Academic literature on the topic 'Soils Plastic properties'

Abstract The production of plastic bottles by the manufacturing industry has increased drastically over the last six decades across the globe. This rapid production has led to the generation of many waste plastic bottles, thus causing environmental pollution. About 180 tonnes of plastics are generated daily in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, and around 50% is dumped into the Kiteezi landfill. Instead of putting pressure on the landfill, these plastic bottle wastes could be reused in stabilizing soils with poor engineering properties. The current study investigates the engineering properties of clayey soil reinforced with Polyethylene-terephthalate waste plastic bottle strips. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the geotechnical and engineering properties of the soil reinforced with waste plastic bottle strips at 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4% of the dry unit weight of the soil and non-stabilized soil were determined by conducting laboratory tests, such as particle size distribution, Atterberg limits, compaction test and California Bearing Ratio. The results revealed that the California Bearing Ratio of the soil reinforced with Polyethylene-terephthalate waste plastic bottle strips increased with the increase in the percentage of Polyethylene-terephthalate waste plastic bottle strips up to 0.3%. Beyond 0.3%, a drop in California Bearing Ratio was observed. It indicates that 0.3% Polyethylene-terephthalate waste plastic bottle strips is the optimum percentage for stabilizing low plasticity clayey soils.

Please Soil stabilization is a mechanical or chemical procedure to improve the physical properties of weak soil. In this research, a mechanical process of using shredded plastic water bottles has been investigated in soil stabilization. To achieve the objective of this research, two types of clayey soils have been selected based on their plastic indices. The initial mechanical properties of the two soils have been determined using ASTM standard procedures. A plastic water battles were shredded into small pieces with dimension 1.0 cm in length and 2.0 – 3.0 mm in width. The shredded plastic was added to the clayey soil at 6 different percentages by dry weight of the soils 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, 2.5%, and 3.0% with 0.5 increment. Standard compaction and unconfined compression test were conducted on soil plastic mixtures at the 6 different percentages. It was found that the addition of shredded plastic to the clayey soils reduced both the maximum dry density and optimum moisture content for the two types of soils. However, a significant increase in unconfined compression test was noticed due to the addition of shredded plastic waste. The highest increase was noticed at 1.5% by dry weight of the soil. Additionally, the failure strain was decreased due to the addition of the plastic waste.


 
 
 
 
 The Use of Froth Flotation for Selective Separation of Plastic Wastes from Soil
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Kofi Moro and Dorothy A. Dechie
 
 
 
 
 
 Abstract — In recycling of plastics, unless the goal is to form composites or materials having special properties, it is not advisable to mix plastics of different kinds because of the differences in their molecular weights and chain lengths. Hence, there is the need to separate these plastics when they are mixed before recycle can be done. This project investigated the selective separation of Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS) and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics out of soils using froth flotation. Pulverized samples were prepared from post-consumer plastic sources (PP, PS and PET) and soil and mixed uniformly to form a composite sample. The composite sample was subjected to froth flotation. Two tests were performed. A first test, where there was no addition of a depressant (tannic acid), and a second test, where there was addition of tannic acid to depress some of the plastics in order to selectively separate them. Recoveries from each test work indicated that, plastics are naturally hydrophobic and can be floated out of soils without modifying their surface properties. However, selective separations of the plastics were achieved when tannic acid was used to modify the surface properties of the plastic types.


 
 
 
 
 The Use of Froth Flotation for Selective Separation of Plastic Wastes from Soil
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Kofi Moro and Dorothy A. Dechie
 
 
 
 
 
 Abstract — In recycling of plastics, unless the goal is to form composites or materials having special properties, it is not advisable to mix plastics of different kinds because of the differences in their molecular weights and chain lengths. Hence, there is the need to separate these plastics when they are mixed before recycle can be done. This project investigated the selective separation of Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS) and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics out of soils using froth flotation. Pulverized samples were prepared from post-consumer plastic sources (PP, PS and PET) and soil and mixed uniformly to form a composite sample. The composite sample was subjected to froth flotation. Two tests were performed. A first test, where there was no addition of a depressant (tannic acid), and a second test, where there was addition of tannic acid to depress some of the plastics in order to selectively separate them. Recoveries from each test work indicated that, plastics are naturally hydrophobic and can be floated out of soils without modifying their surface properties. However, selective separations of the plastics were achieved when tannic acid was used to modify the surface properties of the plastic types.

The plastic limits (lower plastic limit, PL; and liquid limit, LL) are important soil properties that can yield information on soil mechanical behaviour. The objective of this paper is to study the plastic limits of agricultural soils as functions of soil texture and organic matter (OM) content. The plastic limits were highly related to the clay content. The LL was more strongly correlated with clay than was PL, but the reasons are unclear. Interestingly, PL was virtually unaffected by clay content for soils with clay contents below ~35%. The OM had a strong effect on the plastic limits. This effect was clearly demonstrated when analysing soils of similar texture with a range of OM. We present equations (pedotransfer functions) for estimation of PL, LL, and plasticity index (PI) from soil texture and OM. Finally, we predict that the clay content must be ≥10% for soils without OM to be plastic; however, soils with <10% clay can be plastic if OM is present. More research is needed to investigate OM effects on soil consistency.

Plastic pollution has become one of the most critical environmental issues, as rapidly increasing production, compounded by persistence of plastic wastes in the environment, are outpacing efforts to keep ecosystems plastic-free. A switch to plastics more amenable to microbial attack is one of several possible responses. Against this background, the current study describes the isolation, enumeration and polyphasic characterization of plastic-degrading bacteria present in Norwegian terrestrial and aquatic habits. It shows that these bacteria are present in relatively high numbers, and that plastic-degrading capabilities are found in several taxa, most especially Streptomyces. Some isolates wereable to degrade several plastics. Notably, a Rhodococcus sp. and a Streptomyces sp. degraded, respectively, four and six of the eight plastics investigated and a number of other polymers relevant for plastic blends. The paper also has a methodological aspect, presenting various approaches for assaying plastic-degrading properties and a PCR/sequencing-based approach for the identification of potential polyethylene terephthalate-degrading genes. A candidate gene was detected in several Streptomyces isolates. The study shows that Norwegian environments are a rich source of bacteria with the ability to degrade bioplastics possibly representing a natural remediation capacity, as well as a potential source of useful enzymes.

Expansive soil needs to undergo treatment to be used as safe foundation soil for roads and buildings. From an environmental conservation and economical point of view, the usage of agricultural and industrial wastes is the best option. In this study, the effects of utilizing plastic waste and marble waste dust on the engineering properties of expansive soils were examined. Various laboratory tests were carried out on sampled expansive soil by adding 10, 15, and 20% of marble and 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75% of 5 × 8 mm2 plastic strips. The laboratory test results showed that there are good enhancements on strength parameters due to the addition of marble dust and plastic strips. With an increase in percentages of marble dust and plastic strips, California Bearing Ratio (CBR) values rise. With the addition of marble dust, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) values increase linearly, while they increase only up to 0.5% with the addition of plastic strips. As the proportions of marble dust and plastic strips increase, the soil’s free swell and CBR swell are decreased significantly. This shows that environmental pollution waste marble dust and plastic strips can be utilized to strengthen the weak subgrade soil and minimize its swelling properties. Therefore, this study found out that the expansive soil treated with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic and marble dust can be used as a subgrade material since it fulfills the minimum requirement needed by standards.

Cohesive soils present difficulties in construction projects because it usually contains expansive clay minerals. However, the engineering properties of cohesive soils can be stabilized by using various techniques. The research aims to elaborate on the influences of using hydrated lime on the consistency, compaction, and shear strength properties of clayey soil samples from Sulaimnai city, northern Iraq. The proportions of added hydrated lime are 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% to the natural soil sample. The results yielded considerable effects of hydrated lime on the engineering properties of the treated soil sample and enhancement its strength. The soil's liquid limit, plasticity index, and optimum moisture content were decreased with the increase of hydrated lime percent. The soil's other geotechnical properties such as plastic limit, maximum dry density, and unconfined compressive strength were increased with the hydrated lime content increase. The oedometer test results produced a notable decrease in the compressibility characteristics of the lime-treated soil sample. Hence, hydrated lime is successfully contributed and can be considered as an effective material to improve the strength, compressibility, and consistency properties of the cohesive soils in Sulaimani city.

