Comments on “Characteristic Curves for Deep Circular Tunnels in Poroplastic Rock” by A. Bobet

Excerpt

Bobet (2009), hereafter referred to as “the Paper”, revisits the classic problem of the ground response curve by providing analytical solutions for the short-term and long-term responses of a porous medium with an elasto-plastic behaviour. Following the example of a number of earlier research works on poro-plastic behaviour (Lembo-Fazio and Ribacchi 1984; Giraud 1993; Wang and Dusseault 1994, 1995, Giraud et al. 2002), the Paper considers the general case of a non-unit Biot constant α. Furthermore, the assumed constitutive equations include the case of a sudden reduction in strength immediately after failure (brittle behaviour). This assumption represents a special case of the more general softening or hardening behaviour that has already been analysed by Lembo-Fazio and Ribacchi (1984), Izquierdo and Romana (1987), Wang and Dusseault (1994, 1995), Giraud et al. (2002). …