Jörgen Larsson

Industrial doctorand doing research on the shear strength of rock joints. Knowledge about the shear strength is of importance for the structural integrity of underground constructions. The outcome from the research is generally applicable, but dedicated to the conditions at the SKB, Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, spent fuel repository. The overall goal is to generate and validate shear strength criteria applicable to full size rock masses.

The research is based on results from direct shear tests and is divided in two working areas. The first area covers the development of an approach to improve the capability of test setups and methods for geometrical quality assurance of rock joint replicas. The outcome serves as a base for generation of high-quality data from parametric studies.

The second part is based on direct shear test data from uniquely large-scale specimens of size 300 x 500 mm. Here the issue on the scale effect is addressed by investigating the applicability of existing shear strength criteria to larger scales and by investigating the scale effect itself by evaluation of direct shear test data from specimens of varying sizes.