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Experimental Study of Crushed Granular Materials by the Notion of Fractal Dimension in 2D and 3D

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Abstract

The micro-texture of the aggregates of a pavement layer has a direct influence on their resistance. Whatever the position of these aggregates in a pavement structure, they must withstand, during construction or during life, the stresses of attrition and impact. In this study, a series of mechanical tests (Proctor, Los-Angeles and Micro-Deval) are carried out on grains of local materials (limestone and shale), the degree of crushing of the grains has been quantified using the concept of fractal dimension. The fractal dimension was calculated for the different grains constituting the samples before and after each test, with the use of two two-dimensional 2D methods (Masses Method at the scale of a sample and the Box Counting Method at the scale of a grain) and a three-dimensional 3D method (Blanket on a grain scale) which is based on the use of the difference between erosion and dilation. We seek to determine from these methods the correlation between the two fractal dimensions, namely 2D and 3D and study the influence of different parameters on the mechanical characteristics of the materials chosen: the shape and size of the grains, the presence or absence of water, the stress intensity as well as the nature of the material. The results obtained show that the three-dimensional method has a positive effect on the description of the 3D microstructure of the surface of the grains subjected to the various mechanical tests.

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Data Availability

The equipment on which we worked is equipment from the Tizi-Ouzou University laboratory.

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There is no funding, this work is part of a research project of the University of Tizi-Ouzou.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geomaterials Laboratory, Environment and Development, Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou, 15000, Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria

    Houria Bouzeboudja, Bachir Melbouci & Aldjia Bouzeboudja

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  1. Houria Bouzeboudja
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  2. Bachir Melbouci
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  3. Aldjia Bouzeboudja
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Correspondence to Houria Bouzeboudja.

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Bouzeboudja, H., Melbouci, B. & Bouzeboudja, A. Experimental Study of Crushed Granular Materials by the Notion of Fractal Dimension in 2D and 3D. Geotech Geol Eng 40, 2009–2031 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-021-02007-3

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