Advances in joint roughness coefficient (JRC) and its engineering applications

The joint roughness coefficient (JRC), introduced in Barton (1973) represented a new method in rock mechanics and rock engineering to deal with problems related to joint roughness and shear strength estimation. It has the advantages of its simple form, easy estimation, and explicit consideration of scale effects, which make it the most widely accepted parameter for roughness quantification since it was proposed. As a result, JRC has attracted the attention of many scholars who have developed JRC-related methods in many areas, such as geological engineering, multidisciplinary geosciences, mining mineral processing, civil engineering, environmental engineering, and water resources. Because of such a developing trend, an overview of JRC is presented here to provide a clear perspective on the concepts, methods, applications, and trends related to its extensions. This review mainly introduces the origin and connotation of JRC, JRC-related roughness measurement, JRC estimation methods, JRC-based roughness characteristics investigation, JRC-based rock joint property description, JRC's influence on rock mass properties, and JRC-based rock engineering applications. Moreover, the representativeness of the joint samples and the determination of the sampling interval for rock joint roughness measurements are discussed. In the future, the existing JRC-related methods will likely be further improved and extended in rock engineering.

Data-driven estimation of joint roughness coefficient

Joint roughness is one of the most important issues in the hydromechanical behavior of rock mass.Therefore,the joint roughness coefficient(JRC)estimation is of paramount importance in geomechanics engineering applications.Studies show that the application of statistical parameters alone may not produce a sufficiently reliable estimation of the JRC values.Therefore,alternative data-driven methods are proposed to assess the JRC values.In this study,Gaussian process(GP),K-star,random forest(RF),and extreme gradient boosting(XGBoost)models are employed,and their performance and accuracy are compared with those of benchmark regression formula(i.e.Z2,Rp,and SDi)for the JRC estimation.To analyze the models’performance,112 rock joint profile datasets having eight common statistical parameters(R_(ave),R_(max),SD_(h),iave,SD_(i),Z_(2),R_(p),and SF)and one output variable(JRC)are utilized,of which 89 and 23 datasets are used for training and validation of models,respectively.The interpretability of the developed XGBoost model is presented in terms of feature importance ranking,partial dependence plots(PDPs),feature interaction,and local interpretable model-agnostic explanations(LIME)techniques.Analyses of results show that machine learning models demonstrate higher accuracy and precision for estimating JRC values compared with the benchmark empirical equations,indicating the generalization ability of the data-driven models in better estimation accuracy.

Investigation on the Indeterminate Information of Rock Joint Roughness through a Neutrosophic Number Approach

To better estimate the rock joint shear strength,accurately determining the rock joint roughness coefficient(JRC)is the first step faced by researchers and engineers.However,there are incomplete,imprecise,and indeterminate problems during the process of calculating the JRC.This paper proposed to investigate the indeterminate information of rock joint roughness through a neutrosophic number approach and,based on this information,reported a method to capture the incomplete,uncertain,and imprecise information of the JRC in uncertain environments.The uncertainties in the JRC determination were investigated by the regression correlations based on commonly used statistical parameters,which demonstrated the drawbacks of traditional JRC regression correlations in handling the indeterminate information of the JRC.Moreover,the commonly used statistical parameters cannot reflect the roughness contribution differences of the asperities with various scales,which induces additional indeterminate information.A method based on the neutrosophic number(NN)and spectral analysis was proposed to capture the indeterminate information of the JRC.The proposed method was then applied to determine the JRC values for sandstone joint samples collected from a rock landslide.The comparison between the JRC results obtained by the proposed method and experimental results validated the effectiveness of the NN.Additionally,comparisons made between the spectral analysis and common statistical parameters based on the NN also demonstrated the advantage of spectral analysis.Thus,the NN and spectral analysis combined can effectively handle the indeterminate information in the rock joint roughness.

