Abstract
Practically identical samples are tested at the same confining pressure and temperature but at different deviatoric stress levels. Thin sections are observed using an optical microscope and recorded as images in order to study the crack network evolution. The compound cracks are decomposed into elementary cracks (right segments) with constant orientation and then reassembled in order to determine crack length and cumulated crack length. The results of crack observations are discussed in the light of the mechanisms of crack evolution at microscopic level compared to the stress–strain curves. It results from our observations that mean crack length increases only moderately in comparison with maximal crack length and the number of cracks. Zhao reports similar results (cf. Zhao, Y., 1998. Crack pattern evolution and a fractal damage constitutive model for rock. Int. J. Rock. Mech. Min. Sci. 35 (3), 349–366). The evolution of microcracking can be attributed more to new crack nucleation rather than to growth of the pre-existing cracks.
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