CHAPTER Mechanics of Fracturing and Faulting Theory and Experiment In this chapter, we investigate the relationship between stress and the formation of rock fractures. We wish to understand the conditions under which fractures de- velop in Earth materials as a guide to understanding how and why natural fractures and faults form. We begin with a discussion of elastic deformation, which characterizes brittle materials at stresses below those that cause fracture. In the laboratory, rock samples can be subjected to a variety of stress states that produce elastic deformation and that, if increased sufficiently, result in different types of fracturing. Data from such experiments make it possible to formulate fracture eri= teria that define both the stress state at fracture and the orientations of the fractures. Fracture criteria enable us to determine whether any given state of stress in the Earth will cause fracturing or will be stable. We next review the effects on fracture criteria of physical con- ditions such as confining pressure, pore pressure, rock anisotropy, the intermediate principal stress, and tem- perature. Finally, we consider the Griffith theory for brittle fracture, a unifying model that accounts, at the microscopic and submicroscopic level, for many of these observed effects. 165 Elastic Deformation and Experimental Fracturing of Rocks Elastic Deformation In a typical rock deformation experiment, a piece of rock! is cut into a cylinder that has a diameter ranging from less than 1 cm up to tens of centimeters, in some cases, and a length typically two to four times the di- ameter. The sample is placed between two pistons of hardened steel or similar material, which are forced together by a device such as a hydraulic ram. The applied stress changes the length, diameter, and volume of the sample. These changes are parts of the strain, which is measured by strain gauges attached to the sample. The "For many experiments, samples representing a particular rock type are selected for their fine grain size and uniform characteristics. Ex- amples of such rocks on which much experimental work has been done include the Solenhofen limestone, Yule marble, Hasmark do- lomite, Berea sandstone, Martinsburg slate, and Westerly granite. ‘The individual rocks are significant only insofar as they are repre sentative of the general rock types.primary information that such an experiment yields is the relationship between the axial force applied through the pistons and the associated change in dimensions of the sample. ‘When a material such as rock experiences a grad- ually increasing stress, the initial deformation is elastic, which means that changes in stress induce an instan- taneous change in the sample dimensions, measured by the strain, When the stress is removed, the strain com- pletely disappears. Thus the strain is recoverable. The extensional strain ¢,, or simply the extension, is one measure of the strain. It is the change in length of the sample per unit of initial length—that is, AL on Fale n= (9.1) where L is the initial length, ¢ is the deformed length, and AL is the change in length. We also express the extension as a percent change in length by multiplying én by 100. In a uniaxial state of stress, the magnitude of the clastic extension parallel to the applied stress is directly proportional to the magnitude of the stress (see zone Il of the curves in Figure 9.214): Panes (9.2) where the constant of proportionality E is Young’s mod- ulus, which is one of two elastic constants we need to characterize the elastic behavior of an isotropic* ma- terial, For the geologic sign convention, a uniaxial com- pressive (positive) stress decreases the length of the specimen, thereby producing a negative extension. Con- versely, a tensile (negative) stress produces a positive extension. Thus Young’s modulus is a negative num- ber. For rocks, E characteristically has values in the range of —0.5 x 10° MPa to —1.5 x 10° MPa. The extreme value of the extension that most materials can reach before they fracture is generally quite small—a few percent at most and usually much less. Like stress, strain is actually a symmetric second- rank tensor quantity, which we discuss further in Chap- ter 15. For present purposes, we note only that (1) the complete state of strain can be defined by three principal extensions, é, > é > @3, where the circumflex above the symbols indicates that they represent principal val- ues, consistent with our notation for stress, and (2) for the very small strains characteristic of elastic defor- 2 An isotropic material is one whose mechanical properties are the same in all directions. A granite, for example, might well be me- chanically isotropic, but a schist is definitely anisotropic. Young's modulus is generally reported asa positive number in tables of elastic constants, because for the engineering sign convention, the stress and the resulting extension both have the same sign. 166 BRITTLE DEFORMATION mation, the principal axes of strain are parallel to the principal axes of stress. This parallelism, however, does not hold in general for the large strains characteristic of ductile deformation. In uniaxial compression, the sample shortens par- allel to the applied