International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924

Analysis of crack coalescence in rock-like materials containing

three awsFPart I: experimental approach
R.H.C. Wong
a,
*, K.T. Chau
a
, C.A. Tang
b
, P. Lin
b
a
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, China
b
Centre for Rock Instability and Seismicity Research, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China
Accepted 6 September 2001
Abstract
Fractures in the forms of joints and microcracks are commonly found in natural rocks, and their failure mechanism strongly
depends on the crack coalescence pattern between pre-existing aws. However, the crack coalescence pattern of rock specimens
containing three or more aws has not been studied comprehensively. In this paper, we investigate experimentally crack coalescence
and peak strength of rock-like materials containing three parallel frictional aws. Three aws are arranged such that one pair of
aws lines collinearly and the third aw forms either a non-overlapping pattern or an overlapping pattern with the rst aw. It is
found that the mechanisms of crack coalescence depend on the aw arrangement and the frictional coecient m on the aw surface.
Two rules of failure for the specimens containing three aws are proposed. Rule No. 1: the pair of aws with a lower value of
coalescence stress will dominate the process of coalescence. Rule No. 2: mixed and tensile modes of coalescence are always the dominant
modes if the coalescence stress of the two pairs of aws is very close (say within 5%). In addition, it is found that the peak strength of
the specimens does not depend on the initial crack density but on the actual number of pre-existing aws involved in the coalescence.
Comparisons of pattern of crack coalescence with the numerical approach are given in Part II of this study, and the two results agree
well. The research reported here provides increased understanding of the fundamental nature of rock failure in uniaxial
compression. r 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
When a brittle rock is loaded to failure, cracks
nucleate and propagate from pre-existing inhomogene-
ities, which can be in the form of pores, fractures,
inclusions or other defects. Crack initiation and
propagation in solids have been studied since the early
twenties [1,2]. Particular reference to fractures in rocks,
systematic, theoretical and experimental investigations
of crack initiation, propagation and interaction began at
about the middle of the last century and have continued
since [318]. It is recognized that under the compressive
loading, both tensile and shear stress concentrations can
develop at pre-existing inhomogeneities in rock. As the
compression applied to the rock further increases,
tensile cracks will be initiated. In the shear sliding crack
model, this tensile crack is called a wing crack, which
initiates from the tip of pre-existing fracture and grows
progressively parallel to the compression direction. At
the early stages, when the wing crack is short, the
growth is dominated by the stress eld around the pre-
existing fracture from which it grows. As the crack
extends, it start to interact with neighbouring micro-
cracks, and this interaction ultimately leads to crack
coalescence and nal failure of the sample [16].
Fracture propagation leading to rock failure is a very
important topic in rock mechanics research. A number
of studies have been done on two-dimensional (2-D)
model plates with through going pre-existing fractures
[329] and some of them have been done on 3-D
specimens [3033]. In reality, pre-existing fractures are
3-D in nature. The growth mechanisms of a 3-D crack
may be more complicated. Actually, according to the
observations by Germanovich et al. [3032] and
Germanovich and Dyskin [33], unlike in 2-D samples,
there are intrinsic limits on the growth of a crack in a
3-D model. However, the failure mechanism of rocks
containing 3-D cracks is out of the scope of the present
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +852-2766-6057; fax: +852-2334-
6389.
E-mail address: cerwong@polyu.edu.hk (R.H.C. Wong).
1365-1609/01/$ - see front matter r 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 1 3 6 5 - 1 6 0 9 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 6 4 - 8
study. In particular, the fundamental mechanisms of
crack coalescence of 2-D model have not been fully
investigated, and the failure process of awed rocks is
still not fully understood. Thus, the present study is
focused only on the propagation of 2-D cracks. The
following literatures are reviewed and experimental
studies are investigated on the 2-D models.
To study the failure of brittle rocks, Nemat-Nasser
and Horii [12] and Horii and Nemat-Nasser [14,15]
investigated the mechanism of crack interactions and the
nal failure pattern in fractured (awed) plates made of
Columbia resin CR39 under uniaxial as well as biaxial
compression. Their specimens contain a series of aws
1
of dierent lengths and orientations (e.g. see Figs. 8,9
and 17,18 of reference [14]). They showed that aw
length is one of the parameters controlling the failure
pattern of the specimens. In general, larger aws control
the mechanism of coalescence in the form of axial
splitting under uniaxial compression with little or no
crack growth from the small aws. Under biaxial
compression, the growth of larger aws is followed by
the growth of smaller aws and the nal failure is a
coalescence of the smaller aws in a form of shear zone
or fault. Their studies provide fundamental under-
standing of macroscopic failure in relation to the crack
distribution. However, the crack growth and its inter-
action between two aws are not fully understood.
Reyes [19] and Reyes and Einstein [20] studied the
failure mechanisms of specimens containing two inclined
non-overlapping open aws. They found that wing
cracks and secondary cracks (which initiate after the
wing crack) may occur and eventually lead to coales-
cence under uniaxial compression. To incorporate the
eect of crack surface friction, Shen et al. [21] conducted
a series of uniaxial compressive tests on gypsum
specimens containing both open and closed fractures.
It was found that the initial geometric setting of the
parallel aw controls the mechanism of crack coales-
cence. The patterns of crack coalescence observed are
similar to those reported in the study by Reyes and
Einstein [20]. The failure of awed solids may occur in
tensile and/or shear modes, depending on the geometric
relation between the two pre-existing aws. Although
some of the fundamental mechanisms of crack coales-
cence have been established, understanding of the
complete failure process of awed rocks and the
patterns of crack coalescence is still incomplete.
