Investigation of Lade-Kim Plastic Potential Applicability under Various Stress Paths for Rockfill Materials

The dilatancy behavior of rockfill materials shows obvious stress path dependence. Lade-Kim plastic potential equation has been proposed for a long time to model the mechanical behavior of sand and concrete materials. However, it lacks the verification of rockfill materials, especially under various stress paths. In this paper, the dilatancy performance of coarse-grained materials under various stress paths is investigated, and then the dilatancy equation description and verification method based on Lade-Kim plastic potential are given. The applicability of Lade-Kim plastic potential for different stress path tests, such as conventional triaxial tests, constant P tests, and constant stress (increment) ratio tests, are verified and evaluated. It is found that Lade-Kim plastic potential is difficult to consider the influence of stress path. Finally, the Lade-Kim plastic potential, together with nonlinear dilatancy equation, is evaluated by changing the dilatancy equation in the framework of generalized plasticity. Lade-Kim plastic potential is suitable for constant stress increment ratio loading experiments and special care should be taken when applied to other stress paths. These works are helpful to understand stress path dependence of dilatancy behavior for rockfill materials and is beneficial for the establishment of stress path constitutive model.

Investigation of Small- to Large-Strain Moduli Correlations of Rockfill Materials – Application to Romaine-2 Dam

Establishment of a relationship between the shear wave velocity (Vs) and other geotechnical parameters of rockfill soils at large strains (oedometer modulus, Moedo, tangent modulus, Et) is considered a significant step towards more precise modelling of earth-structure deformation behaviour. In this study, four samples of different gradations, reconstituted from the rockfill materials used in the construction of the Romaine-2 dam, were experimented to correlate the small strain to large strain moduli. Development of Moedo and Vs with consolidation was measured in the laboratory using the piezoelectric ring-actuator technique (P-RAT) incorporated in a large oedometer. Therefore, a correlation between Moedo and small strain shear modulus Go was proposed. Moreover, numerical simulations were performed based on the Duncan-Chang hyperbolic model to correlate the Vs to Duncan-Chang initial modulus(Ei). Based on the experimental and numerical data, a relation between Ei and Vs of the tested rockfill has been established. Verification studies were also carried out on in-situ measurements during Romaine-2 dam construction, proofing the ability of the proposed relationships to predict Ei related to the minor principal stress (σ3) from in-situ Vs measurement. The proposed correlations could help the geotechnical designers to estimate accurately the deformation of rockfill materials from in-situ Vs measurement.

Long-Term Behavior of Coarse-Grained Rockfill Material and Their Constitutive Modeling

For the long-term behavior and safety assessment of rockfill dams, not only the shape of the dam body, the loading history, the geological condition of the dam foundation and abutments, the assessment of possible seismic hazards and seepage events caused by defects of the sealing are important, but also the time dependent mechanical behavior of the dam materials used can be of significant influence. In this paper a novel hypoplastic constitutive model for moisture sensitive, coarse-grained rockfill materials is presented. In the constitutive equations, the so-called solid hardness is a key parameter to reflect the influence of the state of weathering on the mechanical response. With respect to the evolution equation for the solid hardness, creep and stress relaxation can be modeled for dry and wet states of the material in a unified manner. The performance of the model is demonstrated by comparing the numerical simulation with experimental data.