Equivalent Compression Curve for Clay–Sand Mixtures Using Equivalent Void-Ratio Concept
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 23, Issue 2
Abstract
Clay–sand mixtures are deposited worldwide, such as naturally sedimentary soils and dredged clays in human activities. These mixtures usually have a fine fraction above the transitional fine content, and the compressibility is dominated by clay matrix and affected by sand fraction. In this paper, an explicit equivalent compression curve is proposed for clay–sand mixtures. This is done by directly incorporating the equivalent void ratio into the intrinsic compression model of the clay matrix. The roles of initial and evolving soil structure developed during the compression process are described by a structural variable, which can be directly computed from the experimental data. Experimental data compiled from various literature are used for evaluating the accuracy of the suggested model. They indicate that the proposed relationship of stress versus equivalent void ratio is simple yet effective to evaluate the compressibility of clay–sand mixtures with a wide spectrum of sand fraction. The model is also practically useful for estimating the compressibility of other gap-graded soils, such as clay–gravel mixtures. The proposed stress versus equivalent void-ratio equation is an elementary function and can be readily implemented into general elastoplastic models.
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Acknowledgments
This study was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (under Grant No. 51908193; Grant No. 52278346; Grant No. 51909194), the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (under RGC/GRF Grant No. 16201419), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (under Grant No. B200201050; Grant No. 522020212).
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 25, 2022
Accepted: Aug 22, 2022
Published online: Nov 16, 2022
Published in print: Feb 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 16, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Clays
- Curvature
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Foundation construction
- Foundations
- Geomechanics
- Geometry
- Geotechnical engineering
- Materials characterization
- Materials engineering
- Mathematical functions
- Mathematics
- Matrix (mathematics)
- Mixtures
- Rock mechanics
- Sand (material)
- Soil compression
- Soil dynamics
- Soil mechanics
- Soil mixing
- Soils (by type)
- Void ratio
- Voids
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