Energy multi-scale method to analyze the scale effect of soil particles

Abstract

As a common geological material, soil is a key aspect of construction engineering. Soil has typical multi-scale characteristics, but current multi-scale methods analyze these characteristics only in regard to geometric space. More exploration of the coupling influence mechanism of the basic properties of particles on the microstructure and macroscopic properties of soil is needed. This study analyzed the influence of geometric scale and mineral composition on the surface energy of particles at the microscopic level for development of the energy multi-scale method. Experiments were performed to determine the influence of mineral composition and particle size on the plasticity index (Ip) of the soil, and experimental results are discussed and interpreted quantitatively using the energy multi-scale method. The conclusions derived from this work are as follows: 1) the mineral composition and particle size of the soil can cause interface and surface effects; 2) the comprehensive ratio of micro-force to weight (CRFW) of the particles can be determined using the energy multi-scale method and quantitatively reflects the influence of particle size and mineral composition on the microscopic properties of the soil; and 3) the energy multi-scale method explains the mechanism of the plasticity index of soil and has allowed identification of a new division of soil plasticity. When the CRFW was used as the control index, the plasticity index of the three materials was practically the same, even if the mineral composition and particle sizes of the three materials were different.