MANUAL PROCEDURE FOR ROCK MASS RATING (RMR)

1.0 ROCK MASS RATING (RMR) FOR ROCK MASS CLASSIFICATION

Rock mass can be classified by using Geomechanics Classification or the Rock Mass Rating
(RMR) system as established by Bieniawski (1976). RMR has been applied in more than 268
case histories such as in tunnels, chambers, mines, slopes, foundations and rock caverns. RMR
is easy to use and versatility in engineering practice. It should be observed that the RMR sytem
is calibrated using experiences from coalmines, civil engineering excavations and tunnels at
shallow depths.

When applying RMR classification system, the rock mass should be divided into a number of
structural regions and classifies each region separately. The following six parameters are used to
classify a rock mass using the RMR system:

1. Uniaxial compressive strength of rock material.

2. Rock Quality Designation (RQD).
3. Spacing of discontinuities.
4. Condition of discontinuities.
5. Groundwater conditions.
6. Orientation of discontinuities.

The RMR can be determined based on Table 1. It giving the ratings for each of the six parameters
listed above. These ratings are summed to give a value of RMR.

Equipment and Materials

To conduct RMR assessment, the following equipment are needed:

1. Measuring Tape – Max 10 m.

2. Fracture gauge / Ruler – 15 cm.
3. Schmidt’s Rebound Hammer.
4. Torch Light/ Head Torch/Headlamps.
4. RMR system (Table 1).

Note: The Geological and Geophysical Laboratory only provides two sets of measuring tape and
three sets of Torch light. For your convenient, please prepare measuring tape, ruler and torch
light by your own group. Your cooperation and consideration are greatly appreciated.

Procedure to Classify Rock Mass Using RMR

There are 10 steps to classifying and implementing the RMR system in this engineering geological
camp.
STEP 1 - Outcrop Preparation:
STEP 2 - Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS).
STEP 3 - Rock Quality Designation (RQD).
STEP 4 - Spacing of discontinuities.
STEP 5 - Condition of discontinuities.
STEP 6 - Groundwater conditions.
STEP 7 - Orientation of discontinuities.
STEP 8 - Rock Mass Classification based on TOTAL Rating.
STEP 9 - Guide lines for Excavation & Tunnel Support.
STEP 10 – Application from Field Work Study.

Every step needs to be done with caution. The participation of each member is important to ensure
the outcome is reliable and usable.
 MANUAL PROCEDURE FOR ROCK MASS RATING (RMR)

STEP 1 - Outcrop Preparation: Choose an outcrop on the tunnel wall with distance of 5 m as
shown in Figure 1. Use measuring tape to set up the distance.

5m

Figure 1 Prepare the work area on the tunnel wall with distance of 5 m length.

STEP 2 - Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS): Determine the UCS of rock mass based on
the average value of rebound hammer (SRV). See the Graph of UCS vs SRV on the Schmidt’s
hammer tool as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Schmidt’s Rebound Hammer Graph

 MANUAL PROCEDURE FOR ROCK MASS RATING (RMR)

STEP 3 - Rock Quality Designation (RQD): RQD can be determined using Equation 1 and
shown in Figure 3, established by Deere, (1989):

RQD 
 Core Pieces  10 cm  100% …………………….. (1)
 Length of Core Run
Palmström (1982) suggested that, when no core is available but discontinuity traces are visible in
surface exposures or exploration adits, the RQD may be estimated from the number of
discontinuities per unit volume as Equation 2:

RQD  115 3.3JV …………………….. (2)

where Jv is the total number of Joints per m3 and RQD =100 for Jv < 4.5 (Palmstrom, 1974).
Palmstrom (2005) defined Jv as the number of joints intersecting a volume of one m³. Where the
jointing occurs mainly as joint sets can be determined using Equation 3.
1 1 1 1
JV     ...... …………………….. (3)
S1 S 2 S 3 Sn

where S1, S2 and S3 are the average spacings for the joint sets.

Figure 3 Procedure for measurement and calculation of RQD (After Deere, 1989)
 MANUAL PROCEDURE FOR ROCK MASS RATING (RMR)

STEP 4 - Spacing of discontinuities: Spacing of discontinuities can be measured using scan

line method or Circular mapping Window as shown in Figure 4. Average of Spacing can be
determined using Equation 4 as proposed by Palmstrom (2005). You may choose which method
is the best for you to collect the data.

