In-situ analysis of strain localization related to structural heterogeneities of carbonate rocks

Abstract

The technique of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) has been applied to study the deformation of porous carbonate rocks subjected to uniaxial compression tests. The tests have been performed at two different scales: on cylinders of 10 cm high compressed with a standard press with digital images recorded by optical microscopy at a global and local scale and on smaller parallelepiped samples deformed inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The development of localization at different scales is thus recorded as well as the damage and compaction mechanisms in relation with the microstructural heterogeneities.