• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.354-364
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• 2012

In order to evaluate the physical properties of rock which might serve as a database for both mining and civil works, a lot of laboratory tests for Jecheon limestones were conducted to find unit weight, absorption ratio, porosity, elastic wave velocity, uniaxial compressive strength, Young's modulus, poisson's ratio, tensile strength, shore hardness, friction angle and cohesion. On investigation of the mechanical properties of both the gray limestone and the clayey limestone distributed in the studied region, the clayey limestone turned out to have more weak mechanical properties which might come from low unit weight, high absorption ratio and high porosity of rocks. The failure criteria of Jecheon limestones were discussed by means of both Mohr-Coulomb criterion and Hoek-Brown criterion. Regression analyses of the physical properties obtained from a lot of laboratory tests were also conducted by means of both linear and multiple regression analyses.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.231-243
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• 2015

In this study, both in-situ stress measurements and a lot of laboratory rock tests were conducted at a metal mine in Jeongseon, Korea. The stress ratio obtained from in-situ stress measurements showed a tendency to decrease according to depth below surface and its average value was 1.10. The mechanical properties such as unit weight, absorption ratio, porosity, elastic wave velocity, uniaxial compressive strength, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, tensile strength, shore hardness, friction angle and cohesion were investigated for the four different rocks mainly distributed at a studied mine, which were dolomite, felsite, granite and magnetite. The mechanical properties of the four different rocks were compared by means of statistical analyses, whereupon the felsite and the granite turned out to have more strength characteristics than the magnetite. The correlation of mechanical properties was also investigated, whereupon a few results against the general correlation were found out. The failure criteria of the four different rocks were finally discussed by means of both Mohr-Coulomb criterion and Hoek-Brown criterion.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.111-120
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• 2008

The characteristic of induced anisotropy is investigated in this study for the Pohang mudstone involving the cut plane discontinuity. The uniaxial and triaxial compression tests are performed for anisotropic rocks with artificial joint to look into anisotropic strength characteristics. Both the uniaxial compressive strength and triaxial compressive strength show the lowest value at the angle of cut plane, ${\beta}=30^{\circ}$ and the shoulder type of anisotropy is obtained. Anisotropy ratio (Rc) in uniaxial compression measures 9.0, whereas Rc=1.29-1.98 in triaxial compression is appeared. A series of analyses are made with the test results to derive the suitable parameter values when it is applied to the Ramamurthy (1985) failure criterion. The result of uniaxial compression test is analyzed by introducing the n-index into Ramamurthy failure criterion. The result shows that, n=l is suitable for ${\beta}=0^{\circ}{\sim}30^{\circ}$ and n=3 is suitable for ${\beta}=30^{\circ}{\sim}90^{\circ}$. To analyze the result of triaxial compression test by Ramamurthy failure criterion, anisotropy ratio in uniaxial compression test is added to Ramamurthy's equation and material constants are estimated by modified Ramamurthy's equation. When these values are applied back to Ramamurthy failure criterion, the predicted values are well fitted to the test results. And strength anisotropy for failure criteria of Jaeger (1960), McLamore & Gray (1967) and Hoek & Brown (1980) are also investigated.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.381-396
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• 2023

The present paper evaluates seismic bearing capacity of rock masses subjected to loads of strip footings using the upper bound method. A general formula was proposed to evaluate the seismic bearing capacity considering both the horizontal and vertical accelerations of the earthquake and the effects of footing embedment depth simultaneously. Modified Hoek-Brown failure criterion was employed for the rock mass. Some comparisons were made with the available solutions and the finite element numerical models to show the accuracy of the developed upper bound formulations. The obtained results show significant improvement compared to the other available solutions. By increasing the horizontal earthquake acceleration from 0.1 to 0.3, the bearing capacity was reduced by up to 39%, while the effect of the vertical earthquake acceleration depends on its direction. An upward acceleration in the range of zero to 0.2 results in an increase in the bearing capacity by up to 24%, while the downward earthquake acceleration has an adverse effect. Also, by increasing the embedment depth of the footing from zero to 5 times the footing width, the value of seismic bearing capacity was raised about 86%. The obtained results were presented as design tables for use in practical applications.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.313-326
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• 2017

