VOL. 84, NO.

BI0

JOURNAL

OF GEOPHYSICAL

RESEARCH

SEPTEMBER

10, 1979

Dilatancy Anisotropy and the Responseof Rock to Large Cyclic Loads

C. H. SCHOLZ AND T. A. KOCZYNSKI

Lamont-DohertyGeologicalObservatoryof ColumbiaUniversity,Palisades,New York 10964

An experimentalstudyof cyclicfatigue of granite and diabasein triaxial compressionwas conducted.it
was found that dilatancyprogressivelydevelopedduring cyclicloadingof theserockswith a form in time
very similar to a creepcurve.Dilatancy wasin all caseshighlyanisotropic.This anisotropywascontrolled
by the crack microstructurein the granite and by the residualstressin the diabase.The strike of the fracture plane was found typically to form normal to the axis of maximum dilatancy. Increasingdilatancy
during cyclic loading was found to be caused by progressivedilatant creep plus additional damage
producedby the cyclingitself.The former leadsto a pronouncedloading rate effecton fatigue,the latter
to a complexeffectof cycleamplitude on fatigue. No stabilizationof fatigue by pressurewas found for
confiningpressuresup to 300 MPa. The total dilatant strain at fracture was found to increasestrongly

with peak stressand decrease

with increasing
loadingrate.Three typesof crackingare shownto result
in dilatancy:type 1, stress-induced
cracking;type2, stresscorrosioncracking;and type3, fatiguecracking. Rock fractureis sensitiveto which type is prevalent.
INTRODUCTION

anisotropic strains. It was found that dilatancy was strongly

anisotropicin all testsand that the anisotropywas controlled
A well-known property of many materialsis cyclic fatigue,
by the rock microstructure.
which resultsin failure due to cyclicloading at stressesbelow
the static strength.A number of studieshave shownthat under
brittle conditions, rock exhibits this property [Burdine, 1963;
EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE
Attewell and Farmer, 1973;Hardy and Chugh, 1970;Haimson
In this study, 55 cyclicloadingexperimentswere conducted,
and Kim, 1971]. These earlier studieshave largely been con51 with Westerly granite usingtwo different orientationswith
cerned with the effect of peak load on the number of cycles
respectto the rock fabric and 4 with Palisadesdiabase. The
required to produce .failureand on the progressivedevelopexperiments were conducted in a programable, servo-conment of the strain, e, parallel to the loading direction.
trolled, triaxial testing apparatuswhich is describedin more
The suggestionthat dilatancy may precede earthquakes
detail in the appendix. With the exception of the relaxation
[Scholzet al., 1973] has brought somerenewedinterestin the
tests,which were conductedwith displacementfeedbackconresponseof rock to cyclic loading, since rock in tectonically
trol, all experimentswere conductedwith axial force as the
active regions is subject to cyclic loading over the period
feedback control. Loading functions were sawteeth with a
between major earthquakes.$cholz and Kranz [1974], for expresetpeak level,amplitude,and loadingrate. Exceptfor a few
ample, discussed
the effectof cyclicloading on dilatancyand
experimentsterminated by systemfailure, all experimentswere
dilatancy recovery and noted, among other things, that the
run until specimenrupture occurred. The duration of these
stressat the onset of dilatancy, C', decreasedwith increasing
testsvaried from a few minutesto 8 days.Most testswere done
cycle number. Subsequent studies by Zoback and Byedee
at a rate of I MPa s-, 2-3 orders of magnitude slower than
[ 1975]and Hadley [1976], however,indicatedthat at confining
most previous fatigue studies, in order to avoid specimen
pressuresof 100 MPa or greater this effect was not observed
heating.Load controlwaspreciseto 0.1 MPa with actualdrifts
but that after a few cycles,dilatancy hysteresisloops appeared
of up to 2 MPa in long-term testsowing to diurnal temperto reach a steady state.
ature fluctuations. All experimentswere conductedat room
Most of the above work was concernedwith only a few
temperatureand confiningpressuresrangingfrom 100to 300
questionsabout the responseof rock to cyclicloadingand was
MPa. The earliest tests in this serieswere conductedprior to
limited to uniaxial compressiontestsor testsat very low coninstallation of our servo-controlledconfiningpressuresystem;
fining pressure,so that an overall understandingof this phehence the confining pressurefluctuated &2% from the mean
nomenon has been very fragmentary.We report here an atvalue during each cycleowing to loadingpiston advanceand
tempt to make a systematicstudyof the effectsof large cyclic
retraction. For internal consistencyall experimentswere conloading on rock, with particular emphasison the progressive
ducted in this way.
development of dilatancy leading to fracture during cyclic
Rocks tested. Two low-porosity igneous rocks were se..

loading.
In condu,cting
thisexperimental
program,
however,lected
fo'rstudy.
Westerly
granite
wasselected
because
ofthe

we have found that cyclic loading experimentsbring out a

number

of features of rock deformation

and fracture

that are

not well observed in more conventional tests and further, that

theseexperimentsprovide a bridge betweencreepexperiments

and more conventionalconstant strain rate or loading rate
experiments.
Since earlier work [Hadley, 1975] indicated that dilatancy
could be anisotropic in rock even under axisymmetricstress
conditions,all of our experimentswere conductedto measure
Also with the Departmentof GeologicalSciences,
ColumbiaUniversity, New York, New York 10027.

Copyright 1979by the AmericanGeophysicalUnion.

Paper number 9B0625.
0148-0227/79/009B-0625501.00

abundant experimentalwork that has been conductedwith it.

Although it is nearly isotropicwith respectto strength[Mogi,
1966], it has an orthorhombic microcrack fabric typical of
granites [Siegfried and Simmons, 1978] which may result in
dilatancy anisotropy suchas that reported by Hadley [1975].
In order to test this hypothesis,samplesof two orientationsof
Westerly granite, actually cored from different blocks, were
tested.In Figure la the xx2 plane correspondsto the plane of
greatestcrack density,which also correspondsto a plane of
variably developed biotite foliation. The x2x8 plane corresponds to the plane of secondarypreferred orientation of
cracks, whereasthe xx8 plane is the plane of low preferred

5525

5526

SCHOLZ
ANDKOCZYNSKI:
FATIGUEOFROCK

order to maximizethis effect,and WG'A' specimens

coredat
90 from the rift planein order to eliminatethe effectof the rift
plane. In the 'B' block the mica foliation waswell developed,
whereas in the 'A'

Palisades

block it was not.

diabase was selected as the second rock to be

testedbecauseit is a compactigneousrock whichwasexpected

to have a tetragonal microcrack fabric. The sampleswere
cored from the top of the Palisadessill at Palisades,New
York, and consistedof 65% plagioclase,30% pyroxene,and
about 5% opaqueminerals.The averagegrain sizewasabout l
mm.

