EOSC433/536:
Geological Engineering
Practice I Rock Engineering
Lecture 4:
Kinematic Analysis
(Wedge Failure)
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Problem Set #1 - Debriefing
Learning Goals:
1. Yes, review of stress and strain but also
2. Problem solving using multiple resources
3. Notation and conventions
4. Problem solving verification
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Underground Instability Mechanisms
When considering
different rock mass
failure mechanisms, we
generally distinguish
between those that are
primarily structurally-
controlled and those that
are stress-controlled. Of
course some failure modes
are composites of these
two conditions, and others
may involve the effect of
Martin et al. (1999)
time and weathering on
excavation stability.
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Wedge Failure & Rockbolting
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Design Challenge: Rock Slope Stabilization
Design: A rock slope with a history of
block failures is to be stabilized
through anchoring.
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Rock Mass Characterization - Discontinuities
The main features of rock
mass geometry include
spacing and frequency,
orientation (dip direction/dip
angle), persistence (size and
shape), roughness, aperture,
clustering and block size.
25 m
A B
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Stereonets Pole Plots
Plotting dip and dip direction, pole plots provide an immediate visual
depiction of pole concentrations. All natural discontinuities have a certain
variability in their orientation that results in scatter of the pole plots.
However, by contouring the pole plot, the most highly concentrated areas of
poles, representing the dominant discontinuity sets, can be identified.
It must be remembered though, that it may be difficult to distinguish which set
a particular discontinuity belongs to or that in some cases a single discontinuity
may be the controlling factor as opposed to a set of discontinuities.
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Discontinuity Persistence
Persistence refers to the areal extent or size of a discontinuity plane
within a plane. Clearly, the persistence will have a major influence on the
shear strength developed in the plane of the discontinuity, where the intact
rock segments are referred to as rock bridges.
rock
bridge
increasing persistence
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Discontinuity Persistence
Together with spacing, discontinuity persistence helps
to define the size of blocks that can slide from a
rock face. Several procedures have been developed
to calculate persistence by measuring their exposed
trace lengths on a specified area of the face.
Step 1: define a mapping area on the rock face
scan
with dimensions L1 and L2.
line
t Step 2: count the total number of discontinuities
c
(N) of a specific set with dip in this area, and
t
c the numbers of these either contained within (Nc)
or transecting (Nt) the mapping area defined.
L1
c c
t For example, in this case:
t
c N = 14
Nc = 5
Nt = 4
L2
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Discontinuity Persistence
Step 1: define a mapping area on the rock face
Pahl (1981) with dimensions L1 and L2.
Step 2: count the total number of discontinuities
t (N) of a specific set with dip in this area, and
c the numbers of these either contained within (Nc)
t or transecting (Nt) the mapping area defined.
c
L1 Step 3: calculate the approximate length, l, of
c c the discontinuities using the equations below.
t t
c
L2
Again, for this case:
If L1 = 15 m, L2 = 5 m and = 35, then H = 4.95 m and m = -0.07.
From this, the average length/persistence of the discontinuity set l = 4.3 m.
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Discontinuity Roughness
From the practical point of view
of quantifying joint roughness,
only one technique has received
some degree of universality the
Joint Roughness Coefficient
(JRC). This method involves
comparing discontinuity surface
profiles to standard roughness
curves assigned numerical values.
Barton & Choubey (1977)
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Subjectivity in Joint Roughness
Beer et al. (2002)
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Mechanical Properties of Discontinuities
Wyllie & Mah (2004)
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Discontinuity Data Probability Distributions
Discontinuity properties can vary over a wide
range, even for those belonging to the same set.
The distribution of a property can be described by
means of a probability distribution function.
A normal distribution is applicable where a propertys
mean value is the most commonly occurring. This is
usually the case for dip and dip direction.
Wyllie & Mah (2004)
A negative exponential distribution is
applicable for properties, such as
spacing and persistence, which are
randomly distributed.
Negative
exponential function:
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Discontinuity Data - Probability Distributions
Wyllie & Mah (2004)
Negative
exponential
function:
From this, the probability that a given value
will be less than dimension x is given by:
For example, for a discontinuity set with a mean spacing of 2 m,
the probabilities that the spacing will be less than:
1 m
5 m
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Structurally-Controlled Instability Mechanisms
Structurally-controlled instability means that blocks formed by
discontinuities may be free to either fall or slide from the
excavation periphery under a set of body forces (usually gravity).
