Laboratory visualization of damage asymmetry formation of rock fracture via acoustic emission and digital imaging correlation

Rock fracture mechanics and accurate characterization of rock fracture are crucial for understanding a variety of phenomena interested in geological engineering and geoscience.These phenomena range from very large-scale asymmetrical fault structures to the scale of engineering projects and laboratory-scale rock fracture tests.Comprehensive study can involve mechanical modeling,site or post-mortem investigations,and inspection on the point cloud of the source locations in the form of earthquake,microseismicity,or acoustic emission.This study presents a comprehensive data analysis on characterizing the forming of the asymmetrical damage zone around a laboratory mixed-mode rock fracture.We substantiate the presence of asymmetrical damage through qualitative analysis and demonstrate that measurement uncertainties cannot solely explain the observed asymmetry.The implications of this demonstration can be manifold.On a larger scale,it solidifies a mechanical model used for explaining the contribution of aseismic mechanisms to asymmetrical fault structures.On a laboratory scale,it exemplifies an alternative approach to understanding the observational difference between the source location and the in situ or post-mortem inspection on the rock fracture path.The mechanical model and the data analysis can be informative to the interpretations of other engineering practices as well,but may face different types of challenges.

Microscopic damage evolution of anisotropic rocks under indirect tensile conditions: Insights from acoustic emission and digital image correlation techniques

The anisotropy induced by rock bedding structures is usually manifested in the mechanical behaviors and failure modes of rocks.Brazilian tests are conducted for seven groups of shale specimens featuring different bedding angles. Acoustic emission (AE) and digital image correlation (DIC) technologies are used to monitor the in-situ failure of the specimens. Furthermore, the crack morphology of damaged samples is observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results reveal the structural dependence on the tensile mechanical behavior of shales. The shale disk exhibits compression in the early stage of the experiment with varying locations and durations. The location of the compression area moves downward and gradually disappears when the bedding angle increases. The macroscopic failure is well characterized by AE event location results, and the dominant frequency distribution is related to the bedding angle. The b-value is found to be stress-dependent.The crack turning angle between layers and the number of cracks crossing the bedding both increase with the bedding angle, indicating competition between crack propagations. SEM results revealed that the failure modes of the samples can be classified into three types:tensile failure along beddings with shear failure of the matrix, ladder shear failure along beddings with tensile failure of the matrix, and shear failure along multiple beddings with tensile failure of the matrix.

Uniaxial experimental study of the acoustic emission and deformation behavior of composite rock based on 3D digital image correlation(DIC)

In this paper, uniaxial compression tests were carried out on a series of composite rock specimens with different dip angles, which were made from two types of rock-like material with different strength. The acoustic emission technique was used to monitor the acoustic signal characteristics of composite rock specimens during the entire loading process. At the same time, an optical non-contact 3 D digital image correlation technique was used to study the evolution of axial strain field and the maximal strain field before and after the peak strength at different stress levels during the loading process. The effect of bedding plane inclination on the deformation and strength during uniaxial loading was analyzed. The methods of solving the elastic constants of hard and weak rock were described. The damage evolution process, deformation and failure mechanism, and failure mode during uniaxial loading were fully determined. The experimental results show that the θ = 0?–45?specimens had obvious plastic deformation during loading, and the brittleness of the θ = 60?–90?specimens gradually increased during the loading process. When the anisotropic angle θincreased from 0?to 90?, the peak strength, peak strain,and apparent elastic modulus all decreased initially and then increased. The failure mode of the composite rock specimen during uniaxial loading can be divided into three categories:tensile fracture across the discontinuities(θ = 0?–30?), slid-ing failure along the discontinuities(θ = 45?–75?), and tensile-split along the discontinuities(θ = 90?). The axial strain of the weak and hard rock layers in the composite rock specimen during the loading process was significantly different from that of the θ = 0?–45?specimens and was almost the same as that of the θ = 60?–90?specimens. As for the strain localization highlighted in the maximum principal strain field, the θ = 0?–30?specimens appeared in the rock matrix approximately parallel to the loading direction,while in the θ = 45?–90?specimens it appeared at the hard and weak rock layer interface.

