Yossef H Hatzor

The application of the numerical Discontinuous Deformation Analysis method (DDA) in rock engineering is discussed here. Following a review of recent 2D and 3D DDA validations, application of the method in analysis of natural rock slopes and underground openings are presented. Two interesting problems are explored in the applied section of this paper: (1) the deformation of discontinuous overhanging rock slopes, and (2) the stability of karstic caverns underneath active open pit mines. The numerical DDA method is shown here to be a powerful tool for modeling dynamic rock mass deformation when the interaction between multiple discrete elements dictates the expected global deformation.