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Laboratory Investigation into the Effect of Fines Plasticity on the Mechanical Behavior of Sand/Fines Mixtures

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Abstract

This paper presents a laboratory study carried out to investigate the mechanical behavior of Chlef sand emphasizing the effect of non-plastic fines content (silt) and plastic fines content (clay) on the sand-silt-clay mixture behavior. For this purpose, a series of direct shear tests were performed. The samples under study were taking account two initial relative densities for their preparation (RD = 55 and 85%). The test results showed that the shear strength of Chlef sand decreases with the increase of silt content from 0 to 40%, and for sand-clay and sand-silt-clay mixtures, the variation of shear strength has a threshold value; a decrease until 20% fines content followed by an increase considering the percentage of fines is higher. Cohesion increases with the increase of silt content, while for the sand-clay and sand-silt-clay mixtures, the cohesion increases until a threshold of 20% fines content with a same tendency as the variation of the direct shear strength. Contrariwise, a slight variation of the friction angle at the peak has been observed.

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Abbreviations

G S :

Specific gravity of solids

γ S :

Unit weight of the solid grain

D 10 :

Effective grain diameter

D 50 :

Average grain diameter

C U :

Uniformity coefficient

C C :

Coefficient of curvature

C :

Cohesion

e max :

Maximum void ratio

e min :

Minimum void ratio

RD:

Relative density

σ n :

Normal stress

τ peak :

Peak shear strength

τ :

Shear strength

φ :

Friction angle at the peak of shear stress

Δ H :

Horizontal displacement

Δ V :

Vertical displacement

I P :

Plasticity index

f C :

Fines content

R 2 :

Coefficient of determination

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their constructive and detailed comments. Tests were performed in the Laboratory of Material Sciences and Environment (LsmE) at UHBC University of Chlef.

Funding

The present study was financially supported by the General Directorate for Scientific Research and Technological Development (DGRSDT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LsmE Laboratory, University UHBC Hassiba Benbouali of Chlef, 02091, Chlef, Algeria

    Benali Nougar, Abdelkader Brahimi, Djamel Eddine Bouri, Ahmed Arab & Ismail Benessalah

  2. Institute of Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology, University Center of Mila, Mila, Algeria

    Abdelkader Brahimi

Authors
  1. Benali Nougar
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  2. Abdelkader Brahimi
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  3. Djamel Eddine Bouri
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  4. Ahmed Arab
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  5. Ismail Benessalah
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Correspondence to Ismail Benessalah.

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Nougar, B., Brahimi, A., Bouri, D.E. et al. Laboratory Investigation into the Effect of Fines Plasticity on the Mechanical Behavior of Sand/Fines Mixtures. Transp. Infrastruct. Geotech. 8, 438–451 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40515-020-00144-5

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