PD

The sampleswere coredparallel to the long axis of vertical

columnarjoints (Figure lb); henceit was expectedthat there
would be no preferred orientations of cracks in the plane
perpendicularto the specimenaxes. Velocity measurements
made at atmosphericpressureshowedno anisotropyin p wave
velocity in this plane within experimentalerror (5%), which
supportsthis conclusion.
In situ strain was measuredin the outcrop from which the
diabase specimenswere cored (T. Engelder, unpublishedresults, 1978). Overcoring measurementsshowed a maximum
strain release of 9 X 10-5, extensional, in a north-south direction and a contraction

60

E.zo

Fig. i.

of-3

X l0 -5 in the east-west direction.

Double overcoringshowedcontinued strain releasewith the

sameorientation and sign,which indicatesthat this rock contains a residualnorth-southcompressivestress.The samples
were oriented with respectto this stressdirection (x: in Figure
lb).
Samples. The samplestestedwere right circular cylinders
30 mm in diameterand 100 mm long. All surfaceswere precision-groundto strict tolerancesas to squarenessof the edges
and parallelismof the endsandjacketedwith 0.005-cmcopper
to which strain gaugeswere applied.The standardconfiguration of strain gaugesis as shown in Figure lc. Three gauges,
with 1.25-cmgauge length, were applied at 120 intervalsto
measure,, the strain normal to the directionof appliedstress.
It is this strain that is most diagnosticof dilatancy. A fourth
gaugewas applied in the vertical direction to measure, the
strain parallel to the loading direction. In early experiments,
three vertical gaugeswere used, at 120 intervals, but since
variation in strainswas found to be low betweenthesegauges
(lessthan 10%), this practicewas discontinued.In the caseof
WG'B' specimensthe rift plane could clearly be distinguished
by the foliation, sothat only two gaugeswere appliedin the ,
direction,orientedwith respectto the foliation.
All strains were continuouslyrecorded during the experiments, as well as load, confiningpressure,and loadingpiston
displacement.Experimentswereconductedwith the specimens
either water saturatedor 'dry' at laboratory humidity.
DILATANCY

ANISOTROPY

Samplesusedin thisstudy.(a) Westerlygranite,(b) Palisades

aliabase,and (c) standardstraingaugeconfiguration.

Selectedresultsfrom this study are listed in Table I. Each

experimentconsistedof cyclicallyloading the sampleat the
rate and confiningpressurelisteduntil fractureoccurred.Uncrack orientation. These are then, in quarryman's terminol- lessotherwisenoted in the column under cycleamplitude,the
minimum stressdifferencein each cycle was 25 MPa. The
ogy, the rift, grain, and hardwayplanesin the granite.
Hadley's[1976]experiments
on Westerlygranite,whichex- maximumstressdifferencea is listednormalizedwith respect

hibited dilatancyanisotropy,were conductedwith samples to a nominalstaticstrengthaf exceptin the caseof Palisades

coredabout40 from the rift plane.Sincethe rift planewas diabase,for whichaf wasnot determined.
Arbitrary valuesof
thereforeorientedcloseto the eventualfractureplane,it seems at for Westerlygranitewere taken as 940 MPa at 100-MPa
reasonablethat it was the orientationof the rift plane that confiningpressure,1300MPa at Pc = 215MPa [Mogi, 1966],
controlledthe dilatancyanisotropyin her experiments.In and 1450MPa at Pc = 300 MPa [Braceet al., 1966].
order to test this possibility,two sampleorientationswere
Westerlygranite'B'. Thesespecimens
wereorientedsimitested:WG'B' specimens
coredat 30 from the rift planein larly to thoseof Hadley[1976];hencewe expectedto observe

5527

SCHOLZ AND KOCZYNSKI: FATIGUE OF ROCK

TABLE 1. ExperimentalResults
Normalized

Stress

Stress
Rate
Experi- Difference (),

ment

(a/el)

Con-

fining Cycles
to
Pressure,
Failure

MPa/s MPa

(N)

eat Failure,X10-

Failure

Average 4

4h

Cycle
Amplitude,

Time, s

MPa

WesterlyGranite'B' Block

22
21'
23*
24*
25*
11'
14'
20*
16'
18'
44

0.869
0.823
0.825
0.840
0.821
0.802
0.814
0.816
0.843
0.847
0.840

40
39
38
37
36
41
35
31
30
42
45
33
29
34
47
46
48

0.825
0.820
0.817
0.887
0.879
0.820
0.902
0.818
0.824
0.820
0.870
0.812
0.863
0.782
0.820
0.820
0.820

49
50
51

0.935
0.855
0.902

32

0.974

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

0.1
100
100
I
I
100
I
I
I
creep
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

10
10
10

100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

10
10
11
3
13
18
13
15
6
3
I

100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

1.2
37
24
106
260
3200
100

300
300
300

2
39
18

215

11
124
50
2
18
80
1.2
44
18

6.3
11.6
7.1
13.9
18.9

4.2
3.9
6.2
6.3
4.7
......
......

0
0
'"
0
0

.........
13.3
4.4
11.2
......
10.1
8.3

0
0
5
0
0
5
0
10
15
45
0

10
0

WesterlyGranite',4' Block

10.4
6.0
7.3
8.7
11.5
6.9
10.4
7.7
8.3
11.3
10.1
7.9
9.8
7.9
7.7
6.6
5.9

6.9
4.6
5.2
6.3
5.8
5.6
7.8
6.6
6.6
7.8
7.5
5.6
6.8
4.2
6.5
4.7
5.3

8.6
5.3
6.2
7.5
8.6
6.2
9.1
7.1
7.4
9.5
8.8
6.7
8.3
6.1
7.1
5.6
5.6

159
67
131
-20
56
138
159
147
46
52
15
155
110
56
-30
8
37

170
66
106
-24
47
137
115
93
40
90
30
150
117
56
72
-37
-42

5.9

4.9

5.4

103
101
177

135
90
126

8.8

5.0

6.0

7.4

4.2

4.6

15

30

2X 10 4
7.5 X 10 a
1.8 X 10 a

100 i.8X 105

70
i.9X 103
130
8X 102
20
3.2X 103
60
2.8X i0n
120 1.2X 103
140
2X 103
150
8X 10n
165 2.7X 104
50
4 x i0n
110 i.9x 103
170 5.6x 10n
140 3.7x l0n
60
1.5x 105
30
2.6x 105
15 +7.4x 105
150 1.2x 105
90
100
150

500
100
600

4 x 102
i x 104
5x 103

Palisades Diabase

52
520'{' 10
100 I
3.0
1.8 2.4
4
70
0
5X 10

53
545'{' 10
100 24
5.2 3.1 4.2
20
75
0
2.6X103
54
586'{' 10
100 114
......
4.0
......
80 1.2X104
55
585'{'
10
100 I
4.3
2.9 3.6
80 -70
20
6X 102
The
angles
0,4,and
tarereferenced
to0inthedirection
orthogonal
toxxand
thecylinder
axis
inWG'B'
samples,
areunreferenced
in

WG'A'specimens,
andarereferenced
to0inthexxdirection
forPalisades
diabase
specimens.
*Water

saturated.

