• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.285-301
• /
• 2023

During the construction of E75 highway through Grdelica gorge in Serbia, a major failure occurred in the zone of reinforced rock slope. Excavation was performed in highly anisotropic Paleozoic schist rock formation. The reinforcement consisted of the two rows of micropile wall with pre-stressed anchors. Forces in anchors were monitored with load cells while benchmarks were installed for superficial displacement measurements. The aim of the study is to investigate possible causes of instability considering different probability distributions of the strength of discontinuities and anchor bond strength by applying different optimization techniques for finding the critical failure surface. Even though the deterministic safety factor value is close to unity, the probability of failure is governed by variability of shear strength of anisotropic planes and optimization method used for locating the critical sliding surface. The Cuckoo search technique produces higher failure probabilities compared to the others. Depending on the assigned statistical distribution of input parameters, various performance functions of the factor of safety are obtained. The probability of failure is insensitive to the variation of bond strength. Different sampling techniques should yield similar results considering that the sufficient number of safety factor evaluations is chosen to achieve converged solution.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.83-99
• /
• 2022

The two, NBD and SCB tests using gypsum circular discs each containing a single notch have been experimentally accomplished in a rock mechanics laboratory. These specimens have also been numerically modelled by a two-dimensional particle flow which is based on Discrete Element Method (DEM). Each testing specimen had a thickness of 5 cm with 10 cm in diameter. The specimens' lengths varied as 2, 3, and 4 cm; and the specimens' notch angles varied as 0°, 45° and 90°. Similar semi-circular gypsum specimens were also prepared each contained one edge notch with angles 0° or 45°. The uniaxial testing machine was used to perform the experimental tests for both NBD and SCB gypsum specimens. At the same time, the numerical simulation of these tests were performed by PFC2D. The experimental results showed that the failure mechanism of rocks is mainly affected by the orientations of joints with respect to the loading directions. The failure mechanism and fracturing patterns of the gypsum specimens are directly related to the final failure loading. It has been shown that the number of induced tensile cracks showing the specimens' tensile behavior, and increases by decreasing the length and angle of joints. It should be noted that the fracture toughness of rocks' specimens obtained by NBD tests was higher than that of the SCB tests. The fracture toughness of rocks usually increases with the increasing of joints' angles but increasing the joints' lengths do not change the fracture toughness. The numerical solutions and the experimental results for both NDB and SCB tests give nearly similar fracture patterns during the loading process.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.545-552
• /
• 2018

Blast-induced ground vibrations by a significant amount of explosives may cause many problems for mining slope stability. Geological discontinuities have a significant influence on the transmission of dynamic pressure of detonation and according to their position relative to the slope face may have damaging or useful impacts on the slope stability. In this study, the effect of geological discontinuities was investigated by modelling a slope with geological discontinuities through applying the dynamic pressure in three-dimensional discrete element code (3DEC). The geological discontinuities in four states that generally apperceived in mine slopes are considered. Given the advantages of the pressure decay function defined by some researcher, this type of function was used to develop the pressure-time profile. The peak particle velocities (PPV) values were monitored along an axis by utilization of Fish programming language and the results were used as an indicator to measure the effects. As shown in the discontinuity-free model, PPV empirical models are reliable in rocks lacking discontinuities or tightly jointed rock masses. According to the other results, the empirical models cannot be used for the case where the rock mass contains discontinuities with any direction or dip. With regard to PPVs, when the direction of discontinuities is opposite to that of the slope face, the dynamic pressure of detonation is significantly damped toward the slope direction at the surface of discontinuities. On the other hand, when the discontinuities are horizontal, the dynamic pressure of detonation affects the rock mass to a large distance.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.367-376
• /
• 2018

Samples composed of coal and rock show different mechanical properties of the pure coal or rock mass. For the same coal seam with different surrounding rocks, the frequency and intensity of rock burst can be significantly different in. First, a method of measuring the strain variation of coal in the coal-rock combined sample was proposed. Second, laboratory tests have been conducted to investigate the influences of rock lithologies, combined forms and coal-rock height ratios on the deformation and failure characteristics of the coal section using this method. Third, a new bursting liability index named combined coal-rock impact energy speed index (CRIES) was proposed. This index considers not only the time effect of energy, but also the influence of surrounding rocks. At last, a new approach considering the influences of roof and/or floor was proposed to evaluate the impact capability of coal seam. Results show that the strength and elastic modulus of coal section increase significantly with the coal-rock height ratio decreasing. In addition, the values of bursting liability indexes of the same coal seam vary greatly when using the new approach. This study not only provides a new approach to measuring the strain of the coal section in coal-rock combined sample, but also improves the evaluation system for evaluating the impact capability of coal.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.861-879
• /
• 2017

Coal and gas outburst is a serious dynamic disaster that occurs during coal mining and threatens the lives of coal miners. Currently, coal and gas outburst is commonly predicted using single indicator and its critical value. However, single indicator is unable to fully reflect all of the factors impacting outburst risk and has poor prediction accuracy. Therefore, a more accurate prediction method is necessary. In this work, we first analyzed on-site impacting factors and precursors of coal and gas outburst; then, we constructed a Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA) index system using the gas adsorption index of drilling cutting ${\Delta}h_2$, the drilling cutting weight S, the initial velocity of gas emission from borehole q, the thickness of soft coal h, and the maximum ratio of post-blasting gas emission peak to pre-blasting gas emission $B_{max}$; finally, we studied an FDA-based multiple indicators discriminant model of coal and gas outburst, and applied the discriminant model to predict coal and gas outburst. The results showed that the discriminant model has 100% prediction accuracy, even when some conventional indexes are lower than the warning criteria. The FDA method has a broad application prospects in coal and gas outburst prediction.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.385-396
• /
• 2020

A uniaxial compression test was performed to analyse the mechanical properties and macroscale and mesoscale failure mechanisms of sandstone with pyrite concretions. The effect of the pyrite concretions on the evolution of macroscale cracks in the sandstone was further investigated through numerical simulations with Particle Flow Code in 2D (PFC2D). The results revealed that pyrite concretions substantially influence the mechanical properties and macroscale and mesoscale failure characteristics of sandstone. During the initial loading stage, significant stress concentrations occurred around the edges of the pyrite concretion accompanied by the preferential generation of cracks. Meanwhile, the events and cumulative energy counts of the acoustic emission (AE) signal increased rapidly because of friction sliding between the concretion and sandstone matrix. As the axial stress increased, the degree of the stress concentration remained relatively unchanged around the edges of the concretions. The cracks continued growing rapidly around the edges of the concretions and gradually expanded toward the centre of the sample. During this stage, the AE events and cumulative energy counts increased quite slowly. As the axial stress approached the peak strength of the sandstone, the cracks that developed around the edges of the concretion started to merge with cracks that propagated at the top-left and bottom-right corners of the sample. This crack evolution ultimately resulted in the shear failure of the sandstone sample around the edges of the pyrite concretions.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.355-365
• /
• 2019

It is normal to observe the presence of numerous cracks in coal body. And it has significantly effective on the mechanical characteristics and realistic failure models of coal mass. Therefore, this paper is to investigate the influence of crack parameters on coal body by comprehensive using theoretical analysis, laboratory experiments and numerical simulation through prepared briquette specimens. Different from intact coal body possessing single peak in stress-strain curve, other specimens with crack angle can be illustrated to own double peaks. Moreover, the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of specimens decreases and follow by increasing with the increase of crack angle. It seems to like a parabolic shape with an upward opening. And it can be demonstrated that the minimum UCS is obtained in crack angle $45^{\circ}$. In terms of failure types, it is interesting to note that there is a changing trend from tensile failure to tensile-shear mixing failure with tension dominant follow by shear dominant with the increase of crack angle. However, the changing characteristics of UCS and failure forms can be explained by elastic-plastic and fracture mechanics. Lastly, the results of numerical simulations are good consistent with the experimental results. It provides experimental and theoretical foundations to reveal fracture mechanism of coal body with non-penetrating single crack further.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.281-291
• /
• 2022

