The system of discontinuities that transverses a rock mass delimits rock blocks of many sizes, shapes and positions in a surficial excavation. By using the block theory, it is possible to determine the most critical of these isolated masses, which are denoted as key blocks. After identifying the potential key blocks, their shapes and volumes can be computed with the input of the spacing of each discontinuity. In this paper, a sliding equilibrium stability analysis is performed with the friction of each discontinuity, the gravity force, the sliding direction and rock bolt support for the potential key blocks calculated from the study of some typical examples and field cases.
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Huang et al. (2003) studied this question.
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