Morphological anisotropy of shear failure surfaces of granite rock bridges

Abstract Rock bridges are critical for the stability of rock masses and often experience shear failure under natural conditions. As a manifestation of the failure mechanisms of rock bridges, we investigate the morphology of failure surfaces created by direct shearing on granite rock bridges with var...

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Main Authors: Guangming Luo, Shengwen Qi, Bowen Zheng, Wei Lu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-06-01
Series:Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-025-00974-y
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author Guangming Luo
Shengwen Qi
Bowen Zheng
Wei Lu
author_facet Guangming Luo
Shengwen Qi
Bowen Zheng
Wei Lu
author_sort Guangming Luo
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Rock bridges are critical for the stability of rock masses and often experience shear failure under natural conditions. As a manifestation of the failure mechanisms of rock bridges, we investigate the morphology of failure surfaces created by direct shearing on granite rock bridges with varying initial persistence rates. The failure surfaces were scanned using a 3D laser scanner, and the roughness of the profiles was quantified with the Hurst exponent. To describe the morphological anisotropy, we introduced an isotropy index. Our results indicate that the failure surfaces display significant morphological anisotropy, featuring rougher profiles in the direction parallel to the shear for samples with initial persistence rates exceeding 20%. The morphological anisotropy diminishes with decreasing persistence rates and shows an initial decrease followed by a significant increase during the progressive failure of rock bridges. We suggest through the morphological characteristics of the failure surfaces that a large slip is necessary to develop the typical morphology of mature faults documented at outcrop scales.
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publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Springer
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series Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources
spelling doaj-art-dbee3c5daa3542d09c7a51188dc26f0b2025-08-20T02:05:42ZengSpringerGeomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources2363-84192363-84272025-06-0111111210.1007/s40948-025-00974-yMorphological anisotropy of shear failure surfaces of granite rock bridgesGuangming Luo0Shengwen Qi1Bowen Zheng2Wei Lu3State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract Rock bridges are critical for the stability of rock masses and often experience shear failure under natural conditions. As a manifestation of the failure mechanisms of rock bridges, we investigate the morphology of failure surfaces created by direct shearing on granite rock bridges with varying initial persistence rates. The failure surfaces were scanned using a 3D laser scanner, and the roughness of the profiles was quantified with the Hurst exponent. To describe the morphological anisotropy, we introduced an isotropy index. Our results indicate that the failure surfaces display significant morphological anisotropy, featuring rougher profiles in the direction parallel to the shear for samples with initial persistence rates exceeding 20%. The morphological anisotropy diminishes with decreasing persistence rates and shows an initial decrease followed by a significant increase during the progressive failure of rock bridges. We suggest through the morphological characteristics of the failure surfaces that a large slip is necessary to develop the typical morphology of mature faults documented at outcrop scales.https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-025-00974-yRock bridgeShear failure surfaceMorphological anisotropyPersistence rateProgressive failure
spellingShingle Guangming Luo
Shengwen Qi
Bowen Zheng
Wei Lu
Morphological anisotropy of shear failure surfaces of granite rock bridges
Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources
Rock bridge
Shear failure surface
Morphological anisotropy
Persistence rate
Progressive failure
title Morphological anisotropy of shear failure surfaces of granite rock bridges
title_full Morphological anisotropy of shear failure surfaces of granite rock bridges
title_fullStr Morphological anisotropy of shear failure surfaces of granite rock bridges
title_full_unstemmed Morphological anisotropy of shear failure surfaces of granite rock bridges
title_short Morphological anisotropy of shear failure surfaces of granite rock bridges
title_sort morphological anisotropy of shear failure surfaces of granite rock bridges
topic Rock bridge
Shear failure surface
Morphological anisotropy
Persistence rate
Progressive failure
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-025-00974-y
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AT shengwenqi morphologicalanisotropyofshearfailuresurfacesofgraniterockbridges
AT bowenzheng morphologicalanisotropyofshearfailuresurfacesofgraniterockbridges
AT weilu morphologicalanisotropyofshearfailuresurfacesofgraniterockbridges