A Critical Review of Current States of Practice in Direct Shear Testing of Unfilled Rock Fractures Focused on Multi-Stage and Boundary Conditions

Abstract

Direct shear (DS) is a common geotechnical laboratory test used to determine strength and deformation properties of rock discontinuities, such as normal and shear stiffness, peak and residual shear strength, and dilation. These are used as inputs for discontinuous geomechanical numerical models to simulate discontinuities discretely and shear strength is often expressed by Mohr–Coulomb, Patton, or Barton–Bandis constitutive models. This paper presents a critical review of the different boundary conditions and procedural techniques currently used in practice, summarizes previous contributions, addresses their impacts on interpreted results for rock engineering design, and introduces clarifying terminology for shear strength parameters. Based on the review, the authors advise that constant normal stress is best suited for discrete numerical-model-based rock engineering design in dry conditions, but constant normal stiffness should be considered where fluid permeability is of interest. Multi-stage testing should not be used to obtain peak shear strength values except for stage 1, because of accumulating asperity damage with successive shear stages. Nevertheless, if multi-stage testing must be employed due to limited budget or specimen availability, guidance is presented to improve shear strength results with limited displacement techniques.