Engineering Geology 141142 (2012) 7483

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Engineering Geology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enggeo

Anisotropic behaviour of stratied rock masses in tunnelling

P. Fortsakis a, K. Nikas a, V. Marinos b, P. Marinos a,
a
b

National Technical University of Athens, School of Civil Engineering, Department of Geotechnical Engineering, 9, Heroon Polytechneiou Str., 15780, Zografou, Athens, Greece
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24, Thessaloniki, Greece

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 28 April 2011
Received in revised form 3 April 2012
Accepted 2 May 2012
Available online 10 May 2012
Keywords:
Tunnel
Rock mass
Stratication
Anisotropy
Tunnel behaviour
Convergence

a b s t r a c t
This paper investigates tunnel excavation through stratied rock masses from the engineering geological behaviour to the rock mass properties quantication and nally to the study of tunnel response, based on numerical analyses results. Initially the spectrum of the engineering geological behaviour of stratied rock
masses in tunnelling is delimited and the critical failure mechanisms according to rock mass structure are described. Rock mass simulation as an equivalent isotropic geomaterial through the widely used characterisation systems in most cases cannot lead to a realistic prediction of the distribution and the values of total
displacements. In addition, the complete and accurate simulation of all discontinuities networks involves
high uncertainty. Therefore in the numerical analyses carried out, based on an already applied approach,
the stratication planes, which contain less uncertainty than the secondary discontinuities and affect significantly the behaviour of tunnel, were simulated as separate elements and the rock mass parts between them
as an isotropic material. Additionally, using simple rock mechanics principles, an approach for the quantication of the rock mass properties involved in the analyses is described, which tries to obtain the equivalence
between the stratied rock mass and the sum of the distinct rock mass elements (stratication planes and
internal rock mass). The numerical analyses depict the mechanism of convergence development in stratied
rock masses and the differences between isotropic, anisotropic and transversally isotropic approaches are
clearly demonstrated. Based on the results of the numerical analyses the incorporation of the stratication
planes leads to an increase of the convergence mainly due to the bending of the rock mass strata where
the stratication is tangential to the tunnel section. This increase depends on the GSI value of the reference
rock mass and the discontinuities surface conditions.
2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Tunnel design through stratied rock masses requires the consideration of a variety of failure mechanisms since the rock mass exhibits
a wide spectrum of behaviour, from stable to squeezing, depending
on intact rock and rock mass properties, in situ stresses and the relative direction of stratication with respect to the tunnel section. The
appraisal of tunnel convergence in the case of stratied rock masses is
much more complex since dominant discontinuities may often lead to
a highly anisotropic behaviour of the rock mass.
Although the rock mass is principally an anisotropic material, it is
often considered as isotropic in tunnel design. The rock mass properties
are quantied via classication systems, through which rock mass is considered as an equivalent mean isotropic geomaterial. The inaccuracy of

Corresponding author at: National Technical University of Athens, School of Civil

Engineering, Geotechnical Department, 9, Iroon Polytechniou str., 157 80 Zografou,
Athens, Greece. Tel.: + 30 210 7723430 & 3490; fax: + 30 210 7723770.
E-mail addresses: fortsakis@gmail.com, pfortsa@central.ntua.gr (P. Fortsakis),
konstantinos.nikas@gmail.com (K. Nikas), marinosv@geo.auth.gr (V. Marinos),
marinos@central.ntua.gr (P. Marinos).
URL: http://users.civil.ntua.gr/marinos/ (P. Marinos).
0013-7952/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2012.05.001

this assumption is usually acceptable in cases of uniformly jointed, highly tectonised or disintegrated rock mass with no family of persistent
parallel discontinuities to control rock mass behaviour. In the case of
stratied rock masses at a scale of the tunnel section, the engineering
geological behaviour during tunnel construction is mainly controlled
by the characteristics of the stratication planes. Therefore it is important to examine and simulate this anisotropic behaviour based on a different procedure:
a) Simulation of the whole discontinuities network (dominant and secondary discontinuities). In this analysis discrete elements method,
beyond the simplications of other methods, leads to a realistic simulation of rock mass behaviour. Yet, there is high sensitivity of the
results to the discontinuities geometry, persistence and length and
the shape of the intact rock parts, data which are characterised
from a high level of uncertainty, especially in tunnelling, where initial information comes from surface geological mapping and measured geotechnical data from boreholes.
b) Rock mass simulation as a transversally isotropic material. This approach takes into account indirectly the inuence of stratication,
incorporating different deformability properties at directions parallel
and perpendicular to the surface of dominant discontinuities.

