• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.15 no.4 s.57
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• pp.250-263
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• 2005

Progressive and localized brittle failures around an excavated opening by the overstressed condition can act as a serious obstacle to ensure the stability and the economical efficiency of construction work. In this paper, the characteristics of the brittle failure around an circular opening with stress level was studied by the biaxial compressive test using sealed specimen and by the numerical simulation with $PFC^{2D}$, one of the discrete element codes. The occurring pattern and shape of the brittle failure around a circular opening monitored during the biaxial loading were well coincided with those of the stress induced failures around the excavated openings observed in the brittle rock masses. The crack development stages with stress level were evaluated by the detailed analysis on the acoustic emission event properties. The microcrack development process around a circular opening was successfully visualized by the particle flow analysis. It indicated that the scaled test had a good feasibility in understanding the mechanism of the brittle failure around an opening with a high reliability.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.16 no.3 s.62
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• pp.259-276
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• 2006

In rock mass subject to high in-situ stresses, the failure process of rock is dominated by the stress-induced fractures growing parallel to the excavation boundary. When the ratio of in situ stresses compared to rock strength is greater than a certain value, progressive brittle failure which is characterized by popping and spatting of rock debris occurs due to stress concentration. Traditional constitutive model like Mohr-Coulomb usually assume that the normal stress dependent frictional strength component and the cohesion strength component are constant, therefore modelling progressive brittle failure will be very difficult. In this study, a series of numerical analyses were conducted for surrounding rock mass near crude oil storage cavern using CW-FS model which was known to be efficient for modelling brittle failure and the results were compared with those of linear Mohr-Coulomb model. Further analyses were performed by varying plastic shear strain limits on cohesion and internal friction angle to find the proper values which yield the matching result with the observed failure in the oil storage caverns. The obtained results showed that CW-FS model could be a proper method to characterize essential behavior of progressive brittle failure in competent rock mass.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.247-252
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• 1996

In the concrete structures, cracks occur in various causes and the cracks seriously affect the functions of structures. The analysis techniques of progressive crack in the concrete have been improved with the advance of numerical techniques. The discrete crack model used in finite element program for the analysis of progressive failure is very effective, but it can not be easily implemented into numerical procedures because of difficult handing of nodal points in finite element meshes for crack growth. This paper introduces one of the techniques which skips the difficulty. In this paper, the modeling of progressive failure using finite element formulation is explained for the analysis of concrete fracture. The discontinuous element using the discontinuous shape function and the dual mapping technique in the numerical integration are implemented into finite element code for this purpose. It is shown that developed finite element program can predict the quasi-brittle behavior of concrete including ultimate load. The comparisons of the analysis results with other data are also shown.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.469-485
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• 2016

The failure of rock mass around deep tunnel, different from shallow tunnel largely affected by discontinuities, is dominated by magnitudes and directions of stresses, and the failures dominated by stresses can be divided into ductile and brittle features according to the conditions of stresses and the characteristics of rock mass. It is important to know the range and the depth of the V-shaped notch type failure resulted from the brittle failure, such as spalling, slabbing and rock burst, because they are the main factors for the design of excavation and support of deep tunnels. The main features of brittle failure are that it consists of cohesion loss and friction mobilization according to the stress condition, and is progressive. In this paper, a three-dimensional numerical model has been developed in order to simulate the brittle behavior of rock mass around deep tunnel by introducing the bi-linear failure envelope cut off, elastic-elastoplastic coupling and gradual spread of elastoplastic regions. By performing a series of numerical analyses, it is shown that the depths of failure estimated by this model coincide with an empirical relation from a case study.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.273-283
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• 1999

Two physical experiments are performed to verify the effectiveness of beam-particle model for simulating the progressive failure of particulate composites such as sandstone and concrete. In the numerical model, the material is schematized at the meso-level as an assembly of discrete, interacting particles which are linked through a network of brittle breaking beams. The uniaxial compressive tests of cubic and parallelepipedal specimens made of carbon steel rod assembly which are glued together by a mixture are represented. The crack patterns and load-displacement response observed in the experiments are in good agreement with the numerical results. In the application respect of beam-particle model to the particulate composites, the influence of defects, particle arrangement and boundary conditions on crack propagation is approached, and the correlation existing between the cracking evolution and the level of loads imposed on the specimen is characterized by fractal dimensions.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.389-410
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• 2007