Plastic sheets are widely used in farming soil to improve the productivity of cultures. Due to their absorption capacity, plastic sheets can alter element and metal content in soils, and in turn affect soil properties. The use of biodegradable films is an attractive eco-sustainable alternative approach to overcome the environmental pollution problems due to the use of plastic films but their impacts on soil are scarcely studied. The aim of the research was to evaluate the impact of conventional plastic and bioplastic sheets on total and available concentrations of elements (Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in soils. The research was performed in mesocosm trials, filled with soil covered by conventional plastic and bioplastic sheets. After six months of exposure, soils were characterized for pH, water content, concentrations of organic and total carbon and total nitrogen, and total and available Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, and Zn element concentrations. The results highlighted that soils covered by bioplastic sheets showed higher total and available concentrations of elements and higher contamination factors, suggesting that bioplastic sheets represented a source of metals or a less-effective sink to these background metals in soils, compared to conventional plastic ones.

Abstract: This work presents an inquiry into Enzyme Induced Calcite Precipitation (EICP) as a way for enhancing the engineering properties of highly plastic soil, in keeping with previous studies on eco-friendly ground improvement methods. The highly plastic soil samples were collected from Kuttanad, Alapuzha. In order to precipitate calcium carbonate (CaCO3) through urea hydrolysis, an equimolar mixture of cementation solution, consisting of urea and calcium chloride along with varying amounts of urease enzyme as catalyst, was added to the collected soil samples. The plasticity, strength, and microstructure of soils will be examined using a variety of tests, including the Atterberg limits test, Unconfined Compressive strength (UCC) testing, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis. After EICP treatment and 7-day curing, the highly plastic soils showed a significant improvement in their plasticity and strength properties, as evidenced by a decrease in liquid limit and plasticity index, an increase in plastic limit, and a notable improvement in undrained shear strength. The results of the study proves that EICP can be used as an excellent treatment method th improve the plasticity and strength characteristics of highly plastic soils

The interface failure between caps and natural soil in trenches containing buried low level nuclear waste material was investigated in this study. The Casa Grande Highway Farm (CGHF) soil was used for the entire investigation. This soil is described as being a silty sand with approximately 23% by weight passing sieve No. 200. Other preliminary testing was performed on the same soil. Isotropically consolidated drained (CID) tests were performed on the laboratory compacted samples at different degree of saturation including fully saturated specimens. Suction pressure was measured in the laboratory by adopting pressure plate extractor and compared with determined effective suction in triaxial testing. A generalized failure equation, in term of strength parameters and suction pressure, was defined for all degrees of saturation. The consideration of unsaturated soil sets the current modified model apart from previous bounding surface which only allows use of fully saturated cohesive soil. The saturated material constants associated with the model are identified. These new constants are obtained from a generalized failure equation. The model was then verified by comparing predictions with other laboratory tests which are not used in the calibration. Generally a good agreement between the model and test results was found for stress-strain, stress path and volumetric strain response at different degrees of saturation. Extensive interface tests were performed in the conventional direct shear machine with some modification. Similar to trench cap soil and natural soil in the field, the test specimens were prepared at different degrees of saturation and density (compaction effort). Comparisons were made for the effects of magnitude of normal load, degree of saturation, density, compaction effort, moisture migration and dissimilar bodies density. An interface element and the modified bounding surface model and elasticity model was used in a finite element program to predict the interface response for the laboratory results and actual field problems. Material parameters related to the interface were identified and good predictions were observed for the interface behavior.

In the true triaxial test procedure used for testing laboratory-prepared kaolinite clay samples, undrained (with constant mean stress) strength tests were conducted to study the yield and failure of the clays. The principle concern focussed around the influence of orientation of particle bedding plane on the development of yield and failure characteristics of the clay. As the true triaxial cell permits variations of the three principal stresses, it was possible to study the soil response in any chosen quadrant of the principal space.<br>As a consequence to what is mentioned above, two types of consolidated undrained true triaxial tests were conducted in this study. In the first type, specimens were trimmed from the block sample with 90, 60, 30 and 0 degree orientation angles of particle's bedding planes; these angles were measured with respect to the direction of the major principal stress axis. For each degree of inclination, specimens were tested with three confining pressures 207, 276 and 345 kPa, and for each value of confining pressure, the loading path was varied from compression to tension.<br>The degree of dissociation between the stress and strain increment vectors was seen to depend on both initial and stress induced anisotropy.<br>Most important of all, a constitutive relationship for anisotropic kaolinite clay was derived on the basis of the observed experimental behaviour of soil samples under loading.<br>Additionally, anisotropy is characterized by a double transformation technique. The first transformation accounts for the directional dependency whilst the second transformation concerns itself with anisotropy of the base vectors. The relative joint invariant principle is used to calculate the degree of dissociation during the loading process. The variation of the dissociation angle during the loading process can be considered as a measure of the evolution of the resultant anisotropy. The model has shown to provide viable predictions of the stress-strain relationships obtained from true triaxial tests on an anisotropic kaolinite clay for: (a) different inclinations of particle's bedding planes, (b) different stress paths in one sector, (c) different stress paths in other sectors, and (d) the failure surfaces for different inclinations of particle's bedding planes in the octahedral plane. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

Elastic-plastic stress·strain models are developed for initially anisotropic soils. The models are developed for both total stress (undrained) analyses and for effective stress (drained) analyses. For anlsotroplc undralned coheslve soils under monotonic loading an elastic-plastic isotropic-hardening model is developed. For complex loading conditions the model is extended using multisurface plasticity. For effective stress analyses of soils, the Cam-Clay model concepts are generalized for initially anisotropic soils. Both isotropic and anisotropic hardening are used in the model. The behavior of the models is investigated under several loading conditions and some comparisons are made with experimental triaxial data. A nonlinear three-dimensional finite element program is developed in which the models are implemented. An updated Lagrangian large displacement analysis is also included. The constitutive models developed are used to investigate the influence of initial anisotropy on the bearing capacity, deformation and pore pressure development under footings in both plane-strain and three dimensional conditions. It is found that for the range of anisotropy encountered in the field, the deformation and bearing capacity are significantly different.<br>Ph. D.

The behavior of porous media subjected to any arbitrary loading is a complex phenomenon due to the coupled nature of the problem. Proper understanding of this coupled behavior is essential in dealing with many of the geotechnical engineering problems. A very general three-dimensional formulation of such a coupled problem was first reported by Biot; however, a two-dimensional idealization of the theory is used here with extension to nonlinear material behavior. A finite element computer code is developed to analyze the response of coupled systems subjected to both static and dynamic excitations. The code can also be used to solve problems involving only solid media by suppressing the presence of fluid. The generalized anisotropic hardening model is implemented into the finite element procedure to characterize nonlinear material behavior throughout the realm of its deformation process. Both drained and undrained conditions are considered in order to verify the performance of the model in capturing material behavior. Three different materials are considered for this purpose. The predictions obtained using the anisotropic model for both drained and undrained condition yield satisfactory comparison with observed behavior. The finite element procedure is verified by solving several problems involving undrained, consolidation and dynamic responses of coupled system. Good agreements are found between numerical and analytical results. Further verification of the computer code and the material model is performed by solving two boundary value problems. For this purpose, a laboratory pressuremeter test subjected to quasi-static loading condition and a building foundation system subjected to rapid earthquake excitation were analyzed. The results of this research have provided an improved understanding of coupled behavior of porous media. The procedure developed here can be effectively used under a wide range of loading conditions varying from very slow quasi-static to very rapid earthquake excitations.

