Behaviour of calcareous soils as a function of particle size

Calcareous soils have been identified as problematic due to the special characteristics such as higher compressibility and softening, higher strain rate dependency as well as contractancy and dilatancy depending on the particle size (along with other factors). With the aim to propose an improved soil constitutive model for capturing the behaviour of calcareous silt, an experimental program on a range of reconstituted calcareous soils is undertaken for developing and calibrating the model. This paper investigates the undrained shearing response (as measured under triaxial compression conditions) of two calcareous soils of varying silt contents. The effect of particle size on the undrained shear strength and dilative or contractive response of calcareous soils is discussed.