Şen2000 Article RockQualityDesignationModelFor

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Mathematical Geology [mg] PL098-20 September 5, 2000 14:29 Style file version June 30, 1999
Mathematical Geology, Vol. 32, No. 8, 2000
Rock Quality Designation Model Formulation and

Simulation for Correlated Fracture Intact Lengths1
Zekai Şen2
An important factor in the rock quality assessment analysis from discontinuity measurements along a
scanline is the correlation of intact lengths. The autorun model and first order autorun coefficient are
proposed as a method for objectively quantifying intact length correlation structure and discontinuity
occurrences along any scanline. Necessary definitions for the methodology are presented on a quan-
titative basis such as the alternative intact length percentages and experimental autorun coefficient.
An expression is proposed for the number of discontinuity occurrences along a scanline depending
on the scanline length, alternate intact length percentages, and the autorun coefficient. Monte Carlo
simulation technique is used with a suitable autorun model to verify this expression. A mathematical
expression is derived for the expected Rock Quality Designation (RQD) value by taking into account
the correlation of the intact lengths. Additional simulations show the validity of the new RQD expres-
sion. With the methodology proposed much less engineering experience and judgment are required in
estimating the RQD value from scanline measurements. The application of the methodology has been
presented for some field data.
KEY WORDS: autorun; fracture; intact length; quality; rock; simulation; spacing.
INTRODUCTION
Fractures of all sizes including microcracks, joints, and faults are well known for
their effects on mechanical and fluid transportation properties of rocks. Mechani-
cal properties, such as elasticity constant and shear strength, are strongly affected
by the presence of fractures. Fractures also control the hydraulic conductivity of
the rocks. The shape, size, number, and strength of contacts between surfaces
control mechanical properties. The separation between surfaces, or the aperture,
determines transport properties. Joint surveys are an integral part of rock mass
characterization studies in rock engineering because the strength, deformation,
and flow behavior of rock masses are influenced strongly by the geometry and en-
gineering properties of discontinuities. Collection of geometric data on rock mass
1Received 29 March 1999; accepted 21 December 1999.

2IstanbulTechnical University, Civil Engineering Faculty, Maslak 80626, Istanbul, Turkey. e-mail:
zsen@itu.edu.tr
985
0882-8121/00/1100-0985$18.00/1 °
C 2000 International Association for Mathematical Geology
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986 Şen
jointing has been recognized as a problem of statistical sampling. Statistical anal-

ysis of rock mass fracturing has been summarized by Baecher (1983) taking into
account special references (Einstein, Baecher, and Veneziano, 1978). Little con-
sensus exists on how best to analyze natural fracture spacings and their sequences
(Ferguson, 1985).
There are several descriptions of rock masses proposed by International
Society for Rock Mechanics (1978), but the discontinuity spacings (intact lengths)
deserve special attention and detailed study for effective rock quality assessments.
A simple mean for the rock quality is proposed by Deere (1964) as rock quality
designation (RQD). It is, in fact, the ratio of total intact lengths, each of which is
greater than a predesignated threshold value to the total length of scanline. Due to
its relative simplicity, RQD has been used extensively in any rock classification
for engineering purposes. For instance, Piteau (1970) has used it for rock slope
stability, Barton, Lien, and Lunde (1974) in the design of tunnel support, Louis and
Pernot (1972) in dam foundations analysis of permeability, Cording and Mahar
(1978) in underground chamber design in rocks, and Bieniawski (1974, 1988) and
Kulhawy (1978) in estimating strength of rock materials. Bieniawski (1974) stated
that since only hard, sound core is included in RQD determination, this means that
rock core that is highly weathered receives zero RQD. For this purpose, “highly
weathered rock” means that weathering extends throughout the rock mass. The
rock material is partly friable, has no lustre, and all material except quartz is dis-
colored or stained. Highly weathered rock can be excavated with a geologist’s
pick. On the other hand, Bieniawski (1978) proposed a method for estimating the
modulus of deformation based on his Rock Mass Ratings (RMR) of which RQD
is a parameter.
Bieniawski (1988) commented that the RQD is not very helpful in selecting
foundation depth in weathered rock. This experience is contrary to the Deere and
Deere (1988) experiences where such applications have had excellent result not
only for foundation depth but also for tunneling and selection of dam exevation
depth. Fracture aperture–porosity–conductivity and RQD relationship has been
provided theoretically on a simplified model by Şen (1996).
Many researchers have proposed analytical expressions for scanline mea-
surement evaluations (Hudson and Priest, 1979; Priest and Hudson, 1981: Şen and
Kazi, 1984; Şen, 1984; Kazi and Şen, 1985) or empirically (Cruden, 1977; Wallis
and King, 1980) or simulation on digital computers by Goodman and Smith (1980)
and in order to alleviate some drawbacks in RQD. Şen (1990) has proposed the
rock quality percentage, (RQP), and rock quality risk, (RQR) concepts.
Priest and Hudson (1976) have shown that the relative frequency intact lengths
in sedimentary rocks follow an exponential distribution that has a single parameter
equivalent to the average intact length along the scanline. Later, Wallis and King
(1980) have found from their field data of intact lengths in crystalline rocks that
they are distributed exponentially.
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Rock Quality Designation 987
However, these studies give an RQD estimation without consideration of the

