Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76

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Engineering Geology
journalhomepage:www.elsevier.com/locate/enggeo

Crack initiation stress in low porosity crystalline and sedimentary rocks

Mohsen Nicksiar , C.D. Martin
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2W2

article info abstract

Article history: The stress–strain data from 376 laboratory tests carried out on samples of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks were
Received 5 April 2012 analyzed to establish the onset of microcracking in compression, referred to as the Crack Initiation (CI) stress. A statistical
Received in revised form 12 December 2012 approach was used to find the geological parameters influencing crack initiation stress. Among various rock properties such as
Accepted 16 December 2012 Available online 4
grain size and mineralogy, the proportion of the hardest constituent mineral were found to correlate with CI stress. Foliation
January 2013
induced anisotropy was found to affect the peak strength but its effect on CI stress was less pronounced. The CI stress to peak
stress ratio ranged from 0.42 to 0.47 regardless of the ma-terial properties in uniaxial compression whereas this ratio ranged
Keywords:
Crack initiation stress from 0.50 to 0.54 when confined. The crack initiation parameters for the Hoek–Brown spalling criterion for igneous rocks can
Heterogeneity be expressed in terms of the CI stress ratio and the tensile strength. A comparison of tensile strength from the Brazilian and
Directional anisotropy Direct tension tests showed that the Direct tensile strength was approximately 0.77 of the Brazilian tensile strength.
Triaxial compression
Tensile strength Crown Copyright © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
It is well known that the operational strengths of soils and rocks that are
back calculated from case histories seldom match laboratory peak strength
values. The reasons put forward for this discrepancy vary from (1) rate
effects, i.e., loading rate in the laboratory is different from that in situ
(Lavrov, 2001), (2) scale effects, i.e., the strength in-situ decreases with
increasing scale, with the lab strength representing the maximum strength
(Hoek and Brown, 1980), and (3) process effects, i.e., the laboratory sample is
tested using loading conditions that do not reflect the loading process
followed in-situ (Holcomb, 1993). In brittle rock, the failure process in
laboratory samples is a progressive process requiring the initiation, growth
and coalescence of cracks (Lockner, 1993; Thompson et al., 2006). This
process has also been ob-served in-situ around underground excavations using
microseismic monitoring systems (Collins and Young, 2000). Several
researchers have suggested that the crack initiation observed in laboratory
com-pression tests provides a good estimate of the operational spalling
strength observed in hard brittle rocks around underground openings (Martin,
1997; Diederichs, 2007; Andersson and Martin, 2009; Martin and
Christiansson, 2009; Rojat et al., 2009). More recently Damjanac and
Fairhurst (2010) suggested that crack initiation may also be used as a lower
bound estimate for the long-term strength threshold of crys-talline rocks.
Other researchers suggest that crack initiation related to the Kaiser effect can
be used to establish the in-situ state of stress. Hence there is ample evidence
that crack initiation in compression test-ing may be an important parameter.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 780 492 2332.
E-mail addresses: nicksiar@ualberta.ca (M. Nicksiar), derek.martin@ualberta.ca
(C.D. Martin).
The early work of Brace et al. (1966) showed that crack initiation in
laboratory samples was coincident with dilatancy measured using vol-umetric
strain and that the crack initiation for granite, marble and aplite occurred
between 0.3 and 0.7 of the peak strength. Brace et al. (1966) also compiled
results for dolomite, soapstone, diabase, olivine basalt, quartzite and concrete,
and found similar crack initiation values ranging from 0.35 to 0.6 of the peak
strength. The ratio of crack initiation stress to peak strength appeared
narrowly constrained despite the range in rock types. Despite this early work
determination of crack initiation from laboratory tests is seldom reported in
the literature. In this paper we examine crack initiation in uniaxial
compression and triaxial com-pressions tests in igneous, metamorphic and
sedimentary rocks. A total of 336 tests were evaluated and used to examine
the effect of min-eralogy, anisotropy, grain size and confinement on crack
initiation. The Griffith criterion is often considered as a crack initiation
criterion (Hoek and Bieniawski, 1966). The tensile strength measured on a
suite of Lac du Bonnet samples is used to examine if the Griffith or Hoek–
Brown criteria can be used to predict crack initiation over a confining stress
ranging up to 60 MPa.
2. Sample description
2.1. Igneous rocks
The igneous samples were obtained by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and
Waste Management Co. (SKB) during their site investigation of the Forsmark
and Laxemar–Simpevarp area between 2002 and 2007. All samples were
obtained using triple tube core barrels, which produced a 50.6-mm-diameter
core. The Forsmark site is located within the mu-nicipality of Östhammar
about 150 km north of Stockholm, Sweden (Stephen, 2010) while Laxemar–
Simpevarp is situated in Småland in