Anisotropic creep behavior of soft-hard interbedded rock masses based on 3D printing and digital imaging correlation technology

Three-dimensional(3D)printing technology is increasingly used in experimental research of geotechnical engineering.Compared to other materials,3D layer-by-layer printing specimens are extremely similar to the inherent properties of natural layered rock masses.In this paper,soft-hard interbedded rock masses with different dip angles were prepared based on 3D printing(3DP)sand core technology.Uniaxial compression creep tests were conducted to investigate its anisotropic creep behavior based on digital imaging correlation(DIC)technology.The results show that the anisotropic creep behavior of the 3DP soft-hard interbedded rock mass is mainly affected by the dip angles of the weak interlayer when the stress is at low levels.As the stress level increases,the effect of creep stress on its creep anisotropy increases significantly,and the dip angle is no longer the main factor.The minimum value of the long-term strength and creep failure strength always appears in the weak interlayer within 30°–60°,which explains why the failure of the layered rock mass is controlled by the weak interlayer and generally emerges at 45°.The tests results are verified by comparing with theoretical and other published studies.The feasibility of the 3DP soft-hard interbedded rock mass provides broad prospects and application values for 3DP technology in future experimental research.

Coupled Digital Image Correlation and Peridynamics for Full-Field Deformation Measurement and Local Damage Prediction

Digital image correlation(DIC)measurement technique and peridynamics(PD)method have been applied in specific fields extensively owing to their respective advantages in obtaining full-field deformation and local failure of loaded materials and structures.This study provides a simple way to couple DIC measurements with PD simulations,which can circumvent the difficulties of DIC in dealing with discontinuous deformations.Taking the failure analysis of a compact tension specimen of aluminum alloy and a static three-point bending concrete beam as examples,the DIC experimental system firstly measures the full-field displacements,and then the PD simulation is applied on potential damage regions determined according to the correlation coefficients,to track the micro-crack evolution and macro-crack propagation.As results,the coupled DIC and PD approach can effectively measure the full-field displacement and the localized damage accumulation and crack propagation.

Employment of predictive search algorithm in digital image correlation

A predictive search algorithm to estimate the size and direction of displacement vectors was presented.The algorithm decreased the time of calculating the displacement of each pixel.In addition,the updating reference image scheme was used to update the reference image and to decrease the computation time when the displacement was larger than a certain number.In this way,the search range and computational complexity were cut down,and less EMS memory was occupied.The capability of proposed search algorithm was then verified by the results of both computer simulation and experiments.The results showed that the algorithm could improve the efficiency of correlation method and satisfy the accuracy requirement for practical displacement measuring.

Evaluation of fatigue property of asphalt mixtures based on digital image correlation method

In order to evaluate the accumulative of tensile strain in the process of fatigue failure, the digital image correlation（DIC） method was utilized to characterize the tensile strain development of asphalt mixtures in the indirect tensile（IDT）fatigue test. Three typical hot mix asphalt（HMA） mixtures with varying nominal maximum aggregate sizes were tested at four stress levels. During the tests, a digital camera was mounted to capture the displacement/strain fields on the surface of the specimen by recording the real-time change of speckle position. The results indicate that the vertical deformation curve can barely evaluate the fatigue performance accurately due to the non-negligible local deflection near the loading point. However, based on the analysis of strain fields,the optimal fatigue cracking zone is determined as a 40mm×40mm rectangle in the middle of the specimens. Also, a reasonable fatigue model based on the tensile strain curves calculated by DIC is proposed to predict the fatigue lives of asphalt mixtures.

