GE ENG 477: Discontinuous Rock

Assignment 10: Rock Mass Classification Study

You are given an expert system called Classex, which prompts you for input for the RMR and Q systems. You are given handouts describing the RMR and Q systems in the previous assignment.

A) Familiarize yourselves with these systems, and the input requirements. Note that using Classex is more comprehensive than using the tables.

B) Go get all the field data (measurements and categorizations) that you need for these three systems, from the rock cuts that you visited on the previous assignment.

C) Assuming (read pretend) that you are at a depth of 100 m, and you are designing a tunnel with a span of 5 m.

  1. Calculate the rock rating for each system. (If the character of the rock changes significantly from one place to another, you may have to divide the cut into separate domains.)
  1. What would be the maximum unsupported span?
  1. How likely is “block caving” to be successful in this rock?
  1. What type of support would you use?

Please feel free to make assumptions where necessary. State assumptions, and show how you arrived at your answers with Classex reports or worksheets, plus provide field notes.

Note: Please answer the questions explicitly, don’t make me hunt through screen dumps. Show screen dumps where they back up your answers, or illustrate a point. Alternatively you can include a session log.

In this assignment you will be using an expert system to do a rock mass classification. This system was created by a colleague of mine, Mr. Tony Butler. It is bit flaky and much to complicated to use in routine analyses, but it is an excellent educational tool. It is attached as a zipped file (It has a LOT of support files).
To run, after unzipping:
Click on VPX.exe
4 (for consult)
Claastar.kbs
and then just follow the instructions.
You will do both Q and RMR, and if you do both in a single run some of the data will transfer. After finishing one, the system will prompt you to ask if you would like to do the other. The options are well explained, although it is not possible to start and stop; I think you will have to do the analysis in a single session, if you restart you will have to start over, so you might make a log of what numbers you enter. Similarly entry errors cannot be fixed later. There is however error checking built in, test this by entering a joint spacing of say 2 m and an RQD of 10%, and the program will correctly determine that this is not possible.
Good luck and have fun with this.

ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE: One week after assignment