0013-7952/$ – see front matter. Crown Copyright © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2012.12.007
 M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76
the south-eastern part of Sweden and 230 km south of Stockholm. Both sites
are located in geology that is considered typical of the Pre-cambrian
Scandinavian Shield. In summary, Forsmark site rock types are meta-intrusive
bodies that are located at the south-western part of Fennoscandian Shield. The
bedrock is classified into four rock units based on their mineralogy, grain size
and relative age that ranged from meta-granite or meta-granodiorite to
tonalite. More detailed de-scription of the bedrock geology can be found in
Stephen et al. (2007).
The bedrock at the Laxemar–Simpevarp site was dated at 1.8– 1.9 Ga
(Wahlgren, 2010). The petrology includes intrusive rocks of quartz
monzodiorite, granodiorite or granite with a range of grain size and texture.
The dominant rock types are medium-grained por-phyritic Ӓvrӧ granite and
medium grained equigranular quartz monzodiorite (Wahlgren, 2010). The
modal analysis of the samples with measured uniaxial compressive strength
data has been used for classification according to Quartz-Alkali Feldspar-
Plagioclase (QAP) diagram (Streckeisen, 1976) and presented in Fig. 1. Based
on grain size, almost all the samples that are used in this study are from fine
grained to medium grained, Table 1.
The next group of samples was obtained from the site investiga-tions for
the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) at the
former Homestake mine in northern Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. The
unconfined compression tests were per-formed on 50 mm diameter samples of
rhyolite. The grain size data of rhyolite samples based on visual examination
are considered as very fine grained which is consistent with common
geological de-scription of rhyolite (RESPEC Co, 2010). An overview of
geological de-scription of available igneous specimens is presented in Table
2.
2.2. Sedimentary rocks
The sedimentary samples have been obtained by the Nuclear Waste
Management Organization (NWMO) during their site investigations for a
low- to intermediate- level radioactive waste Deep Geological Repos-itory,
known as Bruce site, located near Tiverton, Ontario, Canada. The
75 mm-diameter samples were obtained from the Palaeozoic stratigra-phy
typical of southern Ontario (Frizzel et al., 2008). The samples tested in this
paper range in lithology from shale to limestone/dolomite with various
amounts of clay (mainly illite) and carbonate. The samples are very fine to
fine grained according to Schandl (2009). The mineralogical descriptions of
the sedimentary specimens are presented in Table 3. Samples were jacketed
with heat-shrink tubing before the sample prep-aration to minimize the
change in water content (Gorski et al., 2009a).
Quartz
Fine-grained samples 1: Monzodiorite
Coarse-grained samples 2: Qtz diorite
Qtz gabbro
3: Granite
4: Granodiorite
5: Tonalite
3 4 5
1 2
K-Feldspar Plagioclase
Fig. 1. Classification of igneous samples based on modal analysis.
65
Table 1
Grain size classification system of igneous rock samples (Strahle, 2001).
Class Grain size (mm)
Very fine grained 0.05–0.5
Fine grained 0.5–1
Fine to medium grained 1–1.5
Medium grained 1.5–3
Medium to coarse grained 3–5
Coarse grained >5
2.3. Metamorphic rocks
Also tested from Homestake and Forsmark were samples of am-phibolite
and metagranites, respectively (Table 4). The remaining metamorphic
specimens tested were obtained by Posiva Oy during the site investigation at
the Olkiluoto site in Finland, Posiva. The Olkiluoto site is located on the Gulf
of Bothnia coast in the municipal-ity of Eurakoki in western Finland within
the Fennoscandian Shield. The study area is within the Precambrian
crystalline rocks known as Svecofennian domain (Saari, 2008). The lithology
of Olkiluoto is di-vided into two groups: (1) high-grade metamorphic rocks
that are classified according to their major mineral composition, texture and
migmatitic structure that was metamorphosed at 1.8 Ga, and (2) ig-neous
rocks which are mostly diabase dykes (Lahti et al., 2010). The 57-mm
diameter samples belong to the first group and include migmatite gneisses,
quartz gneisses and mica gneiss. The modal anal-ysis of metamorphic
specimens is presented in Table 4.
3. Testing methodology
3.1. Testing procedure
The uniaxial compressive strength of almost all samples was mea-sured
following the ISRM Suggested Methods (Brown, 1981). The ig-neous rock
samples from Sweden were stored in water 20 to 60 days prior to performing
the test. The axial load was recorded by a load cell and the axial and
circumferential deformations were recorded by dis-placement transducers
(Jacobsson, 2006a). All tests were data logged and these stress–strain
responses were used for the results discussed in this paper.
3.2. Crack initiation stress measurement
Brace et al. (1966) and Bieniawski (1967) demonstrated that the stress–
strain response in both unconfined and confined tests for low porosity rocks
displays four important inflections: (1) crack closure, ob-served in the axial
strain; (2) crack initiation, observed in the lateral strain; (3) unstable crack
growth, observed in the volumetric strain; and (4) peak, observed in the axial
strain (see Figure 2).
The methods that researchers have used to establish the load associ-ated
with the onset of crack initiation during laboratory compression loading have
relied primarily on the measured strains. The methods uti-lized either the
volumetric strain or the lateral strain (Brace et al, 1966; Bieniawski, 1967;
Lajtai, 1974; Stacey, 1981), and have been modified by various researchers
(Martin and Chandler, 1994; Diederichs, 2007) and at times augmented by
acoustic emission techniques (Eberhardt et al, 1998). More recently, a new
technique was introduced by Nicksiar and Martin (2012) that relies on the
Lateral Strain Response (LSR). Briefly, in the LSR method the change in
recorded lateral strain relative to a reference line is used to calculate lateral
strain difference value. The crack initiation stress is determined by fitting a
best-fitted parabola and selecting the stress associated with maximum strain
difference (Figure 3). All the previous methods were reviewed by Nicksiar
diorite that any
and Martin (2012) who showed using 10 samples of Äspö
of the strain methods provided statistically accurate results.
66 M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76
Table 2

Geological description of igneous specimens.

