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.

Three dimensional discrete element modelling of the conventional compression behavior of gas hydrate bearing coal

To analyze the relationship between macro and meso parameters of the gas hydrate bearing coal(GHBC)and to calibrate the meso-parameters,the numerical tests were conducted to simulate the laboratory triaxial compression tests by PFC3D,with the parallel bond model employed as the particle contact constitutive model.First,twenty simulation tests were conducted to quantify the relationship between the macro–meso parameters.Then,nine orthogonal simulation tests were performed using four meso-mechanical parameters in a three-level to evaluate the sensitivity of the meso-mechanical parameters.Furthermore,the calibration method of the meso-parameters were then proposed.Finally,the contact force chain,the contact force and the contact number were examined to investigate the saturation effect on the meso-mechanical behavior of GHBC.The results show that:(1)The elastic modulus linearly increases with the bonding stiffness ratio and the friction coefficient while exponentially increasing with the normal bonding strength and the bonding radius coefficient.The failure strength increases exponentially with the increase of the friction coefficient,the normal bonding strength and the bonding radius coefficient,and remains constant with the increase of bond stiffness ratio;(2)The friction coefficient and the bond radius coefficient are most sensitive to the elastic modulus and the failure strength;(3)The number of the force chains,the contact force,and the bond strength between particles will increase with the increase of the hydrate saturation,which leads to the larger failure strength.

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.

Triaxial compression strength for artificial frozen clay with thermal gradient

A series of triaxial compression tests for frozen clay were performed by KoDCGF （freezing with non-uniform temperature under loading after K0 consolidation） method and GFC （freezing with non-uniform temperature without experiencing Ko consolidation） method at various confining pressures and thermal gradients. The experimental results indicate that the triaxial compression strength for frozen clay in KoDCGF test increases with the increase of confining pressure, but it decreases as the confining pressure increases further in GFC test. In other words, the compression strength for frozen clay with identical confining pressure decreases with the increase in thermal gradient both in KoDCGF test and GFC test. The strength of frozen clay in KoDCGF test is dependent of pore ice strength, soil particle strength and interaction between soil skeleton and pore ice. The decrease of water content and distance between soil particles leads to the decrease of pore size and the increase of contact area between particles in KoDCGF test, which further results in a higher compression strength than that in GFC test. The compression strength for frozen clay with thermal gradient can be descried by strength for frozen clay with a uniform temperature identical to the temperature at the height of specimen where the maximum tensile stress appears.

Temperature-controlled triaxial compression/creep test device for thermodynamic properties of soft sedimentary rock and corresponding theoretical prediction

In deep geological disposal of high-level nuclear waste,one of the most important subjects is to estimate long-term stability and strength of host rock under high temperature conditions caused by radioactive decay of the waste.In this paper,some experimental researches on the thermo-mechanical characteristics of soft sedimentary rock have been presented.For this reason,a new temperature-controlled triaxial compression and creep test device,operated automatically by a computer-controlled system,whose control software has been developed by the authors,was developed to conduct the thermo-mechanical tests in different thermal loading paths,including an isothermal path.The new device is proved to be able to conduct typical thermo-mechanical element tests for soft rock.The test device and the related testing method were introduced in detail.Finally,some test results have been simulated with a thermo-elasto-viscoplastic model that was also developed by the authors.

Fundamental Study on Response Properties of Structures Constructed on Lunar Regolith

The Artemis Program, for constructing the lunar base, is in progress. How to design and construct architectural and civil engineering structures in the lunar environment has become an important issue. The lunar surface is covered with soft sand, called regolith, and it is required to protect lunar bases and structures, as well as internal precision equipment, against vibrational disturbances such as moonquakes and meteorite collisions. Therefore, in this study, the static and cyclic triaxial compression tests of the regolith simulant were conducted. The reference strain and equivalent damping factor of the regolith simulant were smaller compared to sandy soil on Earth. In addition, a shaking table test using model specimens was conducted on the response properties of regolith ground alone and structures set on regolith ground. The buried foundation and pile foundation notably suppressed the horizontal response attributed to the rocking component compared to a direct foundation.

