Abstract
A nonlinear elastic constitutive model that describe the increase of a secant Young's modulus by the crack closure is proposed and incorporated into the homogenization method to evaluate the mechanical properties of discontinuous rock mass. The homogenization analysis involving this “weak layer model” simulates an unconfined compression test of a specimen with a single crack and the results are compared with those of the experiment, and the effectiveness of the weak layer model is shown. Then, the proposed method is applied to an evaluation of strength of a rock mass simulating an actual rock shear test. The predicted peak shear stress agrees with those of the real test well, and the potential of the homogenization method with the proposed weak layer model in the field of rock mechanics and rock engineering is shown.