To assess the likelihood of such failures, an analysis of the
kinematic admissibility of potential wedges or planes that intersect
the excavation face(s) can be performed.
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Kinematic Analysis Planar Rock Slope Failure
To consider the kinematic admissibility of plane instability, five
necessary but simple geometrical criteria must be met:
(i) The plane on which sliding occurs
must strike near parallel to the
slope face (within approx. 20).
(ii) Release surfaces (that provide
negligible resistance to sliding) must
be present to define the lateral
slide boundaries.
(iii) The sliding plane must daylight in
the slope face.
(iv) The dip of the sliding plane must be
greater than the angle of friction.
(v) The upper end of the sliding surface
either intersects the upper slope, or
terminates in a tension crack.
Wyllie & Mah (2004)
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Kinematic Analysis Rock Slope Wedge Failure
Similar to planar failures, several conditions relating to the line of
intersection must be met for wedge failure to be kinematically
admissible :
(i) The dip of the slope must exceed
the dip of the line of intersection
of the two wedge forming
discontinuity planes.
(ii) The line of intersection must
daylight on the slope face.
(iii) The dip of the line of intersection
must be such that the strength of
the two planes are reached.
(iv) The upper end of the line of
intersection either intersects the
upper slope, or terminates in a
tension crack.
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Kinematic Analysis Daylight Envelopes
Daylight Envelope: Zone within which all
poles belong to planes that daylight, and are
therefore potentially unstable.
slope
faces
Lisle (2004)
daylight
envelopes
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Kinematic Analysis Friction Cones
Friction Cone: Zone within which all poles belong
to planes that dip at angles less than the
friction angle, and are therefore stable.
Harrison & Hudson (2000)
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Pole Plots - Kinematic Admissibility
< f
> f
Wyllie & Mah (2004)
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Pole Plots - Kinematic Admissibility
Having determined from the
daylight envelope whether
friction block failure is kinematically
cone permissible, a check is then
made to see if the dip angle
of the failure surface (or
line of intersection) is
slope steeper than the with the
face friction angle.
daylight
envelope Thus, for poles that plot
inside the daylight envelope,
but outside the friction
circle, translational sliding is
possible.
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Wedge Failure Direction of Sliding
Scenario #1: If the dip directions of the two
planes lie outside the included angle between i
(trend of the line of intersection) and f (dip
direction of face), the wedge will slide on both
planes.
Wyllie & Mah (2004)
Example scenario #2: If the dip directions of one
plane (e.g. Plane A) lies within the included angle
between i (trend of the line of intersection) and
f (dip direction of face), the wedge will slide on
only that plane.
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Dilatancy and Shear Strength
In the case of sliding of an
unconstrained block of rock from a
slope, dilatancy will accompany
shearing of all but the smoothest
discontinuity surfaces. If a rock
block is free to dilate, then the
second-order asperities will have a
diminished effect on shear strength.
Wyllie & Mah (2004)
Thus, by increasing the normal
force across a shear surface by
adding tensioned rock bolts,
dilation can be limited and
interlocking along the sliding
surface maintained, allowing the
second-order asperities to
contribute to the shear strength.
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Discontinuity Shear Strength
Strength along a discontinuity surface is mostly provided by asperities.
For shear failure to occur, the discontinuity surfaces must either dilate,
allowing asperities to override one another, or shear through the
asperities.
A rough surface that is initially undisturbed
and interlocked will have a peak friction
angle of (+i), where i is the roughness
angle.
As stresses increase and shear
Wyllie & Norrish (1996)
displacements occur, the
asperities will shear off, and
the friction angle will
progressively diminishe to a
minimum value of the basic, or
residual, friction angle of the
rock.
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Discontinuity Shear Strength - Example
The following tests were obtained in a series of direct shear tests
carried out on 100 mm square specimens of granite containing
clean, rough, dry joints.
Direct shear tests give
normal and shear
values which may be
plotted directly.
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Discontinuity Shear Strength - Example
Plotting the peak
strength data we can
see that it takes the
form of a bilinear
strength envelope.
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Discontinuity Shear Strength - Example
At higher normal stresses,
however, these asperities
are sheared.
+ i
The initial slope of this
envelope has an apparent
friction angle of (+i).
