• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.461-476
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• 2022

Research studies on the scale effect on triaxial strength of intact rocks are scarce, being more common those in uniaxial strength. In this paper, the authors present and briefly interpret the peak and residual strength trends on a series of triaxial tests on different size specimens (30 mm to 84 mm diameter) of an intact granitic rock at confinements ranging from 0 to 15 MPa. Peak strength tends to grow from smaller to standard-size samples (54 mm) and then diminishes for larger values at low confinement. However, a slight change in strength is observed at higher confinements. Residual strength is observed to be much less size-dependent. Additionally, this study introduces preliminary modelling approaches of these laboratory observations with the help of three-dimensional particle flow code (PFC3D) simulations based on bonded particle models (BPM). Based on previous studies, two modelling approaches have been followed. In the first one, the maximum and minimum particle diameter (D_max and D_min) are kept constant irrespective of the sample size, whereas in the second one, the resolution (number of particles within the sample or ϕ_v) was kept constant. Neither of these approaches properly represent the observations in actual laboratory tests, even if both of them show some interesting capabilities reported in this document. Eventually, some suggestions are provided to proceed towards improving modelling approaches to represent observed scale effects.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.295-304
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• 2011

The first step in improving our understanding of uncertainties suclt as rock mass strength parameters and deformation modulus in rock masses around high-level radioactive waste disposal repositories, for improved safety, is to study the process of crack development in intact rock. Therefore, in this study, the fracture process and crack development were examined in samples of KURT granite taken from the KAERI Underground Research Tunnel (KURT), based on acoustic emission (AE) and moment tensor analysis. The results show that crack initiation, coalescence, and unstable crack occurred at rock uniaxial compressive strengths of 0.45, 0.73, and 0.84, respectively. In addition, moment tensor analysis indicated that during the early stage of loading, tensile cracks were predominant. With increasing applied stress, the number of shear cracks gradually increased. When the applied stress exceeded the stress level required for crack damage, unstable shear cracks which directly result in failure of the rock were generated along the failure plane.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.384-395
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• 2016

Both the roughness measurement tests and the multi-stage shear tests were carried out on the 110 rock joint samples in order to investigate the influences of rock type, joint roughness and normal stress on the shear behaviour of rock joints. Test samples were composed of quartz porphyry, dacite, granite and gneiss, which were classified into three detailed groups according to their JRC values. Roughness parameters of rock joints were analyzed by roughness measurement tests, and shear characteristics were also investigated by multi-stage shear tests. Both peak shear strength and shear stiffness were increased as both joint roughness and normal stress were increased, whereas dilation angles showed lower values at the lower roughness and higher normal stress conditions. Besides, shear characteristics obtained from all tests of four different rock types with different rock strengths showed irrelevant details, therefore the influences of both joint roughness and normal stress on shear behaviors were found to be more considerable than the strength of intact rock. The results obtained from both multi-stage shear tests and direct shear tests were finally compared, where the dilation angles obtained from multi-stage shear tests were found to be valid only for the first normal stress conditions.