Abstract
Thin rock panels are commonly used on exterior cladding walls in high-rise buildings. However, it has been found that these rock panels on exterior cladding may develop long-term time-dependent cracking, due to stress concentrations induced by periodic wind load and sunshine, and stress corrosion due to environmental effects (such as acid rain). This kind of cracking at stress level lower than that required for overcoming fracture toughness can be explained by using the concept of subcritical crack growth (SCG) of the pre-existing microcracks. However, existing design requirements of rock panel do not account for SCG. The standard testing method for SCG is the double torsion test (DTT), which does not simulate the failure condition of rock panel under wind and sunshine. Thus, a new method is introduced to investigate the SCG in rock panel under different environmental conditions: the four-point bending (4PB) test. Rock panel specimens containing a central notch were immersed in water, acid and air buffer during the loading test. For comparison DTTs were also conducted. It was found that the crack growth rate increases drastically if the cracked specimen is moved from a water buffer to a set-up with an acidic buffer. The SCG index n (a larger value indicates a faster crack growth) obtained by 4PB test is found consistently lower than that determined by DTT. This may be due to the different fracture mechanisms activated. One distinct feature of the 4PB test is that the SCG in rock panel is monitored through the crack length measurement whereas no such measurement is possible in DTT.
Access provided by Autonomous University of Puebla. Download to read the full chapter text
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
REFERENCES
M. Y. L. Chew, C. W. Wong and L. H. Kang, Building Facades: A guide to common defects in tropical climates, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., pp. 12–13 (1998).
J. Trewhitt and J. Tuchmann, Amoco may replace marble on Chicago headquarters, Engineering News Record 24, 11–12 (March 1988).
J. A. Bayer and C. D. Clift, Use of physical property data and testing in the design of curtain wall, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 30 (7), 1563– 1566 (1993).
K. T. Chau and J. F. Shao, Subcritical crack growth of edge and center cracks in façade rock panels subject to periodic surface temperature variations, International Journal of Solids and Structures, 43, 807–827 (2006).
B. K. Atkinson, Subcritical crack growth in geological materials, Journal of Geophysical Research 89 (B6), 4077–4114 (1984).
R. J. Charles, Static fatigue of glass, Journal of Applied Physics 29, 1549–1560 (1958).
K. Miura, Y. Okui and H. Horii, Micromechanics-based prediction of creep failure of hard rock for long-term safety of high-level radioactive waste disposal system, Mechanics of Materials 35, 587–601 (2003).
A. G. Evans, A simple method for evaluating slow crack growth in brittle materials, International Journal of Fracture 9 (3), 267–275 (1973).
B.K. Atkinson, Fracture Toughness of Tennessee Sandstone and Carrara Marble using the Double Torsion testing method, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences Abstracts 16, 49–53 (1979).
J. P. Henry, J. Paquet, and J. P. Tancrez, Experimental Study of Crack propagation in Calcite Rocks, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. & Geomech. Abstr. 14, 85–91 (1977).
P. G. Meredith, B. K. Atkinson, “Fracture toughness and subcritical crack growth during high-temperature tensile deformation of Westerly granite and Black gabbro”, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 39, 33–51 (1985).
P. L. Swanson, Subcritical Crack Propagation in Westerly Granite: An Investigation into the Double Torsion Method, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. & Geomech. Abstr. 18, 445–449 (1981).
P. L. Swanson, Subcritical crack growth and other time- and environment-dependent behavior in crustal rocks, Journal of Geophysical Research 89 (B6), 4137–4152 (1984).
D. P. Williams and A. G. Evans, A simple method for studying slow crack growth, Journal of Testing and Evaluation 1, 264–270 (1973).
Y. Murakami, Stress Intensity Factor Handbook, Vol. 1, Pergamon Press, pp. 16–17 (1987).
R. A. Schmidt, Fracture-toughness testing of limestone, Experimental Mechanics 16 (5), 161–167 (1976).
C. C. Plummer, D. McGeary and D. H. Carlson, Physical Geology, New York: McGraw- Hill, 9th ed., pp. 111 (2003).
B. K. Atkinson and P.G. Meredith, Fracture Mechanics of Rock, Academic Press Inc. Ltd. (London), pp. 477–525 (1987).
G. G. Trantina, Stress analysis of the double torsion specimen, Journal of the American Ceramic Society 60, 338–341 (1977).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kwok, K., Wong, R., Chau, K., Wong, Tf. (2006). Fracture. In: KOURKOULIS, S.K. (eds) Fracture and Failure of Natural Building Stones. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5077-0_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5077-0_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5076-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5077-0
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)