Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303

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Case Studies in Construction Materials

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Case study

Grain shape effects on the mechanical behavior of

compacted earth
A. Koutous*, E. Hilali
MMGC Lab., National School of Applied Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, 80000, Morocco

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: The main purpose of this paper is to experimentally explore the effects of grain shape and
Received 22 August 2019 size on the mechanical behavior of compacted earthen materials. Sand-earth, natural
Received in revised form 26 October 2019 rounded gravel and crushed angular gravel are the three materials used in this study. Both
Accepted 29 October 2019
gravels are from the same site and characterized by the same grain size curve. The uniaxial
compression tests, the results of which are presented and discussed in this paper, were
Keywords: performed on cylindrical specimens of three materials: sand-earth mixture, rounded
Rammed earth
gravel-earth mixture and angular gravel-earth mixture. The tested specimens were
Mechanical behavior
Grain shape
prepared under optimum compaction references, using the Proctor test procedures. For
Compressive strength each compression test, four parameters are determined: the compressive strength, the
Initial tangent modulus initial tangent modulus, the secant modulus at maximum stress and the peak axial strain
Secant modulus corresponding to the maximum compressive stress. The results obtained show that the
Peak strain mechanical behavior of gravel-earth mixture may be influenced by grain shape of the gravel
used, thus introducing a new parameter to be taken into account when preparing
unstabilized rammed earth material. Further experimental studies are recommended to
better assess these results.
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction

Compacted earth is an ancestral building material. The most common method employed to use this material is called
rammed earth, which may or may not be stabilized using additives such as cement, lime, natural fibers, etc. Over the past few
decades, studies have shown that physical and mechanical characteristics of compacted earth depends on many parameters
including water content [1–3], compaction method and energy [4], clay content [5], grain size distribution, etc. As for grain
size distribution, optimal granular spindles have been recommended for the rammed earth method in order to obtain the
most suitable material without adding stabilizers (i.e. unstabilized rammed earth). The most well-known spindle seems to be
the one established by Houben and Guillaud [6]. These grain size spindles are included in Standards used in some countries
such the Australian code HB 195 [7]. Others spindles can be found in a review on rammed earth by Maniatidis and Walker [8].
The curves, describing these grain size spindles and recommended by these engineering references, are based, as
explained in a recent article by Koutous and Hilali [9], on the following Fuller-Thompson formula [10]:

n
d
Pð%Þ ¼ 100 ð1Þ
D

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ahmed.koutous@edu.uiz.ac.ma (A. Koutous).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2019.e00303
2214-5095/© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
2 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303

