scholarly journals Impact of sample scaling on shear strength: coupled effects of grains size and shape

2021 ◽  
Vol 249 ◽  
pp. 06011
Author(s):  
Sandra Linero-Molina ◽  
Emilien Azéma ◽  
Nicolas Estrada ◽  
Stephen Fityus ◽  
John Simmons ◽  
...  

Size limitations of geotechnical testing equipment often require that samples of coarse granular materials have to be scaled in order to be tested in the laboratory. Scaling implies a convenient modification of the particle size distribution (PSD) to reduce particle sizes. However, it is well known that particle size and shape may be correlated in nature, due to geological factors (as an example). By means of two-dimensional contact dynamics simulations, we analyzed the effect of altering the size span on the shear strength of granular materials when particle size and shape are correlated. Two different systems were considered: one made of only circular particles, and the second made of size-shape correlated particles. By varying systematically the size span we observed that the resulting alteration of material strength is not due to the change in particle sizes. It results instead from the variation of the particle shapes induced by the modification of the PSD, when particle size and particle shape are correlated. This finding suggests that particle shape distribution is a higher order factor than PSD for the shear strength of granular materials. It also highlights the importance of particle shape quantification in soil classification and the case for its consideration in activities such as sampling, subsampling, and scaling of coarse materials for geotechnical testing

Author(s):  
Debakanta Mishra ◽  
S. M. Naziur Mahmud

The ballast layer serves as a major structural component in typical ballasted railroad track systems. When subjected to an external load, ballast particles present a complex mechanical response which is strongly dependent on particle to particle interactions within this discrete medium. One common test used to study the shear strength characteristics of railroad ballast is the Direct Shear Test (DST). However, it is often not feasible in standard geotechnical engineering laboratories to conduct direct shear tests on ballast particles due to significantly large specimen and test setup requirements. Even for the limited number of laboratories equipped to accommodate the testing of such large specimens, conducting repeated tests for parametric analysis of different test and specimen parameters on shear strength properties is often not feasible. Numerical modeling efforts are therefore commonly used for such parametric analyses. An ongoing research study at Boise State University is using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) to evaluate the effects of varying particle size and shape characteristics (i.e., flakiness, elongation, roundness, angularity) on direct shear strength behavior of railroad ballast. A commercially available three-dimensional DEM package (PFC3D®) is being used for this purpose. In numerical modeling, railroad ballasts can be simulated using spheres (simple approach) and non-breakable clumps (complex approach). This paper utilizes both approaches to compare the ballast stress-strain response as obtained from DST. Laboratory test results available in published literature are being used to calibrate the developed numerical models. This paper presents findings from this numerical modeling effort, and draws inferences concerning the implications of these findings on the design and construction of railroad ballast layers.


2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussain, S. ◽  
M.K Abdul Hamid ◽  
A.R Mat Lazim ◽  
A.R. Abu Bakar

Brake wear particles resulting from friction between the brake pad and disc are common in brake system. In this work brake wear particles were analyzed based on the size and shape to investigate the effects of speed and load applied to the generation of brake wear particles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was used to identify the size, shape and element compositions of these particles. Two types of brake pads were studied which are non-asbestos organic and semi metallic brake pads. Results showed that the size and shape of the particles generatedvary significantly depending on the applied brake load, and less significantly on brake disc speed. The wear particle becomes bigger with increasing applied brake pressure. The wear particle size varies from 300 nm to 600 µm, and contained elements such as carbon, oxygen, magnesium, aluminum, sulfur and iron.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaolin Lu ◽  
Xiaojuan Hu ◽  
Yao Lu

Particle morphology, including size and shape, is an important factor that significantly influences the physical and chemical properties of biomass material. Based on image processing technology, a method was developed to process sample images, measure particle dimensions, and analyse the particle size and shape distributions of knife-milled wheat straw, which had been preclassified into five nominal size groups using mechanical sieving approach. Considering the great variation of particle size from micrometer to millimeter, the powders greater than 250 μm were photographed by a flatbed scanner without zoom function, and the others were photographed using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with high-image resolution. Actual imaging tests confirmed the excellent effect of backscattered electron (BSE) imaging mode of SEM. Particle aggregation is an important factor that affects the recognition accuracy of the image processing method. In sample preparation, the singulated arrangement and ultrasonic dispersion methods were used to separate powders into particles that were larger and smaller than the nominal size of 250 μm. In addition, an image segmentation algorithm based on particle geometrical information was proposed to recognise the finer clustered powders. Experimental results demonstrated that the improved image processing method was suitable to analyse the particle size and shape distributions of ground biomass materials and solve the size inconsistencies in sieving analysis.


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