• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.383-391
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• 2013

A number of true triaxial tests on rock samples have been conducted since the late 1960 and their results strongly suggest that the intermediate principal stress has a considerable effect on rock strength. Based on these experimental evidence, various 3-D rock failure criteria accounting for the effect of the intermediate principal stress have been proposed. Most of the 3-D failure criteria, however, are focused on the phenomenological description of the rock strength from the true triaxial tests, so that the associated strength parameters have little physical meaning. In order to confirm the likelihood that the intermediate principal stress dependency of rock strength is related to the presence of weak planes and their distribution to the preferred orientation, true triaxial tests are simulated with the transversely isotropic rock model. The conventional Mohr-Coulomb criterion is extended to its anisotropic version by incorporating the concept of microstructure tensor. With the anisotropic Mohr-Coulomb criterion, the critical plane approach is applied to calculate the strength of the transversely isotropic rock model and the orientation of the fracture plane. This investigation hints that the spatial distribution of microstructural planes with respect to the principal stress triad is closely related to the intermediate principal stress dependency of rock strength.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.172-183
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• 2019

The generalized Hoek-Brown (GHB) failure criterion developed by Hoek et al. (2002) is a nonlinear function which defines a stress condition at failure of rock mass. The relevant strength parameter values are systematically determined using the GSI value. Since GSI index is a value quantifying the condition of in-situ rock mass, the GHB criterion is a practical failure condition which can take into the consideration of in-situ rock mass quality. Considering that most rock mechanics engineers are familiar with the linear Mohr-Coulomb criterion and that many rock engineering softwares incorporate Mohr-Coulomb criterion, the equations for the equivalent friction angle and cohesion were also proposed along with the release of the GHB criterion. The proposed equations, however, fix the lower limit of the minor principal stress range, where the linear best-fitting is performed, with the tensile strength of the rock mass. Therefore, if the tensile stress is not expected in the domain of analysis, the calculated equivalent friction angle and cohesion based on the equations in Hoek et al. (2002) could be less accurate. In order to overcome this disadvantage of the existing equations for equivalent friction angle and cohesion, this study proposes the analytical formula which can calculate optimal equivalent friction angle and cohesion in any minor principal stress interval, and verified the accuracy of the derived formula.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.243-252
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• 2017

Since the failure behavior of transversely isotropic rocks is significantly different from that of isotropic rocks, it is necessary to develop a transversely isotropic rock failure function in order to evaluate the stability of rock structures constructed in transversely isotropic rock masses. In this study, a spatial distribution function for strength parameters of transversely isotropic rocks is proposed, which is based on the Cassini oval curve proposed by 17th century astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini to model the orbit of the Sun around the Earth. The proposed distribution function consists of two model parameters which could be identified through triaxial compression tests on transversely isotropic rock samples. The original Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) failure function is extended to a three-dimensional transversely isotropic M-C failure function by employing the proposed strength parameter distribution function for the spatial distributions of the friction angle and cohesion. In order to verify the suitability of the transversely isotropic M-C failure function, both the conventional triaxial compression and true triaxial compression tests of transversely isotropic rock samples are simulated. The predicted results from the numerical experiments are consistent with the failure behavior of transversely isotropic rocks observed in the actual laboratory tests. In addition, the simulated result of true triaxial compression tests hints that the dependence of rock strength on intermediate principal stress may be closely related to the distribution of the microstructures included in the rock samples.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.100-109
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• 2016

This study suggests three spatial distribution functions of strength parameters, which can be adopted in the derivation of failure conditions for transversely isotropic rocks. All three proposed functions, which are the oblate spheroidal function, the exponential function, and the function based on the directional projection of the strength parameter tensor, consist of two model parameters. With assumption that the cohesion and friction angle can be described by the proposed distribution functions, the transversely isotropic Mohr-Coulomb criterion is formulated and used as a failure condition in the simulation of the conventional triaxial tests. The simulation results confirm that the failure criteria incorporating the proposed distribution functions could reproduce the general trend in the variations of the axial stress at failure and the directions of failure planes with varying inclination of the weankness planes and confining pressure. Among three distribution functions, the function based on the directional projection of the strength parameter tensor yields the highest axial strength, while the axial strength estimated by the oblate spheroidal distribution function is the lowest.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.98-106
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• 2008

