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Advances In Design Methodology In Swelling Shale Rock In Southern Ontario, Thomas R.A. Lardner

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

As infrastructure requirements increase in southern Ontario, excavations within swelling rock formations will become more frequent and larger. The objective of this study is to advance design capability for structures in swelling rock through three aspects: i) developing a practical swelling model for design engineers, ii) investigate two crushable/compressible materials for the mitigation of swelling rock effects, and iii) observe and analyze the behaviour of swelling rock to current excavation techniques.

A swelling rock constitutive model has been developed. The swelling parameters include the horizontal and vertical free swell potential, threshold stress, and critical stress as well as a “pseudo-Poisson’s …