Where }D} represents the maximum grain diameter and }P} the percentage of grains with diameters less than a given
diameter }d}. And where }n} is a parameter called gradation index, whose value depends on the grain shape (¼ 0:5 for
spherical grains and n ¼ 0:20 to 0:25 for earths used as building materials).
Grain shape was therefore taken into account in some way when establishing the optimal grain size curve. Indeed, the
Fuller-Thompson formula, used to define this curve, was established in order to enhance the material density, and
consequently improve its strength, because it is known that the strength increases as the density increases [11]. However,
these optimal curves are approximate because the criteria for choosing the value of the gradation index } n } are not
clear.
On the other hand, and as mentioned at the beginning of this introduction, the grain size is not the only factor that
influences the strength of the compacted earth. There is another factor as important as grain size, which the plasticity of the
earth fine-grained fraction. Indeed, a study by S. Naeini et al [12] reported that plasticity index has a significant effect on
uniaxial compressive strength, as the latter decreases when plasticity index increases. Also, they found that « as the plasticity
index increases, the [earth] yields at a higher strain. Therefore, the higher plasticity index could change the stress-strain behavior of
[earth] samples from a brittle to ductile manner ».
For these reasons, it is of scientific interest to carry out studies comparing the mechanical behavior of earth compacted
under the same conditions, and having the same characteristics in terms of grain size, plasticity and mineral composition,
but whose grain shape is different. This is the purpose of the present study.
While it is known that the mechanical behavior of conglomerates such as concrete is influenced by the shape of
the aggregates used [13], there are currently no well-known studies that can be found in the literature about the
impact of grain shape of compacted earth on its mechanical behavior under uniaxial compression. But there are some
articles that deal with grain shape effects on the mechanical behavior of granular materials (generally non-cohesive
materials).
Among these studies, an article by D. Sarkar et al [14] in which the authors compare the mechanical behavior of
three different granular materials under triaxial compression or direct shear conditions. The results of this
comparative study show that « crushed angular materials (having low values of regularity) exhibit comparatively
higher strength than the rounded materials ». The same observation was made regarding the friction angle. As for strain,
rounded material seems to have a « very small contraction even for loose materials after which dilative tendencies start
creeping in ».
A study by G-C. Cho et al. [15] about the influence of grain shape on physical and mechanical characteristics of natural
sands compared to crushed sands shows that the decrease in sphericity and/or roughness of sand grains leads to « increase in
extreme void ratios and void ratio interval, decrease in small-strain stiffness, yet increased sensitivity to the state of stress, increase
in the compressibility under zero-lateral strain loading, increase in the constant volume critical state friction angle; and increase in
the critical state line intercept, and a weak effect on the slope of the critical state line (void-stress space) ». Similar results have
been reported in an article by K.-A. Alshibli et al [16] on the influence of grain morphology on the mechanical behavior of
sands under triaxial compression.
A brief note by S. Yagiz [17], on the effects of the shape and percentage of gravel on the shear strength of sand-gravel
mixtures, showed that the shear strength and internal friction angle increase linearly with the percentage of gravel in the
mixture and that when crushed angular aggregates are used, this increase becomes much more noticeable. Almost the same
results were presented in an article by N. S. Salimi et al. [18].
In a conference paper, J-C. Santamarina and G-C. Cho (2004) reported that « ellipticity and platiness [ . . . ] promote
inherent anisotropy and affect the evolution of stress-induced anisotropy » [19].
In an article by I. Cavarretta et al [20], it was reported that at the micro-scale, grain compression tests show an initial
behavior dominated by plasticity that depends on the intrinsic characteristics of the grains (size, roundness, roughness,
elastic properties and surface hardness). On the other hand, at the macroscopic level, the mechanical behavior of granular
materials seems to be less sensitive to the characteristics of grain roughness (and hence inter-grain friction). The explanation
given for this lack of sensitivity to friction is that « the stress levels were too high for the increase in inter-particle friction to be
retained during initial, isotropic compression of the sample [ . . . ] The contact forces between particles along the strong force
chains are likely to be high enough to remove the roughening effect ».
These research studies, as interesting as they are, deal only with cohesionless granular materials. However, earth used as
building material must be cohesive, especially when it comes to unstabilized rammed earth. This is particularly the case of
the earth covered by the present paper.
To describe grain shape in detail, J-K. Mitchell and K. Soga, [21] distinguish three terms for three scales:
sphericity (antonym: elongation) on a large-scale scale, roundness (antonym: angularity) on intermediate scale and
roughness (antonym: smoothness) on small-scale. The present paper discusses the effects of grain morphology (large
to intermediate scale) on the mechanical behavior of compacted earth. The parameter used to quantify this shape is
flakiness index [acc. to NF EN 933-3 [22]]. The determination of flakiness index consists of double sieving. First, by using
standard sieves, the sample is fractionated into different } di =Di } granular fractions, as shown in Table 3 (Table 3). Then,
each of the granular fraction } di =Di } is sieved using grid sieves with a spacing width } Di =2 }. The flakiness index is
calculated as a percentage of the total mass of particles passing through the grid sieves to the total dry mass of the particles
under test.
 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303 3

2. Materials and methods

Three materials are used in this case study: a sand-earth, a rounded gravel and an angular gravel. The two types of gravel
(rounded and angular) actually form a single semi-crushed gravel from a local river (the Souss River, near Agadir, Morocco).
They were first sorted and then used separately.

2.1. Standards used in the study

The following table (Table 1) shows the Standards used in the study covered by this paper.

Table 1
List of Standards used in the present study.

