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Rheological Characteristics of Weak Rock Mass and Effects on the Long-Term Stability of Slopes

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Abstract

The creep deformation behavior of the northern slope of an open-pit mine is introduced. Direct shear creep tests are then conducted for the samples taken from the northern slope to study the rheological characteristics of the rock mass. The experimental results are analyzed afterwards using an empirical method to develop a rheological model for the rock mass. The proposed rheological model is finally applied to understand the creep behavior of the northern slope, predict the long-term stability, and guide appropriate measures to be taken at suitable times to increase the factor of safety to ensure stability. Through this study, a failure criterion is proposed to predict the long-term stability of the slope based on the rheological characteristics of the rock mass and a critical deformation rate is adopted to determine when appropriate measures should be taken to ensure slope stability. The method has been successfully applied for stability analysis and engineering management of the toppling and slippage of the northern slope of the open-pit mine. This success in application indicates that it is theoretically accurate, practically feasible, and highly cost-effective.

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Abbreviations

τ i :

Shear stress

G(t):

Shear modulus

t :

Time

γ i :

Shear strain

m :

Shear strain enhancing factor

H :

Tensile strength

σ ni :

Normal stress

c :

Cohesion

φ :

The angle of friction

G 0 = G(0):

Instantaneous shear modulus at t = 0

α:

Constant

δ:

Constant

τ 0(γ i):

Shear stress when σ ni = 0, i.e., intercept of the curve τ i − σ ni in the ordinate axis

φ(γ i):

Inclination angle between the curve τ i − σ ni and the abscissa axis

γ i :

Shear strain

\(\dot{\gamma }\) :

Shear strain velocity

γ f :

Failure strain, %

κ :

Scale coefficient of deformation, usually κ = 1.0

η :

Constant relevant to the plasticity

τ i :

Instantaneous shear stress

τ 0 :

Instantaneous shear strength

τ ∞ :

Long-term ultimate shear strength

F 0 :

Factor of safety calculated using the instantaneous shear strength

F ∞ :

Factor of safety calculated using the long-term shear strength

V :

Displacement rate of the slope

L :

Length of the creep slump block of the slope

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Acknowledgments

The work presented in this paper was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2013CB227900), the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51174045, 51034001, 41172265), and the basic scientific research funds of the Ministry of Education of China (No. N090101001). The Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20120042120053) also gave financial support to this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Resource and Civil Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110004, China

    Tianhong Yang, Tao Xu, Chunming Zhang & Yongqin Rui

  2. School of Engineering, The University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Hongyuan Liu

  3. ARC Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engineering, Civil, Surveying and Environmental Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Shanyong Wang

  4. Fushun Branch, China Coal Research Institute (CCRI), Fushun, 113001, China

    Li Shen

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  1. Tianhong Yang
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  2. Tao Xu
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  3. Hongyuan Liu
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  4. Chunming Zhang
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  6. Yongqin Rui
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  7. Li Shen
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Correspondence to Chunming Zhang.

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Yang, T., Xu, T., Liu, H. et al. Rheological Characteristics of Weak Rock Mass and Effects on the Long-Term Stability of Slopes. Rock Mech Rock Eng 47, 2253–2263 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-013-0527-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-013-0527-z

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