When a tunnel is excavated in a rock mass of poor condition, the adjacent zone of excavation surface may be reinforced by adopting the appropriate methods such as grouting and rock bolting. The reinforced effect can be evaluated by use of various numerical approaches, where the reinforcing elements may be expressed as distinct discretizations or smeared into the equivalent material properties. In this study, a simple numerical method, which can be classified as the latter approach, was developed for the elasto-plastic analysis of a circular tunnel. If a circular tunnel in a Mohr-Coulomb rock mass is reinforced to a finite thickness, the reinforced annulus may have different material properties from the in-situ rock mass. In the proposed elasto-plastic method for assessing the reinforcing effect, Lee & Pietruszczak (2007)'s method is applied to both the reinforced annulus and the outer insitu rock mass of the fictitious tunnel, and then two results are combined by enforcing the compatibility condition. The method were verified through comparing the results with the proposed method and the commercial finite difference code FLAC. When taking the variation of deformation modulus and strength parameters in the reinforced zone into account, the distributions of stress and radial displacement were much different from those obtained with the assumption of homogeneous rock mass.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.106-114
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• 2000

In order to evaluate the shear characteristics of undisturbed weathered granite soil which is a typical residual soil in Korea, the mechanical properties are first investigated and discussed by carrying out a series of direct shear test and then dilatancy correction is performed by using Taylor’s correction equation. In this study, specimens are sampled at Pungam(-3, -8, -13m below ground surface), Kwangju and Iksan(-5m below ground surface), Jeonbuk. The test results are summarized as follows: 1) Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is not linear under the low confining pressure. 2) The value of cohesion is smaller than usually determined value in low pressure region. 3) The value of strength parameter c and ø which are corrected by Taylor’s correction equation is a little bit small.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.5-14
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• 2010

This study was aimed to suggest reliable information of shear strength characteristics due to change of saturation in the landfills or slopes during rainfall infiltration. According to the Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria, the characteristics of shear strength due to change of saturation were analyzed for the weathered residual soils which were sampled in the road construction site of Daejeon city. From the direct shear strength tests, the cohesions and the shear resistance angles were showed maximum values in the condition of optimum moisture content, and then decreased in the condition of wet side compaction. In this study, the cohesions were decreased more than 50% according to increasing saturation by infiltration for the compaction soils. But the reductions of the shear resistance angles were about $1{\sim}2^{\circ}$ which was small value, and thus the changes of the saturation were not nearly influenced the shear resistance angle. The influences of the saturation were seemed to very small for the residual strength parameters according to Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.58-65
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• 2004

일반적으로 토압, 사면안정, 기초의 지지력 계산 등에 이용하는 강도정수를 결정하기 위한 시험법으로는 일축$.$삼축시험과 직접전단시험이 많이 이용되고 있다. 일축$.$삼축시험은 흙 공시체를 축방향으로 압축 또는 신장 파괴시켜서 압축강도를 구하는 것으로, 활동면의 응력을 Mohr-Coulomb의 파괴 기준으로부터 간접적으로 구하기 때문에 간접전단시험으로 불리고 있다. 특히. 삼축시험은 공시체의 주응력 상태가 명확하기 때문에 연구$.$실용면에서 폭넓게 이용되고 있다. (중략)

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.181-194
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• 1999

Both the chemical components and the physical and mechanical properties of the compacted and undisturbed weathered granite soils were estimated to investigate the influences of the degree of weathering and saturation on the shear strength. The weathered granite soils used in this study were taken from six different sites in Korea. The results showed that the shear strength of weathered granite soil decreased with increasing the degree of weathering and saturation. Under the normal stresses less that 40kPa, the shape of Mohr-Coulomb failure envelope followed curved or hyperbolic relationship and a half of cohesion value obtained by the common shear test was observed. Using the Sueoka's method, the values of CWI were ranged from 21.5 to 31.26 which can be characterized as a completely weathered granite soil. Large decrease in shear strength and remarkable variation in dilatancy were observed in saturated granite soil compared to unsaturated soil. It was also found that the shear strength of undisturbed weathered granite soil of Pungam site can be expressed approximately by the equation of ${(\tau)_{sat}= 1.0(\tau)_{unsat}-12.48}$ and this equation can be extended to the other sites considered in this study.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.227-236
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• 2003

The evaluation of the reliable strength and deformation characteristics of weathered granite masses is very important for the design of geotechnical structure under working stress conditions. Various types of laboratory test such as triaxial compression test can be performed to determine the strength parameters. However, it is very difficult to obtain the representative undisturbed samples on the site and also the rock specimen cannot represent rock mass including discontinuities, fracture zone, etc. This study aims to investigate the strength and deformation characteristics of granite masses corresponding to its weathering and develop a practical strength parameter evaluation method using the results of PMT. To predict weathering intensity and strength parameters of the weathered granite masess in the field, various laboratory tests and in-situ tests including field triaxial test and PMT are carried out. Based on the results of weathering index tests, the classification method is proposed to identify the weathering degree in three groups for the weathered granite masses. Using the analytical method based on the Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria and the cavity expansion theory, the strength parameters of rock masses were evaluated from the results of PMT. It shows that weathering intensity increases with decreasing the strength parameters exponentially. The strength parameters evaluated with the results of PM almost coincide with the results of field triaxial test.