Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering

Overview
Rock mechanics is t he t heoret ical and applied
science of t he mechanical behaviour of rock and
rock masses. Rock mechanics deals wit h t he
mechanical propert ies of rock and t he relat ed
met hodologies required f or engineering design.

The subj ect of rock mechanics has evolved f rom

dif f erent disciplines of applied mechanics. I t is a
t ruly int erdisciplinary subj ect , wit h applicat ions in
geology and geophysics, mining, pet roleum and
geot echnical engineering.
x

Rock Mechanics and

Rock Engineering
Rock mechanics involves
charact erizing t he int act st rengt h
and t he geomet ry and mechanical
propert ies of t he nat ural f ract ures
of t he rock mass.
Rock engineering is concerned wit h
specif ic engineering circumst ances,
f or example, how much load will t he
rock support and whet her
reinf orcement is necessary.

Nat ure of Rock

A common assumpt ion when dealing wit h t he
mechanical behaviour of solids is t hat t hey
are:
homogeneous
cont inuous
isot ropic
However, rocks are much more complex
t han t his and t heir physical and mechanical
propert ies vary according t o scale. As a
solid mat erial, rock is of t en:
het erogeneous
discont inuous
anisot ropic
x

Nat ure of Rock

Homogeneous

Cont inuous

strength
equal in
all directions

sandstone

Het erogeneous

Discont inuous
fault

shale

sandstone

I sot ropic

joints

Anisot ropic
strength
varies with
direction

high
low

Rock as an Engineering Mat erial

One of t he most import ant , and f requent ly neglect ed, aspect s of rock
mechanics and rock engineering is t hat we are ut ilizing an existing
mat erial which is usually highly variable.
int act

layered int act

highly f ract ured

Rock as an Engineering Mat erial

Rock as an engineering mat erial will be used eit her:
as a building mat erial so t he st ruct ure will be made
of rock
or a st ruct ure will be built on t he rock
or a st ruct ure will be built in t he rock

I n t he cont ext of t he mechanics, we must est ablish:

t he propert ies of t he mat erial
t he pre- exist ing st ress st at e in t he ground (which will be
dist urbed by t he st ruct ure)
and how t hese f act ors relat e t o t he engineering obj ect ive

I nf luence of Geological Fact ors

Five primary geological f act ors can be viewed as inf luencing a rock
mass. I n t he cont ext of t he mechanics problem, we should consider t he
mat erial and t he f orces applied t o it .

We have t he int act rock which is it self divided by discont inuit ies
t o f orm t he rock st ruct ure.
We f ind t hen t he rock is already subj ect ed t o an in sit u st ress.
Superimposed on t his f undament al mechanics circumst ance are
t he inf luence of pore f luid/ wat er f low and t ime.
I n all of t hese subj ect s, t he geological hist ory has played it s part ,
alt ering t he rock and t he applied f orces.
x

I nf luence of Geological Fact ors I nt act

Rock
The most usef ul descript ion of t he mechanical
behaviour of int act rock is t he complet e
st ress- st rain curve in uniaxial compression.
From t his curve, several f eat ures of int erest
are derived:
t he def ormat ion modulus
t he peak compressive st rengt h
t he post - peak behaviour

I nf luence of Geological Fact ors I nt act

Rock

high st if f ness

low st if f ness

low st if f ness

low st rengt h

low st rengt h

brit t le

duct ile

medium st if f ness
high st rengt h
medium st rengt h
very brit t le
medium brit t leness

I nf luence of Geological Fact ors

Discont inuit ies and Rock St ruct ure
The result in t erms of rock f ract uring is t o produce a geomet rical
st ruct ure (of t en very complex) of f ract ures f orming rock blocks. The
overall geomet rical conf igurat ion of t he discont inuit ies in t he rock mass
is t ermed rock st ruct ure. I t is of t en helpf ul t o underst and t he way in
which discont inuit ies f orm. There are t hree ways in which a f ract ure
can be f ormed:

