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# Modeling the spatial structural network of layered rock masses using an innovative hierarchical method

## Details

**Authors** Jiewei Zhan, Changle Pu, Zhaoyue Yu, Yongqiang Liu, Jianbing Peng

**Year** 2026

**Publisher** Engineering Geology

**Kind of work** article

**Discipline** Geology

**Secondary disciplines** Engineering

**Applied** false

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2026.108595) 
10.1016/j.enggeo.2026.108595

## In authors' words

### Abstract

The discrete fracture network (DFN) modeling technique is a critical method for revealing the three-dimensional structural characteristics of rock masses and predicting the connectivity and stability of fractured rock masses. Constrained by the dominant bedding planes, discontinuities in layered rock masses often intersect with bedding planes to form characteristic T-type topological structures. Considering that existing DFN modeling techniques are unable to accurately reproduce this structural characteristic, this paper proposes an innovative hierarchical method for spatial structural modeling of layered rock masses. First, a three-dimensional fusion model of outcrop is constructed using optical images and point cloud data collected by UAV photogrammetry, on which the geometric parameters of discontinuities are extracted. On the basis of the interpreted discontinuity data, a characterization study is subsequently conducted on the orientation, major axis rotation angle, size, and spatial point distribution of the discontinuities. By introducing a hierarchical modeling method based on the sequence of bedding planes, strata-bound discontinuities and non-strata-bound discontinuities, the limitations of traditional methods in simulating the unique intersection relationships of discontinuities in layered rock masses is effectively addressed. In addition, the Latin hypercube sampling is employed to determine the position of non-strata-bound discontinuities, which effectively reduces the edge effects in the DFN modeling process. Finally, a layered rock mass discrete fracture network model is constructed using an outcrop from a highway slope in Chongqing as a case study, and the effectiveness of the proposed method is validated through both geometric characterization and topological structure analysis. This work provides a universal methodology for spatial structural modeling of layered rock masses and has good application prospects.

### What they set out to do (purpose)

To develop a modeling method that accurately reproduces the three-dimensional structural network of layered (bedded) rock masses, addressing a limitation of existing discrete fracture network methods in representing how discontinuities intersect bedding planes.

### Who or what was studied (sample)

A single field case study: a rock outcrop on a highway slope in Chongqing, China, characterized using UAV photogrammetry point-cloud and optical image data.

### How they did it (methods)

A hierarchical discrete fracture network (DFN) modeling method was built by sequencing discontinuities into levels (bedding planes, then strata-bound discontinuities, then non-strata-bound discontinuities) and using Latin hypercube sampling to place non-strata-bound discontinuities; the resulting model was validated against field-measured geometric and topological structure of the outcrop.

### What they found (results)

A hierarchical model that sequenced discontinuities by bedding-plane level reproduced the characteristic T-type intersection topology of a layered rock mass more accurately than treating discontinuities as a single non-hierarchical set, as validated against a real highway-slope outcrop in Chongqing.

## Commentary

### In short

The finding shows that a whole rock mass's structural network is only accurately reconstructed by explicitly modeling its nested levels of parts (bedding planes, strata-bound and non-strata-bound discontinuities) in sequence rather than as a single undifferentiated set, illustrating a part/whole systems structure.

**Patterns it shows** S

**Added** 2026-09-26

**How to cite this** Jiewei Zhan, Changle Pu, Zhaoyue Yu, Yongqiang Liu, Jianbing Peng (2026). Modeling the spatial structural network of layered rock masses using an innovative hierarchical method. Engineering Geology.