Numerical Simulation of the Effect of Loading Angle on Initial Cracks Position Point: Application to the Brazilian Test

The Brazilian Test is the most used test to determine the indirect tensile strength for brittle materials like concrete. It has been observed that the success of the test depends on the cracks initiation point position and therefore the arch loading angle; a crack appears in the center of the disk when the test is valid. To this effect, using Fast Lagrangian of Continua code FLAC2D; numerical analyses were performed to study the impact of the arch loading angle on the initial crack’s position in a 70 mm diameter Brazilian disk of concrete and mortar under loading arch 2α which varies from 5–45°. The distribution of stresses and the tensile strength at the center of the Brazilian disk obtained numerically was closely similar to analytical and experimental existing solutions. The results showed that to obtain a meaningful and validated test with the most accurate indirect tensile strength, it is recommended to take a loading arch 2α ≥ 20° for the concrete and 2α ≥ 10° for the mortar.

Numerical Investigation on Crack Propagation for a Central Cracked Brazilian Disk Concerning Friction

This paper concerns the effect of friction on crack propagation for the centrally cracked Brazilian disk under diametric forces by using a modified finite element method. It shows that the mode II stress intensity factor decreases obviously with the increase of friction after the crack is closed, while friction has no influence on the stress intensity factor of mode I and T-stress. Meanwhile, there are some significant influences on the crack propagation due to the change of the friction after the crack is closed with the appropriate loading angle and relative length of the crack. When T-stress is positive, the effect of friction becomes obvious and the crack propagation angle increases with a lager friction coefficient. With increasing the friction, the deviation for the crack propagation trajectory increases and the curvature of path decreases, which may lead to the change of crack type. Additionally, the larger relative crack length can amplify the effect of friction, which is similar to the loading angle.

In-plane and out-of-plane shear fracture toughness of rocks

<p><span>Rocks in the subsurface are exposed to high amount of confinement which can potentially suppress the formation or the development of tensile-based cracks and thus, give rise to shear-based fracture growth. However, measuring the shear fracture toughness of rocks have been studied less in the literature, as providing the required confinement to force the shear fracturing precede tensile fracturing is not an easy task. In the current study, two new tests namely the double-edge notched Brazilian disk (DNBD) and the axially double-edge notched Brazilian disk (ANBD) are proposed to measure the in-plane (true mode II) and the out-of-plane (true mode III) shear fracture toughness of rocks, </span><span>K</span><sub><span>IIc </span></sub><span>and </span><span>K</span><sub><span>IIIc</span></sub><span>, respectively. We use the term </span><span>true </span><span>to emphasis that not only sustains the crack shear loading, but also the type of fracturing is shear-based. Finite element method is used to study the variations of stress field around the crack tip in these tests and to prove the applicability of the tests in providing mode II and mode III loading conditions. It is argued that both tests are straightforward and have several advantages compared to the existing ones. The effectiveness of the tests is empirically corroborated by conducting some experiments on Bedretto Granite. The pulverized surface of fracture in both the tests denotes the existence of friction which indicate the shear-based nature of fracture. Finally, the measured values of </span><span>K</span><sub><span>IIc </span></sub><span>and </span><span>K</span><sub><span>IIIc </span></sub><span>for Bedretto granite are compared to each other and to the reported values of </span><span>K</span><sub><span>Ic </span></sub><span>in the literature. It is shown that </span><span>K</span><span>IIc </span><span>and </span><span>K</span><span>IIIc </span><span>values are close to each other while both are more than two times greater than </span><span>K</span><span>Ic</span><span>.</span></p>