Quantitative Classification of Rock
Mass
Description of Joints:
Orientation, Persistence, Roughness, Wall
Strength Aperture
Strength, Aperture, Filling
Filling, Seepage
Seepage,
Number of sets, Block size, spacing.
ISRM commissions
i i reportt
Classification of Rock Material
Based on Uniaxial Compressive Strength
Point Load Index
Quick evaluation for uniaxial strength
(field or lab setup)
ASTM D 5731 procedures
Little sample preparation (cores,
pieces)
Measure force (P) to crunch intact rock
specimen
Point Load Index: Is = P/de2 where de
= equivalent core diameter
Fig.8-1
Point Load Index
GCTS Device Roctest Equipment
Uniaxial Compressive Ranges for some
Strength Common Rock
Material
Term Kg/cm2 Schist, Silt stone
y Weak- VW
Very < 70 VW-W, Sand
Stone, Lime stone
Weak- W 70-200
VW-M,Granite,
Medium Strong-MS
Strong MS 200
200-700
700 Basalt,
Basalt Gneiss,
Gneiss
Strong- S 700-1400 Quartzite, Marble
Very Strong-
Strong VS > 1400 MS-VS
MS VS
|
Classification for Rock Material
Strength
Rock Quality Designation (RQD)
or Modified
M difi d C
Core R
Recovery
x i
Q =
RQD
L
xi = lengths
g pieces of core 10 cm
of individual p
L is the total length of the drill run
Indirect Methods of determination
off RQF
Seismic Method -
RQD= (Vf / Vl )2 * 100
R ti off velocity
Ratio l it iin th
the fifield
ld tto th
thatt iin th
the llab
b
Volumetric Count -
RQD = 115- 3.3* Jv
where Jv is a measure of number of joints
within a unit volume of rock mass
RQD
RQD
A. Very poor 0 25
B. Poor 25 50
C. Fair 50 75
D. Good 75 90
E Excellent
E. 90 - 100
ROCK STRUCTURE RATING
(RSR)
Wickham et. al. ((1972)) suggested
gg this based on
observation of small tunnels supported by steel ribs.
RSR = A + B + C
Parameter A A, Geology: General appraisal of geological
structure on the basis of:
a. Rock type origin (igneous, metamorphic,
sedimentary).
di t )
b. Rock hardness (hard, medium, soft, decomposed).
c. Geologic structure (massive, slightly faulted/folded,
moderately faulted/folded,
intensely faulted/folded).
Parameter B, Geometry: Effect of discontinuity pattern
with
ith respectt tto th
the di
direction
ti off th
the ttunnell d
drive
i on th
the
basis of:
a. Joint spacing.
b. Joint orientation (strike and dip).
c. Direction of tunnel drive
Parameter C: Effect of groundwater inflow and joint
condition on the basis of:
a. Overall rock mass quality on the basis of A and B
combined.
b. Joint condition (good, fair, poor).
c. Amount of water inflow (in gallons per minute per 1000
feet of tunnel)..
RMR or Geomechanics
Cl
Classification
ifi i
Guideline properties of Rock Mass
Classes
Cl
Example: 10 m span
Evaluation of Tunnels
RMR = 80
Stand up time > 4 years
b
basedd on RMR RMR = 50
Stand up time 2 days
RMR modified for slopes or tunnels
Additional factors applied to RMRbasic
Accounts for excavation method
BUT moreover,
Accounts for joint orientation wrt the excavation
Unfavourable conditions,, deduct p
points from
RMRbasic
refer section F of Table
Slopes - unfavourable
Slopes - favourable
Tunnels - unfavourable
Tunnels - favourable
Widely spaced joints?
