Slip initiation on frictional fractures

Direct shear tests and biaxial compression tests are conducted to investigate the onset of slip along a non-homogeneous frictional surface and to determine the effect of specimen thickness and confining stress on slip initiation and propagation. The specimens are made of two and three acrylic blocks with the contact surfaces between blocks having on their upper half a frictional strength smaller than on their lower half. This creates a “weak” surface on the upper half and a “strong” surface on the lower half. The specimens are then loaded in direct shear or biaxial compression with confining pressures ranging from 0.7 to 3.5 MPa. The onset of slip, slip propagation, and the stress field generated at the front and center of the blocks interfaces are monitored using a photoelastic technique where a thin photoelastic film is placed at the location where observations are made. The onset of slip at the weak-strong zone interface is treated as propagation of a frictional crack under Mode II loading. The critical stress intensity factor, KIIC, at the onset of slip is obtained from photoelastic techniques. The results show a weak dependency of KIIC on the normal stress applied and no influence of the specimen size for specimens thicker than 25.4 mm; for thinner specimens the KIIC values are smaller because the boundaries of the specimen prevent the full development of the stress field ahead of the crack tip. The experiments show a linear increase of the critical energy release rate with normal stress which is explained with linear elastic fracture mechanics theories.