intact length serial correlation. In fact, even on the same rock outcrop there are
correlated intact lengths along scanlines (Eissa and Şen, 1991). Although RQD
calculations, according to the Deere (1964) definition, account implicity for the in-
tact length correlation, unfortunately, analytical RQD formulations do not consider
such correlation.
It is the main purpose of this paper to develop a simple analytical RQD
formulation that will take into account the correlation structure of intact lengths.
Validity of this formulation is shown by computer simulations and steps necessary
for its implementation are presented in detail.
RQD ELEMENTS
Any scanline has random number of discontinuities. In general, for n + 1 dis-

continuities there are n intact lengths provided that the start and end of the scanline
are considered as discontinuities. A necessary step in rock mass classification is to
categorize intact lengths into two groups—namely, those whose lengths are greater
than a predetermined threshold value or otherwise. The total length of former intact
length is a certain percentage of the total scanline and this percentage is equivalent
by definition to RQD as (Deere, 1964)
100 X
∗
n
RQD = x∗ (1)
L i=1 i
where L is the total scanline length, n ∗ ≤ n is the number of intact lengths, xi∗ ,
intact length greater than a threshold value, say, t. It is obvious that RQD varies
from 0 to 100.
For the sake of convenience, alternative intact lengths are considered as
elements ai (i = 1, 2, . . . , k) in set A and b j ( j = 1, 2, . . . , l) in set B, where
k and l are the number of intact lengths in each set. It is obvious that k + l = n,
which is the total number of intact lengths. Furthermore, in an alternate sequence
practically with no loss of generality k = l = n/2. In short, the intact lengths
along a scanline will be an alternative combination of elements from two sets—
namely, A = (a1 , a2 , . . . , ak ) and B = (b1 , b2 , . . . , bl )—as shown in Figure 1A. In
such a combination, the correlation structure of sequence a1 b1 , a2 b2 , . . . , an/2 bn/2
(see Fig. 1B), is of utmost importance in addition to various statistical descrip-
tions of intact lengths. Besides, it may well be that the intact lengths in set A
have different probability distribution function (PDF) than B. However, this point
lies outside the scope of this paper. Of course, assumption of uncorrelated intact
lengths simplifies the analytical derivation of RQD but at the cost of precision.
Due to such an assumption there is no term representing the correlation of intact
lengths in any RQD formulations that are available so far in the literature.
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988 Şen
Figure 1. Alternative intact length concept.
The major elements that affect the RQD calculations are as follows:
1. The Number of Discontinuities: As mentioned earlier, practically, half of
this number will be attached to intact lengths of set A and the second half
to set B.
2. Intact Length PDF: It has been assumed in the majority of RQD studies
as negative exponential type (Priest and Hudson, 1976, 1981). However,
the log-normal (Roulean and Gale, 1985) or uniform and Gamma PDF’s
(Şen, 1984) are also employed in practice.
3. Correlation Structure: Significant correlation affects not only the disconti-
nuity occurrences but also the intact lengths. This point is ignored invari-
ably in any of the previous RQD studies in the literature. However, only
some indirect procedures have been proposed for accounting the intact
length correlation (Higgs, 1984).
4. Threshold Value: It is a fixed value as 0.1 m or 4 inches below which the
intact lengths are not considered in the RQD calculations.
The first two elements are stochastic variables and in nature they are affected
by correlation structure. For instance, logically any increase in the correlation
implies the occurrence of longer intact lengths along a scanline than the case where
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the intact length are independent. It also implies that the number of discontinuities
decreases with increasing correlation. Hence, in general, existence of relatively
longer intact lengths (or lesser number of discontinuities) along a scanline implies
improvement in its quality and hence high RQD.
CORRELATION MEASUREMENT
The analogy suggested by Priest and Hudson (1976) as an unbiased coin

