International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of
Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrmms

Numerical simulation of compressive failure of heterogeneous rock-like

materials using SPH method
G.W. Ma a,n, X.J. Wang b, F. Ren b
a
School of Civil and Resource Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Australia
b
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore

a r t i c l e i n f o abstract

Article history: A novel numerical approach based on the mesh-free smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is
Received 18 August 2009 developed to simulate the failure of brittle heterogeneous materials by tracing the propagation of the
Received in revised form microscopic cracks as well as the macromechanical behaviors. An elasto-plastic damage model based
2 February 2011
on the extension of the unified twin shear strength (UTSS) criterion is adopted to reflect the strength
Accepted 9 February 2011
behavior of the materials. A statistical approach is applied to model the material heterogeneity. The
Available online 3 March 2011
developed SPH code is used to simulate the heterogeneous rock-like material compressive failure under
Keywords: the uniaxial and biaxial loading conditions. The influences of the material heterogeneity as well as the
Mesh-free method confining loading conditions are investigated. Results demonstrate that the developed program is
Smoothed particle Hydrodynamics
effective and promising for more complex applications.
Compressive failure process
& 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Rock-like material
Heterogeneity
Elasto-plastic damage model

1. Introduction
Rock-like materials are heterogeneous due to the presence of
pores, microcracks, grains, minerals, etc. [1]. Researchers have
performed numerous experimental studies to reveal the failure
mechanism and the fracture process with regard to the micro-
crack propagation using different techniques such as the optical
microscopes [2–5], the scanning electron microscope [6–8], the
acoustic emission detection methods [9], and the X-ray CT
images [10]. Their studies have showed that the macroscopic
behavior and the failure process of rock material are closely
related to the microcrack development: initiations, growths,
propagations and coalesces. Rock failure patterns under compres-
sion are dependent on the loading conditions. Under unconfined
uniaxial compression, a rock sample tends to break abruptly
usually accompanied with irregular longitude axial splitting. With
a moderate confinement, failure occurs along a fracture plane
with shearing displacement along its surface. The failure patterns
are also affected by the random diverse material heterogeneous
conditions in different samples.
Although insight understanding of the mechanism of fracture
process has been achieved, prediction of these phenomena
remains a big challenge. In view of that, many micromechanics
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 8 64883102.
E-mail address: ma@civil.uwa.edu.au (G.W. Ma).
models have been proposed. The fracture mechanics theory has
been successful in predicting fracture generations and propaga-
tions and thus, has been widely applied [11–13]. Some numerical
models, such as the lattice-based model [14], the RFPA [15], the
local degradation model based on FLAC [16], the synthetic rock
mass model (SRM) based on the PFC [17], and the digital image
approach based on the FLAC [18], have also succeeded in predict-
ing heterogeneous fracture processes. All these numerical meth-
ods takes account of the heterogeneous effects and reflect some
aspects of rock failure mechanism successfully. However, these
methods have limitations. For instance, in the classic fracture
mechanics context, it is difficult to determine the micromecha-
nical parameters such as crack density and toughness for cracks in
different modes. Continuum based methods do not work well for
discontinuous problems with distortional deformation, fracture
propagation, and fragmentations. And the discrete element
method is not effective in dealing with the continuous problems.
Recently, a new class of mesh-free methods has been devel-
oped to solve the large deformation problems efficiently by
constructing the approximation completely on nodes instead of
meshes. Amongst, the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH)
method is the pioneer. It was first applied to solve astrophysical
problems [19,20] and has been extensively applied in various
fields, such as fluid dynamics, molecular dynamics, and solid
mechanics. Because of its mesh-free features, the SPH can be
applied to solve discontinuous problems through continuum
mechanics. Libersky and Petschek [21] and Benz and Asphaug [22]

1365-1609/$ - see front matter & 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijrmms.2011.02.001
354 G.W. Ma et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363

are among the successful pioneers to demonstrate that the SPH

was applicable for simulation of the fracture process for brittle Kernel function W
solids. The SPH is considered as a bridge between the continuous
and discontinuous models and hence, one of the best current
methods for the study of brittle fracture and subsequent frag-
mentations in the damaged solids [23].
The SPH method has several advantages over other traditional
continuum methods in view of simulations of the fracture process
for brittle materials. Its mesh-free feature renders it feasible to
handle large deformations. For instance, mesh-based codes have Supporting domain of particle i
to deal with decoupling element nodes, killing elements, rezon-
Influenced particle j Particle i kh
ing, etc., to allow for the generation of new boundaries resulting
from the cracking activities. When different meshes are used in Fig. 1. Kernel function and the supporting domain.
the simulation of the same problem, the predicted crack propaga-
tion path may be different due to the mesh sensitive effect. The where the summation is over all the particles (with a total
artificial bonding used in the discrete element methods also leads number of N, including particle (i) within the supporting domain
to similar problem in simulating fracturing process. The SPH of the given particle i; the label j denotes those influenced
method being an interpolating mesh-free particle algorithm, particles which are the neighboring particles of the particle i; h
however, involves in only a region of neighboring particles. Under is called the smoothing length which defines the supporting
expansive strain fields, particles in the SPH may damage and domain of the particle; and W(x x0 ,h) is the smoothing kernel
fracture naturally due to loss of communication between neigh- function [25].
boring particles. Therefore, Brittle fractures yielded from the The mass and momentum conservation equations of conti-
initiation and propagation of cracks in arbitrary and complex nuum mechanics are approximated as
paths could also be properly simulated without additional pro-
cesses. Since the SPH is a pure Lagrangian method, microstructure dri XN
mj h i @W
ij
¼ ri ðva Þi ðva Þj ð3Þ
and defects can be represented by different sets of particles with dt j¼1
r j @ðxa Þi
their own material properties. Hence, it is efficient to simulate the
!
heterogeneous materials. The SPH method has been applied to dðva Þi XN
ðsab Þi ðsab Þj @Wij
model strain rate effect of heterogeneous materials [24]. ¼ mj þ þ Pij dab ð4Þ
dt j¼1
ri 2 rj 2 @ðxb Þi
This paper presents a general framework to develop the SPH
method for applications of wide range problems involving in the where the dependent variables are the density (r), the velocity
heterogeneous rock and rock-like material failure simulations. Effort (va), and the stress tensor sab . The independent variables are the
is put on tracing the microscopic crack development and propaga- spatial coordinates (xa) and the time (t). The total time derivative
tion as well as the macromechanical response during the failure operator (d/dt) is taken in the moving Lagrangian frame. The
process. In the following context, the SPH method and its governing Greek superscripts a and b are used to denote the coordinate
equations in the continuum mechanics are introduced. An elasto- directions. dab ¼1 if and only if a ¼ b, dab ¼ 0 otherwise. The
plastic damage model to reflect the strength behavior of the rock summation is implemented over the repeated Greek indices.
material is presented. A statistical approach based on the Weibull Stresses are positive in tension. P is the artificial viscous pressure
distribution law is incorporated into the constitutive model to introduced by Gingold and Monaghan [20] to smooth shocks and
consider the heterogeneity effects. The developed SPH code is used stabilize numerical solutions.
to simulate the heterogeneous rock-like material compressive fail- The traditional SPH method suffers the tensile instability in
ure under the uniaxial and biaxial loading conditions. The influences numerical simulations [25]. The Conservative Smoothing
of the material heterogeneity as well as the confining loading Approach method (CAS) [26] is adopted to smooth the density
conditions are investigated. Results demonstrate that the developed and the velocity fields to fix the problem. Detail formulation of
program is effective and promising for more complex applications. the SPH method can also be found in [27,28].