stress. If the volume of the sample is conserved, the sample must also expand in a direction normal to the shortening (Figure 9.1A). Materials are never perfectly incompressible, however, so there is a net dectease in volume in any deformation caused by a compressive stress. Poisson’s ratio v is the absolute value of the ratio given by the extension é, normal to an applied compressive stress, divided by the extension parallel to the applied compression. | 03) ei Poisson’s ratio is the second elastic constant that char- acterizes the behavior of an isotropic elastic material. If a material were perfectly incompressible, v would equal 0.5. Poisson’s ratio for most rocks, however, ranges from 0.25 to 0.33. The expansion normal to an applied compression is the Poisson expansion. In a sample under confined compression, the mag- nitude of the axial extension depends not only on the B. Figure 9.1. The Poisson effect. Dimensional changes are ex- aggerated for clarity. A. Comparing the unstressed shape (dashed rectangle) with the shape caused by uniaxial compres- sion .; (shaded rectangle) illustrates the Poisson expansion. B. Ifa radial pressure p = Gx = Gyy is added to the uniaxial stress in part A, the Poisson effect decreases the amount of shortening parallel to 6,axial stress but also, because of the Poisson expansion, on the radial pressure. The axial shortening produced by an axial compressive stress is reduced by the Poisson expansion associated with each of the compressive ra- dial principal stresses (Figure 9.1B), Thus* (Gn z Gx + by) (9.5) £43 Compare these relationships with Equation (9.2) for uniaxial stress. In Equation (9.4), the two terms con- taining v give the Poisson expansion that would develop in the 2 direction if each radial stress component parallel to # and to were a uniaxial stress. We can write similar equations for the other two principal extensions simply by permuting the subscripts on the symbols for exten- sion and stress. The volumetric extension is the change in volume divided by the initial volume; for small strains, it is approximately related to the three principal extensions (see Sections 15.1 and 15.2) by Wed tate 9.6) ei tates 0. Experimental Fracturing Increasing the axial stress ultimately results in fail- ure of a sample when the sample is unable to support, a stress increase without permanent deformation. The stress at which failure occurs is a measure of the strength of the material. Because failure can occur in a number of different ways, there are a variety of different mea- sures of material strength. Brittle failure occurs with the formation of a brittle fracture, which is a surface or zone across which the material loses cohesion. Ductile failure occurs when the material becomes permanently deformed without losing cohesion. Experiments investigating the effects of pressure on failure employ a sample sealed in an impermeable jacket and surrounded in a pressure chamber by a fluid under pressure. The pressure of the surrounding fluid (the confining pressure) and that of the fluid in the pore * Because of the conventions dy > 62 2 63 and 6 > é > és, and the sign conventions that require both a compressive stress and a length- ening extension to be positive, we encounter the inconvenient fact thar the stress component 6; produces the strain component é, When relating stress to strain, we avoid confusion by using coordinate axes 4, §,and & parallel to the principal axes and by relabeling the principal stresses and extensions such that de, yy and dz are parallel to exe Gy and 8, respectively. Thus, hE ERE spaces in the rock (the pore fluid pressure) can be con- trolled independently to determine the influence of each on the behavior of the rock samples. In experiments on temperature effects, the temperature is controlled with a small wire-wound furnace that surrounds the sample in the pressure chamber. Generally the applied forces are normal to the sur~ faces of the sample so that the principal axes of stress are either parallel to the cylinder axis (the axial stress) or perpendicular to the cylinder axis (the radial stress or confining pressure). Experiments usually are done in either uniaxial compression (Figure 8.14B) or confined compression (Figure 8.14D), the axial stress being the maximum compressive stress 6). Axial exten- sion experiments in which the axial stress is the mini- mum compressive stress 63 (Figure 8.14) are also ‘common. Special modifications to the equipment permit experiments in uniaxial tension (Figure 8.14C), although these are relatively uncommon. Experiments on brittle failure reveal two funda- mentally different types of fracture: extension fractures (mode I) and shear fractures (modes II and Ill) (compare Figure 3.1). Each type exhibits a different orientation of the fracture plane relative to the principal stresses and a different direction of displacement relative to the fracture surface. These two fracture types mimic natural fractures in rocks (as described, for example, at the beginning of Chapter 3). For extension fractures, the fracture plane is per- pendicular to the minimum principal stress é3 and par- allel to the maximum principal stress 1. Displacement is approximately normal to the fracture