Assessing cutter-rock interaction during TBM tunnelling in granite:Large-scale standing rotary cutting tests and 3D DEM simulations

The widespread utilisation of tunnel boring machines(TBMs)in underground construction engineering requires a detailed investigation of the cutter-rock interaction.In this paper,we conduct a series of largescale standing rotary cutting tests on granite in conjunction with high-fidelity numerical simulations based on a particle-type discrete element method(DEM)to explore the effects of key cutting parameters on the TBM cutter performance and the distribution of cutter-rock contact stresses.The assessment results of cutter performance obtained from the cutting tests and numerical simulations reveal similar dependencies on the key cutting parameters.More specifically,the normal and rolling forces exhibit a positive correlation with penetration but are slightly influenced by the cutting radius.In contrast,the side force decreases as the cutting radius increases.Additionally,the side force shows a positive relationship with the penetration for smaller cutting radii but tends to become negative as the cutting radius increases.The cutter's relative effectiveness in rock breaking is significantly impacted by the penetration but shows little dependency on the cutting radius.Consequently,an optimal penetration is identified,leading to a low boreability index and specific energy.A combined Hertz-Weibull function is developed to fit the cutter-rock contact stress distribution obtained in DEM simulations,whereby an improved CSM(Colorado School of Mines)model is proposed by replacing the original monotonic cutting force distribution with this combined Hertz-Weibull model.The proposed model outperforms the original CSM model as demonstrated by a comparison of the estimated cutting forces with those from the tests/simulations.The findings from this work that advance our understanding of TBM cutter performance have important implications for improving the efficiency and reliability of TBM tunnelling in granite.

Large-scale model testing of high-pressure grouting reinforcement for bedding slope with rapid-setting polyurethane

Bedding slope is a typical heterogeneous slope consisting of different soil/rock layers and is likely to slide along the weakest interface.Conventional slope protection methods for bedding slopes,such as retaining walls,stabilizing piles,and anchors,are time-consuming and labor-and energy-intensive.This study proposes an innovative polymer grout method to improve the bearing capacity and reduce the displacement of bedding slopes.A series of large-scale model tests were carried out to verify the effectiveness of polymer grout in protecting bedding slopes.Specifically,load-displacement relationships and failure patterns were analyzed for different testing slopes with various dosages of polymer.Results show the great potential of polymer grout in improving bearing capacity,reducing settlement,and protecting slopes from being crushed under shearing.The polymer-treated slopes remained structurally intact,while the untreated slope exhibited considerable damage when subjected to loads surpassing the bearing capacity.It is also found that polymer-cemented soils concentrate around the injection pipe,forming a fan-shaped sheet-like structure.This study proves the improvement of polymer grouting for bedding slope treatment and will contribute to the development of a fast method to protect bedding slopes from landslides.

Failure characterization of fully grouted rock bolts under triaxial testing

Confining stresses serve as a pivotal determinant in shaping the behavior of grouted rock bolts.Nonetheless,prior investigations have oversimplified the three-dimensional stress state,primarily assuming hydrostatic stress conditions.Under these conditions,it is assumed that the intermediate principal stress(σ_(2))equals the minimum principal stress(σ_(3)).This assumption overlooks the potential variations in magnitudes of in situ stress conditions along all three directions near an underground opening where a rock bolt is installed.In this study,a series of push tests was meticulously conducted under triaxial conditions.These tests involved applying non-uniform confining stresses(σ_(2)≠σ_(3))to cubic specimens,aiming to unveil the previously overlooked influence of intermediate principal stresses on the strength properties of rock bolts.The results show that as the confining stresses increase from zero to higher levels,the pre-failure behavior changes from linear to nonlinear forms,resulting in an increase in initial stiffness from 2.08 kN/mm to 32.51 kN/mm.The load-displacement curves further illuminate distinct post-failure behavior at elevated levels of confining stresses,characterized by enhanced stiffness.Notably,the peak load capacity ranged from 27.9 kN to 46.5 kN as confining stresses advanced from σ_(2)=σ_(3)=0 to σ_(2)=20 MPa and σ_(3)=10 MPa.Additionally,the outcomes highlight an influence of confining stress on the lateral deformation of samples.Lower levels of confinement prompt overall dilation in lateral deformation,while higher confinements maintain a state of shrinkage.Furthermore,diverse failure modes have been identified,intricately tied to the arrangement of confining stresses.Lower confinements tend to induce a splitting mode of failure,whereas higher loads bring about a shift towards a pure interfacial shear-off and shear-crushed failure mechanism.

