TY  - JOUR
A1  - Prajapati, Nishant
A1  - Herrmann, Christoph
A1  - Späth, Michael
A1  - Schneider, Daniel
A1  - Selzer, Michael
A1  - Nestler, Britta
T1  - Brittle anisotropic fracture propagation in quartz sandstone: insights from phase-field simulations
Y1  - 2020-04-19
VL  - 24
IS  - 3
SP  - 1361
EP  - 1376
JF  - Computational Geosciences
DO  - 10.1007/s10596-020-09956-3
PB  - Springer International Publishing
N2  - We developed a generalized multiphase-field modeling framework for addressing the problem of brittle fracture propagation in quartz sandstones at microscopic length scale. Within this numerical approach, the grain boundaries and crack surfaces are modeled as diffuse interfaces. The two novel aspects of the model are the formulations of (I) anisotropic crack resistance in order to account for preferential cleavage planes within each randomly oriented quartz grain and (II) reduced interfacial crack resistance for incorporating lower fracture toughness along the grain boundaries that might result in intergranular crack propagation. The presented model is capable of simulating the competition between inter- and transgranular modes of fracturing based on the nature of grain boundaries, while exhibiting preferred fracturing directions within each grain. In the full parameter space, the model can serve as a powerful tool to investigate the complicated fracturing processes in heterogeneous polycrystalline rocks comprising of grains of distinct elastic properties, cleavage planes, and grain boundary attributes. We demonstrate the performance of the model through the representative numerical examples.
UR  - http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/10627
ER  -