INVESTIGATING THE TENSILE FRACTURE BEHAVIOUR OF A MIDDLE STRENGTH ROCK: EXPERIMENTAL TESTS AND NUMERICAL MODELS

摘要

The adequate fracture investigation of geological materials, that show brittle behaviour with a large difference in tension and compression, is a persistent challenge especially when aiming to purposely build a reliable numerical modelling technique. The mechanical characteristics of a middle strength rock, namely Pietra Serena sandstone, are therefore investigated numerically in this study by means of a model that replicates the Brazilian splitting tensile test. An advanced material model implemented in LS-DYNA, namely the Karagozian and Case Concrete (KCC) model, is exploited and the results are compared to the conventional Mohr-Cou-lomb material model to show the capability of this model. Finally, the simulation results are validated by experimental data.