Numerical Modeling of Fractured Rock Masses

The inherent complexities in the mechanical behavior
of rock masses come from the discontinuous nature of
rock masses. The scale effects of jointed rock
masses, rock fracture propagation, and the effects
of groundwater are postulated to be paradigmatic
components of these complexities, and a proper
incorporation of these components into an analysis
is crucial to construction and design involving
jointed rock masses. In this book, the modeling of
scale effects was tackled by a proposed two-scale
approach through the use of the primary joint set
and the secondary joint set. The modeling of
fracture propagation was based on the theory of
linear elastic fracture mechanics. The stress
intensity factors were computed by both displacement-
based and energy-based methods. The maximum stress
criterion was employed for fracture propagation.
Furthermore, the modeling of the effects of
groundwater on joints was introduced by considering
water as pressure acting on the joint surface.
Application examples were provided to demonstrate
the applicability of the developed numerical
framework.

Autorentext
Cheng-Yu Ku is a member of the faculty of the Department of Harbor and River Engineering at National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan.Jeen-Shang Lin is a full-time faculty of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the University of Pittsburgh, USA.

Klappentext
The inherent complexities in the mechanical behavior of rock masses come from the discontinuous nature of rock masses. The scale effects of jointed rock masses, rock fracture propagation, and the effects of groundwater are postulated to be paradigmatic components of these complexities, and a proper incorporation of these components into an analysis is crucial to construction and design involving jointed rock masses. In this book, the modeling of scale effects was tackled by a proposed two-scale approach through the use of the primary joint set and the secondary joint set. The modeling of fracture propagation was based on the theory of linear elastic fracture mechanics. The stress intensity factors were computed by both displacement-based and energy-based methods. The maximum stress criterion was employed for fracture propagation. Furthermore, the modeling of the effects of groundwater on joints was introduced by considering water as pressure acting on the joint surface. Application examples were provided to demonstrate the applicability of the developed numerical framework.