Mode 1
(t ensile)
x

Mode 2
(in- plane shear)

Mode 3
(out - of - plane shear)

I nf luence of Geological Fact ors

Discont inuit ies and Rock St ruct ure
I n pract ice, f ailure is most of t en associat ed wit h discont inuit ies which
act as pre- exist ing planes of weakness. Some examples of t he way in
which t he discont inuit y genesis leads t o dif f ering mechanical propert ies
are:

open j oint which will

allow f ree f low of
wat er.

st ylolit ic discont inuit y

wit h high shear
resist ance.

slickensided f ault
surf ace wit h low shear
resist ance.

I nf luence of Geological Fact ors

Pre- Exist ing I n Sit u Rock St ress
When considering t he loading condit ions imposed on t he rock st ruct ure, it
must be recognized t hat an in sit u pre- exist ing st at e of st ress already
exist s in t he rock.

I n some cases, such as a dam or

nuclear power st at ion f oundat ion, t he
load is applied t o t his.
I n ot her cases, such as t he
excavat ion of a mine or t unnel, no
new loads are applied but t he preexist ing st resses are redist ribut ed.

I nf luence of
St ruct ure &
I n Sit u Rock
St ress Toget her

t ypes of f ailure which occur in

dif f erent rock masses under low and
high in sit u st ress levels.

I nf luence of Geological Fact ors

Pore Fluids and Wat er Flow
Many rocks in t heir int act st at e have a very low
permeabilit y compared t o t he durat ion of t he engineering
const ruct ion, but t he main wat er f low is usually via
secondary permeabilit y, (i. e. pre- exist ing f ract ures).
Thus t he st udy of f low in rock masses will generally be a
f unct ion of t he discont inuit ies, t heir connect ivit y and t he
hydrogeological environment .
A primary concern is when t he wat er is under
pressure, which in t urn act s t o reduce t he
ef f ect ive st ress and/ or induce inst abilit ies.
Ot her aspect s, such as groundwat er chemist ry
and t he alt erat ion of rock and f ract ure surf aces
by f luid movement may also be of concern.
x

I nf luence of Geological Fact ors Time

Rock as an engineering mat erial may be
millions of years old, however our engineering
const ruct ion and subsequent act ivit ies are
generally only designed f or a cent ury or less.
Thus we have t wo t ypes of behaviour: t he
geological processes in which equilibrium will
have been est ablished, wit h current geological
act ivit y superimposed; and t he rapid
engineering process.
The inf luence of t ime is also import ant given
such f act ors as t he decrease in rock st rengt h
t hrough t ime, and t he ef f ect s of creep and
relaxat ion
x

Scalars, Vect ors and Tensors

There is a f undament al dif f erence, bot h concept ually and mat hemat ically,
bet ween a t ensor and t he more f amiliar quant it ies of scalars and
vect ors:
Scalar: a quant it y wit h magnit ude only (e. g. t emperat ure, t ime,
mass).
Vect or: a quant it y wit h magnit ude and direct ion (e. g. f orce,
velocit y, accelerat ion).
Tensor: a quant it y wit h magnit ude and direct ion, and wit h ref erence
t o a plane it is act ing across (e. g. st ress, st rain, permeability).
Bot h mat hemat ical and engineering mist akes are easily made if t his
crucial dif f erence is not recognized and underst ood.
x

Normal and Shear St ress Component s

On a real or imaginary plane t hrough a mat erial, t here can be normal
f orces and shear f orces. These f orces creat e t he st ress t ensor. The
normal and shear st ress component s are t he normal and shear f orces per
unit area.

I t should be remembered t hat a solid can sust ain a shear f orce, whereas
a liquid or gas cannot . A liquid or gas cont ains a pressure, which act s
equally in all direct ions and hence is a scalar quant it y.

Force and St ress

We are now in a posit ion t o obt ain an init ial idea of t he crucial
dif f erence bet ween f orces and st resses.

