• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.211-224
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• 2018

In this paper, a predictive method accounting for the scaling effects of rockfill materials in the numerical deformation analysis of rockfill dams is developed. It aims to take into consideration the differences of engineering properties of rockfill materials between in situ and laboratory conditions in the deformation analysis. The developed method is based on the modification of model parameters used in the chosen material model, which is, in this study, an elasto-plastic model with double yield surfaces, i.e., the modified Hardening Soil model. Datasets of experimental tests are collected from previous studies, and a new dataset of the Nam Ngum 2 dam project for investigating the scaling effects of rockfill materials, including particle size, particle gradation and density, is obtained. To quantitatively consider the influence of particle gradation, the coarse-to-fine content (C/F) concept is proposed in this study. The simple relations between the model parameters and particle size, C/F and density are formulated, which enable us to predict the mechanical properties of prototype materials from laboratory tests. Subsequently, a 3D finite element analysis of the Nam Ngum 2 concrete face slab rockfill dam at the end of the construction stage is carried out using two sets of model parameters (1) based on the laboratory tests and (2) in accordance with the proposed method. Comparisons of the computed results with dam monitoring data indicate that the proposed method can provide a simple but effective framework to take account of the scaling effect in dam deformation analysis.