As part of the rock mass, both the macroscopic flaws such as joints and the mesoscopic flaws such as microcracks affect the strength and the deformational behavior of rock mass. Existing models can either handle any one of them alone, and a model which can consider the co-effect of these two kinds of flaws on rock mass mechanical behavior is not yet available. This study focusses on rock mass with nonpersistently closed joints and establishes a new damage constitutive model for it. Firstly, the damage model for the intact rock which contains only the mesoscopic flaws is introduced. Second, the expression of the macroscopic damage variable (tensor) which can consider the joint geometrical and mechanical properties at the same time is obtained based on the energy principle and fracture theory. Third, the damage variable based on coupling the macroscopic and mesoscopic flaws is deduced based on Lemaitre strain equivalence hypothesis, and then the corresponding damage constitutive model for rock mass with nonpersistently closed joints under uniaxial compression is set up. Finally, the test data for the intact rock under uniaxial compression are adopted to validate the proposed model. A series of calculation examples verify that the proposed model is capable of presenting the effect of joint geometrical and mechanical properties on the rock mass mechanical behavior.

Microcracks and joints, two types of flaws that appear in a rock mass, affect both the rock mass strength and deformability. A model that can simultaneously reflect the effect of these two types of flaws on the mechanical behavior of a rock mass with persistent joints is not yet available. This study focusses on a microcracked rock mass with persistent joints and establishes a mechanical model, accounting for the anisotropy in the rock mass strength and deformability induced by the existence of the joints. Firstly, the compound damage variable from the coupling macroscopic and mesoscopic flaws is deduced based on the Lemaitre strain equivalence hypothesis. Secondly, the corresponding damage constitutive model for a jointed rock mass is set up. Thirdly, the joint shear failure criterion is incorporated into the constitutive model to extend the model. Finally, the results of the calculation examples show that the existence of the joint will reduce the strength, enlarge the deformability, and lead to anisotropy of the rock mass. A series of calculation examples and comparisons validate that the proposed model is capable of presenting the joint-induced anisotropy in rock mass strength and deformability, determining its possible failure modes, and reasonably simulating its complete stress–strain relationship.

As part of the rock mass, both the mesoscopic and macroscopic flaws will affect the creep mechanical behavior of the rock mass with nonpersistent joints. This study focuses on this kind of rock mass and establishes a creep damage model to account for the effect of the joint on its creep mechanical behavior. First, on basis of analyzing the rock element creep mechanism and the typical creep deformation curve, a new creep damage constitutive model for the rock element is set up by introducing the damage theory and Kachanov damage evolution law into the classic creep constitutive model such as J body model. Second, the determination method of the proposed model parameters is studied in detail. Third, the calculation method of the macroscopic damage caused by the joint proposed by others is introduced which can consider the joint geometry, strength, and deformation parameters at the same time. Finally, the creep damage model for the rock mass with nonpersistent joints under uniaxial compression is proposed. The calculation examples indicate that it can present the effect of the joint on the rock mass creep mechanical behavior.

Vegetation slope protection has been widely utilized as an eco-friendly approach for slope stability. Up to now, research on the slope protection effect of shrubs and herbaceous vegetation is more than those of trees, which can be attributed to the challenge of evaluating the slope protection effect of tree root systems that can be influenced by many factors, such as root morphology, root volume, plant spacing, and planting patterns. Therefore, this study takes tap-like tree root systems as the research object, constructs the corresponding root-soil composite model by using 3D printing technology, and carries out a series of physical model experiments on slopes supported by tap-like tree root systems, examining the anti-sliding force, slope surface displacement, sliding range, and slope cracks throughout the entire process of deformation and the damage to shallow slopes, to finally evaluate the effectiveness in the slope protection effect of tree root systems from multiple perspectives. The results indicate that: (1) the peak anti-sliding force of the slope supported by tree root systems correlates positively with the root volume and negatively with plant spacing generally, and the influence of tree plant spacing on the peak anti-sliding force is weaker than that of the root volume; (2) the displacement of slopes supported by tree root systems in the square planting pattern is generally less than that in the staggered planting pattern, and the displacement of slopes has a negative correlation with the root volume and a positive correlation with the plant spacing; (3) the sliding range of the slope supported by tree root systems is significantly reduced compared with that of the unsupported slope, and the tree root system can prevent the occurrence of slope surface cracks to a certain extent, which makes the sliding-body show better integrity. The above understanding enriches the study on the slope protection effect of the tree root system, reveals the influence of the tree root volume, plant spacing, and planting pattern (square distribution and staggered distribution) of the tap-like tree root system, and offers some guidance for the engineering application of tree slope protection in practice.