P. Fortsakis et al. / Engineering Geology 141142 (2012) 7483

75

c) Simulation of the persistent (dominant) discontinuities, which dene anisotropy, as a separate element and use of rock mass characterisation methods to quantify the properties of the remaining
part of the rock mass between two successive persisting discontinuities. A number of geotechnical numerical analyses programs
have incorporated joint simulation. The main advantages of this
approach are the simulation of the rock mass dominant anisotropic characteristic, with much lower uncertainties comparing to the
other discontinuities, and the incorporation of the highly uncertain remaining discontinuities in the properties of a continuous
medium (internal rock mass).
More specically the paper describes the main aspects of the engineering geological behaviour of the stratied rock masses in tunnel
construction, proposes a procedure for the quantication of the properties of all the rock mass elements and illustrates the rock mass
stratication inuence in tunnel convergence using nite element
method analysis.

00

20
20

40
40cm
cm

2. Geological conditions
Fig. 1. An example of a limestone stratied rock mass.

Rock mass characterisation for tunnelling design purposes often

admits a general isotropic state of the mass while the anisotropic behaviour is considered mainly for gravity driven failures. However,
there are situations where the rock mass may deform anisotropically
around the tunnel. Such behaviour is often developed when the rock
mass is highly stratied, in sedimentary formations, with not much
disturbance or folding around the tunnel. Similar conditions can be
also developed in a schistose metamorphic rock mass. Thus, medium
to very poor bedding or schistosity surface conditions enhance this
anisotropic behaviour. These poor surface conditions are either due
to rock lithology or tectonic shearing.
The inuence of such structures in the tunnel excavation is present when the direction of the bedding or schistosity is constant
and does not change signicantly around the excavation. Rock masses
with intense stratication are basically sedimentary and metamorphic. These rock masses have obtained their stratied structure by deposition of sediments or by foliation-schistosity after metamorphism.
Basic characteristic of these structures is the persistence of the bedding and lamination through their body. Such are the structures of
layers of siltstones or claystones, alternating beds of siltstones and sandstones (such in ysch units), bedded limestones or with claystones
intercalations but also schists and phyllites. In a highly stratied medium
the spacing may range from few millimetres (schist structure) to tens
of centimetres (bedding structure). A characteristic example of such
rock mass is shown in Fig. 1.
The behaviour of rock masses in tunnelling is discussed in a number
of papers as those of Stille and Palmstrom (2008) and Hoek and Marinos
(2009). For the stratied rock masses typical conditions and their possible behaviour in tunnelling are schematically presented in Fig. 2. In this
gure the example of a ysch formation is used.
When the rock mass is composed by horizontal sandstone beds
(medium to thick bedded structure) with thin siltstone intercalations
(situation A), the rock mass may be stable (St) since sliding is not
favoured along the persistent bedding. Only small scale wedges formed
by secondary joints may fall or slide. If the same strata is inclined (situation B), wedges may fall or slide along the discontinuities of the bedding
planes providing structural controlled failures (Wg). These failures are
commonly initiating along the siltstonesandstone surface because of
its poorer friction properties. In these two cases buckling failure of the
brittle sandstone beds may be observed, if high normal stresses are developed parallel to the stratication direction. When the rock mass is
of lower strength, composed mainly by siltstones with sandstone intercalations, it may behave anisotropically, developing varying deformations around the tunnel (situation C). These are the cases analysed via
numerical analyses in this paper. Finally, in the case of a heavily sheared