$Maximum
stress
differences
arereported
forthisrock,
since
a standard
static
strength
was
notdetermined.
thatalthough
creepisimportant,
it isnotthe
anisotropy
of el. We wished,
however,
to determine
if this below,however,
sole
contributor
to
cyclic
fatigue
failure.
anisotropy
wascontrolled
bytheriftplaneoftherock,sothe
thate in WG'B'specimens
is highlyanieI gauges
wereoriented
either
at0,90,or45fromthestrike Figure2 shows
sotropic.
The dilatantstrains
occuralmostentirelyin the
of that plane.
perpendicular
to therift plane.Verylowstrains
are
We showin Figure2 resultsfrom four experiments
with direction
reported
parallel
to
it,
and
these
strains
do
not
increase
signifiorientedstraingauges.
The maximum
valuesof ei achieved
cycling.
Strainsmeasured
withgauges
duringeachcycleareplottedversus
cyclenumber;
thearrows cantlywithrepeated
orientedat 45fromtherift planeshowintermediate
behavior.
Furthermore,
the
fracture
plane
in
WG'B'
samples
always
tivepatternin timesimilarto thatof a creepcurve(seealso
indicatewhere fracture occurred.The strainsshow a cumula-

intheriftplane(except
forexperiment
18,whichfailed
Figure3).Initially,thereisaprimary
stage
inwhich
therateof formed
fracture
attheendof thespecimen).
Fromthis
additional
strainproduced
in eachcyclediminishes
withcycle witha punch
number,followedby a secondary
stagein whichthe rateof
newstraindevelopment
percyclereaches
a steadystate,after
whichit accelerates
duringthetertiarystage.In testsat high
stressthe tertiarystagemaydominate
throughout
(Figure2,
experiments
16and24). Fromthissimilarity
withcreepone

we concludethat the strongdilatancyanisotropy

foundby

Hadley
[1975]
andourselves
withWG'B'samples
iscontrolled
bythepreexisting
preferred
orientation
of microcracks
inthe
riftplaneofWesterly
granite
andthatthisalsocontrolled
the
orientation of the fracture plane.

Westerly
granite'A'. Sincetheaxesof thesesamples
were
mightatfirstconclude
thatcyclic
fatigue
isnothing
morethan
oriented
perpendicular
to
the
rift
plane
in
Westerly
granite,
the
creeprupturebroughtaboutby cumulative
dilatantcreep
strong
influence
of
the
preferred
orientation
of
cracks
in
this
[Scholz,
1968]
produced
during
repeated
cycling.
Wewillshow

5528

SCHOLZANDKOCZYNSKI:FATIGUEOF ROCK

14--

90

D2-XooooooooOooooO
oooOO
OOXXXXXXXX

XX XXX Xx x X

+ + + + + + + +

+
+

IO

I0

+ + + + + + +

15

20

CYCLE

Fig. 4. The width of the a versusl hysteresis

loopsat midcycle;w is
plotted versuscyclenumber for the three gaugesshownin Figure 3.
f

45

strong dilatancy anisotropy developed.The anisotropy, however, is somewhatsmallerin magnitude:the ratio of the maxi-

mumprincipalstrainj-,to the minimumprincipalstrainj-is

2 or 3 in WG'B' but typically only about 1.5 or 2 in WG'A'
(see Table 1).

In Figure3, j-m,x
represents
the cumulative
development
of
dilatancyduringthecyclicloadingof the rock,whereas
j-m,,

representsthe accumulationof 'permanent' dilatancy at the

bottom of eachcycle.In Figure 4 we plot a quantityo,whichis
CYCLE
the width of the j- versusa hysteresisloop recordedat midFig.2. Themaximum
l strains
at peakstress
ForFourexperi- cycle for the same experiment.This quantity is a rough meaments with WG'B' specimens.The experimentsare 24 (open triangles), 16 (solid squares),21 (pluses),and 23 (solid circles).The sure of the hysteresisloop size and henceof the energy loss
angles indicated are the orientation oF the strain gaugesmeasured during eachcycle.We noticethat 0is alsoanisotropicand that
From the rift plane.
it decreasesduring the primary fatigue stage,is constantduring the secondarystage,and increasesduring the tertiary stage.
direction observedfor WG'B' experimentsshould be absentin We interpret this as meaning that more cracks close down
the experimentson WG'A' specimens.Three j- gaugeswere during unloadingin the primary stagethan openedup on
cementedto thesespecimens,as in Figure l c. Since the grain loading during the samecycle. In the secondarystage,crack
or hardwayplanescannotbe identifiedin hand specimens
for openingand closingare balanced,and in the tertiary stage,
Westerly granite, these strain gaugeswere not oriented with more cracksopen than closein a given cycle.This sameresult
respectto the crack fabric axes.
couldbedemonstrated
byplottingJ.max
-- (J-mln
fromFigure3.
The resultsshown in Figures 3 and 4 are typical of all the
Typical results are shown in Figure 3, where we plot the
maximum j- at the top of each cycleand the minimum j- at WG'A' experiments. Since we have three j- strain gauges
the bottom of eachcyclefor the three j- gaugesin experiment oriented 120 from one another, we can, assuminghomoge29. The results are very similar to the WG'B' results, with neous strain in the plane of j-, calculate the maximum and
minimum principal strainsand their directions in that plane.
3

We listthe maximum,j-,,andminimum,j-,principalstrains
at failurein Table I aswellas, thedirectionof q relativeto
the j-0strain gauge(Figure lc). We also measured19,the

o
o
o

o o

direction of the normal to the strike of the fault plane, also

ooOOO
o00

measuredin relationto the j-0gauge.In Figure5 we plot

versus19for all WG'A' experiments.The data scatteraround

o
--

x-

x x

xxxxxxxXXXXXX
+ + + + +

x
+
+

+
+

x x
x

+ + +
150

+ + +

+
+

I00 o

00000000000000000000

XxXXXXxx x
+++++++++
0 x x Xx xx xXXXXX

50

-o
x

x+++++++++++
+

I0

15
CYCLE

20

I
50

I
i00 o

I
150 o

Fig. 3. The maximumj. strainat peak stressand minimum at

Fig. 5. The directionof the maximumprincipal strainjust prior
the bottom of eachcyclefor the three gaugesin experiment29 with
WG'A'. Fracture occurred at the peak oF the 24th cycle. Symbols to failure 4 is plotted versusthe normal to the strike of the fracture
plane, 0, for the suiteof experimentson Westerlygranite 'A'.
correspondto the samegaugein each curve.

