Force transmission and soil fabric of binary granular mixtures

The effect of fines content on force transmission and fabric development of gap-graded mixtures under triaxial compression has been studied using the discrete-element method. Results were used to define load-bearing soil fabrics where the relative contributions of coarse and fine components are explicitly quantified in terms of force transmission. Comparison with previous findings suggests that lower particle size ratios result in higher interaction between components. A potential for instability was detected for underfilled fabrics in agreement with recent findings. It was also found that the threshold fines content provides an accurate macroscopic estimation of the transition between underfilled and overfilled fabrics.