An investigation on the geotechnical properties of sand–EPS mixture using large oedometer apparatus

• Deformation and constrained modulus of EPS–sand mixture was investigated.
• Permeability and hydraulic conductivity of EPS–sand mixture was obtained.
• A new fabricated large size oedometer apparatus was designed and tested.
• A K0 coefficient measurement was designed through a ring pressure cell inside the large oedometer apparatus.
• Unconstrained deformation modulus to be back-calculated from oedometeric gauge readings was for the first time calculated.

The applicability of Expanded PolyStyrene (EPS) beads mixed with sand in five different contents was investigated for use in geotechnical engineering applications utilizing a newly designed and fabricated large scale oedometer apparatus. Permeability, coefficient of earth pressure “at rest” and the volume compressibility coefficient were measured and calculated for different EPS beads contents. Consolidation and permeability tests were conducted under different overburden pressures. The main findings of major recent studies were compared with current study and verification of new results was undertaken. Permeability, coefficient of earth pressure “at rest” and the volume compression coefficient along with some important deformation and strength characteristics parameters namely, the internal friction angle, constraint modulus and the drained 3-D elasticity modulus were investigated. The Results revealed that permeability, internal friction angle, constraint modulus and 3-D Young modulus decreases with inclusion content. However, the volume compressibility coefficient and the K0 coefficient showed opposite trends. Predictive models were submitted in forms of Multi Linear Regression, MLR simulations and their performances were evaluated.