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Shear Strength Model For Sediment-Infilled Rock Discontinuities And Field Applications, Buddhima Indraratna, Wuditha N. Premadasa, Jan Anton Nemcik, Mylvaganam Jayanathan

Wuditha N Premadasa

Discontinuities have a great influence on the reduction of rock mass shear strength depending on the geometry, roughness and the nature of infill sediments. These discontinuities are generally filled with different types of sediments. When the infill sediments are saturated, they make a considerable impact on the overall strength of the rock mass. Most infilled discontinuities in the field are overconsolidated due to various factors such as climatic and weathering conditions, as well as hydrothermal alteration. The increase in the thickness of joint infill subdues the otherwise prominent role of joint roughness. This paper presents some of the existing mathematical …