1.

INTRODUCTION
The time-dependent behavior such as creep and
relaxation of geomaterials is of great importance for
the design of deep underground mines in soft rocks.
For example, the deformation process of a mined-
out room in potash mine may continue for several
months and even years after excavation to the extent
of complete closure of the openings. The engineer is
faced with the problem of adequately predicting the
ultimate status of openings based upon evaluations
of time-dependent analysis and observations made
during the excavation period. A finite element
program VISROCK, which implements the elastic
viscoplastic model [1], has been developed in
CANMET-MMSL, Natural Resources Canada to
serve this purpose for salt mines and other soft rock
structures.
Potash and rock salts are rate sensitive materials,
which creep under sustained load, and they can
yield excessively if the stress state is beyond a
certain threshold. The general time-dependent
behavior in creep of a rock sample can be divided
into three stages, i.e., primary creep at an
exponentially decaying rate, secondary creep at a
constant rate, and tertiary creep at an accelerating
rate leading to failure.
A simple rheological model capable of considering
the primary, secondary and tertiary creeps can be
represented by a combination of ideal elements [2].
The basic deformation elements include a spring
accounting for elastic behavior, a dashpot and a
slider accounting for viscous and plastic behavior.
Tertiary creep is modeled by assuming that strength
(cohesion and friction angle for geomaterials)
degrades with increasing viscoplastic strain rate and
is herein regarded as a drop in the strength of the
slider.
A case study of a potash mine in Saskatchewan,
Canada has been conducted to predict the long-term
closures, as well as to analyze the stress
ARMA/NARMS 04-433


Analysis of Time-dependent Deformations in Soft Rocks by using an
Elasto-Viscoplastic Model
Gary G. Li
Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories, CANMET, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Somchet Vongpaisal
Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories, CANMET, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Victor Ong
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Copyright 2004, ARMA, American Rock Mechanics Association

This paper was prepared for presentation at Gulf Rocks 2004, the 6
th
North America Rock Mechanics Symposium (NARMS): Rock Mechanics Across Borders and Disciplines, held in
Houston, Texas, June 5 9, 2004.
This paper was selected for presentation by a NARMS Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted earlier by the author(s). Contents of the
paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by ARMA/NARMS and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of
NARMS, ARMA, CARMA, SMMR, their officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written
consent of ARMA is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain
conspicuous acknowledgement of where and by whom the paper was presented.
ABSTRACT: The phenomenon of time-dependent deformation is commonly observed in underground openings where mining
excavations are the main sources of mechanical loads. To predict the long-term deformations in soft rocks, a viscoplastic law has
been implemented in a two-dimensional finite element program. A special time marching scheme is adopted to avoid numerical
instability. A case study of a potash mine in Canada has been conducted to predict the long-term closures, as well as to analyze the
stress distributions around the openings. The simulation results of displacement histories are closely matched with the field data.
Comparing the deformations in average, the predicted values are higher than the field values. The maximum discrepancy is less
than 20%. From a practical point of view, the predicted values are considered to be acceptable as heterogeneities and unknown
discontinuities always exist in the mine. From overall evaluation, it suggests that model can be used as a practical tool for
underground mine design of potash deposits.
distributions around the openings. Mining sequence
of five openings at a depth of 960 metres is
simulated. The deformation histories from the
analysis are verified by those of the field data over a
period of 2820 days after the mine was excavated.
2. ELASTO-VISCOPLASTIC MODEL
The elasto-viscoplastic model is developed based on
the classical Perzynas theory [3], which assumes
that the viscoplastic strain rate is a function of the
distance between the loading point representative of
the state of stresses and a yield viscoplastic surface,
in accordance with certain flow rules. For rate
sensitive geomaterials such as potash, Mohr-
Coulomb and Drucker-Prager failure criteria are
adopted to define the onset of inelastic
deformations. As opposed to elasto-plasticity, the
stress state in viscoplasticity is allowed to exceed
the limit surface until a steady condition is reached
and the final stress state returns to the yield surface.
The time-dependent behavior of the rock mass is
controlled by a creep law function that can be either
a power law or exponential decay. In order to
stabilize the numerical iterations, the time step is
controlled by an empirical criterion based on the
increment of maximum effective viscoplastic strain.
2.1. Formulation
The viscoplastic strain rate in a rheological model
can be obtained by postulating a viscoplastic
potential G,

