Abstract：Superposed element method (SEM)，a novel numerical analysis method for rock masses，is proposed in this paper. At first，for the complicated rock masses containing many discontinuities，the mesh of the whole domain without any discontinuity and the mesh for each discontinuity，together with its adjacent zone，are generated separately. The displacement field is interpolated in each mesh and superposed together. Then，the generalized stiffness matrix and load vector in the equilibrium equations are formulated by using the virtual work principle，and the numerical integration method is discussed. Finally，two numerical examples of plane stress problem are studied by the new method，and the results are very close to those calculated by using FEM. The most distinguished characteristic of SEM is that its mesh generation is simplified greatly by partitioning the mesh of complicated rock mass into several separated simple meshes. The new method can be expanded to solve three-dimensional and non-linear problems directly，and is expected to be widely used in the deformation and stability analysis of complicated rock masses.
