Soil-water characteristic surface model of soil-rock mixture

The relationship between the water content or saturation of unsaturated soils and its matrix suction is commonly described by the soilwater characteristic curve(SWCC).Currently,study on the SWCC model is focused on fine-grained soils like clay and silty soils,but the SWCC model for grinding soil-rock mixture(SRM)is less studied.Considering that the SRM is in a certain compaction state in the actual project,this study established a surface model with three variables of coupling compaction degree-substrate suction-moisture content based on the Cavalcante-Zornberg soil-water characteristic curve model.Then,the influence of each fitting parameter on the curve was analyzed.For the common SRM,the soil-water characteristic test was conducted.Moreover,the experimental measurements exhibit remarkable consistency with the mode surface.The analysis shows that the surface model intuitively describes the soil-water characteristics of grinding SRM,which can provide the SWCC of soils with bimodal pore characteristics under specific compaction degrees.Furthermore,it can reflect the influence of compaction degrees on the SWCC of rock-soil mass and has a certain prediction effect.The SWCC of SRM with various soil-rock ratios have a double-step shape.With the increase in compaction degree,the curves as a whole tend toward decreasing mass moisture content.The curve changes are mainly concentrated in the large pore section.

Centrifuge and numerical modeling of h-type anti-slide pile reinforced soil-rock mixture slope

Due to the loose structure,high porosity and high permeability of soil-rock mixture slope,the slope is unstable and may cause huge economic losses and casualties.The h-type anti-slide pile is regarded as an effective means to prevent the instability of soilrock mixture slope.In this paper,a centrifuge model test was conducted to investigate the stress distribution of the h-type anti-slide pile and the evolution process of soil arching during the loading.A numerical simulation model was built based on the similar relationship between the centrifuge model and the prototype to investigate the influence factors of the pile spacing,anchored depth,and crossbeam stiffness,and some recommendations were proposed for its application.The results show that the bending moment distribution of the rear pile exhibits Wshaped,while for the front pile,its distribution resembles V-shaped.The soil arching evolution process during loading is gradually dissipated from bottom to top and from far to near.During the loading,the change of bending moment can be divided into three stages,namely,the stabilization stage,the slow growth stage,and the rapid growth stage.In engineering projects,the recommended values of the pile spacing,anchored depth,and crossbeam stiffness are 4.0d,2.0d,and 2.0EI,where d and EI are the diameter and bending stiffness of the h-type anti-slide pile respectively.

Pore evolution and shear characteristics of a soil-rock mixture upon freeze-thaw cycling

The changes in pore structure within soil-rock mixtures under freeze-thaw cycles in cold regions result in strength deterioration,leading to instability and slope failure.However,the existing studies mainly provided qualitative analysis of the changes in pore or strength of soil-rock mixture under freeze-thaw cycles.In contrast,few studies focused on the quantitative evaluation of pore change and the relationship between the freeze-thaw strength deterioration and pore change of soil-rock mixture.This study aims to explore the correlation between the micro-pore evolution characteristics and macro-mechanics of a soil-rock mixture after frequent freeze-thaw cycles during the construction and subsequent operation in a permafrost region.The pore characteristics of remolded soil samples with different rock contents(i.e.,25%,35%,45%,and 55%)subjected to various freeze-thaw cycles(i.e.,0,1,3,6,and 10)were quantitatively analyzed using nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR).Shear tests of soil-rock samples under different normal pressures were carried out simultaneously to explore the correlation between the soil strength changes and pore characteristics.The results indicate that with an increase in the number of freeze-thaw cycles,the cohesion of the soil-rock mixture generally decreases first,then increases,and finally decreases;however,the internal friction angle shows no apparent change.With the increase in rock content,the peak shear strength of the soil-rock mixture rises first and then decreases and peaks when the rock content is at 45%.When the rock content remains constant,as the number of freeze-thaw cycles rises,the shear strength of the sample reaches its peak after three freeze-thaw cycles.Studies have shown that with an increase in freeze-thaw cycles,the medium and large pores develop rapidly,especially for pores with a size of 0.2–20μm.Freeze-thaw cycling affects the internal pores of the soil-rock mixture by altering its skeleton and,therefore,impacts its macro-mechanical characteristics.

Study on mechanical properties of soil-rock mixture of various compactness subjected to freeze-thaw cycles

The soil-rock mixture,a collection of soil particles and rock blocks,is inherently heterogeneous and anisotropic due to significant particle size and material strength differences.This study conducts triaxial tests on soil-rock mixture samples of various compactness subjected to varying freeze-thaw cycles.A mesoscopic simulation is carried out by particle flow code(PFC)to analyze the effects of freeze-thaw cycles on the mechanical properties of soil and rock particles.The results show that the mechanical properties of the soil-rock mixture under freeze-thaw cycles are greatly affected by the initial compaction.In general,when the degree of compaction is higher,the influence of freeze-thaw cycles on the soil-rock mixture is greater.The stress-strain curves of the samples with different compactness demonstrate strain-softening behavior.The freeze-thaw cycles greatly influence the failure strength of the samples with a higher degree of compaction but have little impact on the samples with a lower degree of compaction.On the microscopic level,during freeze-thaw cycles,the pore volume in the highly compacted sample is too small to accommodate the volume expansion from ice crystal formation,causing significant strength loss among the soil and rock particles and deterioration of the macroscopic properties of the soil-rock mixture.

