A study of mechanical behavior of rock-fill materials with reference to particle crushing

In rock-fill dams of 200 to 300 m high, maximum compressive stress can exceed 6 MPa. At such a high stress level, rock-fill materials may experience particle crushing during shear. The material behavior is highly sophisticated exhibiting pressure and density dependency as well as particle crushing effects. Through scrutinizing the relevant experimental data on rock-fill materials and sands published in the literatures, this paper is focused on understanding basic mechanical characteristics of this sort of materials in the light of constitutive modelling.