Dynamic compression characteristics of layered rock mass of significant strength changes in adjacent layers

Layered rock mass of significant strength changes for adjacent layers is frequently observed in underground excavation, and dynamic loading is a prevalent scenario generated during excavation. In order to improve the driving efficiency and reduce engineering accidents, dynamic compression characteristics of this kind of rock mass should be understood. The dynamic properties of a layered composite rock mass are investigated through a series of rock tests and numerical simulations. The rock mass is artificially made of various proportions of sand, cement and water to control the distinct strength variations at various composite layers separated by parallel bedding planes. All rock specimens are prefabricated in a specially designed mould and then cut into 50 mm in diameter and 50 mm in height for split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) dynamic compression testing. The test results reveal that increasing strain rate causes the increases of peak strength, sigma(p), and the corresponding failure strain, epsilon(p), while the dynamic elastic modulus, E-d, remains almost unchanged. Interestingly, under the same strain rates, E-d of the composite rock specimen is found to decline first and then increase as the dip angle of bedding plane increases. The obtained rock failure patterns due to various dip angles lead to failure modes that could be classified into four categories from our dynamic tests. Also, a series of counterpart numerical simulations has been undertaken, showing that dynamic responses are in good agreement with those obtained from the SHPB tests. The numerical analysis enables us to look into the dynamic characteristics of the composite rock mass subjected to a broader range of strain rates and dip angles than these being tested. (C) 2019 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).