Rock Fracture Mechanics: Principles, Design and Applications (Developments in Geotechnical Engineering)

Rock fracture mechanics plays an important role in rock engineering. Designing rock structures to resist or minimise fracture occurrence or development is an important facet in rock structural engineering. Conversely, in some rock mechanics situations knowledge of exploiting the fracture behavioural properties of rocks in particular stress field conditions forms an important function in a number of processes ranging from hydraulic fracturing to blasting. This volume aims at providing the basis for making fracture mechanics assessments of rock behaviour as applied to a range of engineering situations. Attention is focussed on basic theories, analytical treatments and published data on field and laboratory observations. Applications of fracture mechanics principles to rock engineering fields are discussed and these include hydraulic fracture propagation and in situ stress determination, rock fragmentation by cutting and blasting actions, rockburst problems and slope stability assessment. The book contains over 800 references, and is supported extensively by equations, tables of data, diagrams, graphs and photographs.