For moderately jointed to massive rock masses, the failure and deformation behaviors around an excavated opening are absolutely influenced by the initial rock stress and strength of in-situ rock mass. The localized and progressive brittle failure around an opening does not mean whole collapse of an excavated opening. But, for many cases, it may induce temporary stopping of excavation works and reexamination of the current supporting system, which can result in delay of the entire construction works and additional construction cost. In this paper, the characteristics of the brittle failure around an opening with stress level and tunnel shape was studied by the biaxial compressive test using scaled specimen and by the numerical simulation with $PFC^{2D}$. The biaxial test results were well coincided with the stress induced failure patterns around the excavated openings observed and monitored in the in-situ condition. For the circular part of the opening wall, the stress induced cracks initially occurred at the wall surface in the direction of the minimum principal stress and contributed to the localized notch shaped failure region having a certain range of angle. But for the corner and straight part of the opening wall, the cracks initiated at sharp corners were connected and coalesced each other and with existing micro cracks. Further they resulted in a big notch shaped failure region connecting two sharp corners.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.181-194
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• 2006

The masonry is a complex heterogeneous material and its shear deformation and fracture is associated with very complicated progressive failures in masonry structure, and is investigated in this paper using a mesoscopic mechanical modelling, Considering the heterogeneity of masonry material, based on the damage mechanics and elastic-brittle theory, the newly developed Material Failure Process Analysis (MFPA) system was brought out to simulate the cracking process of masonry, which was considered as a three-phase composite of the block phase, the mortar phase and the block-mortar interfaces. The crack propagation processes simulated with this model shows good agreement with those of experimental observations by other researchers. This finding indicates that the shear fracture of masonry observed at the macroscopic level is predominantly caused by tensile damage at the mesoscopic level. Some brittle materials are so weak in tension relative to shear that tensile rather than shear fractures are generated in pure shear loading.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.319-324
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• 2008

In this study the progressive collapse potential of special concentrically braced frames were investigated using the nonlinear static. All of seven different brace types were considered. According to the pushdown analysis results, most braced frames designed according to current design codes satisfied the design guidelines for progressive collapse initiated by loss of a first story mid-column; however most model structures showed brittle failure mode. This was caused by buckling of columns after compressive braces buckled. Among the braced frames considered, the inverted-V type braced frames showed superior ductile behavior during progressive collapse.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.168-171
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• 1999

For the axial crushing tests of various shape of tubes, it was reported that composite tubes need trigger mechanism to avoid brittle failure. In this study, static axial crush tests were performed with the new aluminum/GFRP hybrid tubes. Glass/Epoxy prepregs were wrapped around aluminum tube and co-cured. The failure of hybrid tube was stable and progressive without trigger mechanism, and specific energy absorption was increased to maximum 34% in comparison with aluminum tube. Effective energy absorption is possible for inner aluminum tube because wrapped composite tube constrain the deflection of aluminum tube and reduce the folding length. The failure of hybrid composite tube was stable without trigger mechanism because inner aluminum tube could play the role of crack initiator and controller. Aluminum/Glass-Epoxy hybrid tube is suitable for the vehicle front structure due to effective energy absorption capability, easy production, and simple application for RTM process.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.243-251
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• 1999

Granitic rock, by its nature, contains numerous micro-discontinuities including grain boundary, microcracks, microcavities and mineral cleavages. The brittle fracture of rock is a progressive procedure in which the failure occurs with prior microcracking. In this paper, initiation, propagation and interaction of microcracks are considered to be the dominant, controlling micromechanisms of macroscopic failure. The authors show a few patterns of microcrack initiation and propagation by using sequential photographs of water-saturated granite taken under triaxial compressive state. The failure process was observed directly and continuously by a newly developed triaxial compressive test system.