• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.53-63
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• 2023

Rock disturbance caused by blasting and stress relaxation is commonly observed during excavation. As the distance from the source of disturbance increases, the degree of disturbance decreases, and rock at a large depth does not experience disturbance. However, in stability analyses, a single value of disturbance is often applied to the entire rock mass, which leads to underestimated results. In this study, this modeling mistake is addressed by considering realistically varying rock disturbance. The safety of infinite slopes in a disturbed rock mass with a strength governed by the Hoek-Brown failure criterion is investigated based on the kinematic approach of limit analysis. The maximum disturbance is assigned to the outermost slope face because it is directly exposed to blasting damage and dilation, and the disturbance progressively decays with distance in the rock mass. The safety analysis results indicate that the assumption of uniform disturbance in the entire rock mass leads to underestimation of the rock strength and safety on infinite rock slopes. A critical slip surface appears to be within the disturbed rock layer as well as the interface between the disturbed upper rock and undisturbed lower rock.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.366-372
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• 2014

The generalized Hoek-Brown (H-B) function provides a unique failure condition for a jointed rock mass, in which the strength parameters of rock mass are deduced from the intact values by use of the GSI value. Since it is actually the only failure criterion which accounts for the rock mass conditions in a systematic manner, the generalized H-B criterion finds many applications to the various rock engineering projects. Its nonlinear character, however, limits more active usage of this criterion. Accordingly, many attempts have been made to understand the generalized H-B condition in the framework of the M-C function. This study presents the closed-form expression relating the tangential cohesion to the tangential friction angle, which is derived by the non-dimensional stress transformation of the generalized H-B criterion. By use of the derived equation, it is investigated how the relationship between the tangential cohesion and friction angle of the generalized H-B criterion varies with the quality of rock masses. When only the variation of GSI value is considered, it is found that the tangential friction angle decreases with the increase of GSI, while the tangential cohesion increases with GSI value.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.25-36
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• 2000

The purpose of this research work is to propose an analytical method of tunnel design based on reasonable site data. Therefore the proposed design method consists of monitoring data and Modified In Situ Rock Model. Also the Rock Mass Rating for very poor quality rock is very difficult to estimate, the balances between the ratings may no longer gives a reliable basis for the rock mass strength. But in reality Rock Mass Rating is only the property which can be obtained from face mapping records of the exposed tunnel face during construction stage. Evaluation of rock parameters for the actual design prior to tunnel construction should be corrected during tunnelling process in particularly complex ground conditions. This study intends to investigate application of in-situ rock model to soft rock tunnelling (weathered rock) by face mapping results and site measurement data that are obtained at the costraction site of Seoul Subway Tunnel. For the preparation of more reliable ground parameters, the Rock Mass Rating values for the weathered rocks were modified and readjusted in accordance with the measurement data. The modified input parameters obtained by the proposed method are used for the prediction of the tunnel behavior at subsequent construction stages. The results of this study revealed that more reasonable feed back tunnel analysis can be possible as suggested. Ample measurement data would be able to confirm the new proposed technique in this research work.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.59-71
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• 2018

Since the generalized Hoek-Brown (GHB) function predicts the strength of the jointed rock mass in a systematic manner by use of GSI index, it is widely used in rock engineering practices. In this study, a series of 2D elasto-plastic FE analysis, which adopts the GHB criterion as a yield function, was carried out to investigate the radial convergence characteristics of circular tunnel excavated in the GHB rock mass. The effect of the plastic potential function on the elasto-plastic displacement was also examined. In the analysis, the wide range of both the $K(={\sigma}_h/{\sigma}_v)$ and GSI values are considered. For each K value, the variation of the ratio of sidewall displacement to roof displacement was calculated with varying GSI values and the obtained displacement patterns were analysed. The calculation results show that the displacement ratio significantly depends not only on the K value but also on the range of GSI value. In particular, for lower range of GSI value, the displacement ratio pattern calculated in the elasto-plastic regime is opposite to that predicted by the elasticity theory. In addition, the variation of the radial displacement ratio with GSI value for different types of plastic potential function showed similar trend.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.480-493
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• 2021

