Stress and Deformation: Part I

(D&R, 122-126; 226-252)

The goal for today is to explore the stress
conditions under which rocks fail (e.g., fracture),
and the orientation of failure with respect to the
principal stress directions.
1. Coulomb law of failure
2. Byerlee's law

Experimental studies are fundamental in the

study of rock failure

Common types of deformation experiments

Compressive strength tests: The Goal

Compressive strength tests: The Approach

Compressive strength tests: The results

Linear envelope of failure. The fractures form at
angles of 25 to 35 degrees from 1- very
consistent!

Coulomb's Law of
Failure

c = 0 + tan( n)
c = critical shear stress required for failure
0 = cohesive strength
tan = coefficient of internal friction ()
N = normal stress

Tensile strength tests with no confining pressure

Approach: Similar to compressive strength tests
Results: (1) Rocks are much weaker in tension than in
compression (2) Fracture oriented parallel to 1 (= 0)

Tensile + Compressive strength tests

Result: Failure envelope is parabolic
0 < < 30

Failure envelopes for different rocks: note that

slope of envelope is similar for most rocks

c = 0 + tan( n)
c = critical shear
stress required for
failure
0 = cohesive
strength
tan = coefficient of
internal friction

Example: calculating compressive failure for a limestone

The effect of mean stress:

The effect of differential stress

Byerlee's Law
Question: How much shear stress is needed to cause movement
along a preexisting fracture surface, subjected to a certain normal
stress?

Answer: Similar to Coulomb law without cohesion

Frictional sliding envelope: c = tan(N), where tan is the
coefficient of sliding friction

Preexisting fractures of suitable orientation may

fail before a new fracture is formed

What about pore fluid pressure?

Increasing pore fluid pressure favors failure!

-Also may lead to tensile failure deep in crust
Effective stress = n fluid pressure

What is it?

What is it? Tensile fracture filled with vein during dilation

1 is parallel to the structure. What does this suggest about
very low
the magnitude of effective stress?
What mechanism may help produce this structure within the
deeper crust? high fluid pressure to counteract lithostatic stress

What happens at higher confining pressures?

Von Mises failure envelope

- Failure occurs at 45 degrees from 1

Next Lecture
Stress and Deformation II
...A closer look at fault mechanics and rock
behavior during deformation
( D&R: pp. 304-319; 126-149)

Important terminology/concepts
Uniaxial vs. axial states of stress
Coulomb law of failure: known how it is determined and
equation
values for compression
values for tension
Cohesive strength
Coefficient of internal friction
Byerlee's Law / frictional sliding envelope- know equation
Important role of pore fluid pressure