A New Perspective on the Brittle-Ductile Transition of Rocks

Brittleness is an important property of rocks in the context of engineering applications, as it often determines how severe the practical consequences of rock yield will be. Many authors have proposed various brittleness indices intended to allow for relative categorization of brittleness, but many are relatively simplified and/or only applicable for certain categories of rock. This study provides a new perspective on rock brittleness through study of the confining stress at the brittle-ductile transition. Based on previous findings regarding the brittle-ductile transition, an equation to predict this confining stress is derived, and three key material properties associated with material brittleness are identified. Considering these properties, existing assumptions regarding material brittleness as applied in the rock mechanics literature are identified and discussed. A preliminary analysis of data from the literature regarding the influences of fluid saturation and true triaxial loading conditions is presented.

Automated summary

This study presents a new perspective on rock brittleness by studying the confining stress at the brittle-ductile transition. It derives an equation to predict this confining stress and identifies three key material properties associated with material brittleness. Existing assumptions regarding material brittleness in rock mechanics literature are discussed, along with a preliminary analysis of the influences of fluid saturation and true triaxial loading conditions.