Exploring the Effect of Asperity Order on Mechanical Character of Joint Specimen from the Perspective of Damage

The joint morphology is multiscale. The effect of each asperity order on the mechanical properties of joints is different. The shear mechanical properties of joint specimens are related to its surface damage characteristics. At present, there are still few studies on the effect of roughness on the shearing mechanical properties of joint from the perspective of damage of each asperity order. In this paper, the standard roughness profile was chosen as initial morphology. The standard roughness profile was decomposed into waviness and unevenness by the method combine the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and the cut-off criterion. Then, the joint specimen which contains waviness and unevenness and the specimen which only contains waviness were prepared by the 3D engraving technology. The 40 sets of joint specimens with different asperity order were subjected to direct shear tests under different normal stresses. Based on the 3D scanning technology and ICP iterative method, the damaged area and the damage volume were calculated. Based on the damage volume data and the acoustic emission (AE) data, the effect of asperity order to the joint mechanical behaviour was studied. The results indicate that (1) under low normal stress, the unevenness plays a control role in the failure mode of the joint specimen. Under low normal stress, the joint surface containing only waviness exhibits slip failure, and the joint surface with unevenness exhibits shear failure. With the increase of the normal stress, the failure mode of the specimen containing only waviness changes from slip failure to shear failure; (2) the unevenness controls the damage degree of the joint specimen. The damaged area, damage volume, AE energy rate, and accumulative AE energy of the joint specimen with unevenness are larger than those of the specimen with only waviness, and this difference increases with the normal stress increase; (3) the difference between the joint specimen with unevenness and specimen with only waviness mainly exists in the prepeak nonlinear stage and the postpeak softening stage. The characteristic parameters of acoustic emission generated in the postpeak softening stage of the joint specimen with unevenness are greater than those of the specimen with only waviness. This phenomenon can be used to explain the stress drop difference at the postpeak softening stage; (4) the AE b value can be used to evaluate the damage of joint specimens. Analysing the damage difference of each asperity order under different normal stresses is of great significance to the analysis of the influence of the morphology of the joint surface on the mechanical properties of the joint.

A New Characterization Method for Rock Joint Roughness Considering the Mechanical Contribution of Each Asperity Order

The morphology of the joint surface is multi-scale, and it can be divided into first-order asperity (waviness) and second-order asperity (unevenness). At present, the joint roughness characterization formula considers only the morphology contribution of waviness and unevenness components and does not fully consider their mechanical contribution. At same time, the relationship between the mechanical contribution and the morphology contribution is still unclear. Thus, the characterization formula considering the mechanical contribution of waviness and unevenness needs to be further studied. In this study, the standard joint roughness coefficient (JRC) profiles were first decomposed into waviness and unevenness. Then, three types of joint specimens with different asperity orders (flat, the standard JRC profile, and the profile containing only waviness) were prepared by the 3D engraving technique. Finally, direct shear tests were carried out on 39 sets of red sandstone joint specimens under three normal stresses. The mechanical contributions of waviness and unevenness were studied, the relationship between the mechanical contribution and the morphology contribution of waviness and unevenness was analyzed, and the characterization formula considering the mechanical contribution of waviness and unevenness was established. The results showed that the following: (1) the method combining the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and the critical decomposition level could be used to separate the waviness and unevenness from the joint surface; (2) the mechanical contribution of the waviness and unevenness decreased with the increase in normal stress; (3) the relationship between the mechanical contribution ratio and the statistical parameter ratio of the waviness and unevenness can be describe by power function; and (4) the roughness characterization formula considering the mechanical contribution and morphology contribution was established. This study will enhance the accurate evaluation of the roughness coefficient and shear strength of the joint specimen.

Scale Dependence of Waviness and Unevenness of Natural Rock Joints through Fractal Analysis

The scale dependence of surface roughness is critical in characterising the hydromechanical properties of field-scale rock joints but is still not well understood, particularly when different orders of roughness are considered. We experimentally reveal the scale dependence of two-order roughness, i.e., waviness and unevenness through fractal parameters using the triangular prism surface area method (TPM). The surfaces of three natural joints of granite with the same dimension of 1000 mm×1000 mm are digitised using a 3D laser scanner at three different measurement resolutions. Waviness and unevenness are quantitatively separated by considering the area variation of joint surface as grid size changes. The corresponding fractal dimensions of waviness and unevenness in sampling window sizes ranging from 100 mm×100 mm to 1000 mm×1000 mm at an interval of 100 mm×100 mm are determined. We find that both the fractal dimensions of waviness and unevenness vary as the window size increases. No obvious stationarity threshold has been found for the three rock joint samples, indicating the surface roughness of natural rock joints should be quantified at the scale of the rock mass in the field.