ELASTIC-MODULI OF A NON-RANDOMLY CRACKED BODY

Calculations on the basis of the self-consistent approximation are used to study the effects of non-random distributions of dry and saturated circular cracks on the effective elastic stiffnesses of a cracked body. Analytic and numerical results are given for two special distributions. In the first, the cracks are assumed randomly distributed in planes parallel to a given plane. In the second instance, the crack normals are randomly distributed in parallel planes. In all cases, the magnitude of the crack induced variations depend upon a crack density parameter ε{lunate} which, for circular cracks of radius a is given by ε{lunate} = N<a3>, where N is the number of cracks per unit volume, and upon an additional saturation parameter. © 1979.