Abstract:
Soil-rock mixture (SRM) exhibits distinct structural characteristics. Most of the existing studies are related to the strength and deformation behaviors of SRM; whereas, the studies on the consolidation behaviors of SRM are limited. In this study, the soil-rock interface is simulated by zero-thickness interface elements, and the effectiveness of the simulation method proposed is validated; then, the random aggregate model of the rock block within the soil matrix are constructed by Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS) method. Based on the mesoscopic simulations, the influences of the structural characteristics are investigated, including the rock proportion, shape, gradation, and soil-rock interface parameters, on the consolidation behaviors of SRM. The results indicate that the consolidation behavior of SRM can be strongly affected by the shape of rock. The consolidation settlement of SRM containing circular blocks is the smallest, followed by those containing elliptical blocks and polygonal blocks, respectively. With the increase of the rock proportion, the consolidation settlement, void ratio, and compressibility of SRM all decrease. And with respect to a specified proportion of rock, a higher degree of consolidation is presented for SRM containing larger rock blocks.