Method / Test Standard applied

Water content NF P 94-050 [23]
Sieving NF P 94-056 [24]
Sedimentation NF P 94-057 [25]
Atterberg limits NF P 94-051 [26]
Absolute density NF P 94-054 [27]
Flakiness index NF EN 933-3 [22]
Water absorption NF EN 1097-6 [28]
Compaction (Proctor) NF P 94-093 [29]
Earth classification ASTM D2487 [30] & D3282 [31]
Specimen requirements NF P 94-074 [32]
Specimen density NF EN 12390-7 [33]
Compression machine NF EN 12390-4 [34]

2.2. Sand-earth

The sieving and sedimentation tests [acc. to NF P 94-056 [24] and NF P 94-057 [25] respectively], show that the grain size
curve of the earth used in this experimental study (Fig. 3) fits well into the grain size spindle recommended by H. Houben and
H. Guillaud [6] for rammed earth method.
The sand-earth material (Fig. 1a) used in this case study is a mixture of two local materials: a clayey soil and a crushed
sand. The mass proportions of the two materials in the mixtures, ½2=3earth þ 1=3sand, are determined in such a way that the
mixture has a grain size curve that fits well into the above-mentioned grain size spindle. More details can be found in a
previous study [9].
The characteristics of the fine-grained fraction of the Sand-earth are summarized in the following table (Table 2).

Fig. 1. Photos showing the three materials used (Sand-earth, Rounded gravel and Angular gravel).

Table 2
Characteristics of the fine-grained fraction of the sand-earth used.

Grains density rs Liquid limit vl Plasticity index IP

2570 kg=m3 32:8% 10:6%

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Table 3
Calculation of adjustments to be made to the gravels grain size distributions.

Granular Fraction d=D Rounded Gravel RG% Angular Gravel AG% Adjustment to make AG%  RG%
4/5 4.6 % 6.5 % + 1,9 %
5/6.3 8.4 % 13.4 % + 5,0 %
6.3/8 17.2 % 25.1 % + 7,9 %
8/10 20.2 % 15.5 % – 4,7 %
10/12.5 17.5 % 10.8 % – 6,7 %
12.5/16 19.5 % 15.3 % – 4,2 %
16/20 12.6 % 13.4 % + 0,8 %

Table 4
Characteristics of the two gravels used.

Gravel Angular Gravel Rounded Gravel

Origin (Fig. 1b & c) The two gravels come from a crushing quarry located in a local river (Souss River),
whose sediments are petrographically heterogeneous.
 
Absolute density rs kg=m3 [27] 2 710 2 710
Flakiness index I f ð% Þ [22] 23 % 11 %
Water absorption W abs ð%Þ [28] 1.4 % 0.7 %

Based on these characteristics, the sand-earth studied is a clayey sand (type "SC") according to USCS – the Unified Soil
Classification System [acc. to ASTM D3287 [30]], or type "A-600 according to AASHTO – the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials Classification System [acc. to ASTM D3282 [31]] (Table 5).
Note that these results are not affected when gravel is added, since Atterberg limit tests are performed on 0=0:4 mm
fraction [acc. to NF P 94-051 [26]].

2.3. Gravels

The two gravels are originally mixed and come from the same crushing quarry in a local river (the Souss River, near Agadir
City, Morocco). They were therefore manually separated into rounded grains characterized by their smoothness and angular
grains characterized by their roughness (Fig. 1b and c). Sieving tests were then carried out on the tow gravels.
Comparing the two gravels grain size curves, there is a slight difference. To make them the same, adjustments were made
keeping the lowest proportion of each granular fraction as shown in the table above (Table 3). Then, their absolute densities,
flakiness indexes and water absorption percentages were determined (Table 4). The procedures followed to determine these
parameters are those of the Standards given in the table (Table 1).
Once the adjustments have been made, the two gravels have the same grain size curve as shown in figure below (Fig. 2).
After these adjustments, two gravel-earth mixtures were prepared with the following mass proportions:
3=
4earth þ 1=4 gravel. These mass proportions are determined so that the grain size curve of the mixture is as close as
possible to the optimal curve -ICD20 [RE]- (Fig. 3). This optimal curve -ICD20 [RE]- is the curve representing the equation « E1
» with the coefficient } n } taken equal to 0:25, according to Houben and Guillaud recommendations [6].
The two mixtures, thus prepared, which are rounded gravel-earth and angular gravel-earth are clayey gravel, type "GC"
according to USCS system, or type "A-2-600 according to AASHTO system (Table 5).