Complex rock masses include various joint planes, bedding planes and other weak structural planes. The existence of these structural planes affects the mechanical properties, deformation rules and failure modes of jointed rock masses. To study the influence of the parameters of a nonpersistent joint network on the mechanical properties and failure modes of jointed rock masses, synthetic rock mass (SRM) technology based on discrete elements is introduced. The results show that as the size of the joints in the rock mass increases, the compressive strength and the discreteness of the rock mass first increase and then decrease. Among them, the joints that are characterized by "small but many" joints and "large and clustered" joints have the most significant impact on the strength of the rock mass. With the increase in joint density in the rock mass, the compressive strength of rock mass decreases monotonically, but the rate of decrease gradually decreases. With the increase in the joint dip angle in rock mass, the strength of the rock mass first decreases and then increases, forming a U-shaped change rule. In the analysis of the failure mode and deformation of a jointed rock mass, the type of plastic zone formed after rock mass failure is closely related to the macroscopic displacement deformation of the rock mass and the parameters of the joints, which generally shows that the location and density of the joints greatly affect the failure mode and displacement degree of the jointed rock mass. The instability mechanism of jointed surrounding rock is revealed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.345-352
• /
• 2022

When rock burst occurs, the damaged coal, rock and other fragments can be ejected to the roadway at a speed of up to 10 m/s. It is extremely harmful to personnel and mining equipment, and seriously affects the mining activities. In order to study the energy evolution characteristics, especially kinetic energy, in the process of rock mass failure, this paper first analyzes the energy changes of the rock in different stages under uniaxial compression. The formula of the kinetic energy of rock sample considering the energy from the indenter of the testing machine is obtained. Then, the uniaxial compression tests with different stiffness ratios of the indenter and rock sample are simulated by numerical simulation. The kinetic energy U_d, elastic strain energy U_e, friction energy U_f, total input energy U and surface energy U_θ of crack cracking are analyzed. The results show that: The stiffness ratio has influence on the peak strength, peak strain, U_d, U_e, U_θ, U_f and U of rock samples. The variation trends of strength, strain and energy with stiffness are different. And when the stiffness ratio increases to a certain value, if the stiffness of the indenter continues to increase, it will have no longer effect on the rock sample.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.233-243
• /
• 2021

Rib spalling is a major issue affecting the safety of steeply inclined coal seam. And the failure coal face and support system can be affected with each other to generate a vicious cycle along with inducing large-scale collapse of surrounding rock in steeply inclined coal seam. In order to analyze failure mechanism and propose the corresponding prominent control measures of steeply inclined coal working face, mechanical model based on coal face-support-roof system and mechanical model of coal face failure was established to reveal the disaster mechanism of rib spalling and the sensitive analysis of related factors was performed. Furthermore, taking 3402 working face of Chen-man-zhuang coal mine as engineering background, numerical model by using FLAC3D was built to illustrate the propagation of displacement and stress fields in steeply inclined coal seam and verify the theory analysis as mentioned in this study. The results show that the coal face slide body in steeply inclined working face can be observed as the failure height of upper layer smaller than that of lower layer exhibiting with an irregular quadrilateral pyramid shape. Moreover, the cracks were originated from the upper layer of sliding body and gradually developed to the lower layer causing the final rib spalling. The influence factors on the stability of coal face can be ranked as overlying strata pressure (P) > mechanical parameters of coal body (e.g., cohesion (c), internal fraction angle (φ)) > support strength (F) > the support force of protecting piece (F') > the false angle of working face (Θ). Moreover, the corresponding control measures to maintain the stability of the coal face in the steeply inclined working face were proposed.