A constitutive model based on rate-independent elastoplasticity concepts is developed and used to simulate the behavior of geologic materials under arbitrary three-dimensional stress paths. The model accounts for various factors such as friction, stress path and stress history that influence the behavior of geologic materials. A hierarchical approach is adopted whereby models of progressively increasing sophistication are developed from a basic isotropic-hardening associative model. Nonassociativeness is introduced as correction or perturbation to the basic model. Deviation of normality of the plastic strain increments to the yield surface F is captured through nonassociativeness. The plastic potential Q is obtained by applying a correction to F. This simplified approach restricts the number of extra parameters required to define the plastic potential Q. The material constants associated with the model are identified, and they are evaluated for three different sands (Leighton Buzzard, Munich and McCormick Ranch). The model is then verified by comparing predictions with laboratory tests from which the constants were found, and typical tests not used for finding the constants. The effect of varying initial density of a material on the stress-strain and volumetric response is investigated. An empirical relation is proposed, whereby one parameter is modified based on the initial density, such that improved predictions can be obtained without increasing the total number of parameters. Implementation of the nonassociative model in a finite element program to solve boundary value problems leads to a nonsymmetric stiffness matrix. Besides, using a nonsymmetric solver, three numerical schemes are investigated. The idea of the schemes is to modify the stiffness matrix such that a symmetric equation solver can be used. Prediction of stress-strain, volumetric response and CPU time for different schemes are compared with the predictions obtained using the nonsymmetric solver. The nonsymmetric equation solver used less CPU time and the solutions were more accurate. Based on the above findings, a soil-footing system is analyzed using the finite element techniques. The associative and nonassociative models are used to predict the behavior. For the nonassociative model, solution is obtained by using a nonsymmetric solver. Results obtained from both models are compared with a model footing test performed in the laboratory.

Prediction as a tool in engineering has been used in taking right judgement in many of the professional activities. This being the fact, the role and significance of prediction in geotechnical practice needs no emphasis. Bulk of all man made structures are either made of soil or are resting on natural soil, involving large quantities of soil. Thus, it is often necessary for the geotechnical engineer to quickly characterize the soil and determine their engineering properties, so as to assess the suitability of the soil for any specific purpose. Obtaining these properties requires undisturbed samples, which involves time and money, and also elaborate laboratory procedures. Thus, it is desirable to find simpler and quicker methods of testing, using the data of which the engineering properties can be predicted satisfactorily especially so, for preliminary design purposes. Most often this can be achieved from simple tests known as inferential tests, and the engineering properties namely, compressibility, swell/collapse, hydraulic conductivity, strength and compaction characteristics can be obtained from empirical/semi-empirical correlations. The index tests namely the Atterberg limits form the most important inferential soil tests with very wide universal acceptance. These tests are relatively simple to perform and have provided a basis for explaining most engineering properties of soils in geotechnical practice. In this direction, this investigation has been carried out to correlate the engineering properties with the simple index properties and their indices, namely, the liquid limit, plastic limit, shrinkage limit, plasticity index and shrinkage index (liquid limit - shrinkage limit). Any good correlation in the prediction of engineering properties with the index properties will enhance the use of simple test for prediction purposes. This thesis is an attempt towards this direction. It is often necessary to identify the basic mechanisms controlling the engineering properties from a micro-mechanistic point of view and correlate with the index properties, thereby facilitating prediction of engineering properties better. Though attempts have been made in the past to predict the engineering properties of soils from the index properties/indic­es, they are not quite satisfactory. This thesis is an attempt to predict the engineering properties of fine-grained soils from the index properties taking into consideration the mechanisms controlling them. Since, the index properties are used for prediction of engineering properties, the existing methods of determining the same have been examined carefully and critically. It's satisfactory determination is found important because other indices namely plasticity index, Ip and shrinkage index, Is = (wL - ws), are determined based on it. Also the liquid limit is one of the important and widely used parameter in various existing correlations. In this direction, two new methods of determining the liquid limit have been developed, namely (i) absorption water content and liquid limit of soils and (ii) liquid limit from equilibrium water content under Ko-stress. In the absorption water content method, the water absorbed by an oven dried soil pat at equilibrium gives a good correlation with the liquid limit of soils. Here, the water holding capacity at equilibrium goes well with the mechanism of liquid limit, which is also the water holding capacity of a soil at a particular small but measurable shear strength. A good relationship is found to exit between the absorption water content, wA and the liquid limit, wL, and it is given as : WA = 0.92 wL (i) In the second method, namely, the liquid limit from equilibrium water content under K0-stress, which is the equilibrium water content under a Ko stress of 0.9 kPa is found to be equal to the liquid limit obtained from the cone penetration method of determining the liquid limit It is found that this method of determining the liquid limit overcomes the limitations of the conventional methods of determining the liquid limit, also easy to determine with a simple apparatus and has good repeatability. Determination of plastic limit of the soils by the rolling thread method often poses a problem especially when the soil is less plastic. Hence, to overcome this problem, a new method has been proposed to predict the plasticity index in terms of the flow index. The relationship between the plasticity index and the flow index by the cone penetration cup method is found to be better than by the percussion cup method. Since, the cone penetration method of the liquid limit determination is more popular than the percussion cup method, the flow index from the cone method is recommended to determine the plasticity index from the correlation as given below: (/p)c = 0.74 Ifc (ii) Thus, the plastic limit can be determined with the plasticity index, thereby dispensing with the determination of plastic limit by the thread method. The determination of consolidation characteristics form an important aspect in the design of foundations and other earth retaining structures. The determination of consolidation characteristics namely the compression index, the coefficient of consolidation and the coefficient of secondary compression is time consuming. So, researchers have resorted to correlating the compressibility behaviour with simple index properties. While attempts have been made in the past to correlate the compressibility behaviour with various index properties individually, all the important properties affecting the compressibility behaviour has not been considered together in any single study to examine which of the index property/properties of the soils correlates better with the compressibility behaviour, especially with the same set of test results. Number of existing correlations with the liquid limit alone as a primary index property correlating with the compression index have limitations in that they do not consider the plasticity characteristics of the soils fully. The index parameter, shrinkage index, Is has a better correlation with the compression index, Cc and also the coefficient of volume change, mv than plasticity index. Coefficient of consolidation, Cv has also shown to correlate well with shrinkage index than the plasticity index. Even the coefficient of secondary compression, Cαε has shown to have a better correlation with shrinkage index than the plasticity index. However, liquid limit has a poor correlation with all the compressibility characteristics. The correlation of Cc and Cv with shrinkage index, Is is as given below: Cc = 0.007 (Is + 18) (iii) Cv = 3x10-2 (Is)-3.54 (in m2/sec) Further, to reduce the testing time of conventional consolidation test in order to obtain the compressibility characteristics, a new method known as rapid method of consolidation has been proposed, which is very effective in enormously reducing the time of consolidation without sacrificing the accuracy of the end results. The time required in the rapid method of consolidation testing could be as low as 4 to 5 hours to complete the whole test as compared to 1 to 2 weeks as the case may be by the conventional consolidation test. Using any curve fitting procedure the degree of consolidation, U for any pressure increment can be found out. Thus, the effective pressure at that stage can be calculated and further the pressure incremented without further delay. This procedure is repeated for every pressure increment with a load increment ratio of unity till the desired pressure level is reached. Even for a highly compressible soil like BC soil with a liquid limit of 73.5 %, the consolidation test could be completed within 5 hours by the rapid method, without any sacrifice of the accuracy of the results as compared to 7 days by the conventional method to reach a pressure of 800 kPa. Hydraulic conductivity is one of the basic engineering properties of soils. Of late hydraulic conductivity of fine-grained soils has assumed greater importance in waste disposal facilities. From the present investigation it is found that hydraulic conductivity with water for each pair of soils having nearly the same liquid limit but different plasticity properties is found to be vastly different, but found to correlate well with shrinkage index. A method to predict the hydraulic conductivity of fine -grained soils as a function of void ratio is proposed with the use of shrinkage index as given below: k = C [ ] (in m/sec) (v) 1 + e C = 2.5 x 10-4 (/s)-5.89 and n = 4 (vi) It has also been brought out that as the dielectric constant of the pore fluid decreases; there is a drastic increase in the intrinsic permeability of soil. These changes are attributed to the significant reduction in the thickness of diffuse double layer, which in turn is mainly dependent on the dielectric constant of the pore fluid. The quantification of the change in the hydraulic conductivity with the change in the pore fluids of extreme dielectric constant, i.e., from water to carbon tetrachloride could be expressed in terms of the volume of water held in the diffuse double layer and the same has a good correlation with shrinkage index. With the advancement in the knowledge of the engineering behaviour of fine-grained soils, there is an increasing trend toward larger involvement of fine-grained soils in earth structures and foundations. Though extensive work has been done in the past to understand the swelling behaviour of expansive soils and the mechanisms involved therein, it is yet not satisfactory. From the literature it can be seen that lot of work has been done to correlate the swell potential with various physical properties. The simple means of identifying the swelling type of soils is by means of free swell tests with the ratio of free swell with carbon tetrachloride to the free swell of water. The same has found to correlate well with the percent swell/collapse of the ten soils used in the present investigation. However, it was found that shrinkage index has a better correlation with the swell/collapse behaviour of fine-grained soils, compared to the liquid limit or the plasticity index. In this study, it is also shown that neither the liquid limit nor the plasticity index can qualitatively describe the swell/collapse behaviour of fine-grained soils. This has been attributed primarily to two different mechanisms governing montmorillonitic and kaolinitic soils separately. Even swelling pressure has shown to have a good correlation with shrinkage index. It is found that the compression index of the samples consolidated from the swollen condition correlates well with the shrinkage index. Laboratory determination of the compaction characteristics are very much important for use in earth work constructions. It is found that only the plastic limit bears a good correlation with the compaction characteristics namely optimum moisture content and maximum dry unit weight. This conclusion is also supported by the data from the literature. The correlations are given as: OMC = 0.92 wp (in percent) (viii) and ydmax = 0.23 (93.3 - wp) (inkN/m3) (ix) Liquid limit, plasticity index and shrinkage index do not bear any correlation with the compaction characteristics. It is quite possible that, the plastic limit, which is the optimum water content of a saturated soil at which it behaves as a plastic material, and thus can be moulded to any shape, thereby the soil can be compacted or moulded to the densest possible state at that water content. Hence, possibly the good correlation. A simple method to predict the compaction curve is proposed based on the plastic limit of the soils. Of all the important engineering properties, both volume change (compressibility and swelling) and hydraulic conductivity have good correlation with the shrinkage index. However, the compaction characteristics correlate well with the plastic limit. Herein, an hypothesis is proposed to possibly explain why shrinkage index has shown to be a better parameter to correlate with most of the engineering properties with the exception of the compaction characteristics. The liquid limit is a parameter which takes part of the plasticity characteristics of a soil. Recently it has been well brought out that shrinkage limit is primarily a function of how the varying grain sizes are distributed in a soil. Thus, shrinkage limit takes care of the gradation of the soil fractions in it. Thus, by considering the shrinkage index, which is the difference of the liquid limit water content on one end and shrinkage limit water content on the other end, the primary physical properties of the soils namely the plasticity and the grain size distribution are considered. This possibly explains the good correlation of shrinkage index with the engineering properties of fine-grained soils. However, compaction being a moulding of the soils into a compact state, it has a good correlation with the plastic limit, which is the optimum water content of a saturated soil at which it behaves as a plastic material, and thus can be moulded to any shape, thereby the soil can be compacted or moulded to the densest possible state at that water content. Hence, the good correlation. As the present investigation gives the correlative equations to predict the engineering properties of fine-grained soils from the appropriate index properties, which are obtained from simple and quick laboratory tests, it is hoped that this will go a long way in being a handy tool for a practicing geotechnical engineer in the preliminary assessment of fine-grained soils and thereby take appropriate judgement in various aspects of geotechnical constructions with it.

