Large-scale testing of granular material

The main problem to investigate in this study is if larger grained materials, up to 200 mm nominal size, could be used as an embankment material for high-speed railways. High-speed railways have very strict settlement requirements, allowing only very small settlements to ensure safety. To be able to test large grained materials, large devices and unique equipment is needed, something that makes testing and laboratory investigations rarer with increasing grain size. The studies that have been done focus on materials up to about 200 mm nominal size. The literature review finds that there is unclear common conception of how grain size influences the shear strength and deformation properties of a soil material. The most common finding is that increasing grain size results in lower shear strength and increased deformations. Some studies found the opposite and some found no influence of grain size on shear strength. One observation is that the shear strength tends to be unaffected by grain size if the grain strength is equal for all grain sizes. Otherwise the general impression is that larger grains tend to have higher occurrence of fractures and cracks, lowering the grain strength. The study presented herein is performed with a newly developed large-scale simple direct shear device. This device allows testing of grains up to 200 mm grain size. The design includes a free-standing load frame, where the sample is placed in a steel-wire lined rubber membrane on a swing. There are two actuators, one applies vertical force on the sample, while the other applies the shearing motion of the swing. The design is new and allows large forces in both vertical and horizontal direction, without pre-stressing the device. A total of six series are performed on materials with varying grain size, gradation, and grain shape. The findings of the laboratory study includes higher shear strength of well-graded material with larger grains (0-200 mm) compared to a uniformly graded sand with grain size 0-2 mm. The main challenge with the laboratory testing was handling the large amounts of soil material needed for each sample, making it difficult to control the initial void ratio. This is a drawback when analysing the deformation behaviour of the tests. The general behaviour was that the samples underwent initially contraction, which ended with dilatancy and most test reached net increase of volume by the end ofthe shearing