ABSTRACT
The 3D laser scanning technique emerged in the late 1990s and has developed rapidly in recent years, becoming increasingly popular for rock mechanics applications. The technique enables us to scan an object at a distance (from a few centimeters to several kilometers) with high resolution (up to a few millimeters) and high scanning speed (up to one million points per second). The results of the scan are point clouds (a set of points with x, y and z coordinates in a spatial system) and panoramic images in greyscale or color. The scanning data are the integration of both spatial (coordinate) and visual (image) information in three dimensions, enabling the creation of a new way to solve problems in rock mechanics with several advantages. In recent years, specific efforts have been made in application to rock mechanics, such as on-site documentation and measurement for rock exposure mapping, monitoring of deformation for slope stability analysis, detection of water leakage, and quality control of blasting in relation to conditions such as overbreak and underbreak.
In this chapter, state-of-the-art 3D laser scanning techniques are first introduced and then application examples are presented, including the results from various projects and case studies contributed by different groups. Finally, the limits of current capabilities are discussed and recommendations made for further development of the techniques.
