Authors: Wen Zhang Jianping Chen Chang Liu Rui Huang Ming Li Ying Zhang
Publish Date: 2011/11/02
Volume: 45, Issue: 3, Pages: 409-419
Abstract
A case study at the Baihetan dam site was undertaken to obtain a representative volume element RVE size Twodimensional fracture information in an exploration tunnel was used to generate a large threedimensional fracture network By dividing the entire modeled rock mass into cubes the volumetric fracture density P32 value of each cube was determined The size effect can be determined by changing the cube size The RVE was determined using P32 calculation and statistical tests including KolmogorovSmirnov KS and Wilcoxon ranksum tests The P32 value depends on the geometrical parameters of fracture density and size in this study this value is called the geometrical RVE P32 is dependent on fracture density and size and cannot appropriately reflect certain data such as fracture dip or dip angle Therefore we propose a structural RVE SRVE considering fracture dip direction dip angle density and size which together constitute the available information about the fracture network Therefore the SRVE is more applicable for use in solving geological problems than the RVE In this analysis the KS and Wilcoxon ranksum tests were used to determine the SRVE size
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