Crack evolution in salt rock with a prefabricated flaw under uniaxial compression: insights from coupled AE and DIC monitoring
Salt rock is widely recognized as an ideal host medium for underground energy storage and radioactive-waste disposal. Nevertheless, the presence of fractures within salt cavern gas storage can markedly compromise the integrity of the surrounding rock mass. Focusing on the mechanisms of fracture evol...
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| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Dokumenttyp: | Article (Journal) |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Veröffentlicht: |
April 2026
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| In: |
Theoretical and applied fracture mechanics
Year: 2026, Jahrgang: 143, Heft: 1, Pages: 1-18 |
| ISSN: | 0167-8442 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.tafmec.2026.105449 |
| Online-Zugang: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2026.105449 Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167844226000157 
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| Verfasserangaben: | Mingtian Zhang, Jinyang Fan, Mengying Luan, Jie Chen, Deyi Jiang, Yifan Wang, Dan Lu, Zongze Li, Daniel Nelias |
| Zusammenfassung: | Salt rock is widely recognized as an ideal host medium for underground energy storage and radioactive-waste disposal. Nevertheless, the presence of fractures within salt cavern gas storage can markedly compromise the integrity of the surrounding rock mass. Focusing on the mechanisms of fracture evolution and mechanical response in salt rock, this study conducted uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) tests on cubic salt specimens containing prefabricated flaws at various inclinations. Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) were integrated to capture the damage development and crack evolution in real time. The results show that: (1) Flaw inclination exerts a significant effect on both the UCS and the crack-propagation path of salt rock, exhibiting a clear and reproducible angle effect. (2) DIC effectively captures orientation-dependent crack trajectories, revealing the geometric complexity of surface crack evolution during failure. (3) According to the RA-AF criterion, the tensile-event fraction ranks 90° > 0° > 45° > 30° > 60°, consistent with the DIC observations and energy-index analysis. (4) The fractal dimension D increases over time, indicating progressive network densification and multiscale damage amplification. (5) The spatiotemporal distribution of AE events exhibits a damage-localization trend consistent with the evolution of the DIC principal strain field, confirming the complementary capabilities of the two monitoring techniques. The results provide a solid experimental basis for the quantitative evaluation of inclination effects and for the stability assessment of salt cavern storage, offering practical guidance for cavern design and long-term performance appraisal. |
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| Beschreibung: | Gesehen am 25.03.2026 |
| Beschreibung: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 0167-8442 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.tafmec.2026.105449 |