Applications of images digital analysis in the characterisation of grains morphology influence in mechanical behaviour of granular soils

Preliminary results of a research aimed to identify the influence of the morphological characteristics of the grains constituting a quartz sand on the mechanical behaviour of the sand itself are presented. The tests were conducted on different size class samples resulting from a grain-size classification of the sand following the international standard classification (ASCII) procedure. For each sample traditional direct shear laboratory tests and an accurate characterisation of morphological and morphometrical properties of their constituting elements (grains) by means of digital image processing techniques were conducted. The statistical distribution of the different parameters derived following the two above mentioned procedures was studied and the results discussed.