https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201714014005
Trends in the evolution of particle morphology with size in colluvial deposits overlying channel iron deposits
1 University of Newcastle, Faculty of Engineering and Build Environment, University Dr Callaghan, NSW2308, Australia
2 SRK Consulting (Australasia) Pty Ltd, 10 Richardson St WA6005 Australia
3 Sherwood Geotechnical and Research Services, 5/8 Grebe St Peregian Beach QLD4573 Australia
4 SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc, 1066 West Hastings St, BC V6E 3X2, Canada
* Corresponding author: sandra.lineromolina@uon.edu.au
Published online: 30 June 2017
Size limitations of testing equipment often impliy that samples of coarse granular materials must be scalped or scaled, to reduce the size of the constitutive particles, before they can be tested either by triaxial or direct shear in the laboratory. The objective of the investigation is to evaluate the particle shapes in a natural sample of colluvial sediments, to identify potential correlation(s) between shape and size, that could impact shear strength of scaled samples. The material investigated is derived from eroded ancient sedimentary rocks from the Pilbara region of Australia. The fragments have a particle shape ranging from slabs to sub-equant blocks. The observation indicates that there is an increase in the tendency for slabshapes in larger particles. Therefore, scaling inevitably alters the characteristic shapes of the material particles as it implies substituting larger (slabs) particles by smaller (sub-equant) particles. Changes in particle shape distribution may induce changes in material fabric and shear strength and therefore may need to be considered when scaling samples.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
