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Effect of Anisotropy on the Long-Term Strength of Granite

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Abstract

Granite rock mass is used for various rock engineering purposes. To ensure long-term stability, information about the subcritical crack growth (SCG) and an estimate of the long-term strength (LTS) of the rock are necessary. The influence of the anisotropy of granite on its LTS has not yet been clarified. In this study, the anisotropy of the long-term rock strength was investigated for two types of granite rocks, Oshima granite and Inada granite. Specifically, the effect of the anisotropy in crack propagation on the LTS was examined. The results showed that the LTS of granite is anisotropic, as are the fracture toughness and Brazilian tensile strength measured in this study. The LTS was lowest when crack propagation occurred parallel to the rift plane, where most of the microcracks occur. For Inada granite, which has an anisotropic SCG index, the degree of anisotropy of the LTS increased as the time-to-failure increased. This suggests that the LTS of granite is anisotropic.

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  1. Yoshitaka Nara

    Present address: Department of Management of Social Systems and Civil Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-Minami, Tottori, 680-8552, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Earth Resources Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto Daigaku Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 615-8540, Japan

    Yoshitaka Nara

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  1. Yoshitaka Nara
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Correspondence to Yoshitaka Nara.

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Nara, Y. Effect of Anisotropy on the Long-Term Strength of Granite. Rock Mech Rock Eng 48, 959–969 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-014-0634-5

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