Effect of gravel on rock failure in glutenite reservoirs under different confining pressures

Due to the existence of gravel,glutenite is heterogeneous and different from fine-grained rocks such as sandstone and shale in structure.To fully understand the effect of gravel on failure mode in glutenite,we performed triaxial compression tests on different glutenites.The results indicate that failure modes of glutenite are complex due to the existence of gravel.Under different confining pressures,three failure modes were observed.The first failure mode,a tensile failure under uniaxial compression,produces multiple tortuous longitudinal cracks.In this failure mode,the interaction between gravels provides the lateral tensile stress for rock splitting.The second failure mode occurs under low and medium confining pressure and produces a crack band composed of micro-cracks around gravels.This failure mode conforms to the Mohr-Coulomb criterion and is generated by shear failure.In this failure mode,shear dilatancy and shear compaction may occur under different confining pressures to produce different crack band types.In the second failure mode,gravel-induced stress concentration produces masses of initial micro-cracks for shear cracking,and gravels deflect the fracture surfaces.As a result,the fracture is characterized by crack bands that are far broader than in fine-grained rocks.The third failure mode requires high confining pressure and produces disconnected cracks around gravels without apparent crack bands.In this failure mode,the gravel rarely breaks,indicating that the formation of these fractures is related to the deformation of the matrix.The third failure mode requires lower confining pressure in glutenite with weak cement and matrix support.Generally,unlike fine-grained rocks,the failure mode of glutenite is not only controlled by confining pressure but also by the gravel.The failure of glutenite is characterized by producing cracks around gravels.These cracks are produced by different mechanisms and distributed in different manners under different confining pressures to form different fracture patterns.Therefore,understanding the rock microstructure and formation stress state is essential in guiding glutenite reservoir development.

Effects of confining pressure and temperature on strength and deformation behavior of frozen saline silty clay

Buildings are always affected by frost heave and thaw settlement in cold regions,even where saline soil is present.This paper describes the triaxial testing results of frozen silty clay with high salt content and examines the in-fluence of confining pressure and temperature on its mechanical characteristics.Conventional triaxial compression tests were conducted under different confining pressures(0.5–7.0 MPa)and temperatures(-6℃,-8℃,-10℃,and-12℃).The test results show that when the confining pressure is less than 1 MPa,the frozen saline silty clay is dominated by brittle behavior with the X-shaped dilatancy failure mode.As the confining pressure increases,the sample gradually transitions from brittle to plastic behavior.The strength of frozen saline silty clay rises first and then decreases with increasing confining pressure.The improved Duncan-Chang hyperbolic model can describe the stress-strain relationship of frozen saline silty clay.And the parabolic strength criterion can be used to describe the strength evolution of frozen saline silty clay.The function relation of strength parameters with temperature is obtained by fitting,and the results of the parabolic strength criterion are in good agreement with the experimental results,especially when confining pressure is less than 5 MPa.Therefore,the study has important guiding significance for design and construction when considering high salinity soil as an engineering material in cold regions.

A Strain Rate Dependent Constitutive Model for the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation Shale in the Fuling Gas Field of the Sichuan Basin,China

Shale,as a kind of brittle rock,often exhibits different nonlinear stress-strain behavior,failure and timedependent behavior under different strain rates.To capture these features,this work conducted triaxial compression tests under axial strain rates ranging from 5×10-6 s-1 to 1×10-3 s-1.The results show that both elastic modulus and peak strength have a positive correlation relationship with strain rates.These strain rate-dependent mechanical behaviors of shale are originated from damage growth,which is described by a damage parameter.When axial strain is the same,the damage parameter is positively correlated with strain rate.When strain rate is the same,with an increase of axial strain,the damage parameter decreases firstly from an initial value(about 0.1 to 0.2),soon reaches its minimum(about 0.1),and then increases to an asymptotic value of 0.8.Based on the experimental results,taking yield stress as the cut-off point and considering damage variable evolution,a new measure of micro-mechanical strength is proposed.Based on the Lemaitre’s equivalent strain assumption and the new measure of micro-mechanical strength,a statistical strain-rate dependent damage constitutive model for shale that couples physically meaningful model parameters was established.Numerical back-calculations of these triaxial compression tests results demonstrate the ability of the model to reproduce the primary features of the strain rate dependent mechanical behavior of shale.

