Rock Mech Rock Eng (2013) 46:1023–1034

DOI 10.1007/s00603-012-0325-z

ORIGINAL PAPER

Application of Cracked Triangular Specimen Subjected

to Three-Point Bending for Investigating Fracture
Behavior of Rock Materials
M. R. M. Aliha • Gh. R. Hosseinpour •

M. R. Ayatollahi

Received: 5 May 2012 / Accepted: 16 October 2012 / Published online: 10 November 2012
Ó Springer-Verlag Wien 2012

Abstract Numerical and experimental studies were per- Keywords Neiriz marble  Triangular specimen
formed on a new fracture test configuration called the edge Finite-element analyses  Mixed-mode loading
cracked triangular (ECT) specimen. Using several finite- Fracture experiments
element analyses, the fracture parameters (i.e., KI, KII, and
T-stress) were obtained for different combinations of Abbreviations
modes I and II. The finite-element results show that the MTS Maximum tangential stress
ECT specimen is able to provide pure mode I, pure mod- ECT Edge cracked triangular
e II, and any mixed-mode loading conditions in between. FE Finite element
Also, a series of mixed-mode fracture experiments were GMTS Generalized maximum tangential stress
conducted on Neiriz marble rock using the proposed CZM Cohesive zone model
specimen. Furthermore, the generalized maximum tan- SED Strain energy density
gential stress (GMTS) criterion was used to predict the
experimental results. The GMTS criterion makes use of a List of Symbols
three-parameter model (based on KI, KII, and T) for a Crack length for ECT specimen
describing the crack tip stresses. Due to the significant a/W Crack length ratio in the ECT specimen
positive T-stresses that exist in the ECT specimen, typical r, h Crack tip coordinates
minimum fracture toughness values were expected to be t Specimen thickness
obtained when the ECT specimen is used. The direction of E Elastic modulus
fracture initiation and the path of fracture growth were also T T-Stress
obtained theoretically using the GMTS criterion, and good T* Normalized T-stress
agreement was observed between the experimental fracture 2W Edge length of square plate
path and theoretical simulations. The fracture study of this
specimen reveals that the ECT specimen can be also used Greek Letters
in mixed-mode fracture studies of rock materials in addi- h0 Crack initiation direction
tion to the conventional circular or rectangular beam test rhh Tangential stress component
samples. m Poisson’s ratio
KI Mode I stress intensity factor
KII Mode II stress intensity factor
KIc Mode I fracture toughness
M. R. M. Aliha (&)
Welding and Joining Research Center, Iran University P Applied load
of Science and Technology, Narmak, 16846-13114 Tehran, Iran Pcr Critical fracture load
e-mail: mrm_aliha@iust.ac.ir rc Critical distance from the crack tip
YI Mode I geometry factor
M. R. M. Aliha  Gh. R. Hosseinpour  M. R. Ayatollahi
Fatigue and Fracture Lab, Iran University of Science YII Mode II geometry factor
and Technology, Narmak, 16846-13114 Tehran, Iran a Crack inclination angle

