STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS OF JOINTED MEDIA IN TRUE TRIAXIAL COMPRESSION

Abstract Laboratory triaxial compression tests to investigate the strength and deformation characteristics of jointed rocks under truly triaxial states of stress (σ 1 ≠ σ 2 ≠ σ 3 ) were conducted on an idealized model of a jointed rock in a specially designed loading arrangement. The experiments were carried out under various joint configurations and lateral stress ratios, in order to examine the influence of these factors on the mechanical behaviour of jointed rocks. A spectrum of different failure patterns was observed and it became clear that the deformational characteristics of the jointed model samples depended on the joint configuration and the anisotropy of the applied stress field.