STUDY ON SOIL STRENGTH MODEL IN PARTICLE CHAIN STRUCTURE

The structural soil strength has always been an important issue in the soil and rock research. The soil and rock is structurally complicated, with a particle chain structure formed by the interconnection of soil particles as one of the dominant morphologies. The analysis for the formation conditions of the particle chain structure of a general type and a friction type is made through building a soil particle chain model, which is used to obtain the conditions for the friction-type particle chain to become stable. On this basis, we attempt to work out soil strength theory for a stable particle chain. It is found from the analysis that the conditions for friction-type soil particles to form a stable chain are related to the fabric relationship of particle composition and also to particle morphology; the strength of a particle chain can influence the soil macro-strength; the length, density and directional distribution of stable particle chains in the soil are important factors for soil strength and also important parameters to characterize the above-mentioned soil structure. The nature of friction-type particle materials to withstand the load is revealed from a particular perspective based on this soil strength theory for a stable particle chain.