Liquefaction proneness of stratified sand-silt layers based on cyclic triaxial tests

Most studies on liquefaction have addressed homogeneous soil strata using sand or sand with fine content without considering soil stratification.In this study,cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on the stratified sand specimens embedded with the silt layers to investigate the liquefaction failures and void-redistribution at confining stress of 100 kPa under stress-controlled mode.The loosening of underlying sand mass and hindrance to pore-water flow caused localized bulging at the sand-silt interface.It is observed that at a silt thickness of 0.2H(H is the height of the specimen),nearly 187 load cycles were required to attain liquefaction,which was the highest among all the silt thicknesses with a single silt layer.Therefore,0.2H is assumed as the optimum silt thickness(t_(opt)).The silt was placed at the top,middle and bottom of the specimen to understand the effect of silt layer location.Due to the increase in depth of the silt layer from the top position(capped soil state)to the bottom,the cycles to reach liquefaction(N_(cyc,L))increased 2.18 times.Also,when the number of silt layers increased from single to triple,there was an increase of about 880%in N_(cyc,L).The micro-characterization analysis of the soil specimens indicated silty materials transported in upper sections of the specimen due to the dissipated pore pressure.The main parameters,including thickness(t),location(z),cyclic stress ratio(CSR),number of silt layers(n)and modified relative density(D_(r,m)),performed significantly in governing the lique-faction resistance.For this,a multilinear regression model is developed based on critical parameters for prediction of N_(cyc,L).Furthermore,the developed constitutive model has been validated using the data from the present study and earlier findings.

Triaxial tension and compression tests on saturated lime-treated plastic clay upon consolidated undrained conditions

Lime-treatment of clayey soil significantly increases its shear and tensile strengths.Consequently,the tensile strength of lime-treated soils deserves careful investigation because it may provide an appreciable benefit for the stability of earth structures.This study investigates the tensile and shear strengths of an untreated and lime-treated(3%of lime)plastic clay at different curing times(7 d,56 d and 300 d),through triaxial tension and compression tests.Triaxial tension tests are performed using“diabolo-shaped”soil samples with reduced central section,such that the central part of the specimen can be under axial tension while both end-sections remain in axial compression.Consolidated undrained(CU)conditions with measurement of pore water pressure allow analyzing the failure conditions through effective stress and total stress approaches.The results of triaxial tension tests reveal that the failure occurs under tensile mode at low confining pressure while extensional shear failure mode is observed under higher confining pressure.Consequently,a classical Mohr-Coulomb shear failure criterion must be combined with a cut-off tensile strength criterion that is not affected by the confining pressure.When comparing shear failure under compression and tension,a slight anisotropy is observed.

Triaxial creep tests of weak sandstone from fracture zone of high dam foundation

The lithology of fracture zone which was developed at the dam foundation of a hydropower station is weak sandstone with poor integrity and pore cementation contact.Its creep properties have a significant impact on the deformation and stability of the dam.Based on the characteristics of loose organizational structure,high moisture content and poor mechanical properties,the triaxial compression tests and creep tests were carried out,respectively.The results show significant non-linear,low strength and no obvious strength peaks.Both axial and lateral strains are achieved more than 3%when the tests are failed.The weak sandstone has a significant creep property,but only transient and steady state appear under low stress.Increased stress causes creep intensified and lateral strain gradually exceeds axial strain.In the failure stage,it has characteristics of large axial plastic deformation,obvious volumetric ductility dilation and large steady creep rate.The accelerated creep appears shortly after transient loading under confining of pressures 1.0 MPa and 1.5 MPa.Therefore,an improved Burgers creep model considering the non-linear characteristics of weak sandstone is built based on hyperbolic equation and the creep parameters are identified.This model can well describe the creep properties of weak sandstone.

