The failure of most rock materials is essentially a process of crack initiation and propagation. It is of great significance to study the microcrack growth characteristics of granite under ultrasonic high‐frequency excitation for understanding the failure mechanism of rock under ultrasonic vibration. In this paper, the experimental and numerical simulation methods are used to study the propagation characteristics of rock cracks under ultrasonic vibration. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the growth of microcracks in granite samples after ultrasonic vibration for 0 min, 2 min, and 4 min. A discrete element software PFC^2D was used to simulate and solve the cracking mechanism of rock cracks under ultrasonic vibration. Also, it is found that the action of ultrasonic vibration can effectively promote the development of microcracks in the granite samples. The main three cracks causing the failure of quartz under the ultrasonic high frequency are intragranular cracks, transgranular cracks, and grain boundary cracks. The breakage of transgranular cracks usually contributes a shell‐like fracture, that is, a regular curved surface with a concentric circular pattern appears on the fracture surface, which is a typical quartz brittle fracture mode. In addition, the feldspar grain failure is mainly caused by intragranular crack and transgranular crack. Microcracks are wavy expansion in feldspar grain. Mica failure is mainly caused by grain boundary crack, and the effect of lamellar cleavage on the failure of mica is significant. Moreover, it is also found that the mechanism of microcrack propagation is tensile failure. The failure of feldspar grains is mainly contributed to the failure of granite.

The new technique of using ultrasonic vibration to break hard rock is still in the experimental stage, but it has significant potential for improving the efficiency of hard rock crushing. We have analyzed the mechanical properties of granite under ultrasonic vibration and the characteristics of the damage produced. This was achieved by using an ultraloading device to apply continuous and discontinuous ultrasonic vibrations, respectively, to 32 mm diameter and 72 mm high granite samples. An ultradynamic data acceptor combined with strain gauges was used to monitor the strain of the granite in real time, and the elastic‐plastic deformation behavior of the granite under ultrasonic vibration was observed. The results of this experiment indicate that the granite samples underwent elastic deformation, plastic deformation, and damage during this process. The samples first experienced compressive deformation with no obvious rupturing. As the vibration continued, the deformation finally became tensile, and significant fragmentation occurred. The mechanical properties of granite under ultrasonic vibration are analyzed in detail on the basis of these results, and the basis for selecting a vibration frequency is discussed.

Exploitation of polar resources and scientific research require efficient ice drilling technology. Thermal drilling is a common method for polar ice drilling, and is similar to the principle of ultrasonic assisted drilling; both are drilled by meltin...