International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences最新文献

{"title":"Controls of lithological heterogeneity on self-sealing behavior of propped fractures in Marcellus shale","authors":"Zeynal Abiddin Erguler ,&nbsp;Derek Elsworth","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106208","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106208","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Developments in drilling technology and hydraulic fracturing methods have made shale formations an important geo-energy source and repository for energy-related wastes. Their very low permeability and outstanding potential for self-sealing are assets in sequestering wastes, but a limitation in sustaining shale gas production. We measure the permeability and self-sealing evolution of proppant-filled fractures in Marcellus shale, including the effect of time, normal stress, loading and unloading conditions, temperature and fluid composition. Permeabilities are measured over a first cycle of 24 h, with a hiatus of 56–91 days, and then remeasured to define impacts of physicochemical degradation (slaking) in a second cycle. Permeability reduces by up to 63 % where proppant crushing is isolated as a mechanism in embedment-eliminated steel split cores. In shales, lithological heterogeneity causes micro-slaking of clay-rich laminae appearing as stripes on the proppant oriented parallel to bedding planes with different proppant embedments resulting in differentiation in initial permeability values at the same proppant loading concentration. Intact rock compaction and mechanical closure-based self-sealing reduces permeability between 7.7 % and 21.6 % with an average value of only 14.5 %. Slaking, embedment, and swelling behavior in the Marcellus shale are responsible for all of the other remaining reductions in permeability. The reductions in permeability during all loading conditions correlate exponentially with time and can be defined by a single relation. The dimensionless constants of this equation depend on normal stress, physicomechanical properties and effective aperture. Long-term permeability measurements in a second cycle after 56–91 days show self-sealing through mineral precipitation in the Marcellus shale with a cohesive layer in the otherwise cohesionless proppant. The significant reductions between the initial and the second cycle permeability measurements reveal that time is a significant controlling factor in the self-sealing behavior of Marcellus shale in terms of reflecting creep deformation, slaking, and long-lasting geochemical processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 106208"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144557587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experimental investigation on mechanical behaviors and shear fracture mechanisms of rough jointed sandstone under conventional triaxial compression","authors":"Sheng-Qi Yang ,&nbsp;Ming-Hui Cao ,&nbsp;Rui Yong ,&nbsp;Shi-Gui Du ,&nbsp;Cheng Zhao ,&nbsp;P.G. Ranjith","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106205","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106205","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Conventional triaxial compression tests were conducted on rough jointed sandstone to investigate the mechanical behaviors and failure mechanisms of fractured rocks. The influences of confining pressure, axial loading rate, joint dip angle, and joint surface roughness on the failure mechanisms of jointed sandstone were investigated. The stress-strain curve, shear stress, shear displacement, friction coefficient, and energy release process during the failure of jointed sandstone were analyzed. Failure modes and the evolution of rough surface wear in jointed sandstone were observed through both macroscopic and microscopic analysis. Results indicate that as the dip angle increases from 30° to 60°, the triaxial peak strength, crack damage threshold, and peak axial strain of jointed sandstone gradually decrease. With the increase in confining pressure, axial loading rate, and joint surface roughness, peak strength, deformation, crack damage threshold, and residual strength of jointed sandstone with a 60° dip angle gradually increase. For the jointed sandstone with 30° and 40° dip angles, shear fracture failure occurs along the direction perpendicular to the joint surface, resulting in the joint surface fractures into two segments. For the jointed sandstone with 50° and 60° dip angles, shear slip instability occurs along the joint surface, accompanied by deformation and fracture at the joint surface ends. Shear slip along the joint surface reduces the roughness and fractal dimension of the jointed sandstone and transgranular crack failure is the dominant failure mode of the joint surface. The debris and powder formed after the shear slip wear of the joint surface form fault gouge and attach to the micro-pores and micro-cracks on the joint surface. As the dip angle increases, the damage to the joint surface gradually intensifies. These findings can provide a theoretical basis for understanding the failure mechanisms of fractured rock masses induced by underground engineering construction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 106205"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144534957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-destructive, fast and intelligent identification of coal and gangue via spatial-spectral fusion of hyperspectral images","authors":"Zhenhao Xu ,&nbsp;Shan Li ,&nbsp;Peng Lin ,&nbsp;Qianji Li","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106187","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106187","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Coal and gangue identification is a crucial part of the intelligent and green coal industry. Traditional coal and gangue sorting has problems such as low efficiency, poor accuracy, and limited applicability. This article proposes a coal and gangue identification method based on the MambaHSI model, leveraging the non-destructive, fast, and information-abundant attributes of hyperspectral imaging technology. Firstly, the coal and gangue hyperspectral images undergo