{"id":110,"date":"2026-05-05T05:41:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T05:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/3.104.199.245\/?page_id=110"},"modified":"2026-06-01T00:15:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T00:15:50","slug":"theory-literature","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.stadss.com.au\/?page_id=110","title":{"rendered":"Theory\/Literature"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Theory\/Literature<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">The Stochastic Approach for Discontinuity Shear Strength (StADSS)&nbsp;represents&nbsp;a fundamental shift in how the shear strength of natural rock discontinuities is predicted.&nbsp;Its core principle is to capture roughness information directly at the scale of the project to bypass the well know scale effect; and to apply rigorous statistics and mechanics to predict the discontinuity shear strength. The statistical properties of surveyed traces (referred to as seed trace) are used to reconstruct&nbsp;many&nbsp;3D synthetic surfaces&nbsp;through rigorous&nbsp;random field modelling. These synthetic surfaces preserve key statistical descriptors of the seed trace, most importantly the standard deviation of gradients, and are produced at engineering scale allowing the method to work&nbsp;directly at field scale&nbsp;without downscaling or empirical scale corrections; bypassing any scale effects. Each reconstructed surface is sheared virtually using a&nbsp;semi\u2011analytical&nbsp;mechanistic model&nbsp;(called NDSS, developed at the University of Newcastle), which triangulates the synthetic morphology into&nbsp;facets, identifies \u201cactive\u201d&nbsp;and estimates&nbsp;peak and residual shear strength from rock strength parameters, without the need for empirical calibration factor. By repeating this over 100+ realisations in a Monte Carlo manner,&nbsp;StADSS&nbsp;yields a&nbsp;probabilistic strength distribution, rather than a single deterministic value.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The novelty of&nbsp;StADSS&nbsp;lies in several breakthroughs:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It bypasses the scale effect on roughness: one of rock mechanics\u2019 longstanding unresolved problems, through statistical reconstruction at full discontinuity scale.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is based on rigorous statistical and mechanistic modelling,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It does not rely on ill-defined or subjective roughness predictor, but on the full geometrical profile of the seed trace,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It can predict peak and residual shear strength of very rough surfaces where traditional tangent-based models are mathematically limited, returning negative values of shear strength, and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Its probabilistic formulation efficiently captures uncertainty about discontinuity morphology and variability of material strength (an often-overlooked aspect in rock mechanics) and allows efficient sensitivity analyses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">StADSS has been validated in the laboratory on a 2m per 2m rough surface and tested in the field. StADSS has been developed with the support of PSM, Geotechnical Consultants, Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Together, these advances establish StADSS as a transformative, scale\u2011independent&nbsp;methodology&nbsp;capable of delivering shear strength predictions where classical models fail or are inapplicable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To read more on StADSS please refer to the following articles in literature:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>\u2022 Casagrande, D., Buzzi, O., Giacomini, A., Lambert, C. and Fenton, G. (2018), \u2018A New Stochastic Approach to Predict Peak and Residual Shear Strength of Natural Rock Discontinuities\u2019,&nbsp;<em>Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering<\/em>, vol. 51(1), pp. 69\u201399.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00603-017-1302-3\">https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00603-017-1302-3<\/a><br><br>\u2022 Buzzi, O. and Casagrande, D. (2018), \u2018A step towards the end of the scale effect conundrum when predicting the shear strength of large in situ discontinuities\u2019, <em>International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences<\/em>, vol. 105, pp. 210\u2013219.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S1365160917309383\">https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S1365160917309383<\/a><br><br>\u2022 Jeffery, M., Huang, J., Fityus, S., Giacomini, A. and Buzzi, O. (2021), \u2018A rigorous multiscale random field approach to generate large scale rough rock surfaces\u2019,&nbsp;<em>International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences<\/em>, vol. 142, art. no. 104716.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S1365160921001027\">https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S1365160921001027<\/a><br><br>\u2022 Jeffery, M., Crumpton, M., Fityus, S.G., Huang, J., Giacomini, A. and Buzzi, O. (2022), \u2018A Shear Device with Controlled Boundary Conditions for Very Large Nonplanar Rock Discontinuities\u2019,&nbsp;<em>Geotechnical Testing Journal<\/em>, vol. 45(4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dl.astm.org\/gtj\/article\/45\/4\/725\/3448\/A-Shear-Device-with-Controlled-Boundary-Conditions\">https:\/\/dl.astm.org\/gtj\/article\/45\/4\/725\/3448\/A-Shear-Device-with-Controlled-Boundary-Conditions<\/a><br><br>\u2022 Jeffery, M., Huang, J., Fityus, S., Giacomini, A. and Buzzi, O. (2023), \u2018A Large-Scale Application of the Stochastic Approach for Estimating the Shear Strength of Natural Rock Discontinuities\u2019,&nbsp;<em>Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering<\/em>, vol. 56(8), pp. 6061\u20136078.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00603-023-03393-1\">https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00603-023-03393-1<\/a><br><br>\u2022 Buzzi, O., Jeffery, M., Moscato, P.,&nbsp;Grebogi, R.B. and Haque, M.N. (2024), \u2018Mathematical Modelling of Peak and Residual Shear Strength of Rough Rock Discontinuities Using Continued Fractions\u2019,&nbsp;<em>Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering<\/em>, vol. 57(2), pp. 851\u2013865.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00603-023-03548-0\">https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00603-023-03548-0<\/a><br><br>\u2022 Butcher, C., Buzzi, O., Giacomini, A., Bertuzzi, R. and Griffiths, D.V. (2025), \u2018Influence of Roughness Digitisation Error on Predictions of Discontinuity Shear Strength\u2019,&nbsp;<em>Remote Sensing<\/em>, vol. 17(4), art. no. 599.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/17\/4\/599\">https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/17\/4\/599<\/a><br><br>\u2022 Butcher, C., Buzzi, O., Giacomini, A., Bertuzzi, R., Griffiths, D.V. and Fityus, S. (2025), \u2018Shear Strength of a Large Limestone Discontinuity: In Situ Pull Test and Prediction\u2019,&nbsp;<em>Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering<\/em>, vol. 58(2), pp. 2203\u20132222.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00603-024-04270-1\">https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00603-024-04270-1<\/a><br><br>\u2022 Butcher, C. and Buzzi, O. (2025), \u2018Quantifying Rock Strength Variability Under Different Tests and Failure Modes\u2019,&nbsp;<em>Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering<\/em>, 59,&nbsp;pp. 1441\u20131454.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00603-025-04952-4\">https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00603-025-04952-4<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theory\/Literature The Stochastic Approach for Discontinuity Shear Strength (StADSS)&nbsp;represents&nbsp;a fundamental shift in how the shear strength of natural rock discontinuities is predicted.&nbsp;Its core principle is to capture roughness information directly at the scale of the project to bypass the well know scale effect; and to apply rigorous statistics and mechanics to predict the discontinuity shear [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-no-gap","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-110","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stadss.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stadss.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stadss.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stadss.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stadss.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.stadss.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":229,"href":"https:\/\/www.stadss.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110\/revisions\/229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stadss.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}