Effect of roughness on the shear behavior of rock joints subjected to impact loading

The shear behavior is regarded as the dominant property of rock joints and is dramatically affected by the joint surface roughness.To date,the effect of surface roughness on the shear behavior of rock joints under static or cyclic loading conditions has been extensively studied,but such effect under impact loading conditions keeps unclear.To address this issue,a series of impact shear tests was performed using a novel-designed dynamic experimental system combined with the digital image correlation(DIC)technique.The dynamic shear strength,deformability and failure mode of the jointed specimens with various joint roughness coefficients(JRC)are comprehensively analyzed.Results show that the shear strength and shear displacement characteristics of the rock joint under the impact loading keep consistent with those under static loading conditions.However,the temporal variations of shear stress,slip displacement and normal displacement under the impact loading conditions show obviously different behaviors.An elastic rebound of the slip displacement occurs during the impact shearing and its value increases with increasing joint roughness.Two identifiable stages(i.e.compression and dilation)are observed in the normal displacement curves for the rougher rock joints,whereas the joints with small roughness only manifest normal compression displacement.Besides,as the roughness increases,the maximum compression tends to decrease,while the maximum dilation gradually increases.More-over,the microstructural analysis based on scanning electron microscope(SEM)suggests that the roughness significantly affects the characteristics of the shear fractured zone enclosing the joint surface.

Shear mechanical properties and fracturing responses of layered rough jointed rock-like materials

This study aims to investigate mechanical properties and failure mechanisms of layered rock with rough joint surfaces under direct shear loading.Cubic layered samples with dimensions of 100 mm×100 mm×100 mm were casted using rock-like materials,with anisotropic angle(α)and joint roughness coefficient(JRC)ranging from 15°to 75°and 2-20,respectively.The direct shear tests were conducted under the application of initial normal stress(σ_(n)) ranging from 1-4 MPa.The test results indicate significant differences in mechanical properties,acoustic emission(AE)responses,maximum principal strain fields,and ultimate failure modes of layered samples under different test conditions.The peak stress increases with the increasingαand achieves a maximum value atα=60°or 75°.As σ_(n) increases,the peak stress shows an increasing trend,with correlation coefficients R² ranging from 0.918 to 0.995 for the linear least squares fitting.As JRC increases from 2-4 to 18-20,the cohesion increases by 86.32%whenα=15°,while the cohesion decreases by 27.93%whenα=75°.The differences in roughness characteristics of shear failure surface induced byαresult in anisotropic post-peak AE responses,which is characterized by active AE signals whenαis small and quiet AE signals for a largeα.For a given JRC=6-8 andσ_(n)=1 MPa,asαincreases,the accumulative AE counts increase by 224.31%(αincreased from 15°to 60°),and then decrease by 14.68%(αincreased from 60°to 75°).The shear failure surface is formed along the weak interlayer whenα=15°and penetrates the layered matrix whenα=60°.Whenα=15°,as σ_(n) increases,the adjacent weak interlayer induces a change in the direction of tensile cracks propagation,resulting in a stepped pattern of cracks distribution.The increase in JRC intensifies roughness characteristics of shear failure surface for a smallα,however,it is not pronounced for a largeα.The findings will contribute to a better understanding of the mechanical responses and failure mechanisms of the layered rocks subjected to shear loads.

On the calibration of a shear stress criterion for rock joints to represent the full stress-strain profile

Conventional numerical solutions developed to describe the geomechanical behavior of rock interfaces subjected to differential load emphasize peak and residual shear strengths.The detailed analysis of preand post-peak shear stress-displacement behavior is central to various time-dependent and dynamic rock mechanic problems such as rockbursts and structural instabilities in highly stressed conditions.The complete stress-displacement surface(CSDS)model was developed to describe analytically the pre-and post-peak behavior of rock interfaces under differential loads.Original formulations of the CSDS model required extensive curve-fitting iterations which limited its practical applicability and transparent integration into engineering tools.The present work proposes modifications to the CSDS model aimed at developing a comprehensive and modern calibration protocol to describe the complete shear stressdisplacement behavior of rock interfaces under differential loads.The proposed update to the CSDS model incorporates the concept of mobilized shear strength to enhance the post-peak formulations.Barton’s concepts of joint roughness coefficient(JRC)and joint compressive strength(JCS)are incorporated to facilitate empirical estimations for peak shear stress and normal closure relations.Triaxial/uniaxial compression test and direct shear test results are used to validate the updated model and exemplify the proposed calibration method.The results illustrate that the revised model successfully predicts the post-peak and complete axial stressestrain and shear stressedisplacement curves for rock joints.