preprocessing procedures, including image stretching enhancement, data dimensionality reduction, and normalization, with the aim of enhancing image quality and data processing efficiency. Next, in order to fully utilize the advantages of the “spectrum integration” of hyperspectral imaging technology, the model takes the hyperspectral images of the entire coal and gangue as input. Using an end-to-end approach for training, explore the differences in texture or local distribution of coal and gangue in two-dimensional space, as well as the differences in reflection characteristics in different bands of one-dimensional spectra. The Spatial Feature Extraction Module is dedicated to discerning the long-distance dependence relationships at the pixel level, thereby enabling the capture of the spatial distribution coherence of coal and the interrelationships among neighboring pixels. The Spectral Feature Extraction Module segments the spectral vectors of coal and gangue into multiple spectral groups and delves into the relationships between disparate spectral groups. The Spatial-Spectral Feature Fusion Module adaptively integrates the spatial and spectral information of coal and gangue. Finally, the proposed method is applied to hyperspectral image datasets of coal and gangue originating from three distinct sources. The results show that the classification performance based on the MambaHSI model is excellent, and the overall accuracy of coal and gangue classification can reach up to 99.65 %; The highest average accuracy can reach 99.62 %; The Kappa coefficient can reach up to 100 %; The mean Intersection over Union can reach up to 99.56. This method has the characteristics of high identification accuracy, good real-time performance, and strong robustness. The results of this study can be used for in-situ, non-destructive, and intelligent identification of coal and gangue underground in mining areas, promoting the rapid development of intelligent coal gangue separation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 106187"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144517749","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Coupled micro-computed tomography and micromechanical experiment on the failure of discontinuous porphyry rock","authors":"Sarah Webster ,&nbsp;Nicolas Francois ,&nbsp;Edward Andò ,&nbsp;Mark Knackstedt ,&nbsp;David Beck ,&nbsp;Mohammad Saadatfar","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106180","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106180","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rock is a discontinuous, heterogeneous material with complex mechanical behaviour. The variable material properties create uncertainty in response to load, associated rock mass damage and communition. Traditional approaches in rock mechanics rely on laboratory tests on intact specimens and mapping of structures to characterise the material properties and make predictions of damage scales. This paper expands on conventional triaxial laboratory tests using in situ x-ray micro-computed tomography and digital volume correlation to continuously track strain field changes during the experiment. Within a defect-rich porphyry, high-resolution imaging at 9 μm shows the micromechanical ductile-brittle fracture processes where microscopic defects lead to failure in the rock. Our methodology allows simultaneous observation of stress, strain, and elastic properties, spatially linking stress-induced strain localisation to discontinuities and pores. We present an integrated analysis, combining strain field data with tomogram attenuation values, revealing micromechanical feature evolution from initial strain to failure and post-peak behaviour. A remarkable product of the analysis was the multiple datasets that complemented the illustration of the micromechanisms. We show micro and macro fracture closure mechanisms visible in tomograms, which can be mapped as negative volumetric strain and generate increased specimen stiffness. Another important observation was the progression of the shear zone from strain localisation, visualised as both positive and negative volumetric strain regions in a 3D point cloud with the meshed shear. Our study provides valuable insights into the mechanics of fractured rock through the stages to failure. Understanding these underlying mechanisms and the strain field evolution at the specimen scale can improve our understanding of rock mechanics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 106180"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144517070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of 3D forced water-based working fluid imbibition on dynamic responses of deep anisotropic shale reservoir","authors":"Yide Guo ,&nbsp;Linqi Huang ,&nbsp;Xibing Li","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106195","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106195","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Drilling and hydraulic fracturing are water-rich processes where shale reservoirs around wellbores and fractures often suffer forced water-based working fluid imbibition. In this study, we focus on increasing dynamic loads in deep shale gas extraction and report dynamic compression on thermally treated (25–200 °C) Longmaxi shale samples with five bedding orientations (0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°) after 3D forced water imbibition with four driving pressures (0, 3, 6, and 9 MPa). Results show that increasing water driving pressure increases the additional pore space inside shale samples non-linearly, and higher reservoir temperatures promote this effect. Increasing the water driving pressure obviously reduces dynamic compressive strengths of samples except those with the bedding orientation of 90° when the temperature exceeds 100 °C. Interestingly, approximate V-shaped curves between the dynamic strength and bedding orientation are neither affected by water driving pressure nor reservoir temperature. However, the anisotropy magnitude of dynamic strength is dependent on reservoir temperature and water driving pressure. Bedding activation for shale samples with bedding orientations of 30°, 45° and 60° is