Based on the reliability theory and limit analysis method, the roof stability of a shallow tunnel is investigated under the condition of surface settlement. Nonlinear Hoek-Brown failure criterion is adopted in the present analysis. With the consideration of surface settlement, the internal energy and external work are calculated. Equating the rate of energy dissipation to the external rate of work, the expression of support pressure is derived. With the help of variational approach, a performance function is proposed to reliability analysis. Improved response surface method is used to calculate the Hasofer-Lind reliability index and the failure probability. In order to assess the validity of the present results, Monte-Carlo simulation is performed to examine the correctness. Sensitivity analysis is used to estimate the influence of different variables on reliability index. Among random variables, the unit weight significantly affects the reliability index. It is found that the greater coefficient of variation of variables lead to the higher failure probability. On the basis of the discussions, the reliability-based design is achieved to calculate the required tunnel support pressure under different situations when the target reliability index is obtained.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.225-234
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• 2019

A numerical stepwise approach for cavity expansion problem in strain-softening rock or soil mass is investigated, which is compatible with Mohr-Coulomb and generalized Hoek-Brown failure criteria. Based on finite difference method, plastic region is divided into a finite number of concentric rings whose thicknesses are determined internally to satisfy the equilibrium and compatibility equations, the material parameters of the rock or soil mass are assumed to be the same in each ring. For the strain-softening behavior, the strength parameters are assumed to be a linear function of deviatoric plastic strain (${\gamma}p^*$) for each ring. Increments of stress and strain for each ring are calculated with the finite difference method. Assumptions of large-strain for soil mass and small-strain for rock mass are adopted, respectively. A new numerical stepwise approach for limited pressure and plastic radius are obtained. Comparisons are conducted to validate the correctness of the proposed approach with Vesic's solution (1972). The results show that the perfectly elasto-plastic model may underestimate the displacement and stresses in cavity expansion than strain-softening coefficient considered. The results of limit expansion pressure based on the generalised H-B failure criterion are less than those obtained based on the M-C failure criterion.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.5-19
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• 2019

Considering the natural phenomenon in which steep slopes ($65^{\circ}{\sim}85^{\circ}$) consisting of rock mass remain stable for decades, slopes steeper than 1:0.5 (the standard of slope angle for blast rock) may be applied in geotechnical conditions which are similar to those above at the design and initial construction stages. In the process of analysing the stability of a good to fair continuum rock slope that can be designed as a steep slope, a general method of estimating rock mass strength properties from design practice perspective was required. Practical and genealized engineering methods of determining the properties of a rock mass are important for a good continuum rock slope that can be designed as a steep slope. The Genealized Hoek-Brown (H-B) failure criterion and GSI (Geological Strength Index), which were revised and supplemented by Hoek et al. (2002), were assessed as rock mass characterization systems fully taking into account the effects of discontinuities, and were widely utilized as a method for calculating equivalent Mohr-Coulomb shear strength (balancing the areas) according to stress changes. The concept of calculating equivalent M-C shear strength according to the change of confining stress range was proposed, and on a slope, the equivalent shear strength changes sensitively with changes in the maximum confining stress (${{\sigma}^{\prime}}_{3max}$ or normal stress), making it difficult to use it in practical design. In this study, the method of estimating the strength properties (an iso-angle division method) that can be applied universally within the maximum confining stress range for a good to fair continuum rock mass slope is proposed by applying the H-B failure criterion. In order to assess the validity and applicability of the proposed method of estimating the shear strength (A), the rock slope, which is a study object, was selected as the type of rock (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary) on the steep slope near the existing working design site. It is compared and analyzed with the equivalent M-C shear strength (balancing the areas) proposed by Hoek. The equivalent M-C shear strength of the balancing the areas method and iso-angle division method was estimated using the RocLab program (geotechnical properties calculation software based on the H-B failure criterion (2002)) by using the basic data of the laboratory rock triaxial compression test at the existing working design site and the face mapping of discontinuities on the rock slope of study area. The calculated equivalent M-C shear strength of the balancing the areas method was interlinked to show very large or small cohesion and internal friction angles (generally, greater than $45^{\circ}$). The equivalent M-C shear strength of the iso-angle division is in-between the equivalent M-C shear properties of the balancing the areas, and the internal friction angles show a range of $30^{\circ}$ to $42^{\circ}$. We compared and analyzed the shear strength (A) of the iso-angle division method at the study area with the shear strength (B) of the existing working design site with similar or the same grade RMR each other. The application of the proposed iso-angle division method was indirectly evaluated through the results of the stability analysis (limit equilibrium analysis and finite element analysis) applied with these the strength properties. The difference between A and B of the shear strength is about 10%. LEM results (in wet condition) showed that Fs (A) = 14.08~58.22 (average 32.9) and Fs (B) = 18.39~60.04 (average 32.2), which were similar in accordance with the same rock types. As a result of FEM, displacement (A) = 0.13~0.65 mm (average 0.27 mm) and displacement (B) = 0.14~1.07 mm (average 0.37 mm). Using the GSI and Hoek-Brown failure criterion, the significant result could be identified in the application evaluation. Therefore, the strength properties of rock mass estimated by the iso-angle division method could be applied with practical shear strength.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.391-406
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• 2019

