Strength of Fractured Rocks

TL;DR

This study models the strength of pre-fractured rocks using a 2D fiber bundle approach, analyzing how initial fractures influence failure behavior and the distribution of fracture lengths under load.

Contribution

It introduces a lattice-based fiber bundle model to simulate fractured rocks and examines the impact of initial fractures on overall strength and failure patterns.

Findings

Fracture length distribution follows a specific statistical pattern.

Pre-existing fractures significantly reduce the load-bearing capacity.

Horizontal failure connects the sides of the lattice, indicating system-wide rupture.

Abstract

In this report we present a study on the strength of rocks which are partially fractured from before. We have considered a two dimensional case of a rock in the form of a lattice structure. The fiber bundle model is used for modelling the $2-D$ rock. Each lattice site is considered to be a fiber which has a breaking threshold. Fractures in this system will be of the form a cluster of sites and the length is defined as the number of sites belonging to a single cluster. We introduce fractures in the system initially and apply load until the rock breaks. The breaking of a rock is characterized by a horizontal fracture which connects the left side of the lattice to the right side. The length distribution and the strength of such systems have been measured.