Abstract
This study aims at investigating the flow characteristics of soil–rock mixtures (SRM) with different rock block percentage. A self-developed servo-controlled permeability testing system was developed and used to carry out the permeability testing. Cylindrical SRM specimens (50 mm diameter and 100 mm height) with staggered rock block proportions (20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 % by mass) were produced via compaction tests with different hammer strike counts to roughly insure the same void ratio. From the test results, the non-Darcy flow characteristic of SRMs was first proposed. The relationship between hydraulic gradient and the seepage velocity obeys a power function with good correlation. The increasing trend of the seepage velocity gets much more obvious with increasing hydraulic gradient. With the increase of the rock block percentage, the average permeability coefficient decreases to a minimum at a rock block percentage of 40 %. As the rock block percentage continues to increase above 40 %, the permeability increases again. The critical hydraulic gradient decreases gradually with the increase of rock block percentage. The variation of permeability for SRM specimens is the result of soil matrix properties combined with rock blocks and rock–soil interfaces. The research results can be helpful to predict the subsurface erosion and piping hazards in soil–rock mixture stratum.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ASTM D 2434-68 (2006) Standard test method for permeability of granular soils (revised, constant head). ASTM International Press, USA
BS1377-1 (1990) British standard, methods of test for soils for civil engineering purposes—part 1: general requirements and sample preparation
Chen CG, Yao LK, Wang Q (2005) Application of three dimensional discrete element method in studies of debris-flow deposit process. J Nat Disasters 4:55–61
Chen ZH, Chen SJ, Chen J (2012) In-situ double-ring infiltration test of soil–rock mixture. J Yangtze River Sci Res Inst 29(4):52–56 (in Chinese)
Chen XB, Li ZY, Zhang JS (2014) Effect of granite gravel content on improved granular mixtures as railway subgrade fillings. J Cent South Univ 21:3361–3369
Coli N, Berry P, Boldini D (2011) In situ non-conventional shear tests for the mechanical characterisation of a bimrock. Int J Rock Mech Min 48:95–102
Darcy H (1856) Les Fountaines Publiques de la Ville de Dijon. Victor Dalmont, Paris
Dixon DA, Grey MN, Hatiw D (1992a) Critical gradients and pressures in dense swelling clay. Can Geotech J 29:1113–1119
Dixon DA, Srirangjian R, Granham J (1992b) Applicability of Darcy’s law in laboratory measurement of water flow through low permeability clays. In: Proceedings of 45th Canadian geotechnical conference, Toronto, pp 871–877
Dunn A, Mehuys G (1984) Relationship between gravel content of soils and saturated hydraulic conductivity in laboratory tests. Soil Sci Soc Am J 48(3):736–740
Forchheimer P (1901) Wasserbewegung durch Boden. Z Ver Dtsch Ing 45:1782–1788
Gao Q, Liu ZH, Li X, Li JH (2009) Permeability characteristics of rock and soil aggregate of backfilling open-pit and particle element numerical analysis. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 28(11):2342–2348
GB/T 50123-1999 (1999) Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China, Standard for soil test method
Goodman RE, Ahlgren CS (2000) Evaluating safety of concrete gravity dam on weak rock. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 126:429–442
Guzzetti F, Peruccacci S, Rossi M, Stark CP (2008) The rainfall intensity–duration control of shallowlandslides and debris flows: an update. Landslides 5(1):3–17
Indrawan IGB, Rahardjo H, Leong EC (2006) Effects of coarse-grained materials on properties of residual soil. J Eng Geol 82(3):154–164
Jan R, Philipp G, Bodo H (2013) The influence of soil gravel content on compaction behaviour and pre-compression stress. Geoderma 209–210:226–232
Lanaro F, Tolppanen P (2002) 3D characterization of coarse aggregate. Eng Geol 6:17–30
Liao QL (2004) Geological origin and structure model of rock and soil aggregate and study on its mechanical and MH coupled properties. PhD diss, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing (in Chinese)
Lindquist ES (1994) The strength and deformation properties of melange, Ph.D. Thesis. Department of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Longoni L, Papini M, Arosio D, Zanzi L, Brambilla D (2014) A new geological model for Spriana landslide. Bull Eng Geol Environ 73(4):959–970
Medley E, Lindquist ES (1995) The engineering significance of the scale-independence of some Franciscan Melanges in California, USA. In: Daemen JK, Schultz RA (eds) Proceedings of the 35th US rock mechanics symposium. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 907–914
Proctor RR (1993) Fundamental principles of soil compaction. Engineering News-Record, ASCE
Radice A, Giorgetti E, Brambilla D, Longoni L, Papini M (2012) On integrated sediment transport modelling for flash events in mountain environments. Acta Geophys 60(1):191–213
Shafiee A (2008) Permeability of compacted granule-clay mixtures. Eng Geol 97(7):199–208
Shakoor A, Cook BD (1990) The effect of stone content, size, and shape on the engineering properties of a compacted silty clay. Eng Geol 117(2):245–253
Shelley TL, Daniel DE (1993) Effect of gravel on hydraulic conductivity of compacted soil liners. J Geotech Eng ASCE 119(1):54–68
Sun SR, Xu PL, Wu JM (2014) Strength parameter identification and application of soil–rock mixture for steep-walled talus slopes in southwestern China. Bull Eng Geol Environ 73:123–140
Tyler SW, Wheatcraft SW (1992) Fractal scaling of soil particle-size distribution analysis and limitations. Soil Sci Soc Am J 56:362–369
Vallejo LE, Mawby R (2000) Porosity influence on the shear strength of granular material-clay mixtures. Eng Geol 58:125–136
Wang Y, Li X (2014a) Discussions on damage cracking for rock and soil aggregates using calculation meso-mechanics. China J Rock Mech Eng 9:3222–3345 (in Chinese)
Wang Y, Li X (2014b) Experimental study on cracking damage characteristics of a soil and rock mixture by UPV testing. Bull Eng Geol Environ. doi:10.1007/s10064-014-0673-x
Wang Y, Li X, Wu YF, Lin C, Zhang B (2015a) Experimental study on meso-damage cracking characteristics of RSA by CT test. Environ Earth Sci 73(9):5545–5558
Wang Y, Li X, Hu RL, Li SD, Wang JY (2015b) Experimental study of the ultrasonic and mechanical properties of SRM under compressive loading. Environ Earth Sci. doi:10.1007/s12665-015-4529-x
Xu WJ, Wang YG (2010) Meso-structural permeability of S-RM based on numerical tests. China J Rock Mech Eng 32(4):543–550
Xu WJ, Xu Q, Hu RL (2011) Study on the shear strength of soil–rock mixture by large scale direct shear test. Int J Rock Mech Min 45:1235–1247
Zhou Z, Fu HL, Liu BC (2006a) Experimental study of the permeability of soil–rock-mixture. J Hunan Univ (Nat Sci) 33(6):25–28
Zhou Z, Fu HL, Liu BC (2006b) Orthogonal tests on permeability of soil–rock mixture. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 28(9):1132–1138
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for their thoughtful review comments and constructive suggestions. This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41502294, 441227901, and 41330643), Beijing National Science Foundation of China (Grants Nos. 8164070), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (2015M571118), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grants Nos. XDB10030000, XDB10030300, and XDB10050400).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
We declare that we have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, Y., Li, X., Zheng, B. et al. Experimental study on the non-Darcy flow characteristics of soil–rock mixture. Environ Earth Sci 75, 756 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-5218-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-5218-5