promising under high temperatures by increasing water driving pressure. Compared to pure thermal treatment, forced water imbibition limits the number of activated bedding planes in thermally treated shale samples with bedding orientations of 45° and 60°. Micro-mechanisms involving microstructural degradation, capillary force, poroelasticity, structural effective stress, dynamic viscous resistance, and dynamic fracture response explain the responses of strength magnitude, and the nature of stress wave propagation in bedded shale explains the responses of strength anisotropy. This study provides a basic understanding on dynamic responses of deep anisotropic shale reservoir considering reservoir temperature and forced water-based working fluid imbibition, which is applicable for improving drilling and hydraulic fracturing programs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 106195"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144517068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dynamic direct tensile behaviours of small-scale marble under sub-zero temperatures and high strain rate loading","authors":"Kai Liu ,&nbsp;Tingting Wang ,&nbsp;Gaofeng Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106196","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106196","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the dynamic tensile behaviour of frozen rock is essential for the design and stability of engineering structures in cold regions, where tensile cracking is the predominant failure mode in brittle rocks frequently subjected to dynamic disturbances and low temperatures. This paper presents a novel dynamic direct tension setup based on a dogbone-shaped rock specimen and a Hopkinson tensile bar system, which is integrated with a specialized environmental chamber and high-speed Digital Image Correlation (DIC). This setup enables precise investigation of rock tensile behaviour across a range of strain rates and temperatures, including sub-zero conditions. The method of characteristics is proposed to decouple the superimposed incident and reflected waves caused by the extended length of the striker bar. Pixel-based virtual extensometers from DIC confirm the validity of dynamic tensile tests by detecting misalignment or bending waves and capture the real-time cracking process as well as dynamic tensile strain with high precision. Dynamic direct tensile tests of small-scale specimen were performed at 20, -25, −55 and −70 °C using dry and saturated marble with a dogbone shape. The dynamic tensile strength of saturated marble increased from 6.10 MPa to 11.62 MPa, corresponding to an enhancement factor of 1.90. The results show significant temperature and rate dependencies in dynamic tensile strength, which increases as both ambient temperature decreases and strain rate increases. This behaviour is attributed to the transition of unfrozen water into ice, emphasizing the role of ice in filling pores and strengthening ice-rock interfaces. Intergranular microcracks are predominant during high-rate tensile testing at each low temperature. Furthermore, compared to dry marble, the fracture surface of saturated marble shows a number of transgranular cracks, resulting in the accumulation of debris. The findings hold valuable implications for blasting designs and dynamic disaster prevention in cold regions, such as high-altitude or deep space mining.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 106196"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144517069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of free surface width on blasting damage in open stope mining in narrow vein orebodies","authors":"Shian Zhang ,&nbsp;Xiuzhi Shi ,&nbsp;Xianyang Qiu ,&nbsp;Chengxing Zong ,&nbsp;Zhi Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106194","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106194","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Underground narrow veins, typically less than 2–3 m thick but rich in precious metals, hold significant economic value. However, the confined free surface in the open stope poses substantial challenges for long-hole blasting, often leading to overbreak and underbreak, emphasising the need for optimising blasting parameters. To address this, understanding the influence of free surface width on blasting performance becomes critical. Therefore, a modified method based on the Scaled Heelan solution was employed to comprehensively investigate this influence, particularly its relationship with burden, velocity of detonation (VOD), and initiation positions. The indicators considered include blasting damage and fragment size distribution. The analysis allows the following conclusions: (1) both the damage volume and the fragment size are positively correlated with the width of the free surface within a certain range; (2) for a fixed free surface width, damage volume and fragment size increase with burden within an appropriate range, but an excessive burden prevents a blasting crater formation; (3) higher VOD does not always result in better fragmentation near the blasthole, and an optimal VOD lies approximately between the velocity of P- and S-wave; (4) the axial damage distribution depends on the initiation position but with minimal impact on radial damage. These findings provide a theoretical basis for burden and spacing design in narrow-vein open stoping and thereby contribute to improved blasting fragmentation efficiency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 106194"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144510640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cryogenic strengthening effects on sandstone from 20 °C to −120 °C: Influence of initial water saturation and temperature","authors":"Guanglei Zhang ,&nbsp;Shiji Wang ,&nbsp;Wenze Song ,&nbsp;Yuliang Zhang ,&nbsp;P.G. Ranjith ,&nbsp;Guowei Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106183","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106183","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The underground storage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is an emerging concept aimed at large-scale natural gas storage. A comprehensive understanding