Fractal dimensions of fracture surfaces of rock fragments

• Main Authors: Akio Fujimura, Yasuhiko Takagi, Muneyoshi Furumoto, Hitoshi Mizutani
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Department of Earth Sciences, Nagoya University 1986
• Subjects: Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=1977; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00001977/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=1977&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

Several rock-fracture experiments are carried out under the conditions of dynamic impact and static uniaxial loading. Irregularity of the fracture surfaces of basalt and dunite fragments is quantitatively described by "fractal dimension". The fractured surfaces produced by dynamic impacts have a small fractal dimension indicating the relatively smooth surfaces. On the other hand, the fracture surfaces produced by static uniaxial loading have a large fractal dimension. In the case of the dynamic impact, basalt and dunite possess similar fractal dimensions, while in the case of static loading, they have different distributions of fractal dimension. Thus the fractal dimension of a fragment may provide a useful information on the fracture processes.