Parametric Study of Rockbolt Shear Behaviour by Double Shear Test

Abstract

Failure of rockbolts as a result of shear or bending loads can often be found in underground excavations. The response of rock anchorage systems has been studied in shear, both by laboratory tests as well as numerical modelling in this study. A double shear test was developed to examine the shear behaviour of a bolt installed across two joints at different angles. To investigate the influence of various parameters in the double shear test, a numerical model of a fully grouted rockbolt installed in concrete was constructed and analysed using FLAC3D code. A number of parameters were considered including concrete strength, inclination between rockbolt and joints and rockbolt diameter. The numerical model considered three material types (steel, grout and concrete) and three interfaces (concrete–concrete, grout–concrete and grout–rockbolt). The main conclusions drawn from the study were that the level of bolt resistance to shear was influenced by rock strength, inclination angle, and diameter of the rockbolt. The numerical simulation of the bolt/grout interaction and deformational behaviour was found to be in close agreement with earlier experimental test results.