A Shear Model Accounting Scale Effect in Rock Joints Behavior

Understanding the scale effect on the mechanical behavior of a single rock joint is still very important in rock engineering. Rock joints can be classified into three different categories depending on their scale: the “micro scale” which is the scale of the asperities; the “meso scale” is the scale of the specimens tested in laboratory; and the “macro scale” which is the scale of the rock mass. The purpose of this paper is to propose an effective way to model rock joints at both the meso and macro scale. An original constitutive mechanical model, in which parameters are deduced from experimental results, has been developed. This model is then extended to simulate the discontinuities occurring at a larger size. At the macro scale, the constitutive modeling was carried out for both small and large relative displacements. Large displacements lead to substantial changes in dilation. For both cases, the peak shear stress vanishes for joints longer than 2 m.     

Numerical Investigations of the Dynamic Shear Behavior of Rough Rock Joints

The dynamic shear behavior of rock joints is significant to both rock engineering and earthquake dynamics. With the discrete element method (DEM), the dynamic direct-shear tests on the rough rock joints with 3D (sinusoidal or random) surface morphologies are simulated and discussed. Evolution of the friction coefficient with the slip displacement shows that the 3D DEM joint model can accurately reproduce the initial strengthening, slip-weakening, and steady-sliding responses of real rock joints. Energy analyses show that the strengthening and weakening behavior of the rock joint are mainly attributed to the rapid accumulation and release of the elastic energy in the joint. Then, effects of the surface roughness and the normal stress on the friction coefficient and the micro shear deformation mechanisms, mainly volume change and asperity damage, of the rock joint are investigated. The results show that the peak friction coefficient increases logarithmically with the increasing surface roughness, but decreases exponentially with the increasing normal stress. In addition, the rougher rock joint exhibits both higher joint dilation and asperity degradation. However, high normal stress constrains the joint dilation, but promotes the degree of asperity degradation significantly. Lastly, the effects of the 3D surface morphology on the shear behavior of the rock joint are investigated with a directional roughness parameter. It is observed that the anisotropy of the surface roughness consequently results in the variation of the peak friction coefficient of the joint corresponding to different shearing directions as well as the micro shear deformation mechanisms, e.g., the extent of joint dilation.     

Quantitative Parameters for Rock Joint Surface Roughness

Summary The morphologies of two artificial granite joints (sanded and hammered surfaces), one artificial regularly undulated joint and one natural schist joint, were studied. The sanded and hammered granite joints underwent 5 cycles of direct shear under 3 normal stress levels ranging between 0.3–4 MPa. The regularly undulated joint underwent 10 cycles of shear under 6 normal stress levels ranging between 0.5–5 MPa and the natural schist replicas underwent a monotonous shear under 5 normal stress levels ranging between 0.4–2.4 MPa. In order to characterize the morphology of the sheared joints, a laser sensor profilometer was used to perform surface data measurements prior to and after each shear test. Rather than describing the morphology of the joints from the single profiles, our characterization is based on a simultaneous analysis of all the surface profiles. Roughness was viewed as a combination of a primary roughness and a secondary roughness. The surface angularity was quantified by defining its three-dimensional mean angle, θ_s, and the parameter Z2_s. The surface anisotropy and the secondary roughness were respectively quantified by the degree of apparent anisotropy, k _a, and the surface relative roughness coefficient, R _s. The surface sinuosity was quantified by the surface tortuosity coefficient, T _s.  Comparison between the means of the classical linear parameters and those proposed shows that linear parameters underestimate the morphological characteristics of the joint surfaces. As a result, the proposed bi-dimensional and tri-dimensional parameters better describe the evolution of the joints initial roughness during the course of shearing.     

New Peak Shear Strength Criterion of Rock Joints Based on Quantified Surface Description

