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Microscale boundaries of internally stable and unstable soils

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Abstract

This study presents a microscale approach for evaluating the internal instability of natural granular soils using the discrete element method. The coordination number and the stress reduction factor are combined to assess the internal instability of soil. Distinct boundaries are identified between various soils that are internally stable and unstable. The microscale investigations are then compared with constriction and particle size-based criteria. The findings reveal that the constriction-based criterion predicts internal instability with significantly better accuracy. The relationship between microscale parameters and the constriction-based retention ratio is also examined for practical purposes.

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Abbreviations

CSD:

Constriction size distribution

DEM:

Discrete element method

PSD:

Particle size distribution

C u :

Coefficient of uniformity

\(c_{{\text{n}}}\) :

Viscoelastic damping constant for normal contact

\(c_{{\text{t}}}\) :

Viscoelastic damping constant for tangential contact

\(D_{15}^{{\text{c}}}\) :

15% Passing by mass of coarser fraction's particle size distribution

\(D_{{{\text{c}}35}}^{{{\text{c}}*}}\) :

35% Passing of coarser fraction's constriction size distribution plotted by surface area

\(d_{85}^{{\text{f}}}\) :

85% Passing by mass of finer fraction's particle size distribution

\(d_{85}^{{{\text{f}}*}}\) :

85% Passing of finer fraction's particle size distribution plotted by surface area

H :

Incremental finer fraction between particle diameters D and 4D

\(f_{j}^{c}\) :

Force vector at contact c in j direction

F :

Finer fraction at particle diameter D

\(f^{{\text{T}}}\) :

Tangential contact force

\(f^{{\text{N}}}\) :

Normal contact force

\(k_{{\text{n}}}\) :

Elastic constant for normal contact

\(k_{{\text{t}}}\) :

Elastic constant for tangential contact

n :

Porosity

N p :

Number of particles

N c :

Number of contacts

\(N_{{\text{c}}}^{\text{p}}\) :

Number of contacts on particle p

\(N_{{\text{p}}}^{{{\text{fines}}}}\) :

Number of fine particles

\(n_{i}^{{{\text{c}},{\text{p}}}}\) :

The unit-normal vector from particle centroid to contact location

\(p^{\text{p}}\) :

Mean stress in the particle p

\(p^{\prime}\) :

Sample's effective mean stress equals the average of principal stresses

\(p_{{\text{f}}}^{{\prime }}\) :

Mean stress in the fines

R d :

Relative density

V :

Sample's volume

\(V^{\text{p}}\) :

Volume of the particle p

\(x_{i}^{\text{c}}\) :

Location of the contact c

\(x_{i}^{p}\) :

Location of particle centroid

Z :

Coordination number

\(\alpha\) :

Stress reduction factor

µ f :

Coefficient of friction

\(\overline{\sigma }_{ij}\) :

Entire sample's average stress tensor; and

\(\overline{\sigma }_{ij}^{p}\) :

The average stress tensor within a particle p

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Acknowledgements

The assistance provided by Dr. Thanh Trung Nguyen, Research Fellow, Transport Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney, Australia, to the second author during the initial stages of his Ph.D. is highly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Transport Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Buddhima Indraratna

  2. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Shay Haq & Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

  3. Helanshan Research Scholar, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, China

    Jahanzaib Israr

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

    Jahanzaib Israr

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  1. Buddhima Indraratna
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  2. Shay Haq
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Correspondence to Buddhima Indraratna.

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Indraratna, B., Haq, S., Rujikiatkamjorn, C. et al. Microscale boundaries of internally stable and unstable soils. Acta Geotech. 17, 2037–2046 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-021-01321-7

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