Failure behavior and crack evolution mechanism of a non-persistent jointed rock mass containing a circular hole

In natural rock masses, joints or flaws usually occur in sets that are more or less parallel and regularly spaced. Many problems occurred in tunnel engineering mainly result from the failure of joints or faults because they are weaker compared with the rock matrix. Therefore, it is important to study the interaction of joints with the tunnel, as well as the interactions between themselves. In this research, rock-like specimens of non-persistent jointed rock masses containing a circular hole are prepared and tested under uniaxial compression. The test results show that the peak strength and elastic modulus of the non-persistent jointed rock specimens display a U type variation with respect to the joint inclination. The multiple joints can be simplified and regarded as a combination of three types of two-joints relative location, and the crack coalescence types and failure modes are in accordance with the classic crack coalescence types of the two joints. The crack coalescence between the joints and a circular hole can be categorized into three modes with respect to the joint inclination. The Discrete Element Method (DEM) model of the jointed rock specimen that contains a circular hole is established in particle flow code 2D (PFC2D). The simulation results show a good agreement with the experiment results. Furthermore, the displacement fields at the crack zones reveal that the coalescence of joints is mainly caused by tensile cracks and that shear slipping cracks easily occur at the sidewalls of the circular hole. By comparing the parallel-bond force fields in jointed models containing a circular hole with no a circular hole, it is shown that the circular hole can change the stress state at the top and bottom. The joints at a joint inclination of 90 degrees have the smallest effect on the mechanical behavior of the rock specimen.