ROCK MECHANICS

UMIE 3112
Dr.-Ing. Henok Fikre
ROCK MECHANICS
COURSE OUTLINE

 Introduction
 Physical and mechnical prorperties of
rocks
 Common insitu and laboratory tests
 Stress and strain relationships
 Insitu stress determination
 Rock failure theories
 Rock mass strength and classifications
 Design of openings in rock
 Stability analysis of rock slopes
 Subsidence - prediction, measurement and
control
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

Note: Poisson‘s ratio and the Young‘s modulus are

material-dependent and may vary in different directions.
Special cases of‚ ν’: 0.25 ... purely elastic, 0.5 ... liquid
(incompressible)
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS
Draw Mohr’s circles of stresses for the following cases and indicate
what the state of stress represents
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 EXERCISE 1
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 EXERCISE 1 - solution
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 EXERCISE 2
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 EXERCISE 2 - solution
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 Triaxial test: ductile and brittle behaviours

ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 Stress-strain r/p
(triaxial)
 Behaviour depends on
confining (cell
pressure)
 ductility at higher cell
pressures
 compression at the
beginning and then
dilation
 Brittle - ductile
transition pressure-
higher for
igneous/metamorphic rocks
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 Effect of pore water

pressure (triaxial)
 for a constant confining
pressure
 transition from ductile to
brittle behaviour as u
is increased from 0 to
69 MPa
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 Triaxial Mohr circle construction

ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 Stress-strain in two dimension: Hooke’s law

a) Plane stress (edge loaded slab) and b) plane strain (imaginay slab in a long block)
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 Exercise
ROCK MECHANICS
STRESSES AND STRAINS

 Assignment
 Brady Chapter 2, Prob 1 – group1
 Brady Chapter 2, Prob 2 – group2
 Brady Chapter 2, Prob 3 – group3
 Brady Chapter 2, Prob 4 – group4
 Brady Chapter 2, Prob 5 – group5