ABSTRACT
Hydro-mechanical coupling in rock joints in generally expressed as a relation between the flow rate and the applied stresses. The present paper presents an experimental procedure based on equilibrium similar to the coupling test in porous media. An example on a very closed granite joint is presented: the « strain » parameter in the continuum approach is the joint displacement. A brief description of the coupling is presented by describing the joint as a set of small pins which are gradually put in contact under the external loading. The comparisons between the experiments and this modelling on several loading paths and also on the flow rate indicates the potential of this approach with regards to the simplicity of the model.
