Fatigue behaviour of rock

Abstract The mechanism of fatigue in rocks has never been satisfactorily described. This present note reports the results of a number of fatigue tests on dolomite specimens, and proposes a hypothesis to explain the resultant deformation based on a description of rock failure in terms of strain energy-dependent crack propagation. The basic argument is that above a stress level at which cracks are initiated, deformation from successive sub-failure load cycles will be cumulative, and failure will occur when the strain energy stored in the specimen exceeds a critical energy level equivalent to failure under non-cyclic loading.