ABSTRACT
This chapter explains fundamental aspects on the hydromechanics of rocks and how to solve the fundamentals of governing equations and present several applications in practice. Rock mass in nature is generally fractured. As a result, they contain numerous discontinuities, which may be very important in the stability of rock engineering structures and mass transport through the rock mass. To measure the seepage characteristics of rock masses, numerous methods are proposed, and the preference to select an appropriate method is generally associated with the expected permeability values of rock masses. The same effective stress laws have been also extended to the rock discontinuities. In experiments, the permeability of rock and interfaces with or without a polyethylene membrane is measured under various loading conditions to simulate possible stress state in-situ. From this experimental study, it is concluded that the membrane could be very effective in reducing the permeability of the interface which is the most likely path of flow within the system.
