Creep Crack Propagation and Interaction in Stiff Clays Forming Earth Dams

许多土坝及其基础的破坏和事故都是由于形成土坝的压实粘土中存在裂缝而引起的集中漏水。土坝安全研究人员对诸如土坝组成部分的坚硬粘土中随时间变化的裂纹扩展和相互作用问题重视不够。这将在本项目中解决。具体而言，该项目将在实验室中研究脆性粘土在恒定（蠕变）以及静态增加的双轴和三轴应力条件下的棱柱状试样中裂纹生长和相互作用的机制，并研究粘土含水量、裂纹数量以及它们的方向、长度、在脆性粘土试样中，裂纹扩展和相互作用过程中存在分离和重叠现象。

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.