G.F. Zhao & N. Khalili & J. Zhao

There are a large number of numerical methods which havebeen applied to rock mechanics and rock engineering. Yet,none can tackle all the problems encountered in rock mechanics and rock engineering. This is particularly the case indealing with phenomena emanating from the micro structure such as sensitivity to size and distribution of flaws andcracks and their evolution with imposed deformation andloading. Indeed, a successful numerical method must be able tofully consider the microstructure of a material when studyingits macroscopic mechanical properties and failure behaviors.These requirements have resulted in renewed and increasedinterest in discrete or framework/lattice numerical modeling techniques in recent years. In this paper, we introducea new micromechanical numerical model: Distinct LatticeSpring Model (DLSM) (Zhao et al, 2010 and Zhao, 2010),which is proposed to overcome some of the limitations of theexisting discrete micromechanical models and may becomean alternative tool for rock mechanics study. The context ofthis paper covers the theoretical basis, formulation, verification and application of the model using several numericalexamples.