Based upon the experimental work of Reyes and
Einstein [20] and Shen et al. [21], Wong [22], Wong and
Chau [2325] reconsidered the problems of crack
coalescence and the strength between two aws using a
rock-like material (made of barite, sand, plaster and
water) under uniaxial compression. Three main factors
were varied to investigate the failure patterns: they are
aw angle a (inclination of the aw), bridge angle b
(angle between two aws) and frictional coecient m of
the aw surface, under the conditions of a xed aw
length 2c and a xed distance between aws 2b [23].
In general, three main modes of crack coalescence were
observed as shown in Fig. 1. They are the wing tensile
mode (crack coalescence involving the growth of wing
cracks along the direction parallel to the compression),
the shear mode (links between two aws along the
direction roughly parallel to the aw), and the mixed
mode (shear/tensile). As illustrated in Fig. 2, Wong and
Chau [23] proposed a classication of patterns for three
dierent failure modes (tensile, shear and mixed), for
dierent combinations of aw angle a; bridge angle b
and frictional coecient m on aw surface. Triangles,
rhombuses and squares were the data points of the 2-
aw specimens for shear, mixed and wing tensile modes,
respectively.
Actually, for similar aw geometry under uniaxial
compression (i.e. similar a; b and b=c 1:6; the ratio of
aw length and bridge length) the patterns of crack
Tensile
Crack
Shear Crack
Tensile Crack
Shear Crack
(a) (b) (c)
Flaw
2b
2c
Fig. 1. Three main modes of crack coalescence in 2-aw specimens, where (a) is wing tensile mode, (b) is shear mode, and (c) is mixed mode (tensile
and shear). The aw length 2c and the bridge distance between the two aws 2b are xed with 2c=12 mm and 2b=20 mm.
1
We will refer to the pre-existing fracture as a aw, and the
initiated or propagated fracture as a crack.
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 910
coalescence observed by Bobet and Einstein [26] fall
within the classication of Wong and Chau [23]. Bobet
and Einstein [26] and Bobet [27] investigated the pattern
of crack coalescence under both uniaxial and biaxial
compression. They found that the patterns of crack
coalescence not only depend on the aw geometry but
also on the stress conditions. Wing cracks initiate at the
aw tips for uniaxial or low connement biaxial
conditions, but the location of crack initiation moves
to the middle of the aw and wing cracks disappear
completely for higher conning stresses. For the relation
between the strength and the pattern of crack coales-
cence of specimens, Wong [22] and Wong and Chau [24]
found that the compressive strength of the specimen for
wing crack coalescence is normally lower than that for
shear crack coalescence. Furthermore, Wong and Chau
[25] found that the strength of cracked solids does not
depend linearly on the number of pre-existing aws
(density) once a threshold value of aw density is
exceeded.
Although previous studies provide a general under-
standing of the coalescence pattern between two aws,
when specimens contain three or more aws, the crack
interaction between the aws has not been studied
comprehensively. This is important because rock con-
tain many aws. Thus, Wong et al. [28,29] reported very
briey the results of specimens containing two aws to
multiple aws under both uniaxial and biaxial compres-
sion. The number of aws in the specimens was from 3
to 42. To report the results more comprehensively, we
present in this paper only the results of crack
coalescence and peak stress of rock-like materials
containing three aws. The research of this paper is of
fundamental importance to understand the mechanism
controlling crack coalescence in the multiple awed
specimens.
In this study, the aw angle a; bridge angle b and the
frictional coecient m are varied under a xed aw
length 2c and bridge length 2b, which have been
dened in Fig. 1. Our main interest is to investigate the
dominant factors controlling the failure patterns in
specimens containing three aws. A further objective of
the present paper is to investigate the failure mechanism
of rock bridges in brittle materials containing multiple
aws in order to represent fully the failure of intact rock.
The numerical study of the same problem is presented in
Part II [34].
There are two general areas where a study of this type
could prove useful: in problems of stability of rock in
civil engineering, such as the excavated underground
openings or slopes, and in fracture mechanics involving
multiple aws. The relevant observations in the rst case
are that the collapse of a rock structure containing non-
persistent joints may be preceded by several stages of
crack propagation, interaction and coalescence. Our
investigation should provide the fundamental under-
standing of crack propagation, interaction and coales-
cence in rock under uniaxial compression. With respect
to the contribution to fracture mechanics, the coales-
cence of multiple non-persistent joints is involved in the
fracture of all brittle materials.
2. Experimental studies
In order to have a good comparison between our
present study and the previous study, the mixture of the
modelling material is the same as that used by of Wong
and Chau [23], which is a mixture of barite, sand, plaster
and water with a mass ratio of 2 : 4 : 1 : 1.5. The average
values of unit weight, uniaxial compressive strength,
tensile strength and frictional coecient of the model-
ling material are g
m
17:68 kN/m
3
, s
cm
2:09 MPa,
Fig. 2. Classications of coalescence of a 2-aw specimen with
dierent combinations of aw angle a; bridge angle b and frictional
coecient m: (a) is the classication for m 0:6 and (b) is the
classication for m 0:7: Triangles, rhombuses and squares were the
data points of the 2-aw specimens for shear, mixed and wing tensile
modes, respectively. The S-regime is the regime in which the shear
mode of crack coalescence is expected to occur. The M-regime is the
regime in which the mixed shear/tensile mode of crack coalescence is
likely to occur, and the W-regime is the regime in which wing crack
failures are expected (after Wong and Chau [23]).
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 911
s
tm
0:35 MPa and m
m
0:62; respectively. The aver-
age value of the tangent Youngs modulus (E
m
) at 50%
of peak strength is 0.33 GPa and the Poissons ratio (n
m
)
is 0.19. The fracture toughness K
IC
of the modelling
material is 0.0443 MPam
1/2
. The p factors of dimen-
sional analysis of this articial material have been found
comparable to the physical ranges of the p factors for
sandstone; therefore, Wong and Chau [23] concluded
that the material is appropriate as a sandstone-like
modelling material. The overall dimensions of specimens
