Eurock 2005 -Impact of Human Activity on the Geological Environment - Konecny (ed)

© 2005 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 04 1538042 1

Experimental and modeling study on shear creep behavior of joint rock

w.y Xu & S.Q. Yang

Institute a/Geotechnical Engineering. Hohai University, Nanjing. China

IF. Shao & S.Y Xie

LML. UMR 8107 CNRS, Polytech-Lille, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France

ABSTRACT: Unfilled joint rock in the surrounding rock mass of a huge underground cave in Longtan
Hydropower Project was carried out shear creep experiment. Compared with the short-term shear strength
parameters gotten by rapid shear experiment, the long-term shear strength parameters have some reduction.
Moreover, the sensitivity of cohesion on the time is higher than that of internal friction angle. Based on shear
creep curves of joint rock, five-component visco-elastic shear creep model is put forward to identify the curves
that show the visco-elastic creep behaviors. Then by connecting Non-linear Visco-plastic Body (NVPB) and
five-component visco-elastic shear creep model in series, we construct a new seven-component non-linear
visco-elasto-plastic shear creep model of rock. Then using complete accelerative shear creep curve of joint rock,
proposed seven-component non-linear shear creep model of rock is carried out the identification. The compar-
ison between the shear creep model and experimental result shows that proposed non-linear shear creep model
IS right and reasonable.

INTRODUCTION Longtan Hydropower Project is located in the

Joint rock is a kind of complex medium in rock mass
engineering, which possesses the property of het-
erogeneity, anisorropism, and noncontinuity, etc. The
strength, deformation, failure and creep etc. of joint
rock will has a direct effect on the design, construction,
operation, stability and reinforcement of rock mass
engineering. At the present time, there are some study
results on the creep behavior of rock(Maranini, E. &
Brignoli, M. 1999); (Fujii, Y. er al. 1999); (Li, YS. &
Xia, C.c. 2000); (Shao, J.F er al. 2003); (Dahou, A.
ct al. 1995); (Yang, C.H. et al. 2003a,b); (Yang, C.H.
et al. 2000); (Yang, C.H. et al. 2002). However, main
results still focus on the investigation on the creep
behavior of rock material. Creep behavior of joint
rock has great di fference from that of rock material.
Existing many papers have shown that creep law of
joint rock are carried out less analysis. Moreover, the
experimental results on shear creep of joint rock are
less, which is an important flaw on the investigation of
creep behavior. Therefore, experimental investigation
Oncreep behavior of joint rock not only have important
practice meanings for analyzing the creep behavior of
whole rock mass engineering, but also bring forward
the base for theoretical study and numerical analysis
of rock creep behavior.
upper Hongshui River, 15 km from Tian'e County
of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The main
function of the huge Station is power generation, incor-
porated with flood control, navigation, etc. The storage
capacity is 27.3 billion m3 and the custom design pool
level is 400 m. The total installed capacity is 5400 MW
and the RCC gravity dam with the height of218 m will
be constructed. The stratum of underground cave is
mainly sandstones. Geological condition of rock mass
is more complex, and faulted bedding plane develops
more. For subjected to the effect of erosion, the max-
imum main stress of rock mass ranges from 6 MPa to
9 M Pa. The main stress of rock mass is the horizon-
tal stress and the lateral stress coefficient is 1.3~ 1.6,
which has a disadvantage effect on the stability of slope
excavation.
Therefore, unfilled joint rock specimens in the
surrounding rock mass of a huge underground cave
in Longtan Hydropower Project were carried out
the shear creep tests, which gained long-term shear
strength parameter of joint rock. The relation between
shear displacement and time at di fferent normal stress
is discussed in detailed. A new non-linear visco-
elasto-plasric shear creep model of rock is put forward,
which can describe fully the accelerative shear creep
behavior of joint rock.

