Program for stress calculation around openings in rock mass – RockStressCalc

The opening of new openings in the rock mass leads to a secondary state of stress along the contour of the opening itself, which reduces the bearing capacity of the rock mass. This is of extreme importance in tunnel excavation because of ensuring the stability of the excavation itself and the tunnel.

Stress analysis is one of the most important aspects of tunnel design because its proper implementation and interpretation of the results ensure long-term stability of the tunnel under different load conditions and at the same time enable the correct determination of the safety factor for the purpose of saving money when underlaying the tunnel.

The RockStressCalc program was written in the Python programming language for the calculation of secondary stresses along a circular opening in the rock mass and the calculation of the strength of the rock mass.

The advantage of this program lies in its simplicity compared to existing sophisticated and expensive software packages (Plaxis, Rocscience, Flac,…). RockStressCalc does not use numerical methods (Finite/Boundary Element Method) but uses an analytical solution of stresses around a plate with a circular opening (Kirsch), which is used in the design of tunnels of circular cross-section.