Effect of liquid addition on the packing of mono-sized coarse spheres

This paper reports an experimental study of the packing of spherical particles with special reference to the effect of liquid addition. It shows that the properties of both particle and liquid affect the packing behaviour significantly. Under given packing conditions, dry based porosity increases to a maximum and then keeps constant with the increase of liquid content, giving two regions: (a) a wetting region in which the porosity increases with liquid content because of an increased effect of liquid-related force; and (b) a filling region in which liquid increases bulk density by filling the voids among particles. Particle size and surface tension are the main factors in the quantification of this porosity-liquid content relation. Empirical equations have been formulated in terms of dimensionless groups for the purpose of prediction. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.