Gradation equation of coarse-grained soil and its applicability

Gradation equation is one way to describe the gradation of coarse-grained soil conveniently,exactly and quantitatively.With the gradation equation,the influence of gradation on the mechanical behaviors of coarse-grained soil can be expressed quantitatively.A new gradation equation with a parameter is proposed.The basic properties and applicability of the new equation are studied.The results show that the proposed equation has the applicability to express coarse-grained soil gradation(CSG),and the range of the parameter β is found to be 0<β<1.The value ofbdetermines the gradation curve shape.If β>0.5,the gradation curve is sigmoidal,otherwise the gradation curve is hyperbolic.For well graded gradations,the parameter has the value of 0.13<β<1.Several CSGs used in domestic and foreign earth-rockfill dams are probed,and the value of the parameterbfalls in the range of 0.18 to 0.97.The investigation of the range of β is of value to guide the design for CSG of earth-rockfill dam.

Determination of strain-dependent soil water retention characteristics from gradation curve

The importance of soil water retention characteristics in modelling the hydro-mechanical response of unsaturated soils has been well recognised by many investigators in recent years.Determination of strain-dependent soil water retention curve(SWRC)is likely to be extraordinarily difficult.The first two authors have recently shown that SWRC can be computed from the gradation curve and the calculation result is consistent with the experimental results obtained from pressure plate tests.In this paper,based on a hypothesis related to change in the pore size distribution(POSD)due to volumetric strain of soil skeleton,a method to compute strain-dependent SWRC is presented.It is found that at initial degrees of saturation higher than 0.8,the influence of volumetric strain may be marginal whilst at initial degrees of saturation lower than 0.8,its influence is likely to be substantial.In all cases,the gradation curve of the soil affects the SWRC.

Analysis of One-Dimensional Compression under a Wide Range of Stress with Densely Arrayed BPM

In this paper,the densely arrayed bonded particle model is proposed for simulation of granular materials with discrete element method(DEM)considering particle crushing.This model can solve the problem of pore calculation after the grains are crushed,and reduce the producing time of specimen.In this work,several one-dimensional compressing simulations are carried out to investigate the effect of particle crushing on mechanical properties of granular materials under a wide range of stress.The results show that the crushing process of granular materials can be divided into four different stages according to er-logσy curves.At the end of the second stage,there exists a yield point,after which the physical and mechanical properties of specimens will change significantly.Under extremely high stress,particle crushing will wipe some initial information of specimens,and specimens with different initial gradings and void ratios present some similar characteristics.Particle crushing has great influence on grading,lateral pressure coefficient and compressibility of granular materials,and introduce extra irreversible volume deformation,which is necessary to be considered in modelling of granular materials in wide stress range.