Title of Paper:SCALE EFFECT OF JOINTED ROCKS IN FAILURE

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Date of Publication:2009-01-01

Included Journals:CPCI-S

Page Number:1483-1488

Abstract:The problem of scale effect of jointed rock masses is an important issue in civil and mining engineering. The scale/size effect of the rock mass specimens containing ideally distributed joints subjected to uniaxial compression is studied numerically by using a numerical code. Unlike other numerical models, complete failure process can be obtained, and also the heterogeneous nature of material in mesoscopic scale can be taken into consideration. By varying the dip angle of the joints, the numerical rock mass specimens show a strong anisotropic feature. Numerical results confirm that scale effect or size effect for jointed rock masses maybe originates from the joint distribution, the strength of joints and rocks. The strength of the jointed rock masses decreases with the increasing of the scale/size, which can be predicted by a negative exponential formula. The failure mode of the jointed rock masses can be classified into tensile fracture perpendicular to the joints or shear fracture parallel to the joints. The results will give help to understand the mechanical behaviour of jointed rock masses.