Effect of freeze–thaw on the hydraulic conductivity and morphology of compacted clay

1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majdi A. Othman ◽  
Craig H. Benson
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Compacted Clay ◽  
Clay Liners ◽  
Overburden Pressure ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Freeze Thaw ◽  
State Of Stress ◽  
Soil Liners ◽  
Compacted Clays

Several studies have shown that freeze–thaw causes changes in the hydraulic conductivity of compacted clays. Cracks formed by ice lensing and shrinkage cause the hydraulic conductivity to increase. In this paper, changes in hydraulic conductivity are related to changes in morphology. Photographs of thin sections of frozen specimens show that ice lenses form in compacted clay during freezing in a closed system. Photographs also show that similar ice structures are obtained for one- and three-dimensional freezing, which explains why similar hydraulic conductivities are obtained for both conditions. The photographs also show that a significant network of cracks forms in a single cycle of freeze–thaw. With additional cycles, new ice lenses are created and thus the hydraulic conductivity continues to increase. However, after about three cycles the number of new ice lenses becomes negligible and hence further changes in hydraulic conductivity cease. The temperature gradient and state of stress affect morphology and hydraulic conductivity of compacted clays subjected to freeze–thaw. At larger temperature gradients, more ice lenses form and hence the hydraulic conductivity increases. In contrast, application of overburden pressure inhibits the formation of ice lenses and reduces the size of the cracks remaining when lenses thaw. As a result, the hydraulic conductivity is reduced. Key words : compacted clay, hydraulic conductivity, clay liners, soil liners, freeze-thaw, ice lenses, structure.

Remarks on the design of clay liners used in lagoons as hydraulic barriers

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 512-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Leroueil ◽  
J. P. Le Bihan ◽  
R. Bouchard
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Compacted Clay ◽  
Plastic Limit ◽  
Clay Liners ◽  
Natural Soils ◽  
Compacted Clay Liner ◽  
Compacted Clays ◽  
Hydraulic Barriers

Considering that (i) the hydraulic conductivity of compacted clays is smaller on the wet side of optimum; (ii) the plastic limit is the water content below which the soil develops fissures under small stresses; (iii) the plastic limit and the optimum standard Proctor water content are similar for many natural soils; and (iv) the strength of compacted clays, thus the limit of trafficability, is a function of (w – wopt)/Ip, relevant conditions for the design of clay liners and the evaluation of their hydraulic conductivity are proposed. Key words : compacted clay, liner, hydraulic conductivity, strength, design.

Effects of freezing and thawing on the hydraulic conductivity of paper mill sludges used as landfill covers

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 783-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Horace K Moo-Young, Jr. ◽  
Thomas F Zimmie
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Paper Mill ◽  
Paper Sludge ◽  
Compacted Clay ◽  
Freezing And Thawing ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Shrinkage Cracks ◽  
Compacted Clays ◽  
Landfill Covers ◽  
Study Laboratory

A major concern in the design of landfill covers and liners that use compacted clays as the hydraulic barrier is freezing and thawing. Paper mill sludges have been used in landfill covers to subtitute for clays as the hydraulic barrier. In this study, laboratory-compacted paper sludges have been subjected to one-dimensional and three-dimensional laboratory freezing and thawing cycles. Freezing and thawing increased the hydraulic conductivity of the paper sludges about one to two orders of magnitude. To determine why freezing and thawing cause an increase in hydraulic conductivity, an evaluation of the effects of freezing and thawing on the macrostucture of paper sludges was conducted. Frozen thin sections of paper sludges were prepared after freeze–thaw cycling and were compared to frozen thin sections of a compacted clay. Macrostructure analysis of the paper sludge and clay thin sections was conducted by using back lighting to reveal the details of ice structure. Analysis of the clay thin sections revealed ice lenses and shrinkage cracks. Ice lenses and shrinkage cracks in sludge thin sections were difficult to determine when the same procedure for compacted clays was used. Key words: freeze, paper sludge, landfill, permeability, macrostructure, thin sections.

Freeze–thaw cycling concurrent with cation exchange and the hydraulic conductivity of geosynthetic clay liners

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 591-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory P. Makusa ◽  
Sabrina L. Bradshaw ◽  
Erin Berns ◽  
Craig H. Benson ◽  
Sven Knutsson
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Cation Exchange ◽  
Pore Water ◽  
Geosynthetic Clay Liners ◽  
Clay Liners ◽  
Chemical Changes ◽  
Clay Liner ◽  
Freeze Thaw ◽  
Exchange Complex ◽  
Before And After

A study was conducted to assess the effect of cation exchange concurrent with freeze–thaw cycling on the hydraulic conductivity of a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL). GCLs were prehydrated by contact with silica flour moistened with synthetic subgrade pore water and subsequently permeated with a solution representing the pore water in the cover soil over a tailings facility. Control tests were conducted using the same procedure, except deionized (DI) water was used as the permeant liquid to preclude cation exchange from the permeant liquid. The GCLs were subjected to 1, 3, 5, 15, and 20 freeze–thaw cycles, and the hydraulic conductivity and exchange complex were determined before and after freeze–thaw cycling to assess chemical changes that occurred during freezing, thawing, and permeation. GCLs undergoing freeze–thaw cycling experienced little to no cation exchange through 5 freeze–thaw cycles. After 20 freeze–thaw cycles, 50% of the sodium (Na+) initially in the exchange complex was replaced by calcium (Ca2+). Dissolution of calcite within the bentonite is a likely source of the Ca2+. Hydraulic conductivity of the GCLs exposed to freeze–thaw cycling was lower than the hydraulic conductivity of a new GCL permeated with DI water (<2.2 × 10−11 m/s). A small increase in hydraulic conductivity (∼2.3 times), which may have been caused by cation exchange, occurred between 15 and 20 freeze–thaw cycles, but the hydraulic conductivity remained below the hydraulic conductivity of a new GCL unexposed to freeze–thaw cycling and permeated with DI water.

Effects of freeze–thaw and softening on a natural clay at low stresses

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Graham ◽  
V. C. S. Au
Keyword(s):  
Pore Water ◽  
Compacted Clay ◽  
Lake Agassiz ◽  
Overburden Pressure ◽  
Freeze Thaw ◽  
Weathering Processes ◽  
Preconsolidation Pressure ◽  
Pore Water Pressures ◽  
Access To Water

Weathering processes such as softening and freeze–thaw cycling affect the properties of clays. Care must therefore be taken when selecting strength and compressibility parameters for analysis of natural slopes, compacted clay embankments, and trench excavations in which significant proportions of the cross section can be affected by climatic weathering.Samples of plastic Lake Agassiz clay from Winnipeg were consolidated anisotropically in the laboratory to axial stresses less than or equal to the in situ effective overburden pressure. They were therefore all overconsolidated with respect to the field preconsolidation pressure. The samples were then loaded under drained or undrained conditions along steeply rising stress paths in p′, q stress space. One group of samples was tested immediately to identify the "undisturbed" behavior, a second group was subjected to freeze–thaw cycles, and a third group allowed to swell freely before testing.The freeze–thaw cycling produced increased compressibility and pore-water pressures, and reduced strengths at low stresses compared with the behavior of undisturbed clay. Freezing also caused the development of a clearly defined fissure structure. Softening at low stresses with access to water produced less marked effects. Key words: clay, undisturbed, freeze–thaw, softening, strength, yielding, pore-water pressures.

Statistical analyses of compacted clay landfill liners. Part 1: model development

1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 872-882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott B. Donald ◽  
Edward A. McBean
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Statistical Analyses ◽  
Compacted Clay ◽  
Clay Liners ◽  
Landfill Liner ◽  
Landfill Liners ◽  
Clay Liner ◽  
Spatial Correlation Structure

The acceptance of compacted clay liners, from a management point of view, has been a source of major concern because of the uncertainty associated with the hydrogeologic properties of the clay. By examining the flux of leachate through the compacted clay liner of a typical engineered landfill, where the hydraulic conductivity of the clay is represented by a stochastic process, an acceptance protocol suitable for compacted clay landfill liners is derived. Determination of the equivalent hydraulic conductivity of the clay liner is accomplished by comparing the flux of leachate through a homogeneous representation of the clay with the flux obtained by Monte Carlo analyses. Acceptance criteria are subsequently developed based on a statistical technique which calculates the confidence limits about a percentile of a probability distribution as well as about the mean of the distribution. For the landfill configuration simulated, the results indicate that the hydraulic conductivity of a compacted clay landfill liner follows a lognormal distribution and exhibits virtually no spatial correlation structure. In addition, for liners exhibiting a geometric mean conductivity of 10−7 cm/s and a standard deviation of 0.3, the geometric mean value is a conservative estimate of the hydraulic conductivity of the clay, provided the liner is constructed in a series of four 150 mm lifts. Key words: clay liners, hydraulic conductivity, statistical analyses, latin hypercube, equivalent hydraulic conductivity.

Prediction of the hydraulic conductivity of clays using the electric double layer theory

1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 783-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopal Achari ◽  
R C Joshi ◽  
L R Bentley ◽  
S Chatterji
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Double Layer ◽  
Electric Double Layer ◽  
Layer Model ◽  
Clay Liners ◽  
Overburden Pressure ◽  
Clay Particles ◽  
Concentration Of Ions ◽  
Double Layer Model ◽  
Double Layer Theory

A model to predict the hydraulic conductivity of consolidated clay, simulating clay liners compacted wet of optimum, is presented. The concept that clays exist as clusters and the electrical double layer theory are used to predict the hydraulic conductivity of clays for permeants of known composition. The model relates the physical properties of clays, such as its surface area, with the overburden pressure and the concentration of ions in the permeant. The model can be used to predict the hydraulic conductivity of bentonitic clays with monovalent as well as divalent exchangeable cations. The model is valid within the range of applicability of the Gouy-Chapman electric double layer theory. The variation in the number of clay particles per cluster with the consolidation pressure and concentration of ions in the permeant has been discussed. The model has been calibrated and verified using published experimental data. However, the model in its present form is valid only for homoionic clays and permeants with the same valency. With an increase in concentration of ions in the permeant, the precision of the model has been found to decrease. Key words: clay, clusters, hydraulic conductivity, double layer, model, permeant, concentration.

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