• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2013

In this paper, a series of monotonic undrained shear tests were carried out on four kinds of sand-fine mixtures with various fines content. Two kinds of sands (Silica sand V3, V6) and fines (Iwakuni natural clay, Tottori silt) were mixed together in various proportions, while paying attention to the void ratio expressed in terms of sand structure $(F_c{\leq}F_{cth})$. The undrained shear strength of mixtures below the threshold fines content was observed so that as the plastic fines content increases, maximum deviator stress ratio decrease for dense samples while an increase is noted for loose samples. For non-plastic fines, the increase in the amount of fines leads to an increase in density of the soil, which results in an increase in strength. Then, the monotonic shear strength of the mixtures was estimated using the concept of granular void ratio. It was found that the shear strength of mixtures is greatly dependent on the skeleton structure of sand particles.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2019

Self-compacting concretes (SCC) are highly fluid concrete which can flow without any vibration. Their composition requires a large quantity of fines to limit the risk of bleeding and segregation. The use of crushed sand rich in limestone fines could be an adequate solution for both economic and environmental reasons. This paper investigates the influence of quarry limestone fines from manufactured crushed sand on rheological, mechanical and durability properties of SCC. For this purpose, five mixtures of SCC with different limestone fines content as substitution of crushed sand (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%) were prepared at constant water-to-cement ratio of 0.40 and $490kg/m^3$ of cement content. Fresh SCC mixtures were tested by slump flow test, V-funnel flow time test, L-box height ratio, segregation resistance and rheological test using a rheometer. Compressive and flexural strengths of SCC mixtures were evaluated at 28 days. Regarding durability properties, total porosity, capillary water absorption and chloride-ion migration were studied at 180 days. For the two test modes in fresh state, the results indicated compatibility between slump flow/yield stress (${\tau}_0$) and V-funnel flow time/plastic viscosity (${\mu}$). Increasing the substitution level of limestone fines in SCC mixtures, contributes to the decrease of the slump flow and the yield stress. All SCC mixtures investigated achieved adequate filling, adequate passing ability and exhibit no segregation. Moreover, the inclusion of limestone fines as crushed sand substitution reduces the capillary water absorption, chloride-ion migration and consequently enhances the durability performance.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.13-24
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• 2011

In the part of geotechnical engineering, soils are classified as either the coarse grained soil or the fine-grained soil following the fine content($F_c$=50%) according to the granularity, and appropriate design codes are used respectively to represent their mechanical behaviour. However, sand-clay mixtures, which are typically referred to as intermediate soils, cannot be easily categorized as either sand or clay. In this study, several monotonic undrained shear tests were carried out on Silica sand fine mixtures with various proportions, and a wide range of soil structures, ranging from one with sand dominating the soil structure to one with fines controlling the behaviour, were prepared using compaction method or pre-consoldation methods in prescribed energy. The shear strength of mixtures below the threshold fines content is observed that as the fines content increases, maximum deviator stress ratio decrease for dense samples while an increase is noted for loose samples. Then, by using the concept of fines content and granular void ratio, the monotonic shear strength of the mixtures was estimated. It was found that the shear behavior of mixtures is greatly dependent on the skeleton structure of sand particles.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.31-40
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• 2012

In most design codes, soils are classified as either sandy or clayey soils, and appropriate design equations for each soil type are used to estimate their soil behaviour. However, sand-fine mixtures, which are typically referred to as intermediate soils, are somewhere at the middle of sandy or clayey soils, and therefore a unified interpretation of soil behaviour is necessary. In this paper, a series of cyclic shear tests were carried out for three different combinations of sand-fine mixtures with various fines content. Silica-sand mixture and fines (Iwakuni natural clay, Tottori silt, kaolinite) were mixed together with various mass ratios, while paying attention to the changes of void ratios expressed in terms of sand structure. The cyclic shear strengths of the mixtures below the threshold fines content were examined with the increasing fines contents. As a result, as the fines contents increased, their cyclic deviator stress ratios decreased for dense samples while it increased for loose samples. Additionally, cyclic deviator stress ratio of the mixtures was estimated using the concept of equivalent granular void ratio.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2009

Many aspects of the behavior of sands are affected by the content of non-plastic fine particles and these various aspects should be included in a constitutive model for the soil behavior. The fines content affects maximum and minimum void ratios, compressibility, shear strength, and static liquefaction under undrained conditions. Twenty-eight undrained triaxial compression tests were performed on mixtures of sand and fine particles with fines contents of 0, 10, 20, 30, 50, 75, and 100% to study the effects of fines on void ratio, compressibility, and the occurrence of static liquefaction. The experiments were performed at low consolidation pressures at which liquefaction may occur in near-surface, natural deposits. The presence of fines creates a particle structure in the soil that is highly compressible, enhancing the potential for liquefaction, and the fines also alter the basic stress-strain and volume change behavior, which should be modeled to predict the occurrence of static liquefaction in the field. The void ratio at which liquefaction occurs for each sand/fines mixture was determined, and the variation of compressibility with void ratio was determined for each mixture. This allowed a relation to be determined between fines content, void ratio, compressibility, and the occurrence of static liquefaction. Such relations may vary from sand to sand, but the present results are believed to indicate the trend in such relations.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.91-100
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• 2007

