Evaluating Crack Propagation in a Cohesive Soil using J integral

Abstract

It is believed that cracks in a dam body or foundation are developed by water pressure and are considered to be one of the causes of hydraulic fracturing. But the propagation of cracks has not been examined in detail. Though stress intensity factor K_I is one of the parameters for evaluating the propagation of cracks, the calculation of K_I is almost difficult in the case of fill-type dams because of the shape of the foundation or the embankment. Then, the evaluation of the crack progress in a cohesive soil was attempted with J integral as is one of the parameters for the propagation of crack as well as stress intensity factor K_I. J integral was calculated by the tensile test and finite element analysis. As a result, the calculated J integral values were not controlled by the length of the initial cracks and attained an almost constant value. Hence, it is considered that J integral can be used as a parameter that evaluates the progress of cracks in a cohesive soil.