clayey ysch (siltstonesclayshales with spare sandstone layers), the

corresponding rock masses consist of chaotic, heterogeneous geological
mixtures of sandstone blocks of different types and sizes, surrounded by
weaker, sheared ner-grained siltstone (situation D). In this particular
case the geological formation can be considered as a pseudo-isotropic
mixture and the squeezing behaviour (Sq) is uniform.
3. Evaluation of rock mass properties
The main issue for the rock mass elements separation is the evaluation of the internal rock mass properties, since all the characterisation systems take into account the rock mass as a whole and do not
allow the characterisation of specic parts as if they were independent. Thus the quantication of rock mass parameters was based on
the following calculation steps, trying to rationalise this procedure
using simple rock mechanics principles. The basic terms introduced
are explained below (Figure 3):
a) Reference rock mass: the complete stratied rock mass, containing
the dominant and the secondary discontinuities.
b) Internal rock mass: the rock mass without the persistent discontinuities. The internal rock mass must not be considered as intact
rock since it contains all the secondary discontinuities.
c) Dominant discontinuities (e.g. bedding, schistosity).
In the present paper the GSI rock mass characterisations system
(Marinos and Hoek, 2000; Marinos et al., 2005), which is based on
rock mass structure and the discontinuities surface quality, is used for
rock mass characterisation. The basic assumptions of the approach are:
a) The total deformation of the rock mass is equal to the sum of deformations of the discontinuities and the intact rock parts (Barton,
1972; Goodman, 1989).
b) The properties of the discontinuities depend only on the quality of
the discontinuities surface and therefore their properties remain
constant in each column of the GSI chart, regardless the rock mass
structure.
c) All the rock mass discontinuities correspond to the same surface
quality and properties, although there may be differences in quality, namely in cases of shearing along the stratication planes. This
assumption is reasonable since the factors affecting the surface
quality such as weathering usually have a global inuence on a
typical rock mass volume.

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P. Fortsakis et al. / Engineering Geology 141142 (2012) 7483

Fig. 2. Example of stratied rock masses, such as in a ysch formation and their anticipated engineering geological behaviour in tunnelling.

The rst step is the classication of the reference rock mass using
the GSI, incorporating the dominant discontinuity system (GSIref),
based on which the deformation modulus of the reference rock mass
(Em,ref) is determined.
Since the reference rock mass can be considered as the qualitative
sum of the internal rock mass and the dominant discontinuities (Figure 3)

Fig. 3. Simulation of stratied rock mass. Qualitative separation of the reference stratied
rock mass to the internal rock mass and the dominant discontinuities.

the deformability properties of these elements are related through the

following equations (Barton, 1972; Goodman, 1989):
1
1
1

Em;ref Em; int sp knn

1
1
1

Gm;ref Gm; int sp kss

where Em,ref and Gm,ref are the reference rock mass deformation and
shear modulus, Em,int and Gm,int the deformation and shear modulus of
the internal rock mass, sp the bedding width and knn and kss the normal
and shear stiffness of the discontinuities. Yet the properties of the internal rock mass cannot be calculated if the properties of the discontinuities are not known.
The values of knn and kss can be calculated based on results of laboratory tests. If such data are not available, the calculation of these
values is based on the conception of Eqs. (1) and (2). Based on a logistic admission that the rst row of the GSI chart may correspond to a
ctitious rock mass structure with only one system of discontinuities,
the part between the discontinuities can be considered as intact rock.
Using the GSI value of the rst row from the column of the joint surface

