Fracture toughness of sandstone under dry, saturated and immerged conditions

Water-induced strength reduction is one of the most critical causes of rock engineering disasters. Understanding the influence of water on the fracture toughness of rocks is necessary for rock fracture mechanics and rock engineering applications such as mining, tunneling, and the exploitation of deep geothermal reservoirs. However, only a few studies have been conducted to understand the effect of water on fracture properties such as fracture toughness. In this thesis, the effect of water on fracture toughness and fracture energy in several sandstones was investigated. First, several preliminary characterization tests were performed on all samples: P and S-wave velocity, porosity analysis, X-ray diffraction method, and thin section microscopic observation. CCNBD method was used to measure Mode I fracture toughness under dry, saturated and immerged conditions. Results show a decrease in fracture toughness and fracture energy after saturation and a higher decrease for immerged samples. The toughness reduction was larger for the most porous rocks and the one that contained a high percentage of phyllosilicates (clay minerals). We conclude that fracture toughness in sandstone is strongly affected by saturation, and mineralogy of the rock.