Problems of nonlinear geomechanics. Part 1

In the study, an attempt is made to present the most important results of experimental researches on nonlinear geomechanics - a rapidly developing scientific trend in recent years - from single positions within the framework of Academician M. A. Sadovsky's concept relative to the block-hierarchical structure of rock masses. The key role of the linear embedment coefficient of geoblocks for contiguous hierarchical levels, and the statistical characteristic of the average distances between the edges of cracks separating the structural blocks between themselves to the diameters of these blocks, as well as the scale factor of the phenomenon of the zonal disintegration of rocks around underground workings is demonstrated in the development of nonlinear geomechanical processes at various hierarchical levels: from manatomic-crystalline to planetary scale. A number of major scientific problems, a solution of which demands particular attention of experimenters and theoreticians is formulated. The circle of problems touched upon in this part of the article concerns primarily the analysis of nonlinear quasi-static processes.