2. SPH method and approximations of governing equations 3. An elasto-plastic damage model

The theoretical basis of the SPH is the interpolation theory. By In most cases, rock-like materials fail in a brittle manner.
introducing an interpolation function (kernel function W) that However, in some situations, plastic deformation becomes
gives the ‘kernel estimate’ of the field variables at a point, the obvious and their failures exhibit ductile behaviors, e.g., under
properties of each particle are evaluated by the integrals or the the high pressure confinement, the dynamic loading conditions
sums over the values of its neighboring particles. Considering a and so on. Owing to such facts, an elasto-plastic-damage model
problem domain O that is discretized by a group of particles as that can effectively represent the mechanical behavior of rock-
shown in Fig. 1, assuming W has a compact supporting domain like material failure is presented. Similar to the Johnson-Holm-
with a radius of kh, approximations of a function f(x) and its quist model [29] and the concrete damage model [30], the current
differential form /rf(x)S at point i can be expressed by the model comprises of two surfaces to represent the strengths of
discretized particles as intact and fractured materials. It also includes a damage model
that describes the evolution of the material from an intact state to
X
N
mi a fractured state. The strength criterion is based on an extension
/f ðxÞSx ¼ xi ¼ f ðxj ÞWxi ðxi xj ,hÞ ð1Þ
j¼1
rj form of the unified twin shear strength criterion (UTSS) [31],
which includes two hydrostatic pressure dependent meridians
X
N representing the generalized tensile and compressive strength
mj  
/rf ðxÞSx ¼ xi ¼  ðf ðxi Þf ðxj ÞÞr Wxi ðxi xj ,hÞ ð2Þ states, respectively. The adopted elasto-plastic damage model is
r
j¼1 j able to account for both the shear-induced damage and the
 G.W. Ma et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363 355

tension-induced fractures. In both situations, the material strength given, the full deviatoric plane can be obtained. The value of b for
can degrade from the intact state to the fully damaged state. a specific material can be determined by curve-fitting of experi-
mental results. Yu et al. [33] suggested that for rock materials b
3.1. Generalized form of the unified twin shear strength theory can take a value between 0.5 and 1.0. In the current model, b is
taken as 0.6 unless explicitly stated otherwise.
The UTSS is established based on the assumption that the The UTSS criterion with the above simplification of the
strength behavior of material is governed by the two larger deviatoric plane is adopted to represent rock strength behavior
principal shear stresses. A weighting coefficient b in the range in the present study. The two meridians, i.e., the variation of rt
of 0–1 is introduced to reflect the relative effect of the second and rc with respect to the hydrostatic pressure can be determined
principal shear stress. The trajectory of the UTSS criterion on the by application of the uniaxial and triaxial compression test results
deviatoric plane with different b values are shown in Fig. 2a. of a considered rock.
From Fig. 2a, with variation of the weighting coefficient b, many
existing failure criteria, such as the Tresca criterion, the Mohr–
Coulomb criterion, the Mises–Schleicher, and Drucker–Prager
criteria, etc., can be approximated by the UTSS criterion. Besides, 3.2. Determination of the meridians and the damage model
new yield criteria can be derived by assigning a suitable value of b
from 0 to 1. The generalized tensile and compressive meridians The proposed elasto-plastic damage model includes two fail-
corresponding to yp 01 and 601, ure surfaces for intact material and fully fractured/damaged
¼ffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffi respectively, are plotted
in Fig. 2b, where r ¼ 2J2 , x ¼ I1 = 3. material, respectively. The former one corresponds to initial
According to the UTSS criterion, when b¼1, it gives the upper failure of the material, while the other one gives the residual
bound of the convex failure surface; when b¼0, it yields the strength of the material. Each surface has two meridians with
lower bound. If the two meridians, i.e., the generalized tensile respect to y ¼ 01 and 601, respectively. The meridians of the two
meridian rt and the generalized compressive meridian rc with surfaces are depicted in Fig. 3a. The strength of the partially
respect to the hydrostatic pressure p are determined, the two damaged material falls in-between the two surfaces which is
bounds with b ¼0 and 1, respectively, on the deviatoric plane can characterized by a damage scalar D.
be obtained by geometry analysis. And any failure criterion The compressive meridian indicating initial failure in terms of
satisfying the convex requirement can be derived by a linear normalized variables can be expressed as
combination of the lower and upper bounds using the parameter
 N
b. According to Fan and Wang [32], the UTSS criterion on the x
ric ¼ A 1 pffiffiffi ð7Þ
deviatoric plane is expressed as 3
8
>
> rt rc sin 601 rt
>
> ð1bÞ þb when 01 r y r yb The compressive meridian representing the residual strength
< rt sin y þrc sin ð601 yÞ cos y
r¼ of fully damaged material is given by
>
> rt rc sin 601 rc
>
> ð1bÞ þb when yb r y r 601
: rt sin y þrc sin ð601 yÞ cos ð601 yÞ  M
 x
rfc ¼ B  pffiffiffi ð8Þ
ð5Þ 3
The value of yb which corresponds to the corners of the outer  
where ric represents the strength of the intact material, while rfc
shape in Fig. 2a can be determined as
2 3 the residual strength; A, N, B, and M are the material constants; x*

