Abstract
The stable growth of a crack created by the hydraulic pressurizing of a penny-shaped crack in a dry rock mass is investigated. The rock mass is infinitely extended, homogeneous, and isotropic. It is verified on the basis of the equations of fluid dynamics that the fracturing fluid cannot penetrate the entire domain of a crack when the crack is moving. The effects of various terms in the basic equations are also studied. The solution of some typical examples is given, and the significant effect of the stress intensity factor of the rock on the crack propagation is shown. When the crack is expanding under a constant flow rate, the classical solution is found to be approximately valid for very large cracks, and nevertheless the crack is stable.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 5335-5340 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | J Geophys Res |
| Volume | 81 |
| Issue number | 29 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1976 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Polymers and Plastics
- Materials Chemistry