Igneous rocks—Forsmark site, Sweden

Rock type Grain size Number Mineralogy Photo of specimens
of specimens
Pegmatite Medium grained 12 Quartz: 34%± 4; K-feldspar: 31% ± 10;
Plagioclase: 31% ± 7; Biotite: 2% ± 2;
Other: 2%
Modal analysis from Stephen et al. (2007)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2006a)
Granodiorite Fine grained 14 Quartz: 30%± 8; K-feldspar: 12% ± 3;

Plagioclase: 43% ± 7; Biotite: 8% ± 3;

Other: 7%
Modal analysis from Stephen et al. (2007)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2004c)
Granodiorite Medium grained 10 Quartz: 32%± 18; K-feldspar: 12% ± 5;

Plagioclase: 41% ± 16; Biotite: 9% ± 5;

Other: 6%
Modal analysis from Adl-Zarrabi (2006)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2006a)
Tonalite Fine grained 9 Quartz: 23%± 8; K-feldspar: 5% ± 3;

Plagioclase: 49% ± 6; Biotite: 10% ± 4;

Other: 13%
Modal analysis from Stephen et al. (2007)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2004c)
Granite Fine grained 19 Quartz: 37%± 5; K-feldspar: 32% ± 9;

Plagioclase: 26% ± 4; Biotite: 4% ± 3;

Other: 1%
Modal analysis from Stephen et al. (2007)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2004d)
Granite Medium grained 29 Quartz: 36%± 6; K-feldspar: 23% ± 6;

Plagioclase: 34% ± 5; Biotite: 6% ± 2;

Other: 1%
Modal analysis from Stephen et al. (2007)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2004c)
Quartz monzodiorite Fine grained 5 Quartz: 13%± 3; K-feldspar: 11% ± 5;

Plagioclase: 47% ± 5; Biotite: 14% ± 4;

Amphible: 10% ± 7; Other: 5%
Modal analysis from Wahlgren et al. (2008)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2005b)
Quartz monzodiorite Medium grained 27 Quartz: 13%± 3; K-feldspar: 11% ± 5;

Plagioclase: 47% ± 5; Biotite: 14% ± 4;

Amphible: 10% ± 7; Other: 5%
Modal analysis from Wahlgren et al. (2008)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2007)

Granite ( vrö) Medium grained 59

 M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76 67
Table 2 (continued)

Igneous rocks—Forsmark site, Sweden

Rock type Grain size Number Mineralogy Photo of specimens
of specimens
Quartz: 22%± 6; K-feldspar: 20% ± 7;
Plagioclase: 44% ± 8; Biotite: 9% ± 3;
Other: 5%
Modal analysis from Wahlgren et al. (2008)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2006d)

Diorite Fine grained 6 Quartz:7% ± 5; K-feldspar: 11% ± 6;

Plagioclase: 51% ± 9; Biotite: 15% ± 8;
Other: 16%
Modal analysis from Wahlgren et al. (2008)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2006d)
Diorite Medium grained 11 Quartz: 4% ± 1; K-feldspar: 0%;

Plagioclase: 47% ± 5; Biotite: 11% ± 4;

Amphible: 30% ± 5; Other: 8%;
Modal analysis from Wahlgren et al. (2008)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2006d)

Igneous rocks—Homestake site, USA

Rhyolite Very fine grained 5 Not available
Image taken from RESPEC Co (2010)

Table 3
Geological description of sedimentary rock specimens.

Sedimentary rocks—Bruce site, Canada

Rock type Grain size Number Mineralogy Photo of sample

of specimen
Anhydrite/gypsum Fine to medium 2 85% anhydrite
Modal analysis from Schandl (2009)
Image taken from Gorski et al. (2009b)

Argillaceous limestone Fine 21 74%± 21 carbonate; 12% ± 8 clay

Modal analysis from Schandl (2009)
Image taken from Gorski et al. (2009b)

Calcareous shale Very fine 10 46%± 19 carbonate; 37% ± 17 clay

Modal analysis from Schandl (2009)
Image taken from RESPEC Co (2010)

Siltstone/shale Very fine 6 17%± 14 carbonate; 71% ± 12 clay Photo Unavailable

Modal analysis from Schandl (2009)
68 M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76
Table 4

Modal analysis of metamorphic specimen.

Metamorphic rocks—Forsmark site, Sweden

Rock type Grain size Number of Mineralogy Photo of sample
specimen
Metagranite Medium 32 Quartz: 32% ± 3; K-feldspar: 28% ± 8; Plagioclase: 34% ± 2; Biotite: 4% ±
grained 2; Other: 2% ± 1
Modal analysis from Peterson et al. (2004)
Image taken from Jacobsson (2004b)
Metamorphic rocks—Olkilouto site, Finland

Mica gneiss Medium 53 Quartz: 34% ± 10; K-feldspar: 11%± 7; Plagioclase: 17% ± 6; Biotite:
grained 26%± 8; Other: 12% ± 8
Modal analysis from Kärki and Paulamäki (2006)
Image taken from Eloranta (2006)
Metamorphic rocks—Homestake site, USA

Amphibolite – 6 Not available

Image taken from RESPEC Co (2010)

3.3. Grouping of samples

250 Unstable crack
growth
To assess the effect of rock characteristics on crack initiation, 336 uniaxial
Axial stress (MPa)

200
compressive strength tests were selected including 206 igne-ous, 39
sedimentary and 91 metamorphic rock specimens. The distri-bution of UCS Lateral strain
150 Reference
stress for different rock types is presented in Fig. 4. In the following section,
the effect of material properties on crack initi-ation is examined. line
100 LSR

