Recent results of research have shown that the shear strength of a rock joint is affected by its overall geometry. Technology advancement in the perception of the topography enables us to give a precise description of the geometry in three dimensions. 3D surface roughness parameters were introduced to describe the surface of the joints, thus replacing the inadequate 2D description along one profile of a rock joint. Based on a large number of direct shear tests, new empirical criterions for the calculation of peak shear strength of a rock joint were derived. New criterions take into account 3D surface roughness parameters. In my master's thesis, we examined these known criterions for predicting peak shear strength. For this purpose, 24 samples of different lithologies were investigated with Robertson's shear apparatus. We also calculated 3D surface roughness parameters to use them in criterions. Yang's and Tang's criterions were modified according to the results of the analyzed shear tests. Obtained results of the investigations were also compared with data from literature where investigations were carried out in the large shear cell. Among all the analyzed criteria, Yang's criterion most accurately predicts peak shear strength of a rock joint on the samples from the literature. Modified Youns's criterion also gives the best results on the investigated samples. Accuracy assessment of the Grasselli's criterion is similar to Young's on literature samples, while the results of the investigated samples do not reach a sufficiently low error rate. Since the criterions were based on the investigation of bigger samples in the direct shear cell, it is concluded that the modification of criterions for the use on small samples studied by Robertson shear apparatus is required. The modified criterions gave more accurate and acceptable assessment of peak shear strength of a rock joint compared to unmodified criterions. I also carried out a parametric analysis to determine the influence of an individual parameter on the criterions. Among all 3D surface roughness parameters, parameter C has the greatest impact.
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