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Rock Mechanics.pdf - Mining and Blasting

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Figure 7.17 Maps of zones of failure<br />

(dark areas) <strong>and</strong> damage (indicated<br />

by microseismic events) compared<br />

with the constant deviator stress<br />

damage criterion of 75 MPa for a circular<br />

excavation in Lac du Bonnet<br />

granite (after Martin, 1997).<br />

DELINEATION OF ZONES OF ROCK FAILURE<br />

i.e<br />

79 ◦ ≤ ≤ 101 ◦<br />

or 249 ◦ ≤ ≤ 281 ◦<br />

These intervals are illustrated in Figure 7.16. The extent of these zones, relative to<br />

the excavation perimeter, is sufficient to imply that the opening, as designed, may not<br />

perform its specified function without change in shape or installation of support <strong>and</strong><br />

reinforcement. One possible design response could be to increase the height of the<br />

opening relative to the width.<br />

For arbitrarily shaped openings, assessment of boundary failure involves comparison<br />

of computed boundary stresses <strong>and</strong> the uniaxial strength parameters.<br />

Determination of the extent of failure zones close to the boundary of an excavation<br />

is based on consideration of the detail of the stress distribution close to the opening.<br />

It involves comparison of the state of stress in the near field of the excavation with the<br />

rock mass damage criterion. An illustration of the procedure is provided by Martin<br />

(1997) for a circular excavation in Lac du Bonnet granite, as shown in Figure 7.17.<br />

In this case, contours of the maximum deviator stress (1 − 3) are plotted near the<br />

boundary of the excavation, <strong>and</strong> the known criterion for crack initiation in the rock<br />

mass is defined by a maximum deviator stress of about 75 MPa. From the plots of<br />

spalling failure <strong>and</strong> location of microseismic events, it is seen that the 75 MPa contour<br />

bounds the observed zones of damage <strong>and</strong> rock failure in the excavation boundary.<br />

The independent observations of spalling <strong>and</strong> damage confirm that the analysis has<br />

predicted quite well the failure domain around the excavation.<br />

The constant deviator stress criterion is valid for the stress path <strong>and</strong> confinement<br />

conditions near the boundary of an excavation (within say one radius or so of the<br />

boundary). For the more general case of mapping zones of failure in the interior of<br />

a rock mass, the relevant rock mass strength is the long-term triaxial strength, which<br />

is the triaxial criterion based on the long-term uniaxial strength, cd. The failure<br />

criterion in this case can be constructed from the generic Hoek-Brown criterion using<br />

215

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