Data from: The fracture failure of granite after varied durations of thermal treatment: an experimental study

Energy-extraction from nuclear materials produces high-level radioactive
waste (HLW). In geological nuclear waste storage repositories, the decay
of radioactive elements generates heat, exposing the reservoir rocks to
high-temperature conditions for long periods. To explore the effects of
these conditions, this study examines the ability of granite to resist
fracturing after thermal treatment for 10 hours, 10 days, 30 days, and 60
days. The results show that: The fracture toughness of the granite
remained basically unchanged with up to 10 days of thermal treatment.
After thermal treatment for 60 days, the mode-I, mode-II and mixed-mode
(I+II) fracture toughness decreased by 15.39%, 18.07% and 15.18%,
respectively, compared with samples heated for 10 hours. The change trends
of the ability of granite to resist tensile, shear and mixed (tensile +
shear) failure with increased thermal treatment duration were basically
consistent. Moreover, there was little change in its brittle fracturing
characteristics with increase heating duration. Changes caused to the
internal microstructure of the granite by high temperature were ongoing
even up to 60 days.