ABSTRACT
The ultimate failure of rock is preceded by progression of consecutive damage modes producing very frequently periodic sequence of failure events. The cracking mode is associated with a set of oriented cracks inducing stress redistribution and orthotropic material structure. The crushing and post-buckling modes are associated with subsequent failure of cracked portions thus inducing total collapse.
The evolution of damage zones and the ultimate failure modes are discussed for several cases, namely
axisymmetric stress state around a borehole with internal pressure inducing progression of damage
interaction of a rigid punch with rock mass and the variation of penetration force is derived by considering progression of cracking, crushing and shearing modes.
