Thermally induced microcracking in granites: characterization and analysis

Senones and Remiremont granite samples were thermally cracked at temperatures ranging from 20° to 600°C and subjected to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations. Crack densities were quantified using direct length and width measurements. SEM observations showed that during the thermal treatment, the crack lengths barely evolved whereas their width increased with increasing cracking temperature intensity. The correlation between crack...