The research presented in this thesis concerns, firstly, an experimental study on the process of fracture in uniaxial compression of rock samples containing narrow, rectilinear notches inclined with respect to the axis of loading. Secondly, we study the evolution of shear strain localisation towards fracturing and failure in specimens of the same materials with a particular geometry, involving two rounded notches. This geometry, inspired by the work of Meuwissen et al. (1998) for tension tests on metals,promotes the localisation of shear strain in simple compression before fracture. Two different materials were studied: a natural rock of volcanic origin (Neapolitan Tuff) and an artificial “rock” (CPIR09).In the studies presented, three full-field measurement techniques have been employed in combination: (i) the Digital Image Correlation (DIC), for measurement of kinematic fields at a sample's surface; (ii)acoustic Emission measurements (AE) and AE source location, to follow the evolution of damage insamples during loading; (iii) X-ray tomography (pre-and post-mortem studies), to characterise preexisting defects and discontinuities in the specimens and to better understand the fracturing in 3D.