123
1024
rhhc Critical tangential stress
rt Tensile strength
1 Introduction
Brittle fracture is a major mode of failure in cracked rock
masses and structures. In practice, the pre-existing cracks
in rock masses are often subjected to complex loading. For
such cases, due to the arbitrary orientation of flaws, faults,
and inherent discontinuities relative to the overall applied
loads, cracks experience a combination of two major
modes of deformation, i.e., crack opening (mode I) and
crack sliding (mode II). In many practical applications of
rock engineering, such as rock excavation, tunneling, rock
cutting processes, hydraulic fracturing, rock slope stability
analysis, rock blasting, underground urban structures, etc.,
the fracture toughness of rock material is an important
parameter required for rock failure analysis or to increase
the performance of rock cutting tools. Thus, it is important
to investigate mixed mode I/II brittle fracture in rocks. The
mixed mode I/II fracture toughness is a measure of mate-
rial resistance against crack propagation when the crack is
subjected to mixed mode I/II loading.
In the past, several researchers have attempted to extract
mixed-mode fracture toughness data from fracture tests on
different geomaterials including rocks. For this purpose,
various experimental methods and different test configura-
tions have been used for determining the fracture toughness
under mode I, mode II, and mixed mode I/II loading. As
experimental fracture studies on real components are often
very expensive and difficult, researchers prefer to conduct
their experiments on laboratory specimens. Various test
specimens have been used by researchers for obtaining the
fracture toughness of brittle materials such as rocks for all
mode mixtures from pure mode I to pure mode II. The
centrally cracked Brazilian disk specimen subjected to
diametral compressive load (Awaji and Sato 1978; Atkin-
son et al. 1982; Shetty et al. 1987; Khan and Al-Shayea
2000; Chang et al. 2002; Aliha et al. 2006; Ayatollahi and
Aliha 2008a, 2009), the single edge cracked rectangular
beam subjected to three- or four-point bending (Maccagno
and Knott 1989; Suresh et al. 1990; Tikare and Choi 1993;
Fett et al. 1995; Xeidakis et al. 1996; Choi et al. 2005;
Aliha et al. 2009), the compact tension–shear specimen
(Arcan et al. 1978; Richard and Benitz 1983; Zipf and
Bieniawski 1986; Banks-Sills and Bortman 1986; Buchholz
et al. 1987; Mahajan and Ravi-Chandar 1989; Hasanpour
and Choupani 2009), the cracked ring specimen subjected
to diametral compression (Shiryaev and Kotkis 1982; Aliha
et al. 2008), and the edge cracked semicircular bend spec-
imen (Chong and Kuruppu 1984; Chong et al. 1987; Singh
and Sun 1990; Krishnan et al. 1998; Lim et al. 1994;
123
M. R. M. Aliha et al.
Ayatollahi et al. 2006; Aliha et al. 2010, 2012) are some of
the frequently used specimens for mixed-mode fracture
tests on rocks. Figure 1 shows some of the mentioned test
specimens schematically.
An appropriate test specimen for rock fracture studies
should have a simple configuration and loading setup and
an inexpensive preparation procedure. Also, the ability to
introduce pure mode I, pure mode II, and various inter-
mediate combinations of modes I and II is another
requirement for an appropriate mixed-mode test specimen.
However, some of the mentioned test samples can provide
only limited combinations of mode I and mode II (such as
the asymmetric three-point bend specimen) or require
complicated fixtures for testing (such as the compact ten-
sion–shear specimen). As the main result of this paper, a
new test configuration is suggested for investigating the
mixed-mode fracture toughness of rocks. First the speci-
men is described, and then its capabilities and advantages
are investigated by means of several finite-element analy-
ses and also through some fracture experiments conducted
on Neiriz marble using this configuration.
On the other hand, there are also some theoretical criteria
for investigating mixed-mode fracture in brittle materials.
The maximum tangential stress (MTS) criterion (Erdogan
and Sih 1963), the maximum energy release rate (G) crite-
rion (Sih 1974), the minimum strain energy density (SED)
criterion (Hussain et al. 1974), and the cohesive zone model
(CZM) (Gómez et al. 2009) can be named as four funda-
mental fracture criteria. Any of these fracture criteria can be
used for predicting the direction of fracture initiation as well
as the fracture load in cracked components and structures
subjected to mixed mode I/II loading. For some test con-
figurations such as the compact tension–shear specimen
(Mahajan and Ravi-Chandar 1989) and the asymmetric four-
point bend loading specimen (Maccagno and Knott 1989),
the experimental results reported for mixed-mode fracture
are highly consistent with conventional fracture theories.
However, it is shown in the upcoming sections that the
experimental fracture toughness results obtained from the
new test specimen are significantly lower than the theoretical
predictions of fracture theories such as the MTS criterion.
Therefore, a more general criterion is required for predicting
brittle fracture under mixed-mode loading. Hence, a gen-
eralized MTS (GMTS) criterion proposed by Smith et al.
(2001) is also used for evaluating the fracture toughness,
fracture direction, and fracture path obtained from the new
test configuration made of Neiriz marble rock.
2 New Tensile–Shear Cracked Specimen
A schematic representation of the suggested test configu-
ration called the edge crack triangular (ECT) specimen is
Application of Cracked Triangular Specimen Subjected to Three-Point Bending 1025

