... rock mass stress path 1 INTRODUCTION Although long recognized as a central concern of rock mechanics, progress in estimating the strength and brittleness of rock masses has been slow, with reliance placed on empirical classification rules and systems derived from practical observations. An im...

.... a multi-stage test). In both cases, the test procedure is generally based on BS 1377:8 (1990), and as a result the applied stress paths are those of conventional triaxial compression (i.e. with a con- stant confining stress and increasing axial compres- sive stress). 1.2 Stress path testing For many types...

...- tograph of the top of block 2 and the location of a point where the stress path was determined. As can be seen in Figure 8 the results from the Phase2 mod- el are in reasonable agreement with the observa- tions. The model results indicate that the failure in- itiated close to the slot, hence the location...