Effect of Scalping on the Mechanical Behavior of Coarse Soils

This paper aims at presenting a study of the effect of
scalping methods on the mechanical properties of coarse soils by
resorting to numerical simulations based on the discrete element
method (DEM) and experimental triaxial tests. Two reconstitution
methods are used, designated as scalping method and substitution
method. Triaxial compression tests are first simulated on a granular
materials with a grap graded particle size distribution by using the
DEM. We study the effect of these reconstitution methods on the
stress-strain behavior of coarse soils with different fine contents
and with different ways to control the densities of the scalped and
substituted materials. Experimental triaxial tests are performed on
original mixtures of sands and gravels with different fine contents and
on their corresponding scalped and substituted samples. Numerical
results are qualitatively compared to experimental ones. Agreements
and discrepancies between these results are also discussed.