New experimental setup for the validation of DEM simulation of brittle crack propagation at grain size level

In order to fill this gap, test work has to break new ground. Therefore, in a new test, thin-notched rock plates prepared of granite rock were stressed with a chisel under slowly raised compressive load while the force-displacement behavior was continuously measured. Each step of spontaneous crack propagation was monitored by a high-speed camera. Following, the actual crack path, its propagation behavior, and the energy input were evaluated to improve the validating quality of grain size level DEM simulations.