Unwedge v. 4.

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Tutorial 4 | Joint Combinations

Topics Covered:

Import DXF
Joint Combinations
Combination Analyzer
Required Support Pressure
Design Factor of Safety
Adding support pressure
Passive / Active support force

Unwedge v. 4.0 Tutorial Manual

Tutorial 4: Joint Combinations

Introduction
It is inherent in the Unwedge analysis, that wedges can only be formed by the intersection of
3 joint orientations. Unwedge does NOT consider more than 3 joint planes simultaneously in
the analysis.
However, if your input data includes more than 3 possible joint orientations, the Joint
Combinations option allows you to select and analyze different combinations of 3 joints. The
selection of combinations can be done manually, or the Combination Analyzer can be used
to help you automatically determine which are the most critical combinations of joints to
analyze.
The finished tutorial can be found in the Tutorial 04 Joint Combinations.weg file.

The Model
Select Project Settings from the toolbar or the Analysis menu.
Select: Analysis > Project Settings
In the Project Settings dialog, make sure that the units are Metric, stress as MPa. Select OK.
For this tutorial, we will start by reading in a DXF file which contains the coordinates of the
opening section boundary.
Select: File > Import > Import DXF
Navigate to the Unwedge 4.0 Examples > Tutorials folder in your Unwedge installation folder
and open the Tutorial 04 tunnel boundary.dxf file. On Windows 7 and 8 the folder path is:
C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Rocscience\Unwedge 4.0 Examples\tutorials
In the pop-up window, you are given the option of defining the boundary type you are about
to import. DXF files can also be imported into Unwedge as Ground Surfaces. They can also be
imported as Polyline Tools or Polygon Tools. These are the same tools available in the Tools
menu of Unwedge; once imported, they can be used as guides for creating the geometry, for
example. We will define the boundary as an Opening Section (default setting). Click OK.
The model should appear as follows.

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Switch to the 3D Wedge View using the drop-down menu on the toolbar or the Select View
sub-menu of the View menu.

Input Data
Now lets define the tunnel and joint properties in the Input Data dialog.
Select: Analysis > Input Data
1. Select the General tab in the Input Data dialog. Enter Tunnel Trend = 60, Plunge = 0.
2. Note the Design Factor of Safety (= 1 by default). We will be discussing this later in the
tutorial.
3. Select the Joint Orientations tab in the Input Data dialog.
4. By default, 3 joint orientations are already defined. We will keep the 3 default orientations,
and add two more joints for a total of five.
5. Select the green plus button twice in the Input Data dialog. This will create two new rows
in the data entry grid, in which you can define the orientation of two additional joints.
6. Enter Dip = 65 and Dip Direction = 0 for Joint 4.
7. Enter Dip = 30 and Dip Direction = 135 for Joint 5. The dialog should look as follows.

8. Select the Joint Properties tab in the Input Data dialog.

9. Enter Phi = 35 and Cohesion = 0 for the default joint property type (Joint Properties 1).
10. Now go back to the Joint Orientations tab. Note that Joint Properties 1 is assigned to
all 5 joints (i.e. all joints will be assumed to have the same strength properties for this
example).
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Tutorial 4: Joint Combinations

Notice the Joint Combinations option below the Joint Orientations. Since we have more
than 3 joint orientations defined, the Joint Combinations option allows you to select which
combination of 3 joints will be used for the Unwedge analysis.

TIP: You can also import plane orientations from a .dips file, by selecting the Import from Dips
button in the Input Data dialog. Dips is a program for the graphical and statistical analysis
of orientation data using spherical projection techniques. See the Rocscience website for
details.
You can manually cycle through all possible combinations of 3 joints by clicking on the
Combination control. Or you can automatically analyze all possible joint combinations with
the Combination Analyzer option. We will demonstrate both options.

