• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.85-97
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• 2019

It can be observed that steep slopes ($65^{\circ}$ to $80^{\circ}$) consist of rock masses were kept stable for a long time. In rock-mass slopes with similar ground condition, steeper slopes than 1 : 0.5 ($63^{\circ}$) may be applied if the discontinuities of rock-mass slope are distributed in a direction favorable to the stability of the slope. In making a decision the angle of the slope, if the preliminary rock mass conditions applicable to steep slope are quantitatively setup, they may be used as guidance in design practice. In this study, the above rock mass was defined as a good continuum rock mass and the quantitative setup criterion range was proposed using RMR, SMR and GSI classifications for the purpose of providing engineering standard for good continuum rock mass conditions. The methods of study are as follows. The stable slope at steep slopes ($65^{\circ}$ to $80^{\circ}$) for each rock type was selected as the study area, and RMR, SMR and GSI were classified to reflect the face mapping results. The results were reviewed by applying the calculated shear strength to the stable analysis of the current state of rock mass slope using the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. It is intended to verify the validity of the preliminary criterion as a rock mass condition that remains stable on a steep slope. Based on the analysis and review by the above research method, it was analyzed that a good continuum rock mass slope can be set to Basic RMR ${\geq}50$ (45 in sedimentary rock), GSI and SMR ${\geq}45$. The safety factor of the LEM is between Fs = 14.08 and 67.50 (average 32.9), and the displacement of the FEM is 0.13 to 0.64 mm (average 0.27 mm). This can be seen as a result of quantitative representation and verification of the stability of a good continuum rock mass slope that has been maintained stable for a long period of time with steep slopes ($65^{\circ}$ to $80^{\circ}$). The setup guideline for a good continuum rock mass slope will be able to establish a more detailed setup standard when the data are accumulated, and it is also a further study project. If stable even on steep slopes of 1 : 0.1 to 0.3, the upper limit of steep slopes is 1 : 0.3 with reference to the overseas design standards and report, thus giving the benefit of ensuring economic and eco-friendlyness. Also, the development of excavation technology and plantation technology and various eco-friendly slope design techniques will help overcome psychological anxiety and rapid weathering and relaxation due to steep slope construction.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.13-21
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• 2019

There are many cuts or natural rock slopes that remain stable for a long time in the natural environment with steep slopes ($65^{\circ}$ to $85^{\circ}$). In terms of design practice, the rock mass consisting of similar rock condition and geological structures is defined as a good continuum rock slope, and during the process of decision making angle of this rock slope, it will be important to establish the geotechnical properties estimating method of the continuum rock on the process of stability analysis in the early stages of design and construction. In this study, the stability analysis of a good continuum rock slope that can be designed as a steep slope proposed a practical method of estimating the shear strength by induced from the Hoek-Brown failure criterion, and in addition, the design applicability was evaluated through the stability analysis of steep rock slope. The existing method of estimating the shear strength was inadequate for practical use in the design, as the equivalent M-C shear strength corresponding to the H-B envelope changes sensitively, even with small variations in confining stress. To compensate for this problem, it was proposed to estimate equivalent M-C shear strength by iso-angle division method. To verify the design applicability of the iso-angle division method, the results of the safety factor and the displacement according to the change in angle of the cut slope constructed at the existing working design site were reviewed. The safety factor is FS=16~59 on the 1:0.5 slope, FS=12~52 on the 1:0.3 slope, most of which show a 10~12 percent reduction. Displacement is 0.126 to 0.975 mm on the 1:0.5 slope, 0.152 to 1.158 mm on the 1:0.3 slope, and represents an increase of 10 to 15%. This is a slightly change in normal proportion and is in good condition in terms of stability. In terms practical the working design, it was confirmed that applying the shear strength estimated by Iso-angle division method derived from the H-B failure criterion as a universal shear strength for a good continuum rock mass slope was also able to produce stable and economic results. The procedure for stability analysis using LEM (Limit Equilibrium Analysis Method) and FEM (Finite Element Analysis Method) will also be practical in the rock slope where is not distributed fault. The study was conducted by selecting the slope of study area as a good rock condition, establishing a verification for which it can be applied universal to a various rock conditions will be a research subject later on.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.125-132
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• 2020

Embedded joints in the rock mass are a major constituent influencing its mechanical behavior. Numerical analysis requires a rigorous modeling methodology for the rock mass with detailed information regarding joint properties, orientation, spacing, and persistence. This paper provides a mechanical model for a jointed rock mass based on the implicit joint-continuum approach. Stiffness tensors for rock mass are evaluated for an assemblage of intact rock separated by sets of joint planes. It is a linear summation of compliance of each joint sets and intact rock in the serial stiffness system. In the application example, kinematic analysis for a planar failure of rock slope is comparable with empirical daylight envelope and its lateral limits. Since the developed implicit joint-continuity model is formulated on a continuum basis, it will be a major tool for the numerical simulations adopting published plenteous thermal-hydro-chemical experimental results.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.5-19
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• 2019

