Effect of Particle Shape on the Mechanical Behavior of Natural Sands

A database of the mechanical behavior of 25 natural sands was compiled from the existing literature. Particle shape and size analysis, obtained by dynamic imaging analysis, for each material in the database has subsequently been linked to its mechanical properties; selected sands were also subject to interferometry study for particle surface roughness measurements. This paper reviews the effect of the particle shape properties of these sands on their Critical State and stiffness parameters, introducing a new parameter to optimize the correlations.