Figure 4 Schematics of measuring structural parameters of discontinuity: a) scanline method,

and b) Circular mapping Window.

S1  S 2  S 3  ........  Sn
Sa  …………………….. (4)
n

where S1, S2, S3, etc. are average spacings for each of the joint sets and n is the number of joint
set.

STEP 5 - Condition of discontinuities: Discontinuities condition can be determined based on:

i. Persistance : Can be measured by measuring tape.

ii. Aperture (Joint Opening) : Using Ruler or Fracture gauge.
iii. Roughness : Rub your palm or finger on joint surface.
iv. Infilling (gouge) : See by gross eyes on the material condition inside joint
aperture.
v. Weathering : See on iron stain along joint wall, friability, colors, texture.

Some condition are mutually exclusive, For example, if infilling is present; the roughness of the
surface will be overshadowed by the influence of the gouge, in such cases use Part A-4 from
Table 1 directly.

If the discontinuities condition is worst and the criteria is not available in Part A-4, See Table 1,
Part–E for discontinuity with various conditions. Figure 5 shows discontinuity characters in rock
mass for your references.
 MANUAL PROCEDURE FOR ROCK MASS RATING (RMR)

Figure 5 Discontinuity characteristics in rock mass

STEP 6 - Groundwater conditions: Groundwater condition can be determined based on gross

eyes observation on the tunnel wall whether completely dry, damp, wet, dripping or flowing. For
more detail classification and rating, see Table 1, Part A-5.

STEP 7 - Orientation of discontinuities: Due unpredictable discontinuity strike and dip

orientation in rock mass for various structure constructions, some rating adjustment is needed
especially for tunnel construction. Orientation of discontinuity is classified based on strike and dip
orientations into five categories. See Table 1, Part B. See Figure 6 for: a) Strike parallel to tunnel
axis, and b) Strike perpendicular to tunnel axis.

Figure 6(a): Strike parallel to Figure 6(b) Strike perpendicular to tunnel axis
tunnel axis
 MANUAL PROCEDURE FOR ROCK MASS RATING (RMR)

Table 1 Rock Mass Rating System (After Bieniawski, 1989)

A. CLASSIFICATION PARAMETERS AND THEIR RATINGS
Parameter Range of values
Strength of Point-load For this low range – uniaxial
intact rock strength index >10 MPa 4 – 10 MPa 2 – 4 MPa 1 – 2 MPa compressive strength test is
material preferred
1
Uniaxial comp. 5 – 25 1–5 <1
>250 MPa 100 – 250 MPa 50 – 100 MPa 25 – 50 MPa
strength MPa MPa Mpa
Rating 15 12 7 4 2 1 0
Drill core Quality RQD 90% - 100% 75% - 90% 50% - 75% 25% - 50% < 25%
2
Rating 20 17 13 8 3
Spacing of Discontinuities > 2.0 m 0.6 – 2.0 m 200 – 600 mm 60 – 200 mm < 60 mm
3
Rating 20 15 10 8 5
Very rough surface Slightly rough surface Slightly rough surface Slickensided surfaces Soft gouge > 5 mm thick
Condition of discontinuities Not continuous Separation < 1 mm Separation < 1 mm or Gouge < 5 mm thick or Separation > 5 mm
4 (See E) No separation Slightly weathered walls Highly weathered walls or Separation 1-5 mm Continuous
Unweathered wall rock Continuous
Rating 30 25 20 10 0
Inflow per 10 m
tunnel length None < 10 10 – 25 25 – 125 > 125
(l/m)
(Joint water
Groundwater
5 press)/ (Major 0 < 0.1 0.1 – 0.2 0.2 – 0.5 > 0.5
principal σ)
General
Completely dry Damp Wet Dripping Flowing
conditions
Rating 15 10 7 4 0

B. RATING ADJUSTMENT FOR DISCONTINUITY ORIENTATIONS (See F)

Strike and dip orientations Very favourable Favourable Fair Unfavourable Very Unfavourable
Tunnels & mines 0 -2 -5 - 10 - 12
Ratings Foundations 0 -2 -7 - 15 - 25
Slopes 0 -5 - 25 - 50

C. ROCK MASS CLASSES DETERMINED FROM TOTAL RATINGS

Rating 100 ← 81 80 ← 61 60 ← 41 40 ← 21 < 20
Class number I II III IV V
Description Very good rock Good rock Fair rock Poor rock Very poor rock