RMR & Tunnels
Stand up time for various tunnel spans
based on RMR
Unreinforced tunnels
no advice re support e.g. shotcrete or
rockbolts/anchors
Shotcrete = sprayed
p y concrete,, lightly
g y reinforced
NGI Q-System Rating for Rock Masses RQD J r J w
Q =
(Barton, Lien, & Lunde, 1974)
Nor wegian Classif ication f or Rock Masses
J n J a SRF
Q - Value Quality of Rock Mass
< 0.01 Exceptionally Poor 4. Discontinuity Condition & Infilling = Ja
0.01 to 0.1 Extremely Poor 4.1 Unfilled Cases
0.1 to 1 Very Poor Healed 0.75
1 to 4 Poor Stained, no alteration 1
4 to 10 Fair Silty or Sandy Coating 3
10 tto 40 G d
Good Cl
Clay coating
ti 4
40 to 100 Very Good 4.2 Filled Discontinuities
100 to 400 Extremely Good Sand or crushed rock inf ill 4
< 400 Exceptionally Good Stif f clay inf illing < 5 mm 6
Sof t clay inf ill < 5 mm thick 8
PARAMETERS FOR THE Q-Rating of Rock Masses Swelling clay < 5 mm 12
Stif f clay inf ill > 5 mm thick 10
1. RQD = Rock Quality Designation = sum of cored pieces Sof t clay inf ill > 5 mm thick 15
> 100 mm long, divided by total core run length Swelling clay > 5 mm 20
2. Number of Sets of Discontinuities (joint sets) = Jn 5. Water Conditions
Massive 0.5 Dry 1
One set 2 Medium W ater Inf low 0 66
0.66
Two sets 4 Large inf low in unf illed j oints 0.5
Three sets 9 Large inf low with f illed j oints
Four or more sets 15 that wash out 0.33
Crushed rock 20 High transient f low 0.2 to 0.1
High continuous f low 0.1 to 0.05
3. Roughness
g of Discontinuities* = Jr
Noncontinuous j oints 4 6. Stress Reduction Factor** = SRF
Rough, wavy 3 Loose rock with clay inf ill 10
Smooth, wavy 2 Loose rock with open j oints 5
Rough, planar 1.5 Shallow rock with clay inf ill 2.5
Smooth, planar 1 Rock with unf illed j oints 1
Slick and planar 0.5
Filled discontinuities 1 **Note: Additional SRF values given
*Note: add +1 if mean joint spacing > 3 m for rocks prone to bursting, squeezing
and swelling by Barton et al. (1974)
Rock Tunnelling Quality Index, Q
( N
(or Norwegian
i Q system),
t ) B Barton
t ett al.,
l 1974
RQD Jr Jw
Q=
Jn
J Ja
J SRF
RQD = Rock Quality Designation 100 - 10
Jn = Joint set number 1 20
Jr = Joint roughness factor 4 -1
Ja = Joint alteration and clay fillings 1 20
Jw = Joint water inflow or pressure 1 0.1
01
SRF = stress reduction factor 1 20
Typically: 0.01 < Q <100
Q system
RQD Jr Jw
Q=
Jn
J Ja
J SRF
(RQD/Jn) = crude measure of block size
(Jr/Ja) = roughness/friction of surfaces
(Jw/SRF)
( /S ) = ratio off two stress parameters (active
( stress))
Geological Strength Index,
GSI
Developed by Hoek, Kaiser, & Bawden
(1995) H
(1995), Hoek
k&BBrown (1997)
(1997).
GSI from Q-system: GS RQD J r
og
GSI = 9 log + 44
J J
n a
GSI from Geomechanics system where
RMR > 25: 4
GSI = 10 + (Ri )
i =1
Chart approach based on structure &
surface
f quality
lit
Slope Mass Rating (SMR)
SMR = RMRbasicb i ( F1.FF2.F
F3 ) + F4
F1, F2 and F3 are adjustment factors
related to joint orientation with respect to
slope orientation. F4 is the correction
factor for method of excavation.
excavation
Suggested Supports for Various
SMR classes
l
SMR Classes SMR Values Suggested Supports
Ia 91-100 None
Ib 81-90 None, scaling is required
II a 71-80 Spot Bolting
II b 61-70 Spot or systematic bolting
III a 51-60 Spot or systematic bolting, spot shotcrete
III b 41-50 Systematic bolting and shotcrete, toe wall
IV a 31-40 Anchors, systematic shotcrete, toe wall
IV b 21 30
21-30 Systematic
S t ti reinforced
i f d shotcrete,
h t t toe t wall,
ll
re-exacavation
V 11-20 Gravity or anchored wall, re-excavation
Rock Strength: mi parameter
Strength of Rock Masses
mi
Strength of Rock Masses
c'/qu
mi
Equivalent Modulus of Rock Masses
(Table 10
10-7)
7)
Allowable Bearing Stresses on Rock
Masses Foundations on Fr actur ed Rock For mation
30
MPa)
Note: Use maximum qa < q u
wher e q u = compr essive str ength
earing Strress qa (M
25 of intact r ock specimens
20
( RQD / 16 )
q ALLOWABLE ( MPa ) 1 +
15 1 ( RQD / 130 )
NOTE: 1 MPa = 10 tsf
owable Be
10
5 Peck, et al. ((1974))
Allo
Approximation
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Rock Quality Designation, RQD