>

< =
G
F
F
vp
n
0
1
& . (1)
G = F for associated flow rule and G F for non-
associated flow rule. The symbol <> represents the
MacCauley bracket that stands for the positive part
of the argument.
The gradient of the plastic potential represents the
normal vector to the yield surface. In the case of an
associated flow rule, it gives the direction in which
the plastic flow takes place. is a function of F and
represents the creep law based on the yield criterion
used. It may be a power law [4], or an exponential
defined by constants n and M, i.e.
n
F
F
F
F

0 0
or 1
0
0
=

F
F
M
e
F
F
. (2)
F
0
is a constant used to make F dimensionless.
The change in viscoplastic strain rate can be
obtained by integrating Eq. (1) in time interval [t
n
,
t
n+1
], which gives
n n
vp
n
H = & , (3)
where H
n
is the Hessian matrix containing partial
second derivatives of F for an associated flow rate.
The change in viscoplastic strain at the end of the
time step can be expressed as
) (
vp
n
vp
n n
vp
n
t & & + = . (4)
The factor controls the nature of approximation.
= 0 corresponds to an explicit scheme and = 1
refers to a fully implicit scheme. By substituting Eq.
(3) and (4) into the stress-strain relationship, i.e.

n
= C (
n
-
n
vp
), one gets
) (
vp
n n
vp
n n n
t D & = , (5)
where D
n
stands for tangential elasto-viscoplastic
matrix; C represents elastic matrix.
1 1
) (

+ =
n n n
H t C D . (6)
The tangential stiffness matrix at time step n can be
expressed in terms of matrix D
n
and B, the strain-
displacement matrix, i.e.

= Bd D B K
n
T
n
. (7)
The general equilibrium equations from finite
element method become
n
vp
n n n n
f f u K + + = , (8)
in which f
n
is the increment of external load; f
n
vp

represents the correction nodal forces from visco-
plastic deformations; and
n
is a vector of residual
forces.

= d D B t f
vp
n n
T
n
vp
n
& . (9)
2.2. Strain softening
The strain softening of rock mass depends on the
level of accumulated deviatoric strain. Since the
tertiary creep can be described as a loss in material
strength, the yield stress value F is made a function
of effective viscoplastic strains through a simple bi-
linear relationship (Fig. 1),
vp vp
off cut
H H H F F
2 2 1 0
) ( + + =

. (10)
R
1
- Limestone 30 m
R
2
- Shale 7.6 m
R
3
- Halite
1
7.6 m
R
3
- Halite
1
16.2 m R
5
- Potash 2.44 m
R
4
- Clay seam 0.6 m
897 m from ground surface
R
6
- Halite
2
80 m
26
38 m 26






Figure 1. Hardening/softening law for tertiary creep
H
1
and H
2
are parameters that prescribe the desired
hardening (positive value) and softening (negative
value) effects. The effective viscoplastic strain is
calculated by
vp vp vp
=
3
2
. (11)
2.3. Time step
The time step size t is critical to the success of a
time-dependent analysis using viscoplasticity and
FEM. If the step is too large, the iteration may not
converge or the results are incorrect. If the step is
too small, unnecessary iterations are executed and it
means a waste of computer resources. For explicit
time stepping scheme ( = 0), the integration
scheme is conditionally stable and the step size
must be less than a critical value derived under
specific conditions by Cormeau [5]. For more
general cases, refer to the empirical criteria
suggested by Owen and Hinton [6].
Two factors are used to control the step in order to
obtain accurate results. The first one, in Eq. (12) is
suggested between 0.01 and 0.15 to keep the step
size below the minimum ratio of the total strains to
the effective viscoplastic strain. The second factor,
k, is used to limit interval increase for any two
consecutive steps.
min
1
1
1

+
+
+
vp
n
n
n
t

(12)
3. COMPUTER PROGRAM
A two-dimensional finite element program has been
developed based on the proposed model. It is
capable of solving a wide range of time-dependent
problems in rock mechanics. In the current version,
Mohr-Coulomb, Drucker-Prager, Tresca, and Von-
Mises failure criteria have been implemented.
The computation loads include initial stress,
incremental forces and boundary pressures. Mining
sequence of excavations and backfills can be
simulated. An initial time step t
0
is used at the
beginning and when each mining step starts. The
time interval is automatically adjusted based on the
level of effective viscoplastic strains in the time
process.
A user-friendly processor has been developed to
easily set up models, specify boundary conditions
and parameters, and view the graphic results.
Displacement and stress contours, failure states of
the elements, and deformation vectors at certain
times can be displayed in multi-windows. The
histories of deformations and stresses at selected
nodes and elements can be plotted in a separate
window together with field data if desired.
4. ANALYSIS OF TIME-DEPENDENT
DEFORMATIONS IN A POTASH MINE
4.1. Geological formation and rock properties
The potash mine is located in the Prairie Evaporite
Formation of Saskatchewan, Canada. Figure 2
shows the geological formation and thickness of
different rock layers, in which the potash layer is at
a depth of 960 metres below ground surface. The
rock properties are listed in Table 1. Strain
hardening and softening are considered only for
limestone, shale and clay seam.









