How It Works

After MathaChemes is poured into holes drilled in rocks or concrete, the expansive stress gradually in- creases with time, the material to be cracked undergoes a process of (1) crack initiation, (2) crack propagation, (3) the increase of crack width. Therefore, this fracture mechanism is distinguished from a breakage by blasting.

Cracks initiate from an inner surface of the hole, being caused by tensile stress at a right angle with the compressive stress which occurs by the expansive stress of MathaChemes The expansive stress of
MathaChemes continues even after the appearance of cracks, the cracks propagate and also new cracks initiate during the process. Usually, for a single hole, 2-4 cracks initiate and propagate. When a free surface ex- ists, the crack, as shown in Fig. 2, is pushed apart mainly by the shear stress, and a secondary crack also arises from the bottom of the hole running toward the free surface.