Semester One Quiz, 2015 MINE3121 Mining Geomechanics

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School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering

EXAMINATION
Semester One Quiz, 2015

MINE3121 Mining Geomechanics

This paper is for St Lucia Campus students.

Examination Duration: 40 minutes

For Examiner Use Only
Reading Time: --
Question Mark
Exam Conditions:
1
This is a School Quiz
2
This is a Closed Book Examination - specified materials permitted
3
During reading time - writing is not permitted at all
4
Materials Permitted In The Exam Venue:
5
(No electronic aids are permitted e.g. laptops, phones)
6
Calculators - Casio FX82 series or UQ approved (labelled) 7
Drawing instruments including; protractor, ruler, and compass. 8
Instructions to Students: 9
Show all calculations and workings in this examination booklet. 10
Answers should be written in ink (not red ink). 11
12
All questions are compulsory.
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Total ________

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Semester One Quiz, 2015 MINE3121 Mining Geomechanics

Question 1: Which one of the following does not have an important influence on the
results of rock testing? (1 mark)

a. The size of the test specimen.

b. The shape of the test specimen.
c. The stiffness of the loading system.
d. The hardness of the rock.
e. The rate of loading.

Question 2: Which one of the following important features of rock behaviour with
increasing confining stress in a triaxial test is not correct? (1 mark)

a. The peak strength increases.

b. There is a transition from brittle to ductile behaviour.
c. The elastic region of the stress-strain curve increases.
d. The region incorporating the peak in the stress-strain curve flattens and widens.
e. The post-peak drop in strength to the residual shear strength reduces and
disappears at high values of confining stress.

Question 3: Which one of the following statements is most correct? (1 mark)

a. Rock is an elastic, homogeneous, isotropic material.

b. Rock is perfectly elasto-plastic.
c. Rock is a strain-softening, dilatant material.
d. Rock is incompressible and has no tensile strength.

Question 4: Which one of the followings is not the correct general form of the
particular rock failure criteria? (1 mark)

a. The general form of a failure criterion is usually written as = , .

b. Sometimes a failure criterion is written in terms of shear and normal stresses on a
particular plane as = .
c. From experimental observations, it is evident that the intermediate principal stress
has more influence on the peak failure strength than and .
d. In the Coulomb criterion, the rock does not fail in a plane with the maximum shear
stress of = due to the influence of .
e. The Hoek-Brown failure criterion is an empirical equation which assumes isotropic
rock and rock mass behaviour.

Question 5: The results of a triaxial test on a sandstone specimen show that the
cohesion of the material is 6 MPa and the internal friction angle is 30 degrees. According
to the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, which one of the following is the correct Uniaxial
Compressive Strength (UCS) of the material? (2 marks)

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Semester One Quiz, 2015 MINE3121 Mining Geomechanics

a. 18√2 MPa
b. 4.25 MPa
c. 12√3 MPa
d. 2√5 MPa
e. 6√3 MPa

Question 6: A tunnel is to be excavated deep in hard rock. Which one of the following
testing techniques is more appropriate for estimating the behaviour of the rock mass on
tunnel excavation? (1 mark)

a. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test.

b. Brazilian and direct shear tests.
c. Triaxial test.
d. Point load and Schmidt hammer tests.
e. Fracture toughness test.

Question 7: According to typical stress-strain graphs illustrated in the following Figure

obtained in USC tests, which one is correct? (1 mark)

a. Type B (convex towards the stress axis) indicates

a strain-hardening material.
b. Type C (convex towards the strain axis) indicates
a strain-softening material.
c. Type B represents a pronounced strain with every
increment of load and is exhibited by softer rocks
such as shales, siltstones.
d. Type A (straight line) is a common behaviour in
rocks and indicates a linear elastic material with
constant value of the modulus of elasticity to the
point of failure.
e. All of the above.

Question 8: Mohr-Coulomb and Hoek-Brown rupture envelopes obtained from a series

of triaxial test results on a target material are shown in the graph below. Which one of the
applied stress conditions is recognised in both domains as an unstable point with the
highest possibility of the failure of the material? (1 mark)

a. Stress conditions in point (a)

b. Stress conditions in point (b)
c. Stress conditions in point (c)
d. Stress conditions in point (d)
e. Stress conditions in point (e)

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Semester One Quiz, 2015 MINE3121 Mining Geomechanics

Question 9:
As the size of a rock test specimen increases, the probability that it will include or
be influenced by the effects of fractures will ……………………., resulting in a/an
…………….…… strength. (2 marks)

Question 10:
The ……………….………. property is defined as the resistance to fracturing and it
can be determined by conducting a …………………………… test. (2 marks)

Question 11:
The compressive strength of rock usually ………………..….. with
………………….…..... in the rate of loading of specimens. (2 marks)

Question 12:
In general, laboratory strength test analyses yield strength estimates for rock
samples that are ……………… than for similar materials in-situ due to practical
influencing parameters like …………………….. and ………….……..…….. . (3 marks)

Question 13:
Unlike total and effective normal stresses, there is no need to specify total and
effective shear stress in rock mechanics. In other words, shear stress is
independent of pore-water pressure because …………………………………….....…
………………………………………………………………………………… . (2 marks)

Question 14:
The …………………….…… test is intended as an index test for the strength
classification of rock materials. It may also be used to predict other strength
parameters with which it is correlated, for example the unconfined compressive and
the tensile strength. (1 mark)

Question 15:
There are three components of shear strength of rough surfaces in Barton’s Model;
namely a ………………………………..….... given by , a geometrical component

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Semester One Quiz, 2015 MINE3121 Mining Geomechanics

controlled by ………………….. and an asperity failure component controlled by

…………………………… in his proposed equation. (3 marks)

Question 16:
Patton (1966) was the first researcher to relate the shear behaviour of joints to
……………………….……… and ………………………., based on his work of a model
of a joint represented by a series of constant-angle triangles or saw-teeth. (2 marks)

Question 17: A rock specimen is subjected to the stresses as shown in following Figure.
Calculate the normal stress and shear stress developed on the EF plane.
(7 marks)

20 MPa

E
12 MPa
400
F

Question 18: Based on the following results measured during a tilt test, estimate the
Joint Roughness Coefficient of the target discontinuity: (7 marks)
• joint compressive strength obtained through Schmidt rebound tests
is100 MN/m2
• thickness and density of the top block are h =40cm and =25 KN/m3,
respectively
• the basic friction angle is 25
• tilt angle is 60

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Semester One Quiz, 2015 MINE3121 Mining Geomechanics

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Semester One Quiz, 2015 MINE3121 Mining Geomechanics

FORMULA SHEET

  JCS  
τ p = σ n tan  φb + JRC ⋅ Log10   
y = mσ ci x + sσ ci
2
  σn 

σ 1 = 2 c tan ψ + σ 3 tan ψ

σ 1 = σ c + σ 3 tan ψ

1 + sin φ
tan ψ = ;
1 − sin φ
σ t = − sσ ci / m

2 # cos ∅ 56 ..7-
= I4 -. = I4 / 1
"
1 ( sin ∅ 50
4wD
D9 =
a
 σ 
σ 1 = σ 3 + σ ci  mb 3 + s  π
 σ ci 
I4 = P⁄D9
2 >
" =
+, 50 .. 2 = 5 ?
=/ 1
+-. 0

END OF EXAMINATION

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