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The Application of Normal Stress Reduction Function in Tilt Tests for Different Block Shapes

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Abstract

This paper focuses on the influence of the shapes of rock cores, which control the sliding or toppling behaviours in tilt tests for the estimation of rock joint roughness coefficients (JRC). When the JRC values are estimated by performing tilt tests, the values are directly proportional to the basic friction of the rock material and the applied normal stress on the sliding planes. Normal stress obviously varies with the shape of the sliding block, and the basic friction angle is also affected by the sample shapes in tilt tests. In this study, the shapes of core blocks are classified into three representative shapes and those are created using plaster. Using the various shaped artificial cores, a set of tilt tests is carried out to identify the shape influences on the normal stress and the basic friction angle in tilt tests. The test results propose a normal stress reduction function to estimate the normal stress for tilt tests according to the sample shapes based on Barton’s empirical equation. The proposed normal stress reduction functions are verified by tilt tests using artificial plaster joints and real rock joint sets. The plaster joint sets are well matched and cast in detailed printed moulds using a 3D printing technique. With the application of the functions, the obtained JRC values from the tilt tests using the plaster samples and the natural rock samples are distributed within a reasonable JRC range when compared with the measured values.

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Abbreviations

a :

Radius of major axis of ellipse

b :

Radius of minor axis of ellipse

a e :

Effective area of contact surface

α :

Intersection angle between sliced plane and the centre of cylinder

β :

Tilting angle when sliding occurs

b r :

Width of rectangular sample

c 1, c 2, c 3 :

Constants of quadratic function

d m :

Distance of the centre of mass from the centre of sliding plane

e :

Eccentricity of block geometry

h m :

Height of centre of mass from sliding plane

h p :

Height of parallelogram shape sample

h r :

Height of rectangular sample

Q :

Weight of block

q max :

Maximum vertical stress at base

q min :

Minimum vertical stress at base

q n_max :

Maximum normal stress at base

q n_min :

Minimum normal stress at base

x :

Width of contact region

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Acknowledgments

This research was performed with the financial support of the Griffith University International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (GUIPRS) program. The authors would like to express their appreciation to anonymous reviewers for the constructive comments which have contributed to improved research and, consequently, outcomes.

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Correspondence to Dong Hyun Kim.

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Kim, D.H., Gratchev, I., Hein, M. et al. The Application of Normal Stress Reduction Function in Tilt Tests for Different Block Shapes. Rock Mech Rock Eng 49, 3041–3054 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-016-0989-x

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