Lecture 31

Unit-7
Rock Mechanics
 Rock Mechanics
• In general, civil engineers deal with two types of earth
materials: Soils and Rocks.
• Soils are aggregates of mineral grains that can be separated by
slight mechanical means such as agitation in water.
• On the other hand, rocks are aggregates of mineral grains that
are connected by strong and permanent forces.
• Very often among engineers, a soil refers to a material that can
be excavated without blasting (with a mechanical ripper for
instance), whereas a rock is a material for which blasting is
required for excavation.
• From a behavioral point of view, we should also keep in mind that the
engineering properties (deformability, strength, permeability, etc..)
of a rock mass do change as it weathers.
• For a geologist, the term “Rock" means all the material found in the
Earth's crust regardless of the degree of bonding between the
mineral grains, whereas the term “Soil“ is reserved for the upper
part of the ground surface that is supporting the vegetation.
• A clear understanding of the difference between a soil and a rock is
necessary.
• Rock mechanics is concerned with the engineering mechanics and the
properties of rocks.
 From Civil Engineering point of view,
Rocks are used for
Laying Foundation As a road metal and building
stones
Roofing Material Construction stones for
bridges, piers, abutments,
retaining walls, dams
Flooring Material Polished stones for facework
For making concrete Paving stones for roads
Railway ballast For tunneling
For making Statues
 What is Rock Mechanics?
• Rock Mechanics is the theoretical and applied science
of the behavior of rock; it is that branch of
mechanics which is concerned with the response of
rock to the force field of its environment.
• Rock mechanics is a discipline that uses the principles
of mechanics to describe the behaviour of rock of
engineering scale.
• In general, Geologists classify rocks into three major groups:
igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic based on how they were
formed.
• Each rock family is further divided into sub-groups based on the
grain size, the rock texture, etc..
• On the other hand, Engineers are more interested in how rocks
behave in practice.
• They classify rocks based on their performance in various
engineering applications such as drilling, blasting, tunneling,
rock/dam interaction, etc..
• You should also be aware that there is a clear
distinction between "rock" and "rock mass".
• The term "rock" refers to the intact material,
whereas "rock mass“ is used to describe the
material in situ which can be seen as an
"assemblage" of blocks of intact rock material
separated by discontinuities, fractures, etc.
• Laboratory tests are usually done on core
samples of intact rock and are therefore of
limited value.
•Rock (also called rock material, intact
rock, and rock element) and
•Rock mass (also called rock in
situ and rock system)
• On the other hand, field tests are conducted in
boreholes, galleries, etc.. and involve a volume of
the rock mass.
• The response of a rock mass to a test depends on
both the intact rock and the discontinuities.
• The results of both laboratory and field tests are
integrated into rock engineering design where the
main objective is to understand the interaction of a
rock mass with an engineering structure.
•Knowledge of Soil Mechanics is not
adequate to with the problem of rock mass.
•Thus, Rock mechanics deals with properties
of rocks and the special methodology
required for design of rock related
components used in engineering schemes.
• Design in rock is really special due to the following
reasons:
1. In rock structure applied loads are less significant
than forces deriving from redistribution of initial
stresses.
2. It needs as much judgment as measurement.
3. Geological section of site is important.
4. Closely related with/allied with geology and
geological energy.
• For example:
• Granite can behave in brittle, elastic manner upto confining
pressures of hundreds of mega Pascal while carbonate rocks
become plastic at moderate pressure and flow like clay.
• Compacted shales and friable (easily crumbled) sandstones are
weakened by immersion in water.
• Gypsum and rock salts are inclined to behave plastically at
relatively low confining pressures and are highly soluble.
• Therefore, we need the following in Rock Mechanics.
1. Meaningful tests
2. Calculations
3. Observations
• Thus, Rock Mechanics may be taken as separate
field of engineering and different from engineering
geology.
• It not only deals with rock as an engineering
materials but it also deals with changes in
mechanical behavior in rocks (such as stress, strain
and movement in rocks) brought in due to
engineering activities.
• It is also associated with design and stability of
underground structures in rock.
 What are Rock Mechanics Problems?
• How will rock react when put to men’s use?
• What is the bearing capacity of rock on surface an at depths?
• What is the shear strength of rocks?
• What is the response of rocks under dynamic / earthquake type
loading?
• What is the modulus of elasticity of rock and how to get it?
• What are the effects of rock defects (jointing bedding planes,
schistocity, fissures, cavities and other discontinuities) on its
strength?
• What are the mechanisms of failure of rocks?
 Objectives of Rock mechanics
• For most engineering projects involving rocks, the objectives of rock
mechanics are essentially of three fold:
i. Determine the properties of the rock and the rock mass associated
with the project of interest. These properties may be physical,
mechanical, hydraulic or thermal. Not all properties need to be
determined but only those that are deemed necessary. In addition to
these properties, the in situ stress field needs to be measured as
well. The intact rock and rock mass properties are usually determined
in the laboratory and in the field, respectively.
ii. Model and predict the behavior of the rock mass when subjected to
the new loads associated with the engineering structure to be built.
iii. Finally, once the engineering structure is built and upon its completion,
the third objective is to observe and monitor its response and
behavior with adequate instrumentation.
 Scope and Application of Rock Mechanics in Civil
Engineering
• Surface Structure:
• Design of foundations for buildings, bridges, dams, towers,
etc.
• Transport routes:
• Design of rock slopes and surface excavations for canals,
highways, railways, spillways, pipelines, penstocks, dam
abutments, open pit mines, quarries, etc..
• Shallow Excavations:
• Design of underground excavations such as tunnels, mines and
other underground chambers,
• Design of structures associated with energy development such
as underground nuclear plants, repositories for storage of
nuclear and chemical wastes, LNG and oil.
 Scope and Application of Rock Mechanics
• Although study of rock mechanics is necessary for mining
engineers, geologists and geophysis, it has got more importance
for civil engineers who are faced with problems relating to rock
mass during different construction operations.
• If a building is very tall its foundation may go deep for stability
requirement.
• In such cases, the foundation may rest over a rock.
• To act as a good foundation support, bearing capacity of the
rock should be within permissible limits.
• At the same time settlement criteria also should be such
that there may not be uneven settlement of the building
and for that, settlement properties of the rock mass is
required.
• In case a building is very tall and constructed on reclamed
land over the shallow sea, the uplift force acts on the
foundation which goes into the seabed.
• To make the building stable, the foundation has to be
anchored to deep sound rock bed by anchor cables and for
such operations knowledge of rock mechanics is essential.
• One of the most important work for civil engineers is the
construction of masonary or concrete dams, which are also
known as gravity dams.
• A gravity dam has its foundation supported on deep excavation
into the rock mass.
• In such a case the rock supporting the dam should have no fault
zone and should be able to take stresses due to construction of
the dam.
• At the same time, the rock strata should be such that
upstream water may not seep through the foundation bed.
• For these details and proper design a knowledge of rock
mechanics is essential.
• For rock clean up work, some times blasting has to
be engineered to preserve the integrity of the
remaining rock and to limit the vibrations of
neighbouring structures to acceptable levels.
• An aspect of engineering for tall buildings that
involve rock mechanics is to control of blasting so
that the vibrations do not damage neighbouring
structures or irritate local residents.
• Design of cut slopes for highways, railways, canals
may involve testing and analysis of the system of
discontinuities.
• Considerable cost savings are possible if the
orientation of the right of way can be adjusted
based on the rock mechanics studies.
• The decision to place portions of such routes
underground is partly determined by judgements
about the rock conditions and relative costs of open
cuts and tunnels.
• Underground excavations call upon the
discipline of rock mechanics in many ways.
• The design of cutters and drills can be
tailored to the rock conditions which are
determined by suitable laboratory tests.
• The rock condition and state of stress is
fundamentally important in the design of the
tunnels.
• More and more hydro electric power houses
are now being constructed under ground.
• The stability of such large under ground
chambers depends upon the state of stress
and the pattern and properties of
discontinuities.
• The lay out and orientation of these openings
depends almost entirely upon rock mechanics
and geological conditions.
• When a cut is made into the rock mass such as mining
shafts, tunnels, underground power houses then there is
a stress relief in the surrounding rock mass which causes
the development of tensile stress due to which cracks
appear and subsequently there is rock fall into the
opening.
• In such cases the opening has to be designed such that
rock cracks may not appear excessively after the opening
has been made.
• If at all cracks have appeared, then the rock may be
made stable by adopting a suitable design of rock
reinforcement or a concrete lining.
• Knowlege of rock mechanics is essential for mining
engineers, geologists and geophysists also.
• For effective mining operations explosives are put for
explosion, and then the mining operation is done.
• Knowlege of rock mechanics helps in effective selection
of explosive material depending on rock properties.
• Rock mechanics also helps in selecting drilling bit
materials so that effective drilling may be done at
deeper depth such as for oil explorations etc.
 From Civil Engineering point of view,
Rocks are used for
Laying Foundation As a road metal and building
stones
Roofing Material Construction stones for
bridges, piers, abutments,
retaining walls, dams
Flooring Material Polished stones for facework
For making concrete Paving stones for roads
Railway ballast For tunneling
For making Statues
 Certain rock mechanis
(Physical properties of rocks)
Are necessary to make rocks suitable for certain purposes
A number of IS codes are available to determine the
different engineering properties for rock such as:
Crushing strength
Shearing strength
Density
Toughness
Resistance to abrasion
Durability
• Strength of a rock is important for
foundation purposes to withstand heavy
loads (colour, apperance etc. are
unimportant)
• Resistance to abrasion is also important
when rocks are used for flooring purposes
• Durability for roofing purpose
• Absence of reaction with chemicals for
concrete aggregates
• Softness for carving purpose
 Engineering properties to be tested
for rocks
Foundation Purpose Construction purpose Concrete purpose
for buildings
Uniaxial strength Crushing strength Crushing strength
Tensile strength Transverse strength Toughness test
Shear strength Porosity Binding properties
Modulus of Density and Hardness test
Elasticity Durabilty
Abrasive resistance
Frost and Fire
resistance