THE LOUGHBOROUGH LOESS MONTE-CARLO MODEL OF SOIL-STRUCTURE

A major problem encountered with loess deposits is that of structural collapse when loaded and wetted, the process known as hydrocollapse. T o elucidate this problem it is beneficial to model the soil at a micro structural level. The ''Loughborough Loess'' has been developed as a M onte Carlo computer-based simulation to model soil structure. The simu lation creates a random packing, representative of the initial aeolian deposition of loess. From this the influence of particle shape and si ze on the structure and void ratio are analysed. Secondly, an archetyp al soil has been manufactured from crushed sand and clay mineral. This serves to validate the computer simulation and to provide a benchmark for the comparison of worldwide loess deposits. This has been achieve d by the manufacture of loess from crushed sand and clay mineral using a recently developed airfall method. Both the artificial and natural loess samples have shown that the computer simulation closely reproduc es characteristic initial loess structures with typical void ratios. F urther work is currently being undertaken to improve the computer mode l to take account of three dimensions. The manufactured samples are te sted alongside samples of actual loess using double oedometer tests. ( C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.