EN
Investigations of loose grain media, i.e. of media formed of rigid particles of various sizes, often raise the problem of the relationship between the mechanical composition (particle-size composition), and the physical and mechanical parameters of the medium studied. It may be expected that the parameters are related to the geometry of solid phase of the medium, which concept covers the mutual spatial arrangement of the medium particles. The modelling of the solid phase geometry requires the introduction of certain necessary assumptions concerning the shape of the particle and the manner (type) of particle packing. It was assumed, therefore, that: a) the soil is composed of rigid spherical particles, the diameter of which, as well as quantities, are determined by the mechanical composition of the soil; b) space may be filled with tetrahedrons, the peaks of which are the centres nf four mutually tangent particles of the medium. These formed the basis for an approach to the calculation of the number of permissible configurations, and of the probability of occurence of each of them. Calculations were carried out, and the results were compared with those from an experiment concerned with porosity of the medium.