Experimental investigation of three-dimensional propagation process from surface fault

Experimental study of the formation and propagation of three-dimensional (3D) faults is of great sig- nificance in the understanding of the propagation process developing from initial natural faults. In the study described in this paper, experimental investigations of 3D propagation processes of a type of surface fault are carried out under biaxial compression. The strain field near the surface fault is dy- namically measured and fully analyzed with a high-density Multi-Channel Digital Strain Gauge (MCDSG) and Digital Speckle Correlation Method (DSCM) based on the white-light image analysis. Simultane- ously the micro-fracture process involved in fault formation is observed by a 3D acoustic emission (AE) location system with a set of multi-channel whole-wave record equipment. The experimental results show that the 3D propagation process of surface fault differs greatly from that of the two-dimensional (2D) state and that a new more complicated type of 3D morphological characters and deformation mechanisms are produced. The 3D propagation process of surface faults may be divided into three stages: 1) the first stage of crack propagation initiated by wing cracks; 2) the conversion stage propa- gated by petal cracks; and 3) the second stage of crack propagation formed by shell-shaped fracture surface. The primary propagation patterns of the three stages are different. The corresponding defor- mation fields and micro-fracture distributions are likewise different. The fracture activities from petal cracks especially are of vital importance during surface fault propagation. This is also a key conversion state and marks an intrinsic difference between 2D-like and the 3D state in fault development.