The nanogranular origin of friction and cohesion in shale—A strength homogenization approach to interpretation of nanoindentation results

Abstract An inverse micromechanics approach allows interpretation of nanoindentation results to deliver cohesive‐frictional strength behavior of the porous clay binder phase in shale. A recently developed strength homogenization model, using the Linear Comparison Composite approach, considers porous clay as a granular material with a cohesive‐frictional solid phase. This strength homogenization model is employed in a Limit Analysis Solver to study indentation hardness responses and develop scaling relationships for indentation hardness with clay packing density. Using an inverse approach for nanoindentation on a variety of shale materials gives estimates of packing density distributions within each shale and demonstrates that there exists shale‐independent scaling relations of the cohesion and of the friction coefficient that vary with clay packing density. It is observed that the friction coefficient, which may be interpreted as a degree of pressure‐sensitivity in strength, tends to zero as clay packing density increases to one. In contrast, cohesion reaches its highest value as clay packing density increases to one. The physical origins of these phenomena are discussed, and related to fractal packing of these nanogranular materials. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.