Closure to 'Assessment of K_o correlation to strength for granular materials'

摘要

The authors would like to thank the discussers for their interest and insightful observations on the results presented in the paper. The main points raised by the discussers may be summarized as follows: (1) Jaky's equation (Jaky, 1944) should be limited in its application: it should only be applied to normally consolidated loose sands, and the friction angle for the equation in this case should be the critical state friction angle φ'c given as follows: K_o=1-sin φ'_c (1) where K_o is the coefficient of lateral earth pressure at rest and φ'_c is the critical state friction angle. (2) Densification of a granular material leads to increased values of K_o and decreased values of (K), the incremental stress ratio of Δσ'_h and Δσ'_v. The empirical equation in terms of the maximum (peak) friction angle better expresses the lateral stress behavior of densified sands under laterally constrained condition, which is given as follows: (K)=1-sin φ'_p where φ'_p is the peak (maximum) friction angle. (3) The empirical formulation of K_o for overconsolidated condition given by Eq. (3) predicts well the measured results when φ'_c is used. This confirms that the slope of K_o increase is independent of initial void ratio.