Specimen aspect ratio and progressive field strain development of sandstone under uniaxial compression by three-dimensional digital image correlation

The complete stress-strain characteristics of sandstone specimens were investigated in a series of quasistatic monotonic uniaxial compression tests.Strain patterns development during pre-and post-peak behaviours in specimens with different aspect ratios was also examined.Peak stress,post-peak portion of stress-strain,brittleness,characteristics of progressive localisation and field strain patterns development were affected at different extents by specimen aspect ratio.Strain patterns of the rocks were obtained by applying three-dimensional(3D) digital image correlation(DIC) technique.Unlike conventional strain measurement using strain gauges attached to specimen,3D DIC allowed not only measuring large strains,but more importantly,mapping the development of field strain throughout the compression test,i.e.in pre-and post-peak regimes.Field strain development in the surface of rock specimen suggests that strain starts localising progressively and develops at a lower rate in pre-peak regime.However,in post-peak regime,strains increase at different rates as local deformations take place at different extents in the vicinity and outside the localised zone.The extent of localised strains together with the rate of strain localisation is associated with the increase in rate of strength degradation.Strain localisation and local inelastic unloading outside the localised zone both feature post-peak regime.

Use of a Digital Image Correlation Technique for Measuring the Material Properties of Beetle Wing

Beetle wings are very specialized flight organs consisting of the veins and membranes.Therefore it is necessary from a bionic view to investigate the material properties of a beetle wing experimentally.In the present study,we have used a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique to measure the elastic modulus of a beetle wing membrane.Specimens were prepared by carefully cutting a beetle hind wing into 3.0 mm by 7.0 mm segments (the gage length was 5 mm).We used a scanning electron microscope for a precise measurement of the thickness of the beetle wing membrane.The specimen was attached to a designed fixture to induce a uniform displacement by means of a micromanipulator.We used an ARAMISTM system based on the digital image correlation technique to measure the corresponding displacement of a specimen.The thickness of the beetle wing varied at different points of the membrane.The elastic modulus differed in relation to the membrane arrangement showing a structural anisotropy;the elastic modulus in the chordwise direction is approximately 2.65 GPa,which is three times larger than the elastic modulus in the spanwise direction of 0.84 GPa.As a result,the digital image correlation-based ARAMIS system was suc- cessfully used to measure the elastic modulus of a beetle wing.In addition to membrane's elastic modulus,we considered the Poisson's ratio of the membrane and measured the elastic modulus of a vein using an Instron universal tensile machine.The result reveals the Poisson's ratio is nearly zero and the elastic modulus of a vein is about 11 GPa.

Assessment of digital image correlation method in determining large scale cemented rockfill strains

A conventional contact method(using linear transducers)and a non-contact method are deployed to measure the axial and lateral deformations of large scale cylindrical cemented rockfill specimens.Experimental works incorporating two pinhole cameras to create one stereovision by digital image correlation shows that the non-contact method is as reliable for testing large cylindrical specimens as measurements done by using linear variable displacement transformer and string potentiometer.Considering this particular large specimen,the experiment resulted in the acceptable mean difference between lateral strain using both methods is 5.1 percent,and 14.5 percent for the axial strain.This occurrence is inevitable due to the heterogeneity of the concrete system and the placement of the monitoring point in digital image correlation method,although the comparison of stress-strain relationship in both methods still indicates a conformity.Based on the results of the present experiments,the authors recommend the noncontact method for a detailed investigation of the material behavior during the uniaxial compressive strength tests.Full field strain measurement enables this digital method to examine local strains near cracks at any point,a very useful tool for studying material deformation behavior.

Quasi-static tensile deformation and fracture behavior of a highly particle-filled composite using digital image correlation method

Polymer bonded explosives (PBXs) are highly particle-filled composite materials.This paper experimentally studies the tensile deformation and fracture behavior of a PBX simulation by using the semi-circular bending (SCB) test.The deformation and fracture process of a pre-notched SCB sample with a random speckle pattern is recorded by a charge coupled device camera.The displacement and strain fields on the observed surface during the loading process are obtained by using the digital image correlation method.The crack opening displacement is calculated from the displacement fields,the initiation and propagation of the crack are analyzed.In addition,the damage evolution and fracture mechanisms of the SCB sample are analyzed according to the strain fields and the correlation coefficient fields at different loading steps.

