Duplication of Dilatancy in Analysis of Jointed Rocks

The examples in this paper demonstrate that dilatancy parameters affect the results of stress and limit equilibrium analyses of jointed rock masses. A sophisticated analogue intended for computer modeling was presented and a working program based on finite element analysis has proved to give reasonable results. The analogue can also be introduced in closed form analytical formulations. Though originated to describe movements of blocks across single joints, the same approach can be used to describe movement of blocks across stepped sliding surfaces compiled from two intersecting joint sets. In this case, the compound sliding surface is replaced by a single equivalent surface whose stiffness coefficients reflect the angular relations of the mean plane and the joint sets. As new data on joint dilatancy become available, they should be incorporated in rock mechanics practice.