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In this paper, a new definition of a structural parameter for soil is given to characterize the mechanical properties of soils and their changing patterns. The soil structural parameter is a quantitative descriptor of soil structural properties. Structural parameters are related not only to the grain size, density, and moisture content of the soil material composition and state, but also to the spatial arrangement of soil particles in the soil skeleton structure and the characteristics of intergranular associations. The new definition of the structural parameter, established from the comparison of loess structural stability and variability, is defined as the ratio of the shear strength of undisturbed loess to that of remodeled saturated loess. The patterns of moisture content, confining pressure, and dry density on structural properties were analyzed and the degrees of influence of each factor on structural properties were quantified. By analyzing the change rule of the structural parameter of loess with the difference of moisture content and plastic limit, its change rule with plastic limit and liquid limit, and the change rule of the structural parameter with the liquidity index, the essential relationship between the structural parameter and grain size, density, and moisture is revealed. The essential relationship between the structural parameter and grain size, density, and moisture were also revealed.

来源平台：APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL