Rock mass is an important engineering material. In hydropower engineering, rock mass of bank slope controlled the stability of an arch dam. However, mechanical characteristics of the rock mass are not only affected by lithology, but also joints. On the basis of field geological survey, this paper built rock mass material containing parallel concentrated joints with different dip angle, different number under different stress conditions by PFC (Particle Flow Code) numerical simulation. Next, we analyzed mechanical property and fracture features of this rock mass. The following achievements have been obtained through this research. (1) When dip angle of joints is $15^{\circ}$ and $30^{\circ}$, with the increase of joints number, peak strength of rock mass has not changed much. But when dip angle increase to $45^{\circ}$, especially increase to $60^{\circ}$ and $75^{\circ}$, peak strength of rock mass decreased obviously with the increase of joints number. (2) With the increase of confining stress, peak strengths of all rock mass have different degree of improvement, especially the rock mass with dip angle of $75^{\circ}$. (3) Under the condition of no confining stress, dip angle of joints is low and joint number is small, existence of joints has little influence on fracture mode of rock mass, but when joints number increase to 5, tensile deformation firstly happened at joints zone and further resulted in tension fracture of the whole rock mass. When dip angle of joints increases to $45^{\circ}$, fracture presented as shear along joints, and with increase of joints number, strength of rock mass is weakened caused by shear-tension fracture zone along joints. When dip angle of joints increases to $60^{\circ}$ and $75^{\circ}$, deformation and fracture model presented as tension fracture zone along concentrated joints. (4) Influence of increase of confining stress on fracture modes is to weaken joints' control function and to reduce the width of fracture zone. Furthermore, increase of confining stress translated deformation mode from tension to shear.

The skin friction of a pile foundation is important and essential for its design and analysis. More attention has been given to the softening behaviour of skin friction of a pile. In this study, to investigate the load-transfer mechanism in such a case, an analytical solution using a nonlinear softening model was derived. Subsequently, a load test on the pile was performed to verify the newly developed analytical solution. The comparison between the analytical solution and test results showed a good agreement in terms of the axial force of the pile and the stress-strain relationship of the pile-soil interface. The softening behaviour of the skin friction can be simulated well when the pile is subjected to large loads; however, such behaviour is generally ignored by most existing analytical solutions. Finally, the effects of the initial shear modulus and the ratio of the residual skin friction to peak skin friction on the load-settlement curve of a pile were investigated by a parametric analysis.

In this study, effect of horizontal in situ stress on failure mechanism around underground openings excavated in isotropic, elastic rock zones is investigated. For estimating the plastic zone occurrence, an induced stress influence area approach (Bray Equations) was modified to define critical stress ratio according to the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. Results obtained from modified calculations were compared with results of some other analytical solutions for plastic zone thickness estimation and the numerical modelling (finite difference method software, FLAC2D) study. Plastic zone and its geometry around tunnels were analyzed for different in situ stress conditions. The modified equations gave similar results with those obtained from the other approaches. However, safer results were calculated using the modified equations for high in situ stress conditions and excessive ratio of horizontal to vertical in situ stresses. As the outcome of this study, the modified equations are suggested to use for estimating the plastic zone occurrence and its thickness around the tunnels with circular cross-section.

The ultimate pullout capacity under inclined dynamic loading is an important measure of the destruction degree of vertical screw piles (anchors) under dynamic actions. Based on the static and dynamic tests on two kinds of model screw piles, the ultimate bearing capacity was researched considering different distance-width ratio of blade (D/W) and preloading ratio. The results compared well with other experimental data available in the literature. This research reveals that D/W might determine the failure model of the piles (anchors), for example D/W = 3.14 or 5; a critical dynamic-static loading ratio (DSLR) existed in the experiments. The critical DSLR was reached under the conditions of 40%~60% preloading (D/W = 3.14) or 20%~40% preloading (D/W = 5), respectively.