Prediction as a tool in engineering has been used in taking right judgement in many of the professional activities. This being the fact, the role and significance of prediction in geotechnical practice needs no emphasis. Bulk of all man made structures are either made of soil or are resting on natural soil, involving large quantities of soil. Thus, it is often necessary for the geotechnical engineer to quickly characterize the soil and determine their engineering properties, so as to assess the suitability of the soil for any specific purpose. Obtaining these properties requires undisturbed samples, which involves time and money, and also elaborate laboratory procedures. Thus, it is desirable to find simpler and quicker methods of testing, using the data of which the engineering properties can be predicted satisfactorily especially so, for preliminary design purposes. Most often this can be achieved from simple tests known as inferential tests, and the engineering properties namely, compressibility, swell/collapse, hydraulic conductivity, strength and compaction characteristics can be obtained from empirical/semi-empirical correlations. The index tests namely the Atterberg limits form the most important inferential soil tests with very wide universal acceptance. These tests are relatively simple to perform and have provided a basis for explaining most engineering properties of soils in geotechnical practice. In this direction, this investigation has been carried out to correlate the engineering properties with the simple index properties and their indices, namely, the liquid limit, plastic limit, shrinkage limit, plasticity index and shrinkage index (liquid limit - shrinkage limit). Any good correlation in the prediction of engineering properties with the index properties will enhance the use of simple test for prediction purposes. This thesis is an attempt towards this direction. It is often necessary to identify the basic mechanisms controlling the engineering properties from a micro-mechanistic point of view and correlate with the index properties, thereby facilitating prediction of engineering properties better. Though attempts have been made in the past to predict the engineering properties of soils from the index properties/indic­es, they are not quite satisfactory. This thesis is an attempt to predict the engineering properties of fine-grained soils from the index properties taking into consideration the mechanisms controlling them. Since, the index properties are used for prediction of engineering properties, the existing methods of determining the same have been examined carefully and critically. It's satisfactory determination is found important because other indices namely plasticity index, Ip and shrinkage index, Is = (wL - ws), are determined based on it. Also the liquid limit is one of the important and widely used parameter in various existing correlations. In this direction, two new methods of determining the liquid limit have been developed, namely (i) absorption water content and liquid limit of soils and (ii) liquid limit from equilibrium water content under Ko-stress. In the absorption water content method, the water absorbed by an oven dried soil pat at equilibrium gives a good correlation with the liquid limit of soils. Here, the water holding capacity at equilibrium goes well with the mechanism of liquid limit, which is also the water holding capacity of a soil at a particular small but measurable shear strength. A good relationship is found to exit between the absorption water content, wA and the liquid limit, wL, and it is given as : WA = 0.92 wL (i) In the second method, namely, the liquid limit from equilibrium water content under K0-stress, which is the equilibrium water content under a Ko stress of 0.9 kPa is found to be equal to the liquid limit obtained from the cone penetration method of determining the liquid limit It is found that this method of determining the liquid limit overcomes the limitations of the conventional methods of determining the liquid limit, also easy to determine with a simple apparatus and has good repeatability. Determination of plastic limit of the soils by the rolling thread method often poses a problem especially when the soil is less plastic. Hence, to overcome this problem, a new method has been proposed to predict the plasticity index in terms of the flow index. The relationship between the plasticity index and the flow index by the cone penetration cup method is found to be better than by the percussion cup method. Since, the cone penetration method of the liquid limit determination is more popular than the percussion cup method, the flow index from the cone method is recommended to determine the plasticity index from the correlation as given below: (/p)c = 0.74 Ifc (ii) Thus, the plastic limit can be determined with the plasticity index, thereby dispensing with the determination of plastic limit by the thread method. The determination of consolidation characteristics form an important aspect in the design of foundations and other earth retaining structures. The determination of consolidation characteristics namely the compression index, the coefficient of consolidation and the coefficient of secondary compression is time consuming. So, researchers have resorted to correlating the compressibility behaviour with simple index properties. While attempts have been made in the past to correlate the compressibility behaviour with various index properties individually, all the important properties affecting the compressibility behaviour has not been considered together in any single study to examine which of the index property/properties of the soils correlates better with the compressibility behaviour, especially with the same set of test results. Number of existing correlations with the liquid limit alone as a primary index property correlating with the compression index have limitations in that they do not consider the plasticity characteristics of the soils fully. The index parameter, shrinkage index, Is has a better correlation with the compression index, Cc and also the coefficient of volume change, mv than plasticity index. Coefficient of consolidation, Cv has also shown to correlate well with shrinkage index than the plasticity index. Even the coefficient of secondary compression, Cαε has shown to have a better correlation with shrinkage index than the plasticity index. However, liquid limit has a poor correlation with all the compressibility characteristics. The correlation of Cc and Cv with shrinkage index, Is is as given below: Cc = 0.007 (Is + 18) (iii) Cv = 3x10-2 (Is)-3.54 (in m2/sec) Further, to reduce the testing time of conventional consolidation test in order to obtain the compressibility characteristics, a new method known as rapid method of consolidation has been proposed, which is very effective in enormously reducing the time of consolidation without sacrificing the accuracy of the end results. The time required in the rapid method of consolidation testing could be as low as 4 to 5 hours to complete the whole test as compared to 1 to 2 weeks as the case may be by the conventional consolidation test. Using any curve fitting procedure the degree of consolidation, U for any pressure increment can be found out. Thus, the effective pressure at that stage can be calculated and further the pressure incremented without further delay. This procedure is repeated for every pressure increment with a load increment ratio of unity till the desired pressure level is reached. Even for a highly compressible soil like BC soil with a liquid limit of 73.5 %, the consolidation test could be completed within 5 hours by the rapid method, without any sacrifice of the accuracy of the results as compared to 7 days by the conventional method to reach a pressure of 800 kPa. Hydraulic conductivity is one of the basic engineering properties of soils. Of late hydraulic conductivity of fine-grained soils has assumed greater importance in waste disposal facilities. From the present investigation it is found that hydraulic conductivity with water for each pair of soils having nearly the same liquid limit but different plasticity properties is found to be vastly different, but found to correlate well with shrinkage index. A method to predict the hydraulic conductivity of fine -grained soils as a function of void ratio is proposed with the use of shrinkage index as given below: k = C [ ] (in m/sec) (v) 1 + e C = 2.5 x 10-4 (/s)-5.89 and n = 4 (vi) It has also been brought out that as the dielectric constant of the pore fluid decreases; there is a drastic increase in the intrinsic permeability of soil. These changes are attributed to the significant reduction in the thickness of diffuse double layer, which in turn is mainly dependent on the dielectric constant of the pore fluid. The quantification of the change in the hydraulic conductivity with the change in the pore fluids of extreme dielectric constant, i.e., from water to carbon tetrachloride could be expressed in terms of the volume of water held in the diffuse double layer and the same has a good correlation with shrinkage index. With the advancement in the knowledge of the engineering behaviour of fine-grained soils, there is an increasing trend toward larger involvement of fine-grained soils in earth structures and foundations. Though extensive work has been done in the past to understand the swelling behaviour of expansive soils and the mechanisms involved therein, it is yet not satisfactory. From the literature it can be seen that lot of work has been done to correlate the swell potential with various physical properties. The simple means of identifying the swelling type of soils is by means of free swell tests with the ratio of free swell with carbon tetrachloride to the free swell of water. The same has found to correlate well with the percent swell/collapse of the ten soils used in the present investigation. However, it was found that shrinkage index has a better correlation with the swell/collapse behaviour of fine-grained soils, compared to the liquid limit or the plasticity index. In this study, it is also shown that neither the liquid limit nor the plasticity index can qualitatively describe the swell/collapse behaviour of fine-grained soils. This has been attributed primarily to two different mechanisms governing montmorillonitic and kaolinitic soils separately. Even swelling pressure has shown to have a good correlation with shrinkage index. It is found that the compression index of the samples consolidated from the swollen condition correlates well with the shrinkage index. Laboratory determination of the compaction characteristics are very much important for use in earth work constructions. It is found that only the plastic limit bears a good correlation with the compaction characteristics namely optimum moisture content and maximum dry unit weight. This conclusion is also supported by the data from the literature. The correlations are given as: OMC = 0.92 wp (in percent) (viii) and ydmax = 0.23 (93.3 - wp) (inkN/m3) (ix) Liquid limit, plasticity index and shrinkage index do not bear any correlation with the compaction characteristics. It is quite possible that, the plastic limit, which is the optimum water content of a saturated soil at which it behaves as a plastic material, and thus can be moulded to any shape, thereby the soil can be compacted or moulded to the densest possible state at that water content. Hence, possibly the good correlation. A simple method to predict the compaction curve is proposed based on the plastic limit of the soils. Of all the important engineering properties, both volume change (compressibility and swelling) and hydraulic conductivity have good correlation with the shrinkage index. However, the compaction characteristics correlate well with the plastic limit. Herein, an hypothesis is proposed to possibly explain why shrinkage index has shown to be a better parameter to correlate with most of the engineering properties with the exception of the compaction characteristics. The liquid limit is a parameter which takes part of the plasticity characteristics of a soil. Recently it has been well brought out that shrinkage limit is primarily a function of how the varying grain sizes are distributed in a soil. Thus, shrinkage limit takes care of the gradation of the soil fractions in it. Thus, by considering the shrinkage index, which is the difference of the liquid limit water content on one end and shrinkage limit water content on the other end, the primary physical properties of the soils namely the plasticity and the grain size distribution are considered. This possibly explains the good correlation of shrinkage index with the engineering properties of fine-grained soils. However, compaction being a moulding of the soils into a compact state, it has a good correlation with the plastic limit, which is the optimum water content of a saturated soil at which it behaves as a plastic material, and thus can be moulded to any shape, thereby the soil can be compacted or moulded to the densest possible state at that water content. Hence, the good correlation. As the present investigation gives the correlative equations to predict the engineering properties of fine-grained soils from the appropriate index properties, which are obtained from simple and quick laboratory tests, it is hoped that this will go a long way in being a handy tool for a practicing geotechnical engineer in the preliminary assessment of fine-grained soils and thereby take appropriate judgement in various aspects of geotechnical constructions with it.