Characterization for elastic constants of fused deposition modelling-fabricated materials based on the virtual fields method and digital image correlation

Fused deposition modelling(FDM), a widely used rapid prototyping process, is a promising technique in manufacturing engineering. In this work, a method for characterizing elastic constants of FDM-fabricated materials is proposed. First of all, according to the manufacturing process of FDM, orthotropic constitutive model is used to describe the mechanical behavior. Then the virtual fields method(VFM) is applied to characterize all the mechanical parameters(Q, Q, Q, Q) using the full-field strain,which is measured by digital image correlation(DIC). Since the principal axis of the FDM-fabricated structure is sometimes unknown due to the complexity of the manufacturing process, a disk in diametrical compression is used as the load configuration so that the loading angle can be changed conveniently. To verify the feasibility of the proposed method, finite element method(FEM) simulation is conducted to obtain the strain field of the disk. The simulation results show that higher accuracy can be achieved when the loading angle is close to 30?. Finally, a disk fabricated by FDM was used for the experiment. By rotating the disk, several tests with different loading angles were conducted. To determine the position of the principal axis in each test, two groups of parameters(Q, Q, Q, Q) are calculated by two different groups of virtual fields. Then the corresponding loading angle can be determined by minimizing the deviation between two groups of the parameters. After that, the four constants(Q, Q, Q, Q) were determined from the test with an angle of 27?.

DAMAGE AND FRACTURE EVALUATION OF GRANULAR COMPOSITE MATERIALS BY DIGITAL IMAGE CORRELATION METHOD

This paper presents the applications of digital image correlation technique to the mesoscopic damage and fracture study of some granular based composite materials including steel- fiber reinforced concrete,sandstone and crystal-polymer composite.The deformation fields of the composite materials resulted from stress localization were obtained by the correlation computation of the surface images with loading steps and thus the related damage prediction and fracture parameters were evaluated.The correlation searching could be performed either directly based on the gray levels of the digital images or from the wavelet transform(WT)coefficients of the transform spectrum.The latter was developed by the authors and showed higher resolution and sensitivity to the singularity detection. Because the displacement components came from the rough surfaces of the composite materials without any coats of gratings or fringes of optical interferometry,both surface profiles and the deformation fields of the composites were visualized which was helpful to compare each other to analyze the damage of those heterogeneous materials.

Optimization of the forearm angle for arm wrestling using multi-camera stereo digital image correlation: A preliminary study

This study analyzes the function of different muscles during arm wrestling and proposes a method to analyze the optimal forearm angle for professional arm wrestlers.We built a professional arm-wrestling platform to measure the shape and deformation of the skin at the biceps brachii of a volunteer in vivo during arm wrestling.We observed the banding phenomenon of arm skin strain during muscle contraction and developed a model to evaluate the moment provided by the biceps brachii.According to this model,the strain field of the area of interest on the skin was measured,and the forearm angles most favorable and unfavorable to the work of the biceps brachii were analyzed.This study demonstrates the considerable potential of applying DIC and its extension method to the in vivo measurement of human skin and facilitates the use of the in vivo measurement of skin deformation in various sports in the future.

Performance of global look-up table strategy in digital image correlation with cubic B-spline interpolation and bicubic interpolation

Global look-up table strategy proposed recently has been proven to be an efficient method to accelerate the interpolation, which is the most time-consuming part in the iterative sub-pixel digital image correlation （DIC） algorithms. In this paper, a global look-up table strategy with cubic B-spline interpolation is developed for the DIC method based on the inverse compositional Gauss-Newton （IC-GN） algorithm. The performance of this strategy, including accuracy, precision, and computation efficiency, is evaluated through a theoretical and experimental study, using the one with widely employed bicubic interpolation as a benchmark. The global look-up table strategy with cubic B-spline interpolation improves significantly the accuracy of the IC-GN algorithm-based DIC method compared with the one using the bicubic interpolation, at a trivial price of computation efficiency.

