Responses of jointed rock masses subjected to impact loading

Impact-induced damage to jointed rock masses has important consequences in various mining and civil engineering applications. This paper reports a numerical investigation to address the responses of jointed rock masses subjected to impact loading. It also focuses on the static and dynamic properties of an intact rock derived from a series of laboratory tests on meta-sandstone samples from a quarry in Nova Scotia, Canada. A distinct element code (PFC2D) was used to generate a bonded particle model (BPM) to simulate both the static and dynamic properties of the intact rock. The calibrated BPM was then used to construct large-scale jointed rock mass samples by incorporating discrete joint networks of multiple joint intensities into the intact rock matrix represented by the BPM. Finally, the impact-induced damage inflicted by a rigid projectile particle on the jointed rock mass samples was determined through the use of the numerical model. The simulation results show that joints play an important role in the impact-induced rock mass damage where higher joint intensity results in more damage to the rock mass. This is mainly attributed to variations of stress wave propagation in jointed rock masses as compared to intact rock devoid of joints.     

粗糙节理的峰值抗剪强度准则

采用3组具有不同表面形貌的节理试件分别在0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0,3.0 MPa的法向应力下进行直剪试验,研究常法向应力条件下峰值抗剪强度与节理表面三维形貌特征参数之间的定量关系。选用有效三维平均倾角、最大可能接触面积比作为表征节理三维形貌特征的参数;在分析剪胀角与法向应力关系的基础上基于试验结果提出双曲线形式的经验剪胀角模型,进而建立新的节理峰值抗剪强度公式。与Barton公式、Son公式进行了对比,在分析计算偏差的基础上对新公式做出简要评价。     

Estimating the relation between surface roughness and mechanical properties of rock joints

Discontinuities in rock masses have an important influence on deformational behaviour of blocky rock systems. For a single rock joint, the roughness of its surface is of paramount importance to its mechanical and hydraulic properties, such as friction angle, shear strength, and dilatancy/aperture. Many methods have been used to characterize the surface roughness of rock joints, such as joint roughness coefficients (JRC), root mean square (RMS) value, structure function (SF) etc. However, most of these methods can only be used in the 2-D models. In this study, we carried out direct shear experiments on rock joints under both constant normal load (CNL) and constant normal stiffness (CNS) conditions, and measured the surfaces of rock joints before and after shearing, using a 3-D laser scanning profilometer system. By using a 3-D fractal evaluation method of roughness characterization, the projective covering method (PCM) and a direct shear apparatus of high accuracy, the relation between mechanical properties of rock joints under different boundary conditions and the change of their fractal dimensions in both 2-D and 3-D models have been examined, which gives a new approach to accurately evaluate the evolution of roughness of rock joint surfaces and its influence on the hydro-mechanical behaviours of rock joints.     

一种考虑剪切速率的粗糙结构面剪切强度准则

动荷载(不同剪切速率)下的节理岩体结构稳定性是目前工程建设亟待解决的问题之一。以黄岛国家石油储备库地下水封石油洞库工程为工程背景,采用JAW-600岩石剪切流变–渗流耦合试验机对4种粗糙度下的类岩石粗糙结构面进行不同剪切速率下的常规剪切试验,对结构面的强度特性进行了基础性研究。研究结果表明:剪切速率和粗糙度对结构面剪切强度都有较为明显的影响;同一结构面的剪切强度随着剪切速率的增大而减小,并不受粗糙度系数的影响;同时结构面剪切强度随粗糙度系数增加呈现出线性增加的趋势,但不受剪切速率的影响。最后,基于试验结果与Barton模型,提出考虑剪切速率的粗糙结构面剪切强度模型。Barton标准粗糙剖面线结构面及粗糙结构面的试验结果与新模型预测值误差保持在20%之内,平均误差为10.539%,能够较好的预测粗糙结构面动荷载条件下剪切强度。     

