Numerical investigation of the shear behavior of granite materials containing discontinuous joints by utilizing the flat-joint model

In this paper, the shear behavior and failure mechanism of granite material bridges between discontinuous joints subjected to direct shearing were investigated using a flat-joint modeling approach. Through a comprehensive calibration and validation study, good agreement was successfully achieved considering the different normal stress levels, and three failure mechanisms were observed in both the numerical modeling and physical experiments. The joint persistency and UCS/Ts ratio were then meticulously investigated and found to have a pronounced effect on the failure mode, the peak shear strength and the shear deformation modulus of the granite samples containing discontinuous joints.