Abstract:Subcritical crack growth of double torsion specimens made of ore, lherzolite, marble and granite was studied using Instron1342 type electro hydraulic servo test machine. The relations of the mode-I stress intensity factor KI versus the subcritical crack growth velocity v and the fracture toughness KIC were obtained by the double torsion constant displacement load relaxation method. The behavior of subcritical crack growth was analyzed for different rocks. The results show that lgKI—lgv relations of four kinds of rocks measured by this method accord with linear rule, i.e. the relations between subcritical crack growth velocity and stress intensity factor have a power law, which is in good agreement with CHARLES theory. lgKI—lgv curves move to top left corner with the decrease of the elastic modulus, which implies that the subcritical crack growth velocity speeds up. The maximum subcritical crack growth velocity exhibits negative exponential increase, and mode-I fracture toughness KIC decreases with the decrease of elastic modulus. The testing results provide a basis for time-dependence of rock engineering stability.

Key words: rocks; fracture toughness; subcritical crack growth; double-torsion specimens; constant displacement load relaxation method