Intermittent disturbance mechanical behavior and fractional deterioration mechanical model of rock under complex true triaxial stress paths

Mechanical excavation,blasting,adjacent rockburst and fracture slip that occur during mining excavation impose dynamic loads on the rock mass,leading to further fracture of damaged surrounding rock in three-dimensional high-stress and even causing disasters.Therefore,a novel complex true triaxial static-dynamic combined loading method reflecting underground excavation damage and then frequent intermittent disturbance failure is proposed.True triaxial static compression and intermittent disturbance tests are carried out on monzogabbro.The effects of intermediate principal stress and amplitude on the strength characteristics,deformation characteristics,failure characteristics,and precursors of monzogabbro are analyzed,intermediate principal stress and amplitude increase monzogabbro strength and tensile fracture mechanism.Rapid increases in microseismic parameters during rock loading can be precursors for intermittent rock disturbance.Based on the experimental result,the new damage fractional elements and method with considering crack initiation stress and crack unstable stress as initiation and acceleration condition of intermittent disturbance irreversible deformation are proposed.A novel three-dimensional disturbance fractional deterioration model considering the intermediate principal stress effect and intermittent disturbance damage effect is established,and the model predicted results align well with the experimental results.The sensitivity of stress states and model parameters is further explored,and the intermittent disturbance behaviors at different f are predicted.This study provides valuable theoretical bases for the stability analysis of deep mining engineering under dynamic loads.

Stress-strain behavior of plastic concrete using monotonic triaxial compression tests

The mechanical behavior of plastic concrete used in the cut-off walls of earth dams has been studied. Triaxial compression tests on the specimens in various ages and mix designs under different confining pressures have been done and the stress-strain behavior of such materials and their strength parameter changes have been experimentally investigated. It has been observed that increasing the confining pressures applied on the specimens causes the material behavior to be alike the more ductile materials and the compressive strength increases considerably as well. Moreover, a parametric study has been carded out to investigate the influence of essential parameters on the shear strength parameters of these materials. According to the research, increasing the coarse to fine aggregates ratio leads to the increase of compressive strength of the specimens as well as the increase of the cohesion and internal friction angle of the materials. Furthermore, the bentonite content decrease and the cement factor increase result in an increase of the cohesion parameter of plastic concretes and decrease of the internal friction angle of such materials.

Effects of stress conditions on rheological properties of granular soil in large triaxial rheology laboratory tests

In order to study the rheological properties of red stone granular soil,a series of rheological experiments were executed on large tri-axial rheological apparatus.Under 100,200 and 300 kPa confining stress conditions,the rheological tests were carried out.These experiment results showed that the stress conditions,especially the stress level were the critical influencing factors of the rheological deformation properties.Under the low stress level(S=0.1),the granular soil showed the elastic properties,and there was no obvious rheological deformation.Under the middle stress level(0.2<S≤0.6),creep curves showed the linear viscoelastic rheological properties.However,under the high stress level(S>0.8) creep curves showed the non-linear viscous plastic rheological properties.Especially,under the stress level of S=1.0,the accelerated rheological phase of creep curves occurred at early time with a trend of failure.The stress level had obvious effects on the final rheological deformation of the soil sample,and the final rheological deformation increments nonlinearly increased with stress level.The final rheological deformation increment and step was little under low stress level,while it became large under high stress level,which showed the nonlinearly rheological properties of the granular soil.The confining pressure also had direct effects on final rheological deformation,and the final rheological deformation linearly increased with confining pressure increments.

Strength and deformation behaviour of coarse-grained soil by true triaxial tests

In order to investigate the influence of intermediate principal stress on the stress-strain and strength behaviour of a coarse-grained soil, a series of true triaxial tests were performed. The tests were conducted in a recently developed true triaxial apparatus with constant minor principal stress σ3 and constant value of intermediate principal stress ratio b=（σ2-σ3）/（σ1-σ3） （al is the vertical stress, and % is the horizontal stress）. It is found that the intermediate principal strain, ε2, increases from negative to positive value with the increase of parameter b from zero to unity under a constant minor principal stress. The minor principal strain, ε3, is always negative. This implies that the specimen exhibits an evident anisotropy. The relationship between b and friction angle obtained from the tests is different from that predicted by LADE-DUNCAN and MATSUOKA-NAKAI criteria. Based on the test results, an empirical equation of g（b） that is the shape function of the failure surface on re-plane was presented. The proposed equation is verified to be reasonable by comparing the predicted results using the equation with true triaxial test results of soils, such as coarse-grained soils in this study, sands and gravels in other studies.

