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1 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)


EOSC433 EOSC433: :
Geotechnical Engineering Geotechnical Engineering
Practice & Design Practice & Design
Lecture 11: Lecture 11:
Rock Strength & Rock Strength &
Stress Stress- -Controlled Failure Controlled Failure
2 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)
Stress and Failure Stress and Failure
The excavation of an underground opening in stressed rock results
in the deformation and weakening of the host rock. The analysis
of this response is essential in rock mechanics design, since the
resulting imbalance in the energy of the system results in the
progressive degradation of the rock mass strength
In general, there are two approaches to stress and failure :
experimental approach
(i.e. phenomenological)
stress based
energy based
strain based
mechanistic approach
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3 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)
Analysis of Rock Strength Analysis of Rock Strength
Phenomenological Approach
Relies on generalization of
large scale observations.
Mechanistic Approach
Derives its theories from
elements of fracture at the
microscopic scale.
Maximum Stress theory
Tresca theory
Coulomb theory
Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
Hoek-Brown failure criterion
Theories include:
Theories include:
Griffith Crack theory
Linear Elastic Fracture
Mechanics (LEFM)
4 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)
Compressive Strength Compressive Strength
The compressive strength is probably the most widely
used and quoted rock engineering parameter. Under
uniaxial loading conditions, the maximum stress that the
rock sample can sustain is referred to as the uniaxial
compressive strength,
UCS
.
It is important to realize
that the compressive
strength is not an intrinsic
property. Intrinsic
material properties do not
depend on the specimen
geometry or the loading
conditions used in the
test: the uniaxial
compressive strength does.
Harrison & Hudson (2000)
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5 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)
Hydrostatic Compression Hydrostatic Compression
Applying non-deviatoric stresses produces a volume decrease which
eventually changes the rock fabric permanently as pores are
crushed. Although such collapse produces an inflection in the stress
-vs- strain response the rock will always accept additional
hydrostatic load.
I existing cracks close and
minerals are compressed;
II elastic rock compression,
consisting of pore deformation
and grain compression at an
approximately linear rate;
III pore collapse;
IV intergrain locking and infinite
compression as the only
compressible elements
remaining are the grains
themselves.
Goodman (1989)
6 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)
Deviatoric Deviatoric Compression Compression
Deviatoric stresses are much
more disruptive than the
corresponding levels of
hydrostatic stress. This is
because they allow for the
material to deform in one
direction more than the others
(i.e. in the direction of the
smaller load). In effect, this
allows fracturing, rupture and
shearing of the rock to occur.
deformation
Goodman (1989)
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7 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)
Mechanistic Controls Mechanistic Controls
The Mohr-Coulomb criterion is most suitable for cohesionless materials,
shear along discontinuity surfaces (e.g. along a pre-existing fault plane),
and when rocks fail in a more ductile manner. Mechanistically though:
- Friction develops only on differential movement. Such movement can take
place freely in a cohesionless material, but hardly in a cohesive one like rock
prior to the development of a failure plane. In other words, mobilization of
friction only becomes a factor once a failure plane is in the latter stages of
development;
- Many brittle failures observed in the lab and underground appear to be
largely controlled by the development of microfractures. Since these fractures
initiate on a microscopic scale at stresses below the peak strength, the
dismissal of all processes undetectable to the naked eye and prior to peak
strength leaves the phenomenological approach lacking.
This is not to say that phenomenological approaches like Mohr-Coulomb are
not useful. Remember: Mohr-Coulomb is probably the most widely used
failure criterion in industry, but its limitations need to be recognized!!
8 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)
Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics
Griffiths theory assumes that crack growth occurs when the maximum
tensile stress concentration, occurring on a critical flaw boundary, reaches
the tensile strength of the material surrounding the flaw. Over time, this
stress-strength relationship has evolved into linear elastic fracture
mechanics (LEFM).
Fracture mechanics concepts assume that cracks in a solid material can be
stressed in three different modes:
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9 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)
Crack Propagation in Tension Crack Propagation in Tension
For a crack aligned perpendicular to a
uniaxial tensile load, the maximum tensile
stress concentration on the crack boundary is
at the tip of the long axis. This results in
crack growth occurring perpendicular to the
direction of the applied tension, enlarging the
crack continuously until a free surface is
reached (Brace & Bombolakis, 1963).
Assuming that the solid is isotropic, the
orientation of the growing crack remains
constant and the magnitude of the local
stress at the most highly stressed point on
the crack surface increases as the crack
lengthens.
10 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)
Crack Propagation in Compression Crack Propagation in Compression
Experimentally, it has been shown that brittle
fractures propagate in the direction of
1
. Cracks
develop in this way to allow the newly forming crack
faces to open/dilate in the direction of least
resistance (i.e. normal to
1
in the direction of
3
).
This is most easily accommodated in uniaxial
compression since
3
= 0. For example, along a free
surface!!

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11 of 11 Erik Eberhardt UBC Geological Engineering EOSC 433 (2008)
Laboratory Testing of Damage Initiation Laboratory Testing of Damage Initiation
Correlating the measured stress-strain behavior of a rock sample during
uniaxial compression, to the opening and closing of Griffith cracks
several important stages in the progressive failure of the sample can be
detected. Amongst these, crack initiation represents the stress where
microfracturing begins and is marked as the point where the lateral or
volumetric strain curves depart from linearity.

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