scholarly journals Alternative Method for Analysing Hydromechanical Behaviour of Unsaturated Soils

2016 ◽  
pp. 29-39
Author(s):  
Márcia Maria dos Anjos Mascarenha ◽  
Manoel Porfírio Cordão Neto ◽  
Tâmara Moraes Guimarães Silva

The suction-control techniques commonly used for laboratory studies of mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils are much more time consuming than standard soil mechanics tests. In addition, few laboratories have the required apparatus for testing unsaturated soils. This paper proposes an alternative method of analysing hydromechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils with high-porosity. The method is divided in three tasks: 1) verification of the effect of void ratio changes on the water retention curve using filter paper; 2) determining water content changes by evaporation under the same test conditions; and 3) performing saturated and unsaturated consolidation tests. Unsaturated tests make use of samples that are less than 100% saturated and there is no suction control during the test. Therefore, only initial water content is known. Significant suction changes take place due to void closure and evaporation while testing. The results obtained using the proposed methodology showed the stress and suction path and enhance the understanding of the hydromechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils. The results also showed that analyses of water content alone cannot explain some unexpected results, such as: 20% initial water content samples present less deformation than 16% samples.

2015 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Azril Hezmi ◽  
Radzuan Saari ◽  
Mohd Zakri Zahari ◽  
Rini Asnida Abdullah ◽  
Nor Zurairahetty Mohd Yunus ◽  
...  

The soil water characteristic curve (SWCC), also known as soil water retention curve (SWRC), describes the relationship between water content and soil suction in unsaturated soils. The importance of SWCC can be seen, as the relationship affects geotechnical properties such as shear strength, volume change, permeability and deformability of unsaturated soils. This paper presented a preliminary study on the effect of initial water content and the density on SWCC on unsaturated compacted kaolin. Filter paper technique was used for suction measurement on the unsaturated compacted kaolin soil. Filter paper was used to determine total suction and matric suction through contact and noncontact technique. The calibration curve was used to relate with the gravimetric water content obtained in filter paper with corresponding suction. A comparison on SWCC established through filter paper was also compared with that of the axis translation technique (pressure plate extractor). The study found that the initial water content and the density respectively, have great influence on the SWCC of compacted kaolin. However, the combined effect could be seen significantly at lower suction


2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (11) ◽  
pp. 1874-1885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bibiana Narvaez ◽  
Michel Aubertin ◽  
Faustin Saleh-Mbemba

Bending tests were conducted on specimens of unsaturated tailings from three hard rock mines to evaluate their tensile strength. Saturated samples were prepared at an initial water content, w0, of 40% and then naturally dried under ambient conditions to pre-selected degrees of saturation, Sr, which can be related to the corresponding suction using the water retention curve. The basic interpretation of the bending tests results is based on an elastic–brittle behavior. The results show how the tensile strength, σt, of unsaturated tailings varies with water content, w (and Sr). The experimental data are also used to evaluate Young’s modulus in tension, Et, and to estimate the apparent cohesion, capp, as a function of Sr. Predictive equations are also applied to estimate the values of σt of unsaturated tailings using the water retention curve.


2012 ◽  
Vol 256-259 ◽  
pp. 1046-1051
Author(s):  
Dong Xia Chen ◽  
Ma Xiu Zhang ◽  
You Qiang Lin ◽  
Jian Ni

Soil suction is one of the most important parameters for unsaturated soils. An experimental program was carried out to measure the maric suction of soil specimens of a residual soil in Xiamen by filter paper method. Initial water content, soil structure, and stress state were taken into account to investigate the hysteresis loop of SWCC. The air-entry value of test soil is about 140kPa and residual saturation is about 18%. The soil specimen at wet of optimum has the largest hysteresis loop for a relatively uniform pore-size distribution. However, the soil specimen at dry of optimum has the smallest hysteresis loop. The soil specimen at optimum lies between them. For specimens subjected to different stress states under various applied loads, the higher the applied load on the specimen, the smaller the size of hysteresis loop. In drying or wetting process, there is a significant difference in matric suction though soil specimens are at same water content. Therefore, for this kind of soil, it should be attention that the shear strength may be greatly reduced during rainstorms.


Author(s):  
Xiaobing Li ◽  
Jianpeng Chen ◽  
Xiuqing Hu ◽  
Hongtao Fu ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
...  

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Andrzej Bryś ◽  
Joanna Bryś ◽  
Marko Obranović ◽  
Dubravka Škevin ◽  
Szymon Głowacki ◽  
...  

The olive oil industry represents an important productive sector in the Mediterranean basin countries. Olive stone is an essential by-product generated in the olive oil extraction industries and it represents roughly 10% by weight of the olive fruit. The seeds of pickled olives are also a significant waste product. In the present study, we have investigated the possibility of the use of differential scanning calorimetry for the thermal characterization of seeds from green and black pickled olives from Croatia. The differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) with a normal pressure cell equipped with a cooling system was used to determine the thermal properties of seeds from olives. The following analyses were also performed: the determination of calorific values in a pressure bomb calorimeter, the determination of initial water content, the determination of changes of water content during drying at the temperatures of 30 °C, 50 °C and 80 °C, the determination of a percentage content of seeds mass to the mass of the whole olives, and the determination of ash content. Seeds from olives are characterized by very good parameters as a biomass. The analyzed olive seeds were characterized by low water content, low ash content, and a relatively high caloric value.


Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenglong Yin ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Xunli Jiang ◽  
Zhiyi Huang

Initial water content significantly affects the efficiency of soil stabilization. In this study, the effects of initial water content on the compressibility, strength, microstructure, and composition of a lean clay soil stabilized by compound calcium-based stabilizer were investigated by static compaction test, unconfined compression test, optical microscope observations, environment scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The results indicate that as the