5/16/2021

Chapter-1
Engineering classification of rocks
Session objectives
At the end of this session, you will be able to
• Define rock mechanics
• Identify types of rocks
Rock Mechanics & Tunneling • List common examples of the different types
of rocks
Henok Marie • Identify engineering classes of rocks
henok1989@gmail.com
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Rock Mechanics Rock

A rock is a natural
• Rock mechanics deals with mechanical occurring solid cohesive
properties of rocks and application of this aggregate of one or more
mineral or mineral
knowledge in dealing with engineering materials.
problems of rock materials. Rocks are broadly
• a) the stresses and/or deformation in the classified into three
groups based on their
structure resulting from external load process of formation.
• b) the ability of structure to withstand the 1. Igneous rocks
stress or deformation 2. Sedimentary rocks
3. Metarmoprphic rocks
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Igneous rock/Basalt Vesicular Igneous rock

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Sedimentary Rock Sedimentary Rock

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Metamorphic rock Granite/Igneous rock

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Lime stone(sedimentary rock)

Marble/ Sedimentary rock

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Engineering Classification of Rock

Quartz/Metamorphic rock
Materials

Rock Mass

Intact Rock Discontinuities

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Rock Mass
Discontinuity is
• Rock Mass is composed of both intact rock a general term
and a set of joints. denoting any
• Both the mechanical property of the rock separation in
mass and joints/discontinuities affect the
overall property of the rock mass.
a rock mass
having zero or
low tensile
strength.
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• Folds: are structures in which the attitudes of

Structural features/ Discontinuities the beds are changed by flexure resulting from
the application of post-depositional tectonic
• Bedding planes: divide sedimentary rocks into forces. Folds alter the orientations of beds
beds or strata locally

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Faults: fractures on which identifiable shear

displacement has taken place.

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• Shear zones a zone composed of rocks that Dykes are long, narrow intrusions of generally
are more highly strained than rocks adjacent fine-grained igneous rock with steep or
to the zone. Those are zones of strong vertical and approximately parallel sides.
deformation (with a high strain rate)
surrounded by rocks with a lower state of
finite strain.

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Joints are the most common and generally the

most geotechnically significant structural
features in rocks.
A joint is brittle-fracture surface in rocks along
which little or no displacement has occurred.

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Discontinuities are characterized in situ

using;
1. Orientation
2. Spacing
3. Persistence (continuity)
4. Roughness
5. Wall strength
6. Aperture
7. Filling
8. Water (Seepage)
9. Number of sets
10.Block size

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Rock mass properties

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Intact rock properties Porosity (n):

• the ratio of the non-solid volume to the total
volume of material
• describes how densely the material is packed
• generally decreases with increasing depth or
pressure
• ranging from less than 0.01 (1 %) for solid
granite (cryistalline rock) to up to 0.5 (50 %)
for porous sandstone (sedimentary rock)
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Density
The density of rocks depends on the
mineral composition, the porosity and
the filling material in the voids

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Abrasivity
Permeability
A measure of the ability of a material to
transmit fluid. It is expressed using Darcy’s law: • measures the abrasiveness of a rock material
against other materials, e.g., steel
Hardness • important measure for estimating wear of
• the characteristic of a solid material expressing its rock drilling and boring equipment.
resistance to permanent deformation • is highly influenced by the amount of quartz
• depends on several factors, including mineral mineral in the rock material.
composition and density. • The higher quartz content the higher the
• A typical measure is the Schmidt rebound abrasivity.
hardness number • LAA (LOS ANGELES ABRASION TEST)
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Wave Velocity
• The velocity measurements provide correlation to physical
properties in terms of compaction degree of the material.
• A well compacted rock has generally high velocity as the
grains are all in good contact and wave are travelling
through the solid.
• For a poorly compacted rock material, the grains are not in
good contact, so the wave will partially travel through void
(air or water) and the velocity will be reduced (P-wave
velocities in air and in water are 340 and 1500 m/s
respectively and are much lower than that in solid).
• Wave velocities are also commonly used to assess the
degree of rock mass fracturing at large scale

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Rock Quality Designation index (RQD)

Rock Quality Designation
• Rock-quality designation (RQD) is a rough • RQD was developed by Deere (Deere et al 1967) to provide
a quantitative estimate of rock mass quality from drill core
measure of the degree of jointing or fracture logs.
in a rock mass • RQD is defined as the percentage of intact core pieces
longer than 100 mm (4 inches) in the total length of core.
• It is measured as a percentage of the drill • The core should be at least 54.7 mm(2.15 inches) in
core in lengths of 10 cm or more. diameter) and should be drilled with a double-tube core
barrel.
• High-quality rock has an RQD of more than • Artificial fractures can be identified by close fitting of cores
75%, low quality of less than 50%. Rock and unstained surfaces… and ignored from calculations
quality designation (RQD) has several • The correct procedures for Rock mass classification
definitions. measurement of the length of core pieces and the
calculation of RQD is summarized in the next slide.