Since the generalized Hoek-Brown criterion (GHB) provides an efficient way of identifying its strength parameter values with the consideration of in-situ rock mass condition via Geological Strength Index (GSI), this criterion is recognized as one of the standard rock mass failure criteria in rock mechanics community. However, the nonlinear form of the GHB criterion makes its mathematical treatment inconvenient and limits the scope of its application. As an effort to overcome this disadvantage of the GHB criterion, the explicit approximate analytical equations for the minimum principal stress, which is associated with the maximum principal stress at failure, are formulated based on the Taylor polynomial approximation of the original GHB criterion. The accuracy of the derived approximate formula for the minimum principal stress is verified by comparing the resulting approximate minimum principal stress with the numerically calculated exact values. To provide an application example of the approximate formulation, the equivalent friction angle and cohesion for the expected plastic zone around a circular tunnel in a GHB rock mass are calculated by incorporating the formula for the approximate minimum principal stress. It is found that the simultaneous consideration of the values of mi, GSI and far-field stress is important for the accurate calculation of equivalent Mohr-Coulomb parameter values of the plastic zone.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.355-373
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• 2024

The Generalized Hoek-Brown (GHB) criterion is a nonlinear failure criterion specialized for rock engineering applications and has recently seen increased usage. However, the GHB criterion expresses the relationship between minimum and maximum principal stresses at failure, and when GSI≠100, it has disadvantage of being difficult to express as an explicit relationship between the normal and shear stresses acting on the failure plane, i.e., as a Mohr failure envelope. This disadvantage makes it challenging to apply the GHB criterion in numerical analysis techniques such as limit equilibrium analysis, upper-bound limit analysis, and the critical plane approach. Consequently, recent studies have attempted to express the GHB Mohr failure envelope as an approximate analytical formula, and there is still a need for continued interest in related research. This study presents improved formulations for the approximate GHB Mohr failure envelope, offering higher accuracy in predicting shear strength compared to existing formulas. The improved formulation process employs a method to enhance the approximation accuracy of the tangential friction angle and utilizes the tangent line equation of the nonlinear GHB failure envelope to improve the accuracy of shear strength approximation. In the latter part of this paper, the advantages and limitations of the proposed approximate GHB failure envelopes in terms of shear strength prediction accuracy and calculation time are discussed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 1996

High temperature confined compressive tests for thermomechanical failure criteria were carried out for Iksan and Whandeung granites. Authors suggested new polynomial type failure coefficient functions by which conventional Hoek-Brown failure criteria was extended to thermomechanical one. Obtained results are as follow; 1) Failure coefficients, m and s of Hoek and Brown's empirical failure criteria were decreased as temperature increased. 2) Theoretically calculated values by suggested equations and experimented ones by confined compressive test were well coincided.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.26-38
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• 2003

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2010

For the elasto-plastic analysis of a circular tunnel driven in a strain-softening rock mass subjected to a hydrostatic in-situ stress condition, this study suggests a convenient elasto-plastic analysis scheme which takes the strain-softening of GSI index into account and demonstrates its potential as a numerical tool in designing a circular tunnel. The suggested numerical scheme was developed by modifying the previous elasto-plastic procedure proposed by Lee & Pietruszczak(2008). With the assumption that GSI index of rock mass adjacent to the tunnel surface may be degraded due to the damage caused by the blasting and excavation, the concept of the strain-softening of GSI index was invoked. The concept provides a useful tool considering the strain-softening of the strength parameters appearing in the generalized Hoek-Brown criterion because these parameters can be evaluated empirically by use of GSI. In order to check the validity of the proposed scheme, the elasto-plastic analyses for circular tunnels were performed in various analysis conditions and the results were discussed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.809-828
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• 2016

In deep open pit mines, slope stability is very important. Particularly, increasing the depths increase the risks in mines having weak rock mass. Blasting operations in this type of open pits may have a negative impact on slope stability. Several or combination of methods can be used in order to enable better analysis in this type of deep open-pit mines. Numerical modeling is one of these options. Many complex problems can be integrated into numerical methods at the same time and analysis, solutions can be performed on a single model. Rock failure criterions and rock models are used in numerical modeling. Hoek-Brown and Mohr-Coulomb terms are the two most commonly used rock failure conditions. In this study, mine planning and discontinuity conditions of a lignite mine facing two big landslides previously, has been investigated. Moreover, the presence of some damage before starting the study was identified in surrounding structures. The primary research of this study is on slope study. In slope stability analysis, numerical modeling methods with Hoek-Brown and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterions were used separately. Preparing the input data to the numerical model, the outcomes of patented-blast vibration minimization method, developed by co-author was used. The analysis showed that, the model prepared by applying Hoek-Brown failure criterion, failed in the stage of 10. However, the model prepared by using Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion did not fail even in the stage 17. Examining the full research field, there has been ongoing production in this mine without any failure and damage to surface structures.