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of discontinuities encountered per unit length along a Mean value x = X/n I = L/n
scanline and hence the reciprocal of mean discontinuity Mean population frequency
estimate* ,;~ = 1/~ p = Ill
spacing. The mean discontinuity frequency is a measure
of the 'degree of brokenness' along a line in a given * The population frequencyparameters ). and p are adopted in this
direction through a rock mass and applies for any dis- paper to facilitate the theoretical analysis and permit comparisons
continuity geometry. For a large sample, 1/Y = n/X with previous work.
-~ 2 = mean discontinuity frequency for the popula-
tion.
stant; in other words, a part of a rock mass that is
Discontinuity trace length, l: The measurable statistically homogeneous. Variation of the measured
length of the linear trace produced by the intersection values of mean spacing and trace length across a rock
of a planar discontinuity with a planar rock face. The mass domain is, therefore, only a function of the sam-
end of a trace will occur either at another discontinuity pling method since, by definition, there is no change in
or within the rock material [1]. The end of a trace may the discontinuity characteristics. The calculations in
not, however, be visible at a given face due to excava- this paper are for rock mass domains but extension of
tion, erosion or the presence of vegetation or scree the ideas to inhomogeneous rock masses is possible by
covering. using the geostatistical method [3].
The first part of this paper concerns the precision of
Mean discontinuity trace length, 7: The mean value
mean discontinuity spacing, discontinuity frequency
of trace lengths computed as
and Rock Quality Designation estimates from measure-
ments taken along a scanline set up on a planar rock
-l = ~.. lJn face. Some explanation of sampling theory is included
i=1
at the outset to provide the necessary framework for
where li is the ith discontinuity trace length sampled subsequent analysis. The second part of the paper,
in some specified way at a given rock face that yields a which covers discontinuity trace length, relates to ideas
total of n such trace lengths. originally presented by Cruden [4] and extends these to
Mean trace termination frequency: This is defined account for the fact that a scanline will tend to inter-
as the reciprocal of mean discontinuity trace length and sect, and therefore sample, the longer trace lengths in
is therefore analogous to mean discontinuity frequency. preference to shorter ones on a given rock face. The
For a large sample, 1/7 ~ # = mean trace termination resulting sampling bias depends upon the distribution
frequency for the population. of trace lengths in the rock mass and can, in certain
circumstances, be quite significant. This, and other
Semi-trace length, l: That portion of the trace length
theoretical and practical aspects of trace length
between the scanline intersection point and the end of
measurements are discussed.
the trace. The sum of the two semi-trace lengths, one in
either direction from the scanline, for a particular dis-
continuity, is the total trace length. PRECISION OF THE MEAN
Censored semi-trace length, l: The length of the DISCONTINUITY SPACING, DISCONTINUITY
trace from the scanline to one end of the trace or a FREQUENCY AND RQD ESTIMATES
fixed distance, c, whichever is least. The letter I has been
used to denote the trace length, the semi-trace length The mean discontinuity spacing estimate
and the censored semi-trace length. The functional let-
During a scanline survey, one survey group might
ter corresponding to the probability density distribu-
measure, say, 100 discontinuities to compute mean dis-
tion, e.g. g(l) for the intersected complete trace lengths,
continuity spacing. A second survey group might spend
distinguishes the type of trace length in question. A list
more time and measure 300 discontinuities. The value
of these distributions is given in the introduction to the
of mean discontinuity spacing estimated by the second
section on estimating discontinuity trace length.
group will certainly be more reliable than that esti-
Rock mass domain: This is a portion of a given
mated by the first. Lacking further information, it is
rock mass in which discontinuity characteristics, in par-
ticular mean spacing and mean trace length, are con- difficult to decide whether the increased effort of the
second group can be justified by the increased re-
liability of their result.
Lower case italic letters have been used throughout for theoreti- Obtaining a balance between the effort expended in
cal and sampled values of spacing and trace length. obtaining a sample and the reliability of the result
Estimation of Discontinuity Spacing 185
requires some method of calculating the precision. This TABLE 2. VALUES OF (ib(2) FOR
can be achieved using a standard statistical method THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
Population meon,~.~_ zo
where • is the allowable proportionate error.
