Understanding shear behaviour of a rough joint using surface topography scan and numerical simulation
(2018)Abstract
In this study, we combine rotary shear test, surface topography scan, and numerical simulation to investigate shear behaviour of a rough joint. We first registered the joint surfaces with topography scans, then the joint was tested by means of rotary shear. We then built a two-dimensional (2D) model based on the surface topography scan to partially reproduce the experiment results. The simulation results qualitatively captured the realistic emergent rock mechanical and frictional behaviours and suggested that surface geometry (i.e. roughness) controlled the initiation stage of slip.