3D modelling of soil-rock mixtures considering the morphology and fracture characteristics of breakable blocks
Failure mechanisms of a soil-rock mixture (S-RM) can be efficiently investigated by the discrete element method (DEM). This paper proposes a stochastic approach for 3D DEM modelling of S-RM samples accounting for morphological features and internal fractures of blocks and their potential breakage. The research refers to the case-history of an artificial S-RM filling slope, mainly containing highly-weathered shale blocks, constructed at the ±500 kV electronic converter station in the Funing County, Yunnan Province, China.