86 Intactrock

the corners and edges of rock blocks which have been disturbed by the
process of excavation. Thus, the deformability, strength and failure of intact
rock per se are critically important for understanding the basic mechanisms
of excavation, whether by blasting or by machine cutting, and for
understanding support requirements-whether to defend against direct
stress failure or rock block failure.

6.2 The complete stress-strain curve in

uniaxial compression
In Chapter 5, we discussed strain and the complexities of a material which
could potentially have 21 independent elastic constants, and could be
subjected to any stress state. Here, in considering the behaviour of real rock,
we will begin with the simplest form of loading, i.e. uniaxial compression.
In the context of the elastic compliance matrix, we will therefore be
studying SI1for loading uniaxially along the x-axis. The properties of the
uniaxial test will be discussed first, before considering triaxial and other
multiaxial loading cases.
In its simplest form, the uniaxial compression test is conducted by taking
a right cylinder of intact rock, loading it along its axis and recording the
displacement produced as the force is increased. In Figs 6.1 and 6.2 we
present a typical record of such a test (which also includes the post-peak
region obtained using techniques to be discussed in Section 6.3). Note that
the force and the displacement have been scaled respectively to stress (by
dividing by the original cross-sectional area of the specimen) and to strain
(by dividing by the original length). In the curve shown in the figure, the
various aspects of the mechanical behaviour of intact rock tested under
these conditions can now be identified.
At the very beginning of loading, the curve has an initial portion which
is concave upwards (the opposite of typical soil behaviour) for two reasons:
the lack of perfect specimen preparation, manifested by the ends of the
cylinder being non-parallel; and
the closing of microcracks within the intact rock.
After this initial zone, there is a portion of essentially linear behaviour,
more or less analogous to the ideal elastic rock we discussed in Chapter 5.
Axial stress. u

Dependent
variable
(the one we
measure)

Axial strain, E
Independent variable
(the one we control)

Figure 6.1 The complete stress-strain curve.