The Effect of Varying Air Pressure on the Fluidity of Different Sand Types

Overview

Objectives My project was to determine the effect of varying air pressure on the fluidity of different types of sand. I believed that the finer sand would fluidize more easily than the more coarse sand. I thought that the smaller, lighter grains would be moved more easily and allow the golf ball to sink faster. Methods I placed a pvc lattice with a valve connected to an air compressor in the bottom of a clear, plastic container. I alternately filled the container with 4 different types of sand (play sand, mesh sand, all purpose sand and washed all purpose sand) and turned on the air compressor (with 3 different pressures) and measured the time it took for a golf ball to sink below the sand. I performed 25 trials at each air pressure for each type of sand. Before coming to the State Fair, I am going to change the golf ball to a small piece of weighted plywood to more closely simulate buildings of different weights. I will also add more types of sand to my trials. Results According to the data the all purpose sand became more fluid when more pressure was applied. The larger grains of sand allowed more air to infiltrate between the particles and they moved more freely than the smaller grained sands (mesh sand and play sand). Conclusions As the particle size of the sand increased the faster the golf ball sank. There is a direct relationship between particle size and fluidity of the sand (liquefaction). It is concluded that liquefaction depends in part on the particle size of the soil.

Competition history

• CSEF 2019 Earth & Environmental Sciences · Entry J0917

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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