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.

An investigation into the effects of lime on compressive and shear strength characteristics of fiber-reinforced clays

To meet the ever-increasing construction demands around the world during recent years,reinforcement and stabilization methods have been widely used by geotechnical engineers to improve the performances and behavior of fine-grained soils.Although lime stabilization increases the compressive strength of soils,it reduces the soil ductility at the same time.Recent research shows that random fiber inclusion modifies the brittleness of soils.In the current research,the effects of lime and polypropylene(PP)fiber additions on such characteristics as compressive and shear strengths,failure strain,secant modulus of elasticity(E50)and shear strength parameters of mixtures were investigated.Kaolinite was treated with 1%,3% and 5% lime by dry weight of soil and reinforced with 0.1% monovalent PP fibers with the length of 6 mm.Samples were prepared at optimum conditions and cured at 35℃ for 1 d,7 d and 28 d at 90% relative humidity and subsequently subjected to uniaxial and triaxial compression tests(UCT and TCT)under cell pressures of 25 kPa,50 kPa and 100 kPa.Results showed that inclusion of random PP fibers to clay-lime mixtures increases both compressive and shear strengths as well as the ductility.Lime content and curing period were found to be the most influential factors.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM)analysis showed that lime addition and the formation of cementitious compounds bind soil particles and increase soil/fiber interactions at interface,leading to enhanced shear strength.The more ductile the stabilized and reinforced composition,the less the cracks in roads and waste landfill covers.

Stress-strain relationship of unsaturated cohesive soil

A moisture-content based constitutive model was proposed based on the hyperbolic model as an attempt to move towards the implementation of unsaturated soil mechanics into routine geotechnical engineering practice. The stress-strain behavior of in-situ soil at a depth of 5 m was investigated by conducting undrained triaxial compression tests using the remolded soil samples. The test results show that the stress-strain relationship of unsaturated cohesive soil is still hyperbolic. The values of parameters a and b given in the model decrease with increasing the confining pressure for soil samples with the same moisture content and increase with increasing the moisture content for soil samples under the same confining pressure. The relationships between parameters a, b and moisture content were studied for confining pressures of 100, 150, 200 and 250 kPa. The comparison between the measured and predicted stress-strain curves for an additional group of soil samples, having a moisture content of 25.4%, shows that the proposed moisture content-dependent hyperbolic model provides a good prediction of stress-strain behavior of unsaturated cohesive soil.

Shear Strength Behavior of Two Landfill Clay Liners

Direct shear tests were conducted to obtain both the shear strength ofcompacted clay liners (CCLs) specimens and the interface shear strength between compacted clay linerand base soil. These experiments were conducted under the conditions of five different watercontents. The experimental results show that shear strength of both CCLs and CCLs/base interfacedecreases with the increase in the water content of CCLs and base soil. In addition, the considerateconcentration of NaCl in leachate has no deteriorating effect on the shear strength of liners.Triaxial shear tests were also conducted on clay liner specimens to obtain total and effective shearstrength under a fast compression. The shear strength parameters with total stress are φ=18. 5°and c=30 kPa for clay-bentonite, and φ=48. 5° and c=90 kPa for sand-bentonite and those witheffective stress are φ'= 27. 2° and c'=25 kPa for clay-bentonite, and φ'=35° and c'=100 kPa forsand-bentonite, respectively. These results indicate that the compacted clay-bentonite shows normalconsolidation, but that the compacted sand-bentonite exhibits over-consolidation.

