Hydraulic fracturing in a penny-shaped crack. Part I: Methodology and testing of frozen sand

This work presents experimental data to determine the apparent fracture toughness, KQ, from hydraulic fracturing in a penny-shaped crack for frozen sand. An initial crack, represented by a circular plastic, is embedded in the specimen during the preparation with a pipe positioned perpendicular to the center of the circular crack in order to inject liquid into the penny-shaped crack. In determining the KQ, the first approach directly utilizes the...