Fig. 1 Some of the mixed

mode I/II fracture toughness
testing specimens:
a semicircular bend specimen,
b asymmetric four-point bend
specimen, c centrally cracked
circular disc specimen under
diametral compression, and
d compact tension–shear
specimen

and ring specimens) of very large size, the specimen can

Fig. 2 Edge crack triangular (ECT) specimen subjected to three-
point bend loading
shown in Fig. 2. In this test configuration, a right-angled
triangular plate of base length 2W that contains an edge
inclined crack of length a is located inside the three-point
bend fixture and is loaded by a vertical compressive force
(P) up to the fracture load. As the specimen has a simple
geometry, it does not need complicated loading fixtures
when used in conventional testing machines. In contrast to
the difficulties that can arise during preparation of circular
or disc samples (such as Brazilian disc, semicircular bend,
also be easily cut from rock masses at any desired size.
When this specimen is subjected to a compressive load and
the crack orientation angle a is changed, different combi-
nations of modes I and II can be provided by changing
three parameters: a/W (the ratio of the crack length to half
the base length 2W), S/W (the ratio of half the distance
between the two bottom supports to half the base length
2W), and a (the direction of the crack line relative to ver-
tical). When the crack line is along the direction of applied

load ða ¼ 0 Þ, the ECT specimen is subjected to pure
mode I (or pure opening mode) because of the geometry
and loading symmetry with respect to the crack. However,
for nonzero crack angles, mode II also appears in the crack
deformation. The mode I and mode II contributions to the
crack deformation can be controlled simply by choosing
appropriate crack angles. To study mixed-mode fracture
using this configuration, it is necessary to calculate the
influential fracture parameters of the ECT specimen for
various crack lengths, crack angles, and loading positions.
3 Numerical Analyses
To interpret the results obtained from fracture tests, the
major parameters that describe the stress and strain fields
around the crack tip should be known for the test specimen.
It is now well established that the stress intensity factors KI

123
1026 M. R. M. Aliha et al.

and KII as well as the T-stress are three important charac-

teristic parameters for mixed-mode brittle fracture prob-
lems (Williams and Ewing 1972; Smith et al. 2001;
Ayatollahi and Aliha 2008a, b). While KI and KII describe
the severity of the stress singularity around the crack tip,
the magnitude and sign of the T-stress can significantly
influence the fracture load and the fracture trajectory in
cracked specimens subjected to mixed mode I/II loading.
The stress intensity factors in the ECT specimen are
functions of the crack length ratio (a/W), the bottom
loading span ratio (S/W), and the crack angle a and can be
written as
  pffiffiffiffiffiffi
a S P pa
KI a; ; ¼ YI ; ð1Þ
W W 2Wt
  pffiffiffiffiffiffi Fig. 3 Finite-element model of a typical ECT specimen
a S P pa
KII a; ; ¼ YII ; ð2Þ
W W 2Wt
where t is the specimen thickness and YI and YII are the
geometry factors corresponding to mode I and mode II,
respectively. The T-stress can also be written in the
following form:
 