tossing sequence of heads and tails is adopted for alternating intact lengths, where
a head represents a unit length of intact rock of type A and a tail corresponds to
a unit length of type B. With such an analogy the scanline in Figure 1B can be
considered as a sequence of heads and tails (see Figure 1C). After such an analogy,
the following significant points emerge:
1. The succession of uninterrupted sequence of heads (tails) represent intact

lengths of type A(B).
2. Each appearance of alternate successive events, i.e., head-tail or tail-head
succession corresponds to a discontinuity. Hence, two successive head-
head or tail-tail event represents two units from total intact lengths.
3. The percentages of heads (tails) along a scanline is equal to the probability
of type A(B) intact length. Let these probabilities be denoted by p and q,
respectively, then obviously p + q = 1. In terms of total length, L A (L B )
for set A(B) intact lengths, the probability can be expressed as p = L A /
L(q = L B )/L.
Assuming uncorrelated intact lengths, Priest and Hudson (1976) have pre-
sented the analytical formulation of expected RQD as
E(RQD) = 100(1 + λt)e−λt (2)
in which λ is the average number of discontinuities. A Poisson model is appropriate

for characterizing the frequency of joints over space. Equation (2) should be used
only after the confirmation that the intact lengths are independent.
However, the main question is, Whether the intact lengths along any direction
are serially correlated or independent? As was mentioned above, different authors
have shown that the intact lengths are distributed according to various distribu-
tions among which the normal PDF has the least significant role. Although by
suitable transformations intact lengths may be rendered into normally distributed
variables, such a transformation distorts the original genuine correlation function
to a significant extent (Şen, 1978, 1979). However, the autorun analysis is robust
to any PDF or transformation and yields unbiased as well as consistent estimates
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990 Şen
of correlation. In general, lag-k autorun coefficient is defined by Şen (1978) as
2n k
rk = (3)
n−k
in which n k is the number of overlapping successive “the same type of events,”

say heads or tails, lag -k apart; n is the number of unit intact lengths, i.e., total
number of tails and heads. From the definition, it is obvious that 0 < rk < 1. In
the case of purely independent observations, whatever the underlying PDF, Eq. (3)
becomes equal to 0.5. Therefore, 0.5 shows that the two observations separated
by lag-k, are independent from each other. On the other hand, if the observations
are perfectly correlated, then rk = 1.0. The autorun coefficient application is very
suitable for binary type of data; therefore, prior to its application the variable con-
cerned such as the intact length must be rendered into a binary form. By definition,
the autorun coefficient is theoretically equivalent to the conditional probability of,
say, head to follow head at lag-k apart, which can be written as rk = P(H/H ).
For instance, a scanline composed of 18, 4, 5, and 3 cm intact lengths can be rep-
resented on the basis of 1 cm as an intact length unit by analogy to coin tossing as
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHTTTTHHHHHTTT. In such a sequence, the prob-
ability of an intact length unit of type A (or H ) is p = 23/30 = 0.77, and the
probability of type B (or T ) is q = 7/30 = 0.23, with p + q = 1. These probabil-
ity values do not tell us whether the intact lengths are independent or not. However,
the first autorun coefficient for heads from Eq. (3) becomes r1 = 20/29 = 0.69,
and because it exceeds 0.5 there is a positive correlation between intact lengths.
This implies, in general, that long intact lengths follow long intact lengths and
short ones follow short intact lengths. The autorun concept has also been used in
the modeling and simulation of sedimentary porous rocks by Şen (1985).
RQD FORMULATION AND DISCUSSION
Mathematical modeling of a scanline can be achieved by considering

either the occurrence of discontinuity numbers or intact lengths, both of which
are interdependent random variables. Whatever the PDF, there is only one unique
relationship between the expected intact length E(x) and the expected number of
discontinuities E(n) along any scanline as
L
E(n) = (4)
E(x)
On the other hand, RQD as appears in Equation (1) is equivalent to the summation
of random number of random variables; by taking the expectations of both sides
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and then by considering Equation (4), one can write
100 E(x ∗ )
E(RQD) = E(n)E(x ∗ ) = (5)
L E(x)
in which E(x ∗ ) is the expectation of intact lengths greater than a threshold value t.
Due to the fact that E(x ∗ ) < E(x), the ratio of expectations in the expression
always assumes a value between 0 and 100. The expectations on the right-hand
side of Equation (5) can be found analytically provided that the PDF of random
variables concerned are known.
It can be shown, similar to autorun modeling (Şen, 1985), that the PDF’s of
k successive heads and tails are of geometric distribution types as
P(n h = k) = (1 − r1 )r1k−1 (6)
and
· ¸k−1
p p
P(n t = k) = (1 − r1 ) 1 − (1 − r1 ) (7)
q q
respectively, where n is the number of uninterrupted successive heads and n t suc-

