Laboratory investigation of breakage and deformation characteristics of phyllite residual fills under varying gradation conditions

Liang, Chen, Zhang, Yanjie, Wang, Xu, Zhu, Hanxing ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3209-6831, Lai, Weizhong and Zhang, Hengzhen 2026. Laboratory investigation of breakage and deformation characteristics of phyllite residual fills under varying gradation conditions. Granular Matter 28 , 33. 10.1007/s10035-025-01606-8

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Abstract

To elucidate the coupled breakage–deformation mechanisms of soft rock residuals in large-scale embankment applications, this study focuses on phyllite materials from the Kangluo Expressway project in Gansu Province, China. A combined experimental and numerical investigation was conducted under varying gradation conditions to examine interactions between particle breakage and deformation. Talbot continuous gradation curves (n = 0.30, 0.50, 0.7) and corresponding single-sized gradations were evaluated. A total of 400 single-particle crushing tests were performed to derive the Weibull modulus m and characteristic strength σ₀ through statistical fitting. One-dimensional confined compression tests were conducted in a steel cylinder (150 mm diameter, 300 mm height). To quantify the relative breakage ratio, one-dimensional confined compression tests were performed in a rigid steel cylinder (150 mm diameter, 300 mm height). The specimen was subjected to a stepwise axial stress path, which initiated from a minimal seating stress (regarded as 0 kPa for reference) and advanced through discrete increments to a peak of 15 MPa. Complementary discrete element simulations, implemented in PFC3D, employed a Fragment Replacement Method (FRM) to model particle breakage. The model stipulated that when the octahedral shear stress of a particle surpassed its specific fracture threshold, the mother particle would be instantaneously replaced by an assembly of 14 Apollonian sub-particles. This replacement was governed by the strict conservation of both mass and volume, ensuring the physical realism of the simulated breakage process. The simulation results aligned closely with experimental data regarding stress–strain behavior and the correlation between Talbot gradation and breakage ratio. These findings provide experimental validation and theoretical guidance for utilizing soft rock waste and calibrating discrete element models.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Engineering
Publisher:	Springer Verlag (Germany)
ISSN:	1434-5021
Date of Acceptance:	9 December 2025
Last Modified:	25 Feb 2026 12:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/185300

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