(b) .... Hence
= z/,/,,
~
qb ( z ) - shoded anm / to~l oreo
the curve or
Frequency
n = (z/E) 2 (2)
Equation (2) can be used to compute the sample size
I
required to achieve a given error bandwidth simply by
substituting the appropriate values of z and E corre-
Fig. 1. Frequency distribution of the sample mean. sponding to the required confidence level and the
186 S.D. Priest and J. A. Hudson
desired error bandwidth. Conversely, the expression The discontinuity frequency estimate
can be used to establish the error limits given by a If the reliability of the discontinuity frequency is
certain sample size. required rather than the mean spacing value for a given
For example, if the mean spacing is required within sample size, the reciprocal of the values defining the
an error bandwidth of + 20% at the 80% confidence spacing bandwidth are taken. In the last example
level, c = 0.2, z = 1.282 and
n />
(,28:y
0.2 / = 41.
above, the 95% confidence frequency bandwidth is
7.32-4.69 per m, a result that is not symmetrical about
the mean of 5.71 per m.
If the mean spacing is required within + 10% at the The RQD estimate
90% confidence level, E = 0.1, z -- 1.645 and The values of mean discontinuity spacing and fre-
(1.645~: quency can be measured by scanline surveys and their
n~> 0_1 # = 2 7 1 . reliability can be estimated by the technique described
above. The values provide an indication of rock quality
These results show that sample sizes of several hundreds themselves but, through the distribution of spacing
are required to give reasonably reliable estimates. values, a relation can be established with the Rock
A graph illustrating the number of spacing values Quality Designation. Thus the precision of the 2 esti-
required versus the error band for various confidence mate has direct implications for the precision of the
levels is shown in Fig. 2. The previous examples and theoretical R Q D which is briefly explained below.
this graph demonstrate that the required sample size The theoretical RQD, being analogous to R Q D
increases very rapidly as the allowable error is reduced. measured in the usual way from borehole core, is found
Computation of the error band defined by a given by integrating all spacing values above 0.1 m and
sample size can be illustrated using the previous example expressing the resultant value as a proportion of the
where 80 discontinuities measured along a 14 m scanline summed length of all spacing values [7]. Whilst the
gave ~ = 0.175m. This time, ignoring the computed theoretical RQD can be found from any distribution ot
value of a, and taking the 95,°<, confidence level spacing values, it is assumed here that the discontinuity
z = 1.960, gives spacings along the scanline or borehole follow the
negative exponential distribution (equation 1).
1.960
e - - 0.219 The percentage length of the scanline or borehole
\80 consisting of spacing values greater than a given value,
t, gives the theoretical RQD, RQD*, as
which defines a 95% confidence bandwidth of 0.137-
0.213m. RQD* = 100 e -'~ (t2 + 1) (3)
35°I
300 1 50607080 90 95 99 % confidence
: 250
t~ 200
.c
"~ 150
i I00
~ 50
m --
I [ I I
0.05 OJO 0.15 020 0.25 0.50
Proportionate error in mean discontinuity spacing, E
Fig. 2. Sample number vs precision of the mean discontinuity spacing estimate for a negative exponential distribution of
spacings.
Estimation of Discontinuity Spacing 187
Since this formula is derived simply by integrating all distributions rather than the reason why a particular
spacing values above the threshold value t in the spac- distribution might exist.
ing distribution, expressions for theoretical RQD can The estimation problem discussed in the previous
be found in a similar manner for other forms of the section was one of precision; it was assumed that the
spacing distribution f(x). If t is set equal to 0.1 m, then spacing values had been obtained without introducing
the value of RQD* is directly equivalent to the conven- any bias so that the mean of the scanline measurements
tional RQD. Wallis & King [9-] have found that RQD would tend to the population mean. However, values of
values computed using equation (3) agree well with trace length obtained using the same scanline survey
measured values for a Pre-Cambrian granite in Mani- technique contain an inherent and significant bias
toba. which must be accounted for during the data reduction
Priest & Hudson [7-] have shown that a good linear stage. The problem of estimating trace length, therefore,
approximation to equation (3) for t = 0.1 m is given by is one of both accuracy and precision.
