Microcrack analysis of Sanya grantite fragments from rockburst tests

Fractures running along a plane reflect the cracking progress.In this paper uniaxial and rockburst tests on a group of granite specimens from Sanya province are described.Scanning electron microscopic imaging was used to characterize the fragments.Fractal fracture mechanics were used to analyze the microcracks in terms of both the crack type and the mineral constituent.A statistical analysis showed that the area of inter-granular cracking exceeds that of intra-granular cracking.Several types of crack were observed in the cracked areas.The percentage of intra-granular cracks in fragments from rockburst tests exceeds that from uniaxial compression tests.The results also showed that feldspar deformation was the main cause of fracture and that the consolidation along quartz grain boundaries was another weak area in the granite.Cracking along quartz grains had enough energy to enter the quartz crystal in the rockburst samples.All these results contribute to further research on rockburst mechanics.