Effects of relative humidity and temperature on subcritical crack growth in igneous rock

Effects of relative humidity and temperature on subcritical crack growth in igneous rock have been investigated experimentally on samples of Kumamoto andesite and Oshima granite. Stress intensity factors and crack velocities were measured using the double-torsion technique, and all experiments were conducted in moist air. Our results show that in experiments conducted under the same relative humidity, crack velocity increased with increasing temperature, in agreement with previous studies. Our results also show that, in experiments conducted at the same temperature, crack velocity increased dramatically with increasing relative humidity. A three- to fourfold increase in relative humidity resulted in an increase in crack velocity of between one and four orders of magnitude. Such an increase is larger than that predicted by classical stress corrosion theory. It is suggested that capillary condensation of water vapour close to crack tips of small aperture influences the rate of crack growth. It is concluded that relative humidity needs to be controlled to avoid time-dependent weakening and extend the lifetime of structures in a rock mass.