When t he normal f orce component , Fn, is

f ound in a direct ion f rom F, t he value is
F cos (i. e. Fn = F cos ).

However, when t he normal st ress

component , n, is f ound in t he same
direct ion, t he value is cos2 (i. e. n =
cos2 ).

Force and St ress

The reason f or t his is t hat it is only t he f orce t hat is resolved in t he
f irst case (i. e. vect or), whereas, it is bot h t he f orce and t he area t hat
are resolved in t he case of st ress (i. e. t ensor).

I n f act , t he st rict def init ion of a second- order t ensor is a quant it y t hat
obeys cert ain t ransf ormat ion laws as t he planes in quest ion are rot at ed.
This is why t he concept ualizat ion of t he st ress t ensor ut ilizes t he idea
of magnit ude, direct ion and t he plane in quest ion.
x

St ress as a Point Propert y

We can now consider t he st ress component s
on a surf ace at an arbit rary orient at ion
t hrough a body loaded by ext ernal f orces
(e. g. F1, F2, , Fn).

Consider now t he f orces t hat are required

t o act in order t o maint ain equilibrium on a
small area of a surf ace creat ed by cut t ing
t hrough t he rock. On any small area A,
equilibrium can be maint ained by t he normal
f orce N and t he shear f orce S.
x

St ress as a Point Propert y

Because t hese f orces will vary according t o t he
orient at ion of A wit hin t he slice, it is most
usef ul t o consider t he normal st ress (N/ A)
and t he shear st ress (S/ A) as t he area A
becomes very small, event ually approaching
zero.

Alt hough t here are pract ical limit at ions in reducing t he size of t he
area t o zero, it is import ant t o realize t hat t he st ress component s
are def ined in t his way as mat hemat ical quant it ies, wit h t he result
t hat st ress is a point propert y.
x

I nt act Rock

Uniaxial Compression Test

t ypical record f rom a uniaxial compression t est . Not e t hat t he f orce

and displacement have been scaled respect ively t o st ress (by dividing by
t he original cross- sect ional area of t he specimen) and t o st rain (by
dividing by t he original lengt h).

St ages of St ress- St rain Behaviour

As t he rock is gradually loaded, it passes t hrough several st ages:
axial

ucs

peak
strength

cd

crack damage t hreshold

St age I - Exist ing cracks

pref erent ially aligned t o t he
applied st ress will close ( cc).

ci

crack initiation threshold

crack closure t hreshold

later a l

St age I I - Near linear elast ic

st ress- st rain behaviour occurs.

cc

Contraction

a x i al

Dilation

V/V

T o t al
Measured
V/V

Calculated
Crack Volumetric
Strain
Crack
Crack
Closure
Growth

a x i al

St age I I I - I nit iat ing cracks

propagat e in a st able f ashion ( ci).
St age I V - Cracks begin t o
coalesce and propagat e in an
unst able f ashion ( cd)

Elast ic Const ant s

Focussing on t he int erval of near linear behaviour, we can draw analogies
t o t he ideal elast ic rock represent ed by our elast ic compliance mat rix.
Remembering t hat t he Youngs modulus, E, is def ined as t he rat io of
st ress t o st rain (i. e. 1/ S11), it can be det ermined in t wo ways:
Tangent Youngs modulus, ET t aken
as t he slope of t he axial - curve at
some f ixed percent age, generally
50%, of t he peak st rengt h.
Secant Youngs modulus, ES t aken as
t he slope of t he line j oining t he origin
of t he axial - curve t o a point on
t he curve at some f ixed percent age
of t he peak st rengt h.

Elast ic Const ant s

dif f erent iat ion bet ween elast ic and plast ic st rains, wit h
def init ion of t he Youngs modulus, E, and Poissons rat io, .

