Shear Behavior of Rock Joints Under Varied Loading Conditions
Summary
The shear behaviour of rock joints is central to understanding the stability of natural and engineered rock masses. Under static loading, shear resistance is controlled by the interaction of surface asperities, the magnitude of normal stress and the presence or absence of infill material. With increasing shear displacement, joints dilate, asperities degrade and gouge is generated, all of which modify the peak and residual shear strength. At low to subseismic shear rates, transitions occur between tensile‐dominated failure and pure shear‐dominated failure, accompanied by changes in surface roughness and hydraulic transmissivity. Under dynamic or cyclic loading, rate effects influence energy dissipation and residual strength, affecting the design of support systems such as rock bolts and cable anchors. Recent numerical and experimental approaches—including direct shear testing, coupled discrete element and continuum modelling, and advanced imaging—have provided new insights into micro‐to‐macro fracture evolution. These findings inform safer tunnel construction, mining ground support and fault‐slip prediction in seismically active regions.
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Shear Behavior of Rock Joints Under Varied Loading Conditions publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in shear behavior of rock joints under varied loading conditions across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Asperity: A surface protrusion or roughness element on a rock joint that interlocks with mating surfaces under shear.
Direct shear test: A laboratory method in which two rock blocks are slid past one another under a controlled normal load to measure shear resistance.
Gouge: Finely crushed or ground rock material produced by abrasion of joint surfaces during shear displacement.
Mechanical aperture: The minimum separation between joint surfaces, which governs flow and contact stresses.
Rate effect: The dependence of shear strength and failure mode on the velocity of applied shear displacement.
References
- Numerical simulation study on shear resistance of anchorage joints considering tensile–shear fracture criterion of 2G-NPR bolt. International Journal of Coal Science & Technology (2023).
- A Numerical Investigation to Calculate Ultimate Limit State Capacity of Cable Bolts Subjected to Impact Loading. Applied Sciences (2022).
- Rate Effect on the Direct Shear Behavior of Granite Rock Bridges at Low to Subseismic Shear Rates. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (2022).
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