a S P
T a; ; ¼ T : ð3Þ
W W 2Wt
To calculate KI, KII, and T*, different finite-element
models of the ECT specimen were analyzed using the finite-
element code ABAQUS. Figure 3 shows a typical mesh
pattern generated to simulate the ECT specimen. In the
models, the following geometry and loading conditions were
considered: 2W = 150 mm, t = 16 mm, P = 100 N, and
different crack angles. Elastic material properties of a typical
marble rock of E = 70 GPa and v = 0.28 (Whittaker et al. Fig. 4 Variation of the geometry factor YI with a in the ECT
1992; Saghafi et al. 2010) were also considered in the finite- specimen for S/W = 0.4
element models. A total number of 3,582 eight-noded plane-
stress elements were used for each model. Singular elements
were considered in the first ring of elements surrounding the
crack tip to produce the square-root singularity in the stress/
strain field. In the finite-element models, the crack
inclination angle a was varied in steps of 5° from 0° (i.e.,
pure mode I) up to the angle corresponding to pure mode II.
Also, the crack length ratio a/W was varied from 0.3 to 0.5
and the loading span ratio (S/W) was considered to have a
constant value of 0.4. The J-integral-based method built into
ABAQUS, which uses the modified virtual crack extension
method (Li et al. 1985), was used to obtain the stress
intensity factors and the T-stress directly from the software.
Figures 4, 5, 6 show the values of YI, YII, and T* calculated
from several finite-element analyses performed for various
crack lengths and crack angles.
It is seen from Figs. 4 and 5 that, when a is zero, YII = 0
and the specimen is subjected to pure mode I loading. By Fig. 5 Variation of the geometry factor YII with a in the ECT
increasing the crack angle a, the mode I geometry factor YI specimen for S/W = 0.4

123
Application of Cracked Triangular Specimen Subjected to Three-Point Bending 1027

decreases and the mode II geometry factor YII increases.

For each value of crack length ratio (a/W), there is a spe-
cific crack angle where YI becomes zero while YII is non-
zero. This angle corresponds to pure mode II or pure shear
loading and varies typically between 40° and 52.5° in the
ECT specimen depending on a/W, becoming larger for
shorter cracks. Figure 7 shows the variation of the pure
mode II inclination angle (aII) calculated for different
ratios of a/W and S/W in the ECT specimen. Therefore, the
ECT specimen can be used to introduce all combinations of
mode I and mode II. For larger crack angles, YI becomes
negative and the specimen will be subjected to compres-
sion–shear loading. Hence, in this paper, the crack tip
parameters of the ECT specimen were calculated only for
those crack inclination angles for which the specimen is
subjected to combined tensile–shear loading (i.e., Fig. 6 Variation of the nondimensional T-stress (T*) with a in the
ECT specimen for S/W = 0.4
YI  0; YII  0). According to Figs. 4 and 5, the values of
the geometry factors (YI and YII ) generally increase for
greater ratios of a/W. This is mainly because the intensity 60
of stresses becomes higher for larger cracks. It is also seen
from Fig. 6 that T* becomes greater with increasing a (i.e., 55

by shifting from mode I to mode II).

50
αΙΙ (degree)

45
4 Fracture Toughness Experiments

To investigate the practical applicability of the ECT
specimen, a series of mixed-mode fracture experiments
were conducted on Neiriz rock. This rock is a kind of
marble which is excavated from mines in the Fars Province
of Iran. Primary studies proved that this marble rock is
relatively homogeneous and isotropic (Saghafi et al. 2010;
Sistaninia 2009). A total number of 24 ECT specimens
were manufactured from a sheet of Neiriz marble with
thickness of 16 mm to conduct fracture tests. The dimen-
sions of the specimens were as follows: a = 22.5 mm,
2W = 150 mm, and t = 16 mm. Thus, the ratio a/W was
equal to 0.3 for the test samples. To cover the full range of
mixed mode I/II cases, the following crack angles were
considered for experiments: a = [0° (pure mode I), 10°,
20°, 30°, 40°, 52.5° (pure mode II)]. A very thin fret saw
was used to prepare an initial narrow notch from the middle
of the bottom edge of the ECT samples at different incli-
nation angles. The width of the notches was about 0.3 mm,
and their initial length was slightly less than 22.5 mm. The
tips of the notches were sharpened further by pressing a
very thin blade to make the final length of each crack
22.5 mm. Furthermore, the sharp top pointed tips of the
ECT specimens were rounded (with radius of 5 mm) to
decrease the effect of high stress concentration and reduce
the plastic deformations induced by the loading platen. Our
numerical analyses showed that this rounded area has no
significant effect on the fracture behavior or crack tip
40
a/W=0.3
a/W=0.4
35 a/W=0.5
30
0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55
S/W
Fig. 7 Variation of the pure mode II crack inclination angle (aII) for
different values of a/W and S/W in the ECT specimen
parameters (i.e., KI, KII, and T) of the ECT specimen. The
test samples were placed inside a three-point bend fixture
with bottom loading span of 2S = 60 mm (i.e., with
S/W = 0.4) and then loaded at constant rate of 1 mm/min
by means of a servohydraulic test machine.
Up to the final fracture load, the load–displacement
curves for all the tests were a straight line with no signif-
icant nonlinearity, and all the test samples fractured sud-
denly from the crack tip, showing the brittle fracture
behavior of the tested marble rock. Figure 8 shows a typ-
ical load–displacement curve obtained for an ECT test
sample. Therefore, the fracture load (Pcr) was the major
parameter required from the test procedure to find the
mixed-mode fracture toughness using the ECT specimen.
At least three ECT specimens were tested successfully for
each crack length. Table 1 presents the fracture loads
obtained from the experiments and the corresponding

