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Rapid estimation of maximum and minimum void ratios of granular soils

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Abstract

Maximum and minimum void ratios (emax and emin) of granular soils are commonly used as indicators of many engineering properties. However, few methods, apart from laboratory tests, are available to provide a rapid estimation of both emax and emin. In this study, we present a theoretical model to map the densest and the loosest packing configurations of granular soils onto the void space. A corresponding numerical procedure that can predict both emax and emin of granular soils with arbitrary grain size distributions is proposed. The capacity of the proposed method is evaluated by predicting the maximum and minimum void ratios of medium to fine mixed graded sands with different contents of fines. The influence of the grain size distribution, characterized quantitatively by uniformity parameter and the fractal dimension, on emax and emin is discussed using the proposed method. Moreover, application of this method in understanding the controlling mechanism for the void ratio change during grain crushing is presented.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the “National Key R&D Program of China” (Grant No. 2017YFC0404800), the “National Natural Science Foundation of China” (Grant No. U1765205), the “Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities” (Grant Nos. 2018B40914, 2016B03514) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (No. YS11001). In addition, financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51509077) is also gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Chaomin Shen, Sihong Liu, Siyuan Xu & Liujiang Wang

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  1. Chaomin Shen
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  2. Sihong Liu
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  3. Siyuan Xu
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  4. Liujiang Wang
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Correspondence to Sihong Liu.

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Shen, C., Liu, S., Xu, S. et al. Rapid estimation of maximum and minimum void ratios of granular soils. Acta Geotech. 14, 991–1001 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-018-0714-x

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