4. Effect of material properties on crack initiation stress 50

4.1. Mineral composition 0 −0.10 −0.08 −0.06 −0.04 −0.02 0

The effect of mineralogy on the samples with known modal anal-ysis has −0.12
been studied. Among the available data, 201 igneous and 31 Lateral strain (%)
0.012

250 Lateral strain Volumetric strain Axial strain

(%)

0.01
Unstable Peak
crack
difference

200 growth 0.008 Crack

stress (MPa)

150
initiation
0.006
strain

Axial 0.004
100 stress/strain
Crack
Axial

0.002
Lateral

Initiation
E,v Lateral
50 0 50 100 150 200
strain
Crack
0
0 closure
0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 Axial stress (MPa)

Strain (%) Fig. 3. Example of the methodology used to establish the crack-initiation stress using the lateral
strain response (LSR). Unstable crack growth is defi ned
in Fig. 3.1. (Top)
Fig. 2. Typical stress–strain response recorded in a uniaxial compressive test.
Illustration of the LSR methodology. (Bottom) Example of the
LSR result.
 M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76 69

a 45 Number of Data 206 40

Number of Data 206
40 mean 212. 35 mean 97.
std. dev.
51. std. dev.
25.

of data
35 coef. of var 30 coef. of var
0.24 0.26
Number of data 30 maximum maximum
371. 25 191.
25 minimum 94. 20 minimum 48.

rNumbe
20 10
15
15
10
5 5
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250
Unconfined Compressive Strength (MPa) Crack initiation stress (MPa)
b 10 Number of Data 33
10 Number of Data 33
9 mean 80. 9 mean 37.
std. dev. 39. 8 std. dev. 19.
8
of data

coef. of var 0.49

data
7 coef. of var 0.51
7 maximum 145. maximum 77.
6 minimum 15. 6 minimum

of
8.
5 5
Number

Number
4 4
3 3
2 2
1
1
0
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
0 50 100 150 200 250
Unconfined Compressive Strength (MPa) Crack initiation stress (MPa)
c 25
Number of Data 91 20 Number of Data
mean
91
72.
mean 154.
std. dev. 66. 18 std. dev. 31.
20 coef. of var 0.43 16 coef. of var 0.44
of data

maximum
of data

maximum 140.
282. 14
15 minimum 45. minimum 31.
12
10
rNumbe
Number

10
8
5 6
4
0 2
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250
 Unconfined Compressive Strength (MPa)
Fig. 4. Statistical distribution of unconfined compressive strength and crack initiation stress in (a) igneous, (b) sedimentary and (c) metamorphic rocks.
sedimentary specimens were selected. Igneous rocks consist of 53 fine-
grained and 148 medium-grained samples. The sedimentary rock petrology
ranges from shale to limestone with clay and carbon-ate content and an
average grain size of less than 0.3 mm. The distri-butions of crack initiation
and peak stress of the igneous and sedimentary samples are summarized in
Fig. 5.
Spearman rank correlation provides a criterion to show the rela-tionship
between two sets of data by ranking the variables and can be calculated as:
2 ð1Þ
6∑di
ρ ¼ 1−
n3−n
where d is the difference between the rank orders and n is the sample size.
The value of ρ ranges from 1 to −1 indicating the strong positive and strong
negative correlation, respectively. The value of 0 indicates no correlation. A
detailed discussion of Spearman rank correlation can be found in Muijs
(2004). The Spearman correlation coefficient is ap-plied to the igneous rock
data to assess the correlation between min-eralogy, crack-initiation stress and
peak stress (Table 5). However, it should be noted that, since the variation in
quartz, plagioclase and
Crack initiation stress (MPa)
K-feldspar contents are related, interpretation of the Spearman corre-lation
coefficients may have limitations.
The results in Table 5 indicate that in igneous rocks, quartz and K-feldspar
contents have a positive correlation to both crack initiation and peak stress
while the plagioclase and biotite show a negative corre-lation. The
dependency of brittle failure stress levels to mineralogy is more pronounced
in medium grained specimens. The effect of biotite on crack initiation stress is
evident in fine grained igneous rocks. A sim-ilar result was found by
Mahabadi et al. (2012) for the Brazilian tensile strength of fine grained
granite. However, in case of medium grained specimens, plagioclase has the
strongest effect on both crack initiation and peak strength. Moreover, the
results show that the crack initiation stress and peak stress increase as the
grain size is decreased. Similar re-sults have been reported for the effect of
average grain size on crack ini-tiation stress by Hatzor and Palchik (1997) on
low porosity dolomite and Eberhardt et al. (1999) on fine-grained
granodiorite, medium grained grey granite and coarse granite pegmatite.
The effect of mineralogy on sedimentary samples is investigated by
comparing the crack initiation and peak stress changes corresponding to the
clay-carbonate content (Table 6). The results are summarized in Fig. 6 which
indicates the positive relation between the stress levels and carbonate content.
70 M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76

a
10 Number of Data 53 10 Number of Data 53
mean 258. mean 118.
8 std. dev. 57. std. dev. 28.
coef. of var 0.22 8 coef. of var 0.24
maximum 191.
maximum 371.
6 minimum 143.
minimum 55.
6
4 4