2.4. Preparation of specimens

 Specimens dimensions and compaction references

Taking into account grain size distributions of the materials used, the minimum specimen size is taken equal to 100 mm
(i.e. five times the maximum grain size) [acc. to NF P 94-074 [32]]. Thus, for cylindrical specimens, the diameter is taken equal
to 100 mm while the height is taken equal to 200 mm (i.e. twice the diameter). As a result, the dimensions of the mold for
specimen manufacturing are 100 mm  200 mm. Compared to those of the molds used in Proctor tests, the standard Proctor

Table 5
Classification of sand-earth used before and after adding gravel.

Material Sand-Earth Gravel-Earth

AASHTO [31] A-6 A-2-6
USCS [30] SC GC
 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303 5

Fig. 2. Grain size curves of the two gravels before and after adjustments made.

Fig. 3. Grain size curves of sand-earth before and after adding gravel, compared to the recommended rammed earth spindle (R.E. Spindle by Houben and
Guillaud) and to the ideal curve (ICD20 [RE]).

test is chosen to determine compaction references using five samples with different water content per each material [acc. to
NF P 94-093 [29]].

 Manufacturing process

Once the compaction references were determined, three specimens were prepared per each of the three materials
studied. To manufacture these specimens, a maximum dry density equal to that obtained in Proctor test 5% is targeted. To
achieve this purpose, and in order to keep the compaction energy the same, the rammer and compaction procedures of
standard Proctor test were used with 5 layers for a height of 200 mm (height of the mold to be used for specimen
manufacturing) instead of 3 layers for a height of 116:5 mm (height of the Proctor mold). This means that the compaction of
the specimens consists of 5 layers compacted with 25 blows each (3 sequences of 8 blows distributed in a circular manner,
plus a 25th blow in the center) as illustrated in the figure below (Fig. 4). The water content used in each mix is the
corresponding optimum moisture content given in the part 3.1 (Table 6).
To improve the quality of specimen bearing surfaces, a thin layer containing only grains with sizes of less than 5 mm is
provided on each of the two bearing surfaces. Consequently, each layer is approximately 3:6 cm thick, except the thin layers
(bearing surfaces) whose thickness is about 1 cm.
As no additional material is used for the preparation of the specimen bearing surfaces, the 0/5 angular fraction is
considered as a sort of plaster for this preparation, because it is easier to level without damaging the specimens. The
preparation method applied are detailed in Section 2.5 (x 2.5).
The demolding is done immediately. Then, the specimen wet mass is measured and thus the wet density determined
(Fig. 5).
Concerning drying conditions, specimens were stored in a room with temperatures varying from 20 to 25  C and relative
humidity of about 60%.
6 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303

Fig. 4. Illustration of the manufacturing methods applied to the specimens.

Table 6
Effects of adding gravel to sand-earth on its compaction references: Optimum compaction moisture content (vOMC ) and Maximum oven dry density
(rmax ).

Material Sand-Earth Rounded Gravel-Earth Angular Gravel-Earth

vOMC ð%Þ 13.0 9.5 10.5
rmax ðkg=m3 Þ 1 900 2 000 1 970

After four weeks, the weights and dimensions of each specimen are measured, then the densities are determined,
according current European standard on concrete material [acc. to NF EN 12390-7 [33]], and compared to the aimed dry
densities.
These comparisons are used to “check” the drying of the specimens. The drying of a specimen is achieved if its density is
equal to the one targeted by compaction 5% and if the weight of the specimen does not decrease by more than 2/1000 after
48 h under the drying conditions above.
Note that the “dry state” of the compacted material means that the water content has reached its equilibrium value close
to and not equal to zero.

2.5. Uniaxial compression test

The preparation of the bearing surfaces is performed in the wet state by levelling using a metal ruler. In the dry state, an
abrasive paper and a spirit level are used, if necessary, for finishing. The aim of this preparation is to provide parallel and flat
bearing surfaces. After that, the dry specimens are compressed using a machine that complies with the European Standard
[acc. to NF EN 12390-4 [34]] and allow a constant loading speed of 0:05MPa=s (Fig. 6).
A value of 0:05 MPa has been chosen as peak sensitivity that corresponds to the decrease in stress during the test at which
the machine will consider the sample to have failed, and will stop the test.
The test apparatus used in this study is equipped with two displacement transducers characterized by a sensitivity of
0:02 mm. The two transducers are arranged symmetrically with respect to the axis of the tested specimen (Fig. 7). The
specimen axial strain is the average of the strains calculated from the measurements of the tow transducers.