P. Fortsakis et al. / Engineering Geology 141142 (2012) 7483

conditions that the reference rock mass belongs to the corresponding

equations, which lead to the calculation of knn and kss are:
1
1
1

Em;L Ei sp knn

1
1
1

Gm;L Gi sp kss

where Ei, Gi are the deformation and shear modulus of the intact rock
and Em,L, Gm,L are the deformation and shear modulus of the rock
mass with the GSI value from the rst row of the corresponding column
based on the afore mentioned logistic procedure.
The parameters knn and kss can be replaced in Eqs. (1) and (2) for
the calculation of the internal rock mass deformability parameters.
Finally, from the deformation modulus of the internal rock mass the
equivalent GSI values of the internal rock mass can be calculated. It
is noted that this GSI value does not correspond to an engineering
geological characterisation, but has an equivalent role for the calculation of the internal rock mass strength and deformability properties.
All the steps described above are independent from the rock mass
and the discontinuities failure criteria and the empirical relationships
for the rock mass deformation modulus estimation, which will be chosen for the analysis. It is noted that the described procedure covers
the rock masses in which the anisotropic behaviour is created from
stratication which is an external and macroscopic weakness element.
In case of intact rock anisotropy, the properties of intact rock must be
considered according to the direction of the microscopic anisotropy
(Saroglou and Tsiambaos, 2007). This could be more signicant in the
case of metamorphic rocks.
4. Numerical analysis
Numerical analyses were performed using the nite element code
Phase2 v.6. The tunnel section was assumed circular with diameter
D = 10 m. The rock mass was quantied using the HoekBrown failure criterion (Hoek et al., 2002), the discontinuities strength through
Barton and Bandis failure criterion (Barton and Bandis, 1990) and the
rock mass deformation modulus was calculated based on the relationship proposed from Hoek and Diederichs (2006). The performed
analysis can be separated in the following categories:
a) Analyses with the reference rock mass as surrounding geomaterial.
In these analyses the surrounding geomaterial was considered isotropic, the discontinuities (dominant and secondary) were not simulated but they were taken into account in the GSI value.
b) Analyses with distinct simulation of the dominant discontinuities.
The internal rock mass was considered as a continuous and isotropic medium, the parameters of which had been calculated based
on the procedure described above (Figure 3). Since the numerical
analyses performed were two dimensional the discontinuities were
considered to have constant dip direction and dip in the longitudinal
direction.
c) Analyses with transversely isotropic rock mass as surrounding
geomaterial. In these analyses the rock mass was modeled without
any joints, but with different properties parallel (reference rock
mass properties) and perpendicular (internal rock mass properties)
to the dominant discontinuities.
The analyses were performed for supported and unsupported tunnel sections. A shell of 10 cm thick shotcrete with deformation modulus
Es = 20 GPa was used as a support. Two different values of overburden
height were simulated (H = 100 m and 300 m) and the geostatic stress
ratio was assumed K = 1. The rock mass connement due to tunnel face
advance was modelled using the methodology proposed by Chern et al.
(1998) (Fig. 4).

77

Dominant
discontinuities
Internal
rock mass

Fig. 4. Typical numerical model from nite elements code Phase2 with distinct simulation
of the dominant discontinuities. The FEM mesh consists of triangular 3-noded elements.

4.1. Intact rock and reference rock mass parameters

The reference rock mass models selected for the numerical analyses are presented in Fig. 5. They were chosen according to the possible
GSI structures that a stratied rock mass presents in nature in most
cases (Very BlockyBlocky/Disturbed/Seamy). The uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock was chosen ci = 20 MPa, the geomaterial
constant mi = 7 and the Modulus Ratio MR = 500. The reference rock
mass properties are independent of the geometry and the quality of
the dominant discontinuities since they are taken into account in the
GSI value.
4.2. Stratied rock mass parameters (Internal rock massDominant
discontinuities)
The dominant discontinuities were modelled as parallel, successive
surfaces in the body of the internal rock mass. The distance between
them was chosen sp = 0.50 m as a balance point between the geotechnical and numerical analysis criteria. Five bedding angles were modelled,
= 0, 30, 45, 60 and 90 with 0 indicating the horizontal beds and
90 the vertical. The residual friction angle for the discontinuities was
assumed constant r = 30, since it depends only on the parent intact
rock properties. The discontinuities strength parameters were chosen
according to the surface quality of the reference rock mass. The values
of Joint Roughness Coefcient (JRC) varied from 2 (Very Poor) to 18
(Very Good) and the Joint Compressive Strength (JCS), which was calculated as a fraction of the intact rock uniaxial compressive strength (ci),
varied from 0.10ci (Very Poor) to 0.80ci (Very Good). The GSI value,
the deformability and strength parameters of the internal rock mass as
far as the parameters knn and kss were calculated based on the procedure
described in paragraph 3. All rock mass and discontinuities parameters
are presented in Table 1. The equivalent GSI value of the internal rock
mass is always larger than the corresponding value of the reference
rock mass since a weakness element (dominant discontinuity) has been
removed. The difference between the two values decreases when the surface quality is improved. The role of the parameters knn and kss was also
evaluated through sensitivity analyses due to the large uncertainty of
their values which derives from the variation of the geotechnical parameters, but also from the estimation and simulation procedure. The
variation of the stiffness parameters, in a range 20% from the estimated value of the described approach, results to deviation of the calculated
displacements up to 10% in the case of very poor quality surfaces and
negligible variation (~1%) in the case of good quality surfaces.
As it was stated before, the philosophy of the described procedure
for the calculation of the internal rock mass properties is independent
from the empirical methods and failure criteria used for the analysis.

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P. Fortsakis et al. / Engineering Geology 141142 (2012) 7483

Fig. 5. Reference rock mass models illustrated on the GSI chart.

Nevertheless, the values of the calculated parameters depend on the

methodology used for the rock mass modulus estimation.

Table 1
Geotechnical parameters of the stratied rock mass elements.
Reference rock mass

Dominant discontinuities

Model
(Figure 5)

Discontinuity
surface quality

GSIref r
()

JRC JCS (MPa)

M1
M2
M3
M4
M5
M6

Poor
Very poor
Good
Fair
Poor
Very poor

35
25
45
35
25
18

6
2
14
10
6
2

30

sp
(m)

Bedding
angle ()

0.50 0, 30, 45,

0.30ci = 6
0.10ci = 2
60, 90
0.60ci = 12
0.50ci = 10
0.30ci = 6
0.10ci = 2

4.3. Transversely isotropic rock mass parameters

Simulation of rock mass as a transversally isotropic medium indicates the calculation of deformability parameters in two different planes,
parallel and perpendicular to the dominant discontinuities. In the direction parallel to the stratication the parameters correspond to the internal rock mass and perpendicular to this direction correspond to the
reference rock mass properties (Figure 6). The shear modulus (G12)

P. Fortsakis et al. / Engineering Geology 141142 (2012) 7483

79

Fig. 6. Planes 1 and 2 as dened in a transversely isotropic rock mass.

was calculated according to Zienkiewicz (1968) and the recommendations of Exadaktylos (2001) for plain strain analyses. The deviation
of the two approaches for the breadth of ratios E2/E1 is up to 20%. The
numerical analyses were performed for the rock mass model M2
(Figure 5), overburden height H = 300 m, stratication angles = 0,
30, 45, 60 and 90 and unsupported tunnel section. In this set of analyses the surrounding rock mass was assumed to be elastic and the characteristic ratio of the two values of deformation modulus is E2/E1 = 0.68.
Similar analyses have been performed by Wittke (1990) and Tonon and
Amadei (2003).

Fig. 8. Deformed steel sets in the stratied Lias limestone in Ltschberg tunnel (Seingre,
2005).

yielded sections for each discontinuity set are concentrated mainly

where the set is tangential to the tunnel section. According to Hoek
(2011, personal communication), in the case of Drakensberg Pumped
Storage Project, in South Africa, the simulation of the bedding planes
by joint elements and the internal rock mass as an isotropic material
predicted more accurately the measured excavation response than conventional nite element models, simulating the stratied rock mass as
an equivalent isotropic material.

5. Numerical analyses results

The dominant discontinuities differentiate the stress eld around
the tunnel section since the values of the principle stresses are oriented
parallel and perpendicular to the discontinuities direction. The sections
of internal rock mass between the discontinuities behave as beams,
since the interface elements allow the sliding between the parts of internal rock mass, leading to development of deections perpendicular
to the discontinuities direction (Figure 7). The deformed shape of the
tunnel section from the numerical analyses is in very good agreement
with the deformations observed in tunnel excavation case studies
(Figure 8). More specically, maximum deformationconvergence is
developed at the areas where the stratication is tangential to the tunnel section, due to the beam effect. Fig. 9 illustrates the area of the
yielded discontinuities which tend to concentrate at the area with
large convergence. The pattern is similar to the results presented by
Shen and Barton (1997) based on a discontinuum approach, since the

