Improvement of Rainer Technique to Reconstitute Sand Bed Modeling

Abstract

One of the most significant aspects of physical modeling geotechnical engineering is the repeatability of bed preparation. The pluviation technique is one of the most reliable methods of preparing beds because it enables quick modeling under favorable conditions. In this research, a novel approach focusing a traveling sand pluviator with two apertures was developed for the reconstitution of large-scale samples. Experiments on Iran’s Firuzkuh sand (#161) evaluated the effects of opening width, traveling pluviator speed, number of openings, and height of fall on the relative density and deposition intensity. Increasing the traveling pluviator speed and decreasing aperture width are correlated with a decrease in deposition intensity, which significantly enhances relative density. By changing the effective parameters, a broad range of relative densities could be obtained—from 12% to 93%. Comparisons among the findings of experiments showed that the double-aperture pluviation plate, given the increases in sand outlet and deposition intensity, had a density equivalent to that of the single-aperture pluviation plate; moreover, each aperture behaved separately, resulting in prompt sand bed preparation. Additionally, the practical application of the double-aperture design demonstrates potential for speeding up the reconstitution process without compromising the sand bed’s relative density, offering practical benefits for laboratory geotechnical experiments. The findings indicated that an increase in fall height leads to an increase in relative density.