Particle Roundness and Sphericity from Images of Assemblies by Chart Estimates and Computer Methods
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Volume 142, Issue 9
Abstract
Soil particle roundness () and sphericity () are two important intrinsic properties that govern a soil’s mechanical behavior. Although and have well-established mathematical definitions dating back to the 1930s, the values are much more typically estimated using charts developed in the 1940s and 1950s. The charts, are based on the earlier mathematical definitions. Using these charts, a class of undergraduate civil engineering students at the University of Michigan were asked to estimate ( and ) from images of twenty geologically and geographically diverse sands spanning a range of actual and values. The images were of three-dimensional (3D) assemblies of the sands as they would be found in images taken remotely or in situ. The students’ estimates were statistically analyzed and compared with rigorously determined and using a recently developed computational geometry algorithm. Overall, the students’ estimates were scattered, particularly for natural sands exhibiting intermediate values of and low values of . On average, the students underestimated and . Reasons for the diverse responses and underestimates of the actual and are proposed.
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Acknowledgments
This material is based on work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMMI 1300010. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. ConeTec Investigations Ltd. and the ConeTec Education Foundation are acknowledged for their support to the Geotechnical Engineering Laboratories at the University of Michigan.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 9 • September 2016
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© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Apr 15, 2015
Accepted: Dec 16, 2015
Published online: Apr 26, 2016
Published in print: Sep 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Sep 26, 2016
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