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Effects on the compaction references

The results of the Proctor test show an increase in the maximum dry density and a decrease in the optimum compaction
moisture content after adding gravel to sand-earth (Fig. 8).
 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303 7

Fig. 5. Measurement of specimen wet mass after demolding (RG2 specimen).

Fig. 6. Typical loading speed curve during the compression tests (RG1 specimen).

Regarding to the decrease in the optimum compaction moisture content, it can be said that it is obvious that when the
proportion of gravel in a soil increases, its optimum moisture content will decrease, because the specific surface area of the
soil decreases with the diameter of the grains, especially in the case of smooth-grained soil. This is shown, for example, by a
technical note by J-J. Wang et al. [35], in which the authors conclude that « the optimum moisture content is generally decreasing
with the increase of the median particle diameter or gravel content ».
Also, it can be observed that the optimum compaction moisture content of rounded gravel-earth is slightly lower than
that of angular gravel-earth, and that inversely, the maximum dry density of rounded gravel-earth is slightly higher than that
of angular gravel-earth (Table 6).
The difference in the optimum compaction moisture content can be explained by the difference in water absorption
percentage, which is higher for crushed gravel than for round gravel (1:4% > 0:7%).
As for the maximum dry density, the sand-earth absolute density is smaller than the gravel absolute density
(2710kg=m3 > 2570 kg=m3 ), which increases the absolute density of gravel-earth mixture and therefore the dry density of
the latter. In addition to that, it appears that the rounded shape of the gravel grains promotes compaction, unlike the angular
and flattened shape, which makes compaction harder to achieve as it can be noticed when comparing the coefficients of
variation of the dry densities of the specimens compacted (Table 9).

3.2. Effects on the mechanical behavior

The compaction of the specimens is carried out under the optimum requirements previously determined.
8 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303

Fig. 7. Compression device with the two displacement transducers fixed on one of the tested specimens (SE1 specimen).

Fig. 8. Compaction test curves of the three materials studied (Proctor test).

Table 7
Average compaction conditions of the specimens of the three materials studied.

Material Sand-Earth R. Gravel-Earth A. Gravel-Earth

Compaction water content 13:0 % 9:5 % 10:5 %
Wet mass mh ðkg Þ 3.490 3.580 3.530
Dry mass md ðkg Þ 3.110 3.280 3.220
 
Dry density rd kg=m3 1 980 2 090 2 050
Average compactness 77.0% 80.1% 78.5%
rd =rmax Average Ratio 104% 105% 104%
 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303 9

Table 8
Summary of the results of the compression tests conducted on the three materials studied.

Specimens Dry density Initial tangent modulus Secant modulus Peak strain Compressive strength
 
rd kg=m3 Ei ðMPaÞ Es ðMPaÞ es ðmm=mmÞ f c ðMPaÞ

Sand-Earth (SE) SE1 1970 332 233 0.0083 1.94

SE2 1990 347 199 0.0109 2.16
SE3 1980 340 214 0.0093 1.98
Rounded Gravel-Earth (RG) RG1 2110 463 251 0.0081 2.03
RG2 2070 411 223 0.0099 2.22
RG3 2090 436 221 0.0097 2.15
Angular Gravel-Earth (AG) AG1 2040 347 189 0.0119 2.24
AG2 2100 367 198 0.0120 2.37
AG3 2010 341 199 0.0107 2.12

Table 9
Average characteristics of the three compacted earthen materials (coefficient of variation).