Figure 2. Layout of rock types and thickness

Table 1. Material properties
Rock type R
1
R
2
R
3
R
4
R
5
R
6

Youngs mod.
E (MPa)
33010 14550 5060 1455 3270 5340
Poissons ratio

0.28 0.27 0.46 0.44 0.46 0.46
Density
(MN/m
3
)
0.027 0.023 0.022 0.022 0.027 0.022
F(c,)
F
cut-off
F
0 peak
F
residual

1 cut-off
vp
H
1
H
2
1

1

Elastic

vp

1 cut-off
vp
Cohesion (peak)
c (MPa) (res.)
23.0
10.0
0.1
0.01
0.1
10.0
0.01
0.1 0.1
Friction (peak)
Angle (res.)
46
38
30
25
12
7
22 28
Hardening mod.
H
1
(MPa)
46700 600 0 -1000 0 0
Softening mod.
H
2
(MPa)
-2600 -100 0 -1000 0 0
Effective strain
cut-off

0.05 0.05 0.05
Fluidity 1/
(1/day)
0.5E-7 0.5E-7
0.35
E-7
0.5E-7
0.35
E-7
0.5E-7
Exponent
number n
4.3 4.3 4.5 4.3 4.5 4.3
4.2. Mining sequence and computation time
In this study, excavations of five openings (test
rooms) on panel 409 are simulated. The widths of
openings and pillars are shown in Figure 3. Each of
the first four rooms from left is divided into 4
passes and the fifth room into 3 passes. The mining
sequence of 19 passes (mining steps) is given in
Table 2.
Table 2 Mining sequence
Cutting days
Location
Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 4
Room 1 0 14 23 101
Room 2 127 145 158 173
Room 3 205 223 239 278
Room 4 326 344 356 371
Room 5 381 395 411

In order to compare the deformation histories from
modeling with those from field measurements, the
total computation time is set 2820 days from the
first cutting date estimated as May 11, 1984. The
initial time step inputted is 0.5 day, which will be
adjusted by the program during computation based
on the stable state of effective viscoplastic strains in
each mining step.
4.3. Finite element model
Figure 3 is the finite element mesh around the
openings. The construction of the mesh model has
considered that the height of openings are 2.44 m,
the pass widths in openings are 6.1 and 7.6 m (20
and 25 ft), and the convergence stations are located
at the midpoints of respective passes in room 1. The
left boundary, which is 14 m away form room 5, is
a symmetrical axis.









Figure 3. A finite element mesh of Panel 409
The vertical pre-mining stress is equivalent to the
gravitational stress field, and the ratio of horizontal
to vertical initial stress is 1.0. The effect of rock
mass above 897 m level is simulated by an over
burden pressure acting on the top boundary of the
model.
4.4. Analysis results
The results include histories of deformation and
stresses at selected nodes and elements, and
distributions of displacements and stresses in certain
times. Failure states and yield areas of the elements
are also collected during the computation.
Figure 4 shows the displacement contours around
room 1 on day 102, when the first room was mined,
and on day 500, when mining of first five rooms in
panel 409 was completed. The closure at centerline
of first pass in room 1 is increased from 21.6 cm to
33.2 cm in about 400 days.






Figure 4. Displacement contours around room 1








Figure 5. Computed deformation histories at midpoints of the
rooms

Time (days)
D
e
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n

(
c
m
)
Room 4
Room 1
Room 2
Room 3
Room 5
20 33.5 26 26 26 26 38 38 38
Panel 409
Rm 1 Rm 2 Rm 3 Rm 4 Rm 5
2
.
4
4
0.332
0.290
0.249
0.207
0.166
0.124
0.083
0.041
0.000
0.216
0.189
0.162
0.135
0.108
0.081
0.054
0.027
0.000
U
r
(m) U
r
(m)







Figure 6. Computed deformation histories of passes in room 1

To analyze the impacts of mining activities on
closures when cutting different rooms and passes,
the deformation processes of all five rooms were
plotted in Figure 5 and four passes at room 1 in
Figure 6. It is seen that, in this example, mining in
one room has little influence on the closures of
other rooms; while cutting in one pass will have a
significant impact on the closures of other passes in
the same room. Therefore, the 11.6 cm increment in
room closure (Fig. 4), from 102 to 500 days, is
mainly caused by the viscoplastic strains or creeps
of rock masses, rather than the excavation of other
rooms.