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Quiz

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Chapter 2 Session objectives

Mechanical Properties of Rocks
At the end of this session, you will be able to;
• Identify mechanical properties of rocks
• Determine mechanical properties of rocks
• Identify laboratory and field test of mechanical
properties
• Classify rocks based on their mechanical
properties

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Compressive Strength
Shear Strength
• is the capacity of a material to withstand
axially directed compressive forces. • is the capacity of a material to withstand shear
loads.
• Can be measured using: • The shear strength along a discontinuity in a soil
uniaxial compressive strength or unconfined or rock mass in geotechnical engineering is
compressive strength. governed by the persistence of the discontinuity,
roughness of discontinuity surfaces, infill material
Schmidt Hammer in the discontinuity, presence and pressure of
Point load test gasses and fluids (e.g. water, oil), and possible
solution (e.g. karst) and cementation along the
discontinuity.

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Tensile Strength Young's Modulus and Poisson’s Ratio

• Is defined by the ultimate strength in tension. Young's Modulus:
• generally low for rocks due to the existence of micro- • Modulus of elasticity measuring the stiffness of a
cracks in the rock. Thus rocks fail suddenly in tension rock material.
with a small strain.
can be obtained from:
• Can be experimentally determined from the slope
Direct tensile test, of a stress-strain curve obtained during
Brazilian test and compression or tensile tests conducted on a rock
Flexure test. sample.
Direct test is not commonly performed due to the difficulty • Varies widely with rock type
in sample preparation. The most common tensile strength
determination is by the Brazilian tests. • Can be as high as 100 GPa.

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Poisson’s ratio
Measures the ratio of lateral strain to axial
strain, at linearly-elastic region.

Has a value of 0.15 - 0.4 for most rocks

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Anisotropy
The property of substances to exhibit variations in physical
properties along different molecular axes.

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Stress-Strain at and after Peak

• Rocks generally fail at a small strain (typically 0.2 to 0.4%)

under uniaxial compression.
• Brittle rocks, typically crystalline rocks, have low strain at
failure, while soft rock, such as shale and mudstone, could
have relatively high strain at failure.
• Strain at failure sometimes is used as a measure of
brittleness of the rock. Strain at failure increases with
increasing confining pressure under triaxial compression
conditions.
• Most rocks, including all crystalline igneous, metamorphic
and sedimentary rocks, behave brittle under uniaxial
compression. A few soft rocks, mainly of sedimentary
origin, behave ductile.
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Rock Mass classification schemes/Techniques

RMR (Rock Mass Rating)
1. RMR
2. Q-System

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Quiz

• A mudstone outcrop contains three fracture sets.

Set “1” comprises bedding planes; these are
highly weathered, slightly rough and continuous.
The other two sets are jointing; both are slightly
weathered and slightly rough. The strength of the
intact rock is estimated to be 55MPa with RQD of
60% and a mean fracture spacing of 0.4m. The
fractures are observed to be damp. Calculate
RMR value.

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Chapter 3
Tunneling
Session objectives
At the end of this session, you will be able to
• Define tunneling and purposes of tunnels
• Identify tunneling procedures
• Identify tunneling methods
• Identify rock support techniques

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Definitions
• Tunnel - An elongated, narrow, essentially
linear excavated underground opening with a
length greatly exceeding its width or height.
Usually horizontal but may be driven at angles
up to 30 deg
• Shaft - An elongated linear excavation,
usually vertical, but may be excavated at
angles greater than 30 deg from the
horizontal..

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Tunneling procedure

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SEM Tunneling
sequential excavation method

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SHAPES OF ROAD TUNNELS Unlined rock tunnel

Rectangular
Circular
Horse shoe (curvilinear)
Water conveyance tunnels are usually circular.

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Tunnel safety

• Fire
• Emergency
• Ventilation
• Lighting
• Monitoring

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Load transfer mechanisms

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End

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