Spall fracture forms of high rock samples under uniaxial compression

Abstract

Prof. L.I. Baron identified five forms of destruction during uniaxial compression of samples of regular geometry of rocks including truncated wedge, wedge, diagonal, longitudinal, and explosive forms. All of them are commonly characterized by the destruction of samples in their central parts showing two or more cracks, while the trajectories of crack development align with the corner points of the samples. Recently, was unexpectedly discovered a spall fracture in the form of a single crack emerged from the side wall of the specimen and propagating into it under uniaxial compression. Based on the discovery, the method for creating stress-strain diagrams for high rock samples was developed using four rock properties such as rock shear resistance limit, contact friction ratio, internal friction ratio, and modulus of elasticity. The stress-strain diagram of the spall fracture of high samples is described by a descending curve, which is typical for the diagrams of fracture created by two adjacent cracks of regular geometry samples. The maximum stresses required for the destruction of high rock samples are lower than those for the destruction of regular geometry samples of rocks with similar physical and mechanical properties.