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A possible method for estimating the Poisson’s rate values of the rock masses

Article  in  Acta Geodaetica et Geophysica Hungarica · September 2009

DOI: 10.1556/AGeod.44.2009.3.4

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 Acta Geod. Geoph. Hung., Vol. 44(3), pp. 313–322 (2009)
DOI: 10.1556/AGeod.44.2009.3.4

A POSSIBLE METHOD FOR ESTIMATING

THE POISSON’S RATE VALUES
OF THE ROCK MASSES

B Vásárhelyi
Vásárhelyi and Partner Geotechnical Engineering Ltd., Budapest, Hungary
e-mail: vasarhelyib@gmail.com

[Manuscript received May 13, 2008; accepted October 23, 2008]

The Poisson’s rate value of the rock mass is one of the most important rock
mechanical and rock engineering parameter. This value is used for calculating the
deformation of the tunnels or displacement on rock foundations, among the others.
Unfortunately, measuring this value is very difficult and time consuming in rock
masses. The goal of this paper is to present a simple method for estimating the
Poisson’s rate value for rock masses if it is known for the intact rock. Using the well-
known equations for determining the earth pressure at rest, the relationship between
the internal friction angle and the Poisson’s rate value can be determined. Due to
the relationship between the internal friction angle and the rock mass classification
(namely GSI) are also determined, from these connections the Poisson’s rate value
and the GSI can be calculated. A linear equation was found: decreasing the quality
of the rock mass, the Poisson’s rate is increasing. The presented calculation is also
good, if the Poisson’s rate of the intact rock is not determinable. In this paper
it was assumed that the Poisson’s rate value is a material constant. Note, that
theoretically it is not true, however for rock mechanical calculations the changing
this value is never investigated.
Keywords: earth pressure at rest; failure criteria; GSI; Poisson’s rate value;
rock mass

1217-8977/$ 20.00
2009

c Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest
314 B VÁSÁRHELYI

Fig. 1. Typical ranges of values for Poisson’s ratio of some rock types (collected by Gercek 2007)

1. Introduction
The Poisson’s rate value of the intact rock can be relatively easily measured in
laboratory methods either indirectly by dynamic methods or directly by static tests.
It is used for several rock mechanics and rock engineering calculations, necessary to
know it for the in situ measurements. In Fig. 1, typical ranges of values are presented
for Poisson’s ratio of some rock types (after the collection of Gercek 2007).
The behaviour of rock masses are influenced by the mechanical behaviour and
properties of the discontinuities and those of the intact rock bounded by disconti-
nuities. It has also been well known that structural features induce some degree of
anisotropy in rock masses. It was found, that the value of Poisson’s ratio for the
rock mass was about 20% higher than the value for the intact rock (Kulatilake et al.
2004). Note, this paper did not classify the rock mass according to one of the widely
used rock mass classification systems. Unfortunately, measuring the Poisson’s rate
value of the rock mass is very difficult, so usually the intact rock’s is used for the
calculations.

Acta Geod. Geoph. Hung. 44, 2009

 POISSON’S RATE VALUES OF THE ROCK MASSES 315

2. Calculation method of the Poisson’s value of the rock mass

The Poisson’s rate value of the rock mass is calculated using the following
method:

— Supposing that the earth pressure at rest according to Terzaghi and Richart
(1952) equation — using the Poisson’s ratio — is equal to Jáky’s (1944) equa-
tion, using the internal friction angle;

— The internal friction angle can be calculated from the geological strength index
(GSI), using the Hoek-Brown failure criteria.

2.1 Earth pressure at rest

In rock engineering applications involving underground openings, Poisson’s ratio
of the rock mass is utilized for estimating in situ stresses and in expressions involving
induced stresses. For example, in an approach that was attributed to Terzaghi and
Richart (1952) — using the theory of Mindlin (1939) — the ratio of horizontal in situ
stress (Ph ) to the vertical component (Pv ) in geologically undisturbed sedimentary
regions is as follows:
K0 = Ph /Pv = ν/(1 − ν) . (1)
This approach is based on a number of simplifying assumptions:

— The principal components of in situ stress tensor are vertical and horizontal
directions (σv , σh1 , σh2 ).

— The horizontal components of in situ stress tensor are equal (σh = σh1 = σh2 ).

— The rock mass obeys Hooke’s Law and behaves linearly elastic, i.e.:
εh = [σh − ν(σv + σh )]/E.

— The rock mass does not deform horizontally (i.e. horizontal rigidity: εh = 0).

Jáky (1944), using similar approaching, suggested the calculation of the earth
pressure at rest for the following equation:

K0 = Ph /Pv = 1 − sin φ . (2)

Equation (2) is wieldy used involving soil mechanical problems. Supposing, that
Eq. (1) and Eq. (2) is equal, the connection between the internal friction angle (φ)
and the Poisson’s value is:
ν/(1 − ν) = 1 sin φ . (3)
Figure 2 presents the Poisson’s rate value in the function of the internal friction
angle for intact rocks. According to Greschik (2007), Eq. (3) usually can be safely
if 0.2 < ν < 0.5. In this cases the following relationship can be also used:

ν = (183 − φ)/163 . (4)

Acta Geod. Geoph. Hung. 44, 2009

316 B VÁSÁRHELYI

Fig. 2. Relationship between the internal friction angle (φ) and the Poisson’s value (ν)

The internal friction angle (φ) for rock masses can be determinable using one of
the well-defined rock mass classification systems — the mostly used are the RMR-
method (Bieniawski 1976), Q-value (Barton et al. 1974), RMi (Palmström 1995) and
GSI (Hoek et al. 1995). For this calculation the geological strength index (GSI) was
chosen, because this is the only one well-developed classification method which can
be used for determining the failure envelope of the rock mass. Originally, the GSI
was developed for the Hoek-Brown failure criteria, but knowing the Hoek-Brown
material constants, the Mohr-Coulomb parameters (namely the internal friction
angle (φ) and the cohesion (c)) can be also calculated.

2.2 The Geological Strength Index (GSI)

The strength of a jointed rock mass depends on the properties of the intact rock
pieces and also upon the freedom of these pieces to slide and rotate under different
stress conditions. This freedom is controlled by the geometrical shape of the intact
rock pieces as well as the condition of the surfaces separating the pieces. Angular
rock pieces with clean, rough discontinuity surfaces will result in a much stronger
rock mass than one which contains rounded particles surrounded by weathered and
altered material.
The Geological Strength Index (GSI), introduced by Hoek (1994) and Hoek et al.
(1995) provides a number which, when combined with the intact rock properties, can
be used for estimating the reduction in rock mass strength for different geological
conditions. This system is presented in Table I, for blocky rock masses.

2.3 Calculation the internal friction angle using the Hoek-Brown failure criteria
Hoek (1994) are expressed as

a
σ3
σ1 = σ3 + σc mb +s , (5)
σc

Acta Geod. Geoph. Hung. 44, 2009

 POISSON’S RATE VALUES OF THE ROCK MASSES 317

Table I. Characterization of blocky rock masses on the basis of interlocking and joint
conditions (Hoek 2007)

where mb is a reduced value of the material constant mi (summarized for different

type of rocks in Table II) and is given by


GSI − 100
mb = mi exp . (6)
28

Acta Geod. Geoph. Hung. 44, 2009

318 B VÁSÁRHELYI

Fig. 3. Relationships between major and minor principal stresses for Hoek-Brown and equivalent
Mohr-Coulomb criteria (Hoek 2007)

s and a are constants for the rock mass given by the following relationships:


GSI − 100
s = exp (7)
9

1 1  −GSI/15 
a= + e − e−20/3 . (8)
2 6
The Mohr-Coulomb constants (φ and c) are done by fitting an average linear
relationship to the curve generated by solving Eq. (5) for a range of minor principal
stress values defined by σt < σ3 < σ3 max , as illustrated in Fig. 3. The fitting
process involves balancing the areas above and below the Mohr-Coulomb plot. This
results in the following equations for the angle of friction φ and cohesive strength c
(Hoek 2007).
 
