TY - JOUR
T1 - Laboratory Estimation of Rock Joint Stiffness and Frictional Parameters
AU - Kulatilake, Pinnaduwa H.S.W.
AU - Shreedharan, Srisharan
AU - Sherizadeh, Taghi
AU - Shu, Biao
AU - Xing, Yan
AU - He, Pengfei
N1 - Funding Information:
The support provided by the various mining companies through providing geological data, rock core and/or block samples, and allowing access to the mine to perform field investigations is very much appreciated. The work was funded by the NIOSH of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Contract No. 200-2011-39886). We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their critique which helped improve the paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Numerical modeling of complex rock engineering problems involves the use of various input parameters which control usefulness of the output results. Hence, it is of utmost importance to select the right range of input physical and mechanical parameters based on laboratory or field estimation, and engineering judgment. Joint normal and shear stiffnesses are two popular input parameters to describe discontinuities in rock, which do not have specific guidelines for their estimation in literature. This study attempts to provide simple methods to estimate joint normal and shear stiffnesses in the laboratory using the uniaxial compression and small-scale direct shear tests. Samples have been prepared using rocks procured from different depths, geographical locations and formations. The study uses a mixture of relatively smooth natural joints and saw-cut joints in the various rock samples tested. The results indicate acceptable levels of uncertainty in the calculation of the stiffness parameters and provide a database of good first estimates and empirical relations which can be used for calculating values for joint stiffnesses when laboratory estimation is not possible. Joint basic friction angles have also been estimated as by-products in the small scale direct shear tests.
AB - Numerical modeling of complex rock engineering problems involves the use of various input parameters which control usefulness of the output results. Hence, it is of utmost importance to select the right range of input physical and mechanical parameters based on laboratory or field estimation, and engineering judgment. Joint normal and shear stiffnesses are two popular input parameters to describe discontinuities in rock, which do not have specific guidelines for their estimation in literature. This study attempts to provide simple methods to estimate joint normal and shear stiffnesses in the laboratory using the uniaxial compression and small-scale direct shear tests. Samples have been prepared using rocks procured from different depths, geographical locations and formations. The study uses a mixture of relatively smooth natural joints and saw-cut joints in the various rock samples tested. The results indicate acceptable levels of uncertainty in the calculation of the stiffness parameters and provide a database of good first estimates and empirical relations which can be used for calculating values for joint stiffnesses when laboratory estimation is not possible. Joint basic friction angles have also been estimated as by-products in the small scale direct shear tests.
KW - Joint basic friction angle
KW - Joint normal stiffness
KW - Joint shear stiffness
KW - Normal stress
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U2 - 10.1007/s10706-016-9984-y
DO - 10.1007/s10706-016-9984-y
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84956867870
SN - 0263-4546
VL - 34
SP - 1723
EP - 1735
JO - International Journal of Mining Engineering
JF - International Journal of Mining Engineering
IS - 6
ER -