Rock mechanics8

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
 Rock failure theories
 Insitu stress determination
 Rock mass strength and classifications
 Design of openings in rock
 Stability analysis of rock slopes
 Subsidence - prediction, measurement and
control
ROCK MECHANICS
STABILITY ANALYSIS OF ROCK SLOPES
 Slope stability
 Stability of slopes is an important engineering
topic because of economic impact on mining and
civil enterprises. Failures may be costly in the
extreme and have tragic personal consequences.
Steep slopes are favorable to the economics of
surface mines, while low slope angles favor
stability. The trade-off between these two trends
almost always results in some slope failures in
large, open pit mines. In civil works such as
highway cuts, slope failures cannot be tolerated
because of the threat to public safety.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Slope stability
 rock slopes may be classified according to an
expected mode of failure, say, by translation or
rotation. High strength rock slope failures initially
are often rigid-body like translational motions, while
low strength soil slopes often begin to fail in rigid-
body like rotations. Continued failure generally
results in disintegration of the slide mass in any
case.
 structural discontinuities that are generally present
in rock masses, especially rock masses that host ore
bodies, are important to rock slope stability. Faults,
joints, bedding planes, fractures, and contacts
between different rock types, are essential
considerations in stability analysis of rock slopes.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Slope stability
 Translational sliding along joints is the most
common form of rock slope failure; slopes in
soils tend to fail by rotation, although in densely
jointed rock masses rotational failure is
certainly possible.
 Mine waste dumps, tailings dams, earthen
embankments, road fills, storage piles of broken
rock, aggregate, and so forth, are soil-like in
mechanical behavior, are usually much weaker
than rock slopes, and also tend to fail by
rotation
ROCK MECHANICS
 Slope stability
 major determinants of slope stability
 slope height
 slope angle.
 water
 A primary objective of slope stability analysis is estimation of a

factor of safety for the considered slope and slide mass.
 forces that act downhill in the direction of the potential slide

are driving forces; uphill forces are resisting.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Slope stability
 Motion impends if the resultant of external forces is greater
than zero. In this case, according to Newton’s second law of
motion
F = ma; F = D−R
D(1 − FS) = ma
 a safety factor less than one indicates a positive, downhill
acceleration
 A safety factor greater than one indicates a negative
acceleration that for a slide mass at rest is physically
meaningless; the slide mass would remain at rest.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Slope stability
 In the case of rotational sliding,
 M = M D− M R
MD (1 − FS) = M
ROCK MECHANICS
 Translational rock slope failures
 Planar block slides vs. wedge slides
 Planar block slides

o Driving forces:
• slide mass weight Ws
• seismic force Ss
• surcharge force Fs
• water force Ps
o Resisting forces:
• reinforcement normal force Nb;
• reinforcement tangential force Tb;
• cohesive force C;
• water forces Pn, P’
ROCK MECHANICS
 Planar block slides vs. wedge slides
 Planar block slides
where p = persistence = Aj/A

ROCK MECHANICS
 Example
 Consider a planar block slide without a tension crack and
loaded by gravity only. Slope face angle β is 45◦; slope
height H is 30 m. A potential failure surface is inclined 35◦
(α) from the horizontal. Cohesion c of the failure surface is
estimated to be 0.10 kN/m2, while the friction angle φ is
estimated to be 30◦. Specific weight γ of the block is 25
kN/m3. Determine the slope safety factor FS when the
water table is below the slope toe.
 Solution: Sketch and then draw a free body diagram of
the slide mass.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Solution:
V = bH2/2[cot(α) − cot(β)]
= (1)(30)2 [1.4281 − 1.0000]/2
V = 192.6 m3
W = γV = 25*192.6 kN
W = 4.82 MN
and
N = 4.82 cos(35◦)
N = 3.95 MN
C = (0.1 (30)/sin(35◦)
C = 5.23 kN
D = W sin(α)
= 4.82 sin(35◦) =2.76 MN
= 2.72
ROCK MECHANICS
 Solution:
By definition
FS = R/D, R = forces resisting, D = forces driving,
R = N tan(φ) + C, N = normal force, C = cA, cohesive force,
N = W cos(α), A = L/sin(α),
W = γ V, V = volume.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Exercise 1:
 Given the possible planar block slide shown in the sketch
and the associated free body diagram with α = 35◦, β= 45◦,
c = 200 kN/m2, φ = 28◦, γ = 24.7 kN/m3, H = 122 m, determine
the slope safety factor without a surcharge and with a
surcharge from a stockpile of broken rock 1.5 m high with a
specific weight of 15.2 kN/m3.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Exercise 2a:
a) Given the planar block slide data shown in the sketch
where a uniformly distributed surcharge σ is applied to
the slope crest over an area (bl), first find the slope safety
factor without a surcharge and then find the magnitude
of the surcharge possible for a slope safety factor of 1.1
against translational sliding. Note that b = 7.62 m.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Exercise 2b:
 Consider the planar block slide in the sketch. If no
surcharge is present, find themax imum depth H of
excavation possible before failure impends.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Exercise 2c:
 Suppose the slope in the sketch is cable bolted. No
surcharge is present. Bolt spacing is 15.2 m in the vertical
direction and 25 ft (7.6 m) in the horizontal direction.
Bolts assemblages are composed of 12 strands of Type 270
cable (ultimate strength or 2.22 MN) and are installed in
down holes (5◦). Design tension is 60% of the ultimate
strength. Find the safety factor obtained by bolting and
therefore the improvement in the safety factor obtained
(difference between the bolted and unbolted slope safety
factors).
ROCK MECHANICS
 Exercise 2d-e
 Consider the planar block slide in sketch without
surcharge, seismic load, and bolt reinforcement and
suppose the water table rises to the top of the slide. Find
the safety factor of the “flooded” slide mass.
 Suppose the cohesion of the slide mass shown in the
sketch decreases to zero and no surcharge, seismic load,
or water is present. Determine whether the slide mass
will accelerate, and if so, the magnitude and direction of
the acceleration of the slide mass center.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Translational rock slope failures-wedge failure
 Wedge failure
 Wedge failures are mainly translational slides that occur
when joint planes combine to form a rock block that may
slide down the line of intersection of the two joint planes.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Wedge failure
ROCK MECHANICS
 Wedge failure
 In tunnels excavated in jointed rock masses at relatively
shallow depth, the most common types of failure are those
involving wedges falling from the roof or sliding out of the
sidewalls of the openings. These wedges are formed by
intersecting structural features, such as bedding planes
and joints, which separate the rock mass into discrete but
interlocked pieces. When a free face is created by the
excavation of the opening, the restraint from the
surrounding rock is removed. One or more of these wedges
can fall or slide from the surface if the bounding planes
are continuous or rock bridges along the discontinuities
are broken.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Wedge failure
Roof fall Sidewall wedge

