Determination of fracture depth of rock blocks from P-wave velocity

The quality of large rock blocks produced from quarries depends significantly on the fractures and the extent to which they penetrate into the rock. The paper reports a laboratory study to evaluate the possibility of the determining fracture depth in rock blocks from P-wave velocity. Three igneous, three sedimentary and three metamorphic rocks were studied. Inverse linear relations were found between the fracture depths and the P-wave velocities. Although, the slope of the regression lines is approximately the same for the rocks belonging to one rock class, different trends are seen for the different rock types. In addition, some correlation was found between the slopes of the regression lines and the physical properties of the rocks.