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Discontinuity Shear Strength - Example
= 30 basic friction angle
Thus. roughness angle
i = 45-30 = 15
+ i = 45
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Discontinuity Shear Strength - Example
If we were to repeat
this for the residual
r strength values...
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Residual Strength
For the residual strength condition, any cohesion is lost once displacement
has broken the cementing action. Also, the residual friction angle is less
than the peak friction angle because the shear displacement grinds the
minor irregularities on the rock surface and produces a smoother, lower
friction surface.
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Underground Instability Mechanisms
1
Wedge
Kaiser et al. (2000)
In-Situ Stress
Relaxation Stress Path
Unstable
3
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Analysis of Kinematic Admissibility - Falling
Falling occurs when a block detaches from
the roof of an excavation without sliding
on any of the bounding discontinuity
planes. In the case of gravitational
loading, the direction of movement is
vertically downwards.
kinematically
This is represented on the admissible
projection as a line with a dip
of 90, i.e. the centre of the
projection. Thus, if this point
Hudson & Harrison (1997)
falls within the spherical
triangle formed by the bounding
discontinuities, falling is
kinematically admissible.
kinematically
inadmissible = stable
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Analysis of Kinematic Admissibility - Sliding
Kinematic analyses first assess whether sliding from the roof will
occur along either a single discontinuity plane (planar failure) or a
line of intersection (wedge failure). The analyses then considers
whether these have a dip greater than the angle of friction.
Hudson & Harrison (1997)
Assuming that each discontinuity plane has the same friction angle, the
sliding direction will occur along a line of maximum dip (either that of a
plane or a line of intersection of two planes). No other part of the
spherical triangle represents a line of steeper dip than these candidates.
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Analysis of Kinematic Admissibility - Sliding
hence, the shaded blocks
above represent (a) planar sliding
along 2; and (b) wedge sliding
along 31.
of course, if the spherical
triangles fall completely outside the
friction circle, then the blocks are
identified as being stable.
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Geometrical Analysis of Maximum Wedge Volume
Once a series of joint sets have been identified as having wedge
forming potential, several questions arise :
in the case of a falling wedge, how much support will be required to
hold it in place (what kind of loads on the added support can be
expected, how dense will the bolting pattern have to be, etc.);
in the case of a sliding wedge, do the shear stresses exceed the shear
strength along the sliding surface, i.e. that provided by friction and
sometimes cohesion (in the form of intact rock bridges or mineralized
infilling), and if so, how much support will be required to stabilize the
block, how dense will the bolting pattern have to be, etc..
In both cases, the volume/weight of the
maximum wedge that may form is
required. This can be determined through
further geometrical constructions.
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Maximum Wedge and Key Block Theory
Key block theory tries to build on wedge analysis by establishing a
complete list of multiple blocks that may fail and a relative block
failure likelihood distribution whose modes define the critical
blocks.
area of the
maximum key-block
for an underground
opening. 2
1
maximum wedge
formed by multiple
key-blocks
intersecting an
excavation.
Goodman & Shi (1995)
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Key Block Analysis
The underlying axiom of block theory is that the failure of an excavation
begins at the boundary with the movement of a block into the excavated
space. The loss of the first block augments the space, possibly creating
an opportunity for the failure of additional blocks, with continuing
degradation possibly leading to massive failure.
As such, the term key-block identifies any
block that would become unstable when
intersected by an excavation. The loss of a
key-block does not necessarily assure 3?
subsequent block failures, but the 2
prevention of its loss does assure stability. 1
Key-block theory therefore sets out to
establish procedures for describing and
locating key blocks and for establishing
their support requirements.
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Wedge Analysis Computer-Aided
The 3-D nature of
wedge problems (i.e.
size and shape of
potential wedges in
the rock mass
surrounding an
opening) necessitates
a set of relatively
tedious calculations.
While these can be
performed by hand,
it is far more
efficient to utilise
computer-based
techniques.
(Rocscience Unwedge)
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Computer-Aided Wedge Analysis in Design
The speed of computer-aided
wedge analyses allow them to be
employed within the design
methodology as a tool directed
towards "filter analysis". This is
carried out during the preliminary
design to determine whether or
not there are stability issues for
a number of different problem
configurations (e.g. a curving
tunnel, different drifts in the
development of an underground
mine, etc.).
