MohammedRef

ahtToama

Pet
rol
eum &Ref
ini
ngEngi
neer
ing

Cl
asst
hri
d-A-

HOMEWORK
mudst oner ockmassatadept hof200m cont ai
nsthreefractureset s.One
setcompr i
sesbeddi ngplanes;t
hesearehighlyweathered, sl
ightlyrough
surf
aces, andar econt i
nuouswithanor i
entati
onof180/ 10.Anot herseti s
i
ointi
ng; thesejointsaresli
ghtl
yweathered,sli
ghtl
yrough, andhav ean
ori
entationof185/ 75.The.t
hir
dsetisalsoj oi
nti
ng;again,thejointsar e
sl
ightl
yweat her
edandsl i
ghtl
yrough,andhav eanorientat
ionof090/ 80.The
str
engt hoft heintactrockhasbeenassessedas55MPa, andv aluesf orthe
RQDandmeanf racturespaci
ngarereportedas60%and0. 4m, respect i
vely.

Uset
heRMRsy stem t
ocl
assi
fythi
sr ockmass,andassesst
hest
abi
l
ityofa
10m wi
deexcavati
onbei
ngdri
venfrom eastt
owest.

Ans
wer
:

Inor dertoa pplyt heRMRs ystem,f ivepr incipa lparame tersa rea ssesse
d:i nta ctrock
str
eng t
h,gr oundwa tercondi ti
ons,RQD,f ra c
tur es pacing,a ndf racturecondi tion.Thi s
provide stheba sicRMRva luefort heroc kma ss.Theor ient at
ionoft hefra ct
ur esis
thena ccountedf ort hrought heus eofr a t
inga djus t
me ntfac torstode t
ermi nethef i
nal
RMRva l
ue.Int hee xa mplehe reweha vet hrees e t
soff ractures,a nds owewi llne ed
toa ppl
yt heXMRs ystemt oe achse tintur n,a ndhe nc eide nti
fyt hes ettha tismos t
cri
ticalforthispa rticularexc avati
on.Ofc ours e,thec lassi
fic a
tionpa r
ame te r
sof
int
a ctrocks tr
engt ha ndgr oundwa te rcondi ti
onsr elat
et other oc kma ssasawhol e ,
rat
h erthant ospe cificfracturesets,a nda r
ea pplie didenticallytoe a chset.He re,the
valuesf orRQDa ndme anf r
actures pacinga rer e portedge ne r
a l
ly,ra t
hert hanf or
spec i
fi
cs ets,ands othesewi l
lbea ppl i
e de qua ll
y.Wewi l
la ssessa llofthe se
parame tersfir
st,a ndt henmoveont othepa rame ter
stha tares pecifictot hef racture
sets.
Ove
ral
lroc
kma
ss

Thes t
rengthoft hei ntactroc khasbeena sses
seda s55MPa ,ands oac onservati
ve
Thee xcavat
ioni ssitua t
eda tade pthof200m,a ndva lueforthes t
rengthra t
ingis6.
t
her ockma ssisamuds tone .Atade pthof200m,t heve rti
calstre
ssc ompone ntwill
MPa( assumingauni twe i
ghtofr ockof25kN/ m3) ,andt hi
sbei nther e onof5
gi
st
resswillprobablybes uf
fic i
enttokeept hefr
a c
turest i
ghtl
yc l
osed.Ta kentogethe
r
withthefactthatmuds tone shaveve rylowpr i
ma rya nds econdarype r
me abili
ty,we
caninferthatthegr oun dwa tercondit
ionswi l
lproba blybeint herangeofda mpt o
t
o10.Fora na verageRQDva l
ueof60%,t hewe t,wi t
hr at
ingva l
ue srangingfrom7
ra
tingva l
uei sabout12 ,andf orame anfract
urespa ci
ngof0. 4mt her a
tingva l
ueis
about10.Addi ngt he sefourr at
ingstogethergivesat otalra
t i
ngva l
ueof6+( 7to10)
+12+10=35t o38.

Cl
ass
ifi
cat
ionus
ingSe
t1

The sebeddingpl a
nesa rehighlywe athered,wi t
hs light
lyroughs urfaces,anda re
continuous.Ther at
ingva luesfortheses pecifi
ca tt
ribut
esa r
e1,3a nd0,r especti
vely.
Ana ss
essme ntofaperturecanbema deont heba sisoftheivtsitus tres
ss tat
ea tthe
locati
onoft hee xca
va t
ion:as tres
sof5MPawi llme a
nthatthea pe rt
urei slow,a nd
soar easonablerati
ngva l
ueis5.Weha venoi nforma ti
onr e
ga rdingi nf
illi
ngbut ,as
thereisnoe videncetos uggestthepresenceofa ny,wec ana ssumear a
tingva lueof
=15.Thedi p6+5+6.Thet otalrati
ngva l
uefort hesefract
ure sisthen1+3+0
dir
e cti
onoft hebeddingi s180" ,andsot hee xcavationisbeingdr ivena longt he
str
ike.Thisi sconsi
de r
e dtoresultin'f
a i
r'conditions,withac orrespondingr at
ing
adjustmentva l
ueof- 5.Thus ,theove r
allRMRva l
ueba sedonSe t1i s(35t o38)+15
=50t o53,whi chisclassifi
eda s'f
airrock'.Takingi ntoaccountt heor i
ent a
tionra t
ing
adjustmentof- heRMRva
5,t l
uei sreduc e
dt o45t o48,butthisdoe snota l
terthe
cla
s si
ficat
ion.

Cl
ass
ifi
cat
ionus
i t2
ngSe

Weknowt hatt
hisjoint
ingi sslightlywe at
he r
ed,s l
ightl
yr ough,a ndha sa n
orient
ati
onof185/75.Wec a
nt he ref
oreassignr ati
ngva l
ue sof5,3a nd-12t othese
att
ribute
s.Knowingthatthef racturesarejointsinamuds tone,theirpe r
sist
encewi l
l
probablybeintherangeof1mt o2m,a nda na ppropr
iater at
ingva lueforthisis2.
Aswi t
hSet1,wec anassignr atingva l
uesfort hea per
tur
ea ndinfil
lingof5a nd6,
+3+2+5+6=21,r e
s pecti
ve ly.Thetotalratingva l
uef orthesef ract
uresisthen5
givinganovera
llRMRva lueof( 35to38)+21=56t o59.Aga in,thisisclas
sifi
edas
'
fairrock'
.Taki
ngtheor ientat
ionr a
tingadjust
me ntof-12i ntoaccountr educesthe
RMRva l
uet
o44t o47.
Cl
ass
ifi
cat
ionus
ingSe
t3

Thej ointingr e
pr esentingSe t3ha si denti
calme c hanicalcharacterist
ic
st oSe t2,a nd
soha sar a t
ingva lueof21,gi vinga nove rallRMRva lueof56t o59a nda
class
ificationof' fairrock'.Theor ientati
onr ati
nga djustme ntisnow- 5(thes tri
kei s
perpendic ulartot hee xcava t
iona xis,a ndwea redrivinga gainstthedipwhi chi s
class
e da s'fair
'),whi chr e
duc estheRMRva lueto51t o54.Ove rallasse
ss me ntwe
cans eetha tSet2l eadstot hemos tc ri
ticalclas
sificati
on,wi thar angeofpr obable
RMRva luesof44t o47 .Us ingac ha r
tlinkingRMRa nde xcavationspant os tand-up
times howst hatane xcavation10mwi dei nsuchar ockma sswoul dsufferf rom
imme di a
tec ollaps e
,a nds owec ans eethatthee nginee r
ingde si
gnwi l
lne edt o
incorporater ocks tabili
zationme asur e
s( i.
e.suppor torre i
nforceme nt)
.Ina ddi t
ion,
somef or
mofs tagede xc a
va tionma ya ls
obene ce s
sary,whe rebyas ma l
lpilot
excava ti
oni sfor me da ndthe ns ystema ti
ca l
lyope nedoutt ot hefullsizea sthe
enginee r
ingbe ha viouroft her ockma ssissteadilyimpr oveda sthes tabi
lization
me asuresa reappl ied.

Re
fer
enc
e
Engi
neer
ingr
ockmechani
cs:
par
t2IIl
ust
rat
ivewor
kedexampl
es

.
ByJohnRHar
ri
son&JohnA.HudsonFREng

Page196