A study of rock bolting failure modes

Rock bolting has advanced rapidly during the past 4 decades due to a better understanding of load transfer mechanisms and advances made in the bolt system technology. Bolts are used as permanent and temporary support systems in tunnelling and mining operations. A review of has indicated that three systems of reinforcement devices have evolved as part of rock bolt and ground anchor while the rock is not generally thought of as being a component of the reinforcement system. A classification of rock bolting reinforcement systems is presented, followed by the fundamental theory of the load transfer mechanism. The failure mode of two phases of rock bolting system is formularised. The failure modes of cable bolting are discussed using a bond strength model as well as an iterative method. Finally, the interfacial shear stress model for ribbed bar is introduced and a closed form solution is obtained using a tri-line stress strain relationship.

Distribution and mechanism of gently dipping fractures subjected to river incision: A case study from Nujiang River, China

Gently dipping fractures subjected to river incision are widely distributed on rock slopes.In this paper,a rock slope on the Nujiang River(China)is investigated to study the role of gently dipping fractures in the rock slopes evolution.Detailed field surveys indicate that gentle fractures are concentrated in four main zones.Moreover,the kinematics of the fracture system suggest that the genesis of these fractures can be synthesized into a progressive evolution model.This model indicates that the joints begin with the formation of an array of en echelon cracks that are subjected to continued crack elongation and shearing before ultimately approaching one another and interacting to form a complex joint system.Geomechanical analysis is performed to reveal the mechanisms of this genesis,and three main fracture patterns are identified based on the slope stress and are classified with respect to the slope evolution.Based on the detail field investigations and the evolutionary history of the river valley,we propose that intermittent incision by the river was the main factor contributing to the concentrated distribution of gently dipping joints.

Effect of heterogeneity on occurrence of zonal disintegration around deep underground openings

By utilizing the two numerical codes RFPA3 D and FLAC3 D, the effect of heterogeneity on failure mode and failure mechanism of rock around deep underground excavations under tri-axial stress is analyzed. It is found that zonal disintegration is a large scale shear-slip failure developed in deep surrounding rock mass under tri-axial stress, which is accompanied by a large amount of tensile failure. The distance between fractures and the number of fractures have a close correlation with the rock mass heterogeneity. With an increase of the homogeneity index of the rock mass, the distances between fractures decrease and the number of fractures increases. For an intact hard rock mass with relative high homogeneity, only failure mode characterized as v-shaped notches can be formed due to the intersection of intensively developed shear bands. None of the zonal disintegration can be formed due to the fact that with increasing homogeneity, the failure mechanism of rock mass is gradually dominated by shear failure rather than tensile failure.