697
2 EXPERlMENTAL RESULT OF SHEAR CREEP carried out in special laboratory with constant tem-
perature and humidity, which avoided the vibration
2.1 Experimental introduction of shear creep and disturbance of surrounding environment. In accor-
dance with short-term shear result of joint rock (Xu,
Shear creep tests of joint rock were carried out on the
w.v. et al. 2003a), the normal stress and shear streSS
direct shear creep test system, which main structure
level of shear creep test were confirmed. Step-wise
was shown in Figure I. Experiment was loaded by
loading method for single sample was used to carry
the air-liquid method and was manipulated by hands,
out the shear creep test. At first, a constant normal
which could avoid the effect of power failure. Sta-
stress was loaded to rock specimen, and then loaded
bile pressure was loaded by the accumulator. When
the long-term shear stress from low to high. The rela-
the pressure reduced with the increase of deforma-
tion between shear displacement and time were gained
tion, the accumulator could playa role of automatic
at varying shear stress levels. Loading time at each
regulation and compensatory pressure. The normal
shear stress lasted nearby 5~ I0 days.
stress of joint rock was loaded by the vertical jack,
but shear stress by horizontal jack. Rock specimens
with joint plane were firstly poured in the shear box 2.2 Analysis on the experimental result ofshear
with the cement. The lower shear box was fixed on the creep
pedestal and the joint plane was located between the
lower and upper shear box. ln order to prevent the free- Experimental joint rock belongs to shale, which joint
dommotion of shear box, the rigid rolling axis was set plane is unfilled hard structure plane. Typical shear
between the steel plate and upper shear box of vertical creep results of joint rock are shown in Figure 2, which
jack. A measurement point of shear displacement was marked numeric values are shear stress. Tn terms of
set respectively nearby the center of upper shear box. Figure 2, joint exists instant deformation at constant
Micrometer gauge was used to measure the displace- normal stress. With the increase of shear stress, when
ment of upper shear box, i.e. the shear displacement shear stress reaches long-term shear strength, joint
of joint plane.
Three rock specimens with the joint plane nearby 4.0
the horizon were collected from the field engineer- -0-
1-0- 0.85 0.71 a=1.12MPa
ing, and then carried out the pouring and curing. The ---fr- 1.1 -0- 0.4
..§E 3.0
J.
size of joint rock specimen was 300 mm x 300 mm x p;r.r -u
300 mm. In the process of collecting rock specimens, ;:
joint plane should be avoided to disturb. When being "
E
moved to the laboratory, joint rock specimen was cut "
u
OJ 2.0 ~
}oJ'
the normal shear size of 150 mm x 150 mm and poured ~
in the shear box. At this time, shear creep test was car- '0
•... ~
OJ
ried out. The joint was set in the central part and the 1.0
"
..c
CI)
shear slot reached about 10 mm. Shear creep test were

0.0
Vertical
o 30 60 90 120 150

Vertical jack Time/hours

Steel plate
Rolling axis
3.0
Measurement point
Upper shear box a = 2.49 MPa
E 2.5
..§ -0- 1.54
;: 2.0 -0- 1.72
"
E ---fr- 0.45
g 1.5
~0.9
~ -0- 1.2
~ 1.0
OJ -'lIE- 1.45
Joint plane "
..c
CI) 0.5
Lower shear box

0.0 0
o 50 100 150 200 250 300 35
Time/hours
Figure I. Experimental equipment on the shear creep
behaviour of joint rock. Figure 2. Typical shear creep test curves of joint rock.

