Study on Wetting Deformation of Earth-Rockfill Dam Based on P-Z Model

When earth-rockfill dam's coarse aggregates are immersed in water under certain stress, particles will be lubricated and immersed mineral particles will soften so they will slip against each other, break, and realign. Thus deformation will occur and the stress will redistribute in the soil mass. The deformation is called wetting deformation since it happens when dry soil becomes wet while the stress state remains unchanged. This paper studies the mechanism and analytical approach of wetting deformation. It devises a method for calculating wetting deformation based on single-line method and P-Z constitutive model and then applies the method to the static calculation of Shuangjiangkou earth-rockfill dam. It is proved that this method can reasonably reflect the influence of dam's wetting deformation on its general deformation during the storage period.