cessive tails. It is worth noting that for r1 = p these equations give the independent
intact length case as available in the literature (Priest and Hudson, 1976). Further-
more, expectations of intact lengths in sets A and B can be obtained from Equations
(6) and (7), respectively, as
1
E(n h ) = (8)
1 − r1
and
q
E(n t ) = (9)
p(1 − r1 )
The number of set A intact lengths is one less or more than set B intact
lengths. In other words, practically they may be assumed as equals, and therefore,
each type of intact length has its probability of occurrence equal to 0.5. With
this information, the overall expectation of intact lengths E(x) becomes E(x) =
0.5E(n h ) + 0.5E(n t ), which by considering Equations (8) and (9) leads to
1
E(x) = (10)
2 p(1 − r1 )
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992 Şen
Figure 2. Average number of discontinuity vs. scanline length for different autorun
coefficients.
or from Eq. (4) one can find the expected number of discontinuities as
E(n) = 2L p(1 − r1 ) (11)
In order to verify the validity of this expression, extensive Monte Carlo sim-
ulations have been carried out and the results are shown in Figure 2. It is obvious
that a very good agreement has been observed between the simulation and ana-
lytical formulation. Finally, the average number of discontinuities, λr1 = E(x)/L
per unit length becomes
λr1 = 2 p(1 − r1 ) (12)
where the subscript signifies the correlatedness of the intact lengths. The probabil-
ity P(k) of k discontinuity occurrences along a scanline of length x at an average
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rate of λr1 becomes, according to the Poisson process
[2x p(1 − r1 )]k−1

P(k) = e−2x p(1−r1 ) (13)
k!
Since interest lies in the discontinuity spacing PDF, by considering the distance
d from one discontinuity to the following it is possible to write that P(d ≤ x) =
1 − P(k = 1), and hence, substitution of Equation (13) with k = 1 leads to cumu-
lative PDF as
P(d ≤ x) = 1 − e−2x p(1−r1 )
By taking its derivative with respect to x the PDF, f (x), of intact lengths becomes
f (x) = 2 p(1 − r1 )e−2x p(1−r1 )
Subsequently, the expectation of intact lengths that are more than t can be found
according to
Z ∞
E(x ∗ ) = x f (x) d x
t
which leads after some algebra to
1 + 2 p(1 − r1 )t −2 p(1−r1 )t
E(x ∗ ) = e (14)
2 p(1 − r1 )
Finally, the substitution of Eqs. (10) and (14) into Equation (5) gives
E(RQD) = 100[1 + 2 p(1 − r1 )t]e−2 p(1−r1 )t (15)
For independent intact lengths, r1 = 0.5, and the occurrences of unit intact lengths
comply with the binomial distribution, which implies to geometric intact length dis-
tribution with E(x) = 1/ p or λ = p = 0.5, and therefore Equation (15) becomes
identical to what was suggested by Priest and Hudson (1976) as in Equation (2). In
light of aforementioned discussions, Equation (15) can be rewritten, in general, as
E(RQD) = 100[1 + λ(1 − r1 )t]e−2λ(1−r1 )t (16)
The validity of this formula is checked with extensive Monte Carlo simula-
tion technique by using autorun model for generating correlated intact lengths as
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994 Şen
proposed by Şen (1985). First of all, estimates of average intact lengths of sets A
and B are calculated as
1 X k
nA = (n A )i (17)
m A i=1
and
1 X l
nB = (n B )i (18)
m B i=1
respectively. Herein, m A and m B are the number of intact lengths; (n A )i and (n B )i

are ith intact length in sets A and B, respectively. The geometric PDF parameter,
which is the first-order autorun coefficient, can be estimated from Equation (8) as
r A = (n A − 1)/n A (19)
Similarly, the geometric PDF parameter r B , for set B intact lengths turns out to be
r B = (n B − 1)/n B (20)
Hence, it is possible to generate geometrically distributed and integer-valued

