Fractures in non-homogeneous rockfill materials from a micromechanics perspective

This study investigates particle breakage and cracks propagation of non-homogeneous rockfill materials, particularly conglomerates, from a microscale perspective. The conglomerate's materials were gathered from Masjed-E-Soleyman, MES, rockfill dam, Iran. The study of particle breakage in rockfill material has been investigated by several researchers worldwide, both in the laboratory and through numerical simulations. However, the previous research focused on homogeneous rockfill materials, not non-homogeneous ones. The first part of this research investigates crack propagation in conglomerates due to high-stress conditions in an embankment dam. The second part of the paper evaluated the effects of crack propagation on the MES dam crest settlement. In this paper, sets of XRD tests were performed to investigate the microstructure of conglomerates rockfill, which revealed that calcite constitutes the majority of the rockfill structure. In accordance with geology science, the calcite has a high potential for breaking, and a numerical simulation was developed to illustrate the fractures and crack propagation in a high rockfill dam. The results of this research are useful for understanding the concept of large deformations that occurred in the MES dam and needed rehabilitation measures for preventing dam breakage.