Control of planar fabrics on the development of tensile damage zones under high-speed deformation: An experimental study with granite and gneiss

Abstract

We have investigated the laboratory-scale, high-strain rate tensile failure processes responsible for Mode-I breccia dike formation in impact structures. Brazilian disc experiments with granite (isotropic) and gneiss (foliated) samples were performed on a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar, equipped with high-speed photography. For the gneiss samples, the gneissic foliation was oriented (θ) at 0, 45 and 90° to the compression direction. Time-series images show the transient states of tensile rupture localization and propagation, leading to in situ fragmentation of the rocks. Granite samples produced a single incipient tensile rupture, accommodating pulverized clasts, whereas the gneisses underwent failure by way of major fracture and a network of secondary tensile fractures, forming large elongate clasts. For gneisses, θ greatly influenced the secondary crack growth, forcing propagation trajectories to orient preferentially either along or across the foliation. The two types of target rocks produced contrasting clast geometry in the fracture zones. The granite had mostly small clasts (<10 mm), with average aspect ratios around 1:2, whereas the gneisses produced larger clasts (<40 mm) with aspect ratios, 1:5, 1:4 and 1:4 for θ = 0, 45 and 90°, respectively. This study demonstrates that monomict breccia dikes could form in situ, rather than by a tensile dilation followed by infilling.