PREDICTION OF THE CONSISTENCY LIMITS OF SOILS AND SOIL MIXTURES

SINCE IT IS POSSIBLE TO PREDICT THE PROPERTIES OF A SOIL MIXTURE BY MEANS OF THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW GRANULOMETRIC CONSTANT, THE QUESTION IS INVESTIGATED AS TO WHETHER OR NOT IT IS POSSIBLE TO ESTABLISH A CLEAR CORRELATION BETWEEN THE GRANULOMETRY OF A SOIL AND ITS ATTERBERG LIMITS. APPROXIMATE EQUATIONS WHICH PERMIT THE SELECTION OF A SOIL MIXTURE SUITABLE FOR GRANULAR SOIL STABILIZATION ARE REVIEWED. THE CONSTANT A, WHICH HAS BEEN INTRODUCED IN THESE EQUATIONS FOR THE PREDICTION OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SOIL MIXTURES, IS DETERMINED EXCLUSIVELY FROM THE ORDINANTS OF THE SAND FRACTION OF THE GRANULOMETRIC CURVE, WHICH APPEARS TO BE DIRECTLY INFLUENCED BY THE PERCENTAGE OF FINES. IT APPEARS NECESSARY TO INTRODUCE AS A WORKING HYPOTHESIS THAT THE GRANULOMETRIC CURVE OF A NATURAL SOIL CANNOT TAKE AN ARBITRARY FORM. THIS CORRELATION BETWEEN THE ATTERBERG LIMITS AND THE GRANULOMETRY IS EXAMINED MATHEMATICALLY. THE EMPIRICAL SPECIFICATIONS RELATING TO GRANULAR SOIL STABILIZATION (SUCH AS THOSE OF ASTM WHICH ARE BASED ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF LIMITING VALUES OF THE GRANULOMETRY, THE PERCENTAGE PASSING THE NO. 200 SIEVE, THE LIQUID LIMIT AND PLASTICITY INDEX) CONTAIN SUFFICIENT RESTRICTION FOR RATIONAL JUSTIFICATION.