Abstract
The aim was to produce data to find a suited test method and sand parameters for determination of the void ratio parameter for crushed sand to be used in the "particle-matrix-model – PMM. PMM considers workability from the volumetric ratio between the viscous matrix phase (expressed by a flow resistance parameter) and the solid particle phase (expressed by the void ratio parameter). Four test methods were included, all based on filling of a container with known volume, also representing different degrees of additional compaction energy. The results confirm that the voids ratio varies between different filling procedures and compaction levels. Four different commonly used sands in Norway were tested, representing various grain shape. All sands were sieved to achieve a clean fraction 0.125 – 4 mm representing the "natural" grain size distributions (GSD). In addition, all sands were split in five fractions, and then combined to achieve similar "dense" and "open" GSDs. This made it possible to separate the influence of shape and GSD. The results show that the traditional concept of “open and “dense” GSD corresponds to high and low voids ratio, respectively and that increasing angularity of the grains contributes to increased voids ratio.