Micromechanical properties of granite with insights into mineral interface mechanics

Abstract

Understanding the mechanical behavior of diagenetic mineral granules and interfaces in granite provides essential experimental references for constructing micromechanical models of granite. The micromechanical behavior of Yanshanian granite is investigated using scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and nanoindentation tests. The results demonstrate transitional mechanical properties at mineral interfaces. The elastic modulus and hardness exhibit intermediate values between adjacent mineral phases. The higher plasticity indices at the interfaces suggest higher plastic deformation capacity of hard-phase minerals in these regions. Additionally, fracture toughness measurements of minerals and interfaces were obtained, with interfacial values ranging from 0.90 to 1.63 MPa·m^0.5. The analysis of mechanical property relationships shows a significant positive linear correlation between rock-scale elastic modulus and fracture toughness. However, this correlation is substantially lower at the mineral scale, demonstrating a scale effect in the relationship of different mechanical properties.

Keywords

Nanoindentation / Interface mechanics / Micro-mesoscale mechanics / Elasto-plastic deformation / Fracture morphology

Acknowledgement

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Founda-tion of China (Nos. 52422403 and U22A20166), the Deep Earth Probe and Mineral Resources Exploration-National Science and Technology Major Project (No. 2024ZD1003903), the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province (No. 2019ZT08G315), and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2023A1515012654).

Supplementary material

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmst.2025.08.009.

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