• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.743-756
• /
• 2017

Laboratory investigation reveals that rockfills exhibit significant stress-path-dependent behavior during shearing, therefore realistic prediction of deformation of rockfill structures requires suitable constitutive models to properly reproduce such behavior. This paper evaluates the capability of a strain hardening model proposed by the authors, by comparing simulation results with large-scale triaxial stress-path test results. Despite of its simplicity, the model can simulate essential aspects of the shear behavior of rockfills, including the non-linear stress-strain relationship, the stress-dependence of the stiffness, the non-linear strength behavior, and the shearing contraction and dilatancy. More importantly, the model is shown to predict the markedly different stress-strain and volumetric behavior along various loading paths with fair accuracy. All parameters required for the model can be derived entirely from the results of conventional large triaxial tests with constant confining pressures.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.31-39
• /
• 2009

The purpose of present study performed 27 CFRD cases analyses to predict and effectively use post-construction crest settlement, face slab deformation, and leakage as indexes for the maintenance and management of concrete faced rockfill dams(CFRD). The results showed that the range of post-construction crest settlement suggested by Sherard and Cooke (1987), and Clements (1984) had a good agreement in the case analyses using rockfills with very high intact strength, but it had a trend which underestimated crest settlement in the cases using rockfills with medium to high intact strength. The leakage case analyses showed that leakage is mainly caused by face slab deformation due to the water load, the maximum leakage in general was observed during the first reservoir filling, and leakage was rapidly increasing when the dam height exceeds 125m.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.83-97
• /
• 2024

It is important to make reasonable prediction about the long-term deformation of high rockfill geostructures. However, the deformation is usually underestimated using the rockfill parameters obtained from laboratory tests due to different size effects, which make it necessary to identify parameters from in-situ monitoring data. This paper proposes a novel hybrid back-analysis method with a modified objective function defined for the time-dependent back-analysis problem. The method consists of two stages. In the first stage, an improved weighted average method is proposed to quickly narrow the search region; while in the second stage, an adaptive response surface method is proposed to iteratively search for the satisfactory solution, with a technique that can adaptively consider the translation, contraction or expansion of the exploration region. The accuracy and computational efficiency of the proposed hybrid back-analysis method is demonstrated by back-analyzing the long-term deformation of two high embankments constructed for airport runways, with the rockfills being modeled by a rheological model considering the influence of stress states on the creep behavior.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.317-333
• /
• 2014

The study of the mechanical behavior of rockfill materials under three-dimensional loading conditions is a current research focus area. This paper presents a microscale numerical study of rockfill deformation and strength characteristics using the Combined Finite-Discrete Element Method (FDEM). Two features unique to this study are the consideration of irregular particle shapes and particle crushability. A polydisperse assembly of irregular polyhedra was prepared to reproduce the mechanical behavior of rockfill materials subjected to axial compression at a constant mean stress for a range of intermediate principal stress ratios in the interval [0, 1]. The simulation results, including the stress-strain characteristics, relationship between principal strains, and principal deviator strains are discussed. The stress-dilatancy behavior is described using a linear dilatancy equation with its material constants varying with the intermediate principal stress ratio. The failure surface in the principal stress space and its traces in the deviatoric and meridian plane are also presented. The modified Lade-Duncan criterion most closely describes the stress points at failure.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.519-528
• /
• 2020

A mathematical wetting model is usually used to predict the deformation of core wall rockfill dams induced by the wetting effect. In this paper, a series of wetting triaxial tests on a rockfill was conducted using a large-sized triaxial apparatus, and the wetting deformation behavior of the rockfill was studied. The wetting strains were found to be related to the confining pressure and shear stress levels, and two empirical equations, which are regarded as the proposed mathematical wetting model, were proposed to express these properties. The stress and deformation of a core wall rockfill dam was studied by using finite element analysis and the proposed wetting model. On the one hand, the simulations of the wetting model can estimate well the observed wetting strains of the upstream rockfill of the dam, which demonstrated that the proposed wetting model is applicable to express the wetting deformation behavior of the rockfill specimen. On the other hand, the simulated additional deformation of the dam induced by the wetting effect is thought to be reasonable according to practical engineering experience, which indicates the potential of the model in dam engineering.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2007.09a
• /
• pp.528-541
• /
• 2007

To get the possible for management and maintenance, it was analyzed the deformation characteristics, such as crest of embankment and concrete face slab, and leakage of concrete faced rockfill dams (CFRD). There are trends that embankment deformation depends on intact strength used rockfills rather than dam height, deformation normal to concrete face slab during the first reservoir filling is occurred more than 80% of the total deformation in general, and the magnitude and trend of concrete face slab deformation is similar to post-construction crest settlement. The results showed that the range of post-construction crest settlement suggested by Sherard and Cooke (1987), and Clements (1984) had a good agreement in the cases using rockfill with very high intact strength, but it had a trend which underestimated crest settlement in the cases using rockfill with medium to high intact strength. The maximum leakage rate in general was observed during the first reservoir filling and long-term leakage rate was rapidly increased when the dam height exceeds approximately 120m.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2010.09c
• /
• pp.55-60
• /
• 2010

