Abstract
Many studies describe soils by their grain/particle size distribution (GSD/PSD). Most samples are poly-disperse collections of solids. A companion article has reviewed earlier methods to fit a GSD: usually, their R2 value is in the 0.5–0.9 range. A modal decomposition method, MDM, was developed to extract from a GSD its sub-populations or modes, proportions, and specific surface area. This new MDM is easy to use in a spreadsheet and yields a R2 value typically over 0.999. This article explores the MDM potential for future research in engineering geology. Examples are provided for the accurate mathematical description of the GSD, instead of using a few parameters and adjectives. For stratified formations, the MDM found that their sub-layers respect the usual filter criteria for well-graded or 1-mode soils. For internal erosion, the MDM has made it clear that the usual criteria are not enough and two new criteria seem to be needed, about the d-length over which the GSD slope criterion is not respected and its position. These new results should interest many researchers. In short, the MDM appears as a promising and useful tool for future research in engineering geology because it gives a close-to-perfect fit for the GSD, has the capacity to better define quantitatively a GSD, the capacity to better understand and define the conditions for filtering actions, and for the risk of internal erosion.
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Data availability
The reader may obtain free Excel files with explanations on how to perform the modal decomposition method (MDM) from the web site of Scholars Portal Dataverse (Chapuis 2020).
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Acknowledgements
The new results presented here were obtained by re-analyzing data derived from previous work sponsored by the National Research Council of Canada. The author thanks Tony Gatien, Étienne Bélanger, and Noura El-Harrak for their help in field and laboratory tests.
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Chapuis, R.P. Analyzing grain size distributions with the modal decomposition method: potential for future research in engineering geology. Bull Eng Geol Environ 80, 6667–6676 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-021-02341-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-021-02341-z