Numerical Simulation of the Process of Fracture of Echelon Rock Joints

The effect of joint overlap on the full failure behavior of a rock bridge in the shear-box test was numerically investigated by means of the particle flow code in two dimensions (PFC2D). Initially, the PFC2D was calibrated by use of data obtained from experimental laboratory tests to ensure the conformity of the simulated numerical model’s response. Furthermore, validation of the simulated models was cross-checked with the results from direct shear tests performed on non-persistent jointed physical models. By use of numerical direct shear tests, the failure process was visually observed and the failure patterns were seen to be in reasonable accordance with experimental results. Discrete element simulations demonstrated that macro shear fractures in rock bridges are because of microscopic tensile breakage of a large number of bonded discs. The failure pattern is mostly affected by joint overlap whereas the shear strength is closely related to the failure pattern. The results show that non-overlapping joints lost their loading capacity when nearly 50 % of total cracks developed within the rock bridge whereas the overlapping joints lost their loading capacity as soon as cracks initiated from the joint walls. Furthermore, progressive failure or stable crack growth was seen to develop for non-overlapped joints whereas brittle failure or unstable crack growth was seen to develop in overlapped joints.