Plastic deformation characteristics of disintegrated carbonaceous mudstone under dynamic loading

The excessive settlement and deformation of disintegrated carbonaceous mudstone (DCM) embankments under dynamic loading have long been problems for engineers and technicians. In this work, the characteristics and mechanism of the plastic deformation of DCM under different degrees of compaction, water contents and confining pressures were studied by static triaxial, dynamic triaxial and scanning electron microscopy testing. The research results show that the axial stress increases with increasing confining pressure and degree of compaction and decreases with increasing water content when DCM failure. The axial strain at failure of the DCM decreases with increasing confining pressure and degree of compaction and increases with increasing water content. Under cyclic dynamic stress, the change in the axial stress level of the DCM can be divided into four stages: the stable stage, transition stage, safety reserve stage and unstable stage, respectively. The effects of compaction, water content and confining pressure on the critical axial stress level which means shakedown of the DCM are similar. However, an increase in confining pressure reduces the effects of compaction and water content on the critical axial stress level. The main deformation of DCM is fatigue cracking. Based on the allowable critical axial stress, a method for embankment deformation control was proposed. This method can determine the degree of compaction and fill range of the embankment fill material according to the equilibrium moisture content of the DCM embankment.