pffiffiffi
6 7 is the normalized pressure and x ¼ 3p=pT ; p is the pressure
1
yb ¼ arctan 6
4pffiffiffi 7
5 ð6Þ variable (positive in tension); and pT is the ultimate volumetric
2rc
3 1 tensile pressure, which performs as a cut-off tensile pressure in
rt
the model. Considering the brittle failure happens at a low
The derived convex shape on the deviatoric plane has the volumetric tensile pressure such as the uniaxial tensile condition,
threefold symmetry. If its shape in the range of 0 r y r601 is there is pT ¼ st/3, and st is the uniaxial tensile strength.

σ1
0<b < 1 b=1

compressive meridian (θ = 60°)

b=0 rt θb 60° tensile meridian (θ = 0°)
rc rc
r

rt

σ2 σ3

Fig. 2. Unified twin shear strength criterion: (a) trajectory in deviatoric plane and (b) tensile and compressive meridians.
356 G.W. Ma et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363

where Dep is the effective plastic strain during a cycle of integra-

Experimental data (compressive meridian) tion; and efp is the equivalent plastic strain to fracture under a
1 Strength curve for intact material (compressive meridian) constant pressure p. The expression of efp is
2 Strength curve for intact material (tensile meridian)
3 Strength curve for fractured material (compressive meridian) 5  D2
x
4 Strength curve for fractured material (tensile meridian)
P
efp ¼ D1 1 pffiffiffi ð12Þ
3
P'
1
where D1 and D2 are two constants. The material cannot under-
take any plastic strain at p¼ pT. The incremental equivalent plastic
3

r*
' shear strain is defined as
P
2 Z rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2 0
Dep ¼ ðe Þ : ðe0ab Þp ð13Þ
3 P 3 ab p
1
4 From the above introduction, this model has the advantage to
account for the material strength degradation from the intact state
to the fully damaged state by employing a scalar damage variable
-95 -65 -35 -5 induced by the effective plastic strain. The pressure-cut-off failure
* criterion is used to reflect the volumetric tensile failure. Thus, it
captures both tension induced brittle cracks and compression-shear
dominated crushing failure. Parameters in the expression of the two
Experimental data
Regressed curve Equivalent plastic strain to fracture (εep) meridians corresponding to the initial failure and in the damage
0.007 f
model are determined by curve fitting of the experimental results.
Table 1 gives the test data from the uniaxial tensile test, uniaxial
compression test, and confined triaxial compression test for a typical
0.005 granitic rock in Singapore [34], where the uniaxial compressive
strength sc is 157 MPa, and the tensile strength st is 16.1 MPa.
The compressive meridians for the intact material and the fully
damaged material are regressed from the existing experiment
0.003 data points in Table 1 as shown in Fig. 3a. For the tensile meridian
curve of the intact material, we assume its shape is similar to the
compressive one. By determining a ratio rtc of the tensile radius rt
to the compressive rc at the same pressure, the tensile meridian
0.001
can be derived by scaling the compressive meridian with rtc.
According to the UTSS criterion, the equal biaxial compression
-95 -65 -35 -5 test falls onto the tensile meridian, which can be used to
determine the ratio rtc. The biaxial compression strength takes
*
1.15 times of the uniaxial compressive strength. Its corresponding
Fig. 3. Regressed curves from experimental data: (a) compressive and tensile coordinates on the tensile meridian curve as denoted by x* and r*
meridians and (b) fractured equivalent plastic strain. locate at point P ( 38.85, 1.15) (Fig. 3a). The corresponding point
P0 on the compressive meridian at the same pressure is (  38.85,
The normalized strengths (r*, ric , rfc

