Formulation and Application of a Constitutive Model for Multijointed Material to Rock Mass Engineering

Abstract

The behavior of foliated rock masses presents challenging engineering issues. This paper presents the formulation of a constitutive model to simulate the behavior of foliated rock mass. The 3D elastoplastic constitutive model, called Comba, accounts for the presence of arbitrary orientations of weakness in a nonisotropic elastoplastic matrix. The paper presents simulation results for two example applications in rock mass engineering: the stability of a valley in foliated rock involving sliding and toppling mechanisms; and the analysis of the deformation of a dam foundation in columnar basalt. The analyses demonstrate aspects of the modeling capabilities of the Comba model for application to rock masses with tight multijoint sets in general, and with columnar basalt features in particular.