Relationship between physical properties and particle-size distribution of geomaterials

Abstract

Different from continuous materials, geomaterials often are collections of discrete particles, such as soils, and aggregates. For these materials, the particle size distribution (PSD) is one of their most important properties and, in many circumstances, geomaterials are classified or named according to their PSDs. After many years, scholars have generally reached an agreement that some properties of geomaterials are tightly linked to their PSDs. Identifying and formulating the relationship between PSDs and properties can greatly help practitioners. This study derived the key PSD parameters from 2D Fractal Model and proposed a genetic formula based on the theory of Fourier Series to estimate the different properties of geomaterials from their PSDs. Based on the lab testing data of this study and published results in literature, this study demonstrated that the parameters of 2D Fractal Model fully carried PSD information and could be used to correlate to a variety of geomaterial properties, including maximum and minimum densities, friction angle, and permeability. This study also showcased that 2D Fractal Model parameters were superior to traditional indexes, such as D10, D30, D50, D60, Cc and Cu, to represent PSD information.