Mechanical properties of a carbonate sand from a dredged hydraulic fill: Discussion

The ‘Mechanical properties of a carbonate sand from a dredged hydraulic fill’ (Giretti et al., 2018a) together with its companion paper ‘CPT calibration and analysis for a carbonate sand’ (Giretti et al., 2018b) are valuable because there are limited data in the literature on biogenic carbonate sands. ‘Compression of granular materials’ by Mesri & Vardhanabhuti (2009) includes some data on carbonate sands. In laterally constrained compression or isotropic compression, carbonate sands display a type C void ratio against effective stress behaviour for which significant level I and level II particle damage begin at low effective stresses and continue with or without gradual level III particle damage at higher stresses. Level I particle damage includes abrasion or grinding of particle surface asperities, level II particle damage includes breaking or crushing of particle surface protrusions and sharp particle corners and edges, and level III particle damage includes fracturing, splitting or shattering of particles.