Rock Mass characterization/Classification

• Rock mass classification systems allow the user to predict the behavior of
the rock mass.

• It is the process of placing a rock mass into groups or classes and assigning a
unique number to it on the basis of similar properties.

• Rock mass classification systems allow the user to follow a guideline and
place the object in an appropriate class.

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 Rock Mass characterization/Classification

• The rock mass classification systems were designed to act as an

engineering design aid, and were not intended to substitute
field observations,
analytical considerations,
measurements, and
engineering judgment.

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 Major rock mass classification systems
Classification System Originator Country Application Areas
Rock Load Terzaghi, 1946 USA Tunnels with steel
Support
Stand-up time Lauffer, 1958 Australia Tunneling
New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) Pacher et al., 1964 Austria Tunneling
Rock Quality Designation (RQD) Deere et al., 1967 USA Core logging, tunneling
Rock Structure Rating (RSR) Wickham et al., 1972 USA Tunneling
Rock Mass Rating (RMR) Bieniawski, 1973 South Africa Tunnels, mines, (slopes,
foundations)
Modified Rock Mass Rating (M-RMR) Ünal and Özkan, 1990 Turkey Mining
Rock Mass Quality (Q) Barton et al., 1974 Norway Tunnels, mines,
foundations
Strength-Block size Franklin, 1975 Canada Tunneling
Rock Mass Strength (RMS) Stille et al., 1982 Sweden Metal mining
Unified Rock Mass Classification System Williamson, 1984 USA General
Communication Weakening Coefficient Singh, 1986 India Coal mining
System
Rock Mass Index (RMi) Palmström, 1996 Sweden Tunneling
Geological Strength Index (GSI) Hoek and Brown, 1997 Canada All U/G excavations
CMRI-ISM Geomechanical Venkateswarlu, Ghose, India Coal mining, Soft rocks
Classification System and Raju, 1989
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Rock Quality Designation (RQD)
Developed by Deer in 1967, USA

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 RQD: Rock Quality Designation
• Proposed by D.U Deere in 1964
• It is an index of assessing rock quality quantitatively from drill logs
• It is a more sensitive index of the core quality than the core recovery
• Expressed in term of percentage
• Core diameter size is not less NX size as per ISRM

S. No. RQD (%) Rock Quality

1 <25 Very poor
sum of core pieces  10cm
RQD  100 2 25-50 Poor
Total drill run 3 50-75 Fair
4 75-90 Good
5 90-100 Excellent

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 RQD: Direct Method

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 RQD: Direct Method
S. No. RQD (%) Rock Quality
sum of core pieces  10cm 1 <25 Very poor
RQD  100 2 25-50 Poor
Total drill run
3 50-75 Fair
4 75-90 Good
5 90-100 Excellent

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 RQD: Direct Method
S. No. RQD (%) Rock Quality
1 <25 Very poor
2 25-50 Poor
3 50-75 Fair
4 75-90 Good
5 90-100 Excellent

sum of core pieces  10cm

RQD  100
Total drill run

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 RQD

L=0 (Length of core pieces  10cm) * 100

RQD 
Total length of core run
L=9

(48  31  26  18) * 100

RQD 
L = 48 200

RQD  61.5%
L = 200
cm

L = 31

RQD is a directional parameter and its

L=3 value may change significantly, depending
L = 26
upon the borehole orientation.

L = 18

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 Rock Quality Designation and Core Recovery Ratio

> 10 cm > 10 cm
Minimum and maximum values of RQD for various > 10 cm
joint densities along drill cores (Palmstrom, 2001)
> 10 cm

> 10 cm

Σ length of core pieces recovered

Core recovery= x 100
ratio Total length of core run

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 RQD: Direct Method
 Seismic method,
 Volumetric joint count method,
 Weighted joint density

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 RQD: Direct Method
Seismic methods

RQD = Velocity ratio = (VF/VL)2*100

where, VF = Compressional wave velocity in-situ
VL = Compressional wave velocity in intact rock core

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 RQD: Direct Method
Joint Volumetric count
Number of joints per unit volume(Jv)
A simple relationship has been proposed by Palmstrom (1982)
RQD = 115 – 3.3*Jv

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 RQD: Direct Method
Weighted Joint Density
The weighted joint measurement method proposed by Palmstrom
(1996) to achieve better information from Borehole and surface
observation. It is based on the measurement of the angle between
each joint and the surface or the drill hole.
WJD = 1/√(A) * ∑ (1/sinθ) for rock surface
WJD = 1/√(L) * ∑ (1/sinθ) for drill core

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 Limitations of RQD

• RQD does not reflect fully the rock mass quality as it only considers the
extent of fracturing of the rock mass and does not account for the strength
of the rock or mechanical and other geometrical properties of the joints.

• As RQD depends on the sampling line orientation relative to preferential

orientation distribution of discontinuities, it does not give a reliable
estimate of the degree of jointing of the rock mass.

• Furthermore, it cannot account for the length of the considered joints.

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Rock Mass Rating
(RMR)
RMR is determined based on 6 parameters

1. Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of the rock material

2. Rock quality designation (RQD)

3. Joint or discontinuity spacing

4. Joint condition

5. Ground water condition

6. Joint orientation

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1. Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS)

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Field estimates of UCS

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2. Rock Quality Designation (RQD)

RQD = [(Sum of the core pieces ≥ 10cm) /Total drill run (length)]*100

RQD Rock Quality Classification Rating

<25% Very Poor 3
25-50% Poor 8
50-75% Fair 13
75-90% Good 17
90-100% Excellent 20

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3. Spacing of Discontinuities
The term discontinuity indicates any kind of weak planes, such as,
joints, foliations, bedding planes, minor faults, shear zones etc.

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4. Condition of Discontinuities
It is based on the characteristics of the discontinuity surfaces,
includes roughness of the surfaces, their separation, length or
continuity, weathering of rock along discontinuity surfaces and
infilling materials (gouge)

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Guidelines for Classification of Discontinuity Conditions

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5. Ground Water Condition

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6. Orientation of Discontinuities

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Orientation of Discontinuities

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 The RMR should be determined as an algebraic sum of all the ratings
present in the previous tables
Estimation of RMR

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 Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of the rock material

Rock quality designation (RQD) Dry

RMR
Joint or discontinuity spacing
RMR

Joint condition
Basic
Ground water condition RMR

Joint orientation

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Rock Science and Rock Engineering Lab
Estimation of Support Pressure
100  RMR 
Pv      B
Where,
 100 
pv = support pressure,
γ = rock density, and
B = tunnel width

RMR can also be used to estimate

 the allowable bearing pressure of a rock

 to find out the shear strength of rock masses

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Indirect Estimates of the Modulus of Deformation
Because of the high cost and often measurement difficulties associated with in-
situ tests, the modulus can be estimated for preliminary from observations of
relevant rock mass parameters

Note. The direct measurement of the modulus is a priority for any project.

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Rock Science and Rock Engineering Lab