D. MEANING OF ROCK CLASSES

Class number I II III IV V
Average stand-up time 20 yrs for 15 m span 1 year for 10 m span 1 week for 5 m span 10 hrs for 2.5 m span 30 min for 1 m span
Cohesion of rock mass (kPa) > 400 300 – 400 200 – 300 100 – 200 < 100
Friction angle of rock mass (deg) > 45 35 – 45 25 – 35 15 – 25 < 15

E. GUIDELINES FOR CLASSIFICATION OF DISCONTINUITY conditions

Discontinuity length (persistence) <1m 1–3m 3 – 10 m 10 – 20 m > 20 m
Rating 6 4 2 1 0
Separation (aperture) None < 0.1 mm 0.1 – 1.0 m 1 – 5 mm > 5 mm
Rating 6 5 4 1 0
Roughness Very rough Rough Slightly rough Smooth Slickensided
Rating 6 5 3 1 0
Infilling (gouge) None Hard filling < 5 mm Hard filling > 5 mm Soft filling < 5 mm Soft filling > 5 mm
Rating 6 4 2 2 0
Weathering Unweathered Slightly weathered Moderately weathered Highly weathered Decomposed
Rating 6 5 3 1 0

F. EFFECT OF DISCONTINUITY STRIKE AND DIP ORIENTATION IN TUNNELLING**

Strike perpendicular to tunnel axis Strike parallel to tunnel axis
Drive with dip – Dip 45º - 90º Drive with dip – Dip 20º - 45º Dip 45º - 90º Dip 20º - 45º
Very favourable Favourable Very unfavourable Fair
Drive against dip – Dip 45º - 90º Drive against dip – Dip 20º - 45º Dip 0º - 20º - Irrespective of strike
Fair Unfavourable Fair
* Some condition are mutually exclusive, For example, if infilling is present; the roughness of the surface will be overshadowed by the influence of the gouge, in such cases use A.4 directly.
** Modified after Wickham et al. (1972)
 MANUAL PROCEDURE FOR ROCK MASS RATING (RMR)

STEP 8 - Rock Mass Classification based on TOTAL Rating: Class Number and Description
of rock mass is classified Total Rating. Example of Total Rating of RMR system as follows:

STEP 9 - Guide lines for Excavation & Tunnel Support: In order to purpose an excavation and
support system in a tunnel, Total Rating from RMR value can be used on Table 2.

Table 2 Guidelines for excavation and support of 10 m span rock tunnels in accordance with the
RMR system (After Bieniawski, 1989)

Rock mass class Excavation
Full face,
I – Very good rock
3 m advance.
RMR: 81 - 100
Full face,
II – Good rock 1 – 1.5 m advance. Complete
RMR: 61 - 80 support 20 m from face.
Top heading and bench,
1.5 – 3 m advance in top
heading.
III – Fair rock
Commence support after each
RMR: 41 - 60
blast.
Complete support 10 m from
face.
Top heading and bench,
1 – 1.5 m advance in top
IV – Poor rock heading.
RMR: 21 - 40 Install support concurrently
with excavation, 10 m from
face.
Multiple drifts 0.5-1.5 m
advance in top heading.
V – Very poor rock
Install support concurrently
RMR: < 20
with excavation, Shotcrete as
soon as possible after blasting.
Rock bolts
(20 mm diameter, fully Shotcrete Steel sets
grouted)
Generally no support required except spot
bolting.
Locally, bolts in crown 3 m
50 mm in crown where
long, spaced 2.5 m with None.
required.
occasional wire mesh.
Systematic bolts 4 m long,
spaced 1.5 – 2 m in crown 50 - 100 mm in crown
None.
and walls with wire mesh and 30 mm in sides.
in crown.
Systematic bolts 4.5 m
Light to medium
long spaced 1.0 – 1.5 m in 100 - 150 mm in crown
ribs spaced 1.5 m
crown and walls with wire and 100 mm in sides.
where required.
mesh.
Medium to heavy
Systematic bolts 5-6 m ribs spaced 0.75 m
150 - 200 mm in crown
long, spaced 1.0 – 1.5 m with steel lagging
and 150 mm in sides,
in crown and walls with and forepoling if
and 50 mm on face.
wire mesh. Bolt invert. required. Close
invert.

STEP 10 – Application from Field Work Study: Based on your result, propose and sketch
your own excavation system, rock bolt, shotcete and steel sets on your tunnel wall.