Paper Outline – 1DC Tests

1. Abstract

Sands achieve a unique regime when subjected to high compressive stresses, where the compression
curve becomes linear when plotted in a double logarithmic void ratio versus vertical effective stress
space and is called the limited compression curve (LCC). This paper presents the results of One-
dimensional compression tests on Nevada sand and silica flour, and silica flour and kaolin mixtures, to
show the effects of the inclusion of plastic and non-plastic fines into granular soils mixes in the slope of
the LCC line, the compressive yielding stress of all the mixtures, and the evolution of the grain size
distribution of the Nevada sand and silica flour mixtures. The effects of strain rates where explored in
Nevada sand and silica flour mixtures, and the effects of specimen preparation were evaluated on the
silica flour specimens. It was observed that the inclusion of non-plastic and plastic fines in the mixtures
changes the shape of the compression line, and increases the compressive strength of the specimens.
The inclusion of non-plastic fines in the Nevada sand specimens reduce the amount of particle crushing
that was observed in the specimens.

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 Mixture Cu Cc Initial Cu Cc Final gradation
initial initial gradation final final class
class
100% NS 1.6 0.9 Poorly graded 5.0 1.3 Poorly graded
90% NS 10% S 2.9 1.7 Poorly graded 5.0 1.3 Poorly graded
80% NS 20% S 3.8 2.1 Poorly graded 5.3 1.6 Poorly graded
65% NS 35% S 7.2 3.0 Poorly graded 9.5 1.7 Well graded
50% NS 50% S 6.0 1.4 Well graded 6.0 1.2 Well graded
100% S 12.5 2.0 Well graded 12.5 1.1 Well graded

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2. Conclusions

• The compressibility of Nevada sand and silica flour mixes with a fines content smaller than 35%
is affected by particle rearrangement, by abrasion of asperities, and by breakage of primarily
Nevada sand particles. In contrast, the compressibility of the Nevada sand and silica flour mixes
with a fines content equal or greater than 35% is affected mostly by particle rearrangement and
by abrasion of asperities of the silica particles.

• The maximum curvature point in the log (e) vs. log (σv) graphs of mixes with fines content
smaller than 35% is pronounced and can be explained by the amount of particle crushing
observed.

• The maximum curvature point in the log (e) vs. log (σ v) graphs of mixes with a fines content
bigger than 35% is not well defined; this change in shape can be explained by the reduction in
particle crushing observed for these mixtures; therefore, the yielding of these materials is
mostly caused by particle rearrangement, and by abrasion of asperities of the particles.

• The results suggest that in the mixtures with a silica flour content equal or bigger than 35%, the
silica flour particles are carrying most of the load, and the sand grains are floating among the
silica particles; so the sand grains are carrying a much smaller amount of load. The silica flour
particles are stronger because they have less imperfections than the bigger sand particles as
described by Nakata et al. (2001), and the contact forces are smaller because there are greater
number of contacts per volume; therefore, their amount of crushing is much smaller.

• The maximum curvature points in the log (e) vs. log (σ v) graphs for mixes of silica flour and
kaolin are not well defined; this can be explained by the small amount of particle crushing
hypothesized to be occurring within these mixes.

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• The compressibility of these mixes is controlled by the silica flour and kaolin particle
rearrangement.

• The difference in the initial compressibility (e.g. at lower stresses) observed for the 100% silica
flour specimens prepared by different methods can be explained by the difference in initial
fabric induced by the preparation procedures.

• Both slurry and dry 100% silica specimens arrive to the same void ratio at high stresses (greater
than a 100 MPa), indicating the achieving of the LCC regime, the destruction of the initial fabric,
and the arising of a fabric where the particles are densely packed.