Using geophysical data to quantify stress-transmission in gap-graded granular materials
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Otsubo, Masahide
Kuwano, Reiko
O'Sullivan, catherine
Shire, thomas
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The behaviour of gap-graded granular materials, i.e. mixtures of coarse and cohesionless finer grains having a measurable difference in particle size, does not always confirm to established frameworks of sand behaviour. Prior research has revealed that the role of the finer particles on the stress-strain response, liquefaction resistance, and internal stability of non-cohesive gap-graded soils is significant and complex, and highly dependent on both the volumetric proportion of finer particles in the material and the coarse-particle to finer-particle size ratio. Quantifying the participation of the finer particles on the stress transmission and overall behaviour is central to understanding the behaviour of these materials. However, no experimental technique that can directly quantify the contribution of finer particles to the overall behaviour has hitherto been proposed. This paper explores to what extent the participation of finer particles can be assessed using laboratory geophysics, recognizing that granular materials act as a filter to remove the high frequency components of applied seismic / sound waves. Discrete element method simulations are performed to understand the link between particle-scale stress transmission and the overall response observed during shear wave propagation. When the proportion of finer particles is increased systematically both the shear wave velocity (VS) and low-pass frequency (flp) increase sharply once a significant amount of the applied stress is transferred via the finer particles. This trend is also observed in equivalent laboratory experiments. Consequently, the flp–VS relationship can provide useful insights to assess whether the finer particles contribute to stress transmission and hence the mechanical behaviour of the gap-graded materials.
Date Issued
2022-07
Date Acceptance
2020-12-04
Citation
Geotechnique: international journal of soil mechanics, 2022, 72 (7), pp.565-582
ISSN
0016-8505
Publisher
ICE Publishing
Start Page
565
End Page
582
Journal / Book Title
Geotechnique: international journal of soil mechanics
Volume
72
Issue
7
Copyright Statement
© 2021 The ICE. Original article available at https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.19.p.334 Permission is granted by ICE Publishing to print one copy for personal use. Any other use of these PDF files is subject to reprint fees.
Identifier
https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/10.1680/jgeot.19.P.334
Subjects
Geological & Geomatics Engineering
0905 Civil Engineering
0907 Environmental Engineering
0914 Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-01-26