698
transforms from primary creep stage to steady creep
stage. When shear stress is lower than long-term shear
strength, joint can preserve long-term stability, how-
ever when shear stress is higher than long-term shear
strength, joint will change accelerative creep stage
from steady creep stage in a short time. The creep rup-
ture of joint takes the property of shear creep rupture.
In the process of creep, opposite displacement between
upper and lower rock block of joint is produced by the
means of climbing or gnawing. The inlay and friction
between upper and lower palisades will produce larger
viscous resistance, however overcoming this kind of
resistance needs a certain stress level. When shear
stress is higher than stress level, the viscous resistance
will decrease quickly. At this time, rock specimen will
COmeout larger shear displacement in a short time and
then reach the rupture very fast. Compared with rock
material, shear creep of joint rock shows clear instant
deformation property, moreover, it has a close relation
with normal stress and shear stress level. The higher
normal stress level is, the larger instant shear displace-
ment of joint rock is. At constant normal stress level,
instant shear displacement will increase step by step
with the shear stress.
Coulomb criterion regards that supported maxi-
mum shear stress (shear strength) of rock is confirmed
by the cohesion and internal friction force, which the
latter has a relation with the internal friction coeffi-
cient and normal stress, i.e. T = C + u,o , where u is the
internal friction coefficient and !-L = tan <po where, <p is
the internal friction angel.
Based on short-term shear test results (Xu, W.Y.
er al. 2003a) and shear creep test results of joint rock
at different normal stress, linear regression relation
between short-term shear length or long-term shear
strength and normal stress can be gained according
to Coulomb criterion as shown in Figure 3. From this
figure, the cohesion and internal friction angle of joint
rock under the short-term shear test is 0.31 MPa and
3.0
2.5 o Short-term shear
&: o Long-term shear
o reference time; G1 is instant shear modulus; G2 and
::?:
..... 2.0
'J>
'J>
1.5 o
~
•..
" 1.0
~"
0.5
0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Normal strcss/MPa
Figure 3. Strength analysis of joint rock by short-term shear
and long-term shear.
699
43.23° respectively. However, the cohesion and inter-
nal friction angle of joint rock under the creep shear
test is only 0.09 MPa and 33.4° respectively, which
reduce respectively 71% and 22.7% than that of joint
rock under short-term shear test. Therefore, the sensi-
tivity of cohesion on time is higher than that of internal
friction angle. Cohesion of joint rock decreases very
fast with the increase of time.
3 NON-LINEAR VISCO-ELASTO-PLASTIC
SHEAR CREEP MODEL
3.1 Five-component linear visco-elastic shear
creep model
In accordance with shear creep curves of joint rock at
different shear stress, it can be clearly seen out that
joint rock shows distinct visco-elasto-plastic property
at failure shear stress level, but only visco-elastic prop-
erty at other shear stress levels. Up to now, it is very
difficult to identify the creep curve of rock that appears
the accelerative creep stage by means of conventional
linear visco-elasto-plastic shear creep model such as
Kormanura Model. Therefore, it is necessary to con-
struct a new non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear creep
modeJ, which will be made a detailed discussion in
the following section. In this section, we only carry
out the identification for creep curves that show the
visco-elastic properties.
There are many kinds of shear creep models such
as Maxwell model, Generalized Kelvin model or
Burgers model etc., which can describe the visco-
elastic property of rock. In this paper, five-component
visco-elastic shear creep model (Fig. 4) is put forward
to identify the creep curves of joint rock that show
visco-elastic characteristics. Creep equation of five-
component visco-elastic shear creep model under the
action of shear stress is shown in Equation I.
G2 G)
I I -1 I -I
u(t)=[- +-(I-e ", ) +-(l-e q, )].0 (I)
G, c, G,
where 1I is total shear displacemcnt of joint rock; t is
G,
TO TO
'12
Figure 4. Five-component visco-elastic shear creep model
of rock under the action of shear stress.
C3are all visco-elastic shear modulus; 1)1and 1)2are all
visco coefficient; and TO is the shear stress.
Direct iterative method is used to compute mate-
rial parameters of five-component visco-elastic shear
creep model. Five creep parameters of CI, C2, C3, 1)1
and 1)2 need to be computed. According to n groups
data (u t) gained by shear creep experiments, a group
of initial approximate values (C?, C~, cg,
I)~) is
given, and then iteration is carried out on basis of initial
approximate values. Computation is carried out again
and again until the creep parameter satisfies required
precision, and at this time, corresponding shear creep
parameter values are that we need.
Figure 5 is the typical comparison between five-
component visco-elastic shear creep model and shear
creep experimental result of joint rock. From this
figure, it can be seen out that five-component VISCO-
elastic shear creep model is in good accordance With
experimental result of shear creep. Creep parameters
of joint rock at different shear stress levels are listed
in Table I.
3.2 Non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear creep
model
Figure 6 is a typical complete shear creep curve of
joint rock gained on rock servo-controlling shear creep
equipment. From Figure 6, accelerative shear creep
curve of joint rock may be divided into three stages
in the following: (I) Primary creep stage OA: in thiS
'I?,
stage, shear creep rate of joint rock decreases quicklv
to a constant that does not equal to zero. (2) Steady
creep stage AB: in this stage, shear creep rate of joint
rock preserves constant basically, and correspondll~?
shear creep rate is called as "steady shear creep rate .
(3) Accelerative creep stage BC: in this stage: shear
creep rate of joint rock increases quickly until JOint
rock happens to failure. . . t
Based on accelerative shear creep curve of JOin
rock at shear stress level of 1.72 MPa when normal
stress equals to 2.49 MPa in Figure 6, it can be seen
out that the complete creep curve of joint rock pos-
sesses the following several important characteristics .
. . t
(I) After applying shear stress level of 1.72 MPa, jorn

