Soft Rock Mechanics and Engineering / Механика рыхлых пород

The science of rock mechanics was developed as a result of the activities of rock engineering, basically derived from tunnels, slopes, dam foundations, and mining workings in hard rock containing discontinuities. It developed specific theories and methods to include such features, being known as a science for “discontinuous” media, while soil mechanics, the parent science, basically considers “continuum” mechanics. For the study of rock mechanics, specific equipment and apparatus were developed for laboratory and in situ investigation, requiring means to cut, perforate, sample, and test hard materials, to determine shear strength, deformability, physical properties, in situ stresses, and so on.

However, in many occasions, geotechnical and rock engineers have to deal with working sites dominated by rocks with impaired properties, such as rocks of low strength or weathered materials or rock masses with weakening aspects, as for instance, excessive jointing, faulting, solution cavities, weak inclusions, and other features which can be classified as soft rocks or weak rock masses. Its geotechnical behavior is typical of a material situated between a soil and a rock. Such materials only a few decades ago started to be investigated and characterized more appropriately and deserve a special attention, since their properties are not well-known yet, leading to uncertainties in the design and construction of engineering workings dominated by these materials <...>