containing three aws are 60 mm wide 120 mm
long 25 mm thick. To simplify the present analysis,
the bridge length 2b (distance between two aws) and
the aw length 2c are xed at 20 and 12 mm,
respectively.
Flaws were created by inserting steel shims into three
slots in the mould template and removing them during
curing (Fig. 3). Dierent degrees of the roughness of the
aw surface are created by applying dierent numbers
of punch marks to the smooth steel shims (Fig. 4). The
frictional coecients on the aw surfaces are measured
by the titling test on specimens with a through going
aw. The mean frictional coecient on aw surfaces
simulated by inserting plain steel shim is 0.6, while
that simulated by steel shim with punched-indentations
is 0.7.
Two dierent aw angles a were used to investigate
the eect of aw geometry on the pattern of crack
coalescence. The chosen aw angles are 451 and 651,
where 651 is the preferred orientation for the frictional
aws (m 0:620:7) of the specimen to slide under
uniaxial compression [23]. The layout of specimens
containing three aws is shown in Fig. 5. For sake of
later discussions, the three aws are labelled as , and
, respectively.
As shown in Fig. 5, there are two bridge angles b
1
and
b
2
for the three-aw model. In the experiments, b
1
(between aws and ) is xed at 451, and b
2
(between
aws and ) varies from 751 to 1201 with increments
of 151. Thus, there are two dierent bridge angles
between the three aws. As is illustrated in Fig. 2, the
aw settings of b 451 result in a shear coalescence
pattern, and the other settings of b 751 to 1201 result
in mixed and tensile coalescence modes. Therefore, we
can investigate whether coalescence occurs along the
rock bridge of b
1
(i.e. shear crack coalescence), along
that rock bridge of b
2
(i.e. tensile and mixed crack
coalescence), or along the rock bridge of both b
1
and b
2
:
Then the possible relevance of the coalescence in the 2-
aw-specimens to the 3-aw-specimens can also be
examined.
To obtain reliable results in the experiment, the
sample preparation procedures were under well control.
The modelling materials were weighed by using the
electronic weighting balance to a 70.01. Each mixing
procedure was under time control where for the mixture
of barium sulphate and sand it was 4 min. Then cold
water was added evenly and mixed until all particles had
been wetted (4 min). Finally, plaster was added and
mixed evenly until the mixture became a churn-like
paste (7 min). The mixture was then poured into a
mould under vibration (4 min).
To prevent the boundary condition of specimen
aecting the results of experiments, the positions of
three pre-existing aws were designed as far away as
possible from the side boundaries of specimen. Other-
wise, local failure may be observed instead of crack
coalescence between the pre-existing aws during the
testing.
Fig. 3. Flaws are created in the specimen by inserting stainless steel
shims into three slots in the mould template.
Fig. 4. The stainless steel shims with dierent roughness used in
creating the aws in the modelling material. The top and lower shims
give a frictional coecient of 0.6 and 0.7 on the surfaces of the aws,
respectively.
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 912
In this study, two specimens with the same parameters
have been cast and tested. If the pattern of crack
coalescence for both specimens is the same, the mean
value of the peak strength is taken. If only one fails by
crack coalescence and the other fails but without crack
coalescence, one more specimen with the same para-
meters was prepared and tested. If both specimens failed
with no crack coalescence, two more specimens with the
same parameters were prepared and tested. If, again, no
crack coalescence was observed for these additional
specimens, the mean peak strength of these specimens is
recorded for comparison purposes only.
The uniaxial compression tests of the specimens were
performed in a Wykeham Farrance WF-5562s loading
machine. This is a load control machine available in our
rock mechanics laboratory. The average loading rate is
about 0.002 kN/s, and it takes about 2530 min to load
one specimen to failure. Two LVDTs were installed in
the front and behind the specimen for measuring the
vertical deformation of the specimen. Only three of
specimens fail suddenly after peak applied stress;
otherwise, the recorded displacement rate is rather
steady up to peak applied stress and even after.
Therefore, there should be no appreciable dierence
between the displacement and load control in our
particular case. Thus, the loading process can be
considered as displacement-controlled approximately.
The setting of the apparatus is shown in Fig. 6 where a
load cell of 5 kN is placed below the lower loading
platen to measure the applied load. To reduce the
friction between the specimen and the loading platens,
two pieces of polythene sheet were inserted. All speci-
mens were loaded until either the aws coalesced or the
specimen failed, which is identied by the drop in the
applied load. All the loading and displacement records
are transferred to and stored in an IBM PC through a
KYOWA UCAM-5B Data Logger.
In all the reported experiments, no local failure was
observed, thus no sample boundaries aect to the results
of our experiment.
3. The coalescence of cracks
3.1. Comparisons of the patterns of crack coalescence
between specimens containing two and three aws
Wong and Chau [23] concluded that there are three
modes of coalescence in the bridge area, wing tensile,
shear and mixed (tensile and shear), for specimens
containing two aws. To compare the patterns of crack
coalescence between specimens containing two and three
aws, Figs. 7 and 8 report all the failure patterns
for various values of aw angle (a 451 and 651),
bridge angle (b 451; 7511201) and frictional co-
ecient (m 0:6 and 0.7) for 2- and 3-aw-specimens,
respectively.
The notations S (shear mode crack coalescence), MI,
MII (mixed shear/tensile mode crack coalescence), WI,
WII, WIII and WII/III (wing tensile mode crack
coalescence) are the same as those used in Fig. 6 of
Wong and Chau [23] which is also given in Fig. 9 here.
For the S-type coalescence, crack links between the tip
of two aws along the direction roughly parallel to the
aw. For the MI-type coalescence, the growing wing
cracks, which initiated from the two tips of the aws, are
coalesced by a shear crack in the middle of bridge area.
For the MII-type of coalescence, a growing wing crack
is coalesced by a shear crack that appeared at the other
tip of a aw. The WI-type of coalescence is a simple
coalescence between two wing cracks. The WII-type of
coalescence is resulted as a growing wing crack coalesces
with the other aw. The WIII-type of coalescence is a

Outer Flaw Tip

Outer Flaw Tip
Inner Flaw Tip
Inner Flaw Tip
1
3
2
Fig. 5. The layout of specimens containing three aws. The inclina-
tions of the pre-existing aws a used in this study are 451 and 651. The
bridge angle of b
1
is xed at 451, while b
2
vary from 751 to 1201. The
length of aw 2c is xed at 12 mm. The bridge distance between the
two aws 2b is xed at 20 mm. The inner and outer aw tips are also
shown.
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 913
growing wing crack joining the outer tip of the other
aw. From comparisons of Figs. 7 and 8, for the same
a=b it is observed that the type of failure patterns in the
3-aw specimens are the same as those for the 2-aw
specimens. Coalescence in the 3-aw specimens can
again be identied as either shear S, wing tensile WI or
mixed (tensile and shear) MI and MII depending on the
values of a; m and the coalescence angle b
c
; dened as the
bridge angle along which the crack coalescence occurs
(i.e. either b
1
or b
2
). Unlike the studies on 2-aw models
(Fig. 7), coalescence with a bridge angle b of 1201 was
not observed in all specimens with three aws (Fig. 8).
For 3-aw specimens with bridge angles of b
1
; b
2
451;
1201, coalescence occurs only for b
1
451 but not for
b
2
1201 (Fig. 8).
The classication given in Fig. 2 of this study suggests
that the appearance of these modes of coalescence
depends on the values of a; b and m: The patterns of
crack coalescence for 3-aw specimens in the a b
c
space for m 0:6 and 0.7 were superimposed onto the
regime classication given in Fig. 2; and the results are
plotted on Fig. 10. The triangles, rhombuses and
squares in circles are used to denote the data points
for shear, mixed and wing tensile modes observed in the
3-aw specimens, respectively. Except for one specimen
with a=b
c
=m 451=1051=0:6 (see Fig. 10a), it is found
that all of the experimental results for 3-aw specimens
fall within the same regimes classication of 2-aw
specimens.
3.2. General observation for 3-aw specimens
Experimental observations (see Fig. 8) show that
crack coalescence occurred in 14 out of the 16 geometric
settings. There are three possible scenarios in the process
of crack growth. (1) In about 27% of the specimens,
tensile cracks (wing cracks) initiate rst at the tips of the
two aws (either the aw , or ) followed by wing
crack initiation from a third aw at a later stage.
However, no matter which wing crack initiates rst,
crack coalescence occurs only between two aws (aws
and ) at failure. (2) In about 60% of the specimens,
wing cracks initiate from only two aws (either between
aws and or aws and ), with no wing crack
nucleating from the third aw during the whole loading
process and the nal coalescence also does not involve
the third crack. (3) In the remaining 13% of specimens,
wing cracks initiate from all three aws at the same time,
but no crack coalescence is observed at failure.
The process of coalescence between the growing wing
cracks is normally slow enough to be captured by eye
observation. It is observed that crack initiates rst at
either inner tip or outer tip of the aws, followed by
crack growth at the other tip of the same aw (see the
denitions of inner and outer tips in Fig. 5). In general,
the growth of cracks at the outer tips is faster than that
observed at the inner tips. The growth rate of each inner
crack is not the same. When an inner crack grows
rapidly, the other inner tip of aw normally grows much
slower and even seems to stop growing. This is because
of the higher stress concentration around the growing
inner crack tip and causing the crack to grow further.
With a nearby propagating inner crack, a high stress
concentration at the neighbouring inner crack tip will be
aected. A further discussion of stress distribution
within the bridge area will be presented in Part II of
this study [34]. The types of cracking in the bridge area
between the three aws can be wing tensile, shear, or a
Fig. 6. The layout of the loading system with the displacement recording system.
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 914
mix of these. Furthermore, it is observed that if the
growth rate of the inner cracks is the same, no
coalescence occurs even when the applied stress drops.
In general, when an inner crack coalesces with the
neighbouring inner crack, the applied stress will
decrease. The test is stopped until the axial stress drops
to 70% of the peak stress.
Fig. 8 illustrates the very important feature that crack
coalescence occurs only between two aws either
between aws and or between and , and never
between aws and . What makes the aw to
coalesce with the aw but why not the or the
reverse order? Why crack coalescence does not occur
between aws and under uniaxial compression?
Fig. 7. The mode of crack coalescence for specimens containing two aws. The angles b represent the bridge angle with m 0:6 and 0.7. The
notations S (shear mode crack coalescence), MI, MII (mixed mode crack coalescence), WI, WII, WIII and WII/III (wing tensile mode crack
coalescence) are the same as those proposed in Fig. 6 of Wong and Chau [23] or Fig. 9 of this paper.
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 915