, rD , rf ) with regard to the 1.97). Therefore, rtc ¼0.58 is then obtained as the ratio of the value
radius on the deviatoric plane have the general form of rt at P to that of rc at P0 .
For the fractured material, it is assumed that the residual strength
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
r 3J2 of the fractured rock is one-third of the intact strength as shown
r  ¼ rffiffiffi ¼ ð9Þ in Fig. 3a. The regressed representation of the equivalent plastic
2 sc
sc strain to fracture by Eq. (12) is depicted in Fig. 3b. The parameters
3
used for the two-surface failure model are listed in Table 2. It should
where sc is the uniaxial compressive strength. be mentioned that these approximation parameters in Table 2 are
It should be mentioned that the compressive meridian with derived with limited experimental data. With more experimental
respect to y ¼601 corresponds to a stress state of s3 r s2 ¼ s1 data for the meridians, more accurate parameters are supposed to be
where s1, s2, and s3 are principal stresses and positive in tension. obtained. Combining Eqs. (5)–(8) and (10), the complete expression
This stress state can be obtained with quasi-triaxial testing of the elasto-plastic damage model is derived.
machines. The tensile meridian with y ¼01 and s3 ¼ s2 r s1
requires higher confining pressure which is difficult to be Table 1
Experimental test data for a granitic rock (after [34]).
achieved in a conventional triaxial compressive test. Therefore,
the tensile meridian is derived by scaling the compressive Experimental test p (MPa) x* rc efp ð1  103 Þ
meridian with a constant rtc, which will be given later.
The normalizes strength rD for damaged material is defined as Uniaxial tension 5.367 1.732 0 0
Uniaxial compression
rD ¼ ri Dðri rf Þ ð10Þ Sample 1  49.167  15.868 0.9395 1.1
Sample 2  55.33  17.857 1.0573 1.2
Triaxial compression
where D is the scalar damage variable (0rD r1.0) and is defined
Sample 1  110.333  35.609 1.7992 3.01
as Sample 2  120.750  38.971 2.0191 3.34
Sample 3  158.167  51.047 2.4490 4.70
X Dep Sample 4  203.333  65.624 3.0255 5.03
D¼ ð11Þ
Sample 5  247.135  79.761 3.5732 6.00
efp
 G.W. Ma et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363
Table 2
Parameters used for the elasto-plastic damage model.
Parameters Granite
Density, r (kg/m3) 2670
Young’s modulus, E (GPa) 75.20
Poisson’s ratio, v (dimensionless) 0.2
Tensile strength of intact rock, st (MPa) 16.1
Uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock, sc (MPa) 157.0
Hydrostatic tensile pressure limit, pT (MPa) 5.367
Normalized strength parameter for compressive meridian for 0.1334
the intact granite, A (dimensionless)
Normalized strength parameter for compressive meridian for 0.04446
the fractured granite, B (dimensionless)
Ratio of the tensile meridian radius to the compressive 0.58
meridian radius, rtc (dimensionless)
Strength parameter for the intact material (exponent), N 0.8536
(dimensionless)
Strength parameter for the fractured material (exponent), M 0.8536
(dimensionless)
Parameter for damage model, D1 (dimensionless) 1.748  10  4
Parameter for damage model (exponent), D2 (dimensionless) 0.9326
Weighting coefficient in UTSS theory, b (dimensionless) 0.6
To account for the plasticity evolution, a plastic flow rule
should be applied. Since most geomaterials show that the
dilatancy is significantly lower than that predicted using an
associated flow rule [35], a non-associated plastic flow rule is
usually adopted for describing the dilatancy in such pressure-
sensitive
pffiffiffiffi materials. The plastic potential function is defined as
g ¼ J2 . The stress integration in each step can be implemented
using the traditional computational plasticity method in an elastic
predictor–plastic corrector format according to Simo and Hughes
[36]. When plasticity and damage are both involved, the plastic
multiplier and the damage increment are solved simultaneously,
which are not elaborated herein because of space limitations.
4. Statistical microstructure heterogeneous model
Heterogeneity in rock-like materials affects significantly the
microcracking development and propagation, and thus the macro-
mechanical responses. To represent the heterogeneity in numer-
ical analysis, the Weibull distribution law [37] that has been
successfully used in rock-like material failure simulations [15,16]
is adopted for the material microstructure heterogeneity in this
study. The strength related parameters in specimen’s particles
could be derived according to the Weibull’s function as
 
