ANALYSIS OF NONLINEAR PROBLEMS IN ROCK MECHANICS WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO JOINTED ROCK SYSTEMS

THE ROLE OF NONLINEAR STRESS AND DISPLACEMENT ANALYSIS IN THE CONTEXT OF ROCK AND SOIL MECHANICS IS DISCUSSED, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE CURRENTLY USED MATERIAL MODELS. A PARTICULAR FORM OF RELATIONSHIPS FOR A STRATIFIED OR JOINTED MEDIUM IS PROPOSED AND DETAILS OF DERIVING SIMPLE AND CURVED (ISOPARAMETRIC) FINITE ELEMENTS FOR JOINTS ARE SHOWN. TWO AND THREE DIMENSIONAL JOINT SYSTEMS ARE DISCUSSED. THE GENERAL METHODS PROPOSED HAVE A WIDE FIELD OF APPLICABILITY AND SOME PARTICULAR APPLICATIONS ARE ILLUSTRATED BY EXAMPLES. /AUTHOR/