Examining the effect of particle size distribution on dry density of granular materials in laboratory deposition

Some earlier minimum dry density results measured in the emax tests (also known as maximum void ratio tests) with known grain size distributions on fractions of various sand mixtures are analysed in the light of similarity of grading entropy S and minimum dry density Smin of granular material. Laboratory test data indicate that S and Smin exhibit an approximately linear relationship, although that may be slightly influenced by the fraction number M. Similarly, almost linear relationships are established between the corresponding components of S and Smin: Close to linear relationships are found between the base entropy S0 and the mean fraction density S0, and between the entropy increment ΔS and the density increment ΔS.