Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of Particle Shape and Confining Pressure on Breakage and Deformation of Artificial Rockfill

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The rockfill exhibits a substantial amount of particle breakage when subjected to higher range of stresses. The deformations of rockfill under such excessive stresses often lead to failure and cannot be ignored. The degree of particle breakage is related to the type of the material as well as the particle shape. Based on this, artificially simulated rockfill materials with three different aggregate shapes (prism, cube, and cylinder) were prepared by cement paste-casting method. Through a series of medium-sized triaxial shear tests, the effects of confining pressure and particle shape on the fracture characteristics of the artificial rockfill and its secant modulus were investigated. The useful relationships between particle sphericity and roundness with deformation modulus and particle breakage rate were proposed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Miura N, O-Hara S (1979) Particle-crushing of a decomposed granite soil under shear stresses. Soils Found 19(3):1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Gupta AK (2009) Effect of particle size and confining pressure on breakage and strength parameters of rockfill materials. Electron J Geotech Eng 14(H):1–12

    Google Scholar 

  3. Xiao Y, Liu H, Zhang WG, Liu HL, Yin F (2016) Testing and modeling of rockfill materials: a review. J Rock Mech Geotech Eng 8(3):415–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Ovalle C, Frossard E, Dano C, Hu W, Maiolino S, Hicher PY (2014) The effect of size on the strength of coarse rock aggregates and large rockfill samples through experimental data. Acta Mech 225(8):2199–2216

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. Zhang BY, Zhang JH, Sun GL (2015) Deformation and shear strength of rockfill materials composed of soft siltstones subjected to stress, cyclical drying/wetting and temperature variations. Eng Geol 190:87–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Gupta AK (2016) Effects of particle size and confining pressure on breakage factor of rockfill materials using medium triaxial test. J Rock Mech Geotech Eng 8(3):378–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Frossard E, Hu W, Dano C, Hicher PY (2012) Rockfill shear strength evaluation: a rational method based on size effects. Géotechnique 62(5):415–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Won MS, Kim YS (2008) A case study on the post-construction deformation of concrete face rockfill dams. Can Geotech J 45(6):845–852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Chen SS, Huo JP (2009) Impact of the ‘5.12’ Wenchuan earthquake on Zipingpu concrete face rock-fill dam and its analysis. Geomech Geoeng 4(4):299–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Marsal RJ (1967) Large scale testing of rockfill materials. Soil Mech Found Div 93(2):27–43

    Google Scholar 

  11. Lee KL, Farhoomand I (1967) Compressibility and crushing of granular soil. Can Geotech J 4(1):68–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Charles JA, Watts KS (1980) The influence of confining pressure on the shear strength of compacted rockfill. Géotechnique 30(4):353–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Cho GC, Dodds J, Santamarina JC (2006) Particle shape effects on packing density, stiffness, and strength: natural and crushe sands. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 132(5):591–602

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Shin H, Santamarina JC (2013) Role of particle angularity on the mechanical behavior of granular mixtures. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 139(2):353–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Santamarina JC, Cho GC (2004) Soil behaviour: the role of particle shape”. advances in geotechnical engineering. Proc Skempton Conf 1:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  16. Soroush A, Jannatiaghdam R (2012) Behavior of rockfill materials in triaxial compression testing. Int J Civ Eng 10(2):153–161

    Google Scholar 

  17. Shinohara K, Oida M, Golman B (2000) Effect of particle shape on angle of internal friction by triaxial compression test. Powder Technol 107(1–2):131–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Cheng ZL, Ding HS, Wu LP (2007) Experimental study on mechanical behaviour of granular material. Chin J Geotech Eng 29(8):1151–1158

    Google Scholar 

  19. Kong DZ, Zhang QG, Zhang BY, Sun X (2009) Particle breakage ratio of artificial rockfill materials. Chin J Tsinghua Univ (Sci & Tech) 49(6):811–815

