Canadian Geotechnical Journal

Spalling and strain bursting has long been recognized as a mechanism of failure in deep underground mines in hard rock and in deep infrastructure tunnels. The latter is a significant growth industry, particularly in Europe where subalpine base tunnels in excess of 10 m wide and dozens of kilometres long are being driven by tunnel boring machine (TBM) through alpine terrain at depths greater than 2 km. In more massive granitoid or gneissic ground, these tunnels have experienced significant spalling damage. En route to a practical predictive technique for this condition, the author utilizes a number of analytical and micromechanical tools to validate a simple empirical predictive model for tunnel spall initiation. The true nature of damage and of yield, as the result of extensile damage accumulation, in hard rocks is examined using these tools. Based on the resultant conceptual model, the author expands on the empirical damage threshold, using a spalling limit to differentiate stress paths that lead to crack propagation and spalling from those that incur stable microdamage prior to conventional shear failure at higher relative confinements. Finally, the composite and robust in situ yield model is applied to nonlinear modelling for support design.

A tunnel excavated by a tunnel boring machine was monitored extensively by means of extensometers installed near the tunnel face. Consequently, the three-dimensional state existing at the time of installation must be considered for the interpretation of the monitoring data. Results from three-dimensional finite element simulations are used to back-calculate rock mass strength and deformation properties. The purpose of this study was to establish and test various approaches of back-analysis. Results are compared with field and laboratory measurements. On the basis of these analyses, the paper provides guidance on how field data can be used for back-analysis purposes even when the ground behaves in a nonelastic manner. Key words: tunnelling, monitoring, tunnel boring, back-analysis, nonlinearity.

A review of underground openings, excavated in varying rock masstypes and conditions, indicates that the initiation of brittlefailure occurs when the damage index, D_i, expressed as theratio of the maximum tangential boundary stress to the laboratoryunconfined compressive strength exceeds approx0.4. When thedamage index exceeds this value, the depth of brittle failure around a tunnel can be estimated by using a strengthenvelope based solely on cohesion, which in terms of theHoek-Brown parameters implies that m = 0. It is proposed that inthe brittle failure process peak cohesion and friction are notmobilized together, and that around underground openings thebrittle failure process is dominated by a loss of the intrinsiccohesion of the rock mass such that the frictional strengthcomponent can be ignored for estimating the depth of brittlefailure, an essential component in designing support for theopening. Case histories were analyzed using the Hoek-Brownfailure criterion, with traditional frictional parameters, and withthe proposed brittle rock mass parameters: m = 0 and s = 0.11. Theanalyses show that use of a rock mass failure criteria withfrictional parameters (m > 0) significantly underpredicts thedepth of brittle failure while use of the brittle parametersprovides good agreement with field observations. Analyses usingthe brittle parameters also show that in intermediate stressenvironments, where stress-induced brittle failure is localized, atunnel with a flat roof is more stable than a tunnel with anarched roof. This is consistent with field observations. Hence,the Hoek-Brown brittle parameters can be used to estimate thedepth of brittle failure around tunnels, the support demand-loadscaused by stress-induced failure, and the optimum geometry of theopening.Key words: spalling, depth of failure, rock mass strength, brittle failure criterion, cohesion loss, Hoek-Brown brittle parameters

Ground deformations around axisymmetric shafts cannot be determined with the design approaches currently available, which are mostly based on plasticity methods. The convergence–confinement method (usually applied to tunnels), with consideration of gravitational effects and the three-dimensional conditions near a shaft, is proposed as a tool to predict formation pressure on a shaft and radial ground displacements. It is shown that the behaviour of a shaft is governed by (1) the mode of yield initiation dominated by the in situ stress state and the soil strength parameters and (2) the extent of the yield zone that develops if wall displacements are allowed to occur during construction.Closed-form solutions are presented to approximate the pressure–displacement relationship for cohesionless and cohesive soils. Results from this approach compare well with those obtained by finite element analyses. The conventional design methods that provide the minimum support pressures required to maintain stability are not conservative. These pressures are generally less than those actually encountered if ground movements during construction are restricted with good ground control. Key words: shaft, design method, support, interaction, yielding, stress, displacement, earth pressure, arching.

Specific surface captures the combined effects of particle size and slenderness in a measurement that is independent and complementary to grain-size distribution. There are various methods to measure specific surface, including gas adsorption in dry conditions and selective molecular absorption in aqueous suspensions. The measurement procedure can have an important effect on measured values, yet such sensitivity is informative in itself. The amount of surface in a soil mass determines the balance between surface-related forces and gravimetric–skeletal forces acting on a soil particle, affects fabric formation, supports rich energy coupling mechanisms, governs conduction, and controls sorption and retardation during chemical diffusion.Key words: specific surface, surface area, methylene blue, gas adsorption, fabric, Atterberg limits, grain-size distribution.

Free swell, semiconfined swell, and one-dimensional oedometer swell tests were performed on La Biche shale specimens in solutions of different salinities. The swelling behaviour of La Biche shale was found to be highly anisotropic and dependent on electrolyte concentration, stress, and swelling history. Drained triaxial compression tests were conducted on La Biche shale specimens subjected to different degrees of swelling. The test results indicate that the Young's modulus decreases with increasing swelling. The strength loss due to swelling can be explained by the Hvorslev failure theory. A descending power law is proposed to describe the cohesion reduction with the swelling.Key words: shale, salinity, swelling, strength weakening, modulus softening.

The beam on nonlinear Winkler foundation (BNWF) model is widely used in soil–structure interaction (SSI) analysis owing to its relative simplicity. This paper focuses on the development of a versatile dynamic BNWF model for the analysis of shallow and deep foundations. The model is developed as a stand-alone module to be incorporated in commercial nonlinear structural analysis software. The features of the model discussed are the loading and unloading rules, slack zone development, the modeling of cyclic degradation and radiation damping. The model is shown to be capable of representing various response features observed in SSI experiments. In addition, the predictions of the model for centrifuge tests of piles in weakening and partially weakening soil are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental results. This agreement demonstrates the potential of the model as a useful tool for design engineers involved in seismic design, especially performance-based design.

The implementation of unsaturated soil mechanics into engineering practice is dependent, to a large extent, upon an ability to estimate unsaturated soil property functions. The soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC), along with the saturated soil properties, has proven to provide a satisfactory basis for estimating the permeability function and shear strength functions for an unsaturated soil. The volume change functions have not been totally defined nor applied in geotechnical engineering. The objective of this paper is to present a procedure for estimating the SWCC from information on the grain-size distribution and the volume–mass properties of a soil. SWCCs represent a continuous water content versus soil suction relationship. The proposed method provides an approximate means of estimating the desorption curve corresponding to a soil initially slurried near the liquid limit. The effects of stress history, fabric, confining pressure, and hysteresis are not addressed. A database of published data is used to verify the proposed procedure. The database contains independent measurements of the grain-size distribution and the SWCC. The level of fit between the estimated and measured SWCCs is analyzed statistically. The proposed procedure is compared to previously proposed methods for predicting the SWCC from the grain-size distribution. The results show that the proposed procedure is somewhat superior to previous methods.Key words: soil-water characteristic curve, grain-size distribution, volume-mass properties, pedo-transfer function, unsaturated soil property functions.