Constructing boundary structures of rock blocks

Abstract

Summary Determining rock‐block structures is important for modeling jointed rock masses. This paper presents a method to construct the boundary structures of complex blocks by eliminating fictitious surfaces. The planes involved in forming a complex block are retrieved, and the boundary polygons on each plane are determined using a series of Boolean operations. A regulation method is used to adjust the resulting polygons so that the regulated outer boundary structures can be used directly in the contact‐detection algorithms. The interior fracture boundaries that are not explicitly associated with the formation of blocks are also constructed. These boundary surfaces are valued in hydraulic models to provide conductive channels of fluids in rock masses. The proposed method extends previous developments on block‐identification algorithms, and the constructed boundary structures can be used directly in the modeling process of most discrete models. The program implemented based on this method has been used to study the stability and morphology of blocks in the Three Gorges Project, and several examples are given to further demonstrate the ability and performance of the proposed method.