Anchorage behaviour of reinforced specimens containing a single fissure under uniaxial loading: a particle mechanics approach

Particle flow code (PFC2D) software was adopted to investigate the anchorage behaviour and the characteristics of crack initiation, propagation and coalescence of reinforced specimens containing a single fissure (RSCSF). The microscopic parameters of the specimens in the numerical simulation were first validated by experimental outcomes of intact specimens, while the microscopic parameters of the rock bolts were validated based on the results of the RSCSF tests. Then, the mechanical parameters as well as the failure modes in the physical experiments were compared with those derived by the numerical simulation; the results showed good agreement between the simulated macroscopic mechanical properties and failure modes and those obtained in the laboratory experiments. The peak strength, number of cracks and the failure mode varied considerably as the anchorage angle α and fissure angle β increased. Three types of stress–strain curves, types I to III, were obtained from the RSCSF. Shear cracks were observed for all three categories of curves, but the tensile cracks were dominant. The number of cracks and the rate of bond failures decreased as the curve changed from type II to type I to type III. RSCSF failure can be classified into three failure modes: (1) tip crack propagation mode, (2) midpoint crack propagation mode and (3) rock bolt crack propagation mode. These failure modes are primarily differentiated by relations between α and β, and the ratio UCSS/UCSI between the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS, σ max) of the RSCSF (UCSS) and the uniaxial compressive strength of the intact specimen (UCSI).