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Stability assessment of jointed rock slope with different crack infillings under various thermomechanical loadings

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Abstract

Thermoelastic deformation of rock significantly affects the stability of rock slope because thermoelastic strains may cause fracture propagation under favorable condition of failure. Rock slope stability depends on the balance between shear stress and shear resistance along the plane of weakness. Due to warming of rock slopes by heat transfer phenomena, viz. conduction and convection, considerable change in induced stresses (normal and shear) and resistance takes place which further causes instability in rock slope. In this paper, a two-dimensional finite element model has been used to simulate the stability of jointed rock slope containing crack in its upper surface. Four different cases have been simulated on the basis of infilling material (air, water, ice, water and ice) in the crack. Stability of rock slope is examined in terms of shear displacement and factor of safety for different thermal conditions of slope surface. A comparative study has been done for the four cases of infilling material in the crack. The various affecting parameters, viz. shear displacement, factor of safety, shear strength along the joint, and different surface temperature conditions, are illustrated by means of graphs. It has been found that the values of horizontal and vertical displacements are in the range of millimeters. The maximum values of horizontal and vertical displacements are 2.17 mm. Moreover, the maximum values of vertical compressive and tensile stresses are 15.4 MPa and 4.45 MPa respectively for the said four cases. According to the infilling material in the crack, the stability of the rock slope for the given geometry of slope is found in the following order: crack filled with ice < crack filled with ice and water < crack filled with water < empty crack. Validations of numerical results have been done from previous studies, and it has been found that the trends of normal stress, shear strength, and shear displacement along the joint are well matched.

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Abbreviations

2D FE:

2-Dimensional finite element

σ n :

Normal stress along the joint

σ s :

Shear stress along the joint

u normal :

Normal displacement along the joint

u shear :

Shear displacement along the joint

τ :

Shear strength along the joint

FOS:

Factor of safety

Z :

Depth of crack

W :

Width of crack

E r :

Elastic modulus of rock

ρ r :

Density of rock

υ r :

Poisson’s ratio of rock

k r :

Thermal conductivity of rock

α :

Coefficient of thermal expansion for rock

c p :

Specific heat at constant pressure for rock

ϕ :

Friction angle for rock

σ t :

Tensile strength of intact rock

σ c :

Compressive strength of intact rock

c :

Cohesion for rock

E i :

Elastic modulus of ice

υ i :

Poisson’s ratio of ice

ρ i :

Density of ice

k i :

Thermal conductivity of ice

c p :

Specific heat for ice

γ :

Ratio of specific heat for ice

α i :

Coefficient of thermal expansion for ice

h a :

Convective heat transfer coefficient for air

h w :

Convective heat transfer coefficient for water

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Funding

The authors are thankful to the NRDMS program, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for providing the research grant (NRDMS/02/19/015/(G)) to carry out the study smoothly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mining Engineering, IIT (ISM), Dhanbad, 826004, India

    Pushpendra Sharma, Amit Kumar Verma, Manish Kumar Jha & Pradeep Gautam

  2. Department of Applied Mathematics, IIT (ISM), Dhanbad, 826004, India

    Anil Negi

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  1. Pushpendra Sharma
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  2. Amit Kumar Verma
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  3. Anil Negi
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  4. Manish Kumar Jha
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  5. Pradeep Gautam
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Correspondence to Pushpendra Sharma.

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Sharma, P., Verma, A.K., Negi, A. et al. Stability assessment of jointed rock slope with different crack infillings under various thermomechanical loadings. Arab J Geosci 11, 431 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-018-3772-3

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