Considering the natural phenomenon in which steep slopes ($65^{\circ}{\sim}85^{\circ}$) consisting of rock mass remain stable for decades, slopes steeper than 1:0.5 (the standard of slope angle for blast rock) may be applied in geotechnical conditions which are similar to those above at the design and initial construction stages. In the process of analysing the stability of a good to fair continuum rock slope that can be designed as a steep slope, a general method of estimating rock mass strength properties from design practice perspective was required. Practical and genealized engineering methods of determining the properties of a rock mass are important for a good continuum rock slope that can be designed as a steep slope. The Genealized Hoek-Brown (H-B) failure criterion and GSI (Geological Strength Index), which were revised and supplemented by Hoek et al. (2002), were assessed as rock mass characterization systems fully taking into account the effects of discontinuities, and were widely utilized as a method for calculating equivalent Mohr-Coulomb shear strength (balancing the areas) according to stress changes. The concept of calculating equivalent M-C shear strength according to the change of confining stress range was proposed, and on a slope, the equivalent shear strength changes sensitively with changes in the maximum confining stress (${{\sigma}^{\prime}}_{3max}$ or normal stress), making it difficult to use it in practical design. In this study, the method of estimating the strength properties (an iso-angle division method) that can be applied universally within the maximum confining stress range for a good to fair continuum rock mass slope is proposed by applying the H-B failure criterion. In order to assess the validity and applicability of the proposed method of estimating the shear strength (A), the rock slope, which is a study object, was selected as the type of rock (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary) on the steep slope near the existing working design site. It is compared and analyzed with the equivalent M-C shear strength (balancing the areas) proposed by Hoek. The equivalent M-C shear strength of the balancing the areas method and iso-angle division method was estimated using the RocLab program (geotechnical properties calculation software based on the H-B failure criterion (2002)) by using the basic data of the laboratory rock triaxial compression test at the existing working design site and the face mapping of discontinuities on the rock slope of study area. The calculated equivalent M-C shear strength of the balancing the areas method was interlinked to show very large or small cohesion and internal friction angles (generally, greater than $45^{\circ}$). The equivalent M-C shear strength of the iso-angle division is in-between the equivalent M-C shear properties of the balancing the areas, and the internal friction angles show a range of $30^{\circ}$ to $42^{\circ}$. We compared and analyzed the shear strength (A) of the iso-angle division method at the study area with the shear strength (B) of the existing working design site with similar or the same grade RMR each other. The application of the proposed iso-angle division method was indirectly evaluated through the results of the stability analysis (limit equilibrium analysis and finite element analysis) applied with these the strength properties. The difference between A and B of the shear strength is about 10%. LEM results (in wet condition) showed that Fs (A) = 14.08~58.22 (average 32.9) and Fs (B) = 18.39~60.04 (average 32.2), which were similar in accordance with the same rock types. As a result of FEM, displacement (A) = 0.13~0.65 mm (average 0.27 mm) and displacement (B) = 0.14~1.07 mm (average 0.37 mm). Using the GSI and Hoek-Brown failure criterion, the significant result could be identified in the application evaluation. Therefore, the strength properties of rock mass estimated by the iso-angle division method could be applied with practical shear strength.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.255-274
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• 2014

The target of this study is large scale rock slope collapsed by around 7 pm on August, 2012, which is located at ${\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}$ limestone quarries of Gangneung city, Gangwondo. The slope prior to the collapse is formed as the height of about 200 m and the average inclination of $45^{\circ}$. The estimated amount of the collapse is about $1,500,000m^3$ with respect to the slope after the collapse. Geotechnical and field investigations such as boring, geophysical prospecting, surface geological survey, geological lineaments, borehole imaging, metric 3D imaging, experimental and field test, mining work by year, and daily rainfall were performed to find the cause of rock slope failure. Various analyzes using slope mass rating, stereonet projection, limit equilibrium method, continuum and non-continuum model were conducted to check of the stability of the slope. It is expected that the cause of slope failure from the results of various analysis and survey is due to the combined factors such as topography, rainfall, rock type and quality, discontinuities, geo-structural characteristics as the limestone cavity and fault zones, but the failure of slope in case of the analysis without the limestone cavity is not occurred. Safe factor of 0.66 was obtained from continuum analysis of the slope considering the limestone cavity, so the ultimate causes of slope failure is considered to be due to the influence of limestone cavity developed along fault zone.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.125-140
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• 2010