Unique features of behavior of granular materials make constitutive modeling of these materials a challenge that has not yet been answered completely. Because volume changes are so important for the type of behavior exhibited by frictional materials, it is important to correctly incorporate them in constitutive models, both in terms of their rate of development and their magnitude. In this study a number of consolidated drained triaxial tests are performed to find those features of sand behavior that can be considered "material parameters" and can be used for constitutive modeling of granular soils. Special attention is given to those features of material behavior that are related to dilatancy. A number of published experimental data are also analyzed and useful trends of soil behavior are found.

AbstractApproaches for the collection and analysis of plastic debris in environmental matrices are rapidly evolving. Such plastics span a continuum of sizes, encompassing large (macro-), medium (micro-, typically defined as particles between 1 μm and 5 mm), and smaller (nano-) plastics. All are of environmental relevance. Particle sizes are dynamic. Large plastics may fragment over time, while smaller particles may agglomerate in the field. The diverse morphologies (fragment, fiber, sphere) and chemical compositions of microplastics further complicate their characterization. Fibers are of growing interest and present particular analytical challenges due to their narrow profiles. Compositional classes of emerging concern include tire wear, paint chips, semisynthetics (e.g., rayon), and bioplastics. Plastics commonly contain chemical additives and fillers, which may alter their toxicological potency, behavior (e.g., buoyancy), or detector response (e.g., yield fluorescence) during analysis. Field sampling methods often focus on &gt;20 μm and even &gt;300 μm sized particles and will thus not capture smaller microplastics (which may be most abundant and bioavailable). Analysis of a limited subgroup (selected polymer types, particle sizes, or shapes) of microplastics, while often operationally necessary, can result in an underestimation of actual sample content. These shortcomings complicate calls for toxicological studies of microplastics to be based on “environmentally relevant concentrations.” Sample matrices of interest include water (including wastewater, ice, snow), sediment (soil, dust, wastewater sludge), air, and biota. Properties of the environment, and of the particles themselves, may concentrate plastic debris in select zones (e.g., gyres, shorelines, polar ice, wastewater sludge). Sampling designs should consider such patchy distributions. Episodic releases due to weather and anthropogenic discharges should also be considered. While water grab samples and sieving are commonplace, novel techniques for microplastic isolation, such as continuous flow centrifugation, show promise. The abundance of nonplastic particulates (e.g., clay, detritus, biological material) in samples interferes with microplastic detection and characterization. Their removal is typically accomplished using a combination of gravity separation and oxidative digestion (including strong bases, peroxide, enzymes); unfortunately, aggressive treatments may damage more labile plastics. Microscope-based infrared or Raman detection is often applied to provide polymer chemistry and morphological data for individual microplastic particles. However, the sheer number of particles in many samples presents logistical hurdles. In response, instruments have been developed that employ detector arrays and rapid scanning lasers. The addition of dyes to stain particulates may facilitate spectroscopic detection of some polymer types. Most researchers provide microplastic data in the form of the abundances of polymer types within particle size, polymer, and morphology classes. Polymer mass data in samples remain rare but are essential to elucidating fate. Rather than characterizing individual particles in samples, solvent extraction (following initial sample prep, such as sediment size class sorting), combined with techniques such as thermoanalysis (e.g., pyrolysis), has been used to generate microplastic mass data. However, this may obviate the acquisition of individual particle morphology and compositional information. Alternatively, some techniques (e.g., electron and atomic force microscopy and matrix-assisted laser desorption mass spectrometry) are adept at providing highly detailed data on the size, morphology, composition, and surface chemistry of select particles. Ultimately, the analyst must select the approach best suited for their study goals. Robust quality control elements are also critical to evaluate the accuracy and precision of the sampling and analysis techniques. Further, improved efforts are required to assess and control possible sample contamination due to the ubiquitous distribution of microplastics, especially in indoor environments where samples are processed.