What is the dominant factor that controls the failure
patterns in the multiple awed specimens? The following
section attempts to address these questions by formulat-
ing two rules of coalescence for the 3-aw models.
3.3. Rules of coalescence for solids containing 3 frictional
aws
By comparing the experimental mode of failure
observations on 3-aw specimens with those for 2-aw
specimens, the following rules of coalescence are
formulated:
Rule 1. Crack coalescence always occurs between
that pair of aws for which the coalescence stress is
smaller.
Rule 2. Mixed and tensile modes of crack coalescence
are always the dominant modes when the values of the
coalescence stress between the pairs of aws are very
close (say within 5%).
Fig. 8. The mode of crack coalescence for specimens containing three aws with 16 combinations of a; (b
1
; b
2
) and m: The bridge angles b
1
shows the
angle between aws and , b
2
shows the angle between aws and . The notations S, MI, MII and WI are the same as those in Fig. 9.
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 916
To demonstrate the above rules, the observed data of
the 3-aw specimens are summarised in Table 1. The
peak strength results (or coalescence stress, in general,
crack coalescence was observed at about the peak
strength of specimen) for the 2-aw specimens are
tabulated in Table 1 together with the results for the 3-
aw specimens with the same a; m and b
c
(coalescence
angle). For example, for the 3-aw specimens with the
parameter set a=b
1
; b
2
=m 451=451; 751=0:6; there
are two possible angles of coalescence b
c
451 (coales-
cence between aw and ) or b
c
751 (coalescence
between aw and ). The coalescence stress for 2-aw
specimen with a=b
c
451=451 is 1.67 MPa, compared
with 1.59 MPa for specimen with a=b
c
451=751 (this
coalescence stress is smaller than 1.67 MPa). Fig. 11
shows the peak strength and crack coalescence of 2-aw
specimens of b 451 and 751 and 3-aw specimen of
b
1
=b
2
451=751 with the same m (0.6) and the same a
together. The mode of coalescence for the 3-aw
specimens is clearly the same as that for the 2-aw
specimen with a=b
c
451=751 (between aws and
in Fig. 11a). Therefore, Rule 1 applies in this case.
That is, a b
c
value that corresponds to the smaller
coalescence stress seems to prevail in the process of
crack coalescence. In the lower part of Table 1, all data
that comply with Rule 1 are marked with super-
script 1.
However, some data in Table 1 do not comply with
Rule 1. For example (see Table 1), for the 3-aw
specimen with the parameter set a=b
1
; b
2
=m
65=45; 75=0:6; the coalescence stress for 2-aw speci-
men with a=b
c
651=451 is 1.42 MPa, for specimen
with a=b
c
651=751 is 1.45 MPa. If Rule 1 is the
only rule for coalescence, the angle of coalescence b
c
for
data set a=b
1
; b
2
=m 65=45; 75=0:6 should be 451
(coalescence between aws and ) instead of 751
(coalescence between aws and ). However, the
coalescence in 3-aw specimen is between aws and
(Table 1 and Fig. 11b). Consequently, Rule 2 is
formulated for crack coalescence for 3-aw models as:
when the coalescence stress of the two pairs of aw is
very close (say within 5%), mixed and tensile modes of
crack coalescence always dominate. All data that
comply with Rule 2 are indicated by the superscript
2 in Table 1.
Table 1 shows that 12 of the 14 coalescence sets of 3-
aw data conform to these rules of coalescence, a
conformity of 86%. If b
2
equals to 751 or 901, the
conformity is 100%. Since these rules of crack coales-
cence are rather preliminary based on limited tests,
Shear
Crack
S
Shear
Crack
Wing
Crack
M I
Shear
Crack
Wing
Crack
M II
Wing
Crack
W I
Wing
Crack
W II
Wing
Crack
W III
Fig. 9. Six dierent patterns of crack coalescence observed in the 2-aw specimens. The notations S, M and W indicate the shear, mixed (shear/
tensile) and wing tensile mode crack coalescence, respectively (after Wong and Chau [23]).
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 917
numerical simulation studies were conducted and will be
presented in Part II of this study [34].
Up to this stage, it cannot be explained why crack
coalescence does not occur between aws and . The
following section attempts to address this question by
comparison with Nemat-Nasser and Horii [12].
3.4. Comparison with Nemat-Nasser and Horii (1982)
It is instructive to compare the observations of this
study to those by Nemat-Nasser and Horii [12], who
used Columbia resin CR39 as the modelling material.
The specimens were 6 mm thick, aw lengths about
12 mm, aw widths or openings about 0.4 mm, and each
crack was lined with two 0.2 mm thick brass shims in
order to reduce friction between the two aw faces. The
aw distance (bridge length) was 12 mm and a was 451.
The specimens contained two rows of two parallel
collinear aws with b
1
of 451 and b
2
of 901 (estimated by
direct measurements on Figs. 17(ac) and 18(ab) of
Nemat-Nasser and Horii [12]). In order to give a clear
discussion and illustration, Fig. 12 reproduces the
experimental observation given in Fig. 18(b) of Nemat-
Nasser and Horii [12]. Three of the aws are named
similar to the 3-aw specimens of , and . Under
uniaxial compression, wing cracks initiate and propa-
gate (the solid line) from the tips of the aws. The wing
cracks from the lower row aw tips (e.g. aw )
propagate upward to the upper one (e.g. aw ), and
those wing cracks from the upper row aw tips grow
downward to the lower one. However, the specimens
failed by axial splitting rather than localized coalescence
failure. In contrast, coalescence failures were formed in
the specimens for this study (see Fig. 8) under uniaxial
compression for the same values of a and b: This
discrepancy between the present study and that by
Nemat-Nasser and Horii [12] may have resulted from:
(i) their material and the one used in this study are
conducive to dierent modes of failure even though
both are brittle; and (ii) their frictional coecient m
Fig. 10. (a,b) Modes of crack coalescence for specimens containing three aws superimposed onto the classications given in Fig. 2. Symbols ,
and indicate the shear, mixed shear/tensile and wing tensile modes of coalescence observed in the 3-aw specimens, respectively.
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 918
(which is actually not given) may be very small
comparing to that of the present study. As illustrated
in Wong and Chau [23], deviation of the orientation of
wing cracks from the line of aw decreases with increase
of m: To further illustrate the second possible reason,
Fig. 8 from Wong and Chau [23] is redrawn in Fig. 12
(the small gure at the left lower corner) together with
the reproduction of Nemat-Nasser and Horii [12]. As
shown in the gure, if a higher value of m had been used
on the surfaces of the aws, the path for the growth of
wing cracks would have been more likely to follow a
path linking the aw tips (between aws and ,
indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 12). Therefore, it is
clear from the small gure of Fig. 12 that specimens with
a higher value of the frictional coecient m on the aw
surfaces are more conducive to wing crack coalescence
compared to cases of small m values (as in the
experiment of Nemat-Nasser & Horii [12]). If zero m
value has been used on the surfaces of the aws, the path
for the growth of wing cracks would have been more
likely to follow a path linking the aw tips between
and (indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 12). However,
a higher value of m had been used in our study, therefore
no crack coalescence is observed between aws and
in our 3-aws study. As reviewed from Fig. 8, for those
cracks initiated from aws and , the growth of inner
tip of aw propagates towards aw , while the
growth of outer tip of aw grows towards the edge of
specimen under uniaxial compression. For the same aw
arrangement under a biaxial compression [28], second-
ary crack can initiate at the outer tip of aw ,
propagate towards aw and coalesce. In this case,
failure involves three aws.
4. Peak strength of awed specimens
Table 1 shows that the peak strength for specimens
with the same a; b and m are basically the same,
regardless of whether they contain two or three aws.
In other words, peak strength appears not to decrease
proportionally with the initial aw density.
These observations not only appear in 3-aw specimens,
but also were observed in the modelling specimens
Table 1
A comparison of the experimental peak strength for specimens containing two aws and three aws
Two aws
a (1) b
1
(1) m 0:6 m 0:7
b
c
(1) Peak strength (MPa) b
c
(1) Peak strength (MPa)
45 45 45 1.67 45 1.88
75 75 1.59 75 1.80
90 90 1.59 90 1.57
105 105 1.88 105 1.84
120 120 1.64 120 1.73
65 45 45 1.42 45 1.44
75 75 1.45 75 1.49
90 90 1.49 90 1.48
105 105 1.51 105 1.52
120 No
b
1.46 120 1.48
Three aws
a (1) b
1
; b
2
m 0:6 m 0:7
b
c
(1) Peak strength (MPa) b
c
(1) Peak strength (MPa)
45 45, 75 75
1
1.59 75
1
1.73
45, 90 90
1
1.57 90
1
1.73
45, 105 105
a
1.60 105
1
1.61
45, 120 No
b
1.69 45
a
1.70
65 45, 75 75
2
1.43 75
2
1.58
45, 90 90
2
1.42 90
2
1.52
45, 105 45
1
1.51 45
1
1.62
45, 120 45
1
1.51 No
b
1.58
a
These results do not comply with the rule of failure.
b
No crack coalescence occurs at failure.
75
1
Data comply with Rule 1.
90
2
Data comply with Rule 2.
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 919
containing multiple aws (18 and 42 with the specimen
size of 400 mm400 mm25 mm [24]). This is also
precisely what was observed for the Hong Kong granite
by Wong and Chau [25], and Yuen Long marble by
Wong et al. [35] that peak strength does not decrease
with initial aw density once a threshold value of aw
density is exceeded. We speculate that the peak strength
for a specimen is not proportional to the number of
aws, and the following hypothesis is thus proposed.
The peak strength for awed specimens does not depend
on the total number of pre-existing aws, but only on the
number of aws actually involved in the formation of the
failure pattern. (Note, the above conclusion is from
specimens with xed aw spacing of 20 mm [24], and
from Yuen Long marble with varying aw spacing from
53 to 106 mm [35]).
To examine this hypothesis, the model by Ashby and
Hallam [16] is employed. Ashby and Hallam [16] derived
the following total stress intensity factor K
I
for the
growth of wing cracks:
K
I
s
1

