scholarly journals Investigations of a Weathered and Closely Jointed Rock Slope Failure Using Back Analyses

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13452
Author(s):  
Kuo-Shih Shao ◽  
An-Jui Li ◽  
Chee-Nan Chen ◽  
Chen-Hsien Chung ◽  
Ching-Fang Lee ◽  
...  

This study presents the case of a landslide triggered by a high groundwater level caused by several days of continuous rainfall in the northeastern region of Taiwan. The slope where this landslide occurred consists of closely jointed and weathered bedrock. By means of finite element limit analysis and the Hoek–Brown failure criterion, this study performed a slope failure simulation similar to the actual landslide and deduced the reasonable value range for the combination of key Hoek–Brown failure criterion parameters through back analyses. The results indicate that the key parameters affecting the bedrock’s slope stability were the geological strength index (GSI) and the disturbance factor (D), whereas the effects of the unconfined compressive strength (σci) were less significant. The results of the back analysis reveal that the suitable D-value range and GSI of closely jointed and weathered sandstone in the northeastern region of Taiwan are 0.8 to 0.9 and 20 to 30, respectively. These back-analyzed value ranges can serve as a reference for broader applications in the preliminary stability analysis of similar rock slopes where it is difficult to perform in situ investigation.

Landslides ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Hyun Kim ◽  
Ivan Gratchev ◽  
Arumugam Balasubramaniam

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Ruili Lu ◽  
Wei Wei ◽  
Kaiwei Shang ◽  
Xiangyang Jing

In order to study the failure mechanism and assess the stability of the inlet slope of the outlet structure of Lianghekou Hydropower station, the strength reduction method considering the ubiquitous joint model is proposed. Firstly, two-dimension numerical models are built to investigate the influence of the dilation angle of ubiquitous joints, mesh discretization, and solution domain size on the slope stability. It is found that the factor of safety is insensitive to the dilation angle of ubiquitous joints and the solution domain size but sensitive to the mesh discretization when the number of elements less than a certain threshold. Then, a complex three-dimension numerical model is built to assess the stability of the inlet slope of the outlet structure of Lianghekou Hydropower station. During the strength reduction procedure, the progressive failure process and the final failure surface of the slope are obtained. Furthermore, the comparison of factors of safety obtained from strength reduction method and analytical solutions indicates that the effect of vertical side boundaries plays an important role in the stability of jointed rock slope, and the cohesive force is the main contribution to the resistant force of vertical side boundaries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 3333-3353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Mamot ◽  
Samuel Weber ◽  
Tanja Schröder ◽  
Michael Krautblatter

Abstract. Instability and failure of high mountain rock slopes have significantly increased since the 1990s coincident with climatic warming and are expected to rise further. Most of the observed failures in permafrost-affected rock walls are likely triggered by the mechanical destabilisation of warming bedrock permafrost including ice-filled joints. The failure of ice-filled rock joints has only been observed in a small number of experiments, often using concrete as a rock analogue. Here, we present a systematic study of the brittle shear failure of ice and rock–ice interfaces, simulating the accelerating phase of rock slope failure. For this, we performed 141 shearing experiments with rock–ice–rock “sandwich”' samples at constant strain rates (10−3 s−1) provoking ice fracturing, under normal stress conditions ranging from 100 to 800 kPa, representing 4–30 m of rock overburden, and at temperatures from −10 to −0.5 ∘C, typical for recent observed rock slope failures in alpine permafrost. To create close to natural but reproducible conditions, limestone sample surfaces were ground to international rock mechanical standard roughness. Acoustic emission (AE) was successfully applied to describe the fracturing behaviour, anticipating rock–ice failure as all failures are predated by an AE hit increase with peaks immediately prior to failure. We demonstrate that both the warming and unloading (i.e. reduced overburden) of ice-filled rock joints lead to a significant drop in shear resistance. With a temperature increase from −10 to −0.5 ∘C, the shear stress at failure reduces by 64 %–78 % for normal stresses of 100–400 kPa. At a given temperature, the shear resistance of rock–ice interfaces decreases with decreasing normal stress. This can lead to a self-enforced rock slope failure propagation: as soon as a first slab has detached, further slabs become unstable through progressive thermal propagation and possibly even faster by unloading. Here, we introduce a new Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion for ice-filled rock joints that is valid for joint surfaces, which we assume similar for all rock types, and which applies to temperatures from −8 to −0.5 ∘C and normal stresses from 100 to 400 kPa. It contains temperature-dependent friction and cohesion, which decrease by 12 % ∘C−1 and 10 % ∘C−1 respectively due to warming and it applies to temperature and stress conditions of more than 90 % of the recently documented accelerating failure phases in permafrost rock walls.


2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 2147-2163 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Ma ◽  
C. A. Tang ◽  
L. C. Li ◽  
P. G. Ranjith ◽  
M. Cai ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Zhiqiang Li ◽  
Guofeng Liu ◽  
Shuqian Duan ◽  
Shufeng Pei ◽  
Changgen Yan

Geological strength index GSI, disturbance factor (D), material constant mi, and uniaxial compressive strength σci of the intact rock are essential input parameters IPs of the Hoek–Brown H−B criterion. Mechanical parameters MPs of the engineering rock mass, including elastic modulus E, cohesion c, and internal friction angle φ estimated by the H–B criterion, and the predicted excavation response of surrounding rock, including the displacement and excavation damage zone EDZ based on the MPs, are of high relevance with the four IPs of the H–B criterion. In this paper, the deep and huge underground cavern excavated in basalt from a hydropower station under construction in the southwest of China is used to analyse the sensitivity of the IPs on the MPs, the displacement, and EDZ of the surrounding rock mass. Firstly, the H–B criterion is applied to estimate the MPs, among which the IPs are obtained from a series of in situ and laboratory tests, including borehole camera observation, wave velocity test, uniaxial and triaxial compression tests, and so on. Secondly, the sensitivity relationships between IPs, MPs, and prediction results of displacement and EDZ are established and described quantitatively by the sensitivity factor (si). Results show that the MPs of the rock mass are more sensitive to GSI and D⋅GSI and σci are high-sensitivity parameters affecting the displacement and EDZ. Finally, the variations in the estimated MPs and associated prediction results concerning excavation response, which are caused by the uncertainties in the determination of the IPs, are further quantified. This study provides a straightforward assessment for the variability of the rock mass parameters estimated by the H–B criterion. It also gives a valuable reference to similar geotechnical engineering for the determination of rock mass parameters in the preliminary design.


1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandip Shah ◽  
Evert Hoek

Linear regression and simplex reflection techniques for fitting laboratory strength data for rocks and soils to linear and nonlinear failure envelopes are presented. The simplex reflection technique is applied to the Hoek-Brown nonlinear failure criterion which is widely used for estimating the strength of jointed rock masses. A comparison between the simplex reflection technique and linear regression analysis, for assessing the parameters associated with the Hoek-Brown criterion, is discussed. The strengths and limitations of the two techniques are compared, and it is established that the simplex technique is superior for fitting the data to any nonlinear criterion. The implementation of the simplex reflection method is presented together with an algorithm in the form of a pseudocode for use on computers. Key words : linear regression, simplex reflection, failure criterion, stress, residuals.


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