The aim of this paper was to study the influence of the footing shape and the effect of the roughness of the foundation base on the bearing capacity of shallow foundations on rock masses. For this purpose the finite difference method was used to analyze the bearing capacity of various types and states of rock masses under the assumption of Hoek-Brown failure criterion, for both plane strain and axisymmetric model, and considering smooth and rough interface. The results were analyzed based on a sensitivity study of four varying parameters: foundation width, rock material constant (mo), uniaxial compressive strength and geological strength index. Knowing how each parameter influences the bearing capacity depending on the footing shape (circular vs strip footing) and the footing base interface roughness (smooth vs rough), two correlation factors were developed to estimate the percentage increase of the ultimate bearing capacity as a function of the footing shape and the roughness of the footing base interface.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.569-575
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• 2018

The stability of shallow cavities with an arbitrary profile is a difficult issue in geotechnical engineering. This paper investigates this problem on the basis of the upper bound theorem of limit analysis and the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. The influence of pore pressure is taken into consideration by regarding it as an external force acting on rock skeleton. An objective function is constructed by equating the internal energy dissipation to the external force work. Then the Lagrange variation approach is used to solve this function. The validity of the proposed method is demonstrated by comparing the analytical solutions with the published research. The relations between shallow and deep cavity are revealed as well. The detaching curve of cavity roof with elliptical profile is obtained. In order to facilitate the application of engineering practice, the numerical results are tabulated, which play an important role in tunnel design and stability analysis of roof. The influential factors on potential collapse are taken into consideration. From the results, the impact of various factors on the extent of detaching is seen intuitively.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.439-455
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• 2016

This paper presented solutions of displacement and stress for a circular opening which is reinforced with grouted rock bolt. It satisfies the Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) or generalized Hoek-Brown (H-B) failure criterion, and exhibits elastic-brittle-plastic or strain-softening behavior. The numerical stepwise produce for strain-softening rock mass reinforced with grouted rock bolt was developed with non-associative flow rules and two segments piecewise linear functions related to a principle strain-dependent plastic parameter, to model the transition from peak to residual strength. Three models of the interaction mechanism between grouted rock bolt and surrounding rock proposed by Fahimifar and Soroush (2005) were adopted. Based on the axial symmetrical plane strain assumption, the theoretical solution of the displacement and stress were proposed for a circular tunnel excavated in elastic-brittle-plastic and strain-softening rock mass compatible with M-C or generalized H-B failure criterion, which is reinforced with grouted rock bolt. It showed that Fahimifar and Soroush's (2005) solution is a special case of the proposed solution for n = 0.5. Further, the proposed method is validated through example comparison calculated by MATLAB programming. Meanwhile, some particular examples for M-C or generalized H-B failure criterion have been conducted, and parametric studies were carried out to highlight the influence of different parameters (e.g., the very good, average and very poor rock mass). The results showed that, stress field in plastic region of surrounding rock with considering the supporting effectiveness of the grouted rock bolt is more than that without considering the effectiveness of the grouted rock bolt, and the convergence and plastic radius are reduced.