SCHOLZANDKOCZYNSKI:FATIGUEOF ROCK

5529

atancy.Thus for thisrock,internallya,. - a3,and dilatancyis

anisotropic,as in the experiments
of Mogi [ 1977].The control
of the orientationof the fracture plane by the residualstressis
similar to that observedby FriedmanandLogan[1970] in point
loading and triaxial compressionexperiments.

150

These results,which show that dilatancy anisotropy is very

strong in these nominally isotropic rocks, suggestthat dilatancyanisotropyis probablymorethe rule than the exception
in nature. Large variations in measureddilatancy within a
singlerock type are likely to be encounteredif measurements
are made with a singlestrain gaugepair, particularly if the
gauge length of the gauge is not a large fraction of the
specimencircumference.This anisotropy undoubtedlyaccountsfor the large variation in dilatancy observedfor Westerly granite by Constantino[1978].

IOO

50

50

I00

150

THE RESPONSE OF ROCK TO LARGE CYCLIC LOADS

Fig. 6. The directionof maximumintrinsiclinearcompressibility, In this sectionwe turn to other aspectsof the responseof
, in the plane is plotted versus for the Westerlygranite 'A' rock to large cyclic loads. These results are not only in-

experiments.

trinsicallyinterestingin termsof cyclicloadingeffectsbut are

the 45 line of perfectcorrelation.These data indicatethat also very useful for exploring more fundamentalaspectsof
thesespecimens
dilateinto an ellipsoidalcrosssectionand the rock deformation.Cyclic loading testsprovide unique opporstrikeof the fault planetendsto beverycloseto the semiminor tunitiesfor separatingthe variablesthat affectrock deformation. For example,when studyingthe effectof loadingrate on
axis of the ellipse.

In order to determine the direction of the grain of the rock

the following procedurewas used.The confiningpressurewas
applied hydrostaticallyprior to applicationof the axial stress
difference. By recording the outputs of the three l strain
gaugesduring application of confiningpressureit was possible
to determine the linear compressibilityof the rock in three
directionsin the l plane and hence solve for the principal
linear compressibilitiesin that plane. The maximum linear
compressibilityshould be perpendicularto the direction of
maximum preferredorientation of cracksand hencethe grain
plane, sinceno other fabric elementsare perpendicularto the
plane [Brace, 1965].The directionof maximum linear compressibility,t, was so determinedand is plotted versus in
Figure 6. Again we observea good correlation,indicatingthat

rock deformation in a conventional'static,' single-cycletest,

one can never separatethis variable from stress,sincethe

strengthis a functionof rate. In cyclictests,however,onecan
maintainthe peak stressconstantand vary the loadingrate, or
vice versa, to seehow each affectsthe deformation independently.

Effect of load. As mentionedabove,a numberof workers

have investigatedthe effect of peak stresson the number of
cyclesto failurefor rock.Their resultshaveconsistently
shown
that the relationshipbetweentheseparameters(known as the
S-N curvein the fatigueliterature)is that the logarithmof the
number of cyclesto failure is inverselyproportionalto the
peak stress.
Our results are similar and are shown in Figure 7. For

thedilatancy
anisotropy
andorientation
of thefracture
plane reasons
thatwillbeapparent
below,
weplotthereonlydata
are controlled
by the preexisting
preferred
orientation
of fortests
atPc= 100MPa,6 = I MPas-', andstandard
cycle
cracks
withintherock.Thatis,thegreatest
dilatancy
isper- amplitude
forWG'B'(pluses)
andWG'A'(solidcircles).
AIpendicularto the grain plane,and the strike of the fracture is
parallel to it.
Palisadesdiabase. Dilatancy anisotropywas also observed
in this rock and was nearly as large as in WG'A'. One difference was observed. In Westerly granite, anisotropy was observed during the first loading cycle and maintained a fairly
constant level throughout the experiment until the tertiary
phase,where it typically increased(Figures2 and 3). In the
multicycleexperimentswith the diabase,however, dilatancy
was nearly isotropic during the first cycle and progressively
developedduring subsequentcycles.
In three of the four experiments(Table 1) the strike of the
fracture plane developedparallel or subparallelto the direction of maximum residual stressin the rock, and in two of the
cases this correlated with the minimum z direction. Ani-

Pc= I00 MPA

6- = I MPA/sec
.9O

+%o

+4,

.8O

sotropy in linear compressibilitywas small, and t did not

correlate with or 0. In this rock therefore dilatancy anisotropyand the orientation of the fracture plane appearedto
I
I
be controlledby the residualstressin the rock and not by a
I0
I00
preexistingpreferred orientation of cracks. The dilatancy
N, CYCLES TO FAILURE
tendedto be greatestperpendicularto the maximum compresFig. 7. Thenumber
of cycles
to failureversus
peakstress
normalslye residual stressin the rock, suggestingthat the residual izedto a nominalstaticstrengthfor standardcycleamplitudetestson
stressworks together with the applied stressto inhibit dil- Westerlygranite'A' (circles)and 'B' (pluses).

5530

ScHoLz AND KOCZYNSKI: FATIGUE OF ROCK

ee

o-/o-f
_-0.82

' ../

Pc= I00 MPo

'

& = I MPa/sec
800

,oo

..' ..-'

eee
/

o'/o-f = 0.82

....'/

eeee

e e

,,

e ee

400

00

m (MP)

Fi. B. The versus hysteresis

loopsor threesmplcso Westerly rnitc 'A' stressedunder identicalconditionsbut t dicrcn(
ra(cs.

; sac....-

I04

.-' d"'""
I05

I06

FRACTURE TIME, sec

Fig. 10. The effect of cycle amplitude on time to fracture for

Westerlygranite 'A'. The dotted-dashedline is the static fatiguebehavior taken from Kranz and Scholz [1977] for Barre granite,for
comparison.