    Google Scholar 

  20. Takei M, Kusakabe O, Hayashi T (2001) Time-dependent behavior of crushable materials in one-dimensional compression tests. Soils Found 41(1):97–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Zhang BY, Jie YX, Kong DZ (2013) Computers and geotechnics particle size distribution and relative breakage for a cement ellipsoid aggregate. Comput Geotech 53:31–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Rothenburg L, Bathurst RJ (1992) Micromechanical features of granular assemblies with planar elliptical particles. Géotechnique 42(1):79–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Kock I, Huhn K (2007) Influence of particle shape on the frictional strength of sediments—a numerical case study. Sed Geol 196(1–4):217–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Mirghasemi AA, Rothenburg L, Matyas EL (2002) Influence of particle shape on engineering properties of assemblies of two-dimensional polygon-shaped particles. Géotechnique 52(3):209–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Gong J, Liu J (2017) Effect of aspect ratio on triaxial compression of multi-sphere ellipsoid assemblies simulated using a discrete element method. Particuology 32:49–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Cho N, Martin CD, Sego DC (2007) A clumped particle model for rock. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 44(7):997–1010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Zhou W, Ma G, Chang XL, Zhou CB (2013) Influence of particle shape on behavior of rockfill using a three-dimensional deformable DEM. J Eng Mech 139:1868–1873

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Shen JY, Jimenez R (2018) Predicting the shear strength parameters of sandstone using genetic programming. Bull Eng Geol Env 77(4):1647–1662

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Wadell H (1932) Volume, shape, and roundness of rock particles. J Geol 40(5):443–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Uthus L, Hoff I, Horvli I (2005) Evaluation of grain shape characterization methods for unbound aggregates. In: Seventh international conference on the bearing capacity of road, railways and airfields. Trondheim, Norway, 27–29 June 2005

  31. Janoo VC (1998) Quantification of shape, angularity, and surface texture of base course materials. Special Report 98-1,US Army Corps of Engineers, Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory

  32. Sukumaran B, Ashmawy AK (2001) Quantitative characterisation of the geometry of discret particles. Géotechnique 51(7):619–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Blott SJ, Pye K (2008) Particle shape: a review and new methods of characterization and classification. Sedimentology 55(1):31–63

    Google Scholar 

  34. Sneed ED, Folk RL (1958) Pebbles in the lower colorado river, texas a study in particle morphogenesis. J Geol 66(2):114–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Barrett PJ (1980) The shape of rock particles, a critical review. Sedimentology 27:291–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Xiao Y, Liu HL, Chen YM, Jiang JS (2014) Strength and deformation of rock fill material based on large-scale triaxial compression tests. I: influences of density and pressure. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 140(12):1–16

    Google Scholar 

  37. Duncan JM, Chang CY (1970) Nonlinear analysis of stress and strain in soils. Soil Mech Found Div 5:1629–1653

    Google Scholar 

  38. Zhou B, Wang J, Wang H (2018) Three-dimensional sphericity, roundness and fractal dimension of sand particles. Géotechnique 68(1):18–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Tapias M, Alonso EE, Gili J (2015) A particle model for rockfill behaviour. Géotechnique 65(12):975–994

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Kong DZ, Zhang QG, Zhang BY, Sun X (2009) Particle breakage ratio of artificial rockfill materials. J Tsinghua Univ (Science and Technology) 49(6):811–815

    Google Scholar 

  41. Lade PV, Yamamuro JA, Bopp PA (1996) Significance of particle crushing in granular materials. J Geotech Eng 122(4):309–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Hardin BO (1985) Crushing of soil particles. J Geotech Eng 111(10):1177–1192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Nakata Y, Hyde AFL, Hyodo M, Murata H (1999) A probabilistic approach to sand particle crushing in the triaxial test. Géotechnique 49(5):567–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51479059) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (No. 2017B12514) are greatly appreciated.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Geomechanics and Embankment Engineering, College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Gui Yang, Xing Yan & Jianbao Xu

  2. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Sanjay Nimbalkar

Authors
  1. Gui Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xing Yan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sanjay Nimbalkar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jianbao Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gui Yang.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yang, G., Yan, X., Nimbalkar, S. et al. Effect of Particle Shape and Confining Pressure on Breakage and Deformation of Artificial Rockfill. Int. J. of Geosynth. and Ground Eng. 5, 15 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40891-019-0164-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40891-019-0164-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation