Surface Loading of Anisotropic Rock Masses

Abstract

A parametric study is presented in this paper to show the effect of several parameters on the stresses induced by loads applied at the surface of anisotropic and regularly jointed rock masses. Factors considered include: (1) The type of loading at the ground surface; (2) the shape of the ground surface (flat or curved); (3) the degree of rock anisotropy; and (4) the orientation (strike and dip) of rock strata or joint planes with respect to the surface loads. The parametric study is based on a solution proposed by Lekhnitskii. The study is conducted for the special cases of a concrete gravity dam founded on anisotropic rock and for the uniform loading of flat and concave ground surfaces on regularly jointed rock.