The prime objective of this work is to improve our understanding of the shear behavior of rock joints. Attempts are made to relate the peak shear strength of rock joints with its three-dimensional surface morphology parameters. Three groups of tensile joint replicas with different surface morphology are tested with direct shear tests under constant normal load (CNL) conditions. Firstly, the three-dimensional surface characterization of these joints is evaluated by an improved roughness parameter before being tested. Then, a new empirical criterion is proposed for these joints expressed by three-dimensional quantified surface roughness parameters without any averaging variables in such a way that a rational dilatancy angle function is used instead of ${\text{JRC}} \cdot \log_{10} \left( {{{\text{JCS}} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\text{JCS}} {\sigma_{\text{n}} }}} \right. \kern-0em} {\sigma_{\text{n}} }}} \right)$ by satisfying the new peak dilatancy angle boundary conditions under zero and critical-state normal stress (not physical infinite normal stress). The proposed criterion has the capability of estimating the peak shear strength at the laboratory scale and the required roughness parameters can be easily measured. Finally, a comparison among the proposed criterion, Grasselli’s criterion, and Barton’s criterion are made from the perspective of both the rationality of the formula and the prediction accuracy for the three groups of joints. The limitations of Grasselli’s criterion are analyzed in detail. Another 37 experimental data points of fresh rock joints by Grasselli are used to further verify the proposed criterion. Although both the proposed criterion and Grasselli’s criterion have almost equal accuracy of predicting the peak shear strength of rock joints, the proposed criterion is easier and more intuitive from an engineering point of view because of its Mohr–Coulomb type of formulation.     

An Elasto-Plastic Constitutive Model for Rock Joints Under Cyclic Loading and Constant Normal Stiffness Conditions

An elasto-plastic constitutive model is introduced for rock joints under cyclic loading, considering the additional shear resistance generated by the asperity damage in the first forward shear cycle and sliding mechanism for further shearing. A series of cyclic loading direct shear tests was conducted on artificial joints with triangular asperities and replicas of a real rock asperity surface under constant normal stiffness (CNS) conditions. The model was calibrated and then validated using selected data sets from the experimental results. Model simulations were found to be in good agreement with the rock joints behaviour under cyclic loading and CNS conditions both in stress prediction and dilation behaviour. In addition, dynamic stability analysis of an underground structure was carried out, using Universal Distinct Element Code and the proposed constitutive model.     

Influence of Internal Friction Angle and Interface Roughness on Shear Behavior of Mortar-Rock Binary Medium Joint

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The damage of the interface between mortar and rock often occurs in engineering projects. The stability of the binary medium joint is the key factor in...     

基于HPSO算法的岩石非定常蠕变本构模型辨识

复合微粒群优化(HPSO)是一类随机全局优化技术,具有搜索能力强、收敛速度快、搜索精度高的优点.针对岩石蠕变本构模型非定常参数的辨识问题,利用FLAC软件自带的fish语言实现了HPSO算法对非定常参数的辨识.该方法从非定常参数的随机值出发,以蠕变过程中试件变形的实验值与计算值的误差大小作为适应度函数来评价参数的品质,...     

Research on Peak Shear Strength Criterion of Rock Joints Based on the Evolution of Dilation Angle

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The surface morphology of joints directly determines the contact area and peak shear strength of rock in shearing. This research gives a detailed...     

Three Dimensional Statistical Damage Constitutive Model of Rock Based on Griffith Strength Criterion

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - According to the damage mechanics theory and Lemaitre strain equivalence theory, because most rock materials are brittle materials, Griffith strength...     

The Influence of Shearing Velocity on Shear Behavior of Artificial Joints

In this paper, the effects of shear velocity on the shearing behavior of artificial joints have been studied at different normal stress levels. Here, artificial joints with planar and rough surfaces were prepared with the plaster (simulating soft rock joints) and concrete (medium-hard rock joints) materials. The rough joints had triangular shaped asperities with 10° and 20° inclination angles. Direct shear tests were performed on these joints under various shear velocities in the range of 0.3–30 mm/min. The planar plaster–plaster and planer concrete–concrete joints were sheared at three levels of normal stress under constant normal load boundary condition. Also, the rough plaster–plaster and concrete–concrete joints were sheared at one level of normal stress under constant normal stiffness boundary condition. The results of the shear tests show that the shearing parameters of joints, such as shear strength, shear stiffness and friction angle, are related to the shear velocity. Shear strength of planar and rough plaster–plaster joints were decreased when the shear velocity was increased. Shear strength of concrete joints, except for rough joints with 10° inclination, increased with increasing shear velocity. Regardless of the normal stress level, shear stiffness of both planar plaster–plaster and concrete–concrete joints were decreased when the shear velocity was increased.     

Experimental Study on the Rheological Shear Mechanical Behavior of Bolted Joints

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Landslides, which are predominantly caused by the rheological behavior of preexisting joints, occur frequently around the world and are among the most...     

岩体粘弹塑性-损伤本构模型及其有限元分析

本文将损伤力学的原理引入岩体流变学的研究,建议了一个损伤演化方程以描述岩体力学性质随时间不断弱化的现象。系统地推导了有限元计算公式。地下巷道位移的实测验算表明,本文的本构模型是合理而有效的。