pc
p
sin 2c m m cos 2c
1 L
3=2
0:23L
1

3
p
1 L
1=2
" #

2e
0
L cos c
p

1=2
; 1
where s
1
is the uniaxial compression, c is the angle
measured from the s
1
-direction to the direction along
the aw surface (i.e. c 901 a), 2c is the length of the
pre-existing aw, L c=c is the normalized length of the
wing cracks (c is the length of the growing wing crack),
m is the frictional coecient along the shear or frictional
aw, and the aw density e
0
is dened as Nc
2
=A (N is the
number of aw per area A). Although strictly speaking
(1) is for the case of multiple initial aws, it was found
that it can also be applied to the specimen containing
Fig. 11. (a,b) The mode of crack coalescence and the peak stress of specimens containing two aws and three aws with the same a; b and m
presented here for discussion on the two rules of coalescence for solids containing three aws.
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 920
two aws (see Table 2 of [23] which is also given in
Table 2 of present study). Therefore, the peak uni-
axial compressive strength s
max
1
of a awed solid can be
estimated as Wong and Chau [23]:
s
max
1

K
IC

pc
p
sin 2c m m cos 2c
1 L
cr

3=2
(
0:23L
cr

1

3
p
1 L
cr

1=2
" #

2e
0
L
cr
cos c
p

1=2
)
1
; 2
where K
IC
is the fracture toughness (0.0443 MPaOm for
our modelling material), L
cr
c
max
=cc
max
2b sin b is
the maximum possible value for the length of the
coalesced wing cracks, and 2b is the distance between
the two aws). In this study, the initial aw density of
specimens containing three aws is e
0
0:015
(e
0
Nc
2
=A note that N 3; A 0:06 m0.12 m and
c 0:006 m). Predictions of the normalized peak
strength (s
max
1
Opc=K
IC
) by using Eq. (2) and the
experimental observations are tabulated in Table 3. To
demonstrate the above hypothesis, the peak strength of
the specimens containing 18 and 42 aws [24] are
tabulated in Table 3 together with the results for the 3-
aw specimens with the same aw length 2c, bridge
length 2b, a; b and m: For the specimen containing 18
aws, 3 rows of 6 collinear aws are placed at the central
region. For the specimen containing 42 aws, the aw
arrangement is 9 rows of 4 collinear aws at the central
region and 2 rows of 3 parallel aws at the upper and
lower ends of specimen. The density of the multiple
awed specimens for 18 and 42 aws are e
0
0:016 and
0.038, respectively (Table 3). It is found that if initial
aw density e
0
is used in the calculation, the prediction is
much lower than the experimental observations. The
hypothesis was then tested by using the number of aws
involved in the formation of the failure pattern in
calculating aw density e
f:
For the 3-aw specimen, e
f

