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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1990; v. 54; p. 51-55;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1990.054.01.05
© 1990 Geological Society of London

Fracture and Faulting

The calculation of bulk rheologies of structured materials and its application to brittle failure in shear

Martin Casey & Gilles Wust

Geologisches Institute, ETH-Z, CH8092 Zürich, Switzerland

A finite element method is presented which allows the calculation of the bulk rheological properties of a material consisting of a regular array of heterogeneous sub-regions. The method is used to calculate the elastic properties of rocks with aligned cracks containing air or fluid. It is found that the cracked material has anisotropic properties. A compressible fluid filling makes the bulk rock less stiff. The stiffness perpendicular to the long axis of the cracks is reduced more strongly than that parallel to the cracks. It is shown that a concentration of aligned cracks in an inclined planar zone could result in an instability leading to shear failure.