Reconstitution: what makes an appropriate reference material?

Structure, which is a combination of particle associations and attractions (Mitchell, 1976), was shown by Leroueil & Vaughan (1990) to be as important as specific volume and stress state in controlling the behaviour of a soil. The influence of the meta-stable component of the structure can be observed by comparing the behaviour of a natural soil with that of an equivalent reconstituted soil, normalizing where appropriate to account for their different stress and volumetric states. The use of an appropriate reference material is necessary to assess this component correctly.

Reconstituted soil is made by remoulding a natural soil...