Modeling fracture cementation processes in calcite limestone: a phase-field study

The present work investigates the influence of crack opening rates on the development of four important calcite vein morphologies, namely fibrous, elongate-blocky, partially open, and euhedral, as a result of bitaxial growth in syntaxial veins using a multiphase-field model. The continued fracturing that occurs during synkinematic cementation in these veins is simulated using the geometric shift algorithm. The stark resemblance of the numerically sealed vein microstructures with the natural samples in terms of structural characteristics as well as remaining pore space signifies a dominant role of crack opening rates in the resulting morphological patterns. Further, simulation results of slow crack opening rates reveal that non-uniform fibers of variable lengths are formed when initial crack aperture is small, due to suppression of growth competition and vice versa.