Volumetric and shear processes in crystalline rock approaching faulting.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the approach to faulting in continental rocks is critical for identifying processes leading to fracturing in geomaterials and the preparation process of large earthquakes. In situ dynamic X-ray imaging and digital volume correlation analysis of a crystalline rock core, under a constant confining pressure of 25 MPa, are used to elucidate the initiation, growth, and coalescence of microfractures leading to macroscopic failure as the axial compressive stress is increased. Following an initial elastic deformation, microfractures develop in the solid, and with increasing differential stress, the damage pervades the rock volume. The creation of new microfractures is accompanied by propagation, opening, and closing of existing microfractures, leading to the emergence of damage indic

SUBMITTER: Renard F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6697813 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature