• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.1 s.66
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• pp.32-42
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• 2007

Severe damage can occur around deposition holes due to complex interaction of thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) loading during the long term operation of high level radioactive waste repository. Many candidate sites for repository are located in crystalline rock mass, therefore mechanism of damage follows the form of brittle fracture and failure. This paper briefly introduces major outcomes from 15 years international collaborative project, DECOVALEX, and presents major study results for current ongoing benchmark test study from DECOVALEX-THMC, to evaluate the effect of THM loading to rock mass in excavation damaged zone (EDZ) near deposition holes. Through benchmark test model by simplifying THM loading to boundary loading obtained numerical results are compared, and discrete fracture interaction after up to 1 million years operation is discussed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.489-504
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• 2017

The localized shear and the slip lines are easily observed in elastic-brittle-plastic rock. After yielding, the strength of the brittle rock suddenly drops from the peak value to the residual value, and there are slip lines which divide the macro rock into numbers of elements. There are slippages of elements along the slip lines and the displacement field in the plastic region is discontinuous. With some restraints, the discontinuities can be described by the combination of two smooth functions, one is for the meaning of averaging the original function, and the other is for characterizing the breaks of the original function. The slip lines around the circular opening in the plastic region of an isotropic H-B rock which subjected to a hydrostatic in situ stress can be described by the logarithmic spirals. After failure, the deformation mechanism of the plastic region is mainly attributed to the slippage, and a slippage parameter is introduced. A new analytical solution is presented for the plane strain analysis of displacements around circular openings. The displacements obtained by using the new solution are found to be well coincide with the exact solutions from the published sources.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.477-486
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• 2023

In the studies on fault dislocation of tunnel, existing literatures are mainly focused on the problems caused by normal and reverse faults, but few on strike-slip faults. The paper aims to research the deformation and failure mechanism of a tunnel under strike-slip faulting based on a model test and test-calibrated numerical simulation. A potential faulting hazard condition is considered for a real water tunnel in central Yunnan, China. Based on the faulting hazard to tunnel, laboratory model tests were conducted with a test apparatus that specially designed for strike-slip faults. Then, to verify the results obtained from the model test, a finite element model was built. By comparison, the numerical results agree with tested ones well. The results indicated that most of the shear deformation and damage would appear within fault fracture zone. The tunnel exhibited a horizontal S-shaped deformation profile under strike-slip faulting. The side walls of the tunnel mainly experience tension and compression strain state, while the roof and floor of the tunnel would be in a shear state. Circular cracks on tunnel near fault fracture zone were more significant owing to shear effects of strike-slip faulting, while the longitudinal cracks occurred at the hanging wall.

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

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.449-460
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• 2020

The double-lane arrangement model is frequently used in underground coal mines because it is beneficial to improve the mining efficiency of the working face. When the double-lane arrangement is used, the service time of the reserved roadway increases by twice, which causes several difficulties for the maintenance of the roadway. Given the severe non-uniform deformation of the reserved roadway in the Buertai Coal Mine, the stress distribution law in the mining area, the failure characteristics of roadway and the control effect of support resistance (SR) were systematically studied through on-site monitoring, FLAC 3D numerical simulation, mechanical model analysis. The research shows that the deformation and failure of the reserved roadway mainly manifested as asymmetrical roof sag and floor heave in the region behind the working face, and the roof dripping phenomenon occurred in the severe roof sag area. After the coal is mined out, the stress adjustment around goaf will happen to some extent. For example, the magnitude, direction, and confining pressure ratio of the principal stress at different positions will change. Under the influence of high-stress rotation, the plastic zone of the weak surrounding rock is expanded asymmetrically, which finally leads to the asymmetric failure of roadway. The existing roadway support has a limited effect on the control of the stress field and plastic zone, i.e., the anchor cable reinforcement cannot fully control the roadway deformation under given conditions. Based on obtained results, using roadway grouting and advanced hydraulic support during the secondary mining of the panel 22205 is proposed to ensure roadway safety. This study provides a reference for the stability control of roadway with similar geological conditions.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.541-560
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• 2017

