An Infrared Thermography Approach to Evaluate the Strength of a Rock Cliff

Autor: Marco Loche, Gianvito Scaringi, Jan Blahůt, Maria Teresa Melis, Antonio Funedda, Stefania Da Pelo, Ivan Erbì, Giacomo Deiana, Mattia Alessio Meloni, Fabrizio Cocco
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Remote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 7, p 1265 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2072-4292
DOI: 10.3390/rs13071265
Popis: The mechanical strength is a fundamental characteristic of rock masses that can be empirically related to a number of properties and to the likelihood of instability phenomena. Direct field acquisition of mechanical information on tall cliffs, however, is challenging, particularly in coastal and alpine environments. Here, we propose a method to evaluate the compressive strength of rock blocks by monitoring their thermal behaviour over a 24-h period by infrared thermography. Using a drone-mounted thermal camera and a Schmidt (rebound) hammer, we surveyed granitoid and aphanitic blocks in a coastal cliff in south-east Sardinia, Italy. We observed a strong correlation between a simple cooling index, evaluated in the hours succeeding the temperature peak, and strength values estimated from rebound hammer test results. We also noticed different heating-cooling patterns in relation to the nature and structure of the rock blocks and to the size of the fractures. Although further validation is warranted in different morpho-lithological settings, we believe the proposed method may prove a valid tool for the characterisation of non-directly accessible rock faces, and may serve as a basis for the formulation, calibration, and validation of thermo-hydro-mechanical constitutive models.
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