Modelling of shrinkage crack development in porous media

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Australia has interesting land formations comprising various reactive soils and rock. The formation of cracking patterns due to material shrinkage during either drying or cooling has a significant influence on their origin and subsequent behaviour. The shrinkage cracks significantly affect the performance of buildings, roads and buried pipelines. The possibility of their formation is important in many engineering designs, ranging from few millimetres thick material film to hundreds of metres long clay barriers used in hazardous waste landfills. Despite their wide-spread significance, quantitative methods to predict the crack formation and interpretation are not yet available, and this project will provide a solution to this problem.