Diameter of basalt columns derived from fracture mechanics bifurcation analysis.
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
; 79(5 Pt 2): 056103, 2009 May.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-19518517
ABSTRACT
The diameter of columnar joints forming in cooling basalt and drying starch increases with decreasing growth rate. This observation can be reproduced with a linear-elastic three-dimensional fracture mechanics bifurcation analysis, which has been done for a periodic array of hexagonal columnar joints by considering a bifurcation mode compatible with observations on drying starch. In order to be applicable to basalt columns, the analysis has been carried out with simplified stationary temperature fields. The critical diameter differs from the one derived with a two-dimensional model by a mere factor of 1/2. By taking into account the latent heat released at the solidification front, the results agree fairly well with observed column diameters.
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01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
Assunto da revista:
BIOFISICA
/
FISIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2009
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Alemanha