• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.757-767
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• 2015

Rock mass is an important engineering material. In hydropower engineering, rock mass of bank slope controlled the stability of an arch dam. However, mechanical characteristics of the rock mass are not only affected by lithology, but also joints. On the basis of field geological survey, this paper built rock mass material containing parallel concentrated joints with different dip angle, different number under different stress conditions by PFC (Particle Flow Code) numerical simulation. Next, we analyzed mechanical property and fracture features of this rock mass. The following achievements have been obtained through this research. (1) When dip angle of joints is $15^{\circ}$ and $30^{\circ}$, with the increase of joints number, peak strength of rock mass has not changed much. But when dip angle increase to $45^{\circ}$, especially increase to $60^{\circ}$ and $75^{\circ}$, peak strength of rock mass decreased obviously with the increase of joints number. (2) With the increase of confining stress, peak strengths of all rock mass have different degree of improvement, especially the rock mass with dip angle of $75^{\circ}$. (3) Under the condition of no confining stress, dip angle of joints is low and joint number is small, existence of joints has little influence on fracture mode of rock mass, but when joints number increase to 5, tensile deformation firstly happened at joints zone and further resulted in tension fracture of the whole rock mass. When dip angle of joints increases to $45^{\circ}$, fracture presented as shear along joints, and with increase of joints number, strength of rock mass is weakened caused by shear-tension fracture zone along joints. When dip angle of joints increases to $60^{\circ}$ and $75^{\circ}$, deformation and fracture model presented as tension fracture zone along concentrated joints. (4) Influence of increase of confining stress on fracture modes is to weaken joints' control function and to reduce the width of fracture zone. Furthermore, increase of confining stress translated deformation mode from tension to shear.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.153-168
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• 2003

The objective of this present study is to understand long term(500 years) thermohydromechanical interaction behavior in the vicinity of a repository cavern on the joint location and repository depth variations. The model includes a saturated discontinuous granitic rock mass, PWR spent nuclear fuel in a disposal canister surrounded with compacted bentonite inside a deposition hole, and mixed bentonite backfilled in the rest of the space within a repository cavern. It is assumed that two joint sets exist within the model. Joint set 1 includes joints of 56$^{\circ}$ dip angle, spaced at 20 m, and joint set 2 is in the perpendicular direction to joint set 1 and includes joints of 34$^{\circ}$ dip angle, spaced at 20 m. In order to understand the behavior change on the joint location variations, 5 different models of 500m in depth are analyzed, and additional 3 different models of 1000 m in depth are analyzed to understand the effect of depth variation.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.96-107
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• 1993

This paper deals with the analysis of rock slope stability using the distinct element method. This method consists in analysis of the interaction of discrete block assemblage delimited by elementary joints, which permits to consider the heterogeneous, anisotropic and discontinuous features of the rock mass. In particular, we were able to show that this method, and especially the BRIG3D software, is an outstanding tool which gives informations of greatest interest in order to analyze the toppling mechanisms. We have confirmed the fundamental role of the rock mass structure with different simulations. In the case of toppling phenomena, the essential parameter is the dip of major discontinuities. It has an influence on the intensity and volume of deformations. The anisotropic and heterogeneous features of the rock mass play also an important role. It is proved by insertion of thick rock bars in the structure or varying rock block sizes in the mass. These models modified considerably the stress distribution and the deformation distribution. Finally, we have analyzed the influence of mechanical parameters such as friction angle and tangential stiffness.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.151-163
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• 2011

The LCM test is one of the most powerful and reliable methods for designing the disc cutter and for predicting the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) performance. It has an advantage to predict the actual load on disc cutter from the laboratory test on the real-size large rock samples, however, it also has a disadvantage to transport and/or prepare the large rock samples and to need an extra cost for experiment. Moreover it is not easy to execute the test for jointed rock mass, and sometimes the design model estimated from the test can not be applied to the real design of disc cutter. In order to break this critical point, lots of numerical studies have been performed. PFC2D can simulate crack propagation and rock fragmentation effectively, because it is useful in particle flow analysis. Consequently, in this study, the PFC2D has been adopted for numerical analysis on cutting power of disc cutter according to the different angle of joint, the different direction of joint, and the different space of joint with jointed rock mass models. From the numerical analyses, it was concluded that the bigger cutting power of disc cutter was needed for reverse cutting direction to joint rather than for forward direction, and the cutting power of disc cutter was increased with decreasing the dip angle of joint and decreasing the space of joints in reverse cutting direction. The more precise numerical model for disc cutter can be developed from comparison between the numerical results and LCM test results, and the resonable guideline is expected for prediction of TBM performance and disc cutter.