Discrete modelling of time‐dependent rockfill behaviour

Abstract

International audienceThis modelling study deals with the time-dependent behaviour of rockfill media, which is of particular interest during the life of rockfill dams. Breakage of rock blocks and crack propagation are the main processes responsible for rockfill creep and collapse. The modelling procedure presented here is performed on two scales: on the rock block scale, where the grain is taken to be an assembly of rigid particles initially endowed with cohesive bonds, and on the rockfill scale, which is taken to involve a set of breakable grains interacting via contact and friction processes. The grain breakage process is described in term of a thermodynamically consistent damage interface model, where the damage is a gradual delayed process. This model was implemented in a non-smooth contact dynamics code. The effects of the main parameters involved were analysed by performing numerical studies. The ability of the model to predict the creep behaviour of rockfill media is confirmed by presenting several simulations

Long-Term Settlement of High Concrete-Face Rockfill Dam by Field Monitoring and Numerical Simulation

“…e fine particles with size of D < 0.075 mm increase from 0.84% to 1.61%. e dry density increases from the 1.92 g/ cm 3 to 2.18 g/cm 3 . ese index test results meet the design values.…”

“…For rockfill materials subject to zero stress, ε vf � ε sf � 0 according to equations (3) and 4, where ε vf and ε sf are the accumulated volume and shear creep variables for time t, which can be calculated as in the following equations by integration:…”

“…Concrete-face rockfill dams (CFRDs) have been quickly developed in recent years because of the adaptability to terrain, low cost, and facilitated construction [1]. However, researchers have observed creep deformation of rockfills in the body of high CFRDs even under normal operating conditions [2][3][4][5][6]. e creep can cause differential and inconsistent deformation between rockfill and concrete-face, resulting in detachment of these two structural elements [7,8].…”

Experimental Study on the Characteristics of Granular Materials’ Flows and Fractures under Uniaxial Compression

“…During flow process, the collision between particles or particles and boundary would cause particle breakage, the broken particles would be incorporated into the particle system and continue to flow as part of the particle system, and further fractures would occur [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. However, there are many factors [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] that affect the flows and fractures of granular materials, such as particles' strength, size, shape, gradation, and loading rate. Due to the complexity of mechanical properties of granular materials, great efforts have been devoted to study the flows and fractures of granular materials in the past decades, and the main research methods are experiment and numerical simulation.…”