Study on spatial block topological identification of Excavation Damaged Zone (EDZ) for rock mass

Within a certain domain of rock mass, identification of all blocks cut by three-dimensional finite random or fixed discontinuities is a critical basic problem in jointed rock mass researches. At the same time the estimations of Excavation Damaged Zone (EDZ) are important for design and construction of rock engineering. Based on these characteristics of rock, the principle of block and general method of spatial block topological identification with stochastic discontinuities cutting, the block identification of cavern rock mass is studied. Three-dimension numerical method of block theory is proposed in this paper. Identification of block is finished by the method that structural planes cut rock mass in sequence and the data of blocks is stored in dynamic array, which make sure that storage capacity is not limited by algorithm. On these bases, the three-demission Geotechnique Structural modeling and Analysis code (GeoSMA-3D) is developed to identify the quantity of the complicated blocks (including the concave form) which are cut by numerous structure planes. It is shown by example analysis and accuracy test results that the method is effective to search the strong commonality and reliability. A better understanding of the mechanics of influence, especially regarding the assessment of EDZ is required. Finally, case of caverns is studied.