surface. Exten- sion fractures are tension fractures (Figure 9.2A) if the minimum principal stress 43 is tensile, as in uniaxial tension (Figure 8.14C). They form by longitudinal split- ting (Figure 9.2B) if the minimum principal stress is equal or close to zero and the maximum compressive stress ¢, is the axial stress, as in uniaxial compression (Figure 8.14B). Fractures that form by longitudinal split- ting tend to be more irregular in orientation and shape than other extension fractures. Extension fractures may also form under conditions of axial extension (Figure 9.2C), in which the axial stress is the yum com- pressive stress é3 (Figure 8.14E). Shear fractures form in confined compression (Fig- ure 8.14D) at angles of less than 45° to the maximum compressive stress ¢, (Figure 9.2D). Displacement is parallel to the fracture surface. If the state of stress is triaxial (Figure 8.14F), the shear fractures are parallel to the intermediate principal stress 62 and form a con- jugate pair of orientations at angles less than 45° on cither side of the maximum compressive stress 6). If 6, = 63 (Figure 8.14D), then the possible orientations of shear fractures are tangent to a cone of less than 45° about the 41 axis (see Section 9.3) Mechanics of Fracturing and Faulting 167C. Extension fracture A. Tension fracture B. Longitudinal splitting A Fracture Criterion for Tension Fractures Experiments on rocks under uniaxial tension show that there is, for each material or rock type, a characteristic value of tensile stress (To) at which tension fracturing occurs. The rock is stable at tensile stresses smaller than, Tos but it cannot support larger tensile stresses. Ty is, | I Figure 9.2. Types of fractures 4, 4, developed during experiments | ‘on rocks in the brittle field. 4, ~_> <_ ). Conjugate shear fractures the tensile strength of the material. On a Mohr diagram, the boundary between stable and unstable states of ten- sile stress is called the tension fracture envelope (Figure 9,3A). It is a line perpendicular to the ,, axis at Ty and is represented by the equation on=T (97) where 04 isthe critical normal stress required to produce fracture. A Mohr circle that lies to the right of the line Tension fracture envelope A. Stable states of stress Normal to fracture plane Tension fracture 20,= 180° 168 BRITTLE DEFORMATION B. Critical states of stress E. Critical uniaxial tension C. Unstable states of stress Figure 9.3 Fracture criterion for uniax- ial tension. The tension fracture envelope divides the Mohr diagram into areas of unstable stress (shaded) and stable stress (unshaded). 4, B, C. Mohr circles for stable, critical, and unstable states of stress, respectively. D. Diagram of phys- ical space showing that the normal to the tension fracture is parallel to 4. E. Crit- ical Mohr circle for tension fracture un- der a uniaxial tensile stress.represents a stable stress state (Figure 9.3A). A Mohr circle tangent to the line (a critical Mohr circle) rep- resents a state of stress that causes tension fracturing (Figure 9.3B). Mohr circles that cross the line represent states of stress that the material cannot support (Figure 9.3C). We can describe the orientation of a fracture plane relative to the principal stresses by the fracture plane angle 2 which is the angle between the maximum principal stress é; and the fracture plane, ot by the fracture angle 6, which is the angle between the max- imum principal stress é1 and the normal to the fracture plane. For a given plane, |0;— | = 90°, and if both angles are acute, they are opposite in sign (compare Figures 9.3D and 9.4D, E). In order to plot on a Mohr diagram the surface stresses that act on the fracture planes, we must define the orientation of the fracture plane by the orientation of its normal, so we use the fracture angle 0. In experiments, the tension fracture plane is normal to the maximum tensile stress 43. Thus the fracture plane angle a is 0° and the fracture angle Of is 90° (Figure 9.3D). On the Mohr diagram (Figure 9.3E), the stress on the fracture plane plots at an angle of 20; = 180° from (61, 0). The normal stress and shear stress components on the fracture plane therefore plot, exactly at the point of tangency between the critical Mohr circle and the tension fracture envelope. Equation (9.7) thus provides a fracture criterion, because it defines both the stress required for fracturing, and the orientation of the fracture: A tension fracture forms on any plane in the material on which the normal stress reaches the critical value Tg, and the fracture plane is perpendicular to the maximum tensile stress 63 This fracture criterion, however, applies only to tension fractures formed under conditions of tensile stress. It does not account for the occurrence of exten sion fractures that develop under conditions in which none of the principal stresses are tensile (Figure 9.2B, ©), such as longitudinal splitting. The Coulomb Fracture Criterion for Confined Compression The relationship between the state of stress and the ‘occurrence of shear fracturing for confined compression experiments (Figure 8.14D) is more complicated than for uniaxial tension. Fracture experiments on different samples of the same rock show that the initiation of fracturing