Elast ic Const ant s

t ypical values of
Youngs modulus and
Poissons rat io f or
various rock t ypes

Compressive St rengt h
Anot her import ant paramet er in t he uniaxial compression t est is t he
maximum st ress t hat t he t est sample can sust ain. Under uniaxial loading
condit ions, t he peak st ress is ref erred t o as t he uniaxial compressive
st rengt h, c.
I t is import ant t o realize
t hat t he compressive
st rengt h is not an int rinsic
propert y. I nt rinsic mat erial
propert ies do not depend on
t he specimen geomet ry or
t he loading condit ions used in
t he t est : t he uniaxial
compressive st rengt h does.

Compressive St rengt h
The compressive st rengt h is probably t he most widely used and
quot ed rock engineering paramet er and t heref ore it is crucial t o
underst and it s nat ure. I n ot her f orms of engineering, if t he
applied st ress reaches c, t here can be cat ast rophic consequences.
This is not always t he case in rock engineering as rock of t en
ret ains some load bearing capacit y in t he post peak region of t he
- curve.
Whet her f ailure beyond c is t o be avoided at all cost s, or t o be
encouraged, is a f unct ion of t he engineering obj ect ive, t he f orm of
t he complet e st ress- st rain curve f or t he rock (or rock mass), and
t he charact erist ics of t he loading condit ions. These f eat ures ar e
crucial in t he design and analysis of underground excavat ions.

Ef f ect s of Specimen Size

Having described how t he complet e - curve can be obt ained
experiment ally, we can now consider ot her f act ors t hat af f ect t he
complet e - curves of laborat ory t est ed rock.

I f t he rat io of sample lengt h t o

diamet er is kept const ant , bot h
compressive st rengt h and brit t leness
are reduced f or larger samples. Rock
specimens cont ain microcracks: t he
larger t he specimen, t he great er t he
number of microcracks and hence t he
great er t he likelihood of a crit ical
f law and ef f ect s associat ed wit h
crack init iat ion and propagat ion.

Ef f ect s of Loading Condit ions

I nt act rock st rengt h is dependent on t he t ypes of st resses applied t o it .
I n ot her words, rock has st rengt h in t ension, compression and shear.

t hese dif f erent

st rengt hs may be t est ed
eit her direct ly (e. g.
uniaxial t ension t est ,
direct shear t est , et c. )
or indirect ly (e. g.
Brazilian t ensile t est ,
t riaxial compression t est ,
et c. ).

Ef f ect s of Loading Condit ions

Wit h t he applicat ion of a conf ining load an addit ional energy input is
needed t o overcome f rict ional resist ance t o sliding over a j agged rupt ure
pat h. Most rocks are t heref ore st rengt hened by t he addit ion of a
conf ining st ress.
As t he conf ining pressure is
increased, t he rapid decline in
load carrying capacit y af t er
t he peak load is reached
becomes less st riking unt il,
af t er a mean pressure known
as t he brit t le- t o- duct ile
t ransit ion pressure, t he rock
behaves in a near plast ic
manner.

Pore Pressure Ef f ect s

Some rocks are weakened by t he addit ion of wat er, t he ef f ect being a chemical
det eriorat ion of t he cement or binding mat erial. I n most cases, however, it is
t he ef f ect of pore wat er pressure t hat exert s t he great est inf luence on rock
st rengt h. I f drainage is impeded during loading, t he pores or f issures will
compress t he cont ained wat er, raising it s pressure. The result ing ef f ect is
described by Terzaghis ef f ect ive st ress law:

as pore pressure P increases t he ef f ect ive normal st resses are reduced and
t he Mohr circles are displaced t owards f ailure.
x

Time- Dependent Ef f ect s

We have indicat ed t hat during t he complet e - curve, microcracking
occurs f rom t he very early st ages of loading. Through t hese processes,
f our primary t ime- dependent ef f ect s can be resolved:
St rain- rat e - t he - curve is a
f unct ion of t he applied st rain rat e.
Creep st rain cont inues when t he
applied st ress is held const ant .

