A New Criterion for Peak Shear Strength of Rock Joints with a 3D Roughness Parameter

With the help of 3D printing and 3D laser scanning techniques, cement mortar joint samples with a certain surface morphology were prepared. Shear tests of 20 sets of matching joint samples and 8 sets of joint samples with different percentages of cavity area were performed under constant normal load and uniform shear displacement. The results show that the distribution characteristics of the equivalent height difference based on the new roughness description were in accordance with the distribution of the wearing area after shearing, and the effect of cavities on the peak shear strength is essentially due to the influence of the cavities on the roughness of the joint surface. The relationships between the peak shear strength and the two roughness parameters were discussed, and a new criterion for predicting the peak shear strength of rock joints was proposed. It was noted that the roughness parameter system adopted in this paper, which can describe the peak shear strength, was reasonable. The roughness anisotropy of the five joint surfaces was discussed, and a corresponding quantification parameter A_AHD accounting for the roughness anisotropy was proposed. The roughness of the joint surface has a positive size effect, a negative size effect and no size effect in a certain direction. However, no matter the direction, the roughness parameters will gradually stabilize as the research scale increases. A similar relationship between the roughness anisotropy parameters and research scales was also observed. To check the applicability of the proposed criterion for estimating the peak shear strength of natural rock joints, 12 sets of rock joints with the same surface morphology were produced based on a numerically controlled engraving technique. Under the same loading conditions as those in the shear tests of the cement mortar replication joints, the peak shear strengths of the rock joints were tested, and the results indicated that the new criterion was also applicable to predict the peak shear strength of natural rock joints.