5.1. Isotropicanisotropic approach deviations

The two different approaches for rock mass simulation (isotropic
and separate simulation of the dominant discontinuities) are compared in terms of convergence developed due to tunnel excavation. The
factor used for this comparison is u/uis, where u is the convergence at a
specic point of the tunnel section for the anisotropic analysis and uis
is the convergence value at the same point from the corresponding isotropic analysis. Consequently, u/uis values larger than one corresponding
to points where separate simulation of the discontinuities leads to larger
convergence.
According to the deformed shapes shown in Fig. 7, it is obvious
that the areas around the tunnel where the isotropic and the anisotropic analysis converge and diverge depend neither on the location

isotropic

=0

=30

=45

=60

=90

Fig. 7. Deformed tunnel section (deformation scale factor: 5) from characteristic numerical analyses for various angles of the persistent discontinuities (hydrostatic stress eld).

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P. Fortsakis et al. / Engineering Geology 141142 (2012) 7483

2.50
2.25
2.00

=45

1.75

u/uis

=0

1.50
1.25
1.00
0.75
0.50

45

90

135

180

225

270

315

360

angle (degrees)

=90

=60

Fig. 11. Distribution of the ratio u/uis as a function of angle for the case of unsupported
tunnel section.

Fig. 9. Discontinuities plastic zones from characteristic numerical analyses (hydrostatic

stress eld).

of the specic point nor the angle of the stratication, but on the combination of these two angles. Therefore, in order to describe this variation angle is dened:
jj

where is the stratication angle and is the angle which corresponds to the specic point of the tunnel section and is measured anticlockwise starting from the middle of the right side of the circular
excavation (Figure 10). Consequently, the relative position between a
specic point and the dominant discontinuities is quantied uniquely.
Thus = 90 corresponds to a point where the discontinuity is tangential to the tunnel section and = 0 to a point where the discontinuity
intersects the tunnel section perpendicularly.
The distribution of u/uis ratio as a function of the angle for all the
analyses of the case of unsupported tunnels is illustrated in Fig. 11.
The plot has a sinusoidal shape and the maximum values of the ratio
(1.502.00) are observed for = 90 and = 270 at the areas where
the beam mechanism leads to the development of large convergence.
The minimum values (1.001.40) are observed for the values of angle
around 0 and 180, which means that even for the areas where the
discontinuities intersect the tunnel section, the convergence calculated
from the anisotropic analyses are again larger. The few outlier values
(larger than 1.90 for = 90, 270 and smaller than 0.90 for between
90 and 180) are a result of the local geometry of the nite elements
mesh and do not affect the rest of the model.

The value of ratio u/uis, apart from the angle , depends also on the
rock mass properties as shown in Fig. 12. It becomes evident that the
ratio u/uis tends to increase as the GSI value decreases (since ci and
mi remain constant in these analyses). An increase of the GSI value
corresponds to an improvement of rock mass quality which decreases
the sensitivity of the rock mass system, as a whole, vis--vis the existence of a weakness element such as the dominant discontinuities. The
large scatter of values observed in Fig. 12 for GSI values 25 and 35
shows the signicant role of the dominant discontinuities since these
two values correspond to two discontinuities of different quality. The
same values of the ratio u/uis are presented in Fig. 13 as a function of
the discontinuities quality.
To demonstrate this inuence, Fig. 14 shows the distribution of u/uis
ratio for two rock mass models (M1, M4 in the GSI chart from Figure 5)
which correspond to the same GSI value but different surface conditions
of the discontinuities. More specically both models lead to GSI range
35 5, but model M1 corresponds to Poor quality and model M4 to
Fair. The results refer to unsupported tunnel section, with the example
of 300 m overburden height and rock mass bedding angle = 30. Such
a decrease of the surface quality leads to an increase around 50% for the
convergence at the sections where the discontinuities are tangential to
the tunnel. Decrease of the surface quality of the discontinuities leads
to a decrease of the strength and deformability parameters of the discontinuities, which increases the sliding potential between two sequential parts and nally the development of the beam mechanism becomes
more intense. On the contrary if the stratied rock mass is considered
as an equivalent isotropic medium, the analysis leads to the same behaviour and equal convergence for both rock mass models.

