UnWedge User Guide Overview Documentation Tutorials Verification & Theory

5 - Field Stress
This tutorial demonstrates the Field Stress option in UnWedge.

The default UnWedge analysis is based upon the assumption that the wedges are subjected to
gravitational loading only (i.e., self-weight of the wedges). The actual stress field in the rock mass
surrounding the excavation is not taken into account. While this assumption leads to some
inaccuracy in the analysis, the error is generally conservative, leading to a lower Factor of Safety.
The Field Stress option in UnWedge allows you to include the effect of in-situ stress (clamping
stress) on the wedge Factor of Safety. In general, this has a tendency to increase wedge Factor of
Safety, although this depends on the wedge geometry and field stress orientation. By default, the
reported Factor of Safety (with field stress) will always be greater than (or equal to) the Factor of
Safety without considering field stress.

Topics Covered in this Tutorial:

Stress Analysis Overview

Defining Field Stress
Factor of Safety with Field Stress
Viewing Stress Contours
Stress Contour Data Tips
Advanced Stress Options

Finished Product:

The finished tutorial can be found in the Tutorial 05 Field Stress Final.weg5 file located in the
Examples > Tutorials folder in your UnWedge installation folder.

1.0 Introduction
When the Field Stress option is applied in UnWedge, a boundary element stress analysis is
automatically performed prior to the wedge stability calculation. This determines the elastic stress
distribution around the excavation, which is used to compute the actual stress distribution on each
wedge plane. The general features of the stress analysis implementation are as follows:

The field stress orientation and magnitude are defined in the Field Stress dialog. You may
choose either a constant or gravitational far-field stress.
Based on the field stress parameters, UnWedge will carry out a boundary element stress
analysis around the excavation. The boundary element method assumes linear elastic
behaviour (i.e., plasticity and localized failure is not accounted for in this type of analysis).
The boundary element stress analysis used in UnWedge is based on the analysis engine used
in the Rocscience program EX3.
The boundary element stress analysis in UnWedge uses the Complete Plane Strain
formulation. This means that the principal stress orientations do not have to be aligned with
the excavation axis. Although the excavation model is 2-dimensional, the defined Field Stress
and the stress analysis results are three-dimensional.
 The stress analysis determines the distribution of stresses around the Opening Section
assuming an infinitely long excavation in the axis direction.
The stress analysis DOES NOT analyze the stress distribution around the ends of the
excavation. Therefore, the results of using Field Stress can only be applied to the Perimeter
Wedges and does not apply to the End Wedges.
Based on the results of the stress analysis, UnWedge determines the actual distribution of
stress on each wedge face (Perimeter Wedges only) and includes this stress in the stability
calculations.

2.0 Model
1. If you have not already done so, run the UnWedge program by double-clicking the UnWedge
icon in your installation folder or by selecting Programs > Rocscience > UnWedge >
UnWedge in the Windows Start menu. When the program starts, a default model is
automatically created.

If the UnWedge application window is not already maximized, maximize it now so that the full
screen is available for viewing the model.

To begin this tutorial:

2. Select: File > Recent Folders > Tutorials Folder

3. Read in the file Tutorial 05 Field Stress_initial.weg5

Note

All tutorial files can be found in the Examples > Tutorials folder in your UnWedge installation
folder.

3D Wedge Model View

The model represents a horizontal tunnel with an axis orientation of Trend = 120, Plunge = 0.
Notice the four Perimeter Wedges, and Factor of Safety values:

Lower Right Wedge (FS = 0.210)

Lower Left Wedge (FS = 0.964)
Roof Wedge (FS = zero)
Floor Wedge (stable)

The model currently does NOT have Field Stress defined, therefore the wedges are subjected to
gravitational loading only, due to the self-weight of each wedge.

3.0 Field Stress

We will now define Field Stress and observe the effect on the wedge Factors of Safety.

To define Field Stress:

1. Select Field Stress on the toolbar or the Analysis menu.

You may see a Warning dialog. The dialog message is a reminder that the Field Stress option
should always be considered an advanced user option, and results should be carefully
evaluated. For conservative design purposes, it is best to design on the basis of NO Field
Stress effect.

