Abstract
The presence of complex discontinuity patterns, the inherent statistical nature of their geometrical parameters, the uncertainties involved in the estimation of the discontinuity geometrical and geo-mechanical properties and complex three dimensional (3-D) in-situ stress make the accurate prediction of rock mass strength a difficult task. It has been a great challenge for the rock mechanics and rock engineering professions to develop a rock mass strength criterion in three dimensions that incorporates the effect of the minor and intermediate principal stresses and captures the scale dependent and anisotropic properties resulting from the discontinuity geometry parameters, such as the number of discontinuity sets, 3-D discontinuity intensity, and the distributions of the discontinuity orientation and size. Rock mechanics and rock engineering researchers have dealt with this topic for more than 55 years. The paper provides a critical review of the current state of the art regarding 3-D jointed rock mass strength criteria. The shortcomings of several rock mass strength criteria are discussed. The historic development of rock mass strength criteria that incorporate the effect of the minor and intermediate principal stresses and capture the scale dependent and anisotropic properties is presented. The most advanced 3-D rock mass strength criteria currently available in the literature are presented, including suggested future improvements.
Highlights
Most naturally occurring discontinuous rock masses comprise intact rock interspaced with different types of discontinuities
Due to the presence of discontinuities, the geomechanical response of discontinuous rock masses can be highly complicated under complex geology and in-situ stress systems
Estimation of the REV size, the REV mechanical properties and orthotropic constitutive models for jointed rock masses at the three-dimensional (3-D) level has been reported by Kulatilake et al [2] and Wu and Kulatilake [3]
Summary
Most naturally occurring discontinuous rock masses comprise intact rock interspaced with different types of discontinuities. The REV sizes and the corresponding REV mechanical properties can be used to represent the combined equivalent continuum behavior of minor discontinuities (joints) and intact rock To this system of the rock mass, the major discontinuities can be added as single features to complete the representation of the whole rock mass. Estimation of the REV size, the REV mechanical properties and orthotropic constitutive models for jointed rock masses at the three-dimensional (3-D) level has been reported by Kulatilake et al [2] and Wu and Kulatilake [3] These results clearly indicated that the strength and deformability of rock masses show very significant scale effects and anisotropic behavior at the 3-D level due to pre-existing fracture systems. The aim of this paper is to provide the state of the art of the estimation of 3-D jointed rock mass strength criteria using physical, empirical, analytical and numerical modeling methodologies
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