AbstractThe phyllite-weathered soil is a regional speciality. It is essential to study the changes in shear strength of phyllite-weathered soil under dry-wet cycles to understand the changes in mechanical properties of phyllite-weathered soil in the process of dry-wet climate and to manage the slope of phyllite-weathered soil. This paper simulated 12 dry-wet cycles on the specimens of remodelled phyllite-weathered soil. Direct shear and SEM tests were conducted on the specimens in the 0th, 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th drying paths. The effects of moisture content and the number of dry-wet cycles on the shear strength of phyllite-weathered soil were analysed macroscopically and microscopically. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) The cohesion of the weathered soil of phyllite will be reduced by increasing the number of cycles, and the more the number of dry-wet cycles, the more pronounced the reduction; the internal friction angle of the weathered soil of phyllite will be reduced by increasing the number of cycles, but the pattern of the decrease in the internal friction angle is not obvious. (2) The increase in the number of dry-wet cycles will increase the stiffness and brittleness of the phyllite-weathered soil specimen, and it will change from the weak hardening type of plastic damage to the solid softening type of brittle damage after a certain number of cycles. (3) The SEM test found that phyllite-weathered soil particles in Longsheng, Guilin are large, and most of the particles are in face-to-face and angle-to-face contact, which is easy to form a hollow structure, and the dry density value of the soil in the natural state is small. At the same time, the soil is reddish-brown in colour because of the leaching of Fe2 O3. The shear strength index of the cemented phyllite-weathered soil with Fe2 O3 is more significant than that of phyllite-weathered soil in other areas. The soil has a good shear strength index and a small dry density.

AbstractDeep braced excavations are generally known to be associated with risks from various sources. The inherent uncertainty of soil strength properties is one of the primary factors that influence the deformation of the retaining wall and the ground settlement. In this study, the numerical model of a braced excavation is firstly established by an elastic-plastic model with Drucker-Prager failure criterion in COMSOL Multiphysics. Random field theory is used to simulate the spatial variability of Young’s modulus. The uncertainty of braced excavation on ground settlement and deflection of retaining wall by stages are studied by Monte Carlo simulation based on 500 random fields. The struts can lessen the uncertainty of wall deflection during excavation but have a limited impact on settlement. The deterministic result may underestimate the settlement of braced excavation. The uncertainty of wall deflection is significantly reduced after the first strut. The uncertainty of wall deflection above the depth of struts is well-controlled at the final stage of excavation.

AbstractThe mechanized tunnel construction is carried out by tunnel boring machines, in which the soil in front of the working face is removed, and the tunnel lining is carried out with shotcrete or the setting of segments and their back injection. Advancements in this field aim towards increase of the excavation efficiency and increase of the tool lifetime, especially in rock-dominated grounds. The latter is achieved by understanding the wear mechanisms abrasion and surface-fatigue, and by knowledge of the microstructure-property relation of the utilized materials. Improvements for tool concepts are derived, based on experiments and simulations. A key parameter towards efficient rock excavation is the shape of the cutting edge of the utilized disc cutters. Sharp cutting edges have proven to generate higher rock excavation rates compared to blunt ones. The compressive strength of the utilized steel has to be high, to inhibit plastic deformation and thereby to maintain sharp cutting edges. This requirement competes with the demand for toughness, which is necessary to avoid crack-growth in the case of cyclic loading. Solutions for this contradiction lie in specially designed multiphase microstructures, containing both hard particles and ductile microstructural constituents. Besides adapting the alloying concept, these required microstructures and the associated properties can be adjusted by specific heat-treatments.

Soil texture can be defined as the size and proportion of the soil particles—sand, silt, and clay—that are present in a soil. . . . Sand is the largest—from 0.05 to 2mm—and considered coarse texture; consists of angular spheres or cubes. Silt is intermediate—from 0.002 to 0.05mm—and considered medium texture; consists of properties between sand and clay. Clay is the smallest, being less than 0.002mm, and considered fine texture; appears as plate-like or flakes. . . . Any individual soil can be placed on the soil textural diagram when relative amounts of sand, silt, and clay are specified. As a general rule, the type of soil can be determined by feel when squeezed between the fingers. If the soil feels harsh and gritty it would be classified as a sandy soil. One that feels smooth and not sticky or plastic would be a silt soil, and one that is sticky or plastic would be a clay. Another way to distinguish between soils is their ability to form a ribbon. Soils that will not form a ribbon are sands. Those that form a fragile ribbon are loams; those that easily form a thick ribbon are clay loams; and those that easily form a long, thin, flexible ribbon are clays. . . . To be classified a sand, the soil must have more than 45% sand. To be classified a clay, the soil must have more than 20% clay. Loam is a mixture of sand, silt, and clay in about equal proportions. It is considered “ideal” for growing plants. . . . Weight of the soil solids is called “particle density.” For most common mineral soils (soils in which organic matter is usually less than 20%), particle density is about 2.65 g/cm3. Organic soils (where organic matter is greater than 20%) are usually about half as heavy, with particle density between 1.1 to 1.4 g/cm3. This measurement would be an important factor to consider if much material was to be transported for topsoiling.

Although most landscape architects use soils primarily for growing plants, sometimes they need to know how engineers look at soils. Engineers are not concerned about soil properties that relate to growing plants. Engineers consider soil as a support for building foundations, use in earthworks, a place for burying pipes that carry electricity, water, gas or oil, and as a tool for disposing of hazardous, municipal, industrial, and household wastes. Soil properties that engineers consider important are hydraulic conductivity (permeability), compressive strength, shear strength, and lateral pressures. Soil mechanics deals with stress/strain/time relationships. Some engineering properties of a soil that describe the relation of clays to water content were studied by a Swedish scientist, Atterberg, in 1911. Soil clays based on water content were categorized into solid, semi-solid, plastic, and liquid. The dividing lines between each of these four states are known as the “Atterberg limits,” that is, shrinkage limit (from solid to semisolid), plastic limit (from semi-solid to plastic), and liquid limit (from plastic to liquid). These points can be measured for individual clays. The Atterberg limits are used by engineers to classify soils based on their moisture properties. These limits are particularly useful for evaluating soil compressibility, permeability, and strength. The plasticity of a clay soil depends on the type and amount of clay mineral and organic materials present. Plasticity is the reaction a soil has to being deformed without cracking or crumbling. The “liquid limit” is a term indicating the amount of water in a soil between the liquid state and the plastic state. Soils are first divided into two categories of coarse-grained and fine-grained. Coarse-grained soils are those in which more than half of the material is larger than a no. 200 sieve. Fine-grained soils are those in which more than half of the material is smaller than a no. 200 sieve. Coarse-grained soils are further divided into two categories of gravels and sands. Gravels are those with more than half of the coarse material larger than a no. 4 sieve. Sands are those with more than half of the coarse material smaller than a no. 4 sieve.

Allophanic soils are dark-colored young soils derived mainly from volcanic ash. These soils typically have a low bulk density (&lt; 0.9 Mg/m3), a high water retention capacity (100% by weight at field capacity), and contain predominantly allophanes, imogolite, halloysite, and amorphous Al silicates in the clay fraction. These soils are found in small, restricted areas with volcanic activity. Worldwide, there are about 120 million ha of allophanic soils, which is about 1% of the Earth's ice-free land surface. In tropical regions, allophanic soils are among the most productive and intensively used agricultural soils. They occur in the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Caribbean and South Pacific islands, East Africa, Central America, and the Andean rim of South America. Allophanic soils are primarily Andisols and andic Inceptisols, Entisols, Mollisols, and Alfisols according to the Soil Taxonomy classification. Allophanic soils generally have a dark-colored surface soil, slippery or greasy consistency, a predominantly crumb and granular structure, and a low bulk density ranging from 0.3 to 0.8 Mg/m3. Although allophanic soils are apparently well-drained, they still have a very high water content many days after rain. When the soil is pressed between fingers, it gives a plastic, greasy, but non-sticky sensation of a silty or loamy texture. When dry, the soil loses its greasiness and becomes friable and powdery. The low bulk density of allophanic soils is closely related to the high soil porosity. For example, moderately weathered allophanic soils typically have a total porosity of 78%, with macro-, meso-, and micropores occupying 13%, 33%, and 32%, respectively. Water retained in the mesopores is readily available for plant uptake. Water retained in the micropores is held strongly by soil particles and is not readily available for plant use. The macropores provide soil aeration and facilitate water infiltration. The high water retention capacity is also associated with the high soil porosity. In allophanic soils formed under a humid climate, especially those containing large amounts of allophane, the moisture content at field capacity can be as high as 300%, calculated on a weight basis. Such extremely high values of water content seem misleading.