2. Read the message and select OK.

The Field Stress dialog appears.
3. To enable Field Stress, select the Use Stresses in Analysis checkbox.
4. Set Field Stress Type = Constant .
This assumes that the initial in-situ stress does not vary with depth or location.
5. Enter the following magnitudes and orientations for the major, intermediate, and minor
principal far field stress:
Sigma 1: Magnitude = 1, Trend = 0, Plunge = 90
Sigma 2: Magnitude = 0.85 MPa
Sigma 3: Magnitude = 0.75, Trend = 90, Plunge = 0

Note

The Sigma 1 and Sigma 3 orientations must be orthogonal to each other (i.e., the
direction vectors must differ by 90 degrees). The orientation of Sigma 2 is automatically
determined to be orthogonal to both Sigma 1 and Sigma 3.
 6. Select OK.

3.1 FACTOR OF SAFETY WITH FIELD STRESS

Now observe the wedge Factors of Safety displayed in the Wedge Info panel. The following table
summarizes the values before and after applying the Field Stress.

Wedge Factor of Safety Factor of Safety

(No Field Stress) (With Field Stress)

Lower Right Wedge 0.210 0.729

Lower Left Wedge 0.964 0.964

Roof Wedge 0 1.165

Floor Wedge stable stable

Lower Right Wedge and Roof Wedge - The “clamping effect” of the Field Stress has
significantly increased the Factor of Safety for the Lower Right Wedge (0.210 to 0.729) and for
the Roof Wedge (0 to 1.165).
Lower Left Wedge - For the Lower Left Wedge, the application of Field Stress did not change
the reported Factor of Safety (0.964). In this case, the inclusion of Field Stress in the stability
 calculations actually results in a LOWER Factor of Safety for the wedge. When this occurs, the
Factor of Safety that is reported is the original Factor of Safety, without Field Stress.

UnWedge always compares the stressed and unstressed values of Factor of Safety, and by default,
reports the HIGHER of the two values. The logic behind this reasoning is as follows:

If the actual stress distribution in the rock mass has a tendency to “push” the wedge into the
excavation, then in effect, the wedge reverts to an unstressed state. The Factor of Safety then
reverts to the original Factor of Safety, due to the self-weight of the wedge.
Notice that the Lower Left Wedge is a relatively “flat” wedge. The geometry of this wedge is
such that the Field Stress has a greater tendency to dislodge the wedge, rather than clamp the
wedge in place.

Note

When the Factor of Safety (with Field Stress) is less than the unstressed value, it is possible to
obtain the stressed Factor of Safety. See the Advanced Stress Options section later in this
tutorial for details.

3.2 VIEWING STRESS CONTOURS

When you are using the Field Stress option in UnWedge, the actual stresses computed on the
wedge planes should be visible. If they are not, they can be turned on as follows:

1. Right-click directly on any Perimeter Wedge in the 3D Wedge View.

2. In the popup menu, you will see a Field Stress Visualization sub-menu.
3. From this sub-menu you can choose to view contours of:
Normal Stress
Shear Stress
Sigma 1
Sigma 3
Sigma X
Sigma Y
Tau XY
 Field Stress Visualization Select
4. Select a data type from the list (e.g. Normal Stress), and the joint planes of all wedges will
immediately display contours of the selected data type. A Field Stress Legend will also be
displayed, so you can determine the values of the contours, as shown in the following figure.

3D Wedge Model View

Display Elements: If you see a mesh of triangular elements displayed on the wedge faces, the
nodes of the mesh are the locations at which the stress is calculated on each wedge face. The
stress contours are generated from these values. To show (or hide) the mesh, right-click on
any wedge, and from the Field Stress Visualization sub-menu in the right-click menu, toggle
the Display Elements option on (or off).
 Data Tips: When stress contours are displayed on the wedge planes, if you hover the mouse
over any contoured wedge plane, a popup data tip will display the value of the stress at that
location.