2 2

0 0

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 0 50 100 150 200 250
Unconfined Compressive Strength (MPa) Crack initiation stress (MPa)
b 30
40 Number of Data148 Number of Data 148
35 mean 199. 25 mean 91.
std. dev. 33. std. dev. 18.
30 coef. of var 0.16 coef. of var 0.21
25 maximum 320. 20 maximum 137.
minimum 94. 15 minimum 49.
20
15 10

10 5
5
0
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 0 50 100 150 200 250

Unconfined Compressive Strength (MPa) Crack initiation stress (MPa)

c 10 Number of Data 31
10 Number of Data 31
9 mean 76. 9 mean 35.
std. dev. 38. 8 std. dev. 19.
8
of adat

coef. of var 0.47

adat

7 coef. of var 0.49

7 maximum 145. maximum 77.
6 minimum 15. 6 minimum
of

8.
5 5
Number

Number

4 4
3 3
2
2
1
1
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
0 50 100 150 200 250
Unconfined Compressive Strength (MPa)
Crack initiation stress (MPa)

Fig. 5. Statistical distribution of unconfined compressive strength and crack initiation stress of (a) fine grained igneous; (b) medium grained igneous and (c) sedimentary samples.

4.2. Effect of directional heterogeneity
The effect of directional anisotropy on tensile strength, crack initia-tion
and peak stress has been studied for Olkiluoto veined gneiss. Veined gneiss is
a migmatitic gneiss which shows a distinct linear structure containing
elongated leucosome veins and banded palaeosome that can show an intense
shear deformation (Andersson et al., 2007). During metamorphism, in situ
partial melting forms migmatite. Migmatites can be defined as coarse grained,
heterogeneous rocks which are character-ized by discontinuous intervals of
melt-driven light coloured granitoid material, leucosome (Barker, 1998).
The tensile strength results are obtained from the Brazilian tests. Crack
initiation stress and peak stress in Fig. 7 are measured from uniax-ial
compressive stress–strain curves which are inferred from Andersson et al.
(2007). The crack initiation stress for veined gneiss was measured using crack
volumetric strain method (Martin and Chandler, 1994).
Foliation and natural preferential orientation of the grains can reduce the
strength of rocks by introducing weakness planes and microcracks in one or
more directions. In Fig. 7, the trend of tensile strength, crack initiation and
peak stress are similar. However, the sen-sitivity of peak stress to foliation dip
angle is more pronounced relative to other stress levels. It can be also inferred
from Fig. 7 that the average

Table 5
Correlation coefficient between mineralogy and brittle failure parameters of fine and medium grained igneous rocks.

Fine grained specimens Medium grained specimens

Quartz Plagioclase K-feldspar Biotite Quartz Plagioclase K-feldspar Biotite
Crack initiation stress 0.5 −0.55 0.74 −0.67 0.62 −0.81 0.48 −0.38
Peak stress 0.45 −0.52 0.83 −0.79 0.66 −0.79 0.38 −0.41
M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76 71
Correlation coefficient between mineralogy and brittle failure parameters of sedimen-tary rocks.
Table 6
 Clay
Crack initiation stress −0.40
Peak stress −0.51
peak stress is maximum when the foliation is in the range of 0 to 20° rel-ative
to the axial stress.
Although the crack initiation stress and tensile strength decreases when
the angle between foliation and axial stress reaches 45°, the re-duction in peak
stress is more obvious. This is explained by the failure mode in the stages of
failure and crack initiation. Crack initiation stress is known to be a tensile
mechanism whereas at peak stress, the shear mechanism is also present. When
the anisotropy reaches to 40–45°, the shear stress acting on the planes of
weakness reaches a maximum and facilitates the process of failure under the
peak load. Similar results have been found by Rawling et al (2002) when
analyzing the effect of anisotropy on gneiss in triaxial compression. Rawling
et al (2002) con-cluded that the initiation of cracks is mostly affected by the
orientation of the weakest mineral relative to the axial stress.
Carbonate
0.50 the same influence on crack initiation and peak stress in both igneous and
0.61
sedimentary rocks. Brace et al. (1966) determined a normalized value of crack
initiation to peak stress of 0.50 for granite, 0.45 for mar-ble and 0.45 for
aplite. It was also observed by Martin and Chandler (1994) that cracking in
Lac du Bonnet granite has been initiated when the load first exceeds about 0.4
of the peak strength. The varia-tion of crack initiation to peak stress for
different rock types is presented in Fig. 8. The results indicate that the crack
initiation stress ratio in different rock types ranges from 0.42 to 0.47
regardless of material properties.
5.2. Triaxial compression
Ashby and Sammis (1990) noted that the cracking associated with brittle
failure is inhibited when the confining stress increases. Ashby and Sammis
concluded that in high confinement, the crack propaga-tion is replaced by
plastic creep. In this work, the effect of confine-ment on crack initiation stress
has been studied on 61 igneous and 40 metamorphic samples.

