scholarly journals Numerical Analysis on Failure Modes and Mechanisms of Mine Pillars under Shear Loading

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianhui Ma ◽  
Long Wang ◽  
Fidelis Tawiah Suorineni ◽  
Chunan Tang

Severe damage occurs frequently in mine pillars subjected to shear stresses. The empirical design charts or formulas for mine pillars are not applicable to orebodies under shear. In this paper, the failure process of pillars under shear stresses was investigated by numerical simulations using the rock failure process analysis (RFPA) 2D software. The numerical simulation results indicate that the strength of mine pillars and the corresponding failure mode vary with different width-to-height ratios and dip angles. With increasing dip angle, stress concentration first occurs at the intersection between the pillar and the roof, leading to formation of microcracks. Damage gradually develops from the surface to the core of the pillar. The damage process is tracked with acoustic emission monitoring. The study in this paper can provide an effective means for understanding the failure mechanism, planning, and design of mine pillars.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 8585
Author(s):  
Bin Fu ◽  
Yingchun Li ◽  
Chun’an Tang ◽  
Zhibin Lin

Rock slope stability is commonly dominated by locked patches along a potential slip surface. How naturally heterogeneous locked patches of different properties affect the rock slope stability remains enigmatic. Here, we simulate a rock slope with two locked patches subjected to shear loading through a self-developed software, rock failure process analysis (RFPA). In the finite element method (FEM)-based code, the inherent heterogeneity of rock is quantified by the classic Weibull distribution, and the constitutive relationship of the meso-scale element is formulated by the statistical damage theory. The effects of mechanical and geometrical properties of the locked patches on the stability of the simulated rock slope are systematically studied. We find that the rock homogeneity modulates the failure mode of the rock slope. As the homogeneity degree is elevated, the failure of the locked patch transits from the locked patch itself to both the interfaces between the locked patched and the slide body and the bedrock, and then to the bedrock. The analysis of variance shows that length and strength of locked patch affect most shear strength and the peak shear displacement of the rock slope. Most of the rock slopes exhibit similar failure modes where the macroscopic cracks mainly concentrate on the interfaces between the locked patch and the bedrock and the slide body, respectively, and the acoustic events become intensive after one of the locked patches is damaged. The locked patches are failed sequentially, and the sequence is apparently affected by their relative positions. The numerically reproduced failure mode of the rock slope with locked patches of different geometrical and mechanical properties are consistent with the laboratory observations. We also propose a simple spring-slider model to elucidate the failure process of the rock slope with locked patches.


2011 ◽  
Vol 90-93 ◽  
pp. 74-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Hu ◽  
Ling Xu ◽  
Nu Wen Xu

Fault is one of the most important factors affecting tunnel instability. As a significant and casual construction of Jinping II hydropower station, when the drain tunnel is excavated at depth of 1600 m, rockbursts and water inrush induced by several huge faults and zone of fracture have restricted the development of the whole construction. In this paper, a progressive failure progress numerical analysis code-RFPA (abbreviated from Rock Failure Process Analysis) is applied to investigate the influence of faults on tunnel instability and damaged zones. Numerical simulation is performed to analyze the stress distribution and wreck regions of the tunnel, and the results are consistent with the phenomena obtained from field observation. Moreover, the effects of fault characteristics and positions on the construction mechanical response are studied in details. Some distribution rules of surrounding rock stress of deep-buried tunnel are summarized to provide the reasonable references to TBM excavation and post-support of the drain tunnel, as well as the design and construction of similar engineering in future.


2004 ◽  
Vol 261-263 ◽  
pp. 1517-1522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wan Cheng Zhu ◽  
K.T. Chau ◽  
Chun An Tang

Brazilian test is a standardized test for measuring indirect tensile strength of rock and concrete disc (or cylinder). Similar test called indirect tensile test has also been used for other geomaterials. Although splitting of the disc into two halves is the expected failure mode, other rupture modes had also been observed. More importantly, the splitting tensile strength of rock can vary significantly with the specimen geometry and loading condition. In this study, a numerical code called RFPA2D (abbreviated from Rock Failure Process Analysis) is used to simulate the failure process of disc and ring specimens subject to Brazilian test. The failure patterns and splitting tensile strengths of specimens with different size and loading-strip-width are simulated and compared with existing experimental results. In addition, two distinct failure patterns observed in ring tests have been simulated using RFPA2D and thus this verifies the applicability of RFPA2D in simulating rock failure process under static loads.


2011 ◽  
Vol 378-379 ◽  
pp. 43-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Xie ◽  
Qing Hui Jiang ◽  
Rui Chen ◽  
Wei Zhang

With RMT-150C rock testing machine and AEWIN E1.86 DISP acoustic emission system applied, the acoustic emission test was accomplished with two kinds of rock samples including marble and granite under uniaxial compression. Cyclic loading and continuous loading were used through the experiment, and the mechanical performance and acoustic emission (AE) characteristics were obtained during the process of rock progressive failure. Details related to the relationship between amount of AE and stress-strain was given in this paper. A comparison between marble and granite was made as well following the general AE law, on the basis of which, the failure mechanism of rock mass was investigated. Finally, some conclusions can be summarized as follows:(1) AE activity features are different with stress state variation in rock failure process;(2) loading patterns make a direct impact on the failure process thereby affecting AE activities;(3)AE activities are various basing on the different types of rocks, structures and failure modes.