Abstract. Expansive soils undergo volume expansion, when it gains moisture content. Light structures constructed on this type of soil will be lifted by the upward swell pressure. Swelling characteristics decides the degree of safety of structures resting on expansive soil strata. Predicting the swell pressure of the soil consumes nearly 5 days of time (variable with respect to soil potential) in the laboratory as well as needs expensive testing setup. In our study, a correlation is proposed to develop for swell pressure using the index properties of soils namely liquid limit and plastic limit, which shall be assessed at the laboratory relatively short period of time. Swelling Pressure tests by Free Swell Method are performed on dynamically compacted 20 remolded soil samples collected within Coimbatore Corporation limit. The study area is between the four coordinates of 11008'49.25'' N 76053'36.28'' E, 11012’05.58’’ N76055'57.84'' E, 10059'16.52'' N 76052'17.47'' E, 10057'00.59'' N 76057'43.71'' E. Laboratory experimental data given as input in MATLAB gives satisfactory results and correlation is extracted from curve fitting method.

Low plasticity, high bearing capacity, low settlement, etc. are the preferred properties for most engineering projects. Alluvial soils are problematic soils because of low bearing capacity, high organic matter content, and high void ratio so they do not meet the preferred condition for engineering projects. It has been necessary to improve unsuitable materials to make them acceptable for construction. Fly ash (FA) has earlier been used for stabilizing roads due to its high content of calcium and silicate oxides which give puzzolanic properties and thus high compression strength. In this research, fundamental engineering properties, compaction behaviors of three types of (fine, medium, and coarse) alluvial deposits, and the effect of fly ash on compaction behavior of these alluvial soils are presented. Alluvial soil is taken from Çiğli, Balatçık (Izmir, Turkey). To determine geotechnical index properties; wet sieve analysis, plastic limit, liquid limit, specific gravity, standard compaction tests were conducted. In order to determine the effect of fly ash on compaction behavior of alluvial deposits, three different samples (fine &lt; 0.425mm, medium &lt; 2mm, and coarse &lt; 4.75 mm) are prepared and 10%, 15%, 20% fly ash by dry weight of soil is mixed and standard proctor test is performed. As a result of laboratory tests, the liquid limit, plastic limit, and plasticity index values obtained as 38.3%, 25.7%, and 12.6%, respectively. The specific gravities for fine, medium, and coarse samples are 2.68, 2.67, and 2.66, respectively. According to the results of wet sieve analysis and consistency limit tests, it was stated that the soil contains large amounts of sand and clay. The washed sieve analysis and consistency limit tests results were evaluated according to USCS. The conducted test results have shown that maximum dry unit weight for fine, medium, and coarse soils are 16.9, 19.35, and 19.55 (kN/m3), and optimum moisture content for fine, medium, and coarse samples are 17, 11, 10.5% respectively. Generally, by increasing the content of FA, maximum dry unit weight decreased and optimum moisture content increased for all three types of alluvial soil. By increasing FA to 20%, maximum dry unit weight of medium and coarse soils decreases 1.5% and 2%, respectively.

In recent years, the advancement of computerized modeling has allowed for the creation of extensive pneumatic tire models. These models have been used to determine many tire properties and tire-road interaction parameters which are either prohibitively expensive or unavailable with physical models. More recently, computerized modeling has been used to explore tire-soil interactions. The new parameters created by these interactions were defined for these models, but accurate soil constitutive equations were lacking. With the previous models, the soil was simulated using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). However, the meshless modeling method of Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) may be a viable approach to more accurately simulating large soil deformations and complex tire-soil interactions. With both the FEA and SPH soils modeled as elastic-plastic solids, simplified soil tests are conducted. First, pressure-sinkage tests are used to explore the differences in the two soil-modeling methods. From these tests, it is found that the FEA model supports a surface pressure via the tensile forces created by the stretching of the surface elements. Conversely, for the SPH model, the surface pressure is supported via the compressive forces created by the compacting of particles. Next, shear-displacement tests are conducted with the SPH soil (as this test cannot easily be performed with an FEA soil model). These shear tests show that the SPH soil behaves more like clay in initial shearing and more like sand by exhibiting increased shearing due to vertical loading. While both the pressure-sinkage and shear-displacement tests still show that a larger particle density is unnecessary for SPH soil modeling, the shear-displacement tests indicate that an elastic-plastic material model may not be the best choice.

Detection and location of leaks in buried plastic fluid-filled pipes are topics of increasing concern for water distribution companies. Acoustic correlation techniques have been widely used to provide an accurate estimate of the position of a leak in order to reduce the wastage of water. However, this technique depends on an accurate estimate of the wave propagation speed along the pipe, which is heavily dependent on the type of soil in which the pipe is buried. The soil also affects the distance that leak noise will propagate along the pipe. This paper describes theoretical and experimental investigations into the way the coupling conditions between the pipe and the soil affects the propagation characteristics of the wave that propagates leak noise in the pipe. Two water pipe systems which have different soil properties are considered: one is in Brazil and the other one is in UK. For the Brazilian pipe system, it is found that the shear modulus rather than the bulk modulus of the soil, has a profound effect on the wave motion in the pipe since it is buried in a clay-like soil. In this case, only the shear wave in the soil propagates away from the pipe. For the UK pipe system, which has sandy soil, both compressional and shear waves propagate away from the pipe. An analysis of the physical effects of fluid-pipe-soil interface and their corresponding parameters on the pipe wave speed and attenuation is also carried out. The results show that the axial coupling between the pipe and the soil has an important effect in the UK pipe system, but has a negligible effect in the Brazilian pipe system.

For the multibody simulation of planetary rover operations, a wheel-soil contact model is necessary to represent the forces and moments between the tire and the soft soil. A novel nonlinear contact modelling approach based on the properties of the hypervolume of interpenetration is validated in this paper. This normal contact force model is based on the Winkler foundation model with nonlinear spring properties. To fully define the proposed normal contact force model for this application, seven parameters are required. Besides the geometry parameters that can be easily measured, three soil parameters representing the hyperelastic and plastic properties of the soil have to be identified. Since it is very difficult to directly measure the latter set of soil parameters, they are identified by comparing computer simulations with experimental results of drawbar pull tests performed under different slip conditions on the Juno rover of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). A multibody dynamics model of the Juno rover including the new wheel/soil interaction model was developed and simulated in MapleSim. To identify the wheel/soil contact model parameters, the cost function of the model residuals of the kinematic data is minimized. The volumetric contact model is then tested by using the identified contact model parameters in a forward dynamics simulation of the rover on an irregular 3-dimensional terrain and compared against experiments.

A new rigid ring model with additional parameters was developed to model an off-road tire running on soil. In order to create this new rigid ring model, an FEA off-road truck tire was created and used to determine the in-plane and out-of-plane parameters for a tire running on soil. The soil, dense sand in this case, was modeled as an elastic-plastic solid with material properties obtained from published data. The longitudinal forces and the normal stress and shear stress distributions in the soil are compared with published data as preliminary validation. The general trends of soil flow from a rigid wheel model running on soil were used to validate the soil model. In addition, a model of a standard circular plate was used to determine the vertical pressure-sinkage curves and then these simulations were compared with available published measured data.

Roads and road infrastructure systems are designed to satisfy ultimate and serviceability conditions under long-term actions caused by transport loadings and environmental effects. Selected design solutions must be safe and rational in terms of construction and maintenance costs. In cases when weak or soft soil layers of natural soil profiles are shallow and/or the traffic loads are very large, the Combined Pile-Raft Foundation (CPRF) is the economical road and railway structure design solution. Application of CPRF is cheaper geotechnical solution comparing with soil change or usual piled foundation alternatives. The development of this system is based on the analysis of relevant mechanical properties of soil layers and the evaluation of the soil-structure interaction. The soil-structure interaction is of highest importance allowing proper evaluation of load bearing resistance and deformation transmitted by raft and piles to soil layers. The soil and foundation system usually is subjected by loadings, resulting elastic-plastic resistance range. Therefore, relevant nonlinear physical laws due to the stress levels are used. The paper purpose is summarizing the experience of application of Combined Pile-Raft Foundations used in road and railway construction and bridge engineering.