0:01 is used, because the observations presented in this
study show that nal crack coalescence involves only
two aws but not three. For 18- and 42-aws specimens,
the number of aws involved in the failure pattern are 15
and 5. Thus the values of the adjusted crack density are
e
f
0:0135 and 0.0045, respectively. It is found that the
predicted peak strength based on aw density e
f
agrees
well with the experiments, as shown in Table 3.
5. Conclusions
In this study, experimental results on the mechanism
of crack coalescence and on the peak strength of rock-
like materials containing three aws under uniaxial
compression loading were presented. The specimens
used in this study are made of a sandstone-like material
and contain three parallel frictional aws. Various
values of inclination of these aw angles a; the bridge
angle b and the frictional coecient m were used in our
parametric studies. For specimens containing three
aws, it was found that:
*
Crack coalescence occurs between only two aws (not
three).
*
The mechanisms of crack coalescence depend on the
coalescence stress of the pair of aws. The lower
value of coalescence stress between the pair of aws
will dominate the process of coalescence.
*
Mixed and wing tensile modes of coalescence are
more likely to occur than shear mode, if the

Wing Crack
= 0.9
0.7
0.6
0.0
Pre-existing
Flaw
From Fig.8 of Wong
and Chau [23]
1 in
Possible path for crack
growth if is higher
Possible path for
crack growth if
is zero

1

3
2
1
Fig. 12. Shows the eect of m on the path of wing crack propagation.
The specimen with two parallel rows of collinear pre-existing cracks is
adopted from Fig. 18 of Nemat-Nasser and Horii [12]. For a higher m;
the possible path for crack growth may occur between aws and .
For a lower mE0; the possible path for crack growth may appear
between aws and . The small gure showing the eect of m on the
path of wing crack from Fig. 8 of Wong and Chau [23] is redrawn here
for comparison.
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 921
Table 2
The experimental and theoretical results of the peak strength of specimens containing two aws (Wong and Chau [23])
a (1) b (1) Normalized peak stress s
1
Opc=K
IC
m 0:6 Normalized peak stress s
1
Opc=K
IC
m 0:7
Experimental Theoretical Experimental Theoretical
45 45 5.17 5.19 5.84 5.53
45 75 4.95 4.93 5.67 5.19
45 90 4.94 4.89 4.85
a
5.14
45 105 5.81 4.93 5.69 5.19
45 120 5.07 5.03 5.37 5.32
65 45 4.41 4.54 4.47 4.63
65 75 4.48 4.42 4.61 4.49
65 90 4.62 4.40 4.59 4.47
65 105 4.68 4.42 4.71 4.49
65 120 4.53 4.48 4.58 4.55
a
Specimens show partial-surface-contact along the pre-existing aws.
Table 3
Experimental and theoretical results for the peak strength of specimens containing three aws and multiple aws
3-aw specimen
a (1) b
1
; b
2
(1) Coalescence
angle b
c
(1)
Normalized peak strength (s
1
Opc=K
IC
) (m 0:6
Experimental Theoretical
Three
aws e
0
0:015
Two aws
e
f
0:01
45 45, 75 75 4.92 4.19 4.93
45, 90 90 4.85 4.16 4.89
45, 105 105 4.96 4.19 4.93
45, 120 No 5.22 F F
65 45, 75 75 4.44 3.80 4.42
45, 90 90 4.40 3.78 4.40
45, 105 45 4.67 3.96 4.54
45, 120 45 4.69 3.96 4.54
a (1) b
1
; b
2
(1) b
c
(1) Normalized peak strength s
1
Opc=K
IC
(m 0:7
Experimental Theoretical
Three aws
e
0
0:015
Two aws
e
f
0:01
45 45, 75 75 5.36 4.38 5.19
45, 90 90 5.36 4.34 5.14
45, 105 105 5.00 4.38 5.18
45, 120 45 5.27 4.71 5.53
65 45, 75 75 4.91 3.86 4.49
45, 90 90 4.72 3.84 4.46
45, 105 45 5.02 4.03 4.63
45, 120 No 4.91 F F
Multiple awed specimen (Wong and Chau [24])
a (1) Initial aws Coalescence
angle b
c
(1)
Flaws involved in failure pattern Normalized peak strength
s
1
Opc=K
IC
(m 0:6
Number e
0
Number e
f
Experimental Theoretical
e
0
e
f
45 18 0.016 75 15 0.0135 4.39 4.06 4.38
45 42 0.038 75 5 0.0045 6.72 2.84 6.63
R.H.C. Wong et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 909924 922
coalescence stress between the pair of aws is very
close (within 5% of each other).
*
The frictional coecient m of aw surface can aect
the pattern of coalescence of the cracked solids.
*
The uniaxial peak strength for cracked specimens
does not depend on the total number of aws but
only on the number of aws actually involved in the
formation of the shear zone of the failure pattern.
Our observation provides a better understanding on
the failure behaviour of crack coalescence between three
aws. In addition, to further examine the reason of
crack coalescence occurring between only two aws, a
comprehensive numerical study will be presented in
Part II of the paper [34]. In particular, we focus on the
stress distribution within the bridge area.
Acknowledgements
The study was supported by the Research Project No.
A-PA42 of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to
RHCW. The laboratory assistance by C.Y. Chim is
appreciated.
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