depends on the differential stress (pa = 6; — 63) and that the magnitude of the differential stress necessary to cause shear fracture increases with confin- ing pressure.' The fracture angle 0 between 6; and the normal to the fracture plane is generally around +60°, so the fracture plane angle ay between the fracture plane itself and the maximum compressive stress 61 must be about +30° (Figure 9.2D). Experimental data show that it is possible to con- struct on the Mohr diagram a shear fracture envelope that separates stable from unstable states of stress. This envelope is commonly approximated by a pair of straight lines that are symmetric across the é,, axis (Fig- ure 9.44-C), although in fact the lines may be slightly concave toward that axis. Any Mohr circle contained between the two lines of the fracture envelope represents a stable stress state (Figure 9.44). A Mohr circle tangent to the lines represents a critical state of stress that causes fracturing (Figure 9.4B). A Mohr circle that crosses the fracture envelope represents an unsta- ble state of stress that cannot be supported (Figure 9.4C) Radii drawn to the points of tangency between each critical Mohr circle and the shear fracture envelope (Fig- ure 9.4B) indicate the surface stress components on the actual fracture plane at the time of fracture, ‘The straight line approximation to the shear frac- ture envelope is known as the Coulomb fracture cri- terion, and it is described by the equation =c+ pa, (9.8) where w=tand 9.9) and where a? is the critical shear stress, and c are the slope and intercept of the lines, respectively, and @ is the slope angle of the line, taken to be positive (Figure 9.4B). Because the equation is written in terms of the absolute value of the critical shear stress, it describes both lines of the fracture criterion. ‘The two constants in Equation (9.8), ¢ and 4, char- acterize the failure properties of the material, and they vary from one material or rock type to another. The cohesion ¢ is the resistance to shear fracture on a plane across which the normal stress is zero. We call 1 the coefficient of internal friction and @ the angle of internal friction because of the similarity, when the cohesion is zero, between Equation (9.8) and the law of frictional resistance. The Coulomb fracture criterion can also be expressed in terms of the principal stress (see Box 9.1). The Coulomb fracture criterion states that when- ever the state of stress in a rock is such that on a plane of some orientation, the surface stress components (4, a.) satisfy Equation (9.8), a shear fracture can develop on that plane. For any critical stress state, the criterion SRemember that in confined compression, the confining pressure de- fines the magnitude ofthe radial stress that is exerted by the pressure medium, p = 6) = ‘Mechanics of Fracturing and Faulting 169A. Stable states of stress. 2, 2 Shear ‘Shear fracture - crane planes, 8, plane B. Critical states of stress | E. , aes C. Unstable states of stress Figure 9.4 Coulomb fracture criterion for axial compression. The fracture criterion divides the Mohr diagram into areas of unstable stress (shaded) and stable stress. ‘A. The Mohr circles shown represent sta- bile states of stress because they plot en- tirely within the stable region. B. Mohr circles for eritical states of stress; radii are - drawn to the points of tangency with the fracture envelope. The angle of internal friction and twice the fracture angles 2/ and 26/ are labeled. C. Mohr circles il- lustrating unstable states of stress. D, E. Diagrams in physical space showing the orientations of the shear fractures indi cated by the two fracture angles labeled in part B. Note that the maximum compres- sive stress 6 bisects the acute angle be- tween the conjugate shear planes. 170 The Coulomb Fracture Criterion in Terms of Principal Stresses ‘The Coulomb fracture criterion is sometimes ex- pressed in terms of the critical principal stresses at fracture. We can derive this relationship from Equa- tion (9.8), using the positive value of #3. We substitute for a, and ay from Equations (8.28) or (8.38) with 6, = 6 and use the relationship from Equation (9.9) and the first Equation (9.10) w= tan $= got 20 (9.1.1) tan 20/ After some algebraic manipulation, using the standard trigonometric relations tan 26;= sin 20;/cos 20, and sin? 20; + cos* 26;= 1, we find that the maximum compressive stress required for fracture varies linearly with the minimum principal stress according to Gp =S4Kés (9.1.2) BRITTLE DEFORMATION where 2e sin 20, 1 cos 20 T+ cos 20) and where the asterisk in 67 indicates the critical max- imum compressive stress for a given value of the min- imum compressive stress. S is the fracture strength under uniaxial compression (63 = 0). Note, however, that setting 6; = 0 does not give the tensile strength ‘under uniaxial tension, because this equation is an expression of the Coulomb fracture criterion, which does not account for tensile fracture. Jn this form, the fracture criterion is commonly plotted on a graph of maximum versus minimum principal stress. Although the Mohr circle does not plot on such a graph, the difference between éf and 4; is the diameter of the critical Mohr circle. Trea, (0.1.3)