of rock mechanics at ultra-low temperatures is essential for the safe and efficient design of such storage facilities. This study conducted uniaxial compression tests on sandstones at temperatures ranging from 20 °C to −120 °C to assess the effects of temperature and initial water saturation prior to freezing on their mechanical properties. Results indicate that sandstone strength increases progressively as temperatures decline under varying water saturation conditions. At −40 °C and −80 °C, the sandstone initially weakens at low water saturation levels but strengthens as saturation rises further. In contrast, at −120 °C, strength correlates positively with higher initial water saturation, with fully saturated samples exhibiting a 425 % strength enhancement compared to water-saturated sandstone tested at 20 °C. Micro-CT imaging indicates minimal changes in pore structure at −120 °C, suggesting negligible frozen damage to the sandstone. The significant strengthening observed at ultra-low temperatures can be attributed to three main factors: (1) the enhanced mechanical properties of rock minerals at low temperatures, as confirmed by <em>in-situ</em> nanoindentation; (2) increased ice strength with decreasing temperature, allowing ice to bear compressive loads; and (3) the prestress provided by ice expansion to surrounding rock minerals, placing them in a multiaxial stress state that significantly enhances strength. These results suggest that rock strength, particularly under water-saturated conditions, improves substantially at ultra-low temperatures, which is advantageous for underground LNG storage applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 106183"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144501790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of gas adsorption on coal relative permeability: a laboratory study","authors":"Tiancheng Zhang ,&nbsp;Jimmy Xuekai Li ,&nbsp;Yiran Zhu ,&nbsp;Victor Rudolph ,&nbsp;Zhongwei Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106191","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106191","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>CO₂ geo-sequestration and compressed air energy storage in depleted coal seam gas reservoirs are promising techniques for mitigating the greenhouse effect and combating climate change. However, gas adsorption-induced swelling in coal matrices poses challenges to gas injectivity by reducing both coal absolute permeability and relative permeability. While the sorption-induced impact on absolute permeability has been extensively studied, its impact on relative permeability remains little explored. To address this gap, a suite of two-phase flow experiments was conducted with both absorbing and non-absorbing gases. A series of relative permeability curves for helium-water, nitrogen-water, and CO₂-water systems were obtained. The results show lower relative permeability for absorbing gas-water systems (nitrogen and CO₂) compared to non-absorbing gas (helium) due to the sorption-induced swelling impact. Specifically, the relative permeability of helium-water systems is more than two times higher than that of nitrogen-water systems, followed by CO₂-water injection due to differences in adsorption capacity. Finally, quantitative correlations for estimating the relative permeability of nitrogen-water and CO₂-water systems were obtained, based on four newly introduced coefficients. These coefficients enable direct estimation of absorbing gas-water two-phase flow behavior (e.g., CO₂ sequestration and compressed air storage) in coal. The applicability of these coefficients was further validated using data from other studies, providing useful insights for assessing the injectivity of CO₂ geo-sequestration and underground compressed air energy storage.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 106191"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144481710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"3D stability and reliability of concave open pit slope in rock with Hoek-Brown strength criterion","authors":"Shilin Jia,&nbsp;Fei Zhang,&nbsp;Jian Ji,&nbsp;Zheming Zhang,&nbsp;Jie Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106190","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2025.106190","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The concave slope is a common feature in open pit mines. Due to the geometric effects, the concave slope can be designed with a steeper angle, which yields substantial economic benefits. However, two-dimensional (2D) analysis methods are unable to consider the additional stability provided by the three-dimensional (3D) effects. Furthermore, the inevitable uncertainties in the strength parameters of rocks severely compromise the slope stability. Therefore, reliance on the safety factor as a sole design acceptance criterion is inadequate and should be supplemented with failure probability. This paper aims to evaluate the 3D stability and reliability of concave open pit slopes. The slope instability in a geomaterial governed by the Hoek-Brown strength criterion is analyzed using a variationally derived 3D rotational failure mechanism. The stability analysis results are presented in dimensionless stability charts. Not surprisingly, the safety measures for slopes are greatly dependent on the Geological Strength Index and the slope geometric 3D effects. A closed-form solution for concave open pit slopes is proposed through regression analysis. It demonstrates high accuracy and can be employed to derive the limit state surface (LSS), which is adopted to conduct reliability analysis using First- and Second- Order Reliability Method (FORM and SORM). A series comparison is conducted to assess the performance of FORM and SORM. The findings reveal that FORM exhibits lower accuracy, whereas SORM maintains robust performance in comparison to the Monte Carlo simulation. Finally, the relationship between the mean safety factor and failure probability is established to guide the slope design of open pit mines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 106190"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144472344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}