123
1028 M. R. M. Aliha et al.

values of fracture toughness (KIf and KIIf) for the ECT stress (rhh) in front of a crack tip in a linear elastic cracked
specimens from pure mode I to pure mode II. Figure 9 body can be written as an infinite series expansion
shows also typical ECT specimens fractured under pure  
mode I and pure mode II loading conditions. 1 h h 3
rhh ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi cos KI cos2  KII sin h þ T sin2 h
Figure 10 shows the test results obtained from the 2pr 2 2 2
experiments in a KII/KIf versus KI/KIf diagram. The average þ Oðr Þ; 1=2
ð4Þ
value of the mode I fracture resistance (KIf) obtained from
pffiffiffiffi where r and h are the crack tip coordinates shown in
the ECT specimens tested at a ¼ 0 is 1:23 MPa m. This
Fig. 11. The T-term, usually called the T-stress, is a con-
figure lies within the range of values reported in previous
stant and nonsingular term independent of distance r from
papers for the fracture toughness of Neiriz marble (e.g.,
the crack tip. The higher-order terms O(r1/2) are normally
Saghafi et al. 2010). As seen also from Fig. 10, the mixed-
negligible near the crack tip. According to the GMTS
mode test results are significantly lower than the theoretical
criterion, crack growth initiates radially from the crack tip
predictions suggested by conventional fracture criteria such
along the direction of MTS h0. Also, crack extension takes
as MTS (Erdogan and Sih 1963), SED (Sih 1974), G
place when the tangential stress rhh along h0 and at a
(Hussain et al. 1974) or CZM (Gómez et al. 2009); For
critical distance rc from the crack tip attains a critical value
example, under pure mode II, the average experimental
rhhc. Both rc and rhhc are assumed to be material constants.
result is about 55 % lower than the predictions of the MTS
Based on the GMTS criterion, the angle of MTS h0 is
criterion, which is most frequently used by researchers.
determined from
However, it will be shown in upcoming sections that a
generalized version of the MTS criterion called the GMTS 
orhh 
¼0
criterion can provide more precise estimates for the mixed- oh h¼h0
mode fracture resistance results of Neiriz marble rock
) ½KI sin h0 þ KII ð3 cos h0  1Þ
tested with the ECT specimen. 16T pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi h0
 2prc cos h0 sin
3 2
¼ 0; ð5Þ
5 Discussion
and the onset of mixed mode I/II fracture takes place when
5.1 Fracture Criterion  
h0 2 h0 3 pffiffiffi
KIf ¼ cos K1 cos  KII sin h0 þ 2prc T sin2 h0 :
2 2 2
In comparison with the conventional MTS criterion, the
ð6Þ
GMTS criterion (Smith et al. 2001) takes into account the
effect of nonsingular T-stress in addition to the conventional Equations (5) and (6) present the GMTS criterion, which
singular terms. According to Williams (1957), the tangential was proposed by Smith et al. (2001). By ignoring the effect

