• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.535-570
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• 2017

There are only few cases where cause and location of failure of a rock structure are limited to a single discontinuity. Usually several discontinuities of limited size interact and eventually form a combined shear plane where failure takes place. So, besides the discontinuities, the regions between adjacent discontinuities, which consist of strong rock and are called material or rock bridges, are of utmost importance for the shear strength of the compound failure plane. Shear behaviour of persistent and non-persistent joint are different from each other. Shear strength of rock mass containing non-persistent joints is highly affected by mechanical behavior and geometrical configuration of non-persistent joints located in a rock mass. Therefore investigation is essential to study the fundamental failures occurring in a rock bridge, for assessing anticipated and actual performances of the structures built on or in rock masses. The purpose of this review paper is to present techniques, progresses and the likely future development directions in experimental testing of non-persistent joint failure behaviour. Experimental results showed that the presence of rock bridges in not fully persistent natural discontinuity sets is a significant factor affecting the stability of rock structures. Compared with intact rocks, jointed rock masses are usually weaker, more deformable and highly anisotropic, depending upon the mechanical properties of each joint and the explicit joint positions. The joint spacing, joint persistency, number of rock joint, angle of rock joint, length of rock bridge, angle of rock bridge, normal load, scale effect and material mixture have important effect on the failure mechanism of a rock bridge.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.15 no.6 s.59
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• pp.411-424
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• 2005

Weathering is defined as a process by which surface rock, once formed in the deep ground, is broken down and altered to keep the equilibrium with the ambient environment. In this study granitic rock samples of different weathering grades were collected in the field and the microscopic observation, X-ray diffraction analysis, electron microscopic observation, chemical analysis, and rock property tests were carried out. Formation of secondary minerals, especially clay minerals, by weathering was identified and the mechanism for the change of engineering properties such as rock strength degradation was analyzed. Tunnel model test, Failure behaviour, Shallow tunnel, Unsupproted tunnel length.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.373-383
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• 2016

As one natural material, the physical and mechanical properties of rock will be affected very largely by chemical erosion environment. Under chemical environment, the strength of rock will be reduced. Considering the effect of the chemical erosion, fracture factor of rock is reduced. The damage variable is applied to express the change of fracture stress. Therefore, the fracture criterion of rock under chemical environment is constructed. By one experiment of rock fracture under chemical erosion environment, the proposed fracture criterion is verified. The results show that, the fracture path by theory is agree with the testing one well.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.35-41
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• 2003

Rock mass characterization is an integral part of rock engineering design. Much of the information for rock mass characterization comes from field fracture mapping and data collecting. This paper describes two technologies that can be used to assist with the field mapping and data collecting activities associated with rock mass characterization: digital image processing and 3D laserscanning. The basis for these techniques is described, as well as the results of field case studies and an analysis of the error in estimating fracture orientation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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• 1996.03a
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• pp.1-10
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• 1996

Fracture toughness of rock materials, which generally violate the fundamental assumptions of LEFM, often depends on the specimen size and test method employed. Hence, a standardized procedure for testing and data interpretation for determining fracture toughness of rock materials is required. Special attention has been given by the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) to the difficulties in obtaining true fracture mechanics parameters for the wide variety of rock materials. (omitted)

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.805-810
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• 2018

The abrasivity of rocks results in tool wear in rock excavation or drilling projects. It can affect significantly the cost and schedule of the projects performed in abrasive rock massess. For this reason, the understanding of the mechanism of rock abrasivity is very important for excavation projects. This study investigates the effect of strength on the LCPC abrasivity coefficient (LAC) for igneous rocks. The LCPT test, the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and the Brazilian tensile strength (BTS) tests were carried out on the igneous rock samples. The abrasive mineral content (AMC) was also determined for each rock type. First, the LAC was correlated to the AMC and a very good correlation was found between the two parameters. Then, the multiple regression analysis was carried out by including the AMC, UCS and BTS to the analysis in order to infer the effect of the strength on the LAC. It was seen that the correlation coefficients of multiple regression models were greater than that of the relation between the LAC and the AMC. It is concluded that the AMC is the dominant parameter determining the abrasivity of rock. On the other hand, the rock strength has also significant effect on rock abrasivity.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.3
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• pp.407-423
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• 2020