the tangent at the inflection point. This tangent is given Figure 3a is a diagrammatic representation of a scan-
as line set up on an extensive planar rock face intersected
by a set of discontinuities that, being of various limited
RQD* = 110.4 - 3.68). (4)
extents, produce traces of various lengths. If the aim is
and provides a reasonable approximation in the range to determine mean discontinuity trace length at this
6 < 2 < 16 per m. It is interesting to note that the face, it would, at first glance, seem sensible to measure
International Society for Rock Mechanics [1] has pro- the trace length of each of the n discontinuities inter-
posed the following approximate empirical relation sected by the scanline and then compute the mean
between RQD and the volumetric joint count Jv value. This approach is, however, subject to two major
drawbacks. The first, and more serious, is that the scan-
RQD = 115 - 3.3 Jv for Jv >/4.5 line will tend to intersect preferentially those discon-
tinuities with a longer trace length. In other words, the
RQD = 100 for J~ < 4.5
sample of trace lengths will be biased. The second
where Jo is defined as the sum of the number of joints drawback, previously noted by Cruden [4], is that par-
per m for each joint set present. ticularly large discontinuities may extend beyond the
The precision of the theoretical RQD estimate can be visible exposure, thereby producing a known number of
determined in either case by calculating the upper and trace length measurements that are censored at some
lower brackets for 2 from equation (2) and substituting value dependent upon the size of the exposure.
the values in either of the RQD formulae to give the
lower and upper brackets of RQD. The value of RQD*
Io)
and/or the original value of 2 as estimated by 1/~ can
be used as an input to rock classification schemes
7
Y
[10, 11] which, by combining these and other par-
ameters relating to the rock mass and rock material
properties, will give some indication of the likely engin-
eering performance of the rock mass. Whether the value / / Scanline 1~ o
of mean discontinuity spacing or frequency is used di-
rectly or processed in some way, it is clearly desirable
// f
I'/I "
~/"# X I
i
I
I
I
",'?//"> S
that the precision of the value should be known.
/ I
ESTIMATING DISCONTINUITY
// I
I
TRACE LENGTH
The extent of a given discontinuity, or set of discon-
tinuities, can play a major role in controlling the behav- (hi /I
iour of a rock mass. It may be desirable, therefore,
during a scanline survey to record information concern-
ing the extent of discontinuities intersected. At a planar, I
or nearly planar, face the simplest measure of discon-
tinuity extent is the length of the trace produced by the ~/ Sconllne o IJ
intersection of a given discontinuity with the rock face.
Theoretical studies of the distribution of trace lengths
generated by the intersection of randomly located pla- Concealed of exposure
nar discontinuities with a planar rock face have been
discussed elsewhere [12, 13] and Cruden [4] has , ( / I
explained in detail the techniques and problems associ- I
ated with trace length measurements. The analysis in Fig. 3. Diagrammatic representation of discontinuity traces intersect-
this paper is concerned with estimation of trace length ing a scanline set up on a planar rock face.
188 S. D. Priest and J. A. Hudson
TABLE3. TRACELENGTHDISTRIBUTIONS
Probability density Population Estimated
distribution mean mean
~
1.0 • Negative exponential p. • I
Pmlxlbllity
density t trace k ~
o
o 1.0 2.0 3.0
Truce length
i.or Uniform p. ,I
1"1
/
f
Probability l .I
clonsily ] f(I,) i ~ ~"
,'/ ,.,r. I
o
0 l.O 2.0
Trace length
obob,,; o 0'L'
o ,
0 1.0 2.0 3.0
Trace length
Fig. 4. Probability density distributions of actual trace lengths, f(/), and intersected trace lengths, g(l), where f(/) is of negative
exponential, uniform and normal form.
In Fig. 3b, the full length of a randomly intersected a probability density distribution of 1/m. Hence the
discontinuity trace, ab has a probability density g(l) and probability that the semi-trace length lies in the range l
a cumulative probability distribution G(/). Because the to l + dl is (1/m)dl.
scanline is located near to the edge of the exposure, it 3. The probability, p(m, l), that the complete trace
will usually only be possible to measure the semi-trace length lies in the range m to m + d m and that the semi-
length, ib, of a given trace whose end b is visible. It is trace length lies in the range l to l + dl is given by
therefore necessary to consider the probability density
p(m, l) = g(m)dm (l/m) dl (8)
distribution h(l) and cumulative probability distribution
H(l) of the semi-trace lengths intersected by the scan- 4. To obtain the probability, p(l), that the semi-trace
line. length lies in the range l to l + dl for any total trace
The distribution h(l) is derived as follows using a length, it is necessary to sum all p(m, l) for all possible
substitute variable m representing complete trace values of m. Since p(m, l) is zero for any values of m that
length. are less than l, it is necessary to integrate equation (8)
