Abstract
Understanding the effects of low plastic fines and gravel contents on the mechanical behavior of sandy soils in terms of the strength-dilatancy relationship is crucial for various geotechnical applications. To gain deeper insights, an extensive series of direct shear tests were performed on two distinct types of mixtures: sand-fines mixtures and sand-gravel mixtures. The study systematically varied Fc/Gc content from 0% to 30%, using dry and wet methods, at a medium density (Dr = 50%) and a range of normal stresses (σn = 100–300 kPa). The experimental findings provide remarkable trends. For dry pluviated specimens, an increase in fines content led to a decrease in the shear strength of the mixtures. Conversely, the wet deposited specimens exhibited an opposite tendency, where higher fines content induced larger shear strength. Notably, the incorporation of gravel substantially improved the mechanical performance of the sand mixtures, regardless of the preparation method employed. Dry pluviated specimens generally exhibited higher shear strength than that of the wet deposited ones for the same Fc/Gc. A developed set of equations has been suggested to predict the strength-dilatancy relationships for all-tested materials. These equations take into account the impacts of fines and gravel contents and both specimen preparation methods.
Published Version
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