Module 12: Numerical Modelling in Rock Engineering

LECTURE 41

3D Analysis

Availability of high speed computation facilities, 3D analysis of rock engineering problems

became very common. Problems where 3D analysis is a must are,
 The three-dimensional nature of the stress field and surface/underground excavations
can be modeled realistically.
 Able to capture the realistic failure behavior
 Use of 3D modeling is almost mandatory if one wants to correctly evaluate the effects
of the excavation process.
 3D computer programs also can study the influence of the construction procedure on
the overall behavior of excavation and on the stress distribution in their supports and
in the surrounding rock.
 The advancing process of tunnel, which is essentially 3D in nature,
 The 2D analysis the results are usually conservative and on the other hand
displacements were more than calculated in the 3D analysis.
 2D Plane strain analysis is unsuitable for structural analysis, reinforcements and
support design like simulation of rock bolting, pre-cast concrete/steel arch design, pier
loading etc.
 The effect of non-homogeneity of the rock mass is better understood by 3D analysis,
as the effect of weak zones are suitably taken into account in 3D analysis.

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Figure 12.8: FLAC3D model of Shiobara hydroelectric power cavern

Figure 12.9: FLAC3D model power house surge shaft chamber, main power house, and
transformer house chamber

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Figure 12.10: Staged excavation- various sub-stages of excavations

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(a)

(b)
Figure 12.11: Close up view of the cavern face with support a) Concrete liner b)
Shotcrete (after first stage of excavation)
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Meshing/Zoning

When deciding on the geometric extent of the grid and the number of elements to specify ,
the following aspects must be considered
• Influence of the grid boundary
• Density of zoning needed
 The density of elements should be highest in regions of high stress-strain gradients
 Greatest accuracy is achieved when element aspect ratio is near unity
 Anything >5:1 is potentially inaccurate
 The ratio between adjacent element should not exceed 4:1 with smooth transition
when zoning from a fine to coarse mesh.

Figure 12.12: Distributed zoning with finer mesh near the opening.

Constitutive modelling
• Constitutive law describe the stress-strain characteristics of material as collective
particle behaviour within the continuum

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• More complex the constitutive model – more number of input parameters it requires
and harder it gets to determine these parameters without extensive, high quality and
expensive laboratory testing
• One should begin with simplest model that represent the key behavior of the problem
and increase the complexities as required.

It is always good to start with analysis using elastic and elasto-plastic (Mohr-Coulomb)
model.

12.5 Non-linear behaviour of rock mass

There are two basic sources for the non-linearity, which are,
• Non-linear constitutive law &
• Geometric nonlinearity
 Problem involving material non-linearity alone
 Problem involving geometric non-linearity alone
 Problem involving both material & geometric non-linearity

Solution of nonlinear problems,

 Incremental or stepwise procedure
 Iterative or Newton’s method
 Step iterative or mixed procedure

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(a) Incremental procedure (b) Step iteration or mixed procedure

(c) Iterative or Newton procedures

Figure 12.13: Different numerical procedure for non-linear analysis

Stress-strain behaviour of rock mass or soil are non-linear although for modelling purposes
elastic model mostly preferred because of its efficiency with numerical programs. Non-
linearity in the stress-strain behaviour of rock mass usually arises due to inherent
discontinuities. In the excavation/construction process some new fractures/
fissures/discontinuities are formed along with the widening of the existing fissures and
fractures. This leads to increase in the non-linearity of the behaviour. For a highly jointed
rock mass, the non-linearity observed in the behaviour is also very high. As the number of
joints decreases the behaviour of rock mass follow linearization process and for the intact
rock with no joint the stress-stress behaviour is almost linear for most of the rocks. Non-
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linearity in the rock mass and stress-strain behaviour is also largely affected by confining
stress condition. For the same joint configuration, with the increase in confining pressure the
behaviour may change. Figure 12.9 a) depicts the hypothetical stress-strain behaviour from
intact to highly jointed rock mass and Figure 12.9 b) shows the stress strain behaviour with
varying confining conditions. For most cases, it has been observed that the initial tangent
modulus increases with increasing confining stress. With increase in the confining stress the
rock mass tends to be more reluctant to deform, as a result the deformation modulus
increases. This stiffening phenomenon under confinement can be attributed mainly to the
closure of joints, micro cracks, micro fractures, fissures etc. The nonlinearity can also be
attributed through the concept of material degradation. Based on the experimental study by
Fang and Harrison (2001), the degree of degradation displayed by failing rock reduces with
increasing confining pressure, hence the nonlinearity in the behaviour. This stress dependent
strength and deformation behaviour of rock mass is important for the safe and economic
design of excavations in rock mass. In Figure 12.9, it is shown that the, non-linearity of the
stress-strain behaviour closely related with the nature and status of the rock mass. For a
highly jointed rock mass, the non-linearity observed in the behaviour is also very high. As the
degree of jointing decreases the behaviour of rock mass follow linearization process and for
intact rock the stress-strain behaviour is almost linear for most of the rocks.

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Figure 12.14: Hypothetical stress-strain behavior (a) from intact to highly jointed rock
mass and (b) with varying confining conditions.

Non-linear behaviour of rock mass in numerical modelling, can be implemented with some
non-linear models like Hoek and Brown criterion. Hoek and Brown (1980) introduced their
failure criterion in an attempt to provide input data for the analyses required for the design of
rock excavations in hard rock. The criterion started from the properties of intact rock and then
introduced factors to reduce these properties on the basis of the characteristics of joints in a
rock mass. Later introduction was made to a modified criterion to force the rock mass tensile
strength to zero for very poor quality rock masses (Hoek et al., 1992). Several other models
have also been developed by various researchers to capture the non-linear behaviour of rock
masses. Bieniawski (1974), Yudhbir et al. (1983) and Ramamurthy and Arora (1994) also
developed some failure criteria to capture the non-linear stress-strain relationships of rock
mass. Very recently, Singh et al. (2011) modified the Mohr-Coulomb criterion to find the
non-linear triaxial and polyaxial strength of intact rocks. The details on the non-linear models
were already discussed in the chapter on failure criteria on rock and rock masses.

12.6 Numerical modeling: Good Practice

As per Dr. Erik Eberhardt, numerical model should be prepared carefully and tested
rigorously. He recommended several steps to perform successful numerical model,
• Objective of the model analysis
• Conceptual picture of physical system
• Creating idealised modelling and running
• Gathering problem specific data
• Series of detailed run
• Model calculations
• Presentation of result and interpretation

In geotechnical analysis, most of the times, one need to use field data which are never
complete and either difficult to know or always comes with uncertainty. In such situations,

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numerical models play crucial role in providing confidence to the intuitive analysis. So key
requirement for a meaningful analysis are, detailed site investigation, geotechnical parameters
including ground water details and possible failure/ instability mechanism.

Steps to be followed during modelling are,

• Problem definition
• Possible failure mechanism
• Analysis method
• Input parameters
• Initial analysis
• Detailed analysis
• Rigorous validation
In his NATO ARW key note address in 2002, Prof. E. Eberhardt said that, "numerical
modelling should not be used as a substitute of thinking, but as an aid to thought".

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