1. The intersected complete trace length, a b = m, has with respect to m between I and infinity.
a probability density distribution g(m) as obtained in
the previous section. The probability that the complete p(l) = (l/m) dl o(m) am = h(l) dl
trace length lies in the range m to m + dm is therefore
g(m)dm. or
2. Since the intersection point i is randomly located
along ab (Fig. 3b), the semi-trace length measured from
h(l) = ~l°° (1/m)g(m) dm
i to b, is uniformly distributed in the range 0 to m with
190 S . D . Priest and J. A. H u d s o n
io . Negative exponential F = I
~lity
density j f(I,)Actual trace lengths
o5
~ """~e -- h(b)semJ-trace lengths
I
0 I0 2.0 3.0
Trace length or semi-trace length
~0 ~ Uniform /~ - I
0
0
I/Fh ]
l" I0
I/F
20
I
Normol / z , l cr,ll3
15
h(I,)
I0
Probability
densay
0.5
N\\
I
0 I0 20 30
Troce length or semi-trace length
Fig. 5. Probability density distributions of actual trace lengths, f(l), and semi-trace lengths, h(l), where f ( l ) is of negative
exponential, uniform and normal form.
TABLE 4, THEORETICAL DENSITIES AND ASSOCIATED MEANS FOR VARIOUS TRACE LENGTH DISTRIBUTIONS
2.0 (o) NeQativeexponential fore be applied to any other form o f f ( l ) through the
is on unbiased estimate of I//J, I
compilation of curves similar to those in Figs 7 and 8.
If sufficient data are available, a histogram of observed
15 semi-trace lengths can be plotted and compared with
the curves in Fig. 5. This will provide a basis for select-
ing the appropriate form for f(l).
I0 The following is an analytical method of estimating/~
/.~,m "1 from measurements of censored semi-trace length,
which may be preferred to the graphical method
05 explained above. The numerical proportion of inter-
c_o
sected discontinuities that have a semi-trace length less
than c is given by H(c), which for a large sample may
0 I I I I be estimated by r/n, where r is the number of discon-
0 0 5 1.0 1.5 20
I,?m tinuities with a semi-trace length less than c and n is the
041 1 (b)
total number in the sample. In the case where f ( l ) is a
negative exponential distribution,
or
r / n = 1 - e -"c
/1-r
03 I ....... e-'' (12)
/1
or
Exomple
02. given in - loge[(n - r)/n]
#, m"1 ffw! texV /t= (13)
c
Similarly, if f(/) is uniform, from Table 4
OI
I A-IIIIIII°III '°'I
2.0 (a) Unlform 0.4
15 0.3
Example ~
given in|
0.2 the_~. 1
1.0
#,m" /~, m"
0.1
0.5
Fig. 8. Relation between the estimate of mean trace termination frequency, g, and mean censored semi-trace length, 1~, at
various levels of censoring c where f(/) is a uniform distribution.
Estimation of Discontinuity Spacing 193
The techniques used to determine equations (13) and different form by Cruden [4], provides a rapid means of
(14) for negative exponential and uniform f(1) could be estimating # from censored measurements of semi-trace
applied to any suitable form of f(l) to yield similar length.
expressions that allow a rapid estimate of g to be made
TWO CASE STUDIES
by simply counting n and r at a given exposure which
censors trace lengths at some value c. If more time is Two case studies are presented to provide a simple,
available, however, it may be desirable to compute practical demonstration of the theoretical ideas in the
several estimates of /~ by measuring each value of preceding sections. Detailed measurements of discon-
semi-trace length and computing tinuity trace length were obtained by scanline sampling
of two planar faces: Location 1, an Ordovician mud-
stone is shown in Fig. 9; Location 2, a Cambrian sand-
stone is shown in Fig. 10. The scanlines were estab-
for several arbitrary levels of trace length censoring c. lished on 275 x 350mm photographic prints of the
The resulting data can be tabulated to give several rock faces and discontinuity semi-trace lengths were
estimates of/~. Alternatively it may be convenient to plot scaled off directly as shown in Fig. 6. The orientations
of the scanlines are indicated in Figs 9 and 10. The
observable semi-trace length was artificially censored at
4 m in both cases.
against c for negative exponential f(l), or A total of 113 semi-trace length values was obtained
at the first face and 122 at the second face. Histograms
showing the distributions of semi-trace lengths,
presented in Fig. 11, are in these particular cases of
against c for uniform f(l). In each case the slope of the general negative exponential form. The analysis to de-
best straight line through the points is a direct estimate termine mean trace length will, for the purposes of this
of p. example, be based on the assumption that h(l), and
The term e -'c in equation 10 can be replaced by hence f(l), are negative exponential. A more detailed
statistical analysis would be required to test the validity
of this assumption.
