Increment of wildfire causes numerous disturbances and irregularities that jeopardize a sustainable society and reliable infrastructure. Due to the rigorous burns, the soil particles may breakdown due to thermal effects leading to a significant loss of the physical and mechanical properties of the soil mass, including reduced modules and strength and subsequent major problems such as soil erosion and near-surface slope slides. Many ambiguities are tied up with the multi-physics process of wildfire-burnt soil, the vegetation anchoring effect on soil strength, and the alteration of micro-scale soil properties. This study presents an innovative thermal-mechanical coupled model to simulate rock damage and breakage during heating-cooling processes. A series of simulations are carried out to capture the behaviors of rock samples under heating-cooling and subsequent compressive loadings using a two-dimensional discrete element method (DEM) model. The results suggest that the effect of mild wildfire on the strength and modulus reduction of rock is negligible. But the reduction of strength and modulus could be as high as 53% and 12%, respectively, under severe wildfire conditions.

来源平台：GEO-CONGRESS 2024: GEOTECHNICAL DATA ANALYSIS AND COMPUTATION