Fig. 8 Load–displacement
curve obtained for one of the
ECT samples

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Application of Cracked Triangular Specimen Subjected to Three-Point Bending 1029

Table 1 Summary of the pffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffi

Specimen no. a (°) Pcr (kN) (from fracture KIf (MPa m) KIIf (MPa m)
experimental results obtained
experiments) (from Eq. 1) (from Eq. 2)
from mixed mode I/II fracture
tests on Neiriz marble using the 1 0 4.279 1.505 0
ECT configuration
2 0 3.629 1.277 0
3 0 3.483 1.225 0
4 0 3.101 1.091 0
5 0 3.081 1.084 0
6 0 3.384 1.190 0
7 10 3.428 1.142 0.183
8 10 3.722 1.240 0.198
9 10 3.610 1.203 0.192
10 20 3.377 0.945 0.328
11 20 3.931 1.099 0.382
12 20 3.564 0.997 0.346
13 30 3.505 0.700 0.431
14 30 3.627 0.724 0.446
15 30 3.66 0.731 0.449
16 30 4.153 0.829 0.510
17 40 3.775 0.405 0.473
18 40 3.997 0.429 0.500
19 40 4.212 0.452 0.527
20 40 4.532 0.486 0.567
21 52.5 5.038 0 0.479
22 52.5 5.231 0 0.498
23 52.5 5.619 0 0.535
24 52.5 5.673 0 0.539

Fig. 9 Typical ECT specimens fractured under a pure mode I and b pure mode II

of T-stress in Eqs. (5) and (6), the conventional MTS
criterion is obtained. As is obvious from Eqs. (5) and (6),
the T-stress can influence both the fracture direction and
fracture toughness of cracked bodies subjected to mixed-
mode loading, and for those situations in which the
magnitude of T-stress is noticeable in comparison with
the singular terms, the nonsingular term (i.e., T-stress)
makes a significant contribution to the mixed-mode crack
growth behavior. More details about the GMTS criterion
can be found in Smith et al. (2001). According to this
criterion, the mixed-mode fracture toughness of a cracked
specimen depends on the magnitude and sign of the

123
1030 M. R. M. Aliha et al.

Test Data GMTS Criterion (Smith et al., 2001)

Direction of crack growth initiation, θ0 (Degree)

MTS criterion (Erdogan and Sih, 1963) MTS Criterion (Erdogan and Sih, 1963)
SED criterion (Sih, 1974) Test Data
1.0 average curve fitted to test data
G criterion (Hussain et al., 1974)
CZM criterion (Gomez et al. 2009)
-80

0.8 -70

-60
KII / KIf

0.6
-50

-40
0.4
-30

0.2 -20

-10
0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 0
KI / KIf 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
-1
2/π (tan KI /K II )
Fig. 10 Mixed-mode fracture toughness results obtained from ECT
specimens made of Neiriz marble Fig. 12 Direction of mixed-mode fracture initiation angle predicted
for the ECT specimen made of Neiriz marble rock using MTS and
GMTS criteria

Test Data
MTS criterion (Erdogan and Sih, 1963)
Fig. 11 Crack tip coordinates in polar system 1.2
SED criterion (Sih, 1974)
G criterion (Hussain et al., 1974)
CZM criterion (Gomez et al., 2009)
average curve fitted to test data
1.0 GMTS criterion (Smith et al., 2001)

T-stress. While a negative T-stress increases the mixed-

0.8
mode fracture toughness, the load-bearing capacity is
KII / KIf

decreased when the T-stress is positive. In the following, 0.6

the use of the GMTS criterion is described to interpret the
experimental results obtained for the tested ECT 0.4
specimens.
0.2

