HIERARCHICAL MODEL OF ROUGH ROCK JOINTS BASED ON MICROMECHANICS

A rough rock joint model is proposed in this study on the basis of mic romechanics concepts. In the model, the global behavior of a rough joi nt depends on the microfeatures of the contact planes on the joint. Th e contact mechanics on contact planes controls the mechanical behavior of the joint via a homogenization process. Also, the complex mechanic al behavior of a joint is associated with simple microfeatures of the joint, including the frictional properties and the structure of contac t planes. To capture the feature of scale dependency of joint roughnes s, a hierarchical representation of a joint profile is proposed in the form of a multi-level-asperity model. Moreover, the constitutive rela tion of the multi-level-asperity model is derived through a recursive homogenization process. The proposed model's framework is general and systematic. Furthermore, major deformation mechanisms of joint asperit ies, i.e. interlocking, wearing, shearing-off sliding, separation and degradation, are taken into account.