Computed stress changes induced by excavations
are restricted in regions within about 15 m from the
openings. Therefore, we take room 1 for example
and study the stress distributions around it. The
major and minor principal stress contours on day
102 are shown in Figures 7a and 7b, repectively. In
early times, overstress zones are developed in roofs
and floors, as well as in sidewalls. Tensile zones
with the maximum magnitude of 11.05 MPa occur
near the roof and floor of room 1. As expected, high
compressive stresses are also concentrated in both
sidewall corners, especially on right side near pass
4, which was cut in 101 days.







Figure. 7a. Major principal stress about room 1 on day 102








Figure 7b. Minor principal stress about room 1 on day 102

With the development of viscoplastic strains, high
compressive stresses are reduced gradually due to
the relaxation from strain softening. The stress
distributions on day 500 (Figures 8a and 8b) show
that the major and minor principal stresses are
reduced by 25% and 47%, respectively.
Furthermore, over-relaxed stress regions are found
and extended about 15 m into the roof and floor of
the opening.






Figure 8a. Major principal stress about room 1 on day 500





Figure 8b. Minor principal stress about room 1 on day 500

Figures 9 shows stress variations of potash near the
sidewalls. The major principal stresses in pillars
instantly jump 26 38 MPa, depending on room
and pass sizes. The stress evolution is then
developed due to relaxation from the viscoplastic
strain. The stress values tend to be stable in about
400 days from the cutting date.




Time (days)
D
e
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n

(
c
m
)
Pass 3
Pass 2
Pass 4
Pass 1
56.524
50.549
44.574
38.599
32.624
26.649
20.674
14.699
8.7245
2.7495

1
(MPa)
24.2469
20.7831
17.3192
13.8554
10.3915
6.92786
3.46384
0.00000
-0.1676

3
(MPa)

1
(MPa)
74.955
66.919
58.084
50.049
42.814
34.779
26.744
18.709
10.673
2.6387

3
(MPa)
45.421
37.851
30.280
22.710
15.140
7.5702
0.0000
-5.525
-11.05
Time (days)
Room 1
Room 3
Room 5
M
a
j
o
r

P
r
i
n
c
i
p
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)






Figure 9. Variations of major principal stresses in pillars

Creeps and relaxations can be confirmed by the
expansion of element failures with time. From the
variation of yield areas plotted in Figure 10, the
plastic areas are linearly increased with time within
400 days, during which the excavation in five
rooms takes place. Beyond this period, i.e. after the
five rooms were completely mined, the yielding
process slows down dramatically. The later
development of element failures is from stress
redistributions or movements of stress states toward
the yield surface.








Figure 10. Process of yield areas in finite elements
5. COMPARISON OF MODELING
DEFORMATIONS WITH FIELD DATA
Room convergence meters were installed in room 1 at
the midpoints of four passes. The longitudinal
length of the room is 1220 m (4000 ft), which can
be perfectly considered as a plain strain problem in
the finite element analysis. In this study, the field
data collected from three stations is used to compare
with the closures obtained from numerical
modeling. The three stations are located in different
sections of room 1, in which Station 2400 is close to
the mid-length of the room. The monitoring data
from Station 2800 and Station 3200 is available
only for the first 1222 days. The deformation
histories from field measurement and from finite
element analysis are plotted in Figures 11 14.











Figure 11. Deformation process at centreline of pass 1








Figure 12. Deformation process at centreline of pass 2









Figure 13. Deformation process at centreline of pass 3









Figure 14. Deformation process at centreline of pass 4
In general, the agreements between the field and
numerical results are satisfied, especially at pass 1
(Fig. 11), the closures are favorably matched in
early 1200 days, and at pass 2 (Fig. 12), the
Time (days)
D
e
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n

(
c
m
)
Pass 1
Numerical (FEM)
Field (Station 2400)
Field (Station 2800)
Field (Station 3200)
Time (days)
D
e
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n

(
c
m
)
Pass 2
Numerical (FEM)
Field (Station 2400)
Field (Station 2800)
Field (Station 3200)
Time (days)
D
e
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n

