— The Importance of Discontinuities By Herbert H. Einstein, Sc.D., RASCE and Lianyang Zhang, Figure 1, Joints ina rock slope. (Note: the prevailing joints dipping at approximately 30” occur in a set of subparalle joints) (Photo courtesy of H. H. Einstein) The major differences between soil and rock are the greater strength of intact rock compared to soil and the ‘existence of discontinuities. Discontinuities in rock can ‘occur ata variety of scales ranging from foliation surfaces and bedding planes to joints (fractures) and faults. Usually foliation surfaces and closely-spaced bedding planes are considered to be characteristics of “intact rock,” while more Widely-spaced bedding planes, as well as joints and faults, ate the discontinuities characterizing rock masses. Hence, Tock masses consist of intact rock and discontinuities with variable orientation, size, and spacing (Figure 1). Discontinuities in Rock - A First Look Terzaghis work usually did not refer to discontinuities butrather to “rock defects,” emphasizing a contrast in strength between intact rock and the rock mass. Although geologically not quite appropriate, the notion of a defect indicates what is important in the engineering context ‘namely, surfaces or zones usually associated with lower ‘esistance, higher deformability, and higher conductivity ‘than the surrounding intact material or matrix. The “influence of a defect is illustrated in Figure 2, in which the tesistance of an intact rock specimen is compared to one ‘containing a joint inclined at 45° relative to the major and ‘minor principal stress direction and assumingaa friction angle of 35°. The implication here is that resistance will Ph.D., PE., MASCE with the orientation of the joint plane relative to ou Id. Similar relations for deformability and tne conductivity ean also be obtained he real situation is not as simple. The photos in rock consists of sandstone/shale. Figure 3a shows a rock block bounded by joints that slid off the slope, while a neighboring block (Figure 3b), despite the existence of a joint is still attached to the slope. This behavior occurs because joints are usually not fully persistent, They consist of jointed parts and intact rock bridges (Figure 4). So the practical engineering question is how to determine the resistance and the factor of safety. Ifthe joint geometry with its jointed and rock bridge portions is known, the resistance can be estimated based on a simple extension of the Coulomb criterion. The effect of joint persistence, ‘or continuity, on deformability and conductivity can be considered in an analogous manner. Figure 2. Comparison of SUES at failure for intact rock and jointed rock, (Mohr circles for falure through intact rock and along a joint) ‘The big question is how to determine the rock bridge! jointed pars since present exploration techniques do not provide exact information about what is jointed and not jointed inside a rock mass, Practically, the question can be Posed differently: what is the engineering approach to the Problem? The simplest option is that the joints are fully Persistent, but this produces a very conservative design Altetnatively, the persistence can be estimated by assuming that the slope (eg. the block in Figure 3) is just stable (ie, FS= 1). However, the question as posed is simplified because it does not consider other important factors such 38 ‘multiple, differently oriented joint ses, water presare, andcourtesy of H. H. Einstein) dynamic effects. Thus, a more advanced approach is more appropriate Impersistent joint Infact rock bridges j: Joints Figure 4. Persistent and impersistent joints, Discontinuities in Rock - The Real World In the real world, the discontinuities in rock masses are oriented in different directions, Consequently slope may fail along a combination of differently oriented discontinuities or, even more complicated, by a combination of sliding/detachment along some discontinuities and new fractures through the intact tock (Figure 5; see also again Figure 3b). Again, not only rock mass resistance is influenced by such different Interconnectivities but quite obviously flow and to some extent deformability will be similarly affected. Figures 3 and 5 illustrate another very important characteristic of discontinuities - they can be oriented in any ditection in space and may bound blocks of many diferent shapes, Spatial orientation from measurements Projections of the intersection of planes or of their poles With a reference sphere. The distribution of poles is then densities represent similarly oriented (subparallel) joins, (Ge, so-called join sets) i‘ 432, Rockslope with block at bottom which slid off slope. (Photo ‘on outcrops and borings can be captured with stereographic often represented with contour plots where higher contour 3b, Closeup of Figure 3a showing other block sill attached to slope. (Photo courtesy of H. H. Einstein) Also, discontinuities are more complex than pairs of parallel, even surfaces. As shown in Figure 1, discontinuity surfaces are rough at different scales, In the discontinuities, such surfaces may or may nat be in contact with each other, and the space between them may or may not be filled with. sedimented material or weathered material of the parent rock. For the same parent rock, the shearing resistance of oth and rough discontinuities will be quite different, something easily seen with a simple tilt test ( ‘igure 