Creep Crack Propagation and Interaction in Stiff Clays Forming Earth Dams

土坝及其地基中的许多故障和事故都是由于形成土坝的压实粘土中的裂缝引起的集中渗水所致。土坝安全的研究人员对刚性粘土中随时间变化的裂缝扩展和相互作用问题一直没有给予足够的重视，例如构成土坝一部分的粘土。这个问题将在这个项目中得到解决。具体地说，该项目将在实验室中研究在恒定(蠕变)和静态增加的双向和三轴应力条件下脆性粘土棱柱样品中裂纹扩展和相互作用的机制，并研究粘土含水率、裂缝数量及其取向、长度、分离和重叠等参数对脆性粘土样品中裂缝扩展和相互作用方式的影响。

Many failures and accidents in earth dams and their foundations have been attributed to concentrated water leaks caused by cracks present in the compacted clays forming the earth dams. Insufficient attention has been given by researchers of earth dam safety to the topic of time-dependent crack growth and interaction in stiff clays such as those forming part of earth dams. This will be addressed in this project. Specifically, the project will study in the laboratory the mechanisms by which cracks grow and interact in prismatic samples of brittle clay subjected to constant (creep) as well as statically increasing biaxial and triaxial stress conditions, and study the effect that parameters such as clay water content, number of cracks as well as their orientation, length, separation and overlap have on the way cracks propagate and interact in brittle clay samples.