b o b1 ½ðo=mÞb 
f ð oÞ ¼ e ð14Þ
m m
where m is the scale parameter giving the characteristic value of
distribution o; b is the shape parameter describing the spatial
concentration and dispersion degree of o. With increasing b, the
generated data are more concentrated. Hence, b is called the
homogeneous index.
In the current model, the variations of the modulus, strength
meridians, and the equivalent plastic strain to fracture in the
specimen’s microstructure are considered the most significant
factors to influence its macroscopic heterogeneous behaviors.
Therefore, the modulus E, parameters sc, st, and D1 are identified
to characterize specimen’s heterogeneity. Those parameters in the
specimen’s particles are randomly assigned, but follow in general
a normalized distribution o with m ¼1
EðiÞ ¼ EoðiÞ
ðsc ÞðiÞ ¼ sc oðiÞ
ðst ÞðiÞ ¼ st oðiÞ
ðD1 ÞðiÞ ¼ D1 oðiÞ
357
where i denotes the ith particle of the specimen. It is worth not-
ing that the strength distribution is more homogeneous in the
specimen with a larger homogeneous index b. Theoretically,
for any specific specimen, b could be determined based on the
defect distribution of the microstructure and characteristic value
m, which can be obtained from laboratory tests. Since this paper
does not concern on specific heterogeneous specimens, the
characteristic values of those parameters in Eq. (15) take the
corresponding macroscopic ones of the specimen as given
in Table 2.
5. Numerical models
5.1. Specimen geometry and loading conditions
The geometry and loading conditions for the rock specimen in
consideration are shown in Fig. 4. The specimen’s width is 50 mm
and the height is 100 mm. Fig. 4a represents the unconfined
uniaxial compression test under 2D plane strain condition, where
the specimen is sandwiched between two rigid walls loaded by
boundary velocities without end frictions. Fig. 4b shows a biaxial
compression test under the plane strain condition. The prescribed
initial stress is first applied to the two sides of the specimen and
the outer surface of top and bottom sides to achieve a hydrostatic
stress state with certain confining pressure. Then an axial velocity
boundary condition is applied to produce the deviatoric axial
stress.
The recommended loading strain rate for the quasi-static test
is usually within 106 105 s1 . However, the computational
intensity is not tractable when such a low strain rate analysis
applied using the SPH code. Loading rate sensitivity study is
implemented which indicates that when the applied strain rate is
below 1.0 s  1, its difference has minimal effect on the failure
processes and mechanical responses. The strain rate 1.0 s  1 is
therefore adopted to represent the quasi-static state, which
renders the axial loading velocity of 0.1 m/s during all the
simulations. The dynamic relaxation method (DR) is adopted on
the boundary particles to apply the initial confining stress in the
biaxial test simulations. With a proper static damping coefficient,
it can keep the system in a static equilibrium state during the
stress loading process.
The reaction forces on the upper and bottom boundaries increase
with the specimen’s deformation; and then drop down when the
specimen fails. The average value of the vertical stresses on the two
boundaries is taken as the specimen’s macroscopic response stress.
v
v
P
P P
Fig. 4. Geometry and loading conditions. (a) uniaxial compression and (b) biaxial
ð15Þ compresion.
358 G.W. Ma et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363
5.2. SPH numerical model and boundary treatment
In the numerical study, the SPH particles are evenly distrib-
uted to achieve accurate interpolation. Once the particle smooth-
ing length is given, the physical domain will be filled by the SPH
particles. The boundary particles are those with centers locate on
the domain’s outer layer. The SPH particles are then assigned the
material properties and initial conditions. Since the SPH approx-
imations in the current research are derived based on the
collocation method, the velocity boundary conditions are applied
directly on those boundary particles. The stress-free boundary
condition can be approximately satisfied naturally and does not
need any special treatments. It is simply because that the missing
neighbor interpolation particles of those boundary particles act as
if they were zeroed out in momentum kernel sums due to the
zero stress components on those missing particles.
5.3. Heterogeneous specimen and model parameters
To examine the heterogeneity effects, six specimens are config-
ured to represent three degrees of heterogeneity following the
Weibull distribution law. For each degree of the heterogeneity, two
different specimens are modeled to investigate the heterogeneity
spatial variation effect. The normalized distribution (o) is config-
ured according to the specimen’s homogeneous index shown in
Table 3. Each specimen is discretized into 20,000 SPH particles, 100
in width and 200 in height. The SPH particle smoothing length is
equal to the particle initial spacing, which is 0.5 mm.
For the heterogeneous specimen, all particles are given the
initial parameter values as listed in Table 2. Each particle is then
assigned a random number from the generated Weibull distribu-
tion according to the specimen’s heterogeneous configuration.
Properties of each particle are updated with reference to Eq. (15).
For each specimen, the uniaxial compression simulations under
plane strain conditions are preformed, followed by simulations on
the biaxial compressions with different confining pressures under
the plane strain condition for the H05-02 specimen.
Table 3
Configurations of the heterogeneous specimens.
Homogeneous index 3 5
Specimen H03-1 H03-2 H05-1
Heterogeneity More-Less
200
Damaged particle number
150
100
50
0 0.0
0.0
Fig. 5. Simulated axial stress–strain curve and damaged particle profile for specimen H03-01.
6. Simulations of uniaxial compressive failure
6.1. The acoustic emission (AE) event, stress–strain curve and failure
process
In laboratory tests, acoustic emission (AE) during the deforma-
tion has been widely used as an indicator for crack development
and propagation [9]. During the specimen’s deformation process,
there involves various micromechanical activities, including dis-
location, twist and crack formations, that cause such AE events.
For the brittle failure, crack formation is the dominating micro-
mechanical activity. By associating the single AE event with the
microcrack formation, the specimen’s damage can be deduced
according to the AE record. Numerical approach to simulate the
AE events on rock failure has been studied [15]. When the particle
fails, the strain energy carried by the particle is released accord-
ingly. Therefore, each particle failure can be treated as one AE
count. The releasing energy in each particle can be approximately
calculated from the particle’s strength accordingly.
The axial stress–strain curve for the specimen H03-01 is
plotted in Fig. 5. The profile of the simulated damaged particle
profile is also plotted in the same figure by recording the number
of damaged particles according to the incremental axial strain.
The stress–strain curve in Fig. 5 shows nonlinearity with the
increase of the axial strain. After reaching the maximum stress,
the curve drops down to a low stress level that indicates the
strain-softening characteristic. From the simulated damaged
particles’ profile, few particles fail prior to 75% peak stress
(point ‘a’). After that, more damaged particles occur with the
increasing load. The damaged particle number increases sharply
after the peak stress along with which the stress quickly drops
down. It can be deduced that a large number of microcracks form
during such a period from point ‘c’ to point ‘f’, which conform to
the findings reported by other researchers [15,38–39].
Fig. 6 plots the failure process and the final failure pattern of
the specimen H03-01. The failure process corresponds in
sequence to the points marked as ‘a’ to ‘f’ on the stress–strain
curve. The predicted cracks are indicated by those damaged
particles in dark black. When the specimen fails, those damaged
particles can be separated according to the governing equations
and fragments will form subsequently. The final failure pattern is
10
obtained by plotting the particles according to their locations.
H05-2 H10-1 H10-2
At stage ‘a’, one can observe the isolated microcracks are
randomly distributed throughout the specimen. At stage ‘b’, the
Stress-strain curve of specimen H03-01
Damaged particle number co 2.0x107
bo od
ao oe 1.5x107
Axial stress (Pa)
1.0x107
of
5.0x106
2.0x10-4 4.0x10-4 6.0x10-4
Axial strain
 G.W. Ma et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363
H03-01
75% Peak 90% Peak
75% Post Peak 43% Post Peak
Fig. 6. Predicted failure process and final failure pattern for specimen H03-01.
density of microcracks increases but the specimen still maintains
integrity and stability. At the peak stress (point ‘c’), a few clusters
of the microcracks form isolated fractures or cracks. In the
following stage ‘d’, these isolated fractures grow rapidly. At stage
‘e’ and ‘f’, more fractures coalesce and interact with each other
and further develop into inclined shear faults across the speci-
men. In the final failure pattern, it is observed that two major
faults in white and fragments form. Small flying fragments can
also be observed at the side boundaries of the specimen. During
the failure process, the microcracks distribution pattern reflects
the heterogeneous stress distribution in the specimen and its
consequent redistribution due to the local failures. It is worth
noting that most of these fractures are parallel to the loading
direction before the faults form.
6.2. Heterogeneity effects
The simulation result for the H03-01 specimen demonstrates
that both the macromechanical response and the failure process
can be well modeled using the developed SPH code. In the
following context, simulation results for specimens with different
homogeneous indices are presented. The effect of heterogeneity
on stress–strain curves, failure processes, and the failure patterns
is discussed.
6.2.1. Stress–strain curve and uniaxial compressive strength
Fig. 7 plots the axial stress–strain curves of all specimens.
These curves indicate typical brittle failure similar to that of
H03-01. The stress–strain curves remains nearly linear until it
359
100% Peak 90% Post Peak
Final failure pattern
reaches a certain stress level. With the local failure of particles
and stress redistribution, these curves exhibit slightly nonlinear-
ity before it reaches the peak stress. After the peak stress, they fall
down rapidly to a certain residual stress level.
From Fig. 7, for specimens with different degrees of the
heterogeneity (different b), the general Young’s modulus in the
elastic region slightly decreases with increasing heterogeneity.
For specimens with the same degree of heterogeneity (same b),
their general Young’s modulus values are almost identical. In
addition, the curve behaves more ‘brittle’ when the specimen
becomes homogeneous.
Material heterogeneity effects on the uniaxial compressive
strength (UCS) can be observed. The UCS values of heterogeneous
specimens are far smaller than the characteristic value of a
homogeneous model. The more heterogeneous the specimen is,
the smaller its UCS value. Besides, the UCS values of different
specimens, even with the same degree of heterogeneity, may be
different. Similar to those observed in experiments, due to the
material heterogeneity, each specimen has its own properties and
exhibits unique macromechanical response. While, for those with
same degree of heterogeneity, their macromechanical character-
istics are similar.
6.2.2. Failure process and failure pattern
The failure developments for H03-02, H05-01, H05-2, H10-01
and H10-02 are depicted in Fig. 8. The specimen H03-02 has the
same degree of heterogeneity with H03-01. From Fig. 8, the
failure process may differ from one another due to different
spatial strength distributions in specimen’s particles. Specimens
360 G.W. Ma et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363
6.0x107 H03-01 β = 3
H03-02 β = 3
H05-01 β = 5
H05-01 β = 5
H10-01 β = 10
H10-01 β = 10
4.0x107
Axial stress (Pa)
2.0x107
0.0
0.0 2.0x10-4
Fig. 7. Axial stress–strain curves for different heterogeneous specimens.
with the similar degree of heterogeneity may have different
heterogeneous microstructures due to the spatial variation effect
and will result in differences in the stress–strain curves and the
failure processes as often observed in the experimental results.
For the crack developments of the specimen H05-01 and H05-02,
their failure processes are evidently different though the general
characteristics at different stages are similar. For H05-01, at the
stage near its peak stress, one shear fracture at the lower left corner
forms. In its post-failure stage, other branched fractures also occur in
the specimen. It is worth noting that most of the microcracks occur
parallel to the axial force direction. Its final failure pattern appears to
be the combination effect of these cracks. For H05-02, although the
failure is by faulting, it can be observed that the axial cracks are also
well developed before final failure.
For the specimen H10-01 and H10-02, failures of these speci-
mens are mainly induced by a few major fractures. Once the
prominent fracture forms, it propagates rapidly toward both ends
of the specimen. Large volumes of microcracks grow intensely after
the conspicuous fractures are well developed. Their interactions
and twist influence the failure pattern as can be seen in Fig. 8.
The simulation results show that failure developments for
these brittle specimens have some common characteristics. First,
conspicuous fractures form near their peak stresses and mostly
parallel to the loading direction, which conform to reported test
findings [3]. Axial microcracks are the major damage before the
conspicuous fractures form. Second, after the peak stress, these
fractures further grow and coalesce to form the faulting or
fracture planes, which split the specimen into several segments.
Generally, the failure patterns shown in Fig. 9 agree well with the
reported test observations by other researchers [40].
The predicted failure processes and failure patterns manifest that
rock failure and its mode are highly affected by its material hetero-
geneity. Even for specimens with the similar degree of heterogeneity,
the initial cracks and their consequent developments are highly
affected by their microstructures due to the local stress intensity.
7. Simulations of biaxial compressive failure
To examine the confining effect, numerical simulations are carried
out for biaxial compressive failure of specimen H05-02. The specimen
is assigned the plane strain condition with different confining
4.0x10-4 6.0x10-4 8.0x10-4 1.0x10-3 1.2x10-3
Axial strain
stresses. The confining stress is applied to be 2.5, 5.0,10 and
20 MPa, respectively. Their fracture processes are depicted in Fig. 10.
The specimen’s failure process without confinement is depicted
previously in Fig. 8. From Fig. 8, at the 98% peak stress, an oblique
fracture forms and subsequently propagates rapidly in the loading
direction toward both ends of the specimen at the peak stress. In
the post-failure stages, the formed fracture continues to develop
and results in an axial splitting failure mode. More microcracks
appear along the sides of the fracture planes. A set of shear
fractures at the upper right side of the specimen oriented with
an angle of about 451 to the loading direction by many short
bulking ‘beams’. It is interesting to note this set of shear fractures
join the previously developed fractures and form the fault.
Under the confining stress of 2.5 MPa, similarly the first conspic-
uous fracture takes place near the peak stress. However, its propaga-
tion along the loading direction is restricted by the lateral confining
stress. From Fig. 10, in the post-failure stage around its 73% peak
stress, besides the shear fracture at the upper right part, other two
isolated sets of fractures appear at the lower half part along the same
oblique plane. Subsequently, they grow and coalesce to form the
second shear fault plane that is shorter than the previous one.
For the confinement of 5.0 MPa case, it is clear to see that the
axial crack is prohibited by the increased lateral stress. It can be
observed that the first short shear fault become the primary shear
fault after the peak stress.
Failure process with a confining stress of 10 MPa is similar to
that of the 5 MPa case. When the confining stress becomes
20 MPa, before the peak stress, the crack development is identical
to previous ones. In the post-peak stages, shear faults become
wider. Besides, the short shear fault has a larger oblique angle to
the vertical plane than those from less confining stress as
indicated by the arrows in Fig. 10.
In the unconfined case, there is only one shear fault. Under
confinement, specimens have more faults. In these cases, few
fractures form in the early stage. More fractures appear near the
peak stress and tend to be aligned with the loading direction.
After the peak stress, two macroscopic failure planes develop and
cut across the specimen. As the confining stress increases, the
developments of axial fractures are prohibited. Besides, shear
fracture planes appear wider. The angle of the short shear fracture
to the vertical plane also increases slightly. Failure development
at the peak stress stage is quite similar for all the confining cases,
 G.W. Ma et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363 361

