Stress-dilatancy of Zipingpu gravel in triaxial compression tests

Abstract

Experimental investigations of the dilatancy and particle breakage of gravelly material from the Zipingpu concrete-faced rockfill dam, which was subjected to high-intensity seismic load during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, were conducted through a series of large-scale drained triaxial compression tests. A hyperbolic relation between the input plastic work and the degree of particle breakage was found for Zipingpu gravel, independent of the initial void ratio and confining pressures. The stress-dilatancy for Zipingpu gravel was analyzed and compared with data from two rounded alluvial and three angular quarried gravelly and rockfill materials in the literature. A nearly linear relationship between the dilatancy D p and the stress ratio η was found at medium-to-large stress ratios before the peak stress ratio. The slope of the stress-dilatancy line before peak had slight dependence on the void ratio and confining pressure of the gravel. After peak, the stress-dilatancy relation shifts down compared with that before peak for the gravel specimen. The phase-transformation stress ratio decreased with increased confining pressure, with the exception of sub-rounded gravel with little particle breakage. A nearly linear relationship was found between the phase-transformation stress ratio M f and the state parameter ψ for the Zipingpu gravel, regardless of the void ratio and confining pressure of the specimens.