ABSTRACT
There have been many research efforts in the last 35 years to investigate the strength and deformation characteristics of rockfill. This chapter aims to review the available published rockfill data and evaluate, through statistical analyses, the relationships of shear strength and deformation parameters with particle size. The data were further used to statistically investigate the effects of other influencing factors such as rock type, confining stress and saturation on the shear strength and deformation parameters of rockfill. The strength and compressibility of rockfill are the most important parameters influencing the structural behavior of a rockfill structure. Many factors, such as mineralogy, gradation, grain size, relative density and confining pressure, have a marked effect on these parameters. The shape of individual particles is as important as the particle size distribution when viewing the engineering behavior of rock fill.