Note

If you do not see any data tips, go to the View menu and set the Data Tips option to Maximum.

Notice that the value of stress displayed in the data tip corresponds to the stress contour values
displayed in the Legend. Experiment with viewing different stress contours (e.g. Shear Stress).

3.3 ADVANCED FIELD STRESS OPTIONS

The boundary element stress analysis in UnWedge is not a “black box” – advanced users who wish
to configure the settings of the analysis can do so with the Advanced Settings For Stresses
dialog. To access this dialog:

1. Select the Field Stress option from the Analysis menu or the toolbar.
2. Select the Advanced button in the Field Stress dialog.
3. You will see the following dialog, which allows you to configure the rock mass elastic
parameters, boundary element discretization, solver type and other parameters related to the
stress analysis and display of results.

Note

See the Advanced Stress Settings help page for more information about the advanced
settings for stresses parameters.

Before you close the dialog:

1. Select the checkbox at the bottom of the dialog – Report Only the Stressed Factor of Safety.
2. Select OK in the Advanced Settings For Stresses dialog.
 3. Select OK in the Field Stress dialog.
4. Now, look at the wedge Factor of Safety displayed in the Sidebar. In particular, look at the
Factor of Safety for the Lower Left Wedge and the Floor Wedge (these are highlighted in the
following table).

Wedge Factor of Safety Factor of Safety

(No Field Stress) (With Field Stress)

Lower Right Wedge 0.210 0.729

Lower Left Wedge 0.964 0.746

Roof Wedge 0 1.165

Floor Wedge stable 1.337

Notes:
The Factor of Safety (with Field Stress) for the Lower Left Wedge is now LESS THAN the
Factor of Safety without field stress.
The Factor of Safety (with Field Stress) for the Floor Wedge is now a finite value, compared to
the Stable result (without Field Stress).

As discussed earlier in this tutorial, by default UnWedge does NOT report Factor of Safety values
(with Field Stress) when the values are LESS THAN the Factor of Safety (without Field Stress).
The reasons for this have already been discussed. However, if you do wish to see the Factor of
Safety (with Field Stress), regardless of the value, then you can select the checkbox in the
Advanced Settings For Stresses dialog, as we have shown. These values are provided for
academic interest, but it is not recommended that they be used for any design purposes.

3.4 SPEED OF CALCULATIONS WHEN USING FIELD STRESS

If you use the Field Stress option, this can noticeably affect the speed of the UnWedge
calculations. This is because the boundary element stress analysis must be carried out first, before
the limit equilibrium calculations. If the tunnel axis orientation is changed, the stress analysis must
be re-computed. If joint orientations are changed, the stresses must be recomputed on each
wedge face.

You may not notice any difference in speed for a simple analysis of a single tunnel orientation.
However, if you are using the Tunnel Axis Plot option (for example), the plot generation may take
some time if you are using Field Stress because the entire boundary element analysis has to be re-
computed for each tunnel orientation.

3.5 END WEDGES AND FIELD STRESS

The stress analysis which is performed in conjunction with the Field Stress option in UnWedge is a
plane strain analysis. It is assumed that the excavation is of infinite length. The stress distribution at
the ends of the excavation is NOT computed. Therefore, the Field Stress option is only applicable
for Perimeter Wedges in UnWedge and cannot be applied to the End Wedges. In order to apply
Field Stress to End Wedges, a full 3D stress analysis of the excavation would be required. This is
not within the current capabilities of UnWedge.

4.0 Conclusion
The Field Stress option in UnWedge is an interesting analytical tool which allows you to see the
potential effects of including the actual rock mass stress in the wedge stability calculations.

However, the Field Stress option should be used with caution, and engineering judgment must be
used when interpreting the results. If long-term behaviour is being considered, then the inclusion
of Field Stress is NOT recommended, so the analysis and design of support are conservative.

This concludes the tutorial. You are now ready for the next tutorial, Tutorial 06 - Intersecting
Tunnels in UnWedge.