Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
One of the key parameters in the design of engineering structures built on the surface or underground in rock environments is the shear strength of discontinuities in rock masses. The most commonly used method for determining this parameter is the direct shear test for which collecting sufficient number of field samples even from the same discontinuity plane is both challenging and expensive. This limitation has led researchers to explore more efficient approaches, including multi-stage shear tests conducted on single samples. This study aimed to assess the reliability of a multi-stage direct shear method performed on a wide range of rock types. Given the parametric nature of the study, artificial discontinuities were used. In this context, both single- and multi-stage direct shear tests were carried out on 30 rock types of different origins and strength properties. By comparing the experimental results, the multi-stage method was evaluated as a potential alternative. The findings indicated that the multi-stage method applied to a single sample produced results highly consistent with those of the conventional method under low normal stresses. However, at higher normal stresses, the shear strengths obtained using the multi-stage technique were slightly lower than those obtained using the traditional approach.