6) While this testis applicable for low normal stresses, the behavior is different under high normal stresses where, after some shear displacement, the asperities will break off Figure 5. Rock slope failure affected by discontinuity orientation. and failure mode. (Photo, H. H. Einstein) MBER/DECEMBER 2009, 19Sse a b, est on smooth and rough joints. (Lower block Figure 6, Tilctest on smooth and roug Fined to tilting surface as it is increased, upper block starts to slide.) The effects of different normal stresses can be visualized in a classic t-0 (or Shear force S-Normal force N) diagram. With many asperities of different size and shape, the SIN relation will not be linear but curved at lower loads Eseentially, the “riding over" of asperities expresses itself as dilatancy and conttaction similar to soil mechanics concepts. Very important is the fact that displacements will usually reduce the initial resistance to a lower residual tone. Asa consequence, small movements associated with earthquakes or other vibrations may break offfoverride the smaller asperities (less than acm) and produce lower shearing resistance, Thus, the real world design of structures in and on rock has to consider that: © discontinuities in the rock mass are characterized by varying orientation, size, and spacing, and * individual discontinuities and specifically theit surfaces are characterized by asperity height and aperture distributions, and by varying shearing resistance, A Better Way Itis evident that relevant properties governing resistance, deformability, and conductivity of a rock ‘mass are distributed in space. In fact, this was the major reason why probabilistic methods made their way into tock engineering much earlier than into soil engineering, Mappears that open pit mine slopes may have been the first ind of engineering structures to be designed Probabilisticaly. The principles of probabilistic analyses for stability, deformation, and flow are basically the same as, for deterministic ones, but rather than working with single values, the design variables are introduced as distributions. For this, the discontinuities must be represented spatially and the most encompassing approach to do so is with ‘stochastic models such as shown schematically in Figure 7a and Figure 7b. ‘The problem is then how to obtain the input for such Stochastic models recognizing that only information ‘7a, Baecher Disk Model fiom outerop surfaces and borings are usually available Different approaches have been developed for inferring joint geometric properties and constructing the 3-D stochastic models using sampling data such as joint trace ops and joint spacings from Tengths and spacings on outcrops and j ola Ties pore acicvataie dGeere cheney shapes such as disks (Figure 7a) and polygons (Figure 7b) Because discontinuity sampling data are affected by biases (eg, discontinuities perpendicular to a boring or outcrop plane are more likely to be sampled than if they intersect ata lower angle), itis important to correct the biases when inferring joint properties and constructing the 3-D stochastic models. Fracture [ 7. GEOFRAG (Ivanova) fracture pattern models The analytical approaches for modeling rock engineering problems this way require: * sampling discontinuity (trace) geomet fom outcrops and boreholes, + measuring the: ae ‘Surface geometries of aapdetermining the engineering properties o IB Prop f Herbert H, Einstein, Sc.D, ASCE, is professor of Civ che individual discontinuities, an a and Environmental Enginering at the Massachusetts Insti ; of Technology. He teaches and does research in rock mechanic + demining th ening proper of ad engineering, underground constriction in soil and rock, and the intact (matrix) rock engineering geolngy tn rock mechanics, he has been working on the charactertzation of fractures and fracture processes. He can This information ean be incorporated in 3D geometric be reached at Einstein@mitedu mechanical models to make predictions, However, all the models, which range from the represen information to modeling of mechanic discontinuities and intact rock, involve si most important simplifications in these analyses relate to the assumptions of discontinuity shape, the mechanisms of facturing through intact rock, and the homogeneity of the rock mass, So, like other aspects of engineering des and analysis, judgment in using models and properties tial. While judgment plays an important role in Lianyang Zhang, Ph.D., PE, M-ASCE, is assistant professor sion of geometric dl Engineering oaeieGe In the Department of Civil Engineer plifications, The Mechanics atthe Univ Iyzhang@mail.arizona.edu cotechnical engineering in genera, itis possibly moze i: Inporant when desing wh rock Iisa evident tat | QUSIHage tending om wou: asad as ‘your comments on this article to geo-strata @asce org and refinement of the models through experimen theoretical research is necessary “CPT: The Tool to Manage Your Risk” A.P. Van den Berg® Inc. Cerel aa airtel) Bae aC ucuis Skid-mounted equipment with or without cabin available for USA market GEOTECHNICAL- ENVIRONMENTAL- SEISMIC Hydraulic Penetrometers - Electrical & Mechanical Cones Specialized systems for data acquisition, sampling and drilling New Digital cone: Icone. More user-friendly, Pee tei Ml iced te ae UL ee eC Lc AP.Van den Berg, Inc. | A.P. Van den Berg, B.V. PO. Box 654 P.O. 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