PFC Numerical Simulation of Particle Breakage of Rock-Fill Dam

In this paper, a new way of modeling the rock-fill dams is presented. Based upon the principle of particle flow code - PFC, it is possible to model the phenomenon of rock-fill breakages due to the dam's self weight and the filling of the reservoir in a simple way. The dam's self weight leads to 8.2% breakages and 1.6% additional broken blocks occurred during the reservoir filling. The breakages mainly occur at the bottom and the upstream of the dam. The reason of the particle breakage, the distribution of the contact force and the broken zone can be obtained accurately by this research. The results of the numerical simulation provide a practical basis to quantitatively analyze the rock-fill breakage of rock-fill dam using PFC, and also provide a new way to explain and analyze the particle breakage from the perspective of micro mechanism.