2005 ◽  
Vol 297-300 ◽  
pp. 1025-1031 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu Hong Wang ◽  
Chun An Tang ◽  
Juan Xia Zhang ◽  
Wan Cheng Zhu

This short paper will present a two-dimensional (2D) model of masonry material. This mesoscopic mechanical model is suitable to simulate the behavior of masonry. Considering the heterogeneity of masonry material, based on the damage mechanics and elastic-brittle theory, the new developed Material Failure Process Analysis (MFPA2D) system was brought out to simulate the cracking process of masonry, which was considered as a three-phase composite of the block phase, the mortar phase and the block-mortar interfaces. The crack propagation processes simulated with this model shows good agreement with those of experimental observations. It has been found that the shear fracture of masonry observed at the macroscopic level is predominantly caused by tensile damage at the mesoscopic level. Some brittle materials are so weak in tension relative to shear that tensile rather than shear fractures are generated in pure shear loading.


2013 ◽  
Vol 779-780 ◽  
pp. 332-336
Author(s):  
Ping Cao ◽  
Wen Cheng Fan ◽  
Ke Zhang

To study the failure mechanism and failure mode of jointed rock under compressive-shear, many rock-like material specimens containing non-coplanar joints were made and a series of experiments were carried out. In the experiments, mica sheets were used as joint fillings, cement mortar was selected as rock-like material. Joints were made by inserting the mica sheet in cement mortar before initial setting. Mica sheets were left down as joint fillings. The results of experiments show that the dip angles of major joint have important influence on the failure mode of specimens. And the emerging position of wing cracks which exist in the prophase of specimens failure process changes with the dip angle. The shear strength of specimens has an important relationship with the dip angle of major joints. The smallest shear strength happens in the specimen with a joint angle of 15°, while the biggest value happens in 60°.


2005 ◽  
Vol 297-300 ◽  
pp. 2636-2641
Author(s):  
Lian Chong Li ◽  
Leslie George Tham ◽  
Tian Hong Yang ◽  
Xia Li

Based on the heterogeneous and porous characteristics of rock materials, a flow-stressdamage (FSD) model, implemented with the Rock Failure Process Analysis code (RFPA2D), is used to investigate the behavior of fluid flow and damage evolution, and their coupling action in rock sample that are subjected to both hydraulic and uniaxial compressive loading. A highly heterogeneous sample, containing grains, grain boundaries and weak zones, is employed in the numerical simulation. The simulation results provide a deep insight in the physical essence of the evolutionary nature of fracture phenomena as well as the fluid flow in heterogeneous materials, especially when they are highly stressed. The simulation result suggests that the nature of fluid flow and strength character in rocks strongly depends upon the heterogeneity of the rocks.


2013 ◽  
Vol 690-693 ◽  
pp. 3050-3053
Author(s):  
Feng Shan Han ◽  
Li Song

Opening mode fractures in multilayer sedimentary rock often are periodically distributed with fracture spacing scaled to the thickness of the fractured layer. In this paper, based on Rock Failure Process Analysis Code RFPA2D, a three layer model with a central layer and with the different thickness top and bottom layer, progressive formation in multilayer sedimentary rock at fracture saturation in unsymmetrical case is simulated. We investigate the change of the critical fracture spacing to layer thickness ratio as a function of the thickness of the top layer where the bottom layers is much thicker (5 times) than the fractured layer called the unsymmetrical case, in this unsymmetrical case, fracture saturation is simulated. By numerical simulation of RFPA2D, the critical spacing to layer thickness ratio decreases and tend to the same constant value as the thickness of the top layer increases. Numerical simulation shown that for the unsymmetrical case, if the adjacent layers are thicker than 1.5 times the thickness of the fractured layer, the multilayer sedimentary rock can be treated approximately as a system with infinitely thick top and bottom layers at fracture saturation.That should be useful in the design of engineering systems and in the prediction of fracture spacing in hydrocarbon reservoirs and groundwater aquifers.


Geofluids ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Xiang Yu ◽  
Kang Zhao ◽  
Qing Wang ◽  
Yajing Yan ◽  
Yongjun Zhang ◽  
...  

The study and accurate prediction of the movement of overburden rock mass and surface subsidence are crucial for a safe production in metal mines. This study investigates the relationship between the movement laws of overlaying strata and the time space of a mined-out volume using Rock Failure Process Analysis (RFPA) System. Furthermore, the movement, deformation, and failure laws of overlaying strata are examined in different positions when a goaf volume is certain and the failure behavior of the overlaying strata. This study analyzes the similarities and differences of the overlaying strata comparatively. Results show that, regardless of the movement range or subsidence value of the overlying rock mass, a power function relationship is observed between them and working face advancement. Setting the equation shows that the scope of the overlying rock mass is significant when the ratio of a certain position distance roof to the working face distance is small. The results provide a reference for controlling the displacement of the overlying rock mass and treating goaf.


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