A review of techniques, advances and outstanding issues in numerical modelling for rock mechanics and rock engineering

Numerical methods in rock mechanics

In this paper, an effective numerical implementation of the three-dimensional dual boundary element method, for linear elastic crack problems, is presented. Displacement and traction integral equations which constitute the dual boundary formulation are used independently on crack surfaces to overcome the numerical difficulties associated with co-planar crack surfaces in boundary element analysis. The crack surfaces are modelled with discontinous quadrilateral quadratic elements. The use of discontinous elements allow for accurate integration of finite part integrals. The accuracy of the proposed method is demonstrated by solving a number of problems including edge and embedded cracks.

John Weaver

Papers

Three-dimensional crack analysis