No abstract

The effect of the fines content in silty sands on the location of the critical state line (CSL) has been investigated by performing standard drained and undrained triaxial tests on reconstituted samples containing Sydney sand, feldspar fines and mixtures of the two at 20, 40 and 60% fines content. In the e-log p′ plane, CSLs of silt–sand mixtures shifted parallel to one another. The transitional fines content of silt–sand mixtures was 40%. Transitional soil behaviour was also observed in silt–sand samples that contained 40 and 60% fines as densely and loosely prepared samples with these fines contents failed on two different and parallel CSLs.

This study uses a critical state soil mechanics perspective to understand the mechanics behind the liquefaction of metallic ores during transport by ship. These metallic ores are transported at relatively low densities and have variable gradings containing a wide range of particle sizes and fines contents. The effect of the fines content on the location of the critical state line (CSL) and the cyclic liquefaction behaviour of well-graded materials was investigated by performing saturated, standard drained and undrained monotonic and compression-only cyclic triaxial tests. Samples were prepared at four different gradings containing particle sizes from 9.5 mm to 2 μm with fines (<75 μm) contents of 18%, 28%, 40%, and 60%. In the e versus log[Formula: see text] plane, where e is void ratio and [Formula: see text] is mean effective stress, the CSLs shifted upwards approximately parallel to one another as the fines content was increased. Transitional soil behaviour was observed in samples containing 28%, 40%, and 60% fines. A sample’s cyclic resistance to liquefaction depended on a combination of its density and state parameter, which were both related to the fines content. Samples with the same densities were more resistant to cyclic failure if they contained higher fines contents. The state parameter provided a useful prediction for general behavioural trends of all fines contents studied.

No abstract

No abstract