SOME PLASTICITY SOLUTIONS RELEVANT TO THE BEARING CAPACITY OF ROCK AND FISSURED CLAY

The report is the written version of the lecture given by the author on the occasion of the presentation to him of the John Jaeger Memorial Medal. This took place during the Third Australia New Zealand Geomechanics Conference, Wellington, May 1980. The lecture is concerned with examining the theoretical effects of semi-brittle behaviour and of the presence of defects on the stability of soil and rock masses. For simplicity, attention is restricted to surface bearing capacity of the mass under plane strain conditions, and, for the most part, ignoring the effect of density of the material. Attention is also restricted to failure of the mass due to a monotonically increasing load or single load application. The examples given demonstrate that plasticity theory is capable not only of dealing with a very simple ideal material (so removed from real materials that it is suspected by many of being of little practical value), but is capable of giving insight into the effects of such aspects of real soil and rock as its semi-brittle or strain softening behaviour and the existence of joints, fissures and other defects. The theory shows that both can reduce the load capacity of a mass of soil or rock very considerably. (TRRL)

• Corporate Authors:

  University of Sydney

  School of Civil Engineering, Parramatta Road
  Sydney, New South Wales  Australia  2006
• Authors:
  • Davis, E H
• Publication Date: 1980-7

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 36 p.
• Serial:
  • Issue Number: R370

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bearing capacity; Brittleness; Clay; Conferences; Cracking; Deformation; Faults; Joints; Lectures; Loads; Mass; Mechanical stability; Mechanical strain; Plasticity; Properties of materials; Rocks; Softening point; Soils; Strength of materials
• Uncontrolled Terms: Rock mass; Soil properties; Strain softening
• Old TRIS Terms: Fissured; Joint
• ITRD Terms: 3085: Bearing capacity; 5900: Brittleness; 4177: Clay; 8525: Conference; 5595: Deformation; 4068: Fault (geomorphol); 8516: Lecture; 5567: Load; 5922: Plasticity; 4154: Rock; 5272: Softening; 5544: Strength (mater)
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Materials; I43: Rock Mechanics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00387180
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Report/Paper Numbers: Monograph
• Files: ITRD, TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Aug 30 1984 12:00AM