CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE TRENDS OF STUDIES ON ROCK AND SOIL AGGREGATES (RSA)

Rock and soil aggregate(RSA) is a kind of geological material which is different from rock mass and soils in physical and mehanical behaviors.Recently the study on RSA has drawn more and more attention from the engineering and geomechanical field.In this paper the term of RSA is introduced firstly.The importance of the study on RSA is proved due to RSA distributing widely in China and resulting in many engineering problems.On the other hand,this paper presents an overview of the published literature on RSA,including mechanical tests,geometric structure,numerical simulation and so on.It is shown that structural effects play an important role on the mechanical properites of RSA,and some previous studies on geometric structures and numerical simulation of RSA are instructive and positive to the future study.Finally,considering the lack of knowledge on RSA,this paper discusses and suggests the future studies on RSA.Four research orientations about RSA are put forward such as the geological origin and fabric charteristics,couplling interaction between water and RSA,3D simulation on RSA,and procedure of quickly determining the mechanical parameters of RSA;and the tentative methods of solving these problems are also suggested.