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Sand Samples’ Preparation Using Mobile Pluviator

  • Research Article - Civil Engineering
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Abstract

It is important to have a good estimation of soil properties in the laboratory when simulation of natural soil condition is required, especially if the soil profile is subjected to static and dynamic loadings. Soil configuration is one of the most important parameters to maintain when preparing soil samples in large area. In this study, the newly designed Mobile Pluviator adopted the air pluviation method for deposition of sand samples. The apparatus is operated based on the uniformity distribution of sand particles with the terminal velocity concept where a series of shutter porosities are chosen for different sizes of sand particles. The densities of the soil samples were determined based on the correlation between the falling height and the rate of soil discharge of the shutter. Using this apparatus, a wide range of D r (relative density) ranging from 10 to 98 % can be achieved. The advantage of the Mobile Pluviator is that it can be moved to cover a wider area during the raining process and does not interfere with monitoring instrumentation.

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Abbreviations

D r :

Relative density

V :

Terminal velocity

P :

Mass density

D 50 :

Mean size of soil particles

H :

Distance between bottom sieve and sand surface

F :

Distance between top sieve and shutter plate

G s :

Specific gravity

C u :

Uniformity coefficient

γ d max :

Maximum dry unit weight

γ d min :

Minimum dry unit weight

γ d :

Dry unit weight

emax :

Maximum void ratio

emin :

Minimum void ratio

H crit :

Critical falling height

P 1 :

1th Pattern of shutter plat

P 2 :

2th Pattern of shutter plat

P 3 :

3th Pattern of shutter plat

P 4 :

4th Pattern of shutter plat

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geotechnics and Transportation, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, 81300, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

    Mahdy Khari, Khairul Anuar Kassim & Azlan Adnan

Authors
  1. Mahdy Khari
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  2. Khairul Anuar Kassim
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  3. Azlan Adnan
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Correspondence to Mahdy Khari.

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Khari, M., Kassim, K.A. & Adnan, A. Sand Samples’ Preparation Using Mobile Pluviator. Arab J Sci Eng 39, 6825–6834 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-014-1247-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-014-1247-8

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