Material Dry density Initial tangent modulus Secant modulus Peak strain Compressive strength
 
rd kg=m3 Ei ðMPaÞ Es ðMPaÞ es ðmm=mmÞ f c ðMPaÞ

Sand-Earth (SE) 1980 (0%) 340 (2%) 215 (6%) 0.0095 (11%) 2.03 (5%)
Rounded Gravel-Earth (RG) 2090 (1%) 437 (5%) 232 (5%) 0.0092 (9%) 2.13 (4%)
Angular Gravel-Earth (AG) 2050 (2%) 352 (3%) 195 (2%) 0.0115 (5%) 2.24 (5%)

The first observation that can be made is that the average dry densities of the specimens are slightly higher than
maximum dry densities obtained during compaction tests (1.04 to 1.05 times higher), and this is the case for the three
materials studied (Table 7). A possible explanation for this is that the layers thickness applied when making the specimens is
lower than that of Proctor test ð3:6 cm < 4 cmÞ, while the compaction energy remains the same.
This increase in dry density may be due to the fact that the specimens hold onto some moisture content, because, as
compared to Proctor tests, the specimens were not dried in an oven (Fig. 9). However, tests carried out on samples of
materials recovered after the compression tests show that their water content does not exceed 1% in the worst cases (about
0.9% in the case of angular gravel-earth material). Therefore, this explanation can be dismissed.
Will this residual moisture content due to the environment relative humidity, no matter how low it is, have an impact on
the mechanical behavior of the materials studied? According to a study carried out on three different compacted earths by F.
Champiré et al (2016), it appears that an increase in relative humidity in the environment leads to an increase in the moisture
content of compacted earth, which affects its mechanical characteristics by decreasing its strength at its Young's modulus
[36]. Another study conducted by E. Araldi et al. (2018) leads to similar results [1].
This means that the values of these two parameters obtained in the present study are actually lower than the results that
could be obtained if compression tests were carried out in a real dry state, with a zero-moisture content. Nevertheless, the

Fig. 9. One of the series of specimens after drying (SE1, SE2 and SE3 sand-earth).
10 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303

Fig. 10. Typical stress–strain curve for the compacted earthen material in the compression test (AG1 specimen).

Fig. 11. Superimposed stress-strain curves resulting from all compression tests.

study presented here is of scientific interest as all samples were prepared, stored and tested under the same conditions.
However, it should be kept in mind that the interpretations made in this paper are valid only when these conditions are met.
Once the “drying” has been reached and the dry density determined, the compression tests are conducted according to
the procedures described above (x 2.5). For each compression test, the stress-strain curve is established (Fig. 11). From this
curve, the initial tangent modulus and peak strain are determined graphically as shown in the figure above (Fig. 10).
The crushed specimens are carefully examined by looking at the propagation of cracks (Fig. 12). The test is considered
successful if the cracks are regular and symmetrical with respect to the axis of the specimen. This is a way of checking
whether the load has been applied uniformly to the bearing surfaces, otherwise the test has to be repeated.
The table below summarizes the results obtained on a test basis of the compression tests (Table 8). Note that the dry
density is given to the nearest 10 kg=m3 .
As shown in the figure (Fig. 10), the secant modulus is determined as the slope of a line drawn from the origin of the
stress-strain diagram and intersecting the curve at the peak stress point.
The results of these compression tests show a slight but beneficial improvement in compressive strength after adding
gravel (Fig. 13). It appears, also, that there is a small difference between the two gravels in terms of strength, which remain
within the error range given the number of specimens (3 specimens per mixture).
Indeed, there is an increase of 0:10 MPa in the case of rounded gravel-earth mixture compared to sand-earth, and a
relatively better increase of 0:21 MPa in the case of angular gravel-earth mixture (Table 9).
Taking into account the range of uncertainties commonly observed for earthen materials and the coefficient of
variation of the results obtained (Table 9), it can be said that in terms of strength, only the improvement provided by the
angular gravel may be considered significant (Fig. 14). It is true that the improvement of 0.1 MPa provided by rounded gravel
is significant for an earthen material, but this value remains within the error range and cannot therefore be taken into
consideration.
While the possible improvement in compressive strength after adding gravel can be explained by the influence of the
grain size distribution, which has been made closer to the optimal distribution (ICD20 [RE]) (Fig. 3), the small difference
between the two gravel-earth mixtures in compressive strength can be explained on the basis of the studies presented in the
introduction to this paper. Obviously, the angular shape and roughness of the crushed gravel grains promote the gravel-clay
bond, which increase the mixture strength.
 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303 11

Fig. 12. One of the specimens after being compressed until failure (AG1 specimen).

Fig. 13. Superposed stress-strain curves resulting from all compression tests, Enlarged view of the end of the tests.