2.5 ,---------------, 3.0

Normal stress: 2.49 MPa
2.7 Shear stress: 1.72 MPa C
E
.§ B
2.4
i:
.., A

·0 Experimental result ..,

E
u 2.1
'"
~ -- Five-component visco-elastic ~
2 'is~
sher creep model 1.8
~ 0.5
..,'"
.c
Vl
1.5
0.0 L..L.L-_--I...
-1 0 30
-'-- __
70
---'-__
110
~
150 1.2
0
'I [2 Ie

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Time/hours
Time/hours
Figure 5. Comparison between visco-elastic shear creep
model and experimental result of joint rock. Figure 6. Typical shear rheology curve of joint rock.

Table I. Creep parameters on base of five-component visco-elastic shear creep model of joint rock.

GI/(MPa· Gz/(MPa· GJ/(MPa· 111/(MPa· IJz/(MPa·

ao/MPa To/MPa 111m-I) 111m-I) 111m-I) D.mm-I) Dv rnm : ") R

1.12 0.4 5.556 1.056 1.228 0.015 0.070 1.000

0.7 28.902 0.652 8.681 0.011 18.845 1.000
0.85 23.010 0.480 3.815 0.009 16.641 1.000
1.1 1.323 1.043 1.043 0024 0.024 0.992
2.49 0.45 6.143 8.491 11.219 0.120 16.544 0.990
0.9 4.355 6.391 5962 4.337 0.059 0990
1.2 4.728 4.060 4.554 3.976 0.143 0997
1.45 5.200 4.056 3.328 0.155 3.251 0998
1.54 1.453 9.406 8811 0.361 28713 0.997

