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The effects of discontinuity surface roughness on the shear strength of weathered granite joints

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Abstract

Surface roughness is one of the most important parameters governing the shear strength of rock discontinuities. Roughness types may vary based on genesis, physico-mechanical, and mineralogical properties of rocks. In this study, granite samples representing three different weathering degrees were selected to evaluate the effects of surface roughness and weathering degree on shear strength. To this aim, we determined the profile roughness coefficient (PRC), profile roughness angle (PRA), and joint roughness coefficient (JRC) for the selected fresh and weathered granite joint samples. Values of PRC were in the range of about 1.043–1.073, and PRA and JRC varied in the ranges of 16.67–21.45 and 12–18, respectively. Weathering led to the increment of joint surface roughness of the selected granitic joints due to the higher resistance of quartz crystals in the weathered matrix. However, the increment in surface roughness did not result in an increase in the shear strength. On the contrary, the shear strength of discontinuities dramatically decreased.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to Prof. Adem Ersoy (University of Çukurova) for his help and support during the experimental tests. Special thanks are due to Prof. Dr. Ömer Aydan (Tokai University) for his valuable suggestions. The authors also wish to thank Dr. Vural Oyan for his help in the petrographical studies, Dr. Mutluhan Akın and Dr. Mucip Tapan for their comments, suggestions, and review of the paper before publication, Bülent Aras for the supply of samples, and Didem Kuzu for grammatical corrections. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and contribution the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Engineering Department, Engineering and Architecture Faculty, Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van, Turkey

    Ali Özvan

  2. Geological Engineering Department, Engineering-Architecture Faculty, Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University, 50300, Nevşehir, Turkey

    İsmail Dinçer

  3. Geological Engineering Department, Engineering and Architecture Faculty, Çukurova University, 01330, Balcalı, Adana, Turkey

    Altay Acar & Burcu Özvan

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  1. Ali Özvan
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  2. İsmail Dinçer
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  3. Altay Acar
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  4. Burcu Özvan
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Correspondence to İsmail Dinçer.

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Özvan, A., Dinçer, İ., Acar, A. et al. The effects of discontinuity surface roughness on the shear strength of weathered granite joints. Bull Eng Geol Environ 73, 801–813 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-013-0560-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-013-0560-x

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