For each location, values of r and li were determined
using equation (12), giving the following estimator from the individual trace length measurements for 16
for ~ different values of c (Table 5). Using these data, 16
values, termed #1, were estimated using equation (13)
1
u = (15) and 16 values, termed #2, were estimated using equa-
tion (15). The resulting values are listed in Table 5 and
plotted in Fig. 12 against c for both locations. Figures
13a and b are graphs of -loge((n - r)/n) against c, the
This expression, previously presented in slightly slope of the best straight line being an estimate of/~.
Fig. 9. Ordovician mudstone rock face with 1 m scales included (Location 1).
194 S . D . Priest and J. A. H u d s o n
DISCUSSION
It has not been the aim of this paper to suggest that
the distribution of actual trace lengths, f(1), at a given
face is of any particular form; indeed f(l) could vary
from rock type to rock type and from face to face.
However, if the aim of a discontinuity survey is to de-
termine f(l) and its parameter(s) using scanline sam-
pling, then the distributions of sampled trace lengths,
semi-trace lengths and censored semi-trace lengths, 9(1),
h(1) and i(l) respectively, m a y or m a y not be of similar
form to f(/). F o r example, if f ( / ) is of negative exponen-
tial form, 9(1) may give the appearance of being log-
normal. Once this effect has been recognised and
allowed for in the analysis, it is a relatively simple
matter to obtain a reasonable estimate of # and hence
the mean trace length.
The technique for establishing the precision of the
estimate of mean trace length is exactly the same as
explained earlier for mean discontinuity spacing and
discontinuity frequency, with the use of the reduced
[o) Locotion I
40 n-l13 I
"~.~ ~AflL)
io
expression given in equation (2) being valid if the trace paper to estimate the probability that a discontinuity
lengths follow a negative exponential distribution. will exceed a certain length. At a rock face, the prob-
Having estimated the mean trace termination fre- ability that the total trace length of a given discon-
quency, ~t, it is possible to use the expressions in this tinuity sampled at random will exceed c is given simply
2.0 Locotion I
~__ (o)
15 ."~ ~. / #2(eCluotion15)
//., m-I
1.0
0 II0 I I
0 2.0 3i.0 4.0
Ct metres
1.5 Locofion 2
(b)
IO
#, mt
0.5
#l
i
LO 21.0 i
3D 4i0
C~n l ~
Fig. 12. Variation of estimated mean trace termination frequency, #, with censoring level, c, for Locations 1 and 2.
196 S.D. Priest and J. A. Hudson
0 0
3 1- Location I / o derived for determining precision. For this distribution
of spacings or lengths and with the requirement that
the mean value estimate should be within a bandwidth
+E~ of the true mean 1/2 (or 1//~ for trace lengths), the
o (i) o o o o o o o
required sample size n is given by (z/~)2 where z is the
standard normal variable associated with the required
-log (--~L-) confidence level. Using this formula and the relation
with mean spacing, the precision of the discontinuity
frequency and RQD estimates can also be established.
Four probability distributions were used to study the
bias introduced into trace length measurements by the
0 L I I I use of scanline surveys. These were
0 I 2 3 4
f(/)--the distribution of actual trace lengths exposed
at a rock face,
Loc~lon 2 g(/)--the distribution of trace lengths intersected by
a scanline,
Q 0 0
h(/)--the distribution of semi-trace lengths (the
(bl
length from the scanline to the end of a trace),
2 o o o /(l)--the distribution of censored semi-trace lengths
o (the length from the scanline to the end of the
- tog,(n,l~-.) trace or a fixed distance, c, whichever is least).
I o It was shown that the distribution g(l) of trace
o ~ • 0.82 m"t lengths intersected by a randomly located scanline is
given by
g(l) = ~ ( t )
0 I 1 I I
0 I 2 3 4 where # is the mean trace termination frequency equal
c, metros
to the reciprocal of the actual mean trace length. The
F i g . 13. G r a p h i c a l estimation of mean trace termination frequency,/~, mean value of g(l), 1/#g, is given by
f o r L o c a t i o n s 1 a n d 2.
1//~g = 1//a + a2#
R.M.M.S. 18/3 8