Because the hydraulic/mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soil is more complicated than that of saturated soil, one of the most important issues in modelling unsaturated soil is to properly couple its stress-strain relationship with its water retention characteristics. Based on the results of a series of tests, the stress-strain relationship and the changes in suction and saturation of unsaturated completely decomposed granite (CDG, also called Masado) vary substantially under different loading/hydraulic conditions. To precisely model the hydraulic/mechanical behaviour of unsaturated Masado, in this study, the superloading concept was firstly introduced into an existing saturated/unsaturated constitutive model to consider the structural influences. Then a water retention curve (WRC) model considering the volumetric change in the soil, in which the skeleton and scanning curves of the water retention characteristics were assumed to shift in parallel in accordance with the change in the void ratio, was proposed. The proposed WRC model was incorporated into the constitutive model, and the validity of the newly proposed model was verified using the results of tests conducted on unsaturated Masado, including water retention, oedometer and triaxial tests. The accuracy of the proposed model in describing the stress-strain relationship and the variations in suction and saturation of unsaturated Masado is satisfactory.

The paper presents an experimental study on the strength behaviour of a coral gravelly sand from Vietnam subjected to monotonic and cyclic loading. A series of direct shear tests were carried out to investigate the shear strength behaviour and the factors affecting the shear strength of the sand such as relative density, cyclic load, amplitude of the cyclic load and loading rate. The study results indicate that the shear strength parameters of the coral gravelly sand include not only internal friction angle but also apparent cohesion. These parameters vary with the relative density, cyclic load, the amplitude of the cyclic load and loading rate. The shear strength increases with the increase of the relative density. The shear strength increases after subjecting to cyclic loading. The amplitude of the cyclic load affects the shear strength of coral gravelly sand, the shear strength increases as the amplitude of the cyclic load increases. The loading rate has insignificantly effect on the shear strength of the coral gravelly sand.

Tunnel provide faster, safer and convenient way of transportation for different objects. The region where it is construction and surrounding medium has significant influence on the overall stability and performance of tunnel. The present simulation has been carried out in order to understand the behaviour of rock tunnel under static loading condition. The present numerical model has been validated with the laboratory scaled model and field data of underground tunnels. Both lined and unlined tunnels have been considered in this paper. Finite element technique has been considered for the simulation of static loading effect on tunnel through Abaqus/Standard. The Mohr-Coulomb material model has been considered to simulate elastoplastic nonlinear behaviour of different rock types, i.e., Basalt, Granite and Quartzite. The four different stages of rock weathering are classified as fresh, slightly, moderately, and highly weathered in case of each rock type. Moreover, extremely weathered stage has been considered in case of Quartzite rock. It has been concluded that weathering of rock and overburden depth has great influence on the tunnel stability. However, by considering a particular weathering stage of rock for each rock type shows varying patterns of deformations in tunnel.

Large deformation and rapid pressure propagation take place inside the rock mass under the dynamic loads caused by the explosives, on quarry faces in order to extract aggregate material. The complexity of the science of rock blasting is due to a number of factors that affect the phenomenon. However, blasting engineering computations could be facilitated by innovative software algorithms in order to determine the results of the violent explosion, since field experiments are particularly difficult to be conducted. The present research focuses on the design of a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) code, for investigating in detail the behavior of limestone under the blasting effect of Ammonium Nitrate & Fuel Oil (ANFO). Specifically, the manuscript presents the FEA models and the relevant transient analysis results, simulating the blasting process for three types of limestone, ranging from poor to very good quality. The Finite Element code was developed by applying the Jones-Wilkins-Lee (JWL) equation of state to describe the thermodynamic state of ANFO and the pressure dependent Drucker-Prager failure criterion to define the limestone plasticity behavior, under blasting induced, high rate stress. A progressive damage model was also used in order to define the stiffness degradation and destruction of the material. This paper performs a comparative analysis and quantifies the phenomena regarding pressure, stress distribution and energy balance, for three types of limestone. The ultimate goal of this research is to provide an answer for a number of scientific questions, considering various phenomena taking place during the explosion event, using advanced computational tools.

