Influence of Compaction Condition on the Microstructure of a Non-Plastic Glacial Till

Abstract

The influence of compaction water content on the structure has been well known forclayey soils, but has never been studied for granular materials. In this paper the structure of a nonplastictill and the effect of compaction moisture is investigated by means of water retention curvestudy, scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion porosimetry tests. The results show thatwhen compacted on the dry side of the optimum water content, the porous system is characterized bya relatively uniform medium pores, while in case of compaction on the wet side, pores size is verydiversified and the numerous small pores dominate the porous system. The difference in the structurewas also approved by measuring the rigidity and the coefficient of permeability showing a lessrigidity and permeability in case of compaction on the wet side.