Surface measurement and fractal characterization of naturally fractured rocks

Abstract

A method of stylus measurement of fractured rock surfaces over relatively long sample lengths is described, together with methods of characterizing the fracture structure. Surface topography results are presented and analysed in several ways, including the use of 'fractal' methods, which show that naturally fractured rock can be classified as self-affine fractals and require two parameters, fractal dimension and topothesy for characterizing these naturally fractured rocks.