5. Crack initiation for different loading paths The geological and mechanical properties of igneous and metamor-phic
samples were reviewed in Section 2. Lac du Bonnet granite data used in this
5.1. Uniaxial compression paper, was acquired from medium-grained pink granite of Lac du Bonnet
Batholith, Manitoba as part of the nuclear fuel waste dis-posal test facility at
The effect of material properties on crack initiation stress has been Underground Research Laboratory (URL). In order to measure crack
discussed in Section 4. Those results showed that the mineralogy has initiation stress, strain gauges were used at the middle of all specimens to
record the deformations.
The triaxial tests for the igneous samples used a confinement rang-ing
from 2 to 50 MPa following Fairhurst and Hudson (1999). The con-fining
stress for metamorphic samples was in the range of 0.5–15 MPa

a b
100
stress (MPa)

50
Crack initiation stress (MPa) 80
40
60
30
40
20
Peak

20
10
0
0
Calcareous Argillaceous Shale Calcareous Argillaceous
Shale
(100% clay) Shale Limestone (100% clay) Shale Limestone
(70% clay; (30% clay (70% clay; (30% clay
30% carbonate) 70% carbonate) 30% carbonate) 70% carbonate)

Fig. 6. Crack initiation and peak stress in sedimentary rocks with different clay-carbonate contents.

a 180 142 MPa 98 MPa 130 MPa b

14.8 MPa 22.5 MPa 8.6 MPa 25
160 20
140
Stress (MPa) 120 15
Tensile Stress (MPa)

100
80 10
60
5 16.2 MPa 11.8 MPa 11.3 MPa
40 54 MPa 57 MPa 54 MPa
20 4.5 MPa 23 MPa 8.6 MPa 2.4 MPa 1.9 MPa 3.1 MPa
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0 0
Foliation dip angle (degrees) Foliation dip angle (degrees)

Fig. 7. Effect of directional anisotropy on tensile strength, crack initiation and peak stress. (a) Peak (light colour) and crack initiation stress (dark colour) are measured from UCS stress –strain curve.
Average stress values (in bold) and standard deviation (in italic) are also presented in the figures; (b) The tensile stress are measured using the Brazilian test. Modified from Andersson et al., 2007.
72 M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76

a b

Crackinitiationstress(MPa)
200
180

Crackinitiationstress(MPa)
160
140 80
120
100 60
80
40
60
40 CI= 0.46UCS
20 CI= 0.42UCS
20 2
R =0.81 R2=0.75

0
0
0 50 100 150 200
0 100 200 300 400
Unconfined compressive strength (MPa) Uniaxial compressive strength (MPa)
Aspo diorite Pegmatite Anhydrite/Gypsum Grey siltstone and shale
c
Avro granite Quartz−monzodiorite Argillaceous limestone Best fit line
Diorite Rhyolite Calcareous shale
Forsmark granite Tonalite
Granodiorite Best fit line

140
Crack Initiation Stress (MPa) 120

100

80

60

40
20 CI= 0.46UCS
0 2
R =0.92
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Uniaxial Compressive Strength (MPa)
Amphibolite Metagranodiorite
Metagranite Mica gneiss
Best fit line

Fig. 8. The relationship between crack initiation and peak stress in different rock types: (a) igneous; (b) sedimentary and (c) metamorphic rocks.

with a constant axial loading rate of 0.75 MPa/s (Eloranta, 2006). The
confining stress for the Lac du Bonnet samples ranged from 0 to 60 MPa with
the axial loading rate of 0.75 MPa/s (Lau and Gorski, 1992). In the igneous
and metamorphic rock specimens, the crack initi-ation stress was measured
using the crack volumetric strain method (Martin and Chandler, 1994). Also
Lau and Gorski (1992) used axial stress–lateral strain curve method,
introduced by Lajtai (1974), to de-termine the crack initiation stress.
The relationship between crack initiation and peak stress for differ-ent
confining stresses is summarized in Fig. 9 (triaxial data are based on
Jacobsson, 2004a, 2004e, 2005a, 2006b, 2006c, 2006e, 2006f, 2006g). It can
be inferred from Fig. 9 that the crack initiation stress ratios for all
confinements are in the range of 0.50–0.54. The data in Fig. 9 was also
examined using the deviatoric stresses, i.e. subtracting confining stress from
CI and peak stress. Those results showed that the average crack initiation
stress ratio was similar, ranging from 0.53 to 0.51. The results in Fig. 9
suggest that a linear relationship between ratio of crack initia-tion to peak
stress and confining stress. The results also suggest that the initiation of new
cracks is only slightly inhibited by confining stress.
the tensile strength obtained from DT tests is less than that obtained from the
BT test. In this section, the BT and DT tests are compared.
Brazilian samples of Lac du Bonnet granite were taken from both ends of
“dog-bone” samples used to measure the direct tensile strength. Hence, there
were two Brazilian samples for each direct tension sample. This approach
minimizes the scatter associated with sample variability. The mean Brazilian
and direct tensile strengths were 8.8 MPa and 6.9 MPa, respectively. A
summary of the test results is given in Fig. 10 suggesting that the direct
tensile strength is 0.8 of the Brazilian tensile strength. This contradicts Mellor
and Hawkes (1971) who using three samples of Barre granite and Indiana
Limestone concluded that the Bra-zilian test gave the same tensile strength as
the direct tension method. As noted by Mellor and Hawkes the natural
variability of rocks and their initial state (i.e., presence of microcracks) can
influence the tensile strength. More recently Pul (2008) compared the tensile
strength of 12 samples of high strength concrete using direct tension and
Brazilian testing. He also concluded that the direct tensile strength was
approxi-mately 0.78 of the Brazilian tensile strength.