ROCK MECHANICS
 Wedge failure
 Unless steps are taken to support these loose wedges, the
stability of the back and walls of the opening may
deteriorate rapidly. Each wedge, which is allowed to fall
or slide, will cause a reduction in the restraint and the
interlocking of the rock mass and this, in turn, will allow
other wedges to fall. This failure process will continue
until natural arching in the rock mass prevents further
unravelling or until the opening is full of fallen material.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Wedge failure
 The steps which are required to deal with this problem
are:
1. Determination of average dip and dip direction of
significant discontinuity sets.
2. Identification of potential wedges which can slide or fall
from the back or walls.
3. Calculation of the factor of safety of these wedges,
depending upon the mode of failure.
4. Calculation of the amount of reinforcement required to
bring the factor of safety of individual wedges up to an
acceptable level.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Wedge failure – UNWEDGE
 The size and shape of wedges formed in the rock mass
surrounding a tunnel excavation depend upon
geometry and orientation of the tunnel and also upon
the orientation of the joint sets. The three
dimensional geometry problems can be solved by
computer programs such as UNWEDGE.
 UNWEDGE is a three dimensional stability analysis
and visualization program for underground
excavations in rock containing intersecting structural
discontinuities.
 UNWEDGE provides enhanced support models for
bolts, shotcrete and support pressures, the ability to
optimize tunnel orientation and an option to look at
different combinations of three joint sets based on a
list of more than three joint sets.
ROCK MECHANICS
 In UNWEDGE, safety factors are calculated for
potentially unstable wedges and support
requirements can be modeled using various types
of pattern and spot bolting and shotcrete.
 Fig. UNWEDGE Analysis: (a) Wedges Formed
Surrounding a Tunnel; (b) Support Installation
ROCK MECHANICS
 Wedge failure – Example
 A tunnel is to be excavated in this rock mass and the cross
section of the ramp is given in the sketch. The axis of the
tunnel is inclined at 15° to the horizontal or, to use the
terminology associated with structural geology analysis, the
tunnel axis plunges at 15°. In the portion of the tunnel under
consideration in this example, the axis runs due north-south
or the trend of the axis is 180°. Major joint sets given:
ROCK MECHANICS
 Wedge failure – UNWEDGE results
 Critical wedges and supports (rock bolts) provided
ROCK MECHANICS
 Rotational slope failures
 Two important types of rotational slope failures are (1) a
conventional reverse rotation along surface that is often
approximated as a circular arc transecting a soil-like
material and (2) a forward rotation associated with
toppling of rock blocks.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Rotational slope failures
 The method of slices is a way of approximating the overall
equilibrium requirement of the slip circle mass. There are
many varieties of the method; an important beginning is
the simplified Bishop method.
 The same slope divided into vertical slices. Replacement of
integration by summation results in the approximation.
ROCK MECHANICS
 Rotational slope failures - Exercise
 Consider a bank 12.2 m high with a slope of 30◦ that may
fail by rotation on a slip circle of radius 18.3 m with center
at (6.10, 14.63 m) relative to coordinates in m with origin at
the bank toe. In this case, the clip circle dips below the toe.
Cohesion and friction angle are 34.5 kPa and 18◦. The table
gives widths of nine slices to be used for analysis.
Numbering proceeds from the left near the toe to the right
at the slope crest.
Slice 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
m 2.44 2.44 4.88 4.88 4.88 3.66 2.83 2.44 0.67
 Use a spreadsheet to analyze the slope stability and to
show that the factor of safety is 2.164.

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ROCK MECHANICS

 A primary objective of slope stability analysis is estimation of a

 forces that act downhill in the direction of the potential slide

 Planar block slides

 Planar block slides

where p = persistence = Aj/A

Roof fall Sidewall wedge

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