An Experimental Study of Cracking Induced by Desiccation

Abstract

Experiments on cracking in drying a coffee-water mixture were carried out, in order to model mud cracks occurring in nature. The results show that the main source of stresses required for cracking is the friction at the bottom of the container, in which the mixture is kept. There is a linear relation between the scale of the crack pattern and the thickness of the mixture layer. Statistics of the angles between joining cracks is presented. A general mechanism of mud cracks formation is proposed.