Influence factors on spread of physical property test results for volcanic coarse soils

Abstract

Japan has large areas covered by volcanic ash sediments. Volcanic coarse soils of their sediments are used in earth structure well. However, most of such soils are classified in problematic soil. Their constituent particles are very porous. Therefore, it is anticipated that measurements of soil tests using volcanic soil are spread, especially physical property tests, when soil tests are conducted under JIS/JGS methods. In this study, a series of density tests of soil particle and grain size analyses was performed on a few volcanic coarse soils with intra-particle void to consider the influence factors on spread of experimental results. As a result, the physical properties of volcanic coarse soils were affected remarkably by the sample preparation and experimental method rather than the uncertainly of test process or measurement. Hence, it is necessary for the quality evaluation in such materials to consider the homogeneity and preparations situation of the sample enough.