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A multifractal model of crack coalescence in rocks

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Abstract

Geometric characteristics of fractal sets of cracks are investigated from the standpoint of their coalescence. A 1D computer model, in which a realistic character of forms of crack sets is achieved through the inducing of sets with the use of the multiplicative cascade procedure, is considered. The investigation is aimed at the determination of conditions of coalescence of cracks organized as a superposition of fractal subsets of a unified set of cracks. The process of crack coalescence is investigated for three different values of the coalescence criterion. The geometric characteristics of the sets of cracks that are necessary for the transition of the crack coalescence process into an avalanche-like stage are estimated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, Bol’shaya Gruzinskaya ul. 10, Moscow, 123995, Russia

    I. R. Stakhovsky

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  1. I. R. Stakhovsky
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Original Russian Text © I.R. Stakhovsky, 2011, published in Fizika Zemli, 2011, No. 5, pp. 3–11.

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Stakhovsky, I.R. A multifractal model of crack coalescence in rocks. Izv., Phys. Solid Earth 47, 371–378 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1069351311040100

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