A study into optimization of stiffeners in plates subjected to shear loading

A great deal of attention has been focused on plates subjected to shear loading over the past decades. One main fact in design of such elements, which fall in the category of thin-walled structures, is their buckling behavior. Plate girders and recently shear walls are being widely used by structural engineers, as well as ship and aircraft designers. The role of stiffeners is proved to be vital in design of such structures to minimize their weight and cost.In this work, by using ANSYS finite element method of analysis, some 1200 plates are analyzed in order to study the role of stiffeners and to come up with some limits for an optimized design procedure. This eigenvalue method of analysis is first validated with the theoretical calculations and known cases for a wide range of typical panel geometries.The results show that the number of panels produced by intermediate transverse stiffeners should not be less than the value of plate's aspect ratio. In other words, the transverse stiffeners should divide the length of the plate to portions equal or less than its width.It is also shown that the optimum geometric properties of the stiffeners correspond to the point when the buckling shape of a plate changes from the overall mode to local mode. Furthermore, all stiffened plates, with a similar aspect ratio and number of stiffeners, have a specific value of EI_s/aD, for which the critical shear stress is optimal. In addition, some expressions to predict these properties are presented.     

Over-consolidation effect on shear behavior of rock joints

Although many researchers have studied the normal and shear behavior of fractures under stresses, the over-consolidation effect on the slip/shear behavior of discontinuities has not been considered. The over-consolidation behavior of non-planar rock fractures should be considered when deposition–consolidation–erosion (or excavation) sequences occur. Plaster replicas of representative natural rock joint surfaces were prepared for this study. In this case, the surface roughness and other geometrical properties remain constant during the laboratory direct shear tests. It was observed that the shear strength within a large range of roughness, joint wall strength and normal stress values significantly increases with increasing over-consolidation ratio. According to the test results, a new model is developed as an extended form of Barton's shear failure criterion for rock joints. This model considers the effect of various paths of normal loading/unloading before shearing and over-consolidation ratio in a fracture. A new joint over-closure (JOC) parameter is also introduced as the ratio of closure in over-closed to normally closed conditions.     

Steel sheathed cold-formed steel framed shear walls subjected to lateral and gravity loading

The design of steel sheathed cold-formed steel (CFS) framed shear walls is not addressed in Canadian design standards. A program of displacement based loading tests was carried out on single-storey shear walls of various configurations to investigate their performance and to establish a comprehensive database of information. The walls, which were subjected to lateral loading and combined lateral plus gravity loading, differed in sheathing thickness, screw fastener detailing, framing thickness, aspect ratio and framing reinforcement. The performance under loading was directly related to the sheathing connection pattern; however, when the framing elements were not blocked tension field forces resulted in significant damage to the chord studs. Details of the test program and general results are presented in this paper.     

节理的剪切力学性质与含三维形貌参数的剪切强度准则比较研究

利用水泥砂浆材料浇注3组不同表面形貌的节理试件,由常法向应力下的直剪试验研究节理的剪切力学性质,并分析法向应力、三维形貌特征对抗剪强度的影响。直剪试验结果表明：峰值剪胀角与法向应力成反变化关系,与粗糙程度呈正变化关系;峰值抗剪强度与法向应力、粗糙程度均呈正变化关系。分析了JRC-JCS准则计算值偏低于试验值的原因,根据试验现象建议采用三维形貌参数、抗拉强度描述节理的剪切强度。对比分析了含三维形貌参数的峰值抗剪强度准则,建议低法向应力水平下采用双曲线形式的峰值剪切强度准则估算岩石节理的峰值抗剪强度。     

Anisotropic surface roughness and shear behaviors of rough-walled plaster joints under constant normal load and constant normal stiffness conditions

In this context,we experimentally studied the anisotropic mechanical behaviors of rough-walled plaster joints using a servo-controlled direct shear apparatus under both constant normal load(CNL)and constant normal stiffness(CNS)conditions.The shear-induced variations in the normal displacement,shear stress,normal stress and sheared-off asperity mass are analyzed and correlated with the inclination angle of the critical waviness of joint surfaces.The results show that CNS condition gives rise to a smaller normal displacement due to the larger normal stress during shearing,compared with CNL condition.Under CNL conditions,there is one peak shear stress during shearing,whereas there are no peak shear stress for some cases and two peaks for other cases under CNS conditions depending on the geometry of joint surfaces.The inclination angle of the critical waviness has been verified to be capable of describing the joint surface roughness and anisotropy.The joint surface is more significantly damaged under CNS conditions than that under CNL conditions.With increment of the inclination angle of the critical waviness,both the normal displaceme nt and shea red-off asperity mass increase,following power law functions;yet the coefficient of deternination under CNL conditions is larger than that under CNS conditions.This is because the CNS condition significantly decreases the inclination angle of the critical waviness during shearing due to the larger degree of asperity degradation.     

