The numerical, discrete element, Discontinuous Deformation Analysis (DDA) method was developed by Dr. Gen-hua Shi while he was working at the University of California, Berkeley, under the supervision of Prof. Richard E. Goodman in the late 1980s. Two-dimensional DDA was published in 1993 and three-dimensional DDA in 2001. Since its publication DDA has been verified, validated and applied in numerous studies worldwide and is now considered a powerful and robust method to address both static and dynamic engineering problems in discontinuous rock masses. In this book Yossef H. Hatzor and Guowei Ma, co-chairs of the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) Commission on DDA, join Dr. Shi in authoring a monograph that presents the state of the art in DDA research. A comprehensive discussion of DDA development since its publication is provided in Chapter 1, followed by concise reviews of 2D and 3D DDA in chapters 2 and 3. Procedures to select geological and numerical input parameters for DDA are discussed in Chapter 4, and DDA validation and verification is presented in Chapter 5. Applications of DDA in underground and rock slope engineering projects are discussed in chapters 6 and 7. In Chapter 8 the novel contact theory recently developed by Dr. Shi is published in its complete form, for the first time. This book is published within the framework of the ISRM Book Series and is the contribution of the ISRM DDA Commission to the international rock mechanics community.

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.

The numerical, discrete element, Discontinuous Deformation Analysis (DDA) method was developed by Dr. Gen-hua Shi while he was working at the University of California, Berkeley, under the supervision of Prof. Richard E. Goodman in the late 1980s. Two-dimensional DDA was published in 1993 and three-dimensional DDA in 2001. Since its publication DDA has been verified, validated and applied in numerous studies worldwide and is now considered a powerful and robust method to address both static and dynamic engineering problems in discontinuous rock masses. In this book Yossef H. Hatzor and Guowei Ma, co-chairs of the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) Commission on DDA, join Dr. Shi in authoring a monograph that presents the state of the art in DDA research. A comprehensive discussion of DDA development since its publication is provided in Chapter 1, followed by concise reviews of 2D and 3D DDA in chapters 2 and 3. Procedures to select geological and numerical input parameters for DDA are discussed in Chapter 4, and DDA validation and verification is presented in Chapter 5. Applications of DDA in underground and rock slope engineering projects are discussed in chapters 6 and 7. In Chapter 8 the novel contact theory recently developed by Dr. Shi is published in its complete form, for the first time. This book is published within the framework of the ISRM Book Series and is the contribution of the ISRM DDA Commission to the international rock mechanics community.