(
c
m
)
Pass 3
Numerical (FEM)
Field (Station 2400)
Field (Station 2800)
Field (Station 3200)
Time (days)
D
e
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n

(
c
m
)
Pass 4
Numerical (FEM)
Field (Station 2400)
Field (Station 2800)
Field (Station 3200)
Time (days)

Calculated according to the
states of Gaussian points
Y
i
e
l
d

a
r
e
a

(

1
0
0

m
2
)
deformation curves even coincide after 1200 days.
It is seen from the process of long-term closures, the
elasto-plastic deformations induced by excavations
in early times and the viscoplastic deformations
from creeps and strain softening are correctly
captured.
Comparing the room deformations in average, the
predicted values are higher than the field values.
The maximum discrepancy is less than 20%. This is
probably due to a higher short-term closure rate in
early days during the excavation. Typically, in
passes 2 and 4, the deformation rates of modeling
are much higher than those of monitoring in about
120 days after excavation. However, the viscous
parameters used in the analysis are considered to be
appropriate and fairly reflect the time-dependent
behavior of the rocks. The disagreements between
curves in Figures 13 and 14 may also be caused by
the inaccurate approximations of the complex
boundary conditions around the corners of pass 3
and pass 4.
From a practical point of view, the predicted values
are considered to be acceptable as heterogeneities
and unknown discontinuities always exist in the
mine.
6. CONCLUSIONS
An elasto-viscoplastic model has been proposed and
implemented in a finite element program for
analyzing the time-dependent behavior of soft
rocks. It is capable of simulating elasto-plastic
deformations under excessive loads and capturing
different stages of creeps in a sustained stress state.
Commonly used yield criteria, such as Mohr-
Coulomb and Drucker-Prager for geomaterials,
have been used to examine the stress states and
calculate the viscoplastic strains based on the creep
laws and strain softening function.
An integrated numerical modeling package
VISROCK, including an elasto-viscoplastic analysis
program and a multi-functional processor, has been
developed. It is suited to solve the time-dependent
problems in soft rocks, especially for potash mines,
to predict the long-term closures of underground
openings.
A potash mine with large underground openings in
soft rocks has been studied. The deformation
histories predicted by the numerical modeling have
been verified by the field data at four passes in the
first room. The agreements between analytical
results and field measurements are very satisfied. It
is demonstrated that the model perfectly describes
the mechanisms of elastic, elasto-plastic, and
viscoplastic deformations occurred in different
stages of the mining process. It also suggests that
the material properties used in the computation,
including strain hardening/softening moduli and
viscous parameters, are appropriate and fairly
represent the characteristics of in-situ rock masses
Due to the projected concentrations of tensile
stresses in roofs and floors of the openings and of
high compressive stresses in sidewalls, the yield
zones represented by potential failure area are
expended rapidly in early times of the excavations.
After a period of time, the stress concentrations are
reduced and even disappeared in some regions due
to the creeps and relaxations occurred in high stress
zones. This phenomenon seems to confirm the
process of plastic areas calculated according to
element states in different time steps.
From overall evaluations, the results from the
modeling are reasonable and the deformations are
favorably matched with field measurements. It
suggests that the proposed model is correct and the
software can be used as a practical tool for soft rock
analysis.
ACKNOWLEGEMENT
The supports from CANMET and the Potash
Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. managements are
greatly appreciated.
REFERENCES
1. Wan, R.G. and Y.S. Yu. 1992. A softening elasto-
viscoplastic model for potash mines. In Proceedings of
the CIM Annual General Meeting, Montreal, Quebec,
26 30 April 1992. Oxford
2. Zienkiewicz, O.C. and R.L. Taylor. 2000. The Finite
Elements Method. Fifth Edition. Butterworth-
Heinemann, Oxford.
3. Perzyna, P. 1966, Fundamental problems in
viscoplasticity. In Advances in Applied Mechanics. Vol.
9, pp 243-277.
4. Pariseau, W.G. 1999. Some consequences of a
viscoplastic approach to time-dependent behavior. In
Proceedings of the 37
th
U.S. Rock Mechanics
Symposium. Vail, Colorado, 6 9 June 1999, eds. B.
Amadei et al, Vol. 2, 927934. Rotterdam: Balkema.
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elasto-visco-plasticity, Int. J. Num. Meth. Engng. Vol.
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6. Owen, D.R.J. and E. Hinton. 1980. Finite Elements in
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