Investigating Earth Reaction to Pull-Out Process of Frictional Rock Bolts Using Distinct Element Method

Abstract

The reaction of earth to pull-out process of frictional rock bolts was here modeled by the distinct element method (DEM). Ten frictional bolts were prepared; the expanding shells of five bolts included convex edges and the others had the shells with concave bits. The strength of bolts was measured by applying a standard pull-out test; the results confirmed that the strength of shells with convex edges was remarkably more than the strength of other shells. Furthermore, a two-dimensional DEM model of the test was developed by a particle flow code; the obtained results showed that the reaction of rock particles to the contacts occurring between the convex edges and earth was considerably more than those of the concave bits. In the other words, the convex edges transferred the pull-out force into a large area of the surrounded rock, causing these bolts to have the highest resistance against earth movements.