Experimental and numerical assessment of shear surface damage using 3D point clouds

This paper describes modelling of shearing of rock joint surfaces using 30 point clouds generated using

photogrammetry. High resolution 30 images of discontinuity surfaces were created before and after

shearing. The surface damage due to shearing of joint surfaces was assessed using image processing by

comparing the 30 images of undamaged surfaces with those of damaged surfaces. The shear surfaces were

concrete replicas of natural surfaces. The damage due to shearing was estimated using numerical modelling

in which comparison was made between the concrete surfaces before and after the shear test. It was found

that the modelling results were fairly well correlated with the observed surface damage, thus validating the

numerical models. The digitised surfaces could also be used to predict anisotropic shear strength and

damage of the asperities by numerically shearing the joint surfaces at various directions.