Experimental study on compaction characteristics of coarse-grained soils with typical particle shapes affected by vibration frequencies

Coarse-grained soils, common fillers in subgrades, bear vibration loads in the construction stage, the compaction effects of which are affected by internal and external factors such as particle shapes and vibration frequencies. To enhance the understanding of compaction performance, this study investigated the vibration-induced deformation and energy dissipation of coarse-grained soils with two typical-shaped particles (pebbles and rubbles) through vibration compaction tests with different frequencies. Results show that both resilience modulus and damping ratio increase with increasing frequency, and the resilience modulus of rubbles is more stable compared with pebbles. Energy dissipation decreases with increasing vibration cycles at low frequencies, yet it increases with increasing vibration cycles at high frequencies. The dry density increment of rubbles is greater than that of pebbles, which is closely related to energy dissipation. Furthermore, the relationships between energy dissipation and dry density increment affected by particle shapes were discussed by discrete element simulations.