Failure modes and slabbing mechanisms of hard rock with different height-to-width ratios under uniaxial compression

To determine the relationship between slabbing failure and the specimen height-to-width(H/W)ratio and to analyze the conditions,characteristics,and mechanism of slabbing failure in the laboratory,uniaxial compression tests were conducted using six groups of granite specimens.The entire failure process was recorded using strain gauges and high-speed cameras.The initiation and propagation of fractures in specimens were identified by analyzing the monitoring results of stress,strain,and acoustic emission.The experimental results show that changes in the specimen H/W ratio can transform the macro failure mode.When the H/W ratio is reduced to 0.5,the macro failure mode is dominated by slabbing.Low load-bearing ability is observed in specimens with slabbing failure,and the slabbing fractures are approximately parallel to the loading direction.Moreover,the fracture propagation characteristics and acoustic emission signals of slabbing failure specimens show typical tensile failure characteristics,indicating that slabbing failure is essentially a special tensile failure.

Refined mathematical model for the breaching of concrete-face sand-gravel dams due to overtopping failure

Overtopping is one of the main reasons for the breaching of concrete-face sand-gravel dams(CFSGDs).In this study,a refined mathematical model was established based on the characteristics of the overtopping breaching of CFSGDs.The model characteristics were as follows:(1)Based on the Renormailzation Group(RNG)k-εturbulence theory and volume of fluid(VOF)method,the turbulent characteristics of the dam-break flow were simulated,and the erosion surface of the water and soil was tracked;(2)In consideration of the influence of the change in the sediment content on the dam-break flow,the dam material transport equation,which could reflect the characteristics of particle settlement and entrainment motion,was used to simulate the erosion process of the sand gravels;(3)Based on the bending moment balance method,a failure equation of the concrete face slab under dead weight and water load was established.The proposed model was verified through a case study on the failure of the Gouhou CFSGD.The results showed that the proposed model could well simulate the erosion mode of the special vortex flow of the CFSGD scouring the support body of the concrete face slab inward and reflect the mutual coupling relationship between the dam-break flow,sand gravels,and concrete face slabs.Compared with the measured values,the relative errors of the peak discharge,final breach average width,dam breaching duration,and maximum failure length of the face slab calculated using the proposed model were all less than 12%,thus verifying the rationality of the model.The proposed model was demonstrated to perform better and provide more detailed results than three selected parametric models and three simplified mathematical models.The study results can aid in establishing the risk level and devising early warning strategies for CFSGDs.