An Investigation of the Rock Creep and Its FE Modeling

The constant force method with stress compensation is a widely used technique in laboratory creep tests. But the method does not board well with the ideal creep loading definition. Hence, there is some discrepancy when using creep properties obtained from those tests. In the present paper, an attempt is made to study rock creep using three-dimensional Finite Element (FE) analysis. The simulation of the creep test does not yield a precise response due to the influence of many factors, namely, load condition and end-plate restraint. This FE model is developed to simulate rock creep and corresponding creep parameters with strain versus time curves are adopted from the literature. Furthermore, a visco-elastic model that would correct the creep curve is adopted and a back-analysis method is proposed. Obtained corrected creep curves from the experimental creep curves would help to better understand rock creep and quantify various influencing parameters and long-term performance of rock engineering structures.