Creep properties and permeability evolution in triaxial rheological tests of hard rock in dam foundation

Triaxial creep tests were carried out under seepage pressure by using rock servo-controlled triaxial rheology testing equipment. Based on experimental results, rock rheological properties influenced by seepage-stress coupling were studied, and variations of seepage rate with time in complete creep processes of rock were analyzed. It is shown that, when the applied stress is less than failure stress level, the creep deformation is not obvious, and its main form is steady-state creep. When applied stress level is greater than or less than but close to fracture stress, it is easier to see the increase of creep deformation and the more obvious accelerative creep characteristics. The circumferential creep deformation is obviously higher than the axial creep deformation. At the stage of steady-state creep, the average of seepage flow rate is about 4.7×10-9 rn/s at confining pressure （tr3） of 2 MPa, and is about 3.9×10-9 m/s at a3 of 6 MPa. It is seen that the seepage flow rate at or3 of 2 MPa in this case is obviously larger than that at tr3 of 6 MPa. At the stage of creep acceleration, the seepage flow rate is markedly increased with the increase of time. The variation of rock permeability is directly connected to the growth and evolution of creep crack. It is suggested that the permeability coefficient in complete creep processes of rock is not a constant, but is a function of rock creep strain, confining pressure, damage variable and pore water pressure. The results can be considered to provide a reliable reference for the establishment of rock rheological model and parameter identification.

Soil-water characteristics and shear strength in constant water content triaxial tests on Yunnan red clay

The shear strength parameters for geotechnical designs are obtained mainly from consolidated drained （CD） or consolidated undrained （CU） triaxial tests. However, during construction, the excess pore-air pressure generally dissipates instantaneously while the excess pore-water pressure dissipates with time. This condition needs to be simulated in a constant water content （CW） triaxial test. The study on Yunnan red clay is carried out to investigate the soil-water characteristics and the shear strength characteristics under the constant water content condition. Osmotic technique is used to obtain the soil-water characteristic curve. A series of CW triaxial tests are conducted on statically compacted specimens. The experimental results show that the soil-water characteristic curve has a low air entry value of 7 kPa due to large pores in non-uniform pore size distribution, and a high residual value exceeding 10 MPa. In addition, the initial degree of saturation and net confining stress play an important role in affecting the shear characteristics under the constant water content condition. Finally, a new semi-empirical shear strength model in terms of degree of saturation is proposed and then applied to Yuunan red clay. Simulation result shows that the model is capable of capturing some key features of soils. The model can be used in whole engineering practice range, covering both unsaturmed and saturated soils.

Simulation of large-scale numerical substructure in real-time dynamic hybrid testing

A solution scheme is proposed in this paper for an existing RTDHT system to simulate large-scale finite element （FE） numerical substructures. The analysis of the FE numerical substructure is split into response analysis and signal generation tasks, and executed in two different target computers in real-time. One target computer implements the response analysis task, wherein a large time-step is used to solve the FE substructure, and another target computer implements the signal generation task, wherein an interpolation program is used to generate control signals in a small time-step to meet the input demand of the controller. By using this strategy, the scale of the FE numerical substructure simulation may be increased significantly. The proposed scheme is initially verified by two FE numerical substructure models with 98 and 1240 degrees of freedom （DOFs）. Thereafter, RTDHTs of a single frame-foundation structure are implemented where the foundation, considered as the numerical substructure, is simulated by the FE model with 1240 DOFs. Good agreements between the results of the RTDHT and those from the FE analysis in ABAQUS are obtained.

