Rock Mechanics and Tunneling Engineering (HE734) Work sheet for chapter two Q1.

Suppose an NX-size test cylinder 0.1% strain. Find: 1) The axial load (kN) and stress (unconfined compressive strength, KPa) at failure; 2) The relative displacement of the cylinder ends at failure (in mm).
(2-1/8 in., 5.40 cm diameter)

with an L/D ratio of two has a

Youngs modulus of 66.67 GPa , a Poissons ratio of 0.35 and fails in uniaxial compressive at

Q2. A large array of square support pillars are formed by excavating rooms in a horizontal stratum 5m thick at a depth of 300m as in shown in figure 1. The pillars are 15m on edge and are spaced on 22 m centers. Determine the average vertical stress in the rock pillars.

(a)

(b) (b)

Figure 1: The geometry of the problem in (a) plan view and (b)vertical section. Q3. Stress concentration about a vertical shaft results in a compressive stress of 59.66 MPa at the shaft wall where the rock mass has an unconfined compressive strength of 89.48 MPa. Determine the shaft wall safety factor at the considered point. Prepared by Abunu Atlabachew Page 1 of 3

Rock Mechanics and Tunneling Engineering (HE734) Work sheet for chapter two

Q4. Given a cylindrical sandstone laboratory test specimen of diameter D and height L subjected to a vertical load F (force) along its length, find: (a) The forces N and T acting normal and tangential to a surface inclined at an angle to the vertical (b) Stresses, and on the inclined surface in terms of the applied stress 1 (F/A), where A is the area acted on by F. Illustrate with sketches. Note: The inclined surface is elliptical and has an area ab where a and b are the semi-axes of the ellipse.

Q5. Consider gravity loading only under complete lateral restraint in flat strata with properties given in Table 1. Vertical stress at the top of the geologic column is 6.9 MPa. Compression is positive, G is specific gravity, h is thickness, E is Youngs modulus, and G is shear modulus. Find the horizontal stress at the bottom of the sandstone and the top of the limestone. Table1: Properties of different layers of rocks

Q6.

A shale rock is composed of minerals 60% illite, 20% chlorite, and 20% pyrite. The porosity values at different depths are as follows: equals 33.5% at depth 183m; 25.4% at 762m; 21.1% at 1067m; and 9.6% at 1859m. Estimate the vertical stress at 1828m depth in this shale (assuming a continuous thickness of shale from the surface to depth 1828m and saturation with water. (Given specific gravities of illite, chlorite, pyrite 2.7, 2.9 and 5.02 respectively; and the unit weight of water w = 9.87 KN/m3)

Prepared by Abunu Atlabachew

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Rock Mechanics and Tunneling Engineering (HE734) Work sheet for chapter two

Q7. In a series of triaxial compression tests on sandstone, the following data in Table 2 represent the stresses at peak load conditions: Table 2: Triaxial compression test data Test 1 2 3 4 3MPa 1.0 5.0 9.5 15.0 1MPa 9.2 28.0 48.7 74.0

Determine values of cohesion (S) and internal friction angle () that best fit the data.

Q8. Triaxial compression tests of porous rock yield Si equal to 1.0Mpa and equals 350. Calculate the unconfined compressive strength. Q9. Show that the volume change per unit volume v v of a rock core undergoing compression is approximately equal to the sum of the three normal strains (i.e., =x+y+z). (Assume that the product of strains is extremely small and hence it is neglected.) Q10. (a) Plot Mohr envelopes of strength for (1) = 00, (2) = 300, (3) = 600, and (4) = 900 for the slate whose strength anisotropy is described by Equations Si = 65.0 38.6 cos 2 ( 30 )

( )

] ( Mpa )
3

tan = 0.600-0.280 cos 2 ( 50 ) (b) Plot the peak compressive strength of the slate as a function of and at which direction the rock has maximum strength for 1) 3 = 0 and 2) 3 = 30Mpa.

Prepared by Abunu Atlabachew

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