Geotechnical Properties of Sucrose-Saturated Fused Quartz for Use in Physical Modeling

This study presents the geotechnical properties of a synthetic transparent soil made of fused quartz saturated with a water-based sucrose solution that is suitable for modeling the behavior of sand in small-scale model tests. Geotechnical properties presented include particle size, dry density, peak angle of friction, hydraulic conductivity, and compressibility index. Sucrose is inert and non-toxic, which facilitates its use in educational settings. The availability of a safe and easy-to-use transparent sand permits measurement of three-dimensional deformation patterns and flow characteristics in controlled research experiments. The introduction of an aqueous solution permits the use of two immiscible pore fluids, one made of mineral oil and the other made of a sucrose solution, for modeling multi-phase flow problems, as well as coupled flow–deformation problems.

[1]  Magued Iskander,et al.  Development of a transparent material to model the geotechnical properties of soils , 1994 .

[2]  Boris Jeremić,et al.  MECHANICS OF GRANULAR MATERIALS AT Low EFFECTIVE STRESSES , 1998 .

[3]  Jerry A. Yamamuro,et al.  SIGNIFICANCE OF PARTICLE CRUSHING IN GRANULAR MATERIALS , 1996 .

[4]  Magued Iskander,et al.  Adaptive Cross Correlation for Imaging Displacements in Soils , 2004 .

[5]  David K. Black,et al.  Saturating Laboratory Samples by Back Pressure , 1973 .

[6]  Roy E. Hunt,et al.  Geotechnical engineering investigation manual , 1984 .

[7]  Jerry A. Yamamuro,et al.  DRAINED SAND BEHAVIOR IN AXISYMMETRIC TESTS AT HIGH PRESSURES , 1996 .

[8]  Kazunori Tabe,et al.  A Transparent Water-Based Polymer for Simulating Multiphase Flow , 2010 .

[9]  Magued Iskander,et al.  Modelling capacity of transparent soil , 2010 .

[10]  Richard J. Bathurst,et al.  A Transparent Sand for Geotechnical Laboratory Modeling , 2011 .

[11]  A. Bishop,et al.  Measurement of Soil Properties in the Triaxial Test , 1976 .

[12]  Kazunori Tabe,et al.  3D contaminant flow imaging in transparent granular porous media , 2011 .

[13]  Magued Iskander,et al.  Spatial deformation measurement using transparent soil , 2010 .

[14]  Ronaldo Luna,et al.  Low Viscosity Pore Fluid to Manufacture Transparent Soil , 2010 .

[15]  B. Hardin,et al.  Crushing of Soil Particles , 1985 .

[16]  R. C. Weast.  Handbook of chemistry and physics , 1973 .

[17]  Magued Iskander.  Modelling with Transparent Soils: Visualizing Soil Structure Interaction and Multi Phase Flow, Non-Intrusively , 2010 .

[18]  Magued Iskander,et al.  Accuracy of Digital Image Correlation for Measuring Deformations in Transparent Media , 2003 .