• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.79-93
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• 2006

It is well known that acoustic emission (AE) is indicator of rock fracturing or damage as rock is brought to failure under the uniaxial compressive loads. In this paper, an experimental study on the source location of acoustic emission on the cylindrical specimens of granite under uniaxial compression test was made. The AE source location was made by measuring the six channel AE data. Comparing to this experiment, the numerical method is applied to model the initiation and propagation of fracture by AE using a numerical code, RFPA (Realistic Failure Process Analysis). This code incorporates the mesoscopic heterogeneity in Young's modulus and rock strength characteristic of rock masses. In the numerical models, values of Young's modulus and rock strength are realized according to a Weibull distribution in which the distribution parameters represent the level of heterogeneity of the medium. The results of the simulations show that RFPA can be used not only to produce acoustic emission similar to those measurements in our experiments, but also to predict fracturing patterns under uniaxial loading condition.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.35-47
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• 2018

This paper investigates the mechanisms of tunnel spalling and massive tunnel failures using fracture mechanics principles. The study starts with examining the fracture propagation due to tensile and shear failure mechanisms. It was found that, fundamentally, in rock masses with high compressive stresses, tensile fracture propagation is often a stable process which leads to a gradual failure. Shear fracture propagation tends to be an unstable process. Several real case observations of spalling failures and massive shear failures in boreholes, tunnels and underground roadways are shown in the paper. A number of numerical models were used to investigate the fracture mechanisms and extents in the roof/wall of a deep tunnel and in an underground coal mine roadway. The modelling was done using a unique fracture mechanics code FRACOD which simulates explicitly the fracture initiation and propagation process. The study has demonstrated that both tensile and shear fracturing may occur in the vicinity of an underground opening. Shallow spalling in the tunnel wall is believed to be caused by tensile fracturing from extensional strain although no tensile stress exists there. Massive large scale failure however is most likely to be caused by shear fracturing under high compressive stresses. The observation that tunnel spalling often starts when the hoop stress reaches $0.4^*UCS$ has been explained in this paper by using the extension strain criterion. At this uniaxial compressive stress level, the lateral extensional strain is equivalent to the critical strain under uniaxial tension. Scale effect on UCS commonly believed by many is unlikely the dominant factor in this phenomenon.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.395-407
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• 2022

In this paper, cracks with different angles are prefabricated in rock specimens to study the fracture characteristics of rock based on CT images. The rock specimens are prepared for compression tests according to the standard recommended by ISRM (International Society for Rock Mechanics). The effects of different angles on rock mechanical properties and crack propagation fracture modes are analyzed. Then, based on the cohesive element method and CT images, the relationship between porosity and Young's modulus as well as the fracture property is explored by the numerical modelling. In the modelling, the distribution of Young's modulus is determined by the CT image through the field variable method. The results show that prefabricated cracks reduce the mechanical properties of rock. The closer the angles of the prefabricated crack is, the greater the Young's modulus of the rock sample is. The failure process of each specimen with prefabricated cracks is formed by the initiation and propagation of crack, and the angle of the prefabricated crack will affect the type of extended crack. As part of the numerical model proposed in this paper, the microstructure of rocks is reflected by CT images. The numerical results verify the effectiveness of the cohesive element method in the study of crack propagation for rock. The rock model in this paper can be used to predict engineering disasters such as collapse and landslide caused by rock fracture, which means that the methodology adopted in this paper is comprehensive and important to solve rock engineering problems.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.597-609
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• 2023

The instability and failure of engineered rock masses are influenced by crack initiation and propagation. Uniaxial compression and acoustic emission (AE) experiments were conducted on cracked sandstone. The effect of the crack's dip on the crack initiation was investigated using fracture mechanics. The crack propagation was investigated based on stress-strain curves, AE multi-parameter characteristics, and failure modes. The results show that the crack initiation occurs at the tip of the pre-fabricated crack, and the crack initiation angle increases from 0° to 70° as the dip angle increases from 0° to 90°. The fracture strength k_cr is derived varies in a U-shaped pattern as β increased, and the superior crack angle β_m is between 36.2 and 36.6 and is influenced by the properties of the rock and the crack surface. Low-strength, large-scale tensile cracks form during the crack initiation in the cracked sandstone, corresponding to the start of the AE energy, the first decrease in the b-value, and a low r-value. When macroscopic surface cracks form in the cracked sandstone, high-strength, large-scale shear cracks form, resulting in a rapid increase in the AE energy, a second decrease in the b-value and an abrupt increase in the r-value. This research has significant theoretical implications for rock failure mechanisms and establishment of damage indicators in underground engineering.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.529-540
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• 2020

Water inrush is a major hazard for mining and excavation in deep coal seams or rock masses. It can be attributed to the coalescence of rock fractures in rock mass due to the interaction of fractures, hydraulic flow and stress field. One of the key technical challenges is to understand the course and mechanism of fluid flows in rock joint networks and fracture propagation and hence to take measures to prevent the formation of water inrush channels caused by possible rock fracturing. Several case observations of fluid flowing in rock joint networks and coupled fracture propagation in underground coal roadways are shown in this paper. A number of numerical simulations were done using the recently developed flow coupling function in FRACOD which simulates explicitly the fracture initiation and propagation process. The study has demonstrated that the shortest path between the inlet and outlet in joint networks will become a larger fluid flow channel and those fractures nearest to the water source and the working faces become the main channel of water inrush. The fractures deeper into the rib are mostly caused by shearing, and slipping fractures coalesce with the joint, which connects the water source and eventually forming a water inrush channel.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.248-260
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• 2004

Damage in brittle rock due to stress increase starts from initiation of microcracks, and then results in failure by forming macro failure planes due to propagation and coalescence of these discrete cracks. Conventionally, continuum approaches using macro-failure criteria or a number of elasto-plastic models have been major solution to implement rock damage and failure. However, actual brittle failure processes can be better described in phenomenological approach if initiation and propagation of discrete fractures are explicitly considered. This study presents damage and failure process of rock using a boundary element code, FRACOD, which has been developed to model fracturing process of rocks. Through a series of numerical uniaxial compressive tests, the feasibility of the developed model was verified, and realistic rock failure process was reproduced considering scale effects in rocks. In addition, the fracturing process and the corresponding rock damage in the vicinity of deep shaft in rock mass were presented as an application of this approach. This approach will be expected to contribute to finding better engineering solutions for the analysis of stability problems in brittle rock masses.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1047-1059
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• 2018

This paper focuses on the cracking and fragmentation process in rock materials containing a pair of non-parallel flaws, which are through the specimen thickness, under vertical compression. Several numerical experiments are conducted with varying flaw arrangements that affect the initiation and tensile wing cracks, shear crack growth, and crack coalescing behaviors. To obtain realistic numerical results, a parallelized peridynamics formulation coupled with a finite element method, which is able to capture arbitrarily occurring cracks, is employed. From previous studies, crack initiation and propagation of tensile wing cracks, horsetail cracks, and anti-wing cracks are well understood along with the coalescence between two parallel flaws. In this study, the coalescence behaviors, their fragmentation sequences, and the role of an x-shaped shear band in rock material containing two non-parallel flaws are discussed in detail on the basis of simulation results strongly correlated with previous experimental results. Firstly, crack initiation and propagation of tensile wing cracks and shear cracks between non-parallel flaws are investigated in time-history and then sequential coalescing behavior is analyzed. Secondly, under the effect of varying inclination angles of two non-parallel flaws and overlapping ratios between a pair of non-parallel flaws, the cracking patterns including crack coalescence, fragmentation, and x-shaped shear band are investigated. These numerical results, which are in good agreement with reported physical test results, are expected to provide insightful information of the fracture mechanism of rock with non-parallel flaws.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.03a
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• pp.58-63
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• 2009

Biaxial compression test was conducted on a transversely isotropic synthetic jointed rock model for the understanding of the fracture behaviors of a sedimentary or metamorphic rocks with well developed bedding or foliation in uni-direction. The joint angles employed for the model are 30, 45, and 60 degrees to the horizontal, and the synthetic rock mass was made of early strength cement. From the biaxial compression test, initiation propagation of tensile cracks at norm to the joint angle was found. The propagated tensile cracks eventually developed rock blocks, which was dislodged from the rock mass. Furthermore, the propagation process of the tensile cracks varies with joint angle: lower joint angle model shows more stable and progressive tensile crack propagation. The experiment results were validated from the simulation by using discrete element method PFC 2D. From the simulation, as has been observed from the test, a rock mass with lower joint angle produces wider damage region and rock block by tensile cracks. In addition, a rock model with lower joint angle shows a progressive tensile cracks generation around the opening from the investigation of the interacted tensile cracks.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.66-81
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• 2011

In this study, it was aimed to develop a thermal-hydraulic-mechanical coupled fracture mechanics code that models a fracture initiation, propagation and failure of underground rock mass due to thermal and hydraulic loadings. The development was based on a 2D FRACOD (Shen & Stephasson, 1993), and newly developed T-M and H-M coupled analysis modules were implemented into it. T-M coupling in FRACOD employed a fictitious heat source and time-marching method, and explicit iteration method was used in H-M coupling. The validity of developed coupled modules was verified by the comparison with the analytical result, and its applicability to the fracture initiation and propagation behavior due to temperature changes and hydraulic fracturing was confirmed by test simulations.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.977-995
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• 2017

It is well accepted that rock failure mechanism influence the cutting efficiency and determination of optimum cutting parameters. In this paper, an attempt was made to research the factors that affect the failure mechanism based on discrete element method (DEM). The influences of cutting depth, hydrostatic pressure, cutting velocity, back rake angle and joint set on failure mechanism in rock-cutting are researched by PFC2D. The results show that: the ductile failure occurs at shallow cutting depths, the brittle failure occurs as the depth of cut increases beyond a threshold value. The mean cutting forces have a linear related to the cutting depth if the cutting action is dominated by the ductile mode, however, the mean cutting forces are deviate from the linear relationship while the cutting action is dominated by the brittle mode. The failure mechanism changes from brittle mode with larger chips under atmospheric conditions, to ductile mode with crushed chips under hydrostatic conditions. As the cutting velocity increases, a grow number of micro-cracks are initiated around the cutter and the volume of the chipped fragmentation is decreasing correspondingly. The crack initiates and propagates parallel to the free surface with a smaller rake angle, but with the rake angle increases, the direction of crack initiation and propagation is changed to towards the intact rock. The existence of joint set have significant influence on crack initiation and propagation, it makes the crack prone to propagate along the joint.