22-Aug-23

2106443 Rock Engineering

Regular lecture + facilitator learning case studies+Grad Studies mean mature.
What? When? Why? Where? Which? How?
 Assignments 25%
 Mid-term 30%
 Final 35%
 Presentation/Attendance 10%
Professor E. T. Brown, the distinguished Lecturer of this Symposium, once defined (Brown 1999)
that “Rock engineering is concerned with the investigation, design, construction and
performance of engineered structures built on, in or of rock. It involves engineering applications
of the science of rock mechanics”. 1

What - Definition
When – Surface and Underground – How does rock engineering make it safe and
efficient?
How – Define which part of the civil engineering require rock engineering?
Why.
Where.

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Rock Mechanics + Rock Engineering + Site Investigation + Instrumentation Monitoring

+ Case Histories
Mining Engineering – Surface and Underground – How does rock engineering make it
safe and efficient?
Civil Engineering – Define which part of the civil engineering require rock engineering?
Other disciplines, petroleum, environment, mechanical, etc.
Not only rock, sometimes soil and water, and to a lesser extent, some engineered
materials, such as shotcrete, backfills, and other support as well as reinforcement
elements.
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But the most important thing in rock engineering is …………..? (Hint: Part of geology)
Moving towards large-scale, unprecedented condition – need more innovative
method, caution, efficiency, and so on.
Design in mining requires a continuous improvement
Innovation in Rock Engineering – Thoughts approach to data and information collection, monitoring, and
from the Past; Looking to the re-design and optimisation throughout the life cycle of a
project from feasibility studies to construction and operation.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckzAgODypZQ
The highly variable and uncertain ground conditions and the
ever-changing mining environment demand innovative
designs specific for each and every case based on sound
engineering principles and methodologies.
Cost-effective designs can only be achieved by taking into
consideration all data/information available, all the tools at
one’s disposal, and all the constraints must be observed,
including the technical, economic, and operational.
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1. Introduction

• Rock Mechanics is the basic science of mechanics applied to rocks.

• Started in 1950s, quite young compared to others, plenty of rooms to study more.
• Rock mechanics is the subject concerned with the response of rock to an applied disturbance,
which is considered here as an engineering, i.e. a man-induced, disturbance.
• Rock Engineering is the discipline, based on rock mechanics, which is used to design structures
built on or in rock masses.
• These structures, which encompass building foundations, dams, rock slopes, tunnel, caverns,
hydroelectric projects, mines, etc., depend critically on the rock mass properties and the interaction
between the rock mass and the engineered structure.
• Rock mechanics and the associated principles are a science, their application is an art. To paint a
good picture, one must know the basic techniques. Knowing these techniques will not necessarily
make a good painter, but it will optimize everyone’s attempts.
• Rock engineering occurs deep in the earth, high in the mountains and often in the worlds wilderness
places.

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• In general, the stability of near surface excavations is governed by the rock structure, whereas,
deeper excavations can be more affected by the intact rock and pre-existing stresses.
• Thus, the rock structure is particularly important in civil engineering and mining engineering and so
it is necessary to be able to characterize and understand the mechanics of a discontinuum.
• In fact, there are numerous applications for rock engineering. Some of the most important are dam
abutments and foundations, mining methods (whether as open-pit or as a whole variety of
underground techniques),
• and now non-precedent applications for which there is no previous experience to guide us. These
latter projects include geothermal energy, radioactive waste disposal and the general use of
underground space for hosting a miscellany of low- and high-technology activities, such as
domestic refuse treatment and large high-energy particle accelerators. For all of these applications,
it is essential to understand the rock material and the rock mechanics so that engineering can be
conducted in an optimal way.
• A good engineer is one who can do the same job with the same professionalism at a lower price:
but this can only be achieved successfully by knowing the rock mechanics principles and
applications.

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• The outer ring represents the

whole project complete with its
specific objective-and different
projects can have widely differing
objectives.
• The middle ring represents the
inter-relation between the various
components of the total problem.
For example, there will be
relations between rock stresses
and rock structure in the rock
mechanics context; and there will
be relations between rock support
systems and cost implications in
the rock engineering context.

• Finally, the central ring represents the individual aspects of each project, such as a specific
numerical analysis or a specific costing procedure.
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• Rock material and Rock Mass –

Discontinuous, Anisotropic, non-
homogeneous, non-linear elastic. CHILE
VS DIANNE.
• A mineral is a naturally occurring solid
formed through geological processes that
has a characteristic chemical composition, a
highly ordered atomic structure, and specific
physical properties.

• A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of

minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not
have a specific chemical composition.
Minerals range in composition from pure
elements and simple salts to very complex
silicates with thousands of known forms.

• Finally, the central ring represents the individual aspects of each project, such as a specific
numerical analysis or a specific costing procedure.
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Igneous Rocks Sedimentary Rocks Metamorphic Rocks

Extrusive Intrusive Clastic Non-clastic Foliated Non-foliated

Rhyolite Granite Claystone Limestone Slate Quartzite

Andesite Diorite Siltstone, Chert Phyllite Marble

Mudstone,
Basalt Gabbro Shale Rock Salt Schist Hornfel

Pegmatite Sandstone Chalk Gneiss

Tuff Conglomerate, Coal
Breccia

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• Weathering – Process in different

regions and rock types - Profile.
• Groundwater – Permeability, Porosity,
Pore Pressure,
• Unfavorable properties – Slaking,
Swelling,
• Initial Stress, Virgin Stress, In-situ
Stress, Pre-historic Stress, Origin
stress, pre-existing stress.

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