Experimental Study on Seepage Characteristics of a Soil-Rock Mixture in a Fault Zone

A mixture of fault gouge and rubble taken out from a fault zone is used to prepare a S-RM(Soil-Rock Mixture)sample with rock block proportions of 20%,30%,40%,50%,60%and 70%,respectively.A GDS triaxial test system is used accordingly to measure the seepage characteristics of such samples under different loading and unloading confining pressures in order to determine the variation law of the permeability coefficient.The test results show that:(1)The permeability coefficient of the S-RM samples decreases as the pressure increases,and the decrease rate of this coefficient in the initial stage of confining pressure loading is obviously higher than in the semi-late period;(2)The permeability coefficient at different confining pressure levels presents a common trend as the rock block proportion is increased,i.e.,it decreases first then it increases(the permeability coefficient of the sample with rock block proportion 40%being the smallest,70%the largest);(3)In the stage of confining pressure unloading,the recovery degree of the permeability coefficient grows with the increase of rock block proportion(the recovery rate of S-RM sample with rock block proportion 70%reaches 50.2%);(4)In the stage of confining pressure loading and unloading,the sensitivity of the permeability coefficient to the rock block proportion displays the inverse“Z”variation rule(when rock block proportion reaches 60%,the sensitivity is highest);(5)In the stage of confining pressure loading,the relationship between the permeability coefficient and confining pressure can be described by an exponential relationship.

Mechanical Properties of Soil-Rock Mixture Filling in Fault Zone Based on Mesostructure

Soil-rock mixture(SRM)filling in fault zone is an inhomogeneous geomaterial,which is composed of soil and rock block.It controls the deformation and stability of the abutment and dam foundation,and threatens the long-term safety of high arch dams.To study the macroscopic and mesoscopic mechanical properties of SRM,the development of a viable mesoscopic numerical simulation method with a mesoscopic model generation technology,and a reasonable parametric model is crucially desired to overcome the limitations of experimental conditions,specimen dimensions,and experiment fund.To this end,this study presents a mesoscopic numerical method for simulating the mechanical behavior of SRM by proposing mesoscopic model generation technology based on its mesostructure features,and a rock parameter model considering size effect.The validity and rationality of the presented mesoscopic numerical method is experimentally verified by the triaxial compression tests with different rock block contents(RBC).The results indicate that the rock block can increase the strength of SRM,and it is proved that the random generation technique and the rock parameter model considering size effect are validated.Furthermore,there are multiple failure surfaces for inhomogeneous geomaterial of SRM,and the angle of the failure zone is no longer 45◦.The yielding zones of the specimen are more likely to occur in thin sections of soil matrix isolated by blocks with the failure path avoiding the rock block.The proposed numerical method is effective to investigate the meso-damage mechanism of SRM.

Fracture evolution analysis of soil-rock mixture in contrast with soil by CT scanning under uniaxial compressive conditions

Soil-rock mixture(SRM),as a type of extremely heterogeneous geomaterial,is very common in nature and engineering.The fracture and damage of SRM often induce severe geological disasters.Hence,it is important to analyze the fracture evolution process of this material.In the present research,real-time computed tomography(CT)scanning was conducted on SRM and pure soil samples under uniaxial compressive experiments to investigate the influence of rocks on fracture evolution in SRM.The initiation of cracks,the original values of,and variations in,average density and heterogeneity in the soil matrix,the crack width evolution during loading,and the final failure modes were all studied.Cracks with a width greater than 0.1 mm will not arise until over 90%of ultimate stress is reached.In general,in SRM,areas where the initial average density of the soil matrix is smaller and the initial heterogeneity is greater,are much easier to crack,but the results for pure soil show the opposite effect.According to fracturing conditions shown in CT slices,fracturing and non-fracturing areas in the soil matrix were investigated.The average density of the soil matrix decreases in all areas under loading,except non-fracturing areas in SRM.For the whole sample,the increase in heterogeneity in the soil matrix of SRM is greater than that of pure soil;but for the fracturing areas,this increase in pure soil is greater.Besides,the average and standard deviations of crack width both follow logarithmic distributions with high correlation coefficients.

Mechanical properties of material in a mine dump at the Shengli#1 Surface Coal Mine,China

In-situ experiments were conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of the soil-rock mixture in the internal dump of the Shengli #1 Surface Coal Mine, China. Based on the experimental results, this study used comparative analysis and found that the shear strength of the soil-rock mixture in the dump was greater than the residual shear strength of the original rock. The results showed that the material presented in the dump as large blocks was the main factor affecting the strength of the soil-rock mixture.Numerical simulation was carried out for the analyses of three factors: different combinations of shear failure, rolling failure along with different large-block radius ratios, and mixture densities. The results illustrated that the cohesion and angle of internal friction of the soil-rock mixture are 12 kPa and 32.26°. However, in some cases the bench angle in the dump was controlled by a coupling relationship of rocks in the material. Finally, the stability of a soil slope showed a linear relationship with the large-block radius ratio and the bulk density.