RIGID-BODY JOINT-ELEMENT METHOD AND STABLITY ANALYSIS OF JOINTED ROCK MASSES

The rigid-body joint-element method provided in this paper is a numerical analysis method that idealizes the deformation body as an assemblage of some rigid blocks and deformable thin layers (joint-elements) between the blocks and can be used to solve the movement of the blocks and the deformation and the stress distribution in the layers under various loading conditions. This, method together with a criterion for determining the stability of a rock system can be used successfully to study the stability pro...