10-5/sec, and thickness --0.187mm. (a)Number ofcracks, average

length, andtotallength.(b) Average spacing. (c) Spatial density.(d) Distribution of
differentcycles.

cracks withdifferent lengths, 0-1, 1-2 .... 7-8min. Theeightbars arefor theeight
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can not develop, especially those adjacent tolonger cracks (Segall and Pollard 1983). On theotherhand, many cracksjoin together. The distribution of cracklengths (Figure 4d) shows thatthepeakvalues in thelengths of 0-1, 0-1, 1-2, 1-2,and5-6mm
for thefive ratestendto the greater lengths with strain rate. 3.4 Straincycling

A total strain of 2.66x10 -3was applied ata strain rate of 8.88x10-5/sec for 100cycles to
a coating with thickness of 0.187min.The number of cracks decreases slightly after5 cycles dueto linkage (Figure 5a). Average spacing tends notto change much after60 cycles, although average andtotallengthstill increase (Figures 5a,b). Spatial density increases andseems to be goingup after 100cycles (Figure5c). Duringcycling, short cracks became longer andalmost nonewcracks appeared, so,withincreasing cycles, the
number of short cracks decreases andthenumber of longercracks increases (Figure5d). The propagation velocityfor all cracks decreases from0.341ram/cycle for thefirstfive cyclesto 0.031mm/cycle for cycles10-20in average.For cycles80-100 it drops to 0.007ram/cycle. We alsoconducted cyclicexperiments with differentstrain magnitudes
and strain rates.
3.5 Thickness

We haveconducted 15 experiments for five differentthicknesses: 0.124, 0.156, 0.187,

0.218,and 0.249mm (4-8cc liquid coating) under thesame totalstrain of 3.55x10 -3and thestrain rateof 8.88x10-5/sec. Themean values of thecrack parameters at themiddle
rangeof thickness havelinear relationsto thickness (Figures6a-d). Number of cracks, totallength,andspatial density decrease with increasing thickness. Averagespacing and spacing/thickness increase f'u'st andthendecrease slightly(Figures 6c ande). The results for the thickness of 0.124mm,are not consistent because of the difficultyof spreading the coatinguniformlyfor sucha thin layer. The averageresultsfor a distribution of

cracks with differntlengths (Figure60 showthatfor a thinner layer,cracks arelonger andmoreabundant. It should benotethatfor thinner layers therearemoreopportunities for cracklinkageandshielding of shorter cracks.
4 CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION

Fracturespacing, density,anddistribution in layeredmaterials are shoen to be functions

of time (under constant strain),strainmagnitude, strain rate,cycling,andthickness of thelayer. These factors playdifferent rolesin controlling theultimate fracture pattern andtherelated crack parameters. The systematic relationships we havefound suggest it is possible to forecast the loadingor deformation histories of a fractured rock mass in termsof theexisting patterns. 1. Undera constant strain,although few new cracks appear aftera certain duration, average andtotallengths of cracks increase andthelonger cracks develop more quickly than theshorter. Thepropagation velocity andspacing decrease sharply withtime. 2. Spacing decreases linearly withstrain magnitude andother crack parameters, such asnumber of cracks, length, and spatial density increase exponentially.

3. Increased strain ratetends to induce crack propagation andincreases length and

number ofcracks. Butforthehigher rate of 10-3/sec, cracks propagate sofast that some of them jointogether andsome areshielded bythelonger cracks andcannotdevelop.
As a result, the number of cracks is less than that of a lower rate. The strain rate for

natural geological processes ranges from10 -12to 10-15/sec (Cosfin 1987). Evenfor engineering problems it is much smaller than thattested in laboratory by2-4 orders of magnitude. The fracture of brittlerocks depends strongly on strain rateandthe difference between nature and laboratory fractures cannot beneglected. 4. Forstrain cycling, crack lengths increase rapidly upto about 100cycles whereas
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1200

20O 3

(a)

Thickness (x0.0311mm)

(b)

Thickness (x0.0311mm)

15

0.7'
0.6'

Mean value
(c) Thickness (x0.0311mm)

0.4.

.... o.3.

o.1.

(d)

Thickness (x0.0311mm)

g: 5o

Mean
o...,

value

2OO t Thicknes (ram) 2OO 1[ . ..156

0.124

4o*
30'

:.p .

_[] I

[] 0.218

0.187
"

' :ill !ii0..249

= '
o

!i: ":" ;:!'

10

(e)

Thickness

(x0.0311mm)

(f)

Lengthof cracks(ram)

Figure 6. Theeffect of thecoating thickness. Thicknesses -- 0.124,0.156,0.187, 0.218, and 0.249mm, strain = 3.55x10-3, and strain rate= 8.88x10-5/sec. (a) Number
of cracks.. (b) Total length. (c) Average spacing. (d) Spatial density. (e)
9min. The five bars are for the five different thicknesses.

Spacing/thickness. (f) Distribution of cracks withdifferent lengths, 0-1, 1-2 .... 8-

1183

numberof cracksdecreases slightlydueto linkage. The crackpropagation for thelonger cracks are faster than that of the shorter on average. After the first severalcycles, thevelocitydecreases veryquickly. The fatiqueeffectof cyclicloading or straining on crackparameters is alsocontrolled by bothstrainmagnitude andstrain rate(Prost1988). In engineeringproblems, the foundations of dams, slopesof open pit mines, and underground tunnelsor chambers are often subjectto cyclic loadingor straining. In nature,surface textures onjoints thatrepresent temperary arrestandminitiation(Pollard andAydin 1988) suggests cyclicloading or straining throughout geologic history. 5. With the rangetested, thickness vs. crackparameters showapproximately linear relationships. For a thin layer, cracks are more abundant andlonger. A thinnerlayer undera higherstrain magnitude contains morecracks thatarelonger.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research was supported by the Department of Energyunderthe grantDE-FG0389ER14081-A001. The authors extend their sincere thanks to Andrew Thomas for his

helpat thebeginning of theirwork.

REFERENCES

Costin,L.S. 1987. Time-dependent deformation andfailure. Fracture Mechanics of Rock.In B.K. Atldnson(eds.),p.167-216,Academic Press. Dally, J.W. andW.F. Riley 1978.Experimental stress analysis.McGraw-HillBook Company,p.571. Montella,R. 1985. Plastics in architecture a guideto acrylicandpolycabonate.
Marcel Dekker, Inc.

Pollard, D.D. andA. Aydin 1988. Progress in understanding jointing overthepast

century. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 100:1181-1204.

Prost, G.L. 1988. Jointing at rockcontacts in cyclicloading, Int. J. RockMech.Min.

Sci. and Geomech.Abstr., 25(5):263-272.

Segall,P. andD.D. Pollard 1983. Jointformation in granitic rockof theSierraNevada,

Geol. S0c. Am. Bull., 94:563-575.

Underwood, E.E. 1972. Themathematical foundations of quantitative stereology. Stemology andQuantitative Metallography, STP504, American Society forTesting
Materials,p.3-38.

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