In most design codes, soils are classified as either sand or clay, and appropriate design equations are used to represent their behavior. For example, the behavior of sandy soils is expressed in terms of the relative density, whereas consistency limits are often used for clays. However, sand-clay mixtures, which are typically referred to as intermediate soils, cannot be easily categorized as either sand or clay and therefore a unified interpretation of how the soil will behave at the transition point, i.e., from sandy behavior when fines are low to clay behavior for high fines content, is necessary. In this study, active natural clays are mixed with sand, and the fines content varied in order to produce different structures, ranging from one state where only sand particles form the soil structure to another where the matrix of fines make-up the structure. While paying attention to the granular void ratio in order to clarify the shear properties of sand-clay mixtures with increasing fines content monotonic, shear tests were performed on isotropically, and anisotropically consolidated specimens. From the test results, it was observed that the monotonic shear strength of sand-clay mixtures is dependent on the granular void ratio.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.219-226
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• 2020

Unconfined compression test (UCT) is widely conducted in laboratories to evaluate the mechanical behavior of frozen soils. However, its results are sensitive to the initial conditions of sample creation by freezing as well as the end-surface conditions during loading of the specimen into the apparatus for testing. This work compared ice samples prepared by three-dimensional and one-dimensional freezing. The latter created more-homogenous ice samples containing fewer entrapped air bubbles or air nuclei, leading to relatively stable UCT results. Three end-surface conditions were compared for UCT on ice specimens made by one-dimensional freezing. Steel disc cap with embedded rubber was found most appropriate for UCT. Three frozen materials (ice, frozen sand, and frozen silt) showed different failure patterns, which were classified as brittle failure and ductile failure. Ice and frozen sand showed strain-softening, while frozen silt showed strain-hardening. Subsequent investigation considered the influence of fines content on the unconfined compression behavior of frozen soil mixtures with fines contents of 0-100%. The mixtures showed a brittle-to-ductile transition of failure patterns at 10%-20% fines content.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.83-108
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• 2011

The effect of non-plastic fines (silt) on liquefaction and pore pressure generation characteristics of saturated sands was studied through undrained stress controlled cyclic triaxial tests using cylindrical specimens of size 50 mm diameter and height 100 mm at different cyclic stress ratios and at a frequency of 0.1 Hz. The tests were carried out in the laboratory adopting various measures of sample density through various approaches namely gross void ratio approach, relative density approach, sand skeleton void ratio approach, and interfine void ratio approach. The limiting silt content and the relative density of a specimen were found to influence the undrained cyclic response of sand-silt mixtures to a great extent. Undrained cyclic response was observed to be independent of silt content at very high relative densities. However, the presence of fines significantly influenced this response of loose to medium dense specimens. Combined analyses of cyclic resistance have been done using the entire data collected from all the approaches.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2008

In this study, cyclic shear characterics of sand-clay mixtures were analyzed. In order to perform cyclic triaxial tests on sand clay mixtures, natural clays with activity and silica sand were mixed variously to reproduce soils with wide range of grain size compositions. Test specimens with various fines contents were prepared by the moisture compaction and pre-consolidation methods, while paying attention to the void ratio expressed in terms of the sand structure and clay structures, and undrained cyclic shear tests were performed. In the test results, cyclic shear strength decreased with increasing of sand granular void ratio below 20% of fine contents. When the granular void ratio of the test specimen exceeded the maximum void ratio of the silica sand, the clay matrix dominated the soil structure, and soil structures were not influenced by compaction energy. It was observed that, the matrix structure of the coarse particles has great effect on the undrained cyclic shear strength characteristics for sand-clay mixtures, and therefore, it is more appropriate to pay more attention to the density of the sand structure, rather than to the fines content.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.97-106
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• 2012

In order to investigate mechanics of mixtures composed of sand and non-plastic silt, various specimens, with sand dominating the soil structure, and with varying fines content, fines content varying were produced. Isotropic consolidation tests were performed using high pressure triaxial test apparatus within high pressure levels where sand grain crushing happened. Experimental results showed that compressive curve of sand after yielding contracts to the NCL due to breakage of sand grains. Moreover, with the increase of fines content, coarse grains are surrounded by fines to form cushion effect, which made the breakage of coarse grains become difficult. Therefore, the maximum inclination of compressive curve became flatter and yield stress increased.