In this paper, the carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) grids embedded in polymer cement mortar (PCM) shotcrete (CFRP-PCM method) was conducted to repair the degraded tunnel linings with a cavity. Subsequently, the reinforcing effect of the CFRP-PCM method under different degrees of lining deterioration was quantitatively evaluated. Finally, the limit state design method of the M-N interaction curve was conducted to determine whether the structure reinforced by the CFRP-PCM method is in a safe state. The main results indicated that when the cavity is at the shoulder, the lining damage rate is more serious. In addition, the remarkably reinforcing effect on the degraded tunnel linings could be achieved by applying a higher grade of CFRP grids, whereas the optimization effect is no longer obvious when the grade of CFRP grids is too high (CR8); Furthermore, it is found that the M-N numerical values of the ten reinforcing designs of the CFRP-PCM method are distributed outside the corresponding M-N theoretical interaction curves, and these designs should be avoided in the corresponding reinforcing engineering.

This study provided a new research perspective for processing and analyzing AE data to evaluate rock failure. Cluster method and information entropy theory were introduced to investigate temporal and spatial correlation of acoustic emission (AE) events during the rock failure process. Laboratory experiments of granite subjected to compression were carried out, accompanied by real-time acoustic emission monitoring. The cumulative length and dip angle curves of single links were fitted by different distribution models and distribution functions of link length and directionality were determined. Spatial scale and directionality of AE event distribution, which are characterized by two parameters, i.e., spatial correlation length and spatial correlation directionality, were studied with the normalized applied stress. The entropies of link length and link directionality were also discussed. The results show that the distribution of accumulative link length and directionality obeys Weibull distribution. Spatial correlation length shows an upward trend preceding rock failure, while there are no remarkable upward or downward trends in spatial correlation directionality. There are obvious downward trends in entropies of link length and directionality. This research could enrich mathematical methods for processing AE data and facilitate the early-warning of rock failure-related geological disasters.

Expansive soil is the most predominant geologic hazard which shows a large amount of shrinkage and swelling with changes in their moisture content. This study investigates the macro-mechanical and micro-structural behaviours of dredged natural expansive clay from coal mining treated with ordinary Portland cement or hydrated lime addition. The stabilised expansive soil aims for possible reuse as pavement materials. Mechanical testing determined geotechnical engineering properties, including free swelling potential, California bearing ratio, unconfined compressive strength, resilient modulus, and shear wave velocity. The microstructures of treated soils are observed by scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and energy dispersive spectroscopy to understand the behaviour of the expansive clay blended with cement and lime. Test results confirmed that cement and lime are effective agents for improving the swelling behaviour and other engineering properties of natural expansive clay. In general, chemical treatments reduce the swelling and increase the strength and modulus of expansive clay, subjected to chemical content and curing time. Scanning electron microscopy analysis can observe the increase in formation of particle clusters with curing period, and x-ray diffraction patterns display hydration and pozzolanic products from chemical particles. The correlations of mechanical properties and microstructures for chemical stabilised expansive clay are recommended.

Particle size of tailings in different areas of dams varies due to sedimentation and separation. Saturated hydraulic conductivity of high-stacked talings materials are seriously affected by void ratio and particle breakage. Conjoined consolidation permeability tests were carried out using a self-developed high-stress permeability and consolidation apparatus. The hydraulic conductivity decreases nonlinearly with the increase of consolidation pressure. The seepage pattern of coarse-particle tailings is channel flow, and the seepage pattern of fine-particle tailings is scattered flow. The change rate of hydraulic conductivity of tailings with different particle sizes under high consolidation pressure tends to be identical. A hydraulic conductivity hysteresis is found in coarse-particle tailings. The hydraulic conductivity hysteresis is more obvious when the water head is lower. A new hydraulic conductivity-void ratio equation was derived by introducing the concept of effective void ratio and breakage index. The equation integrated the hydraulic conductivity equation with different particle sizes over a wide range of consolidation pressures.