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Shear Strength and Cracking Process of Non-persistent Jointed Rocks: An Extensive Experimental Investigation

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Abstract

In this paper, a number of artificial rock specimens with two parallel (stepped and coplanar) non-persistent joints were subjected to direct shearing. The effects of bridge length (L), bridge angle (γ), joint roughness coefficient (JRC) and normal stress (σ n) on shear strength and cracking process of non-persistent jointed rock were studied extensively. The experimental program was designed based on Taguchi method, and the validity of the resulting data was assessed using analysis of variance. The results revealed that σ n and γ have the maximum and minimum effects on shear strength, respectively. Also, increase in L from 10 to 60 mm led to decrease in shear strength where high level of JRC profile and σ n led to the initiation of tensile cracks due to asperity interlocking. Such tensile cracks are known as “interlocking cracks” which normally initiate from the asperity and then propagate toward the specimen boundaries. Finally, the cracking process of specimens was classified into three categories, namely tensile cracking, shear cracking and combination of tension and shear or mixed mode tensile–shear cracking.

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Abbreviations

θ :

Joint angle with horizon

γ :

Bridge angle

L :

Bridge length

JRC:

Joint roughness coefficient

σ n :

Normal stress

UCS:

Uniaxial compressive strength of intact specimen

E :

Young’s modulus of intact specimen

σ t :

Tensile strength of intact specimen

τ :

Shear stress

τ n :

Shear strength of non-persistent jointed specimen

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

DoE:

Design of experiment

OA:

Orthogonal array

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mining Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, 1439957131, Iran

    Mostafa Asadizadeh, Mahdi Moosavi & Mohammad Farouq Hossaini

  2. Department of Mining Engineering, Hamedan University of Technology, Mardom Street, Hamedan, 65155-579, Iran

    Mostafa Asadizadeh

  3. School of Mining Engineering, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Mohammad Farouq Hossaini & Hossein Masoumi

Authors
  1. Mostafa Asadizadeh
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  2. Mahdi Moosavi
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  3. Mohammad Farouq Hossaini
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  4. Hossein Masoumi
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Correspondence to Mostafa Asadizadeh.

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Asadizadeh, M., Moosavi, M., Hossaini, M.F. et al. Shear Strength and Cracking Process of Non-persistent Jointed Rocks: An Extensive Experimental Investigation. Rock Mech Rock Eng 51, 415–428 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-017-1328-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-017-1328-6

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