alternate lengths y with parameters r A and r B , respectively on a digital computer
through
y = 1 + log(ε)/ log(r1 ) (21)
in which ε is the uniformly distributed random variable between 0 and 1 and

r1 is the geometric distribution parameter that assumes either the value of r or
r B as required. The simulation results are presented in Figure 3 together with
the analytical solutions, and they show a very good agreement. The following
significant points can be drawn from this figure:
1. The formulation provided by Priest and Hudson (1976) for E(RQD) yields
underestimated results if the intact lengths are positively correlated, which
is the case in most of the natural rocks, as will be presented in the appli-
cation section of this paper.
2. Increase in the correlation structure gives rise to increase in the E(RQD)
values.
3. Relatively better RQD values are obtained for the same number of discon-
tinuities but correlated intact lengths.
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Figure 3. RQD–average number of discontinuity–autorun coefficient chart.

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996 Şen
4. The difference between the dependent and independent intact length RQD
values is relatively less significant at small λ values than big λ’s. In fact,
at 5% relative error level the correlated intact lengths do not lead to sig-
nificantly different RQD values provided that λ < 3 and 10% error level
when λ < 10. In Figure 3 upper and lower confidence limits at 5 and 10%
significance levels are shown around the Priest and Hudson independent
intact length solution. It is obvious that for a small average number of
discontinuities their solution gives confident RQD estimates even though
the intact lengths are dependent. However, for a big average number of
discontinuities the significance of intact length correlation becomes very
pronounced in the RQD estimations.
APPLICATIONS
Applications of the methodology developed herein to field data are discussed.

The first field data are recorded along the exposed outcrop surfaces of granitic rocks
in the western part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Extensive geological field
survey by Otaibi (1990) showed that the area consists of one rock unit that is granite
of light pink color on fresh surface and dark brown on weathered surface, medium
to coarse grained and equigranular. This area was selected because it has a good
combination of well-exposed bedrock and relatively simple fracture pattern. Three
sets of fracture orientations can be seen distinctively in this area. Each fracture
set is measured by the scanlines perpendicular to the fracture traces. The fracture
measurements are carried out at three sites. These sites are selected such that they
give rather random characterization of the fracture geometry, i.e., they are quite
independent from each other. In order to apply the methodology developed herein
the necessary values are calculated and presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Intact Length Characteristics (Saudi Arabia)
E(RQD)
Site Scanline λ (1/m) p q r1 Eq. (3) Eq. (16) Error (%)
1 x 1.56 0.52 0.48 0.51 98 98 0.0

y 2.56 0.54 0.46 0.51 97 97 0.0
z 1.04 0.62 0.38 0.63 99 99 0.0
2 x 2.75 0.53 0.47 0.51 97 97 0.0
y 1.83 0.59 0.41 0.57 98 99 1.0
z 1.98 0.63 0.37 0.61 98 99 1.0
3 x 1.78 0.48 0.52 0.47 98 98 0.0
y 1.80 0.54 0.46 0.52 98 99 1.0
z 1.56 0.57 0.63 0.55 99 99 0.0
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Table 2. Intact Length Characteristics (England)
E(RQD)
Scanline λ (1/m) p q r1 Eq. (3) Eq. (16) Error (%)
SL1 6.46 0.46 0.54 0.40 86 81 6

SL2 10.01 0.57 0.43 0.48 74 72 3
SL3 6.52 0.50 0.50 0.43 86 83 4
It is obvious that the use of the independent intact length RQD formulation
does not yield significant deviations from the dependent intact length case for two
reasons. First of all, because the average number of discontinuities are all less
than 3, and therefore, as already explained in the previous section even if intact
lengths are strongly correlated, there is no practical significant difference, i.e., the
relative error is less than 5%. On the other hand, the autorun coefficients are rather
close to 0.5, which also confirms the approximation in the results of E(RQD)
calculations either by the use of Equation (2) or (16).
The second set of data for the implementation of the methodology are ex-
tracted from a previous study by Ryckes (1984) on modes of failure and stabil-
ity of rock slopes in the Tytherington quarry, which is located halfway between
Thurnbury and Tytherington for about 16 km north of Bristol in the county of Avon,
England. The Paleozoic rocks of the lower coal series in the area are effected by
many movements in the past that led to faults, folds, and unconformaties with
different patterns of intact lengths. Because of these different mechanisms, it is
not possible to expect all intact lengths to have independent correlation structure.
In order to depict the regional discontinuity pattern in this area, three scanlines
were set up at different directions. The bedding plane orientation is almost hori-
zontal for the first scanline, which will be referred to as SL1. The second scanline
SL2 has a direction of 20◦ toward the southwest whereas the third, SL3, has an
intermediate inclination to the former. The necessary parameters as well as the
E(RQD) calculations are presented in Table 2.
The major difference between Tables 1 and 2 is that the average discontinuity
number of scanlines in Table 2 are far bigger than Saudi Arabian measurements;
however, the autorun coefficients in Table 2 are invariably less than 0.5, indicating
that there are negatively correlated intact lengths. Consequently, the Priest and
Hudson formulation [Eq. (2)] gives an overestimation.
CONCLUSIONS
The effect of correlated intact length correlation structure on the RQD

