Abstract: The shear strength of the compacted layer is one of the important factorsdetermining the stability of the roller compacted concrete dam。Anew shear fracture modelcombining the direct shear test with the finite element calculation is put forward in thispaper. The new model considers the non-linear distribution stresses and includes the effectof the softening stress-displacement stage in the compacted layer.Thust,the shear strengthparameters determined by the aforementioned method are about thirty percent high...