Development and assessment of a spreadsheet-based decision support framework for optimal reconstitution of cohesionless soils

Analyzing various geotechnical problems associated with cohesionless soils necessitates the creation of a physical model exhibiting a uniformly reconstituted soil structure. However, reconstituting such a well-conditioned model with complex reconstitution criteria or goals using the conventional air pluviation technique is an intricate task. To address this challenge, the present study proposes a novel Spreadsheet-based Pluviation Parametric Optimizer (SPPO), which is purposely developed for the systematized, controlled, and optimal reconstitution of cohesionless soils. A cohesive integration of a Mechatronic-Assisted Air Pluviation System (MAPS) and the Taguchi-VIKOR-based Multi-response Optimization (TV-MRO) algorithm, devised through SPPO, is utilized to achieve the aforementioned optimal reconstitution. To verify the competence of the decision support framework offered by SPPO, the reconstitution of a poorly graded quartz sand (D₅₀=0.22 mm) considering five modelled reconstitution scenarios was conducted. For each modelled reconstitution scenario, SPPO identified an optimal pluviation setting, which was further validated by a confirmatory experiment and a devised optimality criterion. Additionally, it was revealed that the height of fall is the most influential parameter in optimal reconstitution, followed by diffuser ratio and sieve porosity. Overall, it is anticipated that the adoption of SPPO can be effective in reconstituting cohesionless soils with much less reconstitution effort, time, and resource deployment compared to conventional reconstitution methodologies.