Introduction

Abstract

Understanding the long-term behaviour of a rock mass and the coupled hydro-thermal-mechanical processes is crucial for geological radioactive waste disposal, geothermal, mining, LNG underground storage, and CO₂ geosequestration. Rock fracture initiation and propagation are the key mechanism for rock mass instability.

The ability to predict and realistically reproduce rock mass behaviour using a numerical model is a pivotal step in solving many rock engineering problems. Although several existing numerical codes can model the behaviour of jointed or fractured rock mass, most do not consider the explicit fracture initiation and propagation—a dominant mechanism, particularly in hard rocks.

The FRActure propagation CODe (FRACOD) presented here is a two-dimensional computer code designed to simulate fracture initiation and propagation in elastic and isotropic rock mediums. This book focuses on the theories and numerical principles behind FRACOD, providing examples where the numerical method is applied to solve practical problems.