Abstract: Sediment particles in natural rock with a large number of connected cracks and faults, have some impact on the transport of groundwater and the variable permeability by creating micro-cracks and damage zones around faults. In this paper, an experiment about seepage on the rock electro-hydraulic servo test system of MTS815.02, together with electron micrograph of sandstone pore, is designed and used to investigate the relationship between the variable permeability and the filling silt in creating cracks. Results show that the permeability in cracked rock decreases distinctly under the silt-induced effect. The permeability, along with the sediment particles in macro-fissures in the cracked rock to achieve re-balancing of transport, gradually increases over time and eventually stabilizes.

Key words: cracked rock, seepage characteristics, artificial filling, sediment particles