Numerical study on progressive failure of hard rock samples with an unfilled undulate joint

Roughness is one of the most important parameters of unfilled joint. In this study, a series of numerical tests have been carried out on the progressive failure of rock masses with varied undulate joints. The numerical model reproduced the stress–strain relations obtained in lab tests on the marble samples with smooth joint under the confinement of σ3/σc = 0.013 and 0.27; meanwhile, the results of the numerical model on rock mass with rough...