Numerical simulation of transformation of an obliquely incident shear wave at rock joint

An incident energy wave that propagates across discontinuities in rock mass seldom strikes normal to the joint and an oblique incidence leads to transformation of waves. An obliquely incident vertical shear wave will generate a compression wave as well as a vertical shear wave. Similar transformation happens to P wave also during its transmission. The transformation of an obliquely incident shear wave is numerically simulated with the help of previously validated discrete element model. A parametric study on influence of joint shear stiffness on transformation of shear waves is performed for various angles of incidence. It is observed that joint shear stiffness plays an important role in determining wave velocities and amplitudes of transmitted shear waves across various incident angles, but is insignificant for generated P waves. The dependency of wave velocities and amplitudes of waves on incident wave angles is also discussed in this paper