Micromechanical Modelling of Stress Waves in Rock and Rock Fractures

The goal of this paper is to simulate the interaction of stress waves and rock fractures in a particle micromechanical model. Stress waves travelling in fractured rock masses are slowed down and attenuated by natural heterogeneities, voids, microcracks and, above all, by faults and fractures. Considerable laboratory and theoretical investigation have uncovered the major aspects of this phenomenon, but models that cover the core mechanisms of the wave propagation in rock masses are necessary to investigate aspects of wave–fracture interaction, which are not completely clear, and in the future simulate full-scale real problems. The micromechanical model is based on the particle discrete element model that reproduces rock through a densely packed non-structured assembly of 2D disks with point contacts. The model of a hard rock core is developed and an irregular rock joint is generated at mid-height. A new contact constitutive model is applied to the particles in the joint walls. Numerical static joint compression tests are performed and a typical hyperbolic stress–displacement curve is obtained. Conditions for good quality wave transmission through non-jointed unorganized particulate media are determined, hybrid static–dynamic boundary conditions are established and plane waves are emitted into the compressed joint. The transmitted and reflected waves are extracted and analysed. Joint dynamic stiffness calculated according to the hypotheses of the Displacement Discontinuity Theory shows to increase with the static joint compression until the joint is completely closed. Still in its early stages of application, this rock micromechanical model enables the joint behaviour under static and dynamic loading to be analysed in detail. Its advantages are the reproduction of the real mechanics of contact creation, evolution and destruction and the possibility of visualizing in detail the joint geometry changes, which is hard to accomplish in the laboratory.