Peak Shear Strength of Natural, Unfilled Rock Joints in the Field Based on Data From Drill Cores

Ríos-Bayona, F., Johansson, F., Larsson, J., Mas Ivars, D. (2022) Peak Shear Strength of Natural, Unfilled Rock Joints in the Field Based on Data From Drill Cores – A Conceptual Study Based on Large-Scale Laboratory Tests. Peak Shear Strength of Natural, Unfilled Rock Joints in the Field Based on Data from Drill Cores – A Conceptual Study Based on Large Laboratory Shear Tests (link.springer.com)

Significant uncertainties remain regarding the field assessment of the peak shear strength of rock joints. This paper investigates a methodology that uses objective observations of the 3D roughness and joint aperture from drill cores to predict the peak shear strength of large natural, unfilled rock joints in the field. The results of the performed analysis and laboratory experiments show that data from the simulated drill cores contain the necessary information to predict the peak shear strength of the tested rock joint samples. The main benefit of this approach is that it may enable the prediction of the peak shear strength in the field under conditions of difficult access.