H03- 02

75%Peak 90% Peak 100% Peak 91% Post Peak 74% Post Peak 47% Post Peak

H05- 01

67%Peak 99% Peak 100% Peak 98% Post Peak 82% Post Peak 53% Post Peak

H05- 02

75%Peak 98% Peak 100% Peak 82% Post Peak 80% Post Peak 54% Post Peak

H10- 01

95%Peak 98% Peak 100% Peak 99% Post Peak 89% Post Peak 75% Post Peak

H10- 02

91%Peak 99% Peak 100% Peak 96% Post Peak 89% Post Peak 79% Post Peak

Fig. 8. Predicted failure processes of other heterogeneous specimens.

and most microcracks occurs after the peak stress as the speci-
men expands along lateral direction. From the above discussions,
it seems that the post-peak failure process is affected by the
confinement. It is seen that with the incremental of confinement,
the tensile stress perpendicular to the maximum compressive
plane decrease. Therefore, axial fractures are restrained and more
shear fractures developed to form faults.
8. Conclusions
In this paper, a novel numerical approach based on the mesh-free
smoothed particle hydrodynamics method is developed to simulate
the failure of brittle heterogeneous materials. A series of simulations
have been performed to study the mechanical characteristics and
failure process for different degrees of heterogeneous specimens.
362 G.W. Ma et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363

H03 -02 H05 -01 H05 -02 H10 -01 H10 -02

Fig. 9. Predicted failure patterns of other heterogeneous specimens.