5.3.2. Direct tension and crack initiation stress

5.3. Uniaxial tension
5.3.1. Relationship between the Brazilian and direct tensile strengths The
tensile strength of rock is found from the Brazilian tensile (BT)
and direct tension (DT) tests. The DT test is more difficult to perform as it
requires shaping of the core to resemble a “dog-bone”, to obtain a uniform
stress distribution at the centre of the core, while enabling the loading frame
to grip the sample. It is generally assumed that
The Brazilian tensile strength data is available for 41 igneous and 23
metamorphic samples with known unconfined compressive strength. Igneous
samples are 50 mm in diameter and 26 mm long. The testing procedure was
according to D3967-95a (ASTM, 1996). Metamorphic samples were loaded
between two concave steel plates with the surface radius of 1.5 times the
specimen radius (Eloranta, 2006). The specimens were 60 mm in diameter
and 30 mm long and two fl at steel jaws with 3.5 mm contact width
applied the load.
 M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76 73

450
a CI = 0.53*σpeak b
250 CI = 0.53*σpeak

(MPa)
350 2

(MPa)
=0.95R
Best fit line

400 2=0.92

stress

Stress
R 200 Best fit line
300 150

Crackinitiation

Crackinitiation
250 100
200
150 Lac du Bonnet granite 50 Meta-granodiorite
100 Forsmark granite
Pegmatite
50 Quartz Monzodiorite Mica gneiss
0 Avro granite 0

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Peak stress (MPa)
c Peak Stress (MPa) d 1.0 σci/σpeak= -0.002*σ3 + 0.55
1.0 σci/σpeak= -0.0005*σ3 + 0.52 0.9
0.9
0.8 0.8
0.7
σ ci σ/ peak

σ ci σ/ peak
0.7
0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5

0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.1
0
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Confining stress, σ3 (MPa) Confining stress, σ3 (MPa)

Fig. 9. Relationship between crack initiation and peak stress in (a) igneous rocks; (b) metamorphic rocks and (c) Lac du Bonnet granite and (d) crack initiation stress ratios in tri-axial compression.

The scatter plots of the Brazilian tensile strength relative to crack ini- could be expressed in terms of principal stresses (σ1 and σ3) and uniax-ial
tiation stress are summarized in Fig. 11. Also shown in Fig. 11, is the dis- tensile strength (T, expressed as a negative value) as:
tribution of crack initiation stress to direct tensile strength ratio (CI/DT) ¼ þ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð2aÞ
ffiffiffiffiffi if σ1 þ 3σ3 ≥0
where the direct tensile strength is estimated using the criterion intro-duced in 2
σ σ3 4T 4 Tσ3 þ T
Section 5.3.1. Fig. 11 illustrates that the mean values for the ratio of the crack 1
initiation stress to direct tensile strength for each rock types ranges from 8 for
and
mica gneiss to 9 for metagranodiorite.
σ3 ¼ T if σ1 þ 3σ3 b 0 ð2bÞ

6. Estimation of crack initiation in triaxial compression

In uniaxial compressive loading, where σ3 = 0, Eqs. ((2a) and (2b)) state
In 1921, Griffith used a constant tensile stress loading system to sup-port that the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) is 8 times the tensile strength.
his energy theory for tensile rupture of brittle solids. Griffith (1924) using Although the Griffith energy theory led to the de-velopment of fracture
elliptical open cracks noted that in compression the local stress on the mechanics for materials loaded in tension, the theory is not widely used for
boundary of the open inclined crack near the tip is still ten-sile. Griffith predicting the rupture of rocks loaded in compression. However, as noted by
(1924) proposed that initiation of failure in compression Hoek (1968) the original Grif-fith Criterion in compression may provide a
practical approximation to fracture initiation.

The crack initiation stresses of four igneous rock types tested over
10
8 Mean 0.80 confining stresses ranging from 0 to 60 MPa were compared to the Griffith
Criterion given by Eqs. ((2a) and (2b)). Fig. 12 shows the four ig-neous rock
types and measured crack initiation. The Griffith Criterion was estimated
StDev 0.12
Max 1.12 using the Brazilian tensile strength: Lac du Bonnet granite (8.8 MPa), granite
Frequency

6 Min 0.60 (10.5 MPa), meta-granodiorite (11.2 MPa) and quartz monzodiorite (11.3
No. 20
4 MPa). The Brazilian tensile strength was used, rather than the direct tensile
strength because as shown in Fig. 11, the stress and hence the energy required
2 to develop tensile cracks in compression is simply greater than the energy
required to develop tensile cracks when subjected to tensile loading. Hence
for predicting crack initiation in compression the Brazilian tensile strength
0
appears more appropriate. Examination of Fig. 12 suggests that the Griffith
Criterion generally underestimates the crack initiation stress and this
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 difference increases as the confining stress increases, over the confining
Ratio Direct Tension / Brazilian stresses measured.

Fig. 10. Statistical distribution of Brazilian tensile strength to direct tensile strength of 10 “dog- Martin and Christiansson (2009) examined a number of in situ ex-
bone” specimen of Lac du Bonnet granite. periments in igneous rocks and concluded that the in-situ spalling
74 M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76

a 20
20 b
18 18

Braziliantensile
Strength(MPa)
16

(MPa)
tensile
12
16
14 14
10

Strength
Brazilian
12
4

10
8
8
6 6
4
2 2
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Crack initiation stress (MPa) Crack initiation stress (MPa)
12 Number of Data 39 10 Number of Data 23
mean 8.89 mean 7.76
10 std. dev. 1.72 9 std. dev. 1.29
Data

coef. of var 0.19 8

data
8 minimum 3.88 coef. of var 0.17
maximum 12.55
minimum 5.41

7 maximum 11.48
Number of

of
6
5

Number
4 4
3
2
2
0 1
0
0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
CI/DT CI/DT

c 18
20 d
(MPa)

