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Uniaxial compressive study on mechanical properties of rock mass considering joint spacing and connectivity rate

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Abstract

To explore the effect of joint spacing and joint connectivity rate on the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and elastic modulus of jointed rock mass, compression tests on preset intermittent fractured specimens were performed. Test results show that the anisotropy of UCS of jointed rock mass tends to increase with joint connectivity rate. The decreasing rates of UCS and elastic modulus of jointed rock mass, when the loading direction is perpendicular to the joint plane, are higher than those when the loading direction is parallel to the joint plane with respect to joint connectivity rate and jointing index (the ratio of the length of jointed rock mass specimen to the joint spacing). The fourth-degree polynomial function proposed in this study is appropriate to analyze the nonlinear variation law of equivalent peak UCS of jointed rock mass with joint connectivity rate. The power function proposed in this study is suitable to describe the nonlinear variation law of equivalent peak UCS and equivalent elastic modulus of jointed rock mass with jointing index. However, the number of times and the number of parameters of multiple polynomial function and the number of power function need to be determined according to site-specific test results of practical project.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Open Research Fund of Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education (Grant No. KLE-TJGE-B1505) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41541021 and 41230635).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan Province, China

    L. X. Xiong & T. B. Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    L. X. Xiong

  3. Geotechnical Engineering Department, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu Province, China

    H. J. Chen

  4. Terracon Consultants, 13050 Eastgate Park Way, Louisville, KY, USA

    Y. Zhang

Authors
  1. L. X. Xiong
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  2. H. J. Chen
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  3. T. B. Li
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  4. Y. Zhang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. X. Xiong.

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Responsible Editor: Abdullah M. Al-Amri

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Xiong, L.X., Chen, H.J., Li, T.B. et al. Uniaxial compressive study on mechanical properties of rock mass considering joint spacing and connectivity rate. Arab J Geosci 12, 642 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-019-4803-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-019-4803-4

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