A Strain Based Method for Determining the Crack Closure and Initiation Stress in Compression Tests

The pre-peak loading stages of rock in compression tests are divided into four stages (i.e., crack closure, elastic deformation, stable crack growth and unstable crack growth) by identifying the Crack Closure stress (CC), Crack Initiation stress (CI), and crack damage stress. A new method for determining the CC and CI is presented in this paper and compared with previous methods. The new method is called “Continuous Strain Deviation” (CSD), and it solves two problems associated with other methods: 1) determining the limits for the elastic range in laboratory data, and 2) identifying where crack closure or initiation occurs from the subtle changes in the stress-strain data. Starting from an initial point corresponding to 30% to 40% UCS, the proposed algorithm provides a distinct indicator for CC and CI. The CC and CI for Badaling granite and Äspö diorite are determined with the proposed method, results from which are similar to other methods. Sensitivity analyses of the CSD method show that stable CC and CI values could be estimated using any initial point from 30% to 40% UCS. Comparison studies show that the CSD method predicts a smaller stress range and gives a more distinct indicator for both CC and CI.