Numerical Modeling and Laboratory Testing to Investigate Crack Growth Behavior in Stepped Cracks Subjected to Uniaxial Loading Conditions

There are various scales of fractures and faults in nature, and their discontinuities significantly affect the failure mechanisms of rock structures. When the length of a discontinuity is substantial, failure tends to occur along that discontinuity. In contrast, when the discontinuity is short, the regions between these discontinuities, known as rock bridges, become crucial in determining the failure path. This is because smaller rock bridges located within critical stress fields break and influence the direction of crack growth through the rock mass. In this context, the slip direction is influenced by the number of discontinuous joints, which are important for the size of the rock bridge. The behavior of rock bridges under both uniaxial and biaxial loads has been extensively studied.