In this research, experimental and numerical simulations were adopted to investigate the effects of ligament angle on compressive strength and failure mode of rock-like material specimens containing two non-coplanar filled fissures under uniaxial compression. The experimental results show that with the increase of ligament angle, the compressive strength decreases to a nadir at the ligament angle of $60^{\circ}$, before increasing to the maximum at the ligament angle of $120^{\circ}$, while the elastic modulus is not obviously related to the ligament angle. The shear coalescence type easily occurred when ${\alpha}$ < ${\beta}$, although having the same degree difference between the angle of ligament and fissure. Numerical simulations using $PFC^{2D}$ were performed for flawed specimens under uniaxial compression, and the results are in good consistency with the experimental results. By analyzing the crack evolution process and parallel bond force field of rock-like material specimen containing two non-coplanar filled fissures, we can conclude that the coalescence and propagation of crack are mainly derived from parallel bond force, and the crack initiation and propagation also affect the distribution of parallel bond force. Finally, the displacement vectors in ligament region were used to identify the type of coalescence, and the results coincided with that obtained by analyzing parallel bond force field. These experimental and numerical results are expected to improve the understanding of the mechanism of flawed rock engineering structures.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.675-687
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• 2018

In the previous studies on the porous rock strength the effect of pore number and its diameter is not explicitly defined. In this paper crack initiation, propagation and coalescence in Brazilian model disc containing a single cylindrical hole and or multiple holes have been studied numerically using PFC3D. In model with internal hole, the ratio of hole diameter to model diameter was varied between 0.03, 0.17, 0.25, 0.33, and 0.42. In model with multiple hole number of holes was different in various model, i.e., one hole, two holes, three holes, four holes, five holes, six holes, seven holes, eight holes and nine holes. Diameter of these holes was 5 mm, 10 mm and 12 mm. The pre-holed Brazilian discs are numerically tested under Brazilian test. The breakage load in the ring type disc specimens containing an internal hole with varying diameters is measured. The mechanism of cracks propagation in the wall of the ring type specimens is also studied. In the case of multi-hole Brazilian disc, the cracks propagation and b cracks coalescence are also investigated. The results shows that breaking of the pre-holed disc specimens is due to the propagation of radially induced tensile cracks initiated from the surface of the central hole and propagating toward the direction of diametrical loading. In the case of disc specimens with multiple holes, the cracks propagation and cracks coalescence may occur simultaneously in the breaking process of model under diametrical compressive loading. Finally the results shows that the failure stress and crack initiation stress decreases by increasing the hole diameter. Also, the failure stress decreases by increasing the number of hole which mobilized in failure. The results of these simulations were comprised with other experimental and numerical test results. It has been shown that the numerical and experimental results are in good agreement with each other.

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

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.203-210
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• 2007

As a part of basic studies on monitoring of landslides and slope stability using SP measurements, micro-electric potentials of rock samples were measured accompanied with the rock failure by a uniaxial loading test were measured. The measurement system consists of a 8 channel A/D converter with 24 bit resolution, uniaxial loading tester, strain gages and 4 sets of electrode attached to a rock sample. Rock samples of granite, limestone, and sandstone were tested. Also, mortar samples were tested in order to monitor electric-potentials of a uniform sample. Micro-electric potentials were detected in all saturated samples and the strength of them increased as the loading force increased. Sandstone samples showed the largest strength of micro-electric potential and it followed limestone and granite samples, which indicates a positive relationship with porosity of rocks. The mechanism generating these micro-electric potential can be explained in terms of electro-kinetics. In case of dry samples, micro-electric potential could be observed only in sandstone samples, where piezoelectric effect played main role due to high contents of quartz in sandstone samples. We found that biggest micro-electric potentials were observed at the electrodes near the crack surface of rock samples. This is very encouraging result that SP monitoring can be applied to predicting landsliding or to estimate collapsing position combining with monitoring of acoustic emissions.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.383-396
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• 2014

The condition, characteristics, and stability of slopes, as well as the consequences of slope failure, need to be understood for the proper stabilization of slopes and preclusion of potential disasters arising from slope failure. Here, a slope code system (SCS) that succinctly and accurately reflects the various conditions of a slope is proposed. The SCS represents the condition, characteristics, and geotechnical stability of slopes, as well as the consequences of slope failure, and the method is quickly and easily applied to a given slope. The SCS comprises five elements: 1) the slope material; 2) the genetic origin (rock type) and geological structure of the slope; 3) the geotechnical stability of the slope; 4) the probability of failure and remedial works made upon the slope; and 5) the consequences of failure. A letter code is selected from each element, and the result of the evaluation and classification of the slope is given as a five-letter code. Because the condition, characteristics, and geotechnical stability of a slope, as well as the consequences of slope failure, are provided by the SCS, this system will provide an effective mechanism for the maintenance and management of slopes, and will also allow more informed decision-making for determining which slopes should be prioritized for remedial measures.