Digital image correlation based high-speed crack tip locatingmethod and its application

Based on a digital image correlation（DIC）method with the measurements of a high speed crack＇s displacement and strain fields,a technique to accurately and automatically locate its crack tip has been developed.The crack tip is identified by finding the abrupt jump on the opening（or dislocation）curve of a point on the trace of the crack propagation,while the opening is measured through a virtual extensometer technique and the abrupt jump is identified by finding the peak on the curve.The method was verified using a specially designed experiment and applied to measure the critical crack tip opening angle of a rock sample.Because the involvement of analytical models has been avoided and then the good performance could be ensured for low resolution speckle images,this technique is expected to be very useful in the quantitative study of high speed cracks in experiments using high speed cameras.

Measurement and evaluation of strain fields in T23 steel based on digital image correlation method

Surface strain fields of the designed compact tension(CT)specimens were investigated by digital image correlation(DIC)method.An integrative computer program was developed based on DIC algorithms to characterize the strain fields accurately and graphically.Strain distribution of the CT specimen was predicted by finite element method(FEM).Good agreement is observed between the surface strain fields measured by DIC and predicted by FEM,which reveals that the proposed method is practical and effective to determine the strain fields of CT specimens.Moreover,strain fields of the CT specimens with various compressive loads and notch diameters were studied by DIC.The experimental results can provide effective reference to usage of CT specimens in triaxial creep test by appropriately selecting specimen and experiment parameters.

Revealing the role of local shear strain partition of transformable particles in a TRIP-reinforced bulk metallic glass composite via digital image correlation

The coupling effects of the metastable austenitic phase and the amorphous matrix in a transformation-induced plasticity(TRIP)-reinforced bulk metallic glass(BMG)composite under compressive loading were investigated by employing the digital image correlation(DIC)technique.The evolution of local strain field in the crystalline phase and the amorphous matrix was directly monitored,and the contribution from the phase transformation of the metastable austenitic phase was revealed.Local shear strain was found to be effectively consumed by the displacive phase transformation of the metastable austenitic phase,which relaxed the local strain/stress concentration at the interface and thus greatly enhanced the plasticity of the TRIP-reinforced BMG composites.Our current study sheds light on in-depth understanding of the underlying deformation mechanism and the interplay between the amorphous matrix and the metastable crystalline phase during deformation,which is helpful for design of advanced BMG composites with further improved properties.

Subset-based local vs.finite element-based global digital image correlation:A comparison study

Being the two primary approaches for full-field kinematics measurements, both subset-based local digital image correlation （DIC） and finite element-based global DIC have been extensively studied. Nowadays, most commercial DIC systems employ local DIC algorithm because of its advantages of straight forward principle and higher efficiency. However, several researchers argue that global DIC can provide better displacement results due to the displacement continuity constraint among adjacent elements. As such, thoroughly examining the performance of these two different DIC methods seems to be highly necessary. Here, the random errors associated with local DIC and two global DIC methods are theoretically analyzed at first. Subsequently, based on the same algorithmic details and parameters during analyses of numerical and real experiments, the performance of the different DIC approaches is fairly compared. Theoretical and experimental results reveal that local DIC outperforms its global counterpart in terms of both displacement results and computational efficiency when element （subset） size is no less than 11 pixels.

In-situ strain measurement and error analysis of arc welding with 2D digital image correlation

The deformation and residual stress generated by the welding process can seriously affect the use of components.As a result,it is very important to understand the evolution of stress and strain during the welding process.The strain measurement method based on digital image correlation(DIC)is an excellent method to detect welding strain and residual stress.The out-of-plane translation and out-of-plane rotation introduce errors to the two-dimensional DIC.In this paper,the causes of errors are analyzed theoretically,and the formulas of errors caused by the out-of-plane displacement and the out-of-plane rotation are derived.The out-of-plane translation experiment and the out-of-plane rotation experiment were carried out to verify the theory,and the experimental results are consistent with the theoretical analysis results.The error caused by the out-of-plane translation can be reduced by increasing the object distance;the error caused by the out-of-plane rotation is greatly affected by the rotation angle.