Implementing a fast, practical, and rational quality control technique at a soil mixture production plant, based on a continuous and quantitative classification of materials: A case study

This study analyzed the variability in the production of batches of a soil mix prepared from cohesive and granular material, in an improved materials production plant. For soil analysis, a non-dimensional number known as characteristic factor was used, in order to provide a quantitative and continuous classification for the mix; in addition, it was sought to link this non-dimensional number to particle size-analysis and liquid limit of soils obtained from the same geological formation. This study shows that with the use of a quantitative and continuous classification, quality control was optimized not only during production at the production plant but also at the construction site. It is also shown that if the characteristic factor of the soil mixture is close to the predefined characteristic factor, there is a high probability that the mechanical response of the material measured at the production plant will be close to the mechanical response evaluated at the construction site, as long as the conditions of water content and dry unit weight are close to the optimum value of the compaction curve’s laboratory.