Shear behavior and off-fault damage of saw-cut smooth and tension-induced rough joints in granite

The damage of rock joints or fractures upon shear includes the surface damage occurring at the contact asperities and the damage beneath the shear surface within the host rock.The latter is commonly known as off-fault damage and has been much less investigated than the surface damage.The main contribution of this study is to compare the results of direct shear tests conducted on saw-cut planar joints and tension-induced rough granite joints under normal stresses ranging from 1 MPa to 50 MPa.The shear-induced off-fault damages are quantified and compared with the optical microscope observation.Our results clearly show that the planar joints slip stably under all the normal stresses except under 50 MPa,where some local fractures and regular stick-slip occur towards the end of the test.Both post-peak stress drop and stick-slip occur for all the rough joints.The residual shear strength envelopes for the rough joints and the peak shear strength envelope for the planar joints almost overlap.The root mean square(RMS)of asperity height for the rough joints decreases while it increases for the planar joint after shear,and a larger normal stress usually leads to a more significant decrease or increase in RMS.Besides,the extent of off-fault damage(or damage zone)increases with normal stress for both planar and rough joints,and it is restricted to a very thin layer with limited micro-cracks beneath the planar joint surface.In comparison,the thickness of the damage zone for the rough joints is about an order of magnitude larger than that of the planar joints,and the coalesced micro-cracks are generally inclined to the shear direction with acute angles.The findings obtained in this study contribute to a better understanding on the frictional behavior and damage characteristics of rock joints or fractures with different roughness.

RB-DEM Modeling and Simulation of Non-Persisting Rough Open Joints Based on the IFS-Enhanced Method

When the geological environment of rock masses is disturbed,numerous non-persisting open joints can appear within it.It is crucial to investigate the effect of open joints on the mechanical properties of rock mass.However,it has been challenging to generate realistic open joints in traditional experimental tests and numerical simulations.This paper presents a novel solution to solve the problem.By utilizing the stochastic distribution of joints and an enhanced-fractal interpolation system(IFS)method,rough curves with any orientation can be generated.The Douglas-Peucker algorithm is then applied to simplify these curves by removing unnecessary points while preserving their fundamental shape.Subsequently,open joints are created by connecting points that move to both sides of rough curves based on the aperture distribution.Mesh modeling is performed to construct the final mesh model.Finally,the RB-DEM method is applied to transform the mesh model into a discrete element model containing geometric information about these open joints.Furthermore,this study explores the impacts of rough open joint orientation,aperture,and number on rock fracture mechanics.This method provides a realistic and effective approach for modeling and simulating these non-persisting open joints.

Measurement of Joint Roughness Coefficient by Using Profilograph and Roughness Ruler

Joint roughness coefficient（JRC） is the key parameter for the empirical estimation of joint shear strength by using the JRC-JCS（joint wall compressive strength） model.Because JRC has such characteristics as nonuniformity,anisotropy,and unhomogeneity,directional statistical measurement of JRC is the precondition for ensuring the reliability of the empirical estimation method.However,the directional statistical measurement of JRC is time-consuming.In order to present an ideal measurement method of JRC,new profilographs and roughness rulers were developed according to the properties of rock joint undulating shape based on the review of measurement methods of JRC.Operation methods of the profilographs and roughness rulers were also introduced.A case study shows that the instruments and operation methods produce an effective means for the statistical measurement of JRC.

