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Articles | Volume 17, issue 3
Articles | Volume 17, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-17-429-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-17-429-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 17, issue 3
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
05 Mar 2026
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 05 Mar 2026

Where curling stones collide with rock mechanics: cyclical damage accumulation and fatigue in granitoids

Derek D. V. Leung, Florian Fusseis, and Ian B. Butler

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Editorial statement
In curling – one of the 2026 Winter Olympic sports - stones are slid on ice and made to collide along a circumferential striking band. Each stone experiences thousands of impacts per season, over a lifespan of 10–15 years before refurbishment. This provides a unique opportunity to investigate fatigue and damage accumulation under cyclic loading, which is exactly what this unconventional study of rock physics and curling does.
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Short summary
Curling stones often collide with each other during a game. Over time, these collisions cause damage in the striking bands on the sides of the stones. We determined experimentally how hard these stones collide into one another. We then looked at old curling stones to understand how damage builds up in these rocks. We found that early, fast impacts produce fractures until the striking band is saturated in fractures. Repeated impacts after this stage make fractures grow.
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