−1 6amb (s + mb σ3n )a−1
φ = sin (9)
2(1 + a)(2 + a) + 6amb (s + mb σ3n )a−1

σci [(1 + 2a)s + (1 − a)mb σ3n ] (s + mb σ3n )a−1

c=  , (10)
(1 + a)(2 + a) 1 + (6amb (s + mb σ3n )a−1 )/(1 + a)(2 + a)
where
σ3n = σ3 max /σci .
Note that the value of σ3 max the upper limit of confining stress over which the
relationship between the Hoek-Brown and the Mohr-Coulomb criteria is considered,
has to be determined for each individual case.

Acta Geod. Geoph. Hung. 44, 2009

 POISSON’S RATE VALUES OF THE ROCK MASSES 319

Table II. Values of the constant mi for intact rock by rock group. Note, that values
in parenthesis are estimated (Hoek 2007)

Acta Geod. Geoph. Hung. 44, 2009

320 B VÁSÁRHELYI

The Mohr-Coulomb shear strength τ , for a given normal stress σ, is found by

substitution of these values of φ and c in to the equation:

τ = c + σ tan φ . (11)

The equivalent plot, in terms of the major and minor principal stresses, is defined
by (Hoek 2007):
2c cos φ 1 + sin φ
σ1 = + σ3 . (12)
1 − sin φ 1 − sin φ

3. Results and conclusions

Using the GSI system and the Hoek-Brown failure criterion, the internal friction
angle in the function of the GSI can be determined (see Fig. 4). Using Eq. (3), the
relation between the GSI values and the Poisson’s rate values can be plotted for
different Hoek-Brown constants (mi ). This diagram is shown in Fig. 5. According
to this figure, the Poisson’s rate value of the rock mass (νrm ) basically linearly de-
creases with decreasing the rock mass quality (GSI) — similarly to the observations.
Knowing the Poisson’s ratio of the intact rock (νi ), this equation is:

νrm = −0.002GSI + νi + 0.2 . (13)

If the Poisson’s ratio of the intact rock (νi ) is not measured, the Poisson’s ratio
of the rock mass can be calculated from the Hoek-Brown material constant (mi ),
as well:
νrm = −0.002GSI − 0.003mi + 0.457 . (14)
Note, this equation is not correct for soft rocks, (e.g. claystones and shales), thus
if mi < 5.
In case of Eqs (13) and (14) are equals, there is a relationship between the
Poisson’s rate value and the Hoek-Brown constants for intact rocks:

νi = 0.257 − 0.003mi . (15)

According to this result, increasing the rigidity of the rocks, the Poisson’s rate
value linearly decreasing.

Acta Geod. Geoph. Hung. 44, 2009

 POISSON’S RATE VALUES OF THE ROCK MASSES 321

Fig. 4. The friction angle of the rock mass in the function of the geological strength index (GSI)
for in case of Hoek-Brown constant (mi ) (Hoek et al. 1995)

Fig. 5. Estimated Poisson’s rate values (νrm ) in the function of the geological strength index
(GSI) in case of different Hoek-Brown (mi ) constants

Acta Geod. Geoph. Hung. 44, 2009

 322 B VÁSÁRHELYI

References
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rock engineering, Proc. of the Symp., Z T Bieniawski ed., Cape Town, Balkema,
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Gercek H 2007: Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci., 44, 1–13.
Greschik Gy 2007: Mélyépı́tés (in Hungarian), 5, No. 17, 24–29.
Hoek E 1994: ISRM News J., 2, No. 2, 4–16.
Hoek E 2007: Practival Rock Engineering (www.rocscience.com)
Hoek E, Kaiser P K, Bawden W F 1995: Support of underground excavations in hard
rock. Balkema, Rotterdam
Jáky J 1944: J. Soc. Hung. Arch. Engngs., 78, No. 22, 355–358.
Kulatilake P H S W, Park J, Um J-G 2004: Geotech. Geol. Engng., 22, 313–330.
Mindlin R D 1939: Transactions ASCE, 105, 619–42.
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Acta Geod. Geoph. Hung. 44, 2009

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