Units and symbols

Units
There are two reasons w h y it is important to u n d e r s t a n d and use
engineering rock mechanics units correctly:
• engineering rock mechanics calculations used for rock engineering
design should be numerically correct; and
• to use engineering rock mechanics properly, an understanding of units
is necessary.
We have used standard symbols and the SI (International System) of
units. There are seven base units in the SI system: length, mass, time,
electric current, t h e r m o d y n a m i c temperature, a m o u n t of substance and
luminous intensity. These base units are dimensionally independent.

Base units
For engineering rock mechanics, we consider just the length, mass and
time base units.

Base Quantity Name of SI unit Dimensions

quantity symbol SI unit of unit
Length I metre m L
Mass m kilogram kg M
Time t second s T
xiv Unitsand symbols

Derived units
From the three base units, all the other mechanical units are derived.
Some of the main derived units are listed below.

Derived Quantity N a m e of SI unit Dimensions

quantity symbol SI unit of unit
Area A m2 L2
Volume V m 3 L3
Density p kg m -3 L-3M
Velocity v m s -~ LT-~
Acceleration a m s -2 LT -2
Weight W newton, N m kg S - 2 LMT -2
Force F newton, N m kg S - 2 LMT -2
Pressure p pascal, Pa N m - : , m -l kg s -2 L-1MT -2
Energy E joule, J N m, m 2 kg S-2 LaMT -2

The name of the SI unit, e.g. newton, is written with an initial lower case
letter, and its abbreviation, e.g. N, is written with an initial upper case
letter.
Note that force is defined through the relation: force = mass x accel-
eration. A newton, N, is the force necessary to accelerate a one kilogram
mass at a rate of one metre per second per second. This is clear for dy-
namic circumstances but the force definition also applies to the concept
and the units used in the static case. When a static force exists, the force
between two stationary objects, the units of force are still m kg s -2 with
dimensions LMT -2 because of the definition of force. Thus, other derived
units, such as Young's modulus, have units of m -1 kg s -2 and dimen-
sions L-1MT -2, despite the fact that there m a y be no time dependency in
their definition.
The most c o m m o n prefixes used for decimal multiples of units in
engineering rock mechanics are

10-6 10-3 103 106 109

micro milli kilo mega giga

~t m k M G

Symbols used in this book ~

The main symbols used in this book are listed below, together with
the name of the quantity they represent, the SI unit name (where
appropriate), the SI unit and the dimensions 2 of the unit. Other symbols
and abbreviations introduced for a specific question and answer have
been defined 'locally' in those questions and answers.

I We follow the recommendations in Quantities, Units and Symbols prepared by the

Symbols Committee of the Royal Society, 1975, 54pp.
2 The term 'dimensions' is used here to mean the complete listing of the dimensions
and exponents, as in L-1MT -2, rather than just the LMT components, or just their
exponents,-1, 1 , - 2 .
 Symbols used in this book xv

Symbol Quantity Name of SI unit Dimensions

SI unit of unit
c~ angle, specifically dip radian, rad;
direction of a plane or degree, deg
trend of a line
fl angle, specifically dip radian, rad;
angle of a plane or plunge degree, deg
of a line
flw orientation angle of plane radian, rad;
of weakness degree, deg
y shear strain 1 L°
y unit weight kg s -2 m -2 L-2MT -2
3 3 3
partial differential operator
3x" 3y' 3z
AI, 8x, By, 8z increment of distance, m L
displacement
E linear strain 1 L°
0 angle radian, rad; 1
degree, deg
~. fracture frequency m-l L-l
v Poisson's ratio 1
v kinematic viscosity m 2 s-l L2T-I
p density kg m -3 L-3M
a stress tensor pascal, Pa N m -2, m -1 kg S - 2 L - I M T -2
a normal stress pascal, Pa N m -2, m -1 kg s -2 L - I M T -2
al, o2, o3 principal stress pascal, Pa N m -2, m - l kg s -2 L - 1MT-2
ac uniaxial compressive pascal, Pa N m -2, m -l kg s -2 L - I M T -2
strength
Oh, aH principal horizontal stress pascal, Pa N m -2, m -l kg S-2 L - I M T -2
at uniaxial tensile strength pascal, Pa N m -2, m -! kg S-2 L - I M T -2
o .2 variance
r shear stress pascal, Pa N m -2, m -l kg S-2 L - l M T -2
~b angle of friction radian, rad;
degree, deg
~bw friction angle of plane of radian, rad;
weakness degree, deg
A area m2 L2
c cohesion pascal, Pa N m -2, m -I kg s -2 L - I M T -2
c hydraulic conductivity of a m s -l L T -1
fracture
E Young's modulus pascal, Pa N m -2, m -1 kg S-2 L - I M T -2
e fracture aperture m L
Em elastic modulus of rock pascal, Pa N m -2, m-1 kg S- 2 L-1MT-2
mass
F force newton, N kg m s - 2 LMT -2
G shear modulus pascal, Pa N m -2, m -1 kg S-2 L-1MT -2
Gm shear modulus of rock pascal, Pa N m -2, m -l kg S-2 L - I M T -2
mass
GSI geological strength index
value
i hydraulic gradient
i asperity angle radian, rad;
degree, deg
11,/2, 13 stress invariants
k constant of proportionality
k number of events
k coefficient of permeability m2 L2
xvi Units and symbols

Symbol Quantity Name of SI unit Dimensions

SI unit of unit
K hydraulic conductivity m s -l LT-2
K stiffness kg S - 2 MT -2
kn, ks fracture normal stiffness, m -2 kg s -2 L-2MT -2
fracture shear stiffness,
L length m
l, m , n Cartesian axes
m coefficient in H o e k - B r o w n
strength criterion
N number in sample
P pressure pascal, Pa N m -2, m -l kg s -2 L - I M T -2
F'B, Ps b r e a k d o w n pressure, shut-in pascal, Pa N m -2, m -l kg S - 2 L - I M T -2
pressure
PL point load index value pascal, Pa N m -2, m -l kg S-2 L - I M T -2
a flow rate m 3 s-1 L3T-I
a rock mass quality rating
r radius m
RMR rock mass rating value
RQD rock quality designation, %
RQDt rock quality designation for
threshold value t
elastic compliance lacsap, Pa-1 N - l m 2, m k g - l s 2 L M - IT2
elastic compliance matrix lacsap, Pa-1 N - ! m 2, m k g - l s 2 L M - IT2
coefficient in H o e k - B r o w n
strength criterion
S sample standard deviation
t threshold value for RQD m L
t thickness m L
u displacement m L
UCS unconfined compressive pascal, Pa N m -2, m - I kg S-2 L-IMT-2
strength
V displacement m L
W weight kg m s -2 LMT -2
X, y, Z Cartesian axes
xbar mean fracture spacing m
Xbar sample mean
z depth m
z standard normal variable

The convention for writing symbols is as follows.

• Symbols for tensor quantities should be in sans serif bold italic form,
e.g. $.
• Symbols for vector quantities should be in bold italic form, e.g.F.
• Symbols in Latin or Greek should be in italic form, e.g.x.