though the scatteris considerable,which is typicalof all timedependentrock strengthproperties,the data for both rock
orientationsindicate a logarithmictrend similar to the earlier amplitude, were conductedat loading ratesthat varied over 3
results.Both WG'B' and WG'A' data indicate a similar slope, orders
of magnitude
in orderto explorethisbehavior.
or fatigue sensitivity,but the WG'B' data are systematically
In Figure 8 we show the l - a loop for the initial cycleof
lower, indicating a smaller static strengthof about 2%. This three samplersof WG'A' loaded identically but at different
maynotbedueto orientation,
how,ever,
sinceall theWG'B' rates.The data in the figure are from the l gaugesshowingthe
data in Figure 7 are from water-saturatedsamples,whereasthe largeststrainsin each case.The differencesbetweenthem are
WG'A' specimens
werenominallydry. Water saturationcould not due to anisotropy,sinceeachof the three gaugeson each
producesucha reductionin strengthby enhancingstresscor- sample,when comparedin a similar way, showsimilardifferrosion, and the two dry experimentswith WG'B' sampleswere ences. It is clear from the figure that the lower the rate, the
ambiguousin resolvingwhich parameterwas responsiblefor greater the dilatant strain at the samestresslevel.Thus timethis slight differencein strength. In any case, neither water dependent deformation takes place progressivelyduring the
saturationnor specimenorientation appearsto producegross loadingcycle,and sincethisdeiormation
involves
dilatancy,
differencesin the fatigue behavior of this rock in spiteof the we conclude that it results from stresscorrosion cracking
strong differencethe latter producesin dilatancy anisotropy. [Schlz,
1968].Figure8 alsonicelyillustrates
whyweareno
Effect of loadingrate. HaimsonandKim [ 1971] and Hardy Ion:rusing
theconcept
ofC',thenset
ofdilatancy
[Brace
et
and Chugh[1970] did severalcyclicexperimentsat ratesvaried al., 1966].Wecannot
withanycC"iainty
determine
a valuefor
by about a factor of 4 and failed to detect a rate effect on C' fromanyof these
curves
or'6mpare
thatvaluebetween
fatigue. However, in view of the fundamentaltime dependence them, other than to saythat dilatancybecomesmoreevidentat
of the strengt of rock owing to stresscorrosioncracking lower stressesat lower loading rates.
[Scholz, 1968, 1972], it seemslikely that suchan effect exists.
Fhenumber
of cycles
to failureis shown
in Figure9 asa
Furthermore, the similarityof the fatiguecurve(Figures2 and functionof loadingrate for samplestestedunder'otherwise

3) to the creepcurveand of the S-N curveto the staticfatigue identicalconditiqns.A rate effectis clearlyev,dent:those
curve [Kranz and Scholz, 1977] arguesthat time-dependent samplesthat loaded at faster rates undergomore cyclesprior
dilatancythrough stresscorrosioncrackingis important, if not to failure. We also show in the figure, as da.shedlines, two
fundamental,to cyclic fatigue of rock. A number of experi- extremehypotheses.
We first might assumethat failure occurs
ments, at the samepeak load, confiningpressure,and cycle solelyas a resultof progressivestresscorrosioncrackingand
that thereforeeachsamplefailsafter a fixedelapsedtime ,under

load.If thiswerethecase,if sample

X were16aded
l0 tim.
es
I

faster than sampleY, say, it should undergo 10 times more

Pc= I00 MPA

ioo

o-/f =.82

cyclesprior to failure, as indicatedby the dashed,

line labeled
'static fatigue.'The other extremeis that failure resultssolely

fromweakening
duetocycling.
In thatcaseeachsamP!e
would
fail after a fixed number of cyclesirrespec.tive
of the loading
rate, as indicatedby the line labeled'cyclicfatigue.'The data
clearly indicate a behavior intermediate between these ex.tremes,showingthat cyclicfatigue of rock is a resultof both
progressive
stresscorrosioncrackingand damageproducedby
cycling.
Effect of cycleamplitude. In all the experimentsthus far
O.I
described,the minimum stressdifferencein eachcyclewas25
MPa. We alsowishedto seewhat would happenif we dictests
i
I
IO
IOO
at the samepeak stressand loadingrate but at highervaluesof
COES TO FA,URE
the minimum stress.In theseteststhen the mean stressduring
Fig. 9. The effect of loading rate on cyclic fatigue for Westerly
granite 'A'. The line labeledstatic fatigue is one of constantelapsed each cycle would be higher than in the standard test, which
time underload, and that labeledcyclicfatigueis one of constantcycle might increasethe amount of stresscorrosioncrackingduring
number. Seethe text for explanation.
eachcycle,but the cycleamplitudewould be smallerand thus

SCHOLZANDKOCZYNSK!.'
FATIGUEOF ROCK

5531

CREEP

might decreasethe amount of damageproducedby cycling.

Theseteststhen might allow us to seethe relative importance
of the two cracking mechanismsrecognizedin the previous

0.1

section.
Wecouldthenalsocompare
theseresults
witha creep
testatthesame
peakstress,
since
thatistheend-member
ofthe
serieS,With zero cycleamplitude.
The ri:sultsof such experimentsare given in Figure 10,
wherewe plot total elapsedtime to fractureversuscycleamplitude for a suite of experiments,each conductedwith 6 = l
MPa s-;,. (r/trf = 0.82, and Pc = 100 MPa. We found that
failure time is a double-valuedfunctionof cycleamplitude.As

Pc: I00 MP,

o-/o: 0.82

the latter is reduced, the failure time at first increased

markedlyand then decreasedagainasthe cycleamplitudegoes

to zero, in the creep test.
Theseresultscan be viewedin anotherway. In the creeptest
all cracking after initial loading occursby the mechanismof
stresscorrosioncracking.I f we do testsat the samepeak stress
with small cycleamplitude, as in experiment46, we find that
the hysteresis
loopsare extremelynarrow, indicatingthat very
few cracksare worked (open and close)during cycling.There
can thus be little damage produced by crack working, and
most crackingmust be produced by stresscorrosion.Therefore as the cycleamplitude is increasedfrom zero, we might
expectthat the fracture time would increaserapidly as the
mean stressdecreases,as in staticfatigue.We show,for comparison, a static fatigue curve in Figure 10 (taken for Barre
granite from Kranz and Scholz [1977]), in which we take the
mean stressduring a cycleto be the governingstressfor static
fatigue.
However, if the cycle amplitude is further increased,the

I00

I0

(x)f, o-S
Fig. 12. The averagex strain at fracture is plotted versusloading
rate for WG'A'. The upper data point is from the creeptest.

evidenceof pressurestabilizationat confiningpressuresup to

300 MPa.

Recent results[Kranz, 1979] do show, however,that brittle

creepis inhibited (but not eliminated)in granite by confining
pressureand that mostof this effectoccursat pressures
lower
than

100 M Pa. Since we have found

that stress corrosion

crackingis also involvedin cyclicfatigueof rock, this effectis

likely also to be seen when comparing triaxiai and uniaxial
fatiguebehavior.We suspectthereforethat the effectdiscussed
by Hadley [1976] and Zoback and Byedee[1975] is probably

hysteresis
loopsizeinbreases
rapidly,resulting
in anincrease
in

STRESS

damageproduced by crack working. This mechanismresults

in a decreasein fatigue life as cycleamplitudeis increased,as
observed.This processwill be taken up in greaterdetail in the

F REMOVED

discussion.

Effect of pressure. ZobackandByedee[ 1975]and Hadley

[1976]havereportedthat at confiningpressures
above100-150
MPa the dilatancy stabilizesafter a few cyclesand no further
deformation takes place. Since their experimentswere terminated after a relatively small number of cycles,however, the
possibilityexiststhat they had simply entered the secondary
phaseof fatigue(Figures2 and 3).
In orderto testif pressuredoesstabilizefatigue,oneexperi-

ment was conducted at Pc = 215 MPa, and three at 300 MPa.

