POLITECNICO DI TORINO - DOCTORATE SCHOOL
RESEARCH PROFILES FOR DOCTORAL STUDENTS
DOCTORAL COURSE IN:
WATER AND TERRITORY MANAGEMENT ENGINEERING
RESEARCH TOPICS
ROCK FRACTURE MECHANICS
Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics concepts are applied to the study of fractured rock masses, through the
analysis of the behaviour of both open cracks in tensile stress fields and closed cracks in compressive stress
field. To this aim, a numerical methodology has been developed, based on the BEM technique of the
Displacement Discontinuity method. This numerical methodology can be applied to the study of the
progressive failure of rock structures such as fractured hard rock slopes.
Non Linear Fracture Mechanics concepts are applied to the study of cracks in soft rocks, which show a nonlinear behaviour. The Slip-Weakening model has been in particular implemented in the numerical
methodology in order to simulate the process zone at the crack tips, at which non-linear effects can be
associated. This allows the study of the development of shear bands both in laboratory specimens and in
soft rock/hard soil structures such as slopes or shallow foundation ground.
The future of the research on this topic could be dedicated to:
the improvement of the numerical methodology with regards to: special Displacement Discontinuity
Elements and the snap-back behaviour
the application of the numerical methodology to the study of progressive failure inside hard rock
structure, with particular attention to the analysis of the geometrical and mechanical input parameters
The study of the behaviour of shear bands in soft rocks/hard soils, with particular attention to the
analysis of the input parameters and their decay during the evolution process
REFERENCE PROFESSOR(S)
Prof. Claudio Scavia
Politecnico di Torino
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale e Geotecnica
Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24
10129 Torino Italy
Tel: +39-011-564-4823
Fax: +39-011-564-4899
E-mail: [email protected]
Ing. Marta Castelli
Politecnico di Torino
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale e Geotecnica
Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24
10129 Torino Italy
Tel: +39-011-564-4903
Fax: +39-011-564-4899
E-mail: [email protected]
INTERNATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION
Prof. Gioacchino Viggiani, University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble (France)
Prof. John Napier, Johannesburg (South Africa)
POLITECNICO DI TORINO - DOCTORATE SCHOOL
RESEARCH PROFILES FOR DOCTORAL STUDENTS
DOCTORAL COURSE IN:
WATER AND TERRITORY MANAGEMENT ENGINEERING
RESEARCH GROUP
Full Professor (professore di I fascia): Claudio Scavia
Researcher (ricercatore): Marta Castelli
REFERENCE PAPERS
CASTELLI M., ALLODI A., SCAVIA C., FRAYSSINES M. (2007). A Fracture Mechanics approach to the
study of rock fall triggering. In: THE SECOND HALF CENTURY OF ROCK MECHANICS. XI Congress of
the International Society For Rock Mechanics. Lisbon, Portugal. July 9-13, 2007. (vol. 2, pp. 12811284). ISBN/ISSN: 0415450845. LONDON: Balkema / Taylor & Francis Group (UNITED KINGDOM).
CASTELLI M., SCAVIA C. (2007). La meccanica della frattura per lo studio della stabilità di strutture
in roccia. In: AGI - ASSOCIAZIONE GEOTECNICA ITALIANA. MEMORIE IN RICORDO DI RENATO
RIBACCHI. (pp. 67-78). BOLOGNA: Pàtron (ITALY).
CASTELLI M., SCAVIA C. (2004). Fracture mechanics approach to the study of failure in rock.
REVUE FRANCAISE DE GENIE CIVIL. vol. 8 - n. 5/6, pp. 653-682 ISSN: 1279-5119. Special issue.
CASTELLI M., SCAVIA C. (2004). La Meccanica della frattura per lo studio della modalità di rottura
delle rocce a diverse scale. In: BARLA G., BARLA M. (eds.) - LA CARATTERIZZAZIONE DEGLI
AMMASSI ROCCIOSI NELLA PROGETTAZIONE GEOTECNICA. X Ciclo di Conferenze di Meccanica e
Ingegneria delle Rocce - MIR 2004. Torino, Italy. November 24-25, 2004. (pp. 387-422).
ISBN/ISSN: 88-555-2782-7. BOLOGNA: Pàtron (ITALY).
CASTELLI M., SAETTA V., SCAVIA C. (2003). Numerical study of scale effects on the stiffness
modulus of rock masses. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOMECHANICS. vol. 3 - n. 3/4, pp. 160169 ISSN: 1532-3641.
CASTELLI M., SAETTA V., SCAVIA C. (2003). Discontinuous character of rock masses: some open
questions related to rock fracture mechanics and scale effects. In: KOLYMBAS D.. ADVANCED
MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL GEOMECHANICS. (pp. 107-139). ISBN: 3 540 40547 X.
BERLIN: Springer - Verlag (GERMANY).
ALLODI A., CASTELLI M., MARELLO S., SCAVIA C. (2003). Shear band propagation in soft rocks:
numerical simulation of experimental results. In: TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP FOR ROCK MECHANICS.
X Congress of the ISRM. Johannesburg, South Africa. September 8-12, 2003. (vol. 1, pp. 23-28).
ALLODI A., CASTELLI M., SCAVIA C. (2002). Implementation of the slip-weakening model in a
displacement discontinuity method based numerical technique. In: BOUNDARY ELEMENTS XXIV INCORPORATING MESHLESS SOLUTIONS. XXIV International Conference on the Boundary Element
Method - BEM 24. Sintra, Portugal. June 17-19, 2002. (pp. 327-337). ISBN/ISSN: 1 85312 914 3 /
1460 1419. SOUTHAMPTON: WIT Press (UNITED KINGDOM).
ALLODI A., CASTELLI M., SCAVIA C. (2002). Shear band characteristics and mechanical behaviour
of quasi-brittle geo-materials: a numerical investigation. V European Conference on Numerical
Methods in Geotechnical Engineering - NUMGE 2002. Paris, France. September 4-6, 2002. (pp. 227232)
AMATRUDA G., CASTELLI M., ROUILLER J.D., SCAVIA C. (2002). Fracture mechanics approach to
the numerical simulation of a rock fall. III International Conference on Landslides, Slope Stability &
Safety of Infra-Structures. Singapore City, Singapore. July 11-12, 2002. (pp. 111-117).
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