Post by Masoud Hajialilue Bonab

🎉 New Publication in the ASCE International Journal of Geomechanics I'm excited to share our latest research: "Precritical State Behavior of Sand and Silt with Similar Mineralogy Prepared at Similar Initial States" https://lnkd.in/eZwR4iaw While the critical state behavior of granular soils has been extensively studied, their precritical response often governs deformation, instability, and engineering performance. In this study, we investigated whether sand and silt with similar mineralogy and particle shape exhibit similar mechanical behavior before reaching the critical state. Using an extensive experimental program of drained and undrained triaxial tests, we found that although both materials converge to similar critical state behavior, their precritical responses differ significantly. Silt exhibits greater contractive behavior, delayed dilation, smoother stress–strain response, and higher excess pore water pressures, whereas sand transitions more rapidly to dilation. These findings highlight that critical state properties alone are not sufficient to characterize soil behavior. The entire stress path and precritical response should be considered when evaluating the performance and stability of granular geomaterials in geotechnical engineering applications. This work provides new insights into the mechanics of sands and silts and contributes to a better understanding of soil behavior relevant to embankments, tailings, and other earth structures. A big thank you to my co-authors #kosarHadidi, #kazemBadv and aslo #EmadmalekiTabrizi for their collaboration throughout this research. 📖 I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and discussing the implications of these findings with the geotechnical community. #GeotechnicalEngineering #SoilMechanics #CriticalStateSoilMechanics #GranularMaterials #Sand #Silt #TriaxialTesting #ASCE #Research #CivilEngineering