These experimentsshowedidentical characteristicsto the experimentsat Pc = 100 MPa, and all the specimens
eventually
failed. The three experimentsat 300 MPa, in fact, showa S-N
trend similar

to that shown at 100 MPa.

Thus we find no

90

I0

20

30

CYCLES

2.0

.9

.7

(Ez)f, I0-$

Fig. 11. The averagex strainat fractureisplottedversusthepeak

stress for WG'A'.
to the strains.

The solid line is the calculated elastic contribution

Fig. 13. The ex strain at peak load and 0, for an experimentwith

WG'A' in which stresswas removedfor 12 hoursafter cycle 10.

5532

Sc.oLz ^ND KOCZYNSKI:F^TmUE OF ROCK

510 _oo

Pc: I00 MPa

o
o

: 10-4sec
-I

o
o
o

490-

o
o
o
o
o

OoooOo

470-

Ooo o

450C;

I0

2_0

:50

the eleventh cycle was again large, as in the first cycle, and
immediately stabilized to a steadyvalue on the twelfth cycle.
This type of recovery has been observedbefore, in acoustic
emissionmeasurementsby Goodman[ 1963],and was discussed
by Scholzand Kranz [1974]. Sufficientexperimentswere not
performed to determine if the increased rate of deformation
after reloadingis a generalphenomenon,perhapsdueto damage resultingfrom the releaseof the confiningpressure.
Severalrelaxationexperimentswerecarriedout, usingloading piston displacementas the servofeedbacksignal(Figure
14). Stresswas found to relax in a way expectedfrom the
fatiguecurve(Figures2 and 3), but theseexperimentswere not
carried long enoughto determine if failure would occur under
relaxation

conditions.

CYCLES

THEORY AND DISCUSSION

Fig. 14. Stressrelaxation in a specimenof WG'B' (experiment3)

cycled under constant displacementboundary conditions.

We have found that cyclic fatigue of rock at low temperature is a brittle processinvolving the cumulativegrowth of
real but is a reductionrather than a stabilizationof fatigueby internal cracks that produce dilatant strains and result in
pressure.Experimentation at pressureslower than 100 MPa brittle fracture. Unlike the ductile metals, fatigue rupture of
will be required to resolvethis issue,sincemost of the effectof rock produces a brittle shear fracture macroscopicallyindistinguishablefrom brittle fracture producedin a convenpressureis in the range0.1-100 MPa [Kranz, 1979].
Strain at fracture. Kranz and Scholz[1977] have recently tional fracturetestor, for that matter,in creeprupture(see,for
pointed out that tertiary creep beginsin rock when the in- example,Kranz and Scholz [1977]).
elastic dilatant strain reaches a critical value. This would be a
useful criterion for rock failure if this critical strain is a univer-

This is because all three modes of fracture are fundamen-

tally the same.They involvethe progressive

growthof internal
sal constant for the rock, independentof the loading path. cracks until the density of those cracks becomessufficientto
allow coalescence
into a macroscopicfracture.It is simplythe
Unfortunately, we have found that this is not the case.
way
the
cracks
are
formed and grow that differsbetweenthese
In Figure 11 we show the averageel strain just prior to
failure for the seriesof experimentson WG'A' at Pc = 100 tests. We find it convenient to think in terms of three mechacracking.This
MPa, = I MPa s-, and variouspeak loads.The parameter nismsof crackgrowth. Type 1 is stress-induced
occurs
when
the
stress
locally
exceeds
a
fracture
criterion,
(e)f is the mean of the calculatedprincipal el strainsat failure.

Notice
thatthereisa strong
increase
in (eDfwithpeakload. causing
a crackto propagate
spontaneously.
Type2 issubThisisseveral
times
grehter
thanthecalculated
contribution
of critical
crackgrowth
aidedbystress
corrosion.
Therateat
elastic
strain(solidlinein Figure11),indicating
thatfailure which
thisoccurs
isstrongly
dependent
onstress,
waterconoccurswith greater dilatancy at higher peak stresses.

The effectof rate on this parameteris shownin Figure 12.

Sincethesetestswere all done at the samepeak stress,thereis
no contributionof elasticstrainsto consider,yet a very systematictrendis observed.All otherconditionsbeingthesame,
the slowerthe rock is deformed,the greaterdilatancycan be
toleratedprior to fracture.The end-memberof this seriesis the
creep test, which exhibits the greatest dilatancy of all. This
agreeswith the observationthat greaterdilatancyis typically
observedin creepteststhan in conventionalconstantloading
rate, single-cycleexperiments[Wawersikand Brown, 1973].
Recoveryand relaxation. Since time-dependentdeformation occursin theseexperiments,
oneshouldexpectto observe
the propertiesknown as recoveryand relaxation.The latter is
simplythe relaxationof the stressby the deformationunder
constantstrain boundary conditions.Recoveryis the timedependentreleaseof the creepstrainswhenstressis removed.

Recoveryisexhibitedin Figure13,whichshowstheprogressive e strain and the parameter coduring cycling.After the

tenth cyclethe samplewas unloaded,after which the dilatant
strainswere observedto recoverpartially. They did so exponentially in time with a time constantof severalhours.After
12 hours in a stress-freeconditionwithin the pressurevessel,
confiningpressurewasreestablished,
and cyclingcommenced.
On the eleventhcyclethe maximum strain obtained was similar to that of the first cycle.In subsequent
cycles,strain in-

centration, and temperature [Scholz, 1972; Martin, 1972]. Finally, thereis type 3, fatiguecracking.This type of crackingis
producedby the working of cracksas they openand closein
responseto cyclicloading.The area within the hysteresisloop
is a measureof the number of cracksbeingworked during a

givencycle,sothat type 3 crackingoccursproportionalto coN,

wherecois width of the hysteresisloop at midcycleand N is the
number of cycles.
On the other hand, we know from creepteststhat the rate of

dilatancydue to type 2 crackingfollowsthe creeplaw [Scholz,

1968; Kranz, 1979]

/il= oant
-rn

(1)

where a is stressdifference, t is time, and a is some constant.

The exponentn = 3-4 and m = - 1. We can thereforeestimate

/ X

STRESS

CRACK

/6

F % COR
ROAS*ION
WORKING

t
0

200

400

600

ci
-2

CYCLEAMPLITUDE,
MP
a

Fig. 15. The relative contribution of stresscorrosioncracking,

creased,
atafaster
rate
than
before,
butnoprimary
stage
waspredicted
bytheparameter
A*/As*,
and
fatigue
cracking,
proporobserved.
Theparameter
co
decreased
toasteady
value
duringtional
toas/a,fortheexperiments
withthesame
peak
stress
but
thefirst10cycles,
asin Figure4. Afterrecovery,
however,
coon different
cycle
amplitude.
Seetextforexplanation.