Manual Selection of Joint Combinations

You can manually cycle through all possible combinations of 3 joints by clicking on the
Combination control. Each time you click on the up / down arrow buttons, a new joint
combination will be selected. Since we have 5 possible joints, this results in 10 possible
combinations of 3 different joints.
1. Click on the up arrow of the Combination control.
2. Each time you click, a different combination of 3 joints is selected, as indicated by the
Joint Combinations selection, and also in the stereonet at the right of the dialog.
3. The currently selected joint orientations (great circles) will be highlighted in colour on the
stereonet. Joint orientations which are currently NOT used will be displayed in grey on
the stereonet.
4. Drag the Input Data dialog over to the side of the screen, so that you can see the full 3D
Wedge view.
5. Now click through all 10 joint combinations, and observe the different wedges which are
formed. A great variety of different sizes and shapes of wedges can be formed from the
10 joint combinations. Note: The displayed length of the tunnel automatically changes
according to the size and orientation of the wedges which are formed.
6. The current analysis results (safety factor, wedge weight etc) are displayed in the Wedge
Info panel in the Sidebar, each time you select a different joint combination.
TIP: The display of unused joints on the stereonet can be turned on/off in the Display Options
dialog, under the General tab, by selecting the Show Unused Joints on Stereonet checkbox.
The manual selection and analysis of joint combinations is of limited practical usefulness
if you have more than 4 or 5 joint orientations. Therefore we will now demonstrate the
Combination Analyzer option which automates the process of analyzing multiple joint
combinations.

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Tutorial 4: Joint Combinations

Combination Analyzer
The Joint Combination Analyzer allows you to automatically carry out the Unwedge analysis
on all possible combinations of 3 joints, if your input data includes more than 3 possible
joint planes.
A summary of analysis results can then be viewed, which allows you to quickly determine
which combination of 3 joints is the most critical (i.e. you can sort results according to
maximum required support pressure, safety factor, wedge weight etc).
To use the Joint Combination Analyzer:
1. Select the Combination Analyzer button in the Input Data dialog (or you can select
Combination Analyzer from the Analysis menu).
2. You will see the Combination Analyzer dialog.
3. Select the Compute Combinations button in the Combination Analyzer dialog to compute
the Unwedge analysis for all possible combinations of 3 joints.
4. A summary of results will be displayed in the dialog. The results can be sorted according
to Required Support Pressure, Factor of Safety, Wedge Volume, etc, by selecting the
desired parameters from the two drop-list boxes at the top of the dialog. NOTE: We will
discuss the significance of Required Support Pressure in the next section.
5. The first list box (Sort By) is the primary sorting criterion. The parameter in the second
list box (Then By) is used as a secondary sorting criterion if identical results are
encountered in the primary sorting. Select Required Support Pressure in the first list box,
and Wedge Volume in the second list box. You should see the following results.

6. Results are always sorted from most critical to least critical. For example, the first
joint combination in the list will always represent the highest support pressure, the
largest wedge volume or weight, the lowest safety factor, etc, according to the primary
sorting criterion.
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7. You can also filter the results with the Wedge Selection drop-list. You can choose
Perimeter Wedges, End Wedges, All Wedges, or any individual wedge (e.g. Roof Wedge).
NOTE: when the Wedge Selection represents multiple wedges (e.g. Perimeter Wedges),
the displayed results represent the most critical wedge for each joint combination.
8. Experiment with the sorting and wedge selection parameters, and observe the listing of
results. When you are finished, reset the sorting parameters to Required Support Pressure
and Wedge Volume, and Wedge Selection to Perimeter Wedges.
9. Based on these sorting criteria, the most critical wedge is produced by Joint
Combination 2,3,4, with a required Support Pressure = 0.05 MPa and a Wedge Volume =
174 m3.
10. Click on Combination 2,3,4 at the top of the results list. This combination will be used
upon closure of the dialog. Select OK in the dialog. The wedges for Joint Combination
2,3,4 will now be displayed in the 3D Wedge View.
11. Select the Filter List button in the sidebar. In the Wedge Information Filter dialog, select
the Defaults button, and then select the checkboxes for Wedge Volume and Support
Pressure. Select OK.
12. Look at the results for the Upper Right Wedge (wedge #7) in the Wedge Information
panel. This is the most critical wedge determined by the Combination Analyzer. Notice
the Support Pressure (0.047 MPa) and Wedge Volume (175 m3) correspond to the
results computed in the Combination Analyzer dialog. Notice that the Support Pressure
for all other wedges is less than the required support pressure for wedge #7.

