Generation of 3D random meso-structure of soil-rock mixture and its meso-structural mechanics based on numerical tests

• Published in: Journal of Central South University Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 619 - 630
• Main Authors: Xu, Wen-jie, Zhang, Hai-yang, Jie, Yu-xin, Yu, Yu-zhen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Central South University 01.02.2015
• Subjects: Engineering; Metallic Materials; meso-structural mechanics (M-SM); soil-rock mixture (S-RM); random simulation; three dimensional meso-structure; true-triaxial numerical test
• ISSN: 2095-2899; 2227-5223
• DOI: 10.1007/s11771-015-2563-1

The mesoscopic failure mechanism and the macro-mechanical characteristics of soil-rock mixture (S-RM) under external load are largely controlled by S-RM’s meso-structural features. The objective of this work is to improve the three-dimensional technology for the generation of the random meso-structural models of S-RM, for randomly generating irregular rock blocks in S-RM with different shapes, sizes, and distributions according to the characteristics of the rock blocks’ size distribution. Based on the new improved technology, a software system named as R-SRM 3D for generation and visualization of S-RM is developed. Using R-SRM 3D , a three-dimensional meso-structural model of S-RM is generated and used to study the meso-mechanical behavior through a series of true-triaxial numerical tests. From the numerical tests, the following conclusions are obtained. The meso-stress field of S-RM is influenced by the distribution of the internal rock blocks, and the macro-mechanical characteristics of S-RM are anisotropic in 3D; the intermediate principal stress and the soil-rock interface properties have significant influence on the macro strength of S-RM.