Fracture Mechanics of Rock

Book excerpt: The analysis of crack problems through fracture mechanics has been applied to the study of materials such as glass, metals and ceramics because relatively simple fracture criteria describe the failure of these materials. The increased attention paid to experimental rock fracture mechanics has led to major contributions to the solving of geophysical problems.The text presents a concise treatment of the physics and mathematics of a representative selection of problems from areas such as earthquake mechanics and prediction, hydraulic fracturing, hot dry rock geothermal energy, fault mechanics, and dynamic fragmentation.