Proper modelling of the basal resistance terms is key in simulating the motion of fluidized granular flow. In this paper, standard depth-averaged governing equations of granular flow are used together with the classical Coulomb, Voellmy, and velocity dependent friction models (VDFM). A high-resolution modified TVDLF method is implemented to solve the partial differential equations without numerical oscillations. The effects of basal resistance terms on the motion of granular flows such as geometric shape evolution, travel times and final deposits are analyzed. Based on the numerical results, the predictions of the front and rear end positions and developing length of granular flow with Coulomb friction model show excellent agreements with experiment results reported by Hutter et al. (1995), and illustrate the validity of the numerical approach. For the Voellmy model, the higher value of turbulent coefficient than reality may obtain more reasonable predicted runout for the small-scale avalanche or granular flow. The energy exchange laws indicate that VDFM is different from the Coulomb and Voellmy models, although the flow characteristics of both three models fit the measurements and observations very well.

In the current paper the results of a numerical simulation that were verified by a well instrumented experimental procedure for studying the arching effect over a trapdoor in sand is presented. To simulate this phenomenon with continuum mechanics, the experimental procedure is modeled in ABAQUS code using stress dependent hardening in elastic state and plastic strain dependent frictional hardening-softening with Mohr Coulomb failure criterion applying user sub-routine. The apparatus comprises rectangular trapdoors with different width that can yield downward while stresses and deformations are recorded simultaneously. As the trapdoor starts to yield, the whole soil mass deforms elastically. However, after an immediate specified displacement, depending on the width of the trapdoor, the soil mass behaves plastically. This behavior of sand occurs due to the flow phenomenon and continues until the stress on trapdoor is minimized. Then the failure process develops in sand and the measured stress on the trapdoor shows an ascending trend. This indicates gradual separation of the yielding mass from the whole soil body. Finally, the flow process leads to establish a stable vault of sand called arching mechanism or progressive collapse of the soil body.

The 3D numerical analysis is carried out to investigate the settlement behavior of flexible mat foundations subjected to vertical loads. Special attention is given to the improved analytical method (YS-MAT) that reflects the mat flexibility and soil spring coupling effect. The soil model captures the stiffness of the soil springs as well as the shear interaction between the soil springs. The proposed method has been validated by comparing the results with other numerical approaches and field measurements on mat foundation. Through comparative studies, the proposed analytical method was in relatively good agreement with them and capable of predicting the behavior of the mat foundations.

Pebble matrix filtration (PMF) is a water treatment technology that can remove suspended solids in highly turbid surface water during heavy storms. PMF typically uses sand and natural pebbles as filter media. Hand-made clay pebbles (balls) can be used as alternatives to natural pebbles in PMF treatment plants, where natural pebbles are not readily available. Since the high turbidity is a seasonal problem that occurs during heavy rains, the use of newly developed composite clay balls instead of pure clay balls have the advantage of removing other pollutants such as natural organic matter (NOM) during other times. Only the strength properties of composite clay balls are described here as the pollutant removal is beyond the scope of this paper. These new composite clay balls must be able to withstand dead and live loads under dry and saturated conditions in a filter assembly. Absence of a standard ball preparation process and expected strength properties of composite clay balls were the main reasons behind the present study. Five different raw materials from industry wastes: Red Mud (RM), Water Treatment Alum Sludge (S), Shredded Paper (SP), Saw Dust (SD), and Sugar Mulch (SM) were added to common clay brick mix (BM) in different proportions. In an effort to minimize costs, in this study clay balls were fired to $1100^{\circ}C$ at a local brick factory together with their bricks. A comprehensive experimental program was performed to evaluate crushing strength of composite hand-made clay balls, using uniaxial compression test to establish the best material combination on the basis of strength properties for designing sustainable filter media for water treatment plants. Performance at both construction and operating stages were considered by analyzing both strength properties under fully dry conditions and strength degradation after saturation in a water bath. The BM-75% as the main component produced optimum combination in terms of workability and strength. With the material combination of BM-75% and additives-25%, the use of Red Mud and water treatment sludge as additives produced the highest and lowest strength of composite clay balls, with a failure load of 5.4 kN and 1.4 kN respectively. However, this lower value of 1.4 kN is much higher than the effective load on each clay ball of 0.04 kN in a typical filter assembly (safety factor of 35), therefore, can still be used as a suitable filter material for enhanced pollutant removal.