New criterion for rock joints based on three-dimensional roughness parameters

The shear behavior of rock joints is important in solving practical problems of rock mechanics. Three group rock joints with different morphologies are made by cement mortar material and a series of CNL(constant normal loading) shear tests are performed. The influences of the applied normal stress and joint morphology to its shear strength are analyzed. According to the experimental results, the peak dilatancy angle of rock joint decreases with increasing normal stress, but increases with increasing roughness. The shear strength increases with the increasing normal stress and the roughness of rock joint. It is observed that the modes of failure of asperities are tensile, pure shear, or a combination of both. It is suggested that the three-dimensional roughness parameters and the tensile strength are the appropriate parameter for describing the shear strength criterion. A new peak shear criterion is proposed which can be used to predict peak shear strength of rock joints. All the used parameters can be easily obtained by performing tests.

Macro and meso characteristics evolution on shear behavior of rock joints

Direct shear tests were conducted on the rock joints under constant normal load(CNL), while the acoustic emission(AE) signals generated during shear tests were monitored with PAC Micro-II system. Before and after shearing, the surfaces of rock joints were measured by the Talysurf CLI 2000. By correlating the AE events with the shear stress-shear displacement curve, one can observe four periods of the whole course of shearing of rock joints. By the contrast of AE location and actual damage zone, it is elucidated that the AE event is related to the morphology of the joint. With the increase of shearing times, the shear behavior of rock joints gradually presents from the response of brittle behavior to that of ductile behavior. By combining the results of topography measurement, four morphological parameters of joint surface, S p(the maximum height of joint surface), N(number of islands), A(projection area) and V(volume of joint) were introduced, which decrease with shearing. Both the joint roughness coefficient(JRC) and joint matching coefficient(JMC) drop with shearing, and the shear strength of rock joints can be predicted by the JRC-JMC model. It establishes the relationship between micro-topography and macroscopic strength, which have the same change rule with shearing.

Morphology characteristics of joint surface in rock mass

In order to quantify the characteristics of the surface of jointed rock mass,new equipment,the three-dimensional laser surface topography instrument,was used to accurately measure surface morphology of joints.Scan pictures and parameters were obtained to describe the rock joint surface characteristics,for example,the height frequency of surface,and mean square roughness.Using the method of fractal dimension,the values of joint roughness coefficient(JRC) were calculated based on the above parameters.It could access to the joint surface rock sample morphology of the main parameters of characteristic.The maximum peak height is 2.692 mm in the test joint plane.The maximum profile height is 4.408 mm.JRC value is 6.38 by fractal dimension computing.It belongs to the smooth joint surface.The results show that it is a kind of the effective method to quantitatively evaluate the surface topography by the three-dimensional laser surface topography instrument and the fractal dimension method.According to the results,during the process of underground large-scale mining,safe measures to prevent slip failure of the joint plane by controlling surface tension and shear mechanical response were proposed.

Developments and Applications of Neutrosophic Theory in Civil Engineering Fields:A Review

Neutrosophic theory can effectively and reasonably express indeterminate,inconsistent,and incomplete information.Since Smarandache proposed the neutrosophic theory in 1998,neutrosophic theory and related research have been developed and applied to many important fields.Indeterminacy and fuzziness are one of the main research issues in the field of civil engineering.Therefore,the neutrosophic theory is very suitable for modeling and applications of civil engineering fields.This review paper mainly describes the recent developments and applications of neutrosophic theory in four important research areas of civil engineering:the neutrosophic decision-making theory and applied methods,the neutrosophic evaluation methods and applications of slope stability,the neutrosophic expressions and analyses of rock joint roughness coefficient,and the neutrosophic structural optimization methods and applications.In terms of these research achievements in the four areas of civil engineering,the neutrosophic theory demonstrates its advantages in dealing with the indeterminate and inconsistent issues in civil engineering and the effectiveness and practicability of existing applied methods.In the future work,the existing research results will be further improved and extended in civil engineering problems.In addition,the neutrosophic theory will also have better application prospects in other fields of civil engineering.

Understanding the need for pre-injection from permeability measurements: What is the connection?