700
rock produces the instant elastic shear deformation
at once, which may deduce that elastic component
should be included in shear creep model. (2) Shear
displacement of joint rock has the increasing tendency
with the increase of time, which may deduce that vis-
cous component should be included in shear creep
model. (3) With the increase of time, shear displace-
ment does not converge a constant value, but appear
accelerative shear creep stage, which possesses plas-
tic property. Therefore, complete creep curve of joint
rock can be described by visco-elasto-plasric creep
model. However, conventional creep model such as
Kormanura Model can not be used to describe the
accelerative shear creep characteristic of joint rock,
therefore it is necessary to construct a new non-linear
visco-elasto-plastic shear creep model.
As usually, there are mainly two following meth-
ods to construct non-linear creep model of joint rock
(Chen, K.S. 1997); (Cristescu, N. & Hunche, U. 1998);
(Xu, w.y et al. 2003a, b); (Wu, D.B et al. 2004); (Zhu,
Z.D. & Xu, w.y. 2002); (Yang, S.L. et al. 2003). One
method is to replace conventional linear creep compo-
nents such as elastic body, plastic body and viscous
body with non-linear creep components. The other
method is to adopt new theory such as endochronic
theory, fracture and damage mechanical theory etc.
to construct creep model of rock. The proposed creep
models by the above two methods can all describe bet-
ter the accelerative creep stage of rock. In this paper,
the first method is adopted to construct new non-linear
visco-elasto-plasric shear creep model.
Through long-time study and thought, a new non-
linear viscous component is firstly put forward, which
IS parallel connected with the plastic component, so a
new Non-linear Visco-Plastic Body (NVPB) model as
shown in Figure 7 can be gotten and it can reflect the
accelerativc creep behaviors of rock material (Xu, W.Y.
et al. 2005a, b). Figure 8 is the relation between dis-
placement and time at a given shear stress level and
corresponding creep equation is given in equation 2
below.
e(t) = H(-.o --(5) t" (2)
1]
Where II is shear displacement of rock; I is reference
time; 1) is viscous coefficient, which shows quick and
slow extent that creep stage tends to stability; 11 is
defined as rheological index, which reflects quick and
slow extent of rock accelerative creep rate; rs is yield
shear stress or long-term shear strength. H is on-off
function shown in the Equation 3.
(3)
701
From Equation 2 and Figure 8, it is very clear
that creep equation ofNVPB can degenerate the par-
allel combination of plastic body and viscous body
in Xiyuan Model when n equals to I, at this time,
the shear displacement takes straight line relation
with time. However, when n does not equal to 1, the
relation between shear displacement and time is non-
linear. When 11 is less than 1, shear displacement rate
decreases with the increase of time; but when n is
more than I, shear displacement rate increases with
the increase of time. Therefore passing through the
variance of rheological index 11, NVPB can not only
include the parallel combination of plastic body and
viscous body in Kormanura Model, but also reflect
fully the accelerative shear creep characteristic of rock.
In a word, NVPB can be used to describe the complete
shear creep curve of rock.
Based on the previous analysis of visco-elastic
shear creep curve, it is specially distinct that five-
component visco-elastic shear creep model of rock
can accord better with experimental result of shear
creep at the lower and higher shear stress levels.
Therefore, when connecting NVPB model and five-
component visco-elastic creep model in series, we
construct a new seven-component non-linear visco-
elasto-plastic shear creep model as shown in Figure 9.
Creep equation of non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear
creep model of rock is divided into two parts
(Equation 4 & 5).
TS
w
••• ••
TO
TO
'),1/
Figure 7. Non-linear Visco-plastic Body (NVPB).
1/ 1/>1
1/=1
1/<1
o
Figure 8. Creep curve of NVPB model.
When TO is less than TS or equals to TS shear creep model are gained by direct iteration
method, which has been introduced in the former sec-
I 1 -~, I -~ tion. Where, computable method on the parameters
u=[-+-(I-e'li )+-(1-e q, )]1"0 (4) of seven-component visco-elasto-plastic shear creep
G1 G2 GJ model is made a detailed discussion when shear streSS
is more than long-term shear strength of joint rock. As
However, when TO is more than TS it is concerned to visco-elasto-plastic shear creep curve
as shown in Figure 6, iteration method can be adopted
1 I _S, 1 _.0., directly, and its computable method on parameters of
u=[-+-(l-e 'n)+-(l-e 'h ):tro shear creep model is described in the following. By
G1 G2 GJ advantage of shear creep experimental data of joint
(5)
rock at the time of"O" point to "12" point (12is defined
as the initial timc that begins to transform from steady
creep to accelerative creep), five-component viscO-
elastic shear creep model is firstly used to fit the
In Equations 4-5, u is total shear displacement of joint experimental curve by direct iteration method, which
rock; I is reference time; G1 is instant elastic shear can get five shear creep parameters, i.e. GI, G2, G3,
modulus; G2 and G3 are all visco-elastic shear mod- Til and Tl2. And then based on gotten five visco-elastIC
ulus; Til, /]2 and /]3 are all viscous coefficient; n is shear creep model, visco-elastic theoretical values are
rheological index, which reflects the quick and slow
gained at the time Of"12" point to "t;" point (te is the
extent of accelerative creep rate of joint rock; TO and time of creep rupture). For the complete shear creep
TS is shear stress and long-term shear strength of joint
curve of joint rock as shown in Figure 6, 12equals to
rock. It is very distinct that shear creep model degen-
168 hours, and Ie equals to 240 hours. By finding out
erates five-component visco-elastic shear creep model the di fference of m group of shear displacement data
as shown in Figure 4. When TO is less than TS or equals between experimental values and visco-elastic theoret-
to TS, at this time, shear creep model may describe ical values at the time Of"12" point to "t," point, least
visco-elastic property of joint rock. However, when
square method is used to carry out the exponential
TO is more than TS, model is non-linear visco-elasto-
regression analysis for m group of shear displacement
plastic shear creep model, which may describe the
data and corresponding time I, which may gain creep
visco-elasto-plastic characteristic of rock possessing parameter of Tl3 and n in NVPB model. Thus seven
the accelerative creep stage.
shear creep parameters of joint rock are totally got-
ten. Non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear creep model
3.3 Confirmation and validation on the parameters of joint rock is gained when seven shear creep para-
of non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear creep meters are substituted Equation 5. Through the above
model computing method, gained parameters of non-linear
When shear stress is less than long-term shear strength visco-elasto-plastic shear creep model are given In
of rock, parameters of five-component visco-elastic Table 2.
Figure 10 gives the comparison between proposed
non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear creep model and
gained experimental results of joint rock with accel-
erative shear creep. From Figure 10, it can be seen
out that proposed non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear
creep model is in good accordance with experimental
'0 '0 results of joint rock, which shows proposed non-linear
visco-elasto-plastic shear creep model is right and
'11 reasonable.
The effect law of creep parameter Tl3 and rheo-
Figure9. Seven-component non-linear visco-elastic-plastic logical index n in NVPB model on rheological total
shear creep model of joint rock. curve of joint rock is made a discussion as shown

Table 2. Non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear creep model parameters of joint rock.