Relaxat ion a decrease in st rain occurs

when t he applied st ress is held const ant .
Fat igue an increase in st rain occurs due t o
cyclic changes in st ress.
x

Temperat ure Ef f ect s

Only a limit ed amount inf ormat ion is available indicat ing t he ef f ect of
t emperat ure on t he complet e - curve and ot her mechanical propert ies
of int act rock.

The limit ed t est dat a does show

t hough, t hat increasing
t emperat ures reduces t he elast ic
modulus and compressive
st rengt h, whilst increasing t he
duct ilit y in t he post - peak region.

Failure Crit erion

Rock f ails t hrough an ext remely complex process of microcrack init iat ion
and propagat ion t hat is not subj ect t o convenient charact erizat ion
t hrough simplif ied models. Building on t he hist ory of mat erial t est ing, it
was nat ural t o express t he st rengt h of a mat erial in t erms of t he st ress
present in t he t est specimen at f ailure (i. e. phenomenological approach).
Since uniaxial and t riaxial t est ing of rock are by f ar t he most common
laborat ory procedures, t he most obvious means of expressing a f ailure
crit erion is:
St rengt h = (1, 2, 3)
Or wit h t he advent of st if f and servo- cont rolled t est ing machines:
St rengt h = ( 1, 2, 3)

Mohr - Coulomb Crit erion

The Mohr- Coulomb f ailure crit erion expresses t he relat ionship
bet ween t he shear st ress and t he normal st ress at f ailure along a
hypot het ical f ailure plane. I n t wo- dimensions, t his is expressed as:

peak = c + n t an
Where:

is called t he angle of int ernal f rict ion (equivalent t o

t he angle of inclinat ion of a surf ace suf f icient t o
cause sliding of a block of similar mat erial);

c is t he cohesion (and represent s t he shear st rengt h of

t he rock when no normal st ress is applied); and

peak is t he peak shear st rengt h.

x

Mohr - Coulomb Crit erion

This can be present ed graphically using a Mohr circle diagram:

Mohr - Coulomb Crit erion

The Mohr- Coulomb crit erion is most suit able at high conf ining pressures when
rock generally f ails t hrough t he development of shear planes. However, some
limit at ions are :
- it implies t hat a maj or shear f ract ure exist s at peak st rengt h, at a
specif ic angle, which does not always agree wit h experiment al observat ions;
- it predict s a shear f ailure in uniaxial t ension (at 45- / 2 wit h 3 ) whereas
f or rock t his f ailure plane is perpendicular t o 3 . A t ension cut of f has been
int roduced t o t he Mohr- Coulomb crit erion t o predict t he proper orient at ion
of t he f ailure plane in t ension.
- experiment al peak st rengt h envelopes are generally non- linear. They can be
considered linear only over limit ed ranges of conf ining pressures.
Despit e t hese dif f icult ies, t he Mohr- Coulomb f ailure crit erion remains one of
t he most commonly applied f ailure crit erion, and is especially signif icant and valid
f or discont inuit ies and discont inuous rock masses.
x

The Hoek- Brown Empirical Failure Crit erion

The Hoek- Brown empirical crit erion was developed f rom a best - f it curve
t o experiment al f ailure dat a plot t ed in 1- 3 space. Since t his is one of
t he f ew t echniques available f or est imat ing in sit u rock mass st rengt h
f rom geological dat a, t he crit erion has become widely used in rock
mechanics analysis.

1 = 3 + (m c 3+ sc2 ) 0. 5
where c is t he int act compressive st rengt h, s
is a rock mass const ant (s=1 f or int act rock,
s<1 f or broken rock), and m is a const ant
(charact erist ic of t he rock t ype where values
range f rom 25, f or coarse grained igneous and
met amorphic rocks t o 7 f or carbonat e rocks).

Discont inuit ies

I t is t he exist ence of discont inuit ies in a rock
mass t hat makes rock mechanics a unique subj ect .
The word discont inuit y denot es any separat ion in
t he rock cont inuum having ef f ect ively zero t ensile
st rengt h and is used wit hout any generic
connot at ion (e. g. j oint s and f ault s are t ypes of
discont inuit ies f ormed in dif f erent ways).