Concerning the initial tangent modulus, the results show that it is only for rounded gravel-earth material that a significant
increase can be observed (Fig. 15): increase of 97 MPa for rounded gravel-earth material compared to only 12 MPa for
angular gravel-earth material.
Considering the error bars, it appears that adding angular gravel had practically no influence on the initial tangent
modulus (Fig. 16).
As the two gravel-earth mixtures studied have the same mineralogical composition and grain size distribution, it can be
said, at least at this stage of the study, that the initial tangent modulus depends mainly on the dry density of the compacted
material (and thus its compactness), which is influenced by grain shape. Moreover, a correlation can be observed between
these two parameters as shown in the figure below (Fig. 17). These results only confirm what has already been reported in
previous studies [37].
On the other hand, when analyzing each material results, it can be noted that, for both sand-earth and angular gravel-
earth materials, the initial tangent modulus and compressive strength both increase with the increase of dry density. In
contrast, it appears that the compressive strength and initial tangent modulus of rounded gravel-earth material vary in
opposite ways with dry density. In other words, when the dry density increases, the initial tangent modulus increases and
the compressive strength decreases (Fig. 18).
12 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303

Fig. 14. Comparison of the average compressive strengths of the three materials tested.ðError bars ¼ Standard errorsÞ

Fig. 15. Superposed stress-strain curves resulting from all compression tests, Enlarged view of the beginning of the tests.

Fig. 16. Comparison of the average initial tangent modulus of the three materials tested.ðError bars ¼ Standard errorsÞ

This finding, which may seem unexpected, cannot be established on the basis of the results obtained for only three
specimens. Therefore, a study on more samples is necessary to confirm or contradict it. Nevertheless, this result, if confirmed,
can be explained by the following reasons:
The very smooth grains of rounded gravel have the effect that, when compacting, they tend to leave their imprints in the
fine-grained fraction of the wet earth and thus promote the creation of more humid gaps between coarse grains and the
clayey fraction. These gaps may become more significant after drying due to clay shrinkage. In this way, the fine fraction is
practically the only one to support stress at the beginning of compression. This may also justify why the tangent modulus of
the rounded gravel-earth material decreases faster than that of the angular gravel-earth material, as the compressive stress
increases. This dissociation of the clay fraction from the gravel grains leads, obviously, to a decrease in strength. Note that the
more intense the compaction is, the higher the density increases and the more simultaneously this dissociation worsens.
Concerning the peak strain corresponding to the maximum compressive stress, the results obtained show that it
increases when adding angular gravel and relatively decreases when adding rounded gravel (Fig. 19). Which doesn't
 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303 13

Fig. 17. Initial tangent module against the dry density.

Fig. 18. Compressive strength against initial tangent modulus.

Fig. 19. Compressive strength against peak strain.ðError bars ¼ Standard errorsÞ

necessarily mean that the angular shape provides better improvement in the compacted earth elasticity, because this
increase in peak strain is associated with an increase in maximum stress (i.e. compressive strength).
Instead, secant modulus at maximum stress may be a better parameter to assess the stiffness of compacted earthen
materials. The secant modulus } Es } can be calculated using the following equation:
.
Es ¼ f c ð2Þ
es

Where “f c ” is the compressive strength and “es ” the peak strain.

As for the three mixtures studied, the results show that this parameter increases when adding rounded gravel and
decreases when adding angular gravel (Fig. 19), meaning that it is impacted in the same way as the initial tangent modulus.
Moreover, in both gravel cases, the secant modulus is slightly more than a half of the initial tangent modulus as shown in the
table below (Table 10).
14 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303

Table 10
Secant modulus compared to Initial tangent modulus (coefficient of variation).

Material Ei ðMPaÞ Es ðMPaÞ Es =Ei

SE 340 (2%) 215 (6%) 0.63 (8%)
RG 437 (5%) 232 (5%) 0.53 (3%)
AG 352 (3%) 195 (2%) 0.55 (4%)
In average : Es  0:57 Ei

Table 11
Grain shape effects on compacted earth proprieties [(): Decrease | (+): Increase | (): To be tested].

