Creep healing of fractures in rock salt

Fracture and healing experiments were performed on specimens of bedded salt from the Salado formation, southeastern New Mexico. Short rod specimens (100 mm in diameter) were loaded to failure in tension. During each test, a crack was initiated along the axis of the specimen. The fracture toughness of the salt was determined from the resulting load-crack opening displacement record. After the test, each specimen was pieced back together, jacketed and placed in a pressure vessel under hydrostatic pressure for several days. The confining pressure (10 to 35 MPa), temperature (22 to 100/sup 0/C) and healing time (4 to 8 days) were varied to determine the effect of each on the healing process. Upon removal from the pressure vessel, each sample was retested and the toughness of the healed fracture was determined. Results show that the salt specimens regained 70 to 80% of their original strength under all conditions except at the lowest temperature and pressure where specimens regained only 20 to 30% of their original strength. It is suspected that the primary mechanism involved is creep of asperities along the fracture surface which forms an interlocking network. Thus, the healing pressure is probably the most significant variable