• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.51-67
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• 2023

In this research, the degradation rate of physical properties of the Angouran pit bedrock (calc-schist) is first investigated under the specific numbers of freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles. Then, the durability of calc-schist specimens against the F-T cycle number (N) is examined considering the mechanical parameters, and using the decay function and half-time techniques. For this purpose, point load strength (I_S(50)), second durability index (I_d2), Brazilian tensile strength (BTS), and compressive (V_P) and shear (V_S) wave velocities of calc-schist specimens are measured after 0, 7, 15, 40, and 75 N. For comparing the degradation rate of mechanical properties of available rock types on the Angouran mine walls, these tests are also carried out on the limestone and amphibolite schist specimens beside the calc-schist. According to test results, the exponential regression models are developed between the mechanical parameters of rock specimen's and N variable. Also, the long-term durability of each rock type versus N is studied using the decay function and half-time techniques. Results indicated that the degradation rate differs for the above rock types in which amphibolite schist and calc-schist specimens have the highest and least resistance against the N, respectively. The obtained results from this study can play a key role in the optimal design of the mine's final walls.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.227-236
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• 2020

Non-destructive exploration using elastic waves has been widely used to characterize rock mass properties. Wave propagation in jointed rock masses is significantly governed by the characteristics and orientation of discontinuities. The relationship between spatial heterogeneity (i.e., joint spacing) and wavelength for elastic waves propagating through jointed rock masses have been investigated previously. Discontinuous rock masses can be considered as an equivalent continuum material when the wavelength of the propagating elastic wave exceeds the spatial heterogeneity. However, it is unclear how stress-dependent long-wavelength elastic waves propagate through a repetitive rock-joint system with multiple joints. A preliminary numerical simulation was performed in in this study to investigate long-wavelength elastic wave propagation in regularly jointed rock masses using the three-dimensional distinct element code program. First, experimental studies using the quasi-static resonant column (QSRC) testing device are performed on regularly jointed disc column specimens for three different materials (acetal, aluminum, and gneiss). The P- and S-wave velocities of the specimens are obtained under various normal stress levels. The normal and shear joint stiffness are calculated from the experimental results using an equivalent continuum model and used as input parameters for numerical analysis. The spatial and temporal sizes are carefully selected to guarantee a stable numerical simulation. Based on the calibrated jointed rock model, the numerical and experimental results are compared.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.503-512
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• 2020

Mining activities focus on the production of mineral resources for energy generation and raw material requirements worldwide and it is a known fact that shallow reserves become scarce. For this reason, exploration of new resources proceeds consistently to meet the increasing energy and raw material demand of industrial activities. Rock mechanics has a vital role in underground mining and surface mining. Devices and instruments used in laboratory testing to determine rock mechanics related parameters might have limited sensing capability of the failure behavior. However, methodologies such as, thermal cameras, digital speckle correlation method and acoustic emission might enable to investigate the initial crack formation in detail. Regarding this, in this study, thermographic analysis was performed to analyze the failure behaviors of different types of rock specimens during uniaxial compressive strength experiments. The energy dissipation profiles of different types of rocks were characterized by the temperature difference recorded with an infrared thermal camera during experiments. The temperature increase at the failure moment was detected as 4.45℃ and 9.58℃ for andesite and gneiss-schist specimens, respectively. Higher temperature increase was observed with respect to higher UCS value. Besides, a temperature decreases of about 0.5-0.6℃ was recorded during the experiments of the marble specimens. The temperature change on the specimen is related to release of radiation energy. As a result of the porosity tests, it was observed that increase in the porosity rate from 5.65% to 20.97% can be associated to higher radiation energy released, from 12.68 kJ to 297.18 kJ.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.149-166
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• 2024

The acoustic emission (AE) technique is utilized to estimate the rock failure status in underground spaces. Understanding the AE characteristics under loading conditions is essential to ensure the reliability of AE monitoring. The AE characteristics depend on the material properties (p-wave velocity, density, UCS, and Young's modulus) and damage stages (stress ratio) of the target rock mass. In this study, two groups of granite specimens (based on the p-wave velocity regime) were prepared to explore the effect of material properties on AE characteristics. Uniaxial compressive loading tests with an AE measurement system were performed to investigate the effect of the rock properties using AE indices (count index, energy index, and amplitude index). The test results were analyzed according to three damage stages classified by the stress ratio of the specimens. Count index was determined to be the most suitable AE index for evaluating rock mass stability.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.253-262
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• 2017

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the crack characteristics by performing the compression test of the rock and concrete specimens. The experiments are carried out by using strain sensors which can measure length change and the AE sensor which can detect the elastic wave from the crack. The crack volumetric strain calculated from measured strain is shown in different shape on the rock and the concrete specimens. This is because the specimens have a different degree of brittleness. However, the crack volumetric strain associated with the fracture and damage was similar to accumulated AE energy of the two specimens. This means that the AE sensor can assess damage in real time without damaging the structure.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.144-154
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• 2015

