Discontinuities

Discontinuities

From civil engineering point of view, discontinuities refer to the geological structures like folds, faults, joints, fracture etc.

Characteristics of discontinuities are as follows

1. Orientation of discontinuities

Orientation of discontinuities refers to the attitude of the discontinuities.

2. Spacing of discontinuity

The joints having same orientation is known as Joint set. The lesser the number of joints, the more stability is found.

3. Persistence

Persistence refers to the length of the discontinuities; shorter discontinuities have more stability and vice-versa.

4. Aperature

This refers to the separation or width of an opening. Hence, lesser number of aperature means more stability.

5. Infilling materials

This refers to the materials present in the cracks of joints, faults, etc. If the infilling is rough (i.e. more friction), it gives more stability. On the other hand, if the infilling material is soft (like clay) less friction is provided and hence, is unstable.

6. Ground water condition

It refers to the amount of water content in the given structure. The amount of water content follows the order like dry, damp, wet, dripping and flowing. The amount of water content is directly proportional to the stability.