Open AccessA fractal analysis method to characterise rock joint morphology
Author(s) -
Giulia Guida,
Francesca Casini,
Giulia Viggiani
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/833/1/012067
Subject(s) - fractal , discontinuity (linguistics) , joint (building) , fractal dimension , surface finish , fractal analysis , geology , dilatant , scale (ratio) , profilometer , geotechnical engineering , length scale , geometry , mineralogy , materials science , mechanics , mathematics , composite material , structural engineering , engineering , physics , mathematical analysis , quantum mechanics
Rock joints morphological characteristics strongly influence the shear strength dilatancy response of the discontinuity. Morphological features of rock joints are commonly identified with a roughness descriptor along standard 100 mm-length profile detected by instrumentation such as profilometers. This work extends a method proposed for fractal analysis of particle contours to describe rock joint profiles in terms of quantitative descriptors of their roughness. It is well-established that natural surfaces have a fractal nature, self similar over a wide range of scales. This implies that the measured length of their outline is a function of the measurement scale: the smaller the measurement scale, the longer the profile length. Based on the interpretation of the fractal analysis of rock joint profiles, relating the length of the profile to the measurement scale, descriptors identifying the roughness and its characteristic scale are proposed. The method is first applied to some artificial profiles, and later to real rock joint profiles.