Roughness influence on strength and deformation behavior of rock discontinuities.

The influence of discontinuity roughness on the shear strength and deformation behavior of rock joint is analyzed. The study is divided into three parts: laboratory direct shear test on rock samples having different roughness characteristics, characterization of roughness profiles using variogram and probability density distribution and the application of dynamical systems theory to analyze the stability condition of the sliding motion. The relative motion along the rough joint is erratic particularly at a low normal load. A steady motion develops as the normal load increases. The kinematics of translational motion has two distinct characteristics: the translation occurs as a result of a gross and uniform motion (sliding) and/or through localized inhomogeneous motion (slipping). Three modes of volumetric changes are observed during the tangential motion: a dilatant-contractant behavior with the overall volumetric change being strictly dilatant, a dilatant-contractant behavior with the overall volumetric change varying from dilatant to contractant and the strictly contractant behavior. The size of the sheared zones is a function of the distribution of the asperities and of the interface strength. The coefficient of friction decreases as the normal load increases. It may or may not increase when the normal load is decreased. The probability density distribution of the height of the interface asperities is not always Gaussian. The variation of the experimental distribution (histogram) indicates that the asperities are not necessarily sheared off in order of decreasing height but rather on the basis of the condition underlying the existence of contact. The slope of the initial portion of the variogram and the sill, when it exists, are used to characterize the surface morphology of the discontinuity. The lower the slope, the smoother the surface. Two types of anisotropy are observed: geometic anisotropy (elliptic shape) and zonal anisotropy. The rate of collapse of the boundary of the loop describing the roughness of the interface describes the deformation of the discontinuity. The location of the orbit with respect to the stagnation line depends on the normalized stiffness. As the normalized shear stiffness increases, the orbit tends to collapse towards the stagnation axis