Gravel grain shape Rounded Angular

Effect on vOMC  
Effect on r dmax þþ 
Effect on f c  þ
Effect on Ei and Es þþ 
Effect on ep  þ

Another phenomenon that may be influenced by the grain shape, which was not investigated in this study and which
can be investigated in future studies, is the anisotropy of the compacted earth. Indeed, according to a study by Q.-B.
Bui et al (2009), « results enable [Authors] to initiate the hypothesis that rammed earth is an isotropic material of the first order
if the layers remain adherent to each other » [38]. Except that this study did not take into consideration grain shape.
Yet, J.-C. Santamarina et al (2004) found that ellipticity and platiness can lead to anisotropy of mechanical characteristics
[19].
Intuitively, it can be said that, given the layered compaction procedure, elongated grains are more likely to be compacted
in parallel with layers, especially if their thickness is low, which will certainly increase strength in the perpendicular
direction to layers, because in this way the compacted earth will take advantage of what can be called the « reinforced earth
effect ».

4. Conclusions and prospects

In this experimental study, two types of gravel with the same grain size distribution (rounded natural gravel and angular
crushed gravel) were added to sand-earth for use as rammed earth materials. Results show that the optimum compaction
references and mechanical behavior in uniaxial compression of compacted earth are impacted by grain shape. Indeed, as
illustrated in the (Table 11), it can be concluded that:

 Whatever is the grain shape, the optimum compaction moisture content decreases with the main grain size.
 The optimum compaction moisture content of rounded gravel-earth mixture is relatively lower than the one of angular
gravel-earth mixture.
 Within the limits of the grain size distribution presented, the maximum dry density of gravel-earth mixtures increases
when the gravel used is rounded and remains practically unchanged when using angular gravel.
 Within the limits of the grain size distribution presented, compressive strength appears to be more improved when using
angular gravel than when using rounded gravel.
 Globally, the rounded grain shape makes the stiffness of compacted earth materials increase while the angular shape
makes it decrease.
 The peak strain corresponding to the maximum stress appears to be greater when using angular grain shape, which makes
the material relatively less sensitive to displacements.

In brief, the angular grain shape provides strength for compacted earthen materials, while the rounded grain shape
improves their stiffness. Therefore, grain shape should be taken into account when considering adding aggregates to an earth
in order to modify its grain size distribution as a building material.
Of course, it is not always relevant to consider selecting crushed gravel because it usually involves extra work and costs.
Indeed, much better effects can be obtained by using a small amount of stabilizer such as lime or cement. However, the
results obtained suggest that the grain shape is a parameter that should not be ignored when establishing the optimal grain
size curve. This may explain why some earth used in ancient unstabilized rammed earth constructions perform well despite
not complying with the recommendations mentioned in this paper. Anyway, this is a possibility that is worth exploring as a
perspective for this work.
 A. Koutous, E. Hilali / Case Studies in Construction Materials 11 (2019) e00303 15

5. Limitations of the study

The results discussed in this paper were obtained for gravel-earth mixtures prepared in such a way as to have the same
grain size distribution. Note that the transducers used during compression tests for measuring axial strain, are disconnected
from the specimen due to cracks appearing just after the failure, which does not provide reliable measurements to analyze
the post-failure behavior of the materials studied.
This work can be improved by testing several mixtures in order to find the optimum gravel percentage. Also, the targeted
optimal grain size curve is based on the Thomson-Fuller equation, which uses a certain gradation coefficient that depends on
grain shape. It would therefore be more appropriate if, for each gravel-earth, a different value for this coefficient were used to
establish its optimal grain size curve. But since gravel represents only 25% of the gravel-earth mixture and as the value taken
for this coefficient (n ¼ 0:25) in this study is an indicative value, one would be tempted to consider that a slight change in this
coefficient will not have significant impact on mechanical behavior. Anyway, this remains one of the possibilities to be
explored as in further research projects.
It is appropriate to contextualize the problem covered by this paper. Indeed, not all earths require the addition of
aggregates (sand and/or gravel) as a building material. Also, the specimen manufacturing procedures are not the same as
those applied on site when building with rammed earth.

Declaration of Competing Interest

No conflict of interest to declare.

Acknowledgment

The experimental work described in this paper was carried out in the civil engineering laboratory of National School of
Applied Sciences (ENSA), Ibn Zohr University of Agadir. The contribution of the laboratory team in terms of technical
assistance is duly acknowledged. Thanks also to all the staff of the Civil Engineering Department at the same Institution for
their support and encouragement.

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