Numerical study on the strength and fracture of rock materials with multiple rough preexisting fissures under uniaxial compression using particle flow code

Preexisting fissures are common in rock mass engineering, and these preexisting fissures can considerably reduce the strength of rock masses and the stability of rock mass engineering. Considering that the preexisting fissures are not straight, a DEM numerical simulation model with rough joints under uniaxial compressive loading was constructed. From the analysis of the numerical simulation results, we found that the peak strength increases with increasing inclination angle. Moreover, the JRC influences the peak strength. Even though the JRC values are close, there are still some differences. Moreover, the number of cracks increased slowly before the uniaxial stress reached the peak strength; however, the number of cracks increased remarkably at the postpeak stage. Moreover, the crack path becomes simpler with increasing JRC. The numerical simulation results can provide a numerical basis for rock masses with rough joints in engineering practice.