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Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Center-Cracked Horseshoe Disk Method for Determining the Mode I Fracture Toughness of Rock-Like Material

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Abstract

This paper presents a new procedure for determining the fracture toughness of rock-like specimens using the diametric compression test with the center-cracked horseshoe disk (CCHD) method. Using finite element analysis, a dimensionless stress intensity factor was obtained and a formula was rendered for determining mode I fracture toughness. To evaluate the accuracy of the measurement results produced by the CCHD method, fracture toughness experiments were conducted on the same rock-like material using the notched Brazilian disk (NBD) method. The CCHD tests were simulated using a two-dimensional particle flow code for validation of the experimental results, and a great agreement between the pattern of crack initiation and propagation between the experimental and numerical simulations was observed. Lower values of fracture toughness were obtained from CCHD experiments than NBD tests due to purely tensile stress distribution at the tip of the existing notch in CCHD method.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Young Researchers and Elite Club, Bafgh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bafgh, Iran

    Hadi Haeri

  2. Department of Mining Engineering, Hamedan University of Technology, Hamedan, Iran

    V. Sarfarazi & M. Yazdani

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Sadra Institute of Higher Education, Tehran, Iran

    Alireza Bagher Shemirani

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Alireza Bagher Shemirani

  5. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, 80401, USA

    Ahmadreza Hedayat

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  1. Hadi Haeri
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  2. V. Sarfarazi
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  5. Ahmadreza Hedayat
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Correspondence to Hadi Haeri.

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Haeri, H., Sarfarazi, V., Yazdani, M. et al. Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Center-Cracked Horseshoe Disk Method for Determining the Mode I Fracture Toughness of Rock-Like Material. Rock Mech Rock Eng 51, 173–185 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-017-1310-3

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