Discont inuit ies have been int roduced int o t he rock

by geological event s, at dif f erent t imes and as a
result of dif f erent st ress st at es. Very of t en, t he
process by which a discont inuit y has been f ormed
may have implicat ions f or it s geomet rical and
mechanical propert ies.

Discont inuit ies

I n f act , all rock masses are f ract ured, and it is a very rare case
where t he spacings bet ween discont inuit ies are appreciably great er
t han t he dimensions of t he rock engineering proj ect. Very of t en maj or
discont inuit ies delineat e blocks wit hin t he rock mass, and wit hin t hese
blocks t here is a f urt her suit e of discont inuit ies.
Thus, we might expect t hat a
relat ion of t he f orm:

should exist .

Geomet rical Propert ies of Discont inuit y

The main f eat ures of rock
mass geomet ry include
spacing and f requency,
orient at ion (dip
direct ion/ dip angle),
persist ence (size and
shape), roughness,
apert ure, clust ering and
block size.
There is, however, no st andardized met hod of measuring and
charact erizing rock st ruct ure geomet ry, because t he emphasis and
accuracy wit h which t he separat e paramet ers are specif ied will depend
on t he engineering obj ect ives.

Discont inuit y Spacing and Frequency

Spacing is t he dist ance bet ween adj acent discont inuit y int ersect ions
wit h t he measuring scanline. Frequency (i. e. t he number per unit
dist ance) is t he reciprocal of spacing (i. e. t he mean of t hese
int ersect ion dist ances).

quant if ying discont inuit y occurrence

along a sampling line, where f requency
=N/ L m- 1 and mean spacing x=L/ N m.

Rock Qualit y Designat ion

A nat ural clust ering of

discont inuit ies occurs t hrough
t he genet ic process of
superimposed f ract ure phases,
each of which could have a
dif f erent spacing dist ribut ion.
An import ant f eat ure f or
engineering is t he overall qualit y
of t he rock mass cut by t hese
superimposed f ract ure syst ems.
For t his reason, t he concept of
t he RQD was developed.

Discont inuit y Orient at ion

I f we assume t hat a discont inuit y is a
planar f eat ure, t hen it s orient at ion can
be uniquely def ined by t wo paramet ers:
dip direct ion and dip angle. I t is of t en
usef ul t o present t his dat a in a graphical
f orm t o aid visualizat ion and engineering
analysis.
I t must be remembered t hough,
t hat it may be dif f icult t o
dist inguish which set a part icular
discont inuit y belongs t o or t hat in
some cases a single discont inuit y
may be t he cont rolling f act or as
opposed t o a set of
discont inuit ies.

Discont inuit y Persist ence

Persist ence ref ers t o t he lat eral ext ent of a discont inuit y plane, eit her
t he overall dimensions of t he plane, or in t erms of whet her it cont ains
rock bridges. I n pract ice, t he persist ence is almost always measured by
t he one dimensional ext ent of t he t race lengt hs as exposed on rock
f aces. This obviously int roduces a degree of sampling bias t hat must be
account ed f or in t he int erpret at ion of result s.

Discont inuit y Roughness

The word roughness is used t o denot e
deviat ion of a discont inuit y surf ace f rom
perf ect planarit y, which can rapidly become a
complex mat hemat ical procedure ut ilizing 3- D
surf ace charact erizat ion t echniques (e. g.
polynomials, Fourier series, f ract als).
From t he pract ical point of view, only one
t echnique has received some degree of
universalit y t he J oint Roughness Coef f icient
(J RC). This met hod involves comparing
discont inuit y surf ace prof iles t o st andard
roughness curves assigned numerical values.
The geomet rical roughness is nat urally relat ed
t o various mechanical and hydraulic propert ies
of discont inuit ies.
x

Discont inuit y Apert ure

The apert ure is t he dist ance bet ween adj acent walls of a
discont inuit y. This paramet er has mechanical and hydraulic
import ance, and a dist ribut ion of apert ures f or any given
discont inuit y and f or dif f erent discont inuit ies wit hin t he same rock
mass is expect ed.