Numerical study of shear behavior of intermittent rock joints with different geometrical parameters

The purpose of this paper is to investigate shear behavior of rock specimens containing several intermittent joints with different geometrical parameters. Through three series of direct shear tests based on rock failure process analysis (RFPA^2D) code, the whole shear failure process is visually observed and the failure patterns in reasonable accordance with other experimental results are obtained. In general, the failure pattern is mostly influenced by the geometrical parameters of rock joints while shear strength is closely related to the failure pattern and its failure mechanism. It is observed that the propagation of wing cracks depends on the joint separation and the joint azimuth angle, and the connection of wing cracks dominates the eventual failure pattern and determines the peak shear load of the rock specimens. The results also show that macro shear fracture is due to the mesoscopic tensile damage of a large number of elements. This numerical study has made a more reasonable theoretical explanation for the shear mechanism of jointed rock due to the inner damages that are difficult to observe in an experimental testing.     

Method for visualizing the shear process of rock joints using 3D laser scanning and 3D printing techniques

This study presents a visualized approach for tracking joint surface morphology. Three-dimensional laser scanning (3DLS) and 3D printing (3DP) techniques are adopted to record progressive failure during rock joint shearing. The 3DP resin is used to create transparent specimens to reproduce the surface morphology of a natural joint precisely. The freezing method is employed to enhance the mechanical properties of the 3DP specimens to reproduce the properties of hard rock more accurately. A video camera containing a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera is utilized to record the evolution of damaged area of joint surface during the direct shear test. The optimal shooting distance and shooting angle are recommended to be 800 mm and 40°, respectively. The images captured by the CCD camera are corrected to quantitatively describe the damaged area on the joint surface. Verification indicates that this method can accurately describe the total sheared areas at different shear stages. These findings may contribute to elucidating the shear behavior of rock joints.     

Effect of rock joint roughness on its cyclic shear behavior

Rock joints are often subjected to dynamic loads induced by earthquake and blasting during mining and rock cutting. Hence, cyclic shear load can be induced along the joints and it is important to evaluate the shear behavior of rock joint under this condition. In the present study, synthetic rock joints were prepared with plaster of Paris(Po P). Regular joints were simulated by keeping regular asperity with asperity angles of 15°-15° and 30°-30°, and irregular rock joints which are closer to natural joints were replicated by keeping the asperity angles of 15°-30° and 15°-45°. The sample size and amplitude of roughness were kept the same for both regular and irregular joints which were 298 mm×298 mm×125 mm and 5 mm, respectively. Shear test was performed on these joints using a large-scale direct shear testing machine by keeping the frequency and amplitude of shear load under constant cyclic condition with different normal stress values. As expected, the shear strength of rock joints increased with the increases in the asperity angle and normal load during the first cycle of shearing or static load. With the increase of the number of shear cycles, the shear strength decreased for all the asperity angles but the rate of reduction was more in case of high asperity angles. Test results indicated that shear strength of irregular joints was higher than that of regular joints at different cycles of shearing at low normal stress. Shearing and degradation of joint asperities on regular joints were the same between loading and unloading, but different for irregular joints. Shear strength and joint degradation were more significant on the slope of asperity with higher angles on the irregular joint until two angles of asperities became equal during the cycle of shearing and it started behaving like regular joints for subsequent cycles.     

剪切荷载下贯通结构面应变能演化机制研究

 开展贯通结构面剪切荷载下应变能演化规律研究,有利于更好地理解岩体复杂的力学行为。以重庆武隆鸡尾山滑坡岩体结构面为例,综合利用三维激光扫描、红外热成像以及离散元数值模拟等技术,开展岩体结构面室内与数值试验,获取剪切破坏全过程应变能演化规律。研究结果显示：(1) 贯通结构面剪切破坏时,能量集聚发生在岩体结构面表面,其中面向剪切方向的部位,能量集聚相对较多,证明这些部位在剪切破坏过程中起到主要抗剪作用;(2) 贯通结构面上下盘接触部位在剪切破坏前,发生能量集聚现象,弹性应变能增加,当增加到能量极限时,接触部位岩体被剪断破坏,能量释放,应变能减小。并且不同部位的应变能演化规律不一样,结构面中部位置剪切破坏时上下盘可能发生多次摩擦,能量演化也交替出现集聚与释放现象;(3) 红外热成像试验温度分布结果与数值模拟弹性应变能结果具有较好的一致性,说明数值模拟数据真实可靠。该研究成果对完善岩体不同荷载下的能量演化机制做出了一定贡献。     