The pre-peak cyclic shear mechanism of two-order asperity degradation of rock joints in the direct shear tests with static constant normal loads (CNL) are investigated using experimental and numerical methods. The laboratory testing rock specimens contains the idealized and regular two-order triangular-shaped asperities, which represent the specific geometrical conditions of natural and irregular waviness and unevenness of rock joint surfaces, in the pre-peak cyclic shear tests. Three different shear failure patterns of two-order triangular-shaped rock joints can be found in the experiments at constant horizontal shear velocity and various static constant normal loads in the direct and pre-peak cyclic shear tests. The discrete element method is adopted to simulate the pre-peak shear failure behaviors of rock joints with two-order triangular-shaped asperities. The rock joint interfaces are simulated using a modified smooth joint model, where microscopic scale slip surfaces are applied at contacts between discrete particles in the upper and lower rock blocks. Comparing the discrete numerical results with the experimental results, the microscopic bond particle model parameters are calibrated. Effects of cyclic shear loading amplitude, static constant normal loads and initial waviness asperity angles on the pre-peak cyclic shear failure behaviors of triangular-shaped rock joints are also numerically investigated.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.227-236
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• 2020

Non-destructive exploration using elastic waves has been widely used to characterize rock mass properties. Wave propagation in jointed rock masses is significantly governed by the characteristics and orientation of discontinuities. The relationship between spatial heterogeneity (i.e., joint spacing) and wavelength for elastic waves propagating through jointed rock masses have been investigated previously. Discontinuous rock masses can be considered as an equivalent continuum material when the wavelength of the propagating elastic wave exceeds the spatial heterogeneity. However, it is unclear how stress-dependent long-wavelength elastic waves propagate through a repetitive rock-joint system with multiple joints. A preliminary numerical simulation was performed in in this study to investigate long-wavelength elastic wave propagation in regularly jointed rock masses using the three-dimensional distinct element code program. First, experimental studies using the quasi-static resonant column (QSRC) testing device are performed on regularly jointed disc column specimens for three different materials (acetal, aluminum, and gneiss). The P- and S-wave velocities of the specimens are obtained under various normal stress levels. The normal and shear joint stiffness are calculated from the experimental results using an equivalent continuum model and used as input parameters for numerical analysis. The spatial and temporal sizes are carefully selected to guarantee a stable numerical simulation. Based on the calibrated jointed rock model, the numerical and experimental results are compared.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.313-324
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• 2022

Rock properties are important in the design of mines and civil engineering excavations to prevent the imminent failure of slopes and collapse of underground excavations. However, the time, cost, and expertise required to perform experiments to determine those properties are high. Therefore, empirical models have been developed for estimating the mechanical properties of rock that are difficult to determine experimentally from properties that are less difficult to measure. However, the inherent variability in rock properties makes the accurate performance of the empirical models unrealistic and therefore necessitate the use of soft computing models. In this study, Gaussian process regression (GPR), artificial neural network (ANN) and response surface method (RSM) have been proposed to predict the static and dynamic rock properties from the P-wave and rock density. The outcome of the study showed that GPR produced more accurate results than the ANN and RSM models. GPR gave the correlation coefficient of above 99% for all the three properties predicted and RMSE of less than 5. The detailed sensitivity analysis is also conducted using the RSM and the P-wave velocity is found to be the most influencing parameter in the rock mechanical properties predictions. The proposed models can give reasonable predictions of important mechanical properties of sedimentary rock.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.499-511
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• 2015

The creep property of salt rock significantly influences the long-term stability of the salt rock underground storage. Triaxial creep tests were performed to investigate the creep behavior of salt rock. The test results indicate that the creep of salt rock has a nonlinear characteristic, which is related to stress level and creep time. The higher the stress level, the longer the creep time, the more obvious the nonlinear characteristic will be. The elastic modulus of salt rock decreases with the prolonged creep time, which shows that the creep damage is produced for the gradual expansion of internal cracks, defects, etc., causing degradation of mechanical properties; meanwhile, the creep rate of salt rock also decreases with the prolonged creep time in the primary creep stage, which indicates that the mechanical properties of salt rock are hardened and strengthened. That is to say, damage and hardening exist simultaneously during the creep of salt rock. Both the damage effect and the hardening effect are considered, an improved Maxwell creep model is proposed by connecting an elastic body softened over time with a viscosity body hardened over time in series, and the creep equation of which is deduced. Creep test data of salt rock are used to evaluate the reasonability and applicability of the improved Maxwell model. The fitting curves are in excellent agreement with the creep test data, and compared with the classical Burgers model, the improved Maxwell model is able to precisely predict the long-term creep deformation of salt rock, illustrating our model can perfectly describe the creep property of salt rock.