INDEX PROPERTIES OF

ROCKS AND ROCK MASS

CLASSIFICATIONS SYSTEMS

Rock Mechanics
The study of the Engineering Properties of Rocks is
termed Rock Mechanics, which is defined as follows:
The theoretical and applied science of the
mechanical behaviour of rock and rock masses in
response to force fields of their physical
environment.
It is really a subdivision of Geomechanics which
is
concerned with the mechanical responses of all
geological materials, including soils.

Application of Rock Mechanics

Evaluation of geological hazards;

Selection and preparation of rock materials;
Evaluation of cut-ability and drill-ability of rock;
Analysis of rock deformations;
Analysis of rock stability;
Control of blasting procedures;
Design of support systems;
Hydraulic fracturing, and
Selection of types of structures.

Rock Mechanics
Committee on Rock Mechanics of
Geological Society of America defined
Rock mechanics in the following terms
Rock mechanics is the theoretical and
applied science of mechanical behaviour
of rocks; it is that branch of mechanics
concerned with the response of rocks to
the force fields of its physical environment
(JUDD, 1964)

Rock Mechanics (contd)

Rock mechanics deals with the properties of
rocks and the special methodology required for
design of rock related components of
engineering schemes.
Knowledge of rock engineering for the civil
engineer is vital.
The potential areas where knowledge of rock
mechanics is essential for civil engineer are
Foundations for tall buildings
Dams
Transportation Engg- design of cut slopes for
highways, railways, canals, pipelines etc.

Rock Mass
An assemblage of the rock blocks separated by
different types of geological discountinuties.(e.g
faults, folds)
Folds- the wavy undulations in the rock bed are
called folds. They consists of arches and trough
in alternate manner. The size of the fold vary
greatly from kilometers to centimeters
Fault is a fracture along which there has been
relative displacement of beds which were once
continuous. The fracture surface is called fault
plane. The displacement may be less than
meter, several meters or kilometers

Application of Rock Mechanics for

Dams
In case of arch or buttress dams that impose high
stresses on the rock foundations or abutments
Active faults in the foundations
Hazards of possible landslides in the foundations e.g
Vajont dam
Choice of material for rip-rap for protection of slopes,
filter material, protection against wave erosion
Analysis of rock deformation and rock stability
Blasting for rock cleanup has to be engineered to
preserve the integrity of the remaining rock and to limit
the vibration to the neighboring structures.

Rock Descriptions
Concise and consistent rock descriptions are
needed when logging core, rock outcrops or
hand specimen in the laboratory.
The following checklist has to be followed
Intact Rock

Rock Name
Colour, mineral composition, alteration
Texture, grain size and shape
Porosity, density and water content
Strength, isotropy and hardness
Durability, plasticity, swelling potential

Rock Description (contd)

Jointing
Block size and shape
Number and types of joint sets
Characteristics of each set

This is an extension of the traditional

system of geologist to which parameters of
engineering significance has been added.

Rock Description (contd)

The rock name is usually written in capital letters
followed by a list of descriptors
SANDSTONE,
medium greenish grey, 60% quartz, 30 % limestone
rock fragments, 10 % crystalline calcite cement,
micro-cross bedded,
fine to medium sand sizes with occasional quartz
pebbles,
porosity (10-20) 14%,
easily broken by light hammer blow and slightly
friable;
block size (5-40) 20 cm, typical shape 1:3:3

Geological name and family

characterisitics
Classical rock name without any
qualification can be misleading in any
engineering context.
Example is granite when weathered or faulted
can behave more like a crumbly sand

Similarly modifiers play an important role

in qualifying the name of the rock with
intermediate grain size or mineral content.
Example is silty sandy SHALE means a rock
with at least 50% clay sized particles.

Generic classification of rocks

Igneous
Metamorphic
Sedimentary

Igneous Family
An igneous rock is one that has solidified
from molten material (magma).
It may be crystalline or glassy or both.
Igneous rocks are further divided
according to their grain size and their light
or dark colours.

Metamorphic Rocks
A metamorphic rock is one derived from
preexisting igneous, sedimentary or
metamorphic rock as a result of marked change
in temperature or stresses.
Dynamic metamorphism generates intense
stresses locally which tends to deform, fracture
and pulverize the rock.
Regional metamorphism affects an extensive
large area through an increase in pressure and
temperature.

Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary rocks are composed of broken
fragments derived from existing rocks or from
the weathering products of such rocks that have
been transported by rivers, wind or glaciers.
Sedimentary rocks are further subdivided into
different families

Sandstone family
Limestone family
Shale family
Salt family

Physical Characteristics
Color
Mineral
Chemical composition

Texture, grain sizes and shapes

The texture or fabric of the rock is the size,
shape or the arrangements of the constituents
on the scale of hand specimen, one or few
centimeters in size.
The structure is the arrangement of the rock
mass components on a scale of several meters.
Structure include features such as
macrobedding, folding and faulting.
Texture and structural differences are diagnostic
in distinguishing between igneous, metamorphic
and sedimentary rocks.

