Paper contribution

Fractal Quantification of Crack Networks: Predicting Rock Damage in Thermally Exposed Rock Environments

Özge Dinç Göğüş; Ömer Ündül; Enes Zengin; Mehmet Korkut; Mehmet Mert Doğu

Proceedings
EUROCK 2026
Pages
895-900
Submitted
28 January 2026
Accepted
15 June 2026
Published
12 August 2026

Summary

Abstract

Engineering activities such as mining, tunneling, and underground energy storage expose rock masses to coupled mechanical loading and thermal disturbances, resulting in progressive damage and long-term performance degradation. Thermal exposure modifies mineral structures, accelerates microcrack initiation and coalescence, and significantly alters the mechanical behavior of rocks. Quantitative characterization of these thermally induced damage processes is therefore critical for reliable risk assessment in rock engineering applications. In this study, fractal analysis is employed to quantify the complexity and evolution of crack networks developed in andesite and andesitic–basaltic rock specimens subjected to thermal treatment and uniaxial compression. Six core specimens were tested, three in their natural state and three after heating to 200 °C. Following uniaxial compressive strength tests, crack surfaces were digitized, converted into binary images, and analyzed using the box-counting method to determine fractal dimensions (D). The results indicate that D values provide a sensitive measure of crack network complexity and exhibit systematic relationships with both thermal exposure and mechanical degradation, including reductions in uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and elastic modulus (E). The findings suggest that fractal-based descriptors provide a useful framework for linking microstructural damage to macroscopic mechanical response in thermally affected rocks through experimentally observed relationships between crack geometry and mechanical response. This approach contributes to improved prediction of rock damage evolution and supports sustainable design and risk management in geotechnical and environmental engineering applications.

Contributors

Authors

  1. Özge Dinç Göğüş Istanbul Technical University, Turkiye ORCID 0000-0003-3227-309X
  2. Ömer Ündül Istanbul Technical University, Turkiye
  3. Enes Zengin Istanbul Technical University, Turkiye ORCID 0000-0002-5740-7763
  4. Mehmet Korkut Istanbul Technical University, Turkiye
  5. Mehmet Mert Doğu Istanbul Technical University, Turkiye ORCID 0009-0008-3802-8144

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