Mechanical energy is accumulated in the object when stress is exerted on rock specimens, and the failure is occurred when the stress is larger than critical stress. The accumulated energy is emitted as various forms including physical deformation, light, heat and sound. Uniaxial compression strength test and point load strength test were carried out in low temperature environment, and thermal variation of rock specimens were observed and analyzed quantitatively using thermal infrared camera images. Temperature of failure plane was increased just before the failure because of concentration of stress, and was rapidly increased at the moment of the failure because of the emission of thermal energy. The variations of temperature were larger in diorite and basalt specimens which were strong and fresh than in tuff specimens which were weak and weathered. This study can be applied to prevent disasters in rock slope, tunnel and mine in cold regions and to analyze satellite image for predicting earthquake in cold regions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.399-409
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• 2016

The fracture propagation mechanism and fractured rock mass failure mechanism were important research in geotechnical engineering field. Many failures and instability in geotechnical engineering were related on fractures propagation, coalescence and interaction in rock mass under the external force. Most of the current research were limited to two-dimensional for the brittleness and transparency of three-dimensional fracture materials couldn't meet the requirements of the experiment. New materials with good transparent and brittleness were developed by authors. The making method of multi fracture specimens were established and made molds that could be reused. The tension-compression ratio of the material reached above 1/6 in normal temperature. Uniaxial and biaxial loading tests of single and double fracture specimens were carried out. Four new fractures were not found in the experiment of two-dimensional fractures such as the fin shaped crack, wrapping wing crack and petal crack and anti-wing crack. The relationship between stress and strain of the specimens were studied. The specimens with the load had experienced four stages of deformation and the process of the fracture propagation was clearly seen in each stage. The expansion characteristics of the fractured specimens were more obvious than the previous research.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.224-236
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• 1992

It is very important to determine the thermo-mechanical characteristics of the rock mass surrounding the repository of radioctive waste and the LPG storage cavern. In this study, Hwasoon-Shist. Dado-Tuff adn Chunan-Tonalite were the selected rock types. Temperature dependence of the mechanical properteis such as uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength, Young's modulus was investigated by measuring the behaviour of these properties due to the variation of temperature. Also, the characteristics of strength and deformation of these rocks were examined through high-temperature triaxial compression tests with varing temperatures and confining pressures. Important results obtained are as follows: In high temperature tests, the uniaxial compressive strength and Yong's modulus of Tonalite showed a sligth increase at a temperature up to 300$^{\circ}C$ and a sharp decrease beyond 300$^{\circ}C$, and the tensile strength showed a linear decrease with increasing heating-temperature. In high-temperature triaxial compression test, both the failure stress and Young's modulus of Tonalite increased with the increase of confining pressure at constant heating-temperature, and the failure stress decreased at 100$^{\circ}C$ but increased at 200$^{\circ}C$ under a constant confining pressure. In low temperature tests, the uniaxial compressive and tensile strengths and Young's modulus of these rocks increased as the cooling-temperature is reduced. Also, the uniaxial compressive and tensile strengths of wet rock specimens are less than those of dry rock specimens.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.395-407
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• 2022

In this paper, cracks with different angles are prefabricated in rock specimens to study the fracture characteristics of rock based on CT images. The rock specimens are prepared for compression tests according to the standard recommended by ISRM (International Society for Rock Mechanics). The effects of different angles on rock mechanical properties and crack propagation fracture modes are analyzed. Then, based on the cohesive element method and CT images, the relationship between porosity and Young's modulus as well as the fracture property is explored by the numerical modelling. In the modelling, the distribution of Young's modulus is determined by the CT image through the field variable method. The results show that prefabricated cracks reduce the mechanical properties of rock. The closer the angles of the prefabricated crack is, the greater the Young's modulus of the rock sample is. The failure process of each specimen with prefabricated cracks is formed by the initiation and propagation of crack, and the angle of the prefabricated crack will affect the type of extended crack. As part of the numerical model proposed in this paper, the microstructure of rocks is reflected by CT images. The numerical results verify the effectiveness of the cohesive element method in the study of crack propagation for rock. The rock model in this paper can be used to predict engineering disasters such as collapse and landslide caused by rock fracture, which means that the methodology adopted in this paper is comprehensive and important to solve rock engineering problems.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.251-264
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• 1992

In this study, the size effect in measuring the fracture toughness of rock was investigated using the ISRM Suggested Method for Fracture toughness using Chevron Bend Specimens. Total 58 specimens were prepared with 4 different diameters, 29, 42, 54, 68mm and center cut-chevron notch. In addition to this, to evaluated the effect of anisotropy of Jecheon granite, which is the sample for this study, core drilling direction was adjusted perpendicular(short transverse) and parallel(arrester) to the rift plane in the sample and the measured fracture toughness for each direction were compared. Important results obtained from this study are as follows. Level ll test condition is more adequate than l, because of low data scattering and precision and corrected fracture toughness of Jechoen granite measured and 2.2MPa{{{{ SQRT { m} }}}} for arrester direction with minimum initial crack length 0.7cm. From the relationship between core diameter and initial crack length presented in the ISRM testing method, the specimen diameter should be bigger than 47mm. The fracture toughnesses measured for arrester and short transverse directon show 10% difference. This is to the anisotropy of Jecheon granite possessing rift plane.