Rockfill zones in CFRD consist typically of large granular materials, usually the maximum particle size up to several meters, which makes laboratory testing to determine the mechanical properties of rockfill difficult. Commonly, the design strength of the rockfills is obtained by scaling down the original rockfill materials and performing laboratory strength tests for the reduced size materials. The objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of particle size on the shear behavior and the strength for granular materials. A series of large-scale triaxial tests was conducted on large granular materials with the maximum particle size varying from 20 to 50mm. The test results showed that overall shear behaviors were similar between the samples with different particle sizes while there were slight differences in the magnitudes of the peak shear stress between the samples. In addition, a simulation of the granular material with the max. particle size of 20mm was performed using DEM code, $PFC^{2D}$, and compared with the test results. The deviatoric stress versus strain behaviors of experimental and numerical tests were found to be matched well up to the peak stress state.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.1287-1296
• /
• 2007

Recently, the high speed railway comes into the spotlight as the important and convenient traffic infrastructure. In Korea, Kyung-Bu high speed train service began in about 400km section at 2004, and the Ho-Nam high speed railway will be constructed by 2017. The high speed train will run with a design maximum speed of 300-350km/hr. Since the trains are operated at high speed, the differential settlement of subgrade under the rail is able to cause a fatal disaster. Therefore, the differential settlement of the embankment must be controlled with the greatest care. Furthermore, the characteristics and causes of settlements which occurred under construction and post-construction should be investigated. A considerable number of studies have been conducted on the settlement of the natural ground over the past several decades. But little attention has been given to the compression settlement of the embankment. The long-term settlement of compacted fills embankments is greatly influenced by the post-construction wetting. This is called 'hydro collapse' or 'wetting collapse'. In spite of little study for this wetting collapse problem, it has been recognized that the compressibility of compacted sands, gravels and rockfills exhibit low compressibility at low pressures, but there can be significant compression at high pressures due to grain crushing by several researchers(Marachi et al. 1969, Nobari and Duncan 1972, Noorany et al. 1994, Houston et al. 1993, Wu 2004). The characteristics of compression of fill materials depend on a number of factors such as soil/rock type, as-compacted moisture, density, stress level and wetting condition. Because of the complexity of these factors, it is not easy to predict quantitatively the amount of compression without extensive tests. Therefore, in this research I carried out the wetting collapse tests, with focusing in various soil/rock type, stress levels, wetting condition more closely.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.1268-1277
• /
• 2008

Recently, the high speed railway comes into the spotlight as the important and convenient traffic infrastructure. In Korea, Kyung-Bu high speed train service began in about 400km section at 2004, and the Ho-Nam high speed railway will be constructed by 2017. The high speed train will run with a design maximum speed of 300-350km/hr. Since the trains are operated at high speed, the differential settlement of subgrade under the rail is able to cause a fatal disaster. Therefore, the differential settlement of the embankment must be controlled with the greatest care. Furthermore, the characteristics and causes of settlements which occurred under construction and post-construction should be investigated. A considerable number of studies have been conducted on the settlement of the natural ground over the past several decades. But little attention has been given to the compression settlement of the embankment. The long-term settlement of compacted fills embankments is greatly influenced by the post-construction wetting. This is called 'hydro collapse' or 'wetting collapse'. This wetting collapse problem for the compressibility of compacted sands, gravels and rockfills, has been recognized by several researchers. For this wetting settlement problem, we showed the test results carried out with 4 fill materials. These tests were performed under the condition that the fill materials were inundated at the first wetting. Subsequently, in this study, we investigated the long-term settlement characteristics of the fill materials under the repeated partial wetting and rising of the ground water table happend by rainfall.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.79-88
• /
• 2008

Recently, the high speed railway comes into the spotlight as the important and convenient traffic infrastructure. In Korea, Kyung-Bu high speed train service began in bout 400 km section in 2004, and the Ho-Nam high speed railway will be constructed by 2017. The high speed train will run with a design maximum speed of 300-350 km/hr. Since the trains are operated at high speed, the differential settlement of subgrade under the rail is able to cause a fatal disaster. Therefore, the differential settlement of the embankment must be controlled with the greatest care. Furthermore, the characteristics and causes of settlements which occurred under construction and post-construction should be investigated. A considerable number of studies have been conducted on the settlement of the natural ground over the past several decades. But little attention has been given to the compression settlement of the embankment. The long-term settlement of compacted fills embankments is greatly influenced by the post-construction wetting. This is called 'hydro collapse' or 'wetting collapse'. In spite of little study for this wetting collapse problem, it has been recognized that the compressibility of compacted sands, gravels and rockfills exhibit low compressibility at low pressures, but there can be significant compression at high pressures due to grain crushing (Marachi et al. 1969, Nobari and Duncan 1972, Noorany et al. 1994, Houston et al. 1993, Wu 2004). The characteristics of compression of fill materials depend on a number of factors such as soil/rock type, as-compacted moisture, density, stress level and wetting condition. Because of the complexity of these factors, it is not easy to predict quantitatively the amount of compression without extensive tests. Therefore, in this research I carried out the wetting collapse tests, focusing on various soil/rock type, stress levels, wetting condition more closely.