SCHOLZ AND KOCZYNSKI: FATIGUE OF ROCK

5533

theamountof dilatancyproducedby creepin anycyclictestby crackingoccurson loading,followedby puretype 2 cracking

integratingthe creepfunction(1) overthe sawtoothloading at constantload.In thecyclictest,type1 andtype2 cracking
function.

occuron the first loadingcycle,with type 2 and type 3 cracking

We proceedto do thisfor thecase(Figure10) in whichwe occurring

in subsequent
cycles.The proportionof type2 and
variedthe cycleamplitudeat constantloadingrateandpeak type 3 crackingthat occursin fatigueis a functionof cycle
stress,in order to determinethe relativecontributionof creep amplitude,peak stress,and loadingrate. All the time-depenstrain in the same elapsedtime in the differenttests.The dent aspectsof fatigue,suchas the form of the fatiguecurve
integrationis greatlysimplified,
realizingthat the amountof (Figures2 and3) andtheS-N curve(Figure7), aresimilarto
creepstrainin a givenelapsedtime T duringwhichN cycles the creepcurveand staticfatiguecurve[Kranzand Scholz,
haveoccurredat a loadingrate 6 will be the sameas in a test 1977] and hence are controlledby the type 2 cracking(see
with a half cycleof loadingat a rate 6' = a/T, wherecycle equation(3)). The rateeffect(Figure9) resultsfrombothtype
amplitudea = %, - a0, %, beingthe peakstressand a0the 2 cracking(proportionalto loadingrate) and type3 cracking
minimum stress.This is true becausethe instantaneous
strain (proportional to numberof cycles).Thus at a higher rate of
rate depends
onlyon the instantaneous
valueof stressandnot loading,rock can withstandmorecyclesbeforefailurebut is
on whether the stressis being incrementedup or down. The under stressfor a shorteramount of time.
integrationis therefore
If the cycleamplitudeis decreased,
thesizeof the hysteresis

ao--O'p--fro
T tt-2/adt
A*=E
0fF

loop
and
hence
type
3cracking
are
strongly
reduced
(Figure

(2) mately
15).
Thus
experiments
30,31,and
33,stressed
toapproxia/a t = 0.82 at standardcycleamplitude,broke after a

whereA* isthetotalstrainproduced
bycreep
inthetestand fewtensof cycles
in a fewhours,whereas
experiment
46,
wetaken = 4 andrn= ]. Thisintegration
yieldstheresult stressed
to thesamepeakvaluebutcycled
overonlythetop
100 MPa of load, withstood 3200 cyclesover 8 days. In the
latter case the hysteresiswas too small to be measured,and
455(243a4
+ 81aSaP
+ 54a2aP
+ 42aaPS
+ 35ap4)
almost all cracking was therefore type 2.
Although to first order, dilatancy at fracture is a constant,
(3)
there are the observedeffectsof stressand rate on this paramewhich predictsthe observedtime dependence
of strainat peak ter (Figures 11 and 12). Theseeffectsindicatethat althoughwe
stressaveragedover many cycles(see Figure 3, for example). do not know at presentthe microscopicdifferencesbetween
We plot, in Figure 15, the normalizedparameter A*/As*, the three types of cracks, it is clear that either the cracks
3otT / a

whereAs* is the valuecalculatedfrom (3) for the test at themselves

aredifferentor thecrackdistributions
aredifferent
becausethe amount of cracking that the rock can tolerate
prior to failure dependson whetherthe cracksare type 1, 2, or
3. Thus sincedilatancyis proportionalto crack void-spaceand
hencecrack density, strain measurementsshow that 3-4 times
the crackdensityoccursin creeptestsprior to fracturethan in
constant loading rate testson the same rock [Wawersik and
same peak stress.
Sincethe contributionof type 3 crackingshouldbe propor- Brown, 1973; Kranz, 1979]. Thus a much greater density of
tional to wN, to comparethe amountof type 3 crackingin a type 2 crackscan be accommodatedprior to fracture than type
givenelapsedtime in testsof variouscycleamplitudewith a 1 cracks, and this is independentof stress[Kranz and Scholz,
testof standardamplitude,we usetheparameter&a,/&a.This 1977]. In the cyclic experimentswe find an analogous result

standardcycleamplitude,for the seriesof testsat variouscycle

amplitudesshownin Figure 10.This parameterincreases
rapidly with decreasing
cycleamplitude,indicatingthat the relative contributionof type 2 crackingfor a given elapsedtime
increases
as cycleamplitudeis decreased
for teststakento the

parameter
isplotted
inFigure
15,where
5 wasmeasured
asthe thatmanymoretype2 thantype3 cracks
canbetolerated
maximum
width
ofthel hysteresis
loopduring
thesecondary
(Figure
12).In those
data(Figure
12)theexperiments
athigh
stage
offatigue
foreach
ofthetests
compared
inFigure
10.We rates
underwent
more
cycles
inless
elapsed
timeandproduced
notice
thatthisparameter
decreases
withdecreasing
cycle
am- less
strain
thandidthose
atlower
rates.
However,
asstress
and
plitude.
Type3 andtype2 cracking
seem
to besimilar
in cycle
amplitude
areincreased,
theamount
ofdilatancy
also
importance
in these
tests,
judging
fromtheresults
shown
in increases
(Figure
11).
Figure9 andfromthefactthatthefracture
timeforthe These
results
therefore
show
thatnotonlyisdilatancy
typistandard
cycle
amplitude
testwasnearly
thesame
asforthe callyanisotropic
owingto subtle
microstructural
anisotropy
creep
testat thesame
peakstress
(Figure
10).Therefore
the butthreedifferent
types
of cracks
and/orcrackdistributions
totalamount
of dilatancy
thatwill occurin a givenelapsedcanresultin dilatancy
andthatrockfracture
is sensitive
to
timeshouldtakea form similarto thesumof thetwocurvesin whichtypeis prevalent.
Figure 15. Since,to first order, the amount of dilatancyat

fracture
isconstant,
theresults
shown
inFigure
15predict
that

APPENDIX:
SERVO-CONTROLLED
TRIAXIAL

ascycle
amplitude
isdecreased
fromthestandard
amplitude,
fracture time should at first increase,have a maximum at
abouta = 300MPa (wheretheminimumin A*/As* + &a/&a
occurs),and thendecrease
again.This is quite similarto the
observedbehavior(Figure 10). In Figure 15 we indicatethat
stresscorrosioncrackingdominatesthe deformationat high
mean stressand low cycleamplitudeand that crackworking
effectsdominate for large cycleamplitude tests.
The single-cycle,constantloading rate fracture test producestype I and type 2 cracking,the proportionof type 2
decreasing
as the loadingrate increases.
In a creeptest,type 1

TESTING
APPARATUS

All experimentsin thisstudywereconductedwith a triaxial

compressiontesting apparatusof conventionaldesignbut
which is undercompleteprogramableservocontrol.
The advantagesof this systemare precisionin controland the ability
to operateunattended.
Servocontrol
system. The loadingsystemis composedof a
pressurevesselof standarddesignsupportedin a tie rod frame.
The pressurevesselis capable of pressuresto 700 MPa at
1000C,hasa 5-cmborewith 30-cmworkinglength,and uses
'O' ring seals.The closurehas 12 electricalfeedthroughsfor

5534

Sc.oLz

AND KOCZYNSKI: FATIGUE OF ROCK

internal measurements,and a hollow piston is available for

experimentsutilizing pore pressure.
The loading piston is driven by a 36-cm-diameter,doubleacting Miller cylinder supplied by a hydraulic power supply
that delivers hydraulic oil at 40 I min- at 20 MPa. The
hydraulic cylinder travel is controlled by a Moog series76
servovalve.The high roll-off frequencyof this hydraulic system is 10 Hz at 10-MPa signalamplitude.The cylindercontrol
is a closedloop servosystem
which useseither a load cell asthe
feedback sensor,in which case the load on the cylinder is

systempower is shut off until manually reset,and the load and

confiningpressureautomaticallyremoved.
Acknowledgments. This researchwas supportedby the National
Science Foundation, Division of Earth Sciences,contracts EAR 7407923 and EAR 77-22689 and by NASA contract NASA NGR-33008-146. We would like to thank T. Engelder for assistancein the
experimental program, many useful discussions,and a review. We
also thank

D. Holcomb

and K. Jacob for critical

reviews. Lamont-

Doherty Geological Observatorycontribution 2864.

REFERENCES

cortrolled,
or a displacement
transducer
(LVDT),in which Attewell, P. B., and I.

W. Farmer, Fatigue behavior of rock, Int. d.

case the cylinder travel is controlled.

Rock Mech. Mining Sci., I0, 1-9, 1973.
Confining pressureis servo-controlledwith a piston-cylinder Brace, W. F., Some new measurementsof linear compressibilityof
rock, d. Geophys.Res., 70, 391-398, 1965.
teed into the high-pressure
line. This pistonis drivenby a 5-cm
Miller cylindercontrolled by a secondMoog servovalvewhich Brace,W. F., B. W. Paulding,and C. Scholz,Dilatancy in the fracture
of igneousrocks,d. Geophys.Res., 71, 3939-3953, 1966.
is also suppliedby the hydraulic power supply.The feedback

lelementfor this systemis a BLH Corp. pressurecell. By

Burdine, N. T., Rock failure under dynamic loading conditions,Soc.

Petrol. Eng. d., March, 1-8, 1963.

monitoring the travel of this cylinder with an LVDT the volu- Constantino, M. S., Statistical variation in stress-volumetric strain
behavior of Westerly granite, Int. J. Rock Mech. Mining Sci., 15,
metric strainof the samplecan be measureddirectly,without
105-111, 1978.
using strain gauges.
Friedman, M., and J. M. Logan, Influenceof residualelasticstrain on
Porepressureis servo-controlledby a double-actingAminco
the orientation of experimental fractures in three quartzose sandpump driven by a second5-cm Miller cylinder which is also
stones,J. Geophys.Res., 75, 387-405, 1970.
controlled by a Moog servovalve.If constantpore pressureis Goodman, R. E., Subaudiblenoiseduring compressionof rocks,Geol.
Soc. Amer. Bull., 74, 487-490, 1963.
required, feedbackis from a BLH Corp. pressurecell in the
K., Azimuthal variation of dilatancy, J. Geophys.Res., 80,
pore pressuresystem.If a constant(or variable) pore pressure . Hadley,
4835-4850, 1975.
gradient acrossthe sample is required, as in a permeability Hadley, K., The effectof cyclic stresson dilatancy, another look, J.
test, a differential pressuretransducer,capable of detecting
Geophys.Res., 81, 2471-2474, 1976.
pressuredifferencesof 0.01 MPa at 500-MPa ambient pres- Haimson, B.C., and C. M. Kim, Mechanical behavior of rock under
sure, is used for feedback.

Control signalgeneration. The basiccontrol signalfor the

loading pistonis a ramp function with programableslopeand
amplitude. On reaching the programed amplitude the ramp
signal is either terminated, forming a truncated ramp, or reversed, forming a sawtooth command signal. Thus the six
standard teststhat can be conductedwith this systemare the
following: in load feedback mode--constant loading rate
(ramp amplitude set higher than specimenstrength), creep
(high rate selected,ramp amplitude set lower than specimen
strength), and cyclic fatigue; in displacementfeedback control--constant strain rate, relaxation, and cyclic relaxation.
The ramp signalis generatedfrom a voltagedivider which
containsa 40-turn precisionpotentiometerdriven by an 800
step per revolution steppingmotor. The steppingmotor drive
is operated by a COS/MOS oscillator which generates1000
pps. The oscillatorsignalgoesthrough a seriesof divide-by-10
circuits, which determinesthe ramp slope, and a presettable
counter, which determinesthe ramp amplitude. The systemis
calibratedso that one oscillatorpulseequals0.1 M Pa of stress
on the sample in load mode or 0.1 #m of loading piston
travelin displacementmode. These signalscan be monitored
by the operator with a digital meter on the control console.
The systemis protectedagainstcatastrophesthat may result

cyclic fatigue, Proc. Syrup.Rock Mech. 13th, 845-863, 1971.

Hardy, H. R., Jr., and Y. P. Chugh, Failure of geologic materials
under low cyclefatigue, Proc. Can. Syrup.Rock Mech., 6th, 14-25,
1970.

Kranz, R. L., The effectsof confiningpressureand stressdifferenceon

static fatigue of granite, submittedto J. Geophys.Res., 1979.
Kranz, R. L., and C. H. Scholz, Critical dilatant volume of rocks at

the onsetof tertiary creep,J. Geophys.Res., 82, 4893-4898, 1977.

Martin, R. J., Time-dependentcrack growth in quartz and its applicationto the creepof rocks,J. Geophys.Res., 77, 1406-1430, 1972.
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fromanyof a widevarietyof equipment

malfunctions
or Zoback,
M.D.,andJ.D.Byerlee,
Theeffect
ofcyclic
differential
stress
power failuresby a seriesof fail-safedevices.The fail-safe
systemlocksthe pistonwith solenoidvalvesin the eventthat

ondilatancy
in Westerly
graniteunderuniaxialandtriaxialconditions,J. Geophys.
Res.,80, 1526-1530,
1975.

piston
load
ortravel
exceeds
presettable
levels
andshuts
offall

(Received
October
3,1978;

system
powerif operation
isunattended
anda fail-safe
condi-

tion occurs. If a laboratory power failure should occur, all

revised
March
23,1979;

accepted
April 12, 1979.)