Experimental Study on Fracture Behavior of Jointed Rock with Filled Crack in Uniaxial Compression

The influences of the ways in which the surface cracks were made and fillings in the surface cracks on the fracture behavior of the jointed rock masses were studied by a number of experiments. In the experiments the surface cracks were made in different methods such as placing polyester and aluminum thin plate, cutting. The experiment results show that the surface crack made by placing polyester thin plates and cutting may well simulate the natural cracks in jointed rock masses, but the specimens can’t initiate and fracture through the surface cracks formed by placing aluminum thin plate. In order to study the influences of the fillings in the cracks on the fracture behavior of the jointed rock masses polyester and aluminum thin plates were placed in the surface cracks to simulate different fillings. Compare with the surface crack without fillings those with fillings initiated and coalescence at a higher load. However the influences of fillings on the crack growth were very complex, which required to be studied further.