EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON SHEAR-FLOW COUPLING CHARACTERISTICS OF SINGLE JOINTS IN ROCK MASSES

Abstract

Hydraulic characteristics of rock masses depend strongly on the aperture conditions of discontinuities in rock masses. The shear behaviors of the discontinuities that lead to fracture and dilation also affect the aperture conditions of discontinuities. The paper presents a new apparatus for shear-flow coupling tests to describe the relationship between the shear behaviors and the hydraulic characteristics of rock joints. Experimental results show the changes of hydraulic conductivities of a single joint with various surface roughnesses under the shear processes.