Abstract

TORRES-CRUZ, L A; GEYER, S  and  MACKECHNIE, P R. Effect of the minimum void ratio on the vertical intercept of the steady state line of non-plastic soils. J. S. Afr. Inst. Civ. Eng. [online]. 2017, vol.59, n.2, pp.59-64. ISSN 2309-8775.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2309-8775/2017/v59n2a7.

The steady state line (SSL) plays a key role in understanding and modelling the mechanical response of soils. Accordingly, understanding how the SSL correlates to soil index properties is of primary importance. A previous study reported that the vertical location of the SSL (Γ₁) in void ratio (e) versus mean effective stress (ρ') space is correlated to the minimum void ratio (e_min). However, the correlation only included soils with narrow particle size distributions (PSD) and low fines content (FC). In the current study, published data corresponding to 30 non-plastic soils were re-processed to further explore the applicability of the r₁-e_mincorrelation. The results indicate that the r₁-e_mincorrelation is linear (R² = 0.85) and valid regardless of the coefficient of uniformity (C_u), FC, and particle shape. The r₁-e_mindataset presented herein was also compared to a previously published dataset, and good agreement was observed. It is proposed that the r₁-e_mjncorrelation can be very useful to understand how the Γ₁ of different non-plastic soils compare to one another, and to minimise the extent of triaxial testing required when characterising a soil deposit from an SSL standpoint. Limitations of the r₁-e_min correlation are also discussed.

Keywords : steady state line; critical state line; minimum void ratio; non‑plastic soils.

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