Evaluation of Aeolian Sand Collapsibility Based on Physical Indicators in the Mu Us Desert, China

The collapsibility of aeolian sand has hindered the development of oil and gas resources and the construction of oil and gas stations in the Mu Us Desert. This study considered aeolian sand on the southern edge of the Mu Us Desert as the research object. Based on a water immersion load test, standard penetration test, and indoor geotechnical test, four evaluation indicators were selected, the water content, dry density, void ratio, and saturation. Combined with the support vector machine method, we established a method for evaluating the collapsibility of aeolian sand based on basic physical indicators. The results showed the following: (1) The degree of collapsibility was slight, with a small portion showing no collapsibility. And the load-settlement curve (P-s) was divided into three stages: the linear elastic deformation stage, the elastic–plastic deformation stage, and the collapsible deformation stage. (2) There was a strong relationship between the collapsibility coefficient and the four evaluation indicators for aeolian sand. Based on these indicators, we could accurately predict and evaluate the collapsibility coefficient. (3) Machine learning methods, such as the support vector machine, can effectively solve prediction and evaluation problems between variables when there is no clear mathematical relationship between multiple independent variables and a single dependent variable.