Elastic Response of Regularly Jointed Media

Abstract

A continuum description of a rock mass containing one or more sets of regularly spaced parallel joints is adopted for length scales large compared with joint spacing. It is also supposed that relative displacements across joints are small compared with joint spacing. An elastic joint assumption is considered; namely, that relative displacements across joints are functions of the tractions on the joint plane. The overall anisotropic elasticity of a rock mass containing one or more joint sets is determined, assuming that the intact rock blocks are isotropic elastic. Effects of joint orientation are illustrated by simple loading responses with one and two joint sets. Copyright © 1974, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved