Abstract:
The geometrical properties of fractured sandstone surfaces were studied by measuring the length distribution of the shadows appearing under grazing illumination. Three distinct domains of variation were found: at short length scales a cut-off of self-affinity is observed due to the inter-granular rupture of sandstones, at long length scales, the number of shadows falls off very rapidly because of the non-zero illumination angle and of the finite roughness amplitude. Finally, in the intermediate domain, the shadow length distribution displays a power law decrease with an exponent related to the roughness exponent measured by mechanical profilometry. Moreover, this method is found to be more sensitive to deviations from self-affinity than usual methods.
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Received: 29 June 1998 / Received in final form: 25 September 1998 / Accepted: 5 October 1998
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Boffa, J., Allain, C., Chertcoff, R. et al. Roughness of sandstone fracture surfaces: Profilometry and shadow length investigations. Eur. Phys. J. B 7, 179–182 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050602
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050602