Energy concept and soil compression

Energy exchanges universally exist in all the formation of soils. Work done on soils by various external agents can either harden or soften soils, depending on initial and boundary conditions of soil media. This paper focuses on the absorbed energy of compacted samples from three soils and the variation of their volume-mass properties during compaction processes. The relation of the absorbed energy with dry unit weight and degree of saturation during compaction process was present to illustrate the influence of soil's types and initial moisture content on compaction efficiency. The variation of matric suction of soil samples during compaction, along with the variation of vertical compression stress, was approximated, which provides some insights into the mechanism of soil compaction and will be helpful in predicting the engineering performance of compacted soils. The absorbed energy is also proved to be an effective indicator of shear strength of compacted soils, which is in turn closely associated with dry unit weight and moisture content of compacted soils.