Abstract
Engineering materials are rarely free of flaws. Mode I cracking from pre-existing flaws is the major cause of the brittle fracture in compression of materials such as concrete and rock. A 3-D ellipsoidal flaw model is used to show the significant influence of flaw geometry on crack initiation in uniform uniaxial, biaxial and triaxial compression. The model shows that the governing criterion for crack initiation may change from energy to stress with increasing crack size, and that for voids of similar size a spherical void is the most critical shape for crack initiation. The model thus provides a basis for a better understanding of both the phenomenon and the mechanism of brittle fracture in compression.
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