5.2 Application of the GMTS Criterion for ECT

0.0
Specimens 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
KI / KIf
To use the GMTS criterion to predict the mixed-mode
Fig. 13 GMTS curve obtained for mixed-mode fracture toughness of
fracture toughness results of the ECT specimens, the two Neiriz marble and tested with the ECT
equations for the GMTS criterion should be rewritten in
 
terms of the fracture parameters of the ECT specimen. KIf h0 h0 3 KII pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi T
Indeed, by substituting the corresponding values of KI, KII, ¼ cos cos2  sin h0 þ 2prc sin2 h0 :
KI 2 2 2 KI KI
and T of the ECT specimen (i.e., Eqs. 1–3) into Eqs. (5) and
ð8aÞ
(6), the following relations can be obtained for the fracture
direction and the fracture toughness ratios KI/KIf and KII/KIf: Now, the ratio KI/KIf for the ECT specimen can be
 rewritten in terms of YI, YII, and T* as
orhh 
¼0
oh  h¼h0
KI
¼ h
1
i qffiffiffiffiffi : ð8bÞ
) ½YI sin h0 þ YII ð3 cos h0  1Þ KIf cos h0 cos2 h0  3 YII sin h þ 2rc T  sin2 h
rffiffiffiffiffiffi 2 2 2 YI 0 a YI 0
16  2rc h0
 T cos h0 sin Using a similar procedure, the ratio KII/KIf can also be
3 a 2
¼ 0; ð7Þ derived as

123
Application of Cracked Triangular Specimen Subjected to Three-Point Bending 1031

Fig. 14 Some of the steps of

the fracture trajectory
simulation for an ECT specimen
subjected to pure mode II
loading

KII 1 each desired crack inclination angle in the ECT specimen.

¼ h i qffiffiffiffiffi : ð8cÞ
However, to use Eqs. (7, 8a–c), the value of the critical
KIf cos h0 YI cos2 h0  3 sin h þ 2rc T  sin2 h
2 YII 2 2 0 a YII 0
distance rc for the tested material is also required. A few
Thus, by using the numerical values of the geometry theoretical methods have been suggested previously to
factors (i.e., YI, YII, and T*), the direction of fracture estimate the size of the fracture process zone (or rc) for
initiation and the fracture toughness can be determined for brittle and quasibrittle materials; For instance, based on the

123
1032
maximum normal stress theory (Schmidt 1980), rc for rock
materials can be calculated from
 