Texture, grain size and shape

(contd)
Grain size and size distributions can be given either
numerically as a range and a typical value.
The commonly accepted size designation are clay (finer
than 0.002 mm), silt (0.002-0.06 mm), sand (0.06 -2
mm), gravel (2-60 mm), cobbles (60-200 mm) and
boulder (coarser than 200 mm).
The shape of the fragmental or crystalline can be in
terms of relative length of the orthogonal grain axis.
Equi-dimensional (1:1:1)
Platy or discoid ( two long axes and one short)
Fibrous or prolate ( two short axes and one long axes)

Fragmental grain may be further subdivided into angular,

sub-angular, sub-rounded, rounded or well rounded.

Porosity, density and water content

Porosity is pore volume expressed as % of
total volume
Dry density is the unit weight of the solids
divided by total volume of the specimen
Degree of saturation is the ratio of water to
pore space by volume.
Water content is the ratio of water to solids
by weight.

Mechanical Characteristics
Strength
Strength Index Test
Uniaxial compressive strength test
Point load strength test
Brazillian strength test

Hardness
Depending upon the test method we can
define scratch, indentation, abrasion,
impact and rebound hardness.

Durability, plasticity and swelling

Slake durability is define as the resistance
of the rock to wetting and drying cycles.
Plasticity is measured by performing
Atterbergs limit test
Swelling potential

Character of Rock Material

Rock Material intact material
small piece of rock
Measured on scale of hand specimen

Rock Mass
Properties measured on larger scale
Influence of jointing taken into
consideration

Rock Mass
For geotechnical mapping unit (GMU)
Block Size, RQD and block shape
Number and types of joint sets

For each joint set within GMU

Orientation
Spacing
Persistence, surface texture and roughness
Aperture, filling and wall strength
Seepage

Block Size
Block Size- is defined as the average
diameter of a typical rock block.
It is measured by observing exposed rock
face at the surface or underground, or the
rock core obtained by drilling or pile of
broken rock.

RQD
The parameter core recovery is defined as
the ratio of recovered core length to the
total length drilled.
RQD is defined as the sum of the length of
core pieces longer than 10 cm expressed
as a percentage of a given total length
drilled.

RQD
RQD Value (%)

Status

100-90

Excellent

90-75

Good

75-50

Fair

50-25

Poor

< 25

Very poor

Volumetric joint count

It is expressed in terms of averge number
of joints per unit area or unit volume of
rock mass.

Block Shape
Most rock masses have a characteristic
shape of block that depends on the
number of joint sets and their relative
orientation and spacing.
Cubic blocks
Slabby block- single closely spaced set
and two at wider spacing
Prismatic- two closely spaced set and one
at wider spacing

What is Rock mass

We need to know the properties of the
intact rocks and
properties of discountinuties
How to apply
View the rock mass as series of pattern
and relationships
Develop RMR or other rock mass into
zones

Rock Mass Parameters

Near surface may be the following
Intact strength
Discountinity
Spacing
Orientation
Ground water

Depth
Insitu stresses

Engineering Rock Mass

Classification

Terzaghis Rock Mass Classification

Rock Quality Designation Index
Palmstorm Criteria
Rock Structure Rating
Geomechanics Classification
Rock Tunnelling Index

Terzaghis Rock Mass

Classification
Based in extensive experiences in steel arch
supported rail tunnels in the Alps, Terzaghi
(1946) classified rock mass by mean of Rock
Load Factor. Terzaghis descriptors are
Intact Rock
Stratified Rock
Moderately jointed
Blocky and seamy
Squeezing
Swelling

Terzaghi Rock Load Concept

Figure1: Terzaghis rock load concept

The rock mass is classified into 9 classes from hard and

intact rock to blocky, and to squeezing rock. The
concept used in this classification system is to estimate
the rock load to be carried by the steel arches installed
to support a tunnel, as illustrated in Figure 1. The
classification is presented in Table 1.
For obtaining the support pressure (p) from the rock load factor
(Hp), Terzaghi suggested the equation below,
p = Hp H
Where is the unit weight of the rock mass, H is the tunnel depth
or thickness of the overburden.

Singh and Goel (1999) gave the following

comments to the Rock Load Factor
classification:
It provides reasonable support pressure
estimates for small tunnels with diameter up to 6
meters.
It gives over-estimates for large tunnels with
diameter above 6 meters.
The estimated support pressure has a wide range
for squeezing and swelling rock conditions for a
meaningful application.

DEER RQD