2.5 MPa

75% Peak 99% Peak 100% Peak 90% Post Peak 73% Post Peak 21% Post Peak

5 MPa

85% Peak 99% Peak 100% Peak 70% Post Peak 41% Post Peak 16% Post Peak

10 MPa

90% Peak 100% Peak 82% Post Peak 69% Post Peak 15% Post Peak 9% Post Peak

20 MPa

95% Peak 100% Peak 72% Post Peak 57% Post Peak 23% Post Peak 11% Post Peak

Fig. 10. Failure process of specimen H05-02 under different confining stress.
 G.W. Ma et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 353–363
The influences of the confining stress have also been derived by the
biaxial compression test simulations on a typical heterogeneous
specimen.
Results show that the material heterogeneity has significant
influence on the material’s macroscopic mechanical behavior. For
specimens with different degrees of heterogeneity, the predicted
uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) increases with the increasing
homogeneity. For those specimens having the same degree of
heterogeneity, their macromechanical responses are similar while
still exhibits unique characteristics due to the spatial variations in
the heterogeneous microstructure.
Simulation results also show that failure developments in the
brittle materials have common characteristics. First, conspicuous
fractures are formed near the peak stresses and mostly parallel to
the loading direction. Second, axial fracture or faults form during
the post-failure regions and lead to the specimen’s failure. The
predicted failure processes show material heterogeneity effects.
Even for those with the same degree of heterogeneity, the initial
microcracks and their consequent developments are highly
affected by the different local stress severities due to their
heterogeneous microstructures.
Simulation results from the biaxial test under confining stress
show that the specimen’s failure pattern is affected by the
magnitude of the applied confining stress. Because of the increase
of lateral confinement, the axial fractures are restrained and more
shear fractures developed to form shear faults. Moreover, the
higher applied confinement will cause the shear fault plane wider
and its angle to the vertical plane slightly bigger.
The developed SPH code can well capture the failure evolution
and represent the real cracks and fragments with large deforma-
tions. Besides, the whole process does not need any special
treatments or assumption in presenting the cracks and fragments.
In view of this, the mesh-free SPH code has obvious advantages
over other numerical codes in rock-like brittle material failure
simulations and can be further applied on more complex
simulations.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the funding support of the Under-
ground Technology and Rock Engineering research program in
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The first author
was the program coordinator before he joined the University of
Western Australia in December 2009.
References
[1] Jaeger JC, Cook NGW, Zimmerman RW. Fundamentals of rock mechanics. 4th
ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell; 2007.
[2] Wawersik WR, Brace WF. Post-failure behavior of a granite and diabase. Rock
Mech Rock Eng 1971;3:61–85.
[3] Wawersik WR, Fairhurst C. A study of brittle rock fracture in laboratory
compression experiments. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 1970;7:561–75.
[4] Hallbauer DK, Wagner H, Cook NGW. Some observations concerning the
microscopic and mechanical behaviour of quartzite specimens in stiff, triaxial
compression tests. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 1973;10:713–26.
[5] Seo YS, Jeong GC, Kim JS, Ichikawa Y. Microscopic observation and contact
stress analysis of granite under compression. Eng Geol 2002;63:259–75.
[6] Tapponnier P, Brace WF. Development of stress-induced microcracks in
Westerly Granite. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 1976;13:103–12.
[7] Sprunt ES, Brace WF. Direct observation of microcavities in crystalline rocks.
Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 1974;11:139–50.
[8] Wong TF. Micromechanics of faulting in westerly granite. Int J Rock Mech
Min Sci 1982;19:49–64.
363
[9] Cox SJD, Meredith PG. Microcrack formation and material softening in rock
measured by monitoring acoustic emissions. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci
1993;30:11–24.
[10] Kawakata H, Cho A, Kiyama T, Yanagidani T, Kusunose K, Shimada M. Three-
dimensional observations of faulting process in Westerly granite under
uniaxial and triaxial conditions by X-ray CT scan. Tectonophysics
1999;313:293–305.
[11] Steif PS. Crack extension under compressive loading. Eng Fract Mech
1984;20:463–73.
[12] Horii H, Nemat-Nasser S. Brittle failure in compression: splitting, faulting and
brittle-ductile transition. Philos Trans R Soc London Ser A 1986;319:337–74.
[13] Li HB, Zhao J, Li TJ. Micromechanical modelling of the mechanical properties
of a granite under dynamic uniaxial compressive loads. Int J Rock Mech Min
Sci 2000;37:923–35.
[14] Blair SC, Cook NGW. Analysis of compressive fracture in rock using statistical
techniques: Part I. A non-linear rule-based model. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci
1998;35:837–48.
[15] Tang CA, Liu H, Lee PKK, Tsui Y, Tham LG. Numerical studies of the influence
of microstructure on rock failure in uniaxial compression—Part I: effect of
heterogeneity. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 2000;37:555–69.
[16] Fang Z, Harrison JP. Development of a local degradation approach to the
modelling of brittle fracture in heterogeneous rocks. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci
2002;39:443–57.
[17] Potyondy DO, Cundall PA. A bonded-particle model for rock. Int J Rock Mech
Min Sci 2004;41:1329–64.
[18] Chen S, Yue ZQ, Tham LG. Digital image-based numerical modeling method
for prediction of inhomogeneous rock failure. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci
2004;41:939–57.
[19] Lucy LB. A numerical approach to the testing of the fission hypothesis [close
binary star formation]. Astron J 1977;82:1013–24.
[20] Gingold RA, Monaghan JJ. Smoothed particle hydrodynamics: theory and
application to non-spherical stars. Mon Not R Astron Soc 1977;181:375–89.
[21] Libersky LD, Petschek AG. Smoothed particle hydrodynamics with strength of
materials. Advances in the Free Lagrange Method. Lecture Notes in Physics,
vol. 395, 1990, p. 248–57.
[22] Benz W, Asphaug E. Impact simulations with fracture. I. Method and tests.
Icarus 1994;107:98–116.
[23] Monaghan JJ. Smoothed particle hydrodynamics. Rep Prog Phys
2005;68:1703–59.
[24] Ma GW, Wang XJ, Li QM. Modeling strain rate effect of heterogeneous
materials using SPH method. Rock Mech Rock Eng 2010;43(6):763–76.
[25] Swegle JW, Hicks DL, Attaway SW. Smoothed particle hydrodynamics
stability analysis. J Comput Phys 1995;116:123–34.
[26] Randles PW, Libersky LD. Smoothed particle hydrodynamics: some recent
improvements and applications. Comput Meth Appl Mech Eng 1996;139:
375–408.
[27] Monaghan JJ, Lattanzio JC. A refined particle method for astrophysical
problems. Astron Astrophys 1985;149:135–43.
[28] Libersky LD, Petschek AG, Carney TC, Hipp JR, Allahdadi FA. High strain
Lagrangian hydrodynamics: a three-dimensional SPH code for dynamic
material response. J Comput Phys 1993;109:67–75.
[29] Holmquist TJ, Templeton DW, Bishnoi KD. Constitutive modeling of alumi-
num nitride for large strain, high-strain rate, and high-pressure applications.
Int J Impact Eng 2001;25:211–31.
[30] Malvar LJ, Crawford JE, Wesevich JW, Simons DA. Plasticity concrete material
model for DYNA3D. Int J Impact Eng 1997;19:847–73.
[31] Yu MH, He L. A new model and theory on yield and failure of materials under
the complex stress state. In: Jono M, Inoue T, editors. Mechanical behaviour
of materials—VI. Oxford: Pergamon; 1991.
[32] Fan SC, Wang F. A new strength criterion for concrete. ACI Struct J 2002;99:
317–26.
[33] Yu MH, Zan YW, Zhao J, Yoshimine MA. Unified strength criterion for rock
material. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 2002;39:975–89.
[34] Zhao J. Strength and deformation characteristics of the Bukit Timah granite
under static and dynamic compression. Singapore: Nanyang Technological
University; 1999.
[35] Paterson MS, Wong T-f. Experimental rock deformation—the brittle field.
Berlin: Springer; 2005.
[36] Simo JC, Hughes TJR. Computational inelasticity. New York: Springer; 1998.
[37] Weibull W. A statistical distribution function of wide applicability. J Appl
Mech 1951;18:293–7.
[38] Janach W. Failure of granite under compression. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci
1977;14:209–15.
[39] Maher A, Darwin D. Mortar constituent of concrete in compression. J Am
Concr I 1982;79:100–9.
[40] Andreev GE. Brittle failure of rock materials: test results and constitutive
models. Rotterdam: Balkema; 1995.