... further validation by compression tests on irregular joints. The mechanism of opened joints under shear has also attracted growing attention since Ladanyi & Archambault (1969) who noted the contact area decrease resulted in a decline in frictional resistance. Dight & Chiu (1981), Zhao (1997b...

... discontinuities under high average normal stress σ n , where the asperities are strongly overlapped and adjusted and the sliding is made with their shear. Engineering roughness strain energy classical limit equilibrium model average normal stress Upstream Oil & Gas Barton Ladanyi discontinuity...

... models and it observed that as the asperity base angle increases, the transition from sliding to shearing mechanism takes place at a lower normal stress. A good agreement is found between the peak shear strength of numerical models and Patton and Ladanyi and Archambault models. In order to study...