The influence of length under blast load on the propagation mechanism of interconnected cracks

In order to study the influence of interconnected defects on the rock breaking effect under blast load, the relevant explosion experiment was carried out by prefabricating interconnected cracks on plexiglass plates (PMMA), and the propagation mechanism of interconnected cracks under blast load was studied from the length level. The dynamic caustic line system and finite element analysis software were combined to analyze the stress intensity factor, propagation velocity of the interconnected crack tip, and full-field stress of the specimen; the results show that with the radial stress wave propagation direction as the axis of symmetry, the two interconnected cracks with symmetrical angles but different lengths are under the action of blast load; there is a certain competition between the two cracks; the longer cracks are more likely to initiate and propagate, and the shorter cracks almost do not propagate. In addition, in terms of energy accumulation at the tips of the two cracks, the longer crack has a certain inhibitory effect on the shorter crack, and when the length of the longer crack remains unchanged, the inhibition effect weakens with the increase of the length of the shorter crack, and when the length of the shorter crack remains unchanged, the inhibitory effect increases with the increase of the length of the longer crack. After the crack initiation of the longer crack, the relationship curve between the stress intensity factor and the crack propagation velocity and time of the longer crack tip decreases first, and then the relationship curve rises to the peak as the energy of the tip of the shorter crack is transferred to the longer crack, and then the oscillation decreases, while the stress intensity factor and crack propagation rate of the shorter side crack tip show an overall downward trend. The numerical simulation is used to supplement the analysis of the stress propagation in the full-field of the specimen, which corroborates with the experiment results. The experimental study provides a theoretical basis for the analysis of the propagation mechanism of interpenetrating cracks under blast load in practical engineering.