2.50

Rock masses have the same ci and mi values

2.25
2.00

u/uis

1.75
1.50
1.25
1.00
0.75
0.50
20

25

30

35

40

45

50

GSI (Reference rock mass)

Fig. 10. Denition of angle .

Fig. 12. Distribution of the ratio u/uis as a function of the reference rock mass GSIref
value (analysis with unsupported tunnel section).

P. Fortsakis et al. / Engineering Geology 141142 (2012) 7483

2.50

81

6.00

2.25
4.50

2.00

u/uis

u/uis

1.75
1.50

3.00

1.25
1.50

1.00
0.75
0.50

0.00
Very Poor

Poor

Fair

Good

45

90

135

180

225

270

315

360

angle (degrees)

Discontinuities Quality
Fig. 13. Distribution of the ratio u/uis as a function of discontinuities surface quality
(analysis with unsupported tunnel section).

Fig. 15. Distribution of ratio u/uis as a function of angle for the case of supported tunnel section.

5.2. Transversely isotropicanisotropic approach deviations

Thus it is clear that the better the quality of the joints, the smaller
the deviation of the anisotropic rock mass deformation. This conrms
that the dominant discontinuity plays a signicant role in the overall
behaviour of the rock mass, since the poor joint quality alters the
characteristics of the rock mass acting as the weak element of the material system.
The distribution of the u/uis for the case of the supported tunnel section is illustrated in Fig. 15. Comparing with the diagram of Fig. 11 it is
evident that the implementation of the shotcrete shell does not change
the form of the distribution, but it signicantly increases the values and
the scatter of the ratio. This increase is a result of the relatively small
inuence of support in the case of the anisotropic analyses comparing
with the corresponding isotropic analyses. The absolute values of the
displacements are however restricted given the fact that the tunnel is
already supported. The anisotropic behaviour of the rock mass differentiates the distribution of axial force and bending moment in shotcrete
shell, since the support does not behave as a rigid closed ring imposed
to radial pressure, but it is mainly bent at the area of maximum displacements (since K=1 has been assumed in the analyses). Due to the large
and anisotropic deformation, the maximum axial forces are developed
at the area of =0 and =180 and the maximum bending moments
at the area of = 90 and = 270 (Figure 16). In the case of horse-shoe
tunnel section the difference between isotropic and anisotropic approach
is expected to be larger since the smaller curvature of the tunnel section
and support shell will allow further bending of the rock mass beams.

The simulation of the rock mass as a transversely isotropic material

imports the role of discontinuities in the analysis in an indirect way. The
results of the transversely isotropic analyses lie between the results of
the isotropic and the anisotropic approaches. The distribution of total
displacements is similar to the anisotropic analysis, although the orientation is not exactly parallel and perpendicular to the direction of discontinuities (Figure 17).
To compare the displacements developed in the two approaches, a
new parameter is being dened, the u/utr ratio, where u is the displacement in the anisotropic analysis and utr is the displacement in
the corresponding transversely isotropic one. As it is illustrated in
Fig. 18, in the transversally isotropic analyses deformations are lower
than the ones in the distinct joint modelling analyses. The u/utr ratio
ranges from 1.05 to 1.25, thus the anisotropic approach results up to
25% greater displacements in the tunnel excavation study. Whereas
for the same rock mass models the ratio u/uis is up to 1.75. The greater
deviations are again observed near the areas that the discontinuities
are tangential to the tunnel perimeter. The analyses were performed

Tunnel
Axial Forces
Bending Moments
Axial force: 770kN
=90

Axial force: 1850kN

=0

2.50

Model M1 - GSI ref =35

2.25

Model M2 - GSI ref =35

2.00

u/uis

1.75

Max moment: 52kNm

1.50
1.25
1.00
0.75
0.50

45

90

135

180

225

270

315

360

angle (degrees)
Fig. 14. Distribution of u/uis ratio values for rock masses with the same GSI value and
different discontinuities surface quality.