Slope stability analysis of the right abutment of a railway bridge proposed at about 350 m above the ground level, crossing a river and connecting two huge hillocks in the Himalayas, India is presented in this paper. The site is located in a highly active seismic zone. The rock slopes are intensely jointed and the joint spacing and orientation are varying at different locations. Static slope stability of the rock slope is studied using equivalent continuum approach through the most commonly used commercial numerical tools like FLAC and SLOPE/W of GEOSTUDIO. The factor of safety for the slope under static conditions was 1.88 and it was reduced by 46% with the application of earthquake loads in pseudo-static analysis. The results obtained from the slope stability analyses confirmed the global stability of the slope. However, it is very likely that there could be possibility of wedge failures at some of the pier locations. This paper also presents the results from kinematics of right abutment slope for the wedge failure analysis based on stereographic projections. Based on the kinematics, it is recommended to flatten the slope from 50o to 43o to avoid wedge failures at all pier locations.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.03a
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• pp.434-443
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• 2009

Slope stability analysis is an essential part of rock slope design. For highly fractured rock, the limit equilibrium method (LEM) based slope stability analysis with a circular failure surface is often carried out assuming the rock mass behaves more or less as a continuum. This paper examines first, the applicability of the finite-element method (FEM) based shear strength reduction (SSR) technique for highly fractured rock slope, and second the use of Mohr-Coulomb (MC) failure criterion in conjunction with generalized Hoek-Brown (HB) failure criterion. The numerical results on a number of cases are compared in terms of the factor of safety (FS). The results indicated that the FEM-based SSR technique yields almost the same FSs from LEM, and that the MC and HB failure criteria yield almost identical FSs when the strength parameters for MC failure criterion are obtained based on the modified HB failure criterion if and only if value of the Hoek-Brown constant $m_i$ is smaller than 10 and slope angle is smaller than 1:1, otherwise MC failure criteria over-estimate the factor of safety.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.485-492
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• 2005

Since blast-induced vibration may cause serious problem to the rock mass as well as the nearby structures, the prediction of blast-induced vibration and the stability evaluation must be performed before blasting activities. Dynamic analysis has been Increased recently in order to analyze the effect of the blast-induced vibration. Most of the previous studies, however, were based on the continuum analysis unable to consider rock joints which significantly affect the wave propagation and attenuation characteristics. They also adopted pressure curves estimated by theoretical or empirical equations as input detonation load, thus there were very difficult to reflect the characteristics of propagating media. In this study, therefore, we suggested a discontinuum dynamic analysis technique which uses velocity waveform obtained from a test blast as an input detonation load. A distinct element program, UDEC was used to consider the effect of rock joints. In order to verify the validity of proposed method, the test blast was simulated. The predicted results from the proposed method showed a good agreement with the measured vibration data from the test blast Through the dynamic numerical modelling on the planned road tunnel and slope, we evaluated the effect of blast-induced vibration and the stability of rock slope.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.65-78
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• 2008

In case of cut-slopes or shallow-depth tunnels, sliding along with discontinuities or rotation could play a critical role in judging stability. Although numerical analysis is widely used to check the stability of these cut-slopes and shallow-depth tunnels in early design process, common analysis programs are based on continuum model. Performing continuum model analysis regarding discontinuities is possible by reducing overall strength of jointed rock mass. It is also possible by applying ubiquitous joint model to Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria. In numerical analysis of cut-slope, main geotechnical properties such as cohesion, friction angle and elastic modulus can be evaluated by empirical equations. This study tried to compare two main systems, RMR and GSI system by applying them to in-situ hazardous cut-slopes. In addition, this study applied ubiquitous joint model to simulation model with inputs derived by RMR and GSI system to compare with displacements obtained by in-situ monitoring. To sum up, numerical analysis mixed with GSI inputs and ubiquitous joint model proved to provide most reliable results which were similar to actual displacements and their patterns.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.15 no.12 s.105
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• pp.1389-1397
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• 2005

Since blast-induced vibration may cause serious problem to the rock mass as well as the nearby structures, the prediction of blast-induced nitration and the stability evaluation must be performed before blasting activities. Dynamic analysis has been increased recently in order to analyze the effect of the blast-Induced vibration. Most of the previous studies, however, were based on the continuum analysis unable to consider rock joints which significantly affect the wave propagation and attenuation characteristics. They also adopted pressure corves estimated tv theoretical or empirical equations as input detonation load, thus there were very difficult to reflect the characteristics of propagating media. In this study, therefore, we suggested a dynamic distinct element analysis technique which uses velocity waveform obtained from a test blast as an input detonation load. A distinct element program, UDEC was used to consider the effect of rock joints. In order to verify the validity of proposed method, the test blast was simulated. The predicted results from the proposed method showed a good agreement with the measured vibration data from the test blast. Through the dynamic numerical modelling on the planned road tunnel and slope, we evaluated the effect of blast-induced nitration and the stability of rock slope.