Characteristic stress and strain precursor information for fine-grained granite during failure process under triaxial loading and unloading conditions

The unloading effect by excavation may cause irreversible and severe damage to the surrounding rock masses in underground engineering.In this paper,both conventional triaxial compression(CTC)tests and triaxial unloading confining pressure(TUCP)tests were conducted on fine-grained granite to study its triaxial compression failure processes due to unloading.Based on the crack volumetric strain(CVS)method,the crack axial strain(CAS)method and crack radial area strain(CRAS)method were proposed to identify the failure precursor information(including stress thresholds and axial strain at the initiation point of crack connectivity stage)during the rock failure processes.The results of the CTC tests show that the stable crack development stressσsd,unstable crack development stressσusd,and crack connectivity stressσct identified by the CAS method are 6%,74%–84%,and 86%–97%of the peak stress,respectively.For the TUCP cases,as the confining pressure increases,the stress thresholds,axial pressure at failure and axial strain at the start of the crack connectivity stage increase,while the time ratio of the crack connectivity stage to the entire unloading stage decreases.This indicates that fine-grained granite is prone to generate more cracks and leads to fail suddenly under high confining pressure.Furthermore,this new method demonstrates that the point at which the derivative of the radial crack area strain transitions from stable to a sudden increase or decrease is defined as the precursor point of rock failure.The results of axial strain at the starting point of the crack connectivity stage are very close to those predicted by the AE method,withβ1 no more than 11%.

Evaluation of the propensity of strain burst in brittle granite based on post-peak energy analysis

The increasing demand for resources and depletion of near ground mineral resources caused deeper mining operations under highstress rock mass conditions.As a result of this,strain burst,which is the sudden release of stored strain energy in the surrounding rock mass,has become more prevalent and created a considerable threat to workers and construction equipment.It is,therefore,imperative to understand how strain burst mechanism and stored excess strain energy are affected due to the high confinement in deep underground conditions.For this purpose,post-peak energy distributions for brittle rocks were investigated using a newly developed energy calculation method associated with acoustic emission(AE).A series of quasi-static uniaxial and triaxial compression tests controlled by the circumferential expansion were conducted.Snap-back behaviour known as Class-II behaviour associated with energy evolution and the material response under self-sustaining failure were analysed on granites under a wide range of confining pressures(0–60 MPa).The experimental results underline that the energy evolution characteristics are strongly linked to confinement.Stored elastic strain energy(dUE),energy consumed by dominating cohesion weakening(dUCW)and energy dissipated during mobilisation of frictional failure(dUFM)showed a rising trend as the confining pressure was increased.An intrinsic ejection velocity was proposed to express the propensity of strain burst that was purely determined by the excess strain energy released from Class II rock.

Effects of natural zeolite and sulfate ions on the mechanical properties and microstructure of plastic concrete

One of the strategic materials used in earth-fill embankment dams and in modifying and preventing groundwater flow is plastic concrete(PIC).PIC is comprised of aggregates,water,cement,and bentonite.Natural zeolite(NZ)is a relatively abundant mineral resource and in this research,the microstructure,unconfined strength,triaxial behavior,and permeability of PIC made with 0%,10%,15%,20%,and 25% replacement of cement by NZ were studied.Specimens of PIC-NZ were subjected to confined conditions and three different confining pressures of 200,350,and 500 kPa were used to investigate their mechanical behavior and permeability.To study the effect of sulfate ions on the properties of PIC-NZ specimens,the specimens were cured in one of two different environments:normal condition and in the presence of sulfate ions.Results showed that increasing the zeolite content decreases the unconfined strength,elastic modulus,and peak strength of PIC-NZ specimens at the early ages of curing.However,at the later ages,increasing the zeolite content increases unconfined strength as well as the peak strength and elastic modulus.Specimens cured in the presence of sulfate ions indicated lower permeability,higher unconfined strength,elastic modulus,and peak strength due to having lower porosity.