1 KIc 2
rc ¼ ; ð9Þ
2p rt
where rt and KIc are the tensile strength and pure mode I
fracture toughness of the rock material. These two
parameters are usually determined for rocks by means of
the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM)
standard testing procedures. The center cracked Brazilian
disc subjected to diametral compression (ISRM 1995) and
uncracked Brazilian disc specimens (ISRM 2007) are fre-
quently used for obtaining KIc and rt in rock materials,
respectively. Considering the average values of KIc ¼
pffiffiffiffi
0:74 MPa m and rt = 5.64 MPa obtained from our
experiments using cracked and uncracked Brazilian disc
samples, the value of rc was determined from Eq. (9) as
2.74 mm for the tested Neiriz marble. Using the numerical
values for these four parameters (i.e., YI, YII, T*, and rc), the
direction of fracture initiation (h0) can be determined from
Eq. (7) for any mode mixity of the ECT specimen. If the
calculated h0 is substituted into Eqs. (8b, c), the onset of
fracture can also be determined theoretically for any
combinations of modes I and II. Figures 12 and 13 show
the theoretical curve of the GMTS criterion obtained for
the direction of fracture initiation and the onset of mixed-
mode fracture, respectively, in the tested ECT specimens.
Shown in these two figures are the curves fitted to the
average of test data for the ECT specimens. As seen from
Figs. 12 and 13, very good agreement exists between the
experimental fracture results and the theoretical predictions
of the GMTS criterion.
The finite-element results presented in Fig. 6 show that
the T-stress in the ECT specimen is significantly positive for
any mixed-mode conditions. Thus, according to the GMTS
criterion, an increase in h0 and a reduction in the mixed-
mode fracture toughness of the tested specimen is expected.
In comparison with previously used mixed-mode spec-
imens such as the Brazilian disc specimen, three- and four-
Fig. 15 a Experimental
fracture trajectory observed for
the pure mode II ECT
specimen; b comparison of
experimental and simulated
theoretical fracture trajectories
123
M. R. M. Aliha et al.
point bend beam, compact tension–shear specimen, center
cracked ring specimen, semicircular bend specimen, diag-
onally loaded square plate, and angled crack plate tension
specimen (see, for example, Williams and Ewing 1972;
Seed and Nowell 1994; Fett 2001; Ayatollahi and Aliha
2007, 2009, 2011; Aliha and Ayatollahi 2010; Aliha et al.
2008; Ayatollahi et al. 2011), the proposed ECT specimen
has the highest positive value of T-stress in mixed-mode
loading. Therefore, the mixed-mode fracture toughness
envelope obtained from the ECT specimen can be con-
sidered as a typical lower bound or minimum fracture
toughness for any cracked material.
5.3 Fracture Path Simulation of ECT Specimens
Despite pure mode I loading, where the crack growth is
self-similar and along the direction of the initial crack,
mixed-mode fracture of cracked components and structures
may grow along curvilinear paths and not necessarily along
the direction of the original crack. Prediction of the crack
growth path is among the interesting subjects in many
practical applications. To predict the crack growth path of
the ECT specimen under mixed-mode conditions, first the
fracture initiation angle at the crack tip should be deter-
mined. As mentioned earlier, h0 can be obtained via the
GMTS criterion and by using the fracture parameters (KI,
KII, and T) of the ECT specimen. Some theoretical methods
are available for predicting the fracture trajectory of other
steps after the initiation stage (e.g., Maiti and Prasad 1980;
Sumi 1985); For example, the incremental crack growth
method involves a large number of small crack extensions
in appropriate directions. Via this method, the direction of
crack growth for each increment can be determined by
using the GMTS criterion for the tip of growing crack. To
predict the fracture path in the tested ECT specimens, the
fracture parameters KI, KII, and T were obtained for each
stage of incremental crack growth from the finite-element
analysis, then the direction for the next increment was
determined from Eqs. (5) or (7). After calculating the
Application of Cracked Triangular Specimen Subjected to Three-Point Bending
direction of MTS, the crack was remodeled with a small
extension along the calculated direction, and the same
procedure was repeated for the next increment till the
whole fracture path was predicted; For example, different
stages of the fracture trajectory for one of the ECT speci-
mens (i.e., under pure mode II condition) simulated using
the ABAQUS code are shown in Fig. 14. The experimental
fracture path obtained for the mentioned specimen during
the test is also shown in Fig. 15a, while Fig. 15b shows the
experimental and simulated fracture paths obtained for the
investigated pure mode II specimen, illustrating the good
agreement between the theoretical prediction by the GMTS
criterion and the fracture trajectory observed in the test.
6 Conclusions
1. A new test configuration called the ECT specimen was
suggested for mixed-mode fracture experiments on
brittle and quasibrittle materials including rocks.
2. The simple geometry and loading setup, the ease of
generating a crack in the specimen, the ability to
introduce full combinations of mode I and mode II,
and the application of compressive (rather than tensile)
loads which are more suitable for rock materials are
the main advantages of the ECT specimen.
3. The experimental results obtained from mixed-mode
fracture tests on Neiriz marble rock using the ECT
specimens were in very good agreement with theoret-
ical predictions using the GMTS criterion.
4. The angle of fracture initiation and the trajectory of
fracture growth were obtained theoretically for the
tested ECT specimen, and good consistency was
observed between the theoretical and experimental
results.
5. Numerical, experimental, and theoretical studies of the
ECT specimen showed that the suggested test config-
uration can also be used as a good specimen for mixed-
mode fracture investigations on rock materials in
addition to the previously used specimens such as the
Brazilian disc, semicircular bend, and rectangular
beam bend specimens.
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