Determining the surface roughness coefficient by 3D Scanner

Abstract

Currently, several test methods can be used in the laboratory to determine the roughness of rock joint surfaces. However, true roughness can be distorted and underestimated by the differences in the sampling interval of the measurement methods. Thus, these measurement methods produce a dead zone and distorted roughness profiles. In this paper a new rock joint surface roughness measurement method is presented, with the use of a camera-type three-dimensional (3D) scanner as an alternative to current methods. For this study, the surfaces of ten samples of tuff were digitized by means of a 3D scanner, and the results were compared with the corresponding Rock Joint Coefficient (JRC) values. Up until now such 3D scanner have been mostly used in the automotive industry, whereas their use for comparison with obtained JRC coefficient values in rock mechanics is presented here for the first time. The proposed new method is a faster, more precise and more accurate than other existing test methods, and is a promising technique for use in this area of study in the future.