Abstract
The mechanical behaviors of sands are notably influenced by their physical properties as well as by environmental conditions : stress and strain conditions, and drainage conditions. The physical properties of soils can be classified into primary properties and secondary properties ; primary properties are permanent properties of soil grains such as density, hardness, shape and size of grains, and secondary properties are non-permanent properties of soil structures such as void ratio, packing and moisture content of soils. The objective of this study is to reveal the mechanical behaviors of soils with different primary properties. The mechanical properties of sands were investigated extensively ; the mechanical behaviors of some 200 granular materials were observed in a series of conventional triaxial compression tests. The significant influence of the primary properties on the deformation-strength characteristics was clarified. From the test results, the relationships of deformation-strength properties of sands with index physical properties are discussed ; the significant influence of grain shape, grading and crushability on the mechanical behaviors are presented.