Mechanical Propert ies of Discont inuit ies

The mechanical behaviour of discont inuit ies
is generally plot t ed in t he f orm of st ressdisplacement curves, wit h t he result t hat
we can measure discont inuit y st if f ness
(t ypically expressed in unit s of MPa/ m)
and st rengt h.
I n compression, t he rock surf aces are
gradually pushed t oget her, wit h an obvious
limit when t he t wo surf aces are closed. I n
t ension, by def init ion, discont inuit ies can
sust ain no load. I n shear , t he st ressdisplacement curve looks like t hat f or
compression of int act rock, except of
course f ailure is localized along t he
discont inuit y.
x

Mechanical Propert ies - St rengt h

I t is normally assumed t hat t he shear st rengt h of discont inuit ies is a
f unct ion of t he f rict ion angle rat her t han t he cohesion. This is done by
using t he Mohr- Coulomb f ailure crit erion, = c + t an, and set t ing t he
cohesion t o zero.

Mechanical Propert ies - St rengt h

The bi- linear f ailure crit erion int roduces
t he idea t hat t he irregularit y of
discont inuit y surf aces could be
approximat ed by an asperit y angle i ont o
which t he basic f rict ion angle is
superimposed.
Thus, at low normal st resses, shear
loading causes t he discont inuit y surf aces
t o dilat e giving an ef f ect ive f rict ion of
(+i). As t he shear loading cont inues, t he
shear surf aces become damaged as
asperit ies are sheared and t he t wo
surf aces ride on t op of one anot her,
giving a t ransit ion zone bef ore t he f ailure
locus st abilizes at an angle of .
x

Rock Masses
Building on our examinat ion of f irst int act rock behaviour and t hen
discont inuit y behaviour, we can now concent rat e on ext ending t hese ideas
t o provide a predict ive model f or t he def ormabilit y and st rengt h of rock
masses.

Rock Mass Def ormabilit y

As an init ial st ep in det ermining t he overall def ormabilit y of a rock
mass, we can f irst consider t he def ormat ion of a set of parallel
discont inuit ies under t he act ion of a normal st ress, assuming linear
elast ic discont inuit y st if f nesses.
To calculat e t he overall
modulus of def ormat ion, t he
applied st ress is divided by
t he t ot al def ormat ion. We will
assume t hat def ormat ion is
made up of t wo component s:
one relat ed t o t he int act rock;
t he ot her t o t he
discont inuit ies.

Rock Mass Def ormabilit y

The cont ribut ion made by t he int act rock t o t he def ormat ion, I , is L/ E
(i. e. st rain mult iplied by lengt h). The cont ribut ion made by a single
discont inuit y t o t he def ormat ion, D, is / ED (remembering t hat ED relat es t o
displacement direct ly). Assuming a discont inuit y f requency of , t here will be
L discont inuit ies in t he rock mass and t he t ot al cont ribut ion made by t hese t o
t he def ormat ion will be Dt , which is equal t o L / ED. Hence, t he t ot al
displacement , T , is:
Hence, t he t ot al displacement , T , is:

Wit h t he overall st rain being given by:

Finally, t he overall
modulus, EMASS, is given by:

Rock Mass Def ormabilit y

variat ion of in sit u rock

def ormabilit y as a f unct ion of t he
discont inuit ies (f or t he idealized
case of a single set of
discont inuit ies).