GI/(MPa· G2/(MPa· G3/(MPa· 171/(MPa' '12/(MPa· 113/(MPa· n

n1ln-l) rnrn :") mm-I) Dv mm :") D· mmr') D· mmr')

1.329 2.154 4.318 0.479 19.925 4.72E+13 6.33

702
in Figure 11. Other creep parameters used in sen- 4 CONCLUSIONS
sitive analysis are the same as that as shown in
Table 2, and the difference is only the variance of This paper deals with the experimental and model
creep parameter 1)3 and rheological index 11. From Fig- investigation on the shear creep behavior of joint rock.
ure II, with the increase of rheological index 11 and the The creep behavior and model of joint rock is analyzed
decrease of creep parameter ')3, complete creep curve in detail using the shear creep experiment results.
changes from visco-elastic property to visco-elasto- Based on the study in this paper, the following
plastic property. The creep theoretical curve reflects conclusions can be drawn.
fUlly the accelerative creep behavior of joint rock. (I) The cohesion and internal friction angle of
Therefore in this paper, proposed seven-component joint rock under the creep shear test reduces 71 % and
non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear creep model can 22.7% respectively than that under short-term shear
describe distinctly the accelerative creep stage of joint test. Moreover, the sensitivity of cohesion on time is
rock, moreover the confirmation of creep parameters higher than that of internal fiiction angle.
IS not very complex. Non-linear visco-elastic-plastic (2) Joint rock possesses clear instant deformation,
shear creep model established in this paper, which is moreover which has a close relation with normal stress
adaptive to other rocks, will have a wide application and shear stress level. The higher normal stress level
range and generalization foreground. is, the larger instant shear displacement of joint rock is.
At constant normal stress level, instant shear displace-
ment will increase step by step with the shear stress.
3.0 (3) Based on complete shear creep curves of joint
rock gained on the shear creep test system, it can
2.7 be found out that joint rock possesses strong creep
behavior at failure shear stress level, which shear
§
..::: creep deformation includes instant elastic deforma-
2.4
sE tion, visco-elastic and visco-plastic deformation, etc.
e (4) A new non-linear viscous component is put
u
ee 2.1 forward. When non-linear viscous component is paral-
Q.
'"
:;:; lel connected with the plastic component, Non-linear
L.
1.8 o Experimental result Visco-plastic Body (NVPB) model can be gotten,
" -- Non-linear shear creep model
~" which may reflect the accelerative shear creep behav-
1.5 ior of rock. By connecting NVPB and five-component
visco-elastic model in series, a new seven-component
non-linear visco-elastic-plastic shear creep model is
1.2
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 proposed.
Time/hours (5) Seven-component non-linear visco-elasto-
plastic shear creep model is used to identify complete
Figure 10. Comparison between non-linear shear creep accelerative shear creep curve of joint rock. The cor-
1l10deland experimental result of joint rock. relative parameters of non-linear visco-elasto-plastic
shear creep model are gained successfully. The com-
parison between non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear
3.0
creep model and experimental results shows that pro-
posed non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear creep
2.7
E model is right and reasonable .
.§
(6) Only if mechanical parameters of established
C 2.4
non-linear visco-elasto-plastic shear creep model is
"
E
confirmed rightly, proposed non-linear shear creep
"
c
2.1
"
Q. model will have the hopefulness to be applied to
~ --0--- n = 6.33 shear creep mechanical analysis of other rocks, there-
L.

1.8 ~n=5 fore non-linear shear creep model established in this

"
~" -0- n = 6.5 paper has a wide application range and generalization
1.5 foreground.

1.2
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Time/hours
The present work is supported by the Natural Science
Figure II Effect of rheological index on complete curve of Foundation of China (NSFC) through the grant num-
shear creep of joint rock. ber 50128908 and National Basic Research Priorities

703
Program ("973" Program) through the grant number
(2002CB412707).
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