Abstract—The properties of clean sands pertaining to shear strength and stiffness have been studied extensively. However, natural sands generally contain significant amounts of silt and/or clay. The mechanical response of such soils is different from that of clean sands. The study addresses the effects of fines on the small-strain stiffness, void ratio, optimum moisture content, maximum dry density, specific gravity and shear strength of sands. The behavior of sand is affected by the content of fine particles. How and to what degree the fines content affects the small-strain stiffness, void ratio, the optimum moisture content, maximum dry density, specific gravity and shear strength of sands was experimentally studied in detail.

Index Terms—Sand, fines, Shear Strength, Void ratio, OMC and MDD

Cite: Arun Prasad and Bhuwan Pandey, "Effect of Fines on the Mechanical Behavior of Sand," International Journal of Structural and Civil Engineering Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 40-47, May 2013.