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Experimental study on the influence of height and dip angle of asperity on the mechanical properties of rock joints

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Abstract

Joint roughness significantly affects the damage areas and peak shear strength of the rock joint. In this study, theoretical analysis and numerical simulations were carried out, and the results indicated that the resistance angles and heights of asperities quantified the damage range and damage degree, respectively, during the shearing process. Direct shear tests and 3D scanning tests were conducted on sets of mortar joint replicas and sandstone joints. By analyzing the test data, several morphological parameters were proposed to quantify the damage zone of the joint surface. Based on these morphological parameters, a new peak shear strength model, involving the effects of the height and dip angle of the joint surface, was constructed. Finally, the new model and previous classical models were compared. Moreover, the new model was used to predict the shear strength of other joint samples as well. The comparison and prediction results revealed that the new model is suitable for effective prediction of the peak shear strength of joints.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included within the article.

Abbreviations

θ ∗ :

Apparent dip angle (°)

φ b :

Basic friction angle (°)

τ 0 :

Basic friction force (MPa)

\( \overline{\omega} \) :

Characteristic angle (°)

\( \overline{h} \) :

Characteristic height (mm)

\( {A}_{\omega}^{+} \) :

Contact area ratio

ω cr :

Critical resistance angle (°)

C :

Distribution parameter defined by Grasselli (2001)

ω′ :

Effective angle (°)

h′ :

Effective height (mm)

h :

Joint height (mm)

\( {\theta}_{\mathrm{max}}^{\ast } \) :

Maximum apparent dip angle (°)

A 0 :

Maximum contact area ratio

σ n :

Normal stress (MPa)

i p :

Peak dilatancy angle (°)

τ p :

Peak shear strength (MPa)

A contact :

Potential contact area

ω :

Resistance angle (°)

σ t :

Tensile strength (MPa)

A shear :

Total area facing the shear direction

σ c :

Uniaxial compressive strength (MPa)

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Code availability

All code generated or used during this study are available from the corresponding author by request.

Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 41907256 and 41807250) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under grant no. 2019T120686.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory of Safety for Geotechnical and Structure Engineering of Hubei Province, School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, Hubei, China

    Hao Ma, Yongchao Tian, Quansheng Liu & Yucong Pan

  2. State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Hao Ma, Yongchao Tian, Quansheng Liu & Yucong Pan

Authors
  1. Hao Ma
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  2. Yongchao Tian
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  3. Quansheng Liu
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  4. Yucong Pan
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Contributions

Conceptualization, Yongchao Tian; validation, Yongchao Tian; investigation, Hao Ma; resources, Hao Ma; writing—original draft preparation, Hao Ma; writing—review and editing, Yucong Pan; funding acquisition, Quansheng Liu. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yongchao Tian.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Ma, H., Tian, Y., Liu, Q. et al. Experimental study on the influence of height and dip angle of asperity on the mechanical properties of rock joints. Bull Eng Geol Environ 80, 443–471 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-01904-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-01904-w

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