Pre-grouting ahead of tunnels has three main functions:to control water inflow into the tunnel,to limit groundwater drawdown above the tunnel,and to make tunnelling progress more predictable since rock mass quality is effectively improved.It helps to avoid settlement damage caused by consolidation of clay deposits beneath built-up areas,since towns tend to be built where terrain is more flat,due to the clay deposits.There are so many instances of settlement damage that the profession needs to take note of the need for high-pressure pre-grouting,to use micro-cements and micro-silica additives.The use of highpressure injection may cause joint jacking,but this is local in extent when the rapid pressure decay away from an injection hole is understood.This effect is variable and depends on the geometrical parameters of the joints.This pressure-decay advantage must not be violated by maintaining high pressure when grout flow from the injection hole has ceased.The latter can cause damage to the grouting already achieved.Simplified methods of estimating mean hydraulic apertures(e)from Lugeon testing are described,and from more sophisticated three-dimensional(3D)permeability measurement.The estimation of the larger mean physical joint apertures(E)is based on the joint roughness coefficient(JRC).Comparison is then made with the empirical aperture-particle size criterion E>4d95,where d95 represents almost the largest cement particle size.Depending on joint set orientations and on the available micro-cements,the decision must be made of which range of pre-injection pressure should be aimed for,using successive reductions of the water-cement ratio w/c.More simple estimation of permeability,also with depth dependence,can be made with the empirical link between a modified rock mass quality Q and permeability,which is termed QH2O.The value of this parameter can be based on core-logging or intunnel face logging.The 3D before-and-after-grouting permeability measurements have been used to justify the quantification of rock mass quality Q-parameter improvement,and the consequent increases in expected P-wave velocity and deformation modulus,for application in dam foundation treatment and its monitoring.

Analytical large deformation shear strength for bolted rough discontinuous rock

Presented a new analytical model for studying the shear-tensile large deforma-tion behavior near the vicinity of joint interface for bolted rough discontinuous rock, and presented the formulation estimating global shear strength for bolted joints under shear-ing-tensile loads. The analytical strength curves of bolts contribution on reinforced discon-tinuous rocks as the function of joint displacements or deformation angle of a bolt at rock joints was obtained. Based on Barton’s equation on JRC roughness profiles, the theoreti-cal shearing strength of bolted rough joints was also established. Test results on bolted granite and marble specimen confirm the validity of the analytical approach.

Probabilistic prediction on three-dimensional roughness of discontinuity based on two-dimensional traces under rock tunnel excavation based on Bayesian theory

Three-dimensional(3D)roughness of discontinuity affects the quality of the rock mass,but 3D roughness is hard to be measured due to that the discontinuity is invisible in the engineering.Two-dimensional(2D)roughness can be calculated from the visible traces,but it is difficult to obtain enough quantity of the traces to directly derive 3D roughness during the tunnel excavation.In this study,a new method using Bayesian theory is proposed to derive 3D roughness from the low quantity of 2D roughness samples.For more accurately calculating 3D roughness,a new regression formula of 2D roughness is established firstly based on wavelet analysis.The new JRC3D prediction model based on Bayesian theory is then developed,and Markov chain Monte Carlo(MCMC)sampling is adopted to process JRC3D prediction model.The discontinuity sample collected from the literature is used to verify the proposed method.Twenty groups with the sampling size of 2,3,4,and 5 of each group are randomly sampled from JRC2D values of 170 profiles of the discontinuity,respectively.The research results indicate that 100%,90%,85%,and 60%predicting JRC3D of the sample groups corresponding to the sampling size of 5,4,3,and 2 fall into the tolerance interval[JRC_(true)–1,JRC_(true)+1].It is validated that the sampling size of 5 is enough for predicting JRC3D.The sensitivities of sampling results are then analyzed on the influencing factors,which are the correlation function,the prior distribution,and the prior information.The discontinuity across the excavation face at ZK78+67.5 of Daxiagu tunnel is taken as the tunnel engineering application,and the results further verify that the predicting JRC3D with the sampling size of 5 is generally in good agreement with JRC3D true values.