Assessment of cyclic deformation and critical stress amplitude of jointed rocks via cyclic triaxial testing

Jointed rock specimens with a natural replicated joint surface oriented at a mean dip angle of 60were prepared,and a series of cyclic triaxial tests was performed at different confining pressures and cyclic deviatoric stress amplitudes.The samples were subjected to 10,000 loading-unloading cycles with a frequency of 8 Hz.At each level of confining pressure,the applied cyclic deviatoric stress amplitude was increased incrementally until excessive deformation of the jointed rock specimen was observed.Analysis of the test results indicated that there existed a critical cyclic deviatoric stress amplitude(i.e.critical dynamic deviatoric stress)beyond which the jointed rock specimens yielded.The measured critical dynamic deviatoric stress was less than the corresponding static deviatoric stress.At cyclic deviatoric stress amplitudes less than the critical dynamic deviatoric stress,minor cumulative residual axial strains were observed,resulting in hysteretic damping.However,for cyclic deviatoric stresses beyond the critical dynamic deviatoric stress,the plastic strains increased promptly,and the resilient moduli degraded rapidly during the initial loading cycles.Cyclic triaxial test results showed that at higher confining pressures,the ultimate residual axial strain attained by the jointed rock specimen decreased,the steadystate dissipated energy density and steady-state damping ratio per load cycle decreased,while steadystate resilient moduli increased.

Ringlike failure experiment of thick-walled limestone cylinder specimens in triaxial unloading tests

In order to study the failure of surrounding rock under high in situ stress in deep underground engineering projects, disturbed by excavation unloading, we carried out triaxial unloading experiments using thickwalled cylinder specimens on a TATW-2000 rock servo-controlled triaxial testing machine in a laboratory. The specimens were made of limestone material, taken from Tongshan county, Xuzhou city, Jiangsu province, China. In our experiments, rock deformation and failure behavior was studied through loading and unloading of inner hole pressure of thick-walled cylinder specimens. At first, the axial stress, confining pressure and inner pressure were increased simultaneously to a specified designed state of stress. Then, keeping the axial stress and confining pressure stable, the pressure on the inner hole was decreased until the specimen was fractured. When the inner pressure was released completely but the specimen did not fracture, the confining pressure was decreased subsequently until complete failure occurred. Our experimental results suggest that traces of major circular ringlike fractures with a number of radial cracks often appear in thick cylinder walls. This type of ringlike failure phenomenon, similar to intermittent zonal fracturing characteristics of deep exploitation, has, so far, not been published. Our experimental results show that rock deformation and failure behavior of thick-walled limestone cylinders vary under different stress paths between loading and unloading. Tensile failure and orderly failure surfaces occur under unloading conditions while irregular damaged rock blocks are produced during loading failure. This type of triaxial unloading experiment provides for new research methodology and approach for thorough investigations on intermittent zonal fracturing in deep underground excavations.

Microdynamic mechanical properties and fracture evolution mechanism of monzogabbro with a true triaxial multilevel disturbance method

The far-field microdynamic disturbance caused by the excavation of deep mineral resources and underground engineering can induce surrounding rock damage in high-stress conditions and even lead to disasters.However,the mechanical properties and damage/fracture evolution mechanisms of deep rock induced by microdynamic disturbance under three-dimensional stress states are unclear.Therefore,a true triaxial multilevel disturbance test method is proposed,which can completely simulate natural geostress,excavation stress redistribution(such as stress unloading,concentration and rotation),and subsequently the microdynamic disturbance triggering damaged rock failure.Based on a dynamic true triaxial test platform,true triaxial microdynamic disturbance tests under different frequency and amplitudes were carried out on monzogabbro.The results show that increasing amplitude or decreasing frequency diminishes the failure strength of monzogabbro.Deformation modulus gradually decreases during disturbance failure.As frequency and amplitude increase,the degradation rate of deformation modulus decreases slightly,disturbance dissipated energy increases significantly,and disturbance deformation anisotropy strengthens obviously.A damage model has been proposed to quantitatively characterize the disturbance-induced damage evolution at different frequency and amplitude under true triaxial stress.Before disturbance failure,the micro-tensile crack mechanism is dominant,and the micro-shear crack mechanism increases significantly at failure.With the increase of amplitude and frequency,the micro-shear crack mechanism increases.When approaching disturbance failure,the acoustic emission fractal dimension changes from a stable value to local large oscillation,and finally increases sharply to a high value at failure.Finally,the disturbance-induced failure mechanism of surrounding rock in deep engineering is clearly elucidated.