value has been documented by empirical, analytical, and Monte Carlo simulation
techniques. The autorun coefficient has been proposed as a measure of such a
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998 Şen
correlation, and if its value is equal to 0.5, then the occurrences of intact lengths
or discontinuity numbers are independent and hence the expected RQD formula-
tions are reliable. Otherwise, related intact lengths, in general, lead to RQD values
significantly different than the independent case and the classical formulations do
not apply or in the best they provide biased estimations only.
The correlated intact lengths have been modeled by an autorun model and
total discontinuity number along a scanline is expressed in terms of alternative
intact length concept, first autorun coefficient, and the length of the scanline.
The validity of such a formulation has been checked by extensive Monte Carlo
simulation technique on digital computers. The formulation of RQD value by
considering correlation structure has been derived analytically and verified again
by Monte Carlo simulation techniques.
It has been shown that the difference between dependent and independent
intact length RQD is practically insignificant for small discontinuity numbers.
However, for intact lengths less than 3 the dependence does not yield significant
deviations from the independent intact length calculations at 10% relative error
level.
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Mathematical Geology, Vol. 32, No. 8, 2000

Rock Quality Designation Model Formulation and

1Received 29 March 1999; accepted 21 December 1999.

jointing has been recognized as a problem of statistical sampling. Statistical anal-

Rock Quality Designation 987

However, these studies give an RQD estimation without consideration of the

Any scanline has random number of discontinuities. In general, for n + 1 dis-

Figure 1. Alternative intact length concept.

Rock Quality Designation 989

The analogy suggested by Priest and Hudson (1976) as an unbiased coin

1. The succession of uninterrupted sequence of heads (tails) represent intact

E(RQD) = 100(1 + λt)e−λt (2)

in which λ is the average number of discontinuities. A Poisson model is appropriate

of correlation. In general, lag-k autorun coefficient is defined by Şen (1978) as

in which n k is the number of overlapping successive “the same type of events,”

RQD FORMULATION AND DISCUSSION

Mathematical modeling of a scanline can be achieved by considering

Rock Quality Designation 991

and then by considering Equation (4), one can write

P(n h = k) = (1 − r1 )r1k−1 (6)

respectively, where n is the number of uninterrupted successive heads and n t suc-

E(n) = 2L p(1 − r1 ) (11)

λr1 = 2 p(1 − r1 ) (12)

Rock Quality Designation 993

rate of λr1 becomes, according to the Poisson process

[2x p(1 − r1 )]k−1

P(d ≤ x) = 1 − e−2x p(1−r1 )

f (x) = 2 p(1 − r1 )e−2x p(1−r1 )

which leads after some algebra to

E(RQD) = 100[1 + 2 p(1 − r1 )t]e−2 p(1−r1 )t (15)

E(RQD) = 100[1 + λ(1 − r1 )t]e−2λ(1−r1 )t (16)

respectively. Herein, m A and m B are the number of intact lengths; (n A )i and (n B )i

Hence, it is possible to generate geometrically distributed and integer-valued

y = 1 + log(ε)/ log(r1 ) (21)

in which ε is the uniformly distributed random variable between 0 and 1 and

Rock Quality Designation 995

Figure 3. RQD–average number of discontinuity–autorun coefficient chart.

Applications of the methodology developed herein to field data are discussed.

Table 1. Intact Length Characteristics (Saudi Arabia)

1 x 1.56 0.52 0.48 0.51 98 98 0.0

Rock Quality Designation 997

Table 2. Intact Length Characteristics (England)

SL1 6.46 0.46 0.54 0.40 86 81 6

The effect of correlated intact length correlation structure on the RQD

Rock Quality Designation 999

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