(Rocscience Unwedge)
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Case History: Rock Slope Stabilization Design
Project Details:
Existing bridge (to be replaced)
- built in 1947
- three-span; reinforced concrete
- structurally deficient
- large rock slide in 1998
New bridge
- 230-ft; two span steel bridge Courtesy - B. Fisher (Kleinfelder Inc.)
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Case History: Rock Slope Stabilization Design
Design: A rock slope with a history of
block failures is to be stabilized
through anchoring.
To carry out the design, a back analysis of
earlier block failures is first performed to
obtain joint shear strength properties.
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Back Analysis for Forward Analysis
Courtesy - B. Fisher (Kleinfelder)
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Back Analysis for Forward Analysis
Assume: Water in tension crack
@ 50% the tension crack height &
water along discontinuity.
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Case History: Rock Slope Stabilization Design
Given:
Unstable Rock Slope
40 ft tall
About 55 degrees
Joint Set Dips 38 degrees
+ i ~ 38 - 40 degrees
55 deg slope
From previous back analysis
of failed block below bridge
abutment.
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Case History: Design Assumptions
1. Worst case tension crack
distance is 8.6 ft for a dry
condition.
9.86
2. Assume 50% saturation for
tension crack.
Courtesy - B. Fisher (Kleinfelder Inc.)
3. Estimate super bolt tension
55 deg slope
given desired bolt inclination.
4. Distribute super bolt tension
over slope face based on
available bolts.
5. Make sure and bolt all
unstable blocks.
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Case History: Rock Slope Stabilization Design
Results:
1. 22 kips tension/ft required at
5 deg downward angle for F =
9.86
1.5
2. Slope face length is equal to:
Courtesy - B. Fisher (Kleinfelder Inc.)
V 55 deg slope
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Case History: Rock Slope Stabilization Design
Recommendations:
1. 8 rows of bolts (40/5 = 8)
2. Try to bolt every block
3. Grout length determined by
contractor
4. Rule of thumb, grout length;
Courtesy - B. Fisher (Kleinfelder Inc.)
UCS/30 < 200 psi adhesion 55 deg slope
5. Contractor responsible for
testing or rock bolts
6. Engineer responsible to sign
off on Contractors tests
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Case History: Rock Slope Stabilization
Courtesy - B. Fisher (Kleinfelder Inc.)
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Lecture References
Barton, NR & Choubey, V (1977). The shear strength of rock joints in theory and practice. Rock
Mechanics 10: 154.
Goodman, RE & Shi, GH (1995). Block theory and its application. Gotechnique 45(3): 383-423.
Hoek, E, Kaiser, PK & Bawden, WF (1995). Support of Underground Excavations in Hard Rock.
Balkema: Rotterdam.
Hudson, JA & Harrison, JP (1997). Engineering Rock Mechanics An Introduction to the Principles .
Elsevier Science: Oxford.
Kaiser, PK, Diederichs, MS, Martin, D, Sharpe, J & Steiner, W (2000). Underground works in
hard rock tunnelling and mining. In Proceedings, GeoEng2000, Melbourne. Technomic Publishing:
Lancaster, pp. 841-926.
Lisle, RJ (2004). Calculation of the daylight envelope for plane failure of rock slopes. Gotechnique
54: 279-280.
Martin, CD, Kaiser, PK & McCreath, DR (1999). Hoek-Brown parameters for predicting the depth
of brittle failure around tunnels. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 36(1): 136-151.
Pahl, PJ (1981). Estimating the mean length of discontinuity traces. International Journal of Rock
Mechanics & Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts 18: 221-228.
Priest, SD (1985). Hemispherical Projection Methods in Rock Mechanics. George Allen & Unwin:
London.
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Lecture References
Strouth, A & Eberhardt, E (2006). The use of LiDAR to overcome rock slope hazard data collection
challenges at Afternoon Creek, Washington. In 41st U.S. Symposium on Rock Mechanics: 50 Years of
Rock Mechanics, Golden. American Rock Mechanics Association, CD: 06-993.
Wyllie, DC & Mah, CW (2004). Rock Slope Engineering (4th edition). Spon Press: London.
Wyllie, DC & Norrish, NI (1996). Rock strength properties and their Measurement. In Landslides:
Investigation and Mitigation Special Report 247. National Academy Press: Washington, D.C., pp. 372-
390.
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