Bimsoils compression-consolidation behavior

The compressional behavior of Block in Matrix (BIM) soils and its considerations on constitutive modeling analysis is unclear so far. Although several researchers have carried out studies on this type of soils mainly focused on characterizing their physical properties and on the strength parameters, publications related to compressibility and Time to end Primary consolidation of heterogeneous mixtures including blocks is scarce. This thesis presents the analysis of oedometric tests results of heterogeneous soils performed on mixtures of kaolin, sand, and water in different proportions by weight and glass spheres in proportions by volume. Detailed equations describing phase intergranular void ratio relationships were developed including all the components considered. The thesis presents a brief description of oedometric devices, materials characterization, and the sample reconstitution procedure. As a result of the experimental work new empirical models are proposed to give a detailed description of the influence of Fines Content, Volumetric Block Percentage, and blocks size, on the slopes of compressibility curves and time to end primary consolidation.