Method to evaluate the shear strength of granular material with large particles

Because of the lack of experimental devices for testing granular materials with large particles, the mechanical behavior of rockfill is not very well known. This lack of knowledge can lead to improper design of rockfill dams, and as a consequence, to severe accidents including dam failures. A method has been developed by Frossard (2005) for evaluating the shear strength of rockfill based on the estimation of size effect in granular materials, affected by grain breakage. Comparison between experimental results and numerical predictions shows that this method can estimate with good accuracy the strength of granular materials made of large particles.