Study on the Damage Model of Non-Persistent Jointed Rock Mass under the Coupling of Freeze-Thaw and Shear.

Considering that a jointed rock mass in a cold area is often affected by periodic freeze-thaw cycles and shear failure, definitions for the mesoscopic and macroscopic damage to a jointed rock mass under the coupling of freeze-thaw and shear are proposed, and the damage mechanism is verified according to experimental results. The results show that: (1) the jointed rock specimens increase macro-joints and meso-defects, the mechanical properties deteriorate significantly under freeze-thaw cycles, and the damage degree becomes more and more significant with the increases in freeze-thaw cycles and joint persistency. (2) When the number of freeze-thaw cycles is constant, the total damage variable value gradually increases with the increase in joint persistency.

Evolution of Shear Surface Morphology of Jointed Rock Masses Based on Gaussian Filtering Method under Freeze-Thaw Cycles.

This study aims to quantify the shear surface morphology of jointed rock and its evolution under shearing, cyclic freezing, and thawing using the Gaussian filtering method. Gaussian filtering method enables the construction of the (large-scale) waviness surface and the (small-scale) unevenness surface of a digitized surface (created by laser scanning). Both waviness and unevenness surfaces are then quantified by roughness coefficient ratio (S) and degradation degrees of the waviness surface (Dw) and unevenness surface (Dr).