Rock Mass St rengt h

I n t he same way as we considered t he def ormabilit y of a rock mass,
expressions can be developed indicat ing how st rengt h is af f ect ed by t he
presence of discont inuit ies, st art ing wit h a single discont inuit y and t hen
ext ending t o any number of discont inuit ies.

scale dependent st rengt h of a single discont inuit y.

x

Rock Mass St rengt h

The init ial approach is via t he single plane of weakness t heory,
whereby t he st rengt h of a sample of int act rock cont aining a single
discont inuit y can be est ablished. Basically, t he st ress applied t o t he
sample is resolved int o t he normal and shear st resses on t he plane of
weakness and t he Mohr- Coulomb f ailure crit erion applied t o consider t he
possibilit y of slip.
Given t he geomet ry of t he applied loading
condit ion:

Rock Mass St rengt h

The st rengt h of t he sample t hus depends on t he orient at ion of t he
discont inuit y. I f t he discont inuit y is, f or example, parallel or
perpendicular t o t he applied loading, it will have no ef f ect on t he
sample st rengt h. At some angles, however, t he discont inuit y will
signif icant ly reduce t he st rengt h of t he sample.
The lowest st rengt h
occurs when t he
discont inuit y normal is
inclined at an angle of
45 + ( / 2) t o t he
maj or applied principal
st ress.

Rock Mass St rengt h

The plot of rock st rengt h and t he discont inuit y angles at which t he
sample st rengt h becomes less t han t hat f or int act rock can be derived
by subst it ut ing t he single discont inuit y normal and shear st ress
relat ionships int o t he Mohr- Coulomb crit erion:

Subst it ut ed int o
| | = cw + nt anw gives:

Where cw and w are t he cohesion

and f rict ion f or t he discont inuit y.
x

Rock Mass St rengt h

An alt ernat ive present at ion
of t he single plane of
weakness rock st rengt h
t heory is via t he Mohrs
circle represent at ion. The
Mohr- Coulomb f ailure loci
f or bot h int act rock and t he
discont inuit y are given.
Circle A case where t he f ailure locus f or t he discont inuit y is j ust reached,
i. e. f or a discont inuit y at t he angle 2 w=90+ w.
Circle B case when f ailure can occur along t he discont inuit y f or a range of
angles.
Circle C case where t he Mohr circle t ouches t he int act rock f ailure locus, i. e.
where f ailure occurs in t he int act rock.
x

Rock Mass St rengt h

We can consider, on t he basis of t his single plane of weakness theory,
what would happen if t here were t wo or more discont inuit ies at
dif f erent orient at ions present in t he rock sample. Each discont inuit y
would weaken t he sample as shown below, but t he angular posit ion of
t he st rengt h minima would not coincide.
As a result t he rock is weakened in
several dif f erent direct ions
simult aneously. Wit h increasing
f ract ures, t he mat erial t ends t o
become isot ropic in st rengt h, like a
granular soil.

Rock Mass St rengt h Hoek- Brown

A met hodology of assessing
rock mass st rengt h t hat does
not depend on t he single
plane of weakness t heory is
t he Hoek- Brown f ailure
crit erion. The crit erion is
especially powerf ul in it s
applicat ion t o rock masses
due t o t he const ant s m and s
being able t o t ake on values
which permit predict ion of
t he st rengt hs of a wide
range of rock masses.

Rock Mass
St rengt h

Hoek- Brown
represent at ion and
summary of rock
mass condit ions,
t est ing met hods and
t heoret ical
considerat ions.
x

Rock Mass St rengt h Hoek- Brown

For int act rock, t he
Hoek- Brown crit erion may
be expressed as:

The more general f orm,

however, was derived t o
t ake int o account t he
f ract ured nat ure of t he
rock mass t hrough t he
paramet ers s and a.

Rock Mass
St rengt h
Hoek- Brown

Hoek- Brown m
values f or dif f erent
rock t ypes.

Rock Mass
St rengt h HoekBrown

est imat ion of HoekBrown const ant s and rock

mass def ormat ion const ant s
based on rock mass
st ruct ure and discont inuit y
surf ace condit ions.
x

Rock Mass St rengt h Hoek- Brown

t he Hoek- Brown empirical

crit erion applied t o a sandst one
rock mass. The crit erion
represent s best - f it curves t o
experiment al f ailure dat a
plot t ed in 1- 3 space.
x