To understand the fracture features of zonal disintegration and reveal the failure mechanisms of circle tunnels excavated in deep jointed rock masses, a series of three-dimensional heterogeneous models considering varying joint dip angles are established. The strength reduction method is embedded in the RFPA method to achieve the gradual fracture process, macro failure mode and safety factor, and to reproduce the characteristic fracture phenomenon of deep rock masses, i.e., zonal disintegration. The mechanical mechanisms and acoustic emission energy of surrounding rocks during the different stages of the whole formation process of zonal disintegration affected by different-dip-angle joints and randomly distributed joints are further discussed. The results demonstrate that the zonal disintegration process is induced by the stress redistribution, which is significantly different from the formation mechanism of traditional surrounding rock loose zone; the dip angle of joint set has a great influence on the stress buildup, stress shadow and stress transfer as well as the failure mode of surrounding rock mass; the existence of parallel and random joints lead the newly formed cracks near the tunnel surface to developing along their strikes; the random joints make the zonal disintegration pattern much more complex and affected by the regional joint composition. These will greatly improve our understanding of the zonal disintegration in deep engineering.

Zonal disintegration refers to the special phenomenon whereby fractured zones and intact zones appear alternately in deep‐buried surrounding rocks under high stress conditions, which are different from that of the shallow rock mass. Because the divisional rupture law in engineering practice is closely related to the force characteristics of the bolt body, this paper analyzed stress distribution rules of the same bolt body at different times and that of different bolt bodies at the same time in the case of zonal disintegration based on coordination deformation between the bolt body and surrounding rock. The nonlinear rheological mechanics model of rock mass on the elastic‐plastic interface under the maximum support pressure was established. It puts forward the theoretical calculation formula about the mechanics criterion and breakdown moment of the zonal disintegration. Using the mechanics model of interaction between a bolt and the surrounding rock, the distribution locations along the bolt body of the anchor neutral points and its maximum axial forces were discussed with the multiple theoretical neutral points. Furthermore, the location and width of each fracture zone were back analyzed. The results show that the rock mass on the elastic‐plastic interface of the surrounding rock has a significant creep effect after the excavation of the deep underground cave. While maximum deviator stress of the rock mass is more than its long‐term strength, the rock mass will fracture along a radial direction and come into the fractured zone. The multiple redistribution of the surrounding rock stress will generate alternate distribution phenomena of the fractured zone and intact zone. Meanwhile, the distribution regularity of the peaks and troughs interval of the displacement of surrounding rock leads to multiple neutral points along the anchor length direction. The computed results of zonal disintegration through the back analysis can reflect the actual space‐time evolution laws of zonal disintegration in deep underground caves.