Influence of grain segregation on the behavior of sand in triaxial tests

As a common phenomenon in granular flow, grain segregation plays a great role in affecting the behavior of granular soil by causing a great change of grain-void distribution in granular soil. This paper presents an experimental study on the influence of grain segregation on the behavior of sand, by a number of triaxial tests to interpret the characteristic behavior, friction and dilatancy behavior, excess pore water pressure behavior and critical state behavior of sand incorporating grain segregation. An index-grain segregation index was proposed to quantify grain segregation. Grain segregation affected greatly the characteristic behavior of sand, causing the movement of void ratio-dilatancy relation of sand towards the increase of void ratio and dilatancy of sand. In the drained tests, the mobilized friction angle of sand showed a decrease followed by an increase but the mobilized dilatancy angle of sand increased, with increasing grain segregation index. An increase in grain segregation index impaired the basic friction of sand. In the undrained tests, the mobilized friction angle of sand showed an increase followed by a decrease with increasing grain segregation index. However, grain segregation caused an increase of the mobilized dilatancy of sand followed by a different development. An increase in grain segregation resulted in a higher summit of the dilatancy of sand but with a faster decrease along axial strain. In the q-p′ plane, grain segregation caused a reciprocating rotation of the dilatancy line and failure line of sand. Grain segregation resulted in enhancement of the peak-state dilatancy of sand, affecting greatly peakstate friction angle and peak-state basic friction angle of sand as well as the normalized excess pore water pressure. The excess friction angle of sand showed an increase followed by a decrease in the drained tests but increased linearly in the undrained tests, with increasing grain segregation index. The excess friction angle-over-maximum dilatancy angle of sand decreased in up convexity while increasing grain segregation index. Grain segregation resulted in rotation and translation of the critical state line of sand in the e-p′α=0.7 plane. However, in the q-p′ plane, the critical state line of sand showed an anticlockwise rotation followed by a clockwise rotation with increasing grain segregation index.

Evaluation of Babolsar Sand Behaviour by Using Static Triaxial Tests and Comparison with Case History

An experimental study is carried out to investigate the static liquefaction of sand. For this purpose, Babolsar sand with its liquefiable parameters such as soil properties and high seismic level of underground water are investigated using static compression drained and un-drained tri-axial tests under isotropically and anisotropically conditions. Also, the data results of this sand are compared with those of the previous studies on soil case history. The study results indicate that Babolsar sand can experience the whole possible states of liquefaction soil, i.e. flow failure, limited and dilation behavior.

Experiments and 3D DEM of Triaxial Compression Tests under Special Consideration of Particle Stiffness

Discrete element modelling is commonly used for particle-scale modelling of granular or particulate materials. Developing a DEM model requires the determination of a number of micro-structural parameters, including the particle contact stiffness and the particle-particle friction. These parameters cannot easily be measured in the laboratory or directly related to measurable, physical material parameters. Therefore, a calibration process is typically used to determine the values for use in simulations of physical systems. This paper focuses on how to define the particle stiffness for the discrete element modelling in order to perform realistic simulations of granular materials in the case of linear contact model. For that, laboratory tests and numerical discrete element modelling of triaxial compression tests have been carried out on two different non-cohesive soils i.e. poorly graded fine sand and gap graded coarse sand. The results of experimental tests are used to calibrate the numerical model. It is found that the numerical results are qualitatively and quantitatively in good agreement with the laboratory tests results. Moreover, the results show that the stress dependent of soil behaviour can be reproduced well by assigning the particle stiffness as a function of the particle size particularly for gap graded soil.

Relationship between repeated triaxial test and Hamburg wheel tracking test on asphalt mixtures

Both the repeated triaxial test （RTT） and the Hamburg wheel tracking test （HWTT） are adopted to evaluate the high temperature performance of the stone mastic asphalt （SMA） and the mastic asphalt （MA）. The correlation of the permanent deformations of the MA and the correlation of the deformation developments of the SMA between the two tests are analyzed, respectively. Results show that both the two tests can effectively identify the high temperature performance of mixtures, and the correlation between the final results of the two tests as well as that between the deformation developments of the two tests are excellent with R20.9. In order to further prove the correlation, viscoelastic parameters estimated from the RTT results is used to simulate the rutting development in the HWTT slabs by the finite element method （FEM）. Results indicate that the correlation between the two tests is significant with errors less than 10%. It is suitable to predict the rutting development with the viscoelastic parameters obtained from the RTT.