基于三维形貌特征的岩石节理峰值剪切强度准则研究

引入3个在一定范围内独立于测量尺度的三维形貌参数表征岩石节理形貌,并基于形貌参数建立了新的岩石节理峰值剪切强度准则。同时采用新准则和Barton公式计算了23对岩石节理的峰值剪切强度并与室内直剪试验结果对比,新准则的计算值与试验结果较为接近而Barton公式在一定程度上低估了节理剪切强度,表明新准则能更好地描述节理峰值剪切强度。新准则的三维形貌参数反映了不同形貌特征对剪切强度的贡献,物理意义明确,并且形貌参数可在一定范围内采用任意尺度测量,因而有利于新准则的工程应用。进一步分析表明：在规则齿形节理情况下,新准则可退化到Patton公式的形式,因而新准则实质是Patton公式的三维推广。     

节理粗糙度与分维

岩体节理粗糙度JRC不但是估算节理抗剪强度和变形指标最重要的参数,而且对于研究岩石的剪胀效应和渗流性质等具有重要意义.笔者主要回顾了近年来国内外对岩石节理粗糙度系数(JRC)研究的进展,以及所取得的成果,尤其将分形理论应用于研究岩石节理的粗糙度以后,使得对岩体节理粗糙度的描述取得了一定的发展,并得出了JRC与维数的一系列的关系.     

A probabilistic model for the assessment of uncertainties in the shear strength of rock discontinuities

Discontinuity shear strength plays a critical role in many problems encountered in rock engineering, especially in the design of rock slopes. Since its precise estimation is generally not possible, it is crucial that the errors and uncertainties associated with its estimate be quantified and reflected in the design procedure. In this study, the uncertainties underlying discontinuity shear strength are thoroughly examined and an uncertainty analysis model is developed for the estimation of in situ discontinuity shear strength with a special emphasis on rock slopes. An extensive literature survey on shear behavior of unfilled rock discontinuities has been carried out and the necessary data for the quantification of uncertainties are extracted from this survey. These uncertainties stem from the discrepancies between laboratory-measured and in situ discontinuity shear strength values, as well as from the inherent variability of shear strength within a rock medium. The main causes of discrepancies, namely, scale, anisotropy and water saturation are considered. For each source of discrepancy a correction factor, treated as a random variable, is assigned and guidelines for the quantification of the statistical parameters of these correction factors are presented within the framework of the proposed uncertainty analysis model. The proposed uncertainty model provides an analytical tool for the systematic treatment of uncertainties involved in the estimation of the in situ value of peak friction angle from the laboratory test results.     

Breakage and shear behaviour of intermittent rock joints

The breakage and shear behaviour of intermittent rock joints have been investigated in a series of direct shear tests with a new shear device, specifically designed for this purpose. The tests have been performed on specimens of rock-like material or hard rock, respectively, incorporating idealized non-persistent joints, made up of a number of short cracks in an en-échelon arrangement along the central shear axis.The shear behaviour of such a joint constellation has been found to be composed of different phases. The first phase of shearing is that of the actual rupture, initiated by the formation of wing cracks, starting from the existing cracks and growing into the material bridges, and concluded by the generation of additional new fractures connecting the initial cracks in the zone between the wing cracks. The second phase of shearing is characterized by friction processes and volume increase in the then continuous shear zone. Finally, the third phase of shearing, reached after large shear displacements, is determined by sliding processes inside the strongly fractured shear zone.In a large number of shear tests the geometrical parameters of the discontinuous joints as well as the loading conditions have been found to influence the activated shear resistance in each phase of shearing to a noticeably different extent. The orientation of the initial cracks and the normal stress, however, have been identified as the most influential parameters. Depending on the test conditions, an initially discontinuous rock joint can activate the largest shear resistance not just before rupture but in one of the two subsequent phases of shearing as well.The mechanisms which govern the different shear phases could be identified as (1) tensile rupturing, (2) rolling and sliding friction of dilatant joint zones and (3) sliding within the joint filling composed of brecciated material.