18
tensile

(MPa)
tensile

12
16
16
14
Strength
Brazilian

14
Strength
Brazilian

10 12
4

10
8 8
6 6
4
2 2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
0 0
Crack initiation stress (MPa) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Crack initiation stress (MPa)
5 Number of Data 19 6 Number of Data 23
mean 9.28 mean 7.76
std. dev. 2.05 std. dev. 1.29
4 coef. of var 0.22 5 coef. of var 0.17
Number of data
Number of data

maximum 12.92 maximum 11.48

3 minimum 5.51 4 minimum 5.41
3
2
2
1
1
0
0
0 5 10 15 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
CI/DT CI/DT

Fig. 11. Statistical distribution of crack initiation stress to tensile strength ratio of (a) Laxemar granite; (b) Laxemar quartz monzodiorite; (c) Forsmark metagranodiorite and (d) Olkiluoto mica gneiss.
The Direct tensile strength values in the histograms are calculated using the criterion given in Section 5.3.1 from the Brazilian tensile strength (scatter plots).

strength, in the absence of field data, could be approximated using the crack where a, s and m are Hoek–Brown failure criterion parameters, and CI, UCS
initiation stress from laboratory uniaxial compressive strength tests. In their and T are crack initiation stress, unconfined and the tensile strength,
analysis to establish the risk of spalling, the crack initiation stress was simply respectively. Fig. 12 compares the Hoek–Brown spalling cri-terion using the
used as a strength indicator. More recently Diederichs et al. (2010) suggested parameters in Eq. (4) with the crack initiation labora-tory data. Reasonable
a spalling prediction crite-rion based on the generalized Hoek–Brown failure agreement was obtained if the a parameter was changed from a constant value
envelope, given by (Hoek et al, 2002): of 0.25 to the crack initiation ratio (CIR) for confined tests and the Brazilian
tensile strength is used in-stead of direct tensile strength. Based on these
0
!a findings the spalling parameters for igneous rocks can be expressed as
0 0
σ3
:
σ1 ¼ σ3 þ UCS m UCS þ s ð3Þ
a ¼ CIR s ¼ ð CI=UCS 1=a m ¼ s UCS= TBR jÞ: ð5Þ

Diederichs et al. (2010) suggested that peak spalling prediction criterion Þ ð j

could be approximated using the following parameters:
In Fig. 9, the CIR ranged from 0.5 to 0.54, with a mean value of 0.52, and
1=a
a ¼ 0:25 s ¼ ðCI=UCSÞ m ¼ sðUCS=jT jÞ ð4Þ provided much better agreement with the laboratory data. While this
 M. Nicksiar, C.D. Martin / Engineering Geology 154 (2013) 64–76 75

a b
400 400

Axial Stress (MPa)

Axial Stress (MPa) 350 350
300 Hoek-Brown 300
250 250
200 200
150 150
100 Griffith 100

50 BT= 11.2MPa; UCS=230MPa 50 BT= 10.5MPa; UCS=182MPa

0 0
−10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 −10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Confining Stress (MPa) Confining Stress (MPa)

c d
400 400
350 350

Axial Stress (MPa)

Axial Stress (MPa) 300 300
250 250
200 200
150 150
100 100
50 BT= 11.3MPa; UCS=176MPa 50 BT= 8.8MPa; UCS=220MPa
0 0
−10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 −10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Confining Stress (MPa) Confining Stress (MPa)

Fig. 12. Crack initiation stress from lab measurement, Griffith and generalized Hoek–Brown failure criteria. (a) metagranodiorite; (b) granite; (c) quartz monzodiorite and (d) Lac du Bonnet granite.

test comparison is limited to igneous rocks, the results are encourag-ing and underestimates crack initiation in triaxial compression. The crack ini-tiation
other rock types are currently being evaluated. parameters for the Hoek–Brown spalling criterion for igneous rocks can be
expressed in terms of the CI stress ratio and the tensile strength.

7. Conclusion
In this paper, the effects of geology and loading conditions on crack
initiation stress have been examined using a data base of 336 samples.
In igneous rocks with different mineralogies, the crack initiation stress is
positively correlated to quartz and negatively correlated to plagioclase and
biotite contents. Moreover, crack initiation stress in igneous rocks increases as
the grain size decreases. In sedimentary rocks, cracks are initiated at higher
stress level when the carbonate is increased relative to the clay content.
In high-grade metamorphic rocks, directional anisotropy can also affect
the rock strength. The results confirmed the sensitivity of peak stress to the
direction of foliation due to the shearing mecha-nism associated with failure.
Because crack initiation occurs due to tensile and extensile rupture, the crack
initiation stress is not influenced by this anisotropy.
The average ratio of crack initiation to peak stress in some igneous,
sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, regardless of the mineralogy and grain
size, was found to range from 0.42 to 0.47 in uniaxial com-pression. In
triaxial compression, the crack initiation stress ratio ranges from 0.50–0.54. A
comparison of the direct tensile strength with the Brazilian tensile strength
was carried out for igneous rocks. The results indicate that direct tension
tensile strength is approxi-mately 0.8 times the Brazilian tensile strength for
samples considered to be free of microcracks and isotropic.
Finally, the Griffith and Hoek–Brown spalling parameters are compared
with the crack initiation results from uniaxial and triaxial compression tests.
Although the Griffith Criterion is in reasonable agreement with the crack
initiation stress in uniaxial compression, it
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the Natural Science and
Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and
Waste Management Co, and the Nuclear Waste Management Orga-nization,
Toronto.
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