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Required Support Pressure

The Required Support Pressure is the uniform support pressure applied normal to the
excavation boundary, which would be required to achieve the Design Factor of Safety for a
particular wedge.

If the safety factor of a wedge is already greater than the Design Factor of Safety, then
the Required Support Pressure is zero.

The Design Factor of Safety is entered in the Input Data dialog under the General tab. For
this tutorial we are using the default value of Design Factor of Safety = 1.

We will now verify the relationship between the Required Support Pressure calculated by
Unwedge, and the Design Factor of Safety, by applying a support pressure to the excavation
boundary.
Switch to the Perimeter Support Designer View by using the drop-down menu on the toolbar,
or the Select View sub-menu of the View menu.
Before we add the support pressure, notice that the current safety factor of the Upper Right
Wedge is 0.327, as displayed in the Wedge Info panel in the sidebar.
Select the Add Pressure option from the Support menu.
Select: Support > Add Pressure
You will see the Add Pressure dialog. Enter a Pressure = 0.047 MPa. Select the checkbox
Apply around the whole opening section. Leave the Force Application method = Passive.
Select OK.
Because we selected the checkbox to Apply around the whole opening section, the support
pressure will be automatically applied to the entire perimeter of the opening section. Your
screen should look as follows.

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The support pressure is applied as a UNIFORM pressure, normal to each line segment of the
opening section boundary.
Now observe the results in the Wedge Info panel:

The Factor of Safety for the Upper Right Wedge = 1.00, which is equal to the Design
Factor of Safety. Because we applied the required support pressure calculated for the
unsupported wedge, the actual factor of safety is now equal to the Design Factor of
Safety.

The Required Support Pressure for the Upper Right Wedge is now zero, since no further
support pressure is required to achieve the Design Factor of Safety.

Because we applied the support pressure to the entire opening section boundary, the
factor of safety for all other wedges is greater than the Design Factor of Safety. In
general, if you apply the required support pressure for the most critical wedge, all other
wedges will have a factor of safety GREATER THAN the Design Factor of Safety.

The Required Support Pressure can be used as a starting point for the design of the actual
support system (e.g. bolts and shotcrete). For example, it can help you to estimate bolt
capacity, length and pattern spacing. In any case, it will take some trial and error to design
the actual support system to achieve the Design Factor of Safety for all wedges.
Now we will demonstrate that, by applying the Required Support Pressure for the most
critical joint combination, the Factor of Safety for all wedges produced by all joint
combinations is greater than the Design Factor of Safety. Return to the Combination Analyzer.
Select: Analysis > Combination Analyzer
Select the Compute Combinations button in the Combination Analyzer dialog.
Now select Factor of Safety as the primary sorting criterion, and Required Support Pressure as
the secondary sorting criterion.
NOTE:

The lowest factor of safety = 1.00 for the most critical wedge of joint combination 2,3,4.

All other Factor of Safety values (representing the most critical wedge for each joint
combination) are GREATER THAN the Design Factor of Safety.

In all cases, the Required Support Pressure is now zero.

This demonstrates that by applying the Required Support Pressure for the most critical joint
combination, all wedges for all joint combinations will have a Factor of Safety greater than
(or equal to) the Design Factor of Safety.

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Passive or Active Support Force Application

Finally, remember that we applied the support pressure as a Passive force (in the Add
Pressure dialog). Passive force application means that the support force acts to increase the
resisting forces which stabilize the wedge.
Note:

Required Support Pressure is calculated assuming a Passive force application.

Bolts or shotcrete in Unwedge are always implemented as a passive support force.

It is also possible to apply an Active support pressure (by selecting Force Application = Active
in the Add Pressure dialog). Active force application means that the support force acts to
decrease the driving forces on the wedge.
In general, Passive support will always give a lower Factor of Safety than Active support, and
will therefore result in a more conservative estimate of support design requirements. For
more information about Passive or Active force application, see the Theory section of the
Unwedge help system.
That concludes this tutorial on the analysis of joint combinations with Unwedge.

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