This book presents the theoretical bases and the application tools for using the 'convergence-confinement' method which is a rational method largely used in design engineering for tunneling. Until recently, the stability conditions of underground works and the choice of support methods were essentially defined on the basis of good practice or empirical methods. The progress made, on one hand on the knowledge of the constitutive laws of soils and rocks and, on the other hand on the numerical modeling of the interaction between the ground and the structures have led to the development of robust design tools for tunnels supports. The convergence-confinement method makes it possible to simulate the excavation of a tunnel and the installation of the support using a simple plane strain model. The book presents the theoretical bases of the method and its most recent developments. Closed-form solutions for stress and displacement fields around tunnels are provided for elastic, viscoelastic and elasto-plastic behavior of the ground. More generally, the principles for applying the method in numerical models are presented.

The identification of meso-scale phenomena - occurring between microscopic and continuum length scales - has been one of the most exciting developments in rock mechanics in the last decade. Meso-scale phenomena are considered as the bridge between the two length scales in understanding shear between material interfaces as well as particulate systems and in studying material response. Examples are the initiation of seismic slip along fault planes at great depths at rates nearing shock conditions, and the initiation and rapid runout of landslides near the earth's surface. Additionally, the basic physics of thermo-poro-mechanical coupling can be elucidated through a meso-scale mechanics approach as a means of understanding the loss of shearing resistance when water and heat are trapped inside almost impervious clay layers under great pressure. This book presents a collection of 21 current, peer-reviewed articles on shear physics at the meso-scale in earthquake and landslide mechanics, authored by leading international experts in the field. Contributions are grouped in 5 chapters, discussing (1) the dynamics of frictional slip, (2) fault gauge mechanics, (3) experimental fault zone mechanics, (4) granular shear and liquefaction, and (5) landslides' dynamics. This research area has broad applications to the fields of earth sciences and geoengineering, with immediate bearing on our understanding of both earthquake and landslide mechanics, two geological processes that pose great risk to man kind worldwide.

The identification of meso-scale phenomena - occurring between microscopic and continuum length scales - has been one of the most exciting developments in rock mechanics in the last decade. Meso-scale phenomena are considered as the bridge between the two length scales in understanding shear between material interfaces as well as particulate systems and in studying material response. Examples are the initiation of seismic slip along fault planes at great depths at rates nearing shock conditions, and the initiation and rapid runout of landslides near the earth's surface. Additionally, the basic physics of thermo-poro-mechanical coupling can be elucidated through a meso-scale mechanics approach as a means of understanding the loss of shearing resistance when water and heat are trapped inside almost impervious clay layers under great pressure. This book presents a collection of 21 current, peer-reviewed articles on shear physics at the meso-scale in earthquake and landslide mechanics, authored by leading international experts in the field. Contributions are grouped in 5 chapters, discussing (1) the dynamics of frictional slip, (2) fault gauge mechanics, (3) experimental fault zone mechanics, (4) granular shear and liquefaction, and (5) landslides' dynamics. This research area has broad applications to the fields of earth sciences and geoengineering, with immediate bearing on our understanding of both earthquake and landslide mechanics, two geological processes that pose great risk to man kind worldwide.

This book presents the theoretical bases and the application tools for using the 'convergence-confinement' method which is a rational method largely used in design engineering for tunneling. Until recently, the stability conditions of underground works and the choice of support methods were essentially defined on the basis of good practice or empirical methods. The progress made, on one hand on the knowledge of the constitutive laws of soils and rocks and, on the other hand on the numerical modeling of the interaction between the ground and the structures have led to the development of robust design tools for tunnels supports. The convergence-confinement method makes it possible to simulate the excavation of a tunnel and the installation of the support using a simple plane strain model. The book presents the theoretical bases of the method and its most recent developments. Closed-form solutions for stress and displacement fields around tunnels are provided for elastic, viscoelastic and elasto-plastic behavior of the ground. More generally, the principles for applying the method in numerical models are presented.