Tillage modifies soil structure, altering conditions for plant growth and transport processes through the soil. However, the resulting loose structure is unstable and susceptible to collapse due to aggregate fragmentation during wetting and drying cycles, and coalescense of moist aggregates by internal capillary forces and external compactive stresses. Presently, limited understanding of these complex processes often leads to consideration of the soil plow layer as a static porous medium. With the purpose of filling some of this knowledge gap, the objectives of this Project were to: 1) Identify and quantify the major factors causing breakdown of primary soil fragments produced by tillage into smaller secondary fragments; 2) Identify and quantify the. physical processes involved in the coalescence of primary and secondary fragments and surfaces of weakness; 3) Measure temporal changes in pore-size distributions and hydraulic properties of reconstructed aggregate beds as a function of specified initial conditions and wetting/drying events; and 4) Construct a process-based model of post-tillage changes in soil structural and hydraulic properties of the plow layer and validate it against field experiments. A dynamic theory of capillary-driven plastic deformation of adjoining aggregates was developed, where instantaneous rate of change in geometry of aggregates and inter-aggregate pores was related to current geometry of the solid-gas-liquid system and measured soil rheological functions. The theory and supporting data showed that consolidation of aggregate beds is largely an event-driven process, restricted to a fairly narrow range of soil water contents where capillary suction is great enough to generate coalescence but where soil mechanical strength is still low enough to allow plastic deforn1ation of aggregates. The theory was also used to explain effects of transient external loading on compaction of aggregate beds. A stochastic forInalism was developed for modeling soil pore space evolution, based on the Fokker Planck equation (FPE). Analytical solutions for the FPE were developed, with parameters which can be measured empirically or related to the mechanistic aggregate deformation model. Pre-existing results from field experiments were used to illustrate how the FPE formalism can be applied to field data. Fragmentation of soil clods after tillage was observed to be an event-driven (as opposed to continuous) process that occurred only during wetting, and only as clods approached the saturation point. The major mechanism of fragmentation of large aggregates seemed to be differential soil swelling behind the wetting front. Aggregate "explosion" due to air entrapment seemed limited to small aggregates wetted simultaneously over their entire surface. Breakdown of large aggregates from 11 clay soils during successive wetting and drying cycles produced fragment size distributions which differed primarily by a scale factor l (essentially equivalent to the Van Bavel mean weight diameter), so that evolution of fragment size distributions could be modeled in terms of changes in l. For a given number of wetting and drying cycles, l decreased systematically with increasing plasticity index. When air-dry soil clods were slightly weakened by a single wetting event, and then allowed to "age" for six weeks at constant high water content, drop-shatter resistance in aged relative to non-aged clods was found to increase in proportion to plasticity index. This seemed consistent with the rheological model, which predicts faster plastic coalescence around small voids and sharp cracks (with resulting soil strengthening) in soils with low resistance to plastic yield and flow. A new theory of crack growth in "idealized" elastoplastic materials was formulated, with potential application to soil fracture phenomena. The theory was preliminarily (and successfully) tested using carbon steel, a ductile material which closely approximates ideal elastoplastic behavior, and for which the necessary fracture data existed in the literature.

This report describes several advances in the cyclic failure assessment of silt soils with immediate and practical benefit to the geotechnical earthquake engineering profession. First, a database of cyclic loading test data is assembled, evaluated, and used to assess trends in the curvature of the CRR-N (cyclic resistance ratio - the number of equivalent cycles) relationship. This effort culminated in a plasticity index-dependent function which can be used to estimate the exponent b in the power law describing cyclic resistance, and may be used to estimate the cyclic resistance of silt soils as well as the number of equivalent loading cycles anticipated for subduction zone earthquakes. Statistical models for the cyclic resistance ratio and cyclic strength ratio are presented in this report. The SHANSEP (Stress History and Normalized Soil Engineering Properties)-inspired functional form of these models have been trained and tested against independent datasets and finalized using a combined dataset to provide reasonable estimates of resistance based on the available data. These models can be used to provide provisional estimates of the CRR-N and cyclic strength ratio power laws for cyclic shear strain failure criteria ranging from 1 to 10%, within certain stated limitations. The ground motion records within the NGA Subduction Project which have been released to the public to-date are implemented to examine the role of subduction zone earthquake characteristics on the number of equivalent loading cycles for a wide range of soils with exponents b ranging from 0.05 (moderate plasticity silt and clay) to 0.35 (dense sand). This analysis shows that the number of loading cycles for a given magnitude subduction zone earthquake is larger than those previously computed, whereas the corresponding magnitude scaling factors for use with the Simplified Method span a smaller range as a result of the ground motion characteristics. Owing to the large variability in the computed equivalent number of loading cycles, consideration of the uncertainty is emphasized in forward analyses. The work described herein may be used to estimate cyclic resistance of intact non-plastic and plastic silt soils and corresponding factor of safety against cyclic failure for a range in cyclic shear strain failure criteria, to plan cyclic laboratory testing programs, and to calibrate models for use in site response and nonlinear deformation analyses in the absence of site-specific cyclic test data. As with any empirical approach, the models presented herein should be revised when additional, high-quality cyclic testing data become available.

The underlying similarity between soils, grains, fertilizers, concentrated animal feed, pellets, and mixtures is that they are all granular materials used in agriculture. Modeling such materials is a complex process due to the spatial variability of such media, the origin of the material (natural or biological), the nonlinearity of these materials, the contact phenomenon and flow that occur at the interface zone and between these granular materials, as well as the dynamic effect of the interaction process. The lack of a tool for studying such materials has limited the understanding of the phenomena relevant to them, which in turn has led to energy loss and poor quality products. The objective of this study was to develop a reliable prediction simulation tool for cohesive agricultural particle materials using Discrete Element Modeling (DEM). The specific objectives of this study were (1) to develop and verify a 3D cohesionless agricultural soil-tillage tool interaction model that enables the prediction of displacement and flow in the soil media, as well as forces acting on various tillage tools, using the discrete element method; (2) to develop a micro model for the DEM formulation by creating a cohesive contact model based on liquid bridge forces for various agriculture materials; (3) to extend the model to include both plastic and cohesive behavior of various materials, such as grain and soil structures (e.g., compaction level), textures (e.g., clay, loam, several grains), and moisture contents; (4) to develop a method to obtain the parameters for the cohesion contact model to represent specific materials. A DEM model was developed that can represent both plastic and cohesive behavior of soil. Soil cohesive behavior was achieved by considering tensile force between elements. The developed DEM model well represented the effect of wedge shape on soil behavior and reaction force. Laboratory test results showed that wedge penetration resistance in highly compacted soil was two times greater than that in low compacted soil, whereas DEM simulation with parameters obtained from the test of low compacted soil could not simply be extended to that of high compacted soil. The modified model took into account soil failure strength that could be changed with soil compaction. A three dimensional representation composed of normal displacement, shear failure strength and tensile failure strength was proposed to design mechanical properties between elements. The model based on the liquid bridge theory. An inter particle tension force measurement tool was developed and calibrated A comprehensive study of the parameters of the contact model for the DEM taking into account the cohesive/water-bridge was performed on various agricultural grains using this measurement tool. The modified DEM model was compared and validated against the test results. With the newly developed model and procedure for determination of DEM parameters, we could reproduce the high compacted soil behavior and reaction forces both qualitatively and quantitatively for the soil conditions and wedge shapes used in this study. Moreover, the effect of wedge shape on soil behavior and reaction force was well represented with the same parameters. During the research we made use of the commercial PFC3D to analyze soil tillage implements. An investigation was made of three different head drillers. A comparison of three commonly used soil tillage systems was completed, such as moldboard plow, disc plow and chisel plow. It can be concluded that the soil condition after plowing by the specific implement can be predicted by the DEM model. The chisel plow is the most economic tool for increasing soil porosity. The moldboard is the best tool for soil manipulation. It can be concluded that the discrete element simulation can be used as a reliable engineering tool for soil-implement interaction quantitatively and qualitatively.