Axial force: 1620kN

=180

Axial force: 840kN

=270

Fig. 16. Distribution of shotcrete forces around tunnel section for a characteristic
anisotropic analyses ( = 30).

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P. Fortsakis et al. / Engineering Geology 141142 (2012) 7483

Indicative bedding presentation

Analysis with modelling the discontinuities

Tranversely isotropic analysis

Fig. 17. Qualitative total displacements distribution from two characteristic analyses
using the different approaches (Rock mass model 2, angle of dominant discontinuities
= 30).

using both methods for the calculation of G12 (Zienkiewicz, 1968;

Exadaktylos, 2001) and the difference between the calculated displacements was up to 5%.
Based on Figs. 17 and 18 it becomes evident that the rock mass
simulation as a transversely isotropic material does not lead to the
same distribution and the same values of total displacements around
the tunnel section. The main reason is that separate simulation of the
discontinuities allows the sliding of the internal rock mass blocks and
consequently the development of the beam mechanism.
6. Conclusions
The engineering geological behaviour of stratied rock masses in
tunnelling lies in a wide spectrum, since, the critical failure mechanism
may vary from structural controlled failures to buckling or squeezing,
according to the geometrical arrangement, the persistence and the
quality of the dominant discontinuities (bedding or schistosity). In the

case of stress dependent behaviour the convergence is developed anisotropically leading to a non-symmetric prole, except for the cases of
highly tectonised rock masses which behave as a pseudo-isotropic
material.
The simulation of a stratied rock mass as an equivalent isotropic medium and the quantication of its properties through the widely used
characterisation systems can lead to underestimation of the convergence
and consequently the stresses developed on the temporary support measures. On the other hand, the exact simulation of the whole discontinuities network around the tunnel is a procedure with high uncertainties.
Therefore the approach used in this paper is to simulate the dominant
discontinuities which inuence the tunnel behaviour signicantly, as a
distinct element and the rock mass section between two successive
dominant discontinuities, as an equivalent isotropic medium.
All the rock mass properties can be quantied using simple rock
mechanics tools and results derived from usual in situ or laboratory
tests according to the procedure proposed in this paper. The main advantage of this procedure is that it is independent from the empirical
methodologies, failure criteria used and method of analysis (discrete
or nite elements) adapted.
The parts of internal rock mass behave obviously as a beam, since
the discontinuities allow sliding between them and the maximum convergence is developed at the areas where the stratication is tangential
to the tunnel section. Consequently, the distribution of ratio u/uis has a
sinusoidal shape since with the maximum values (up to 1.90) are developed around = 90 and 270 and the minimum values (1.001.40)
around = 0 and 180. The values of the ratio u/uis correspond to the
specic geotechnical conditions analysed in the present paper. The difference between the isotropic and the corresponding anisotropic analyses increases with the decrease of the GSI value, the discontinuities
surface quality and the dominant discontinuities spacing.
The implementation of shotcrete as temporary support increases the
scatter and the values of the ratio u/uis, in this application up to 4.50. Yet
in this case the absolute values of convergence are signicantly smaller
because of the temporary support. The potential convergence that is not
developed rotates the stresses developed in shotcrete. The maximum
bending moments are concentrated at the section of maximum u/uis
( = 90, 270) and maximum axial forces at the sections of minimum
u/uis ( = 0, 180).
Simulation of stratied rock mass as a transversally isotropic material improves the predicted distribution of total displacements if
compared to fully isotropic approach, but the values of the displacements remain lower than the ones of the anisotropic analyses, since
the beam mechanism cannot be developed.
Acknowledgements
The writers would like to acknowledge Professor Mark Diederichs
of Queen's University and Professor Michael Kavvadas of National Technical University of Athens for their constructive comments. Dr Evert
Hoek provided useful suggestions when we started preparing this
paper. Ms. D. Papouli, Geologist, M.Sc. gave valuable assistance in editing
the gures.

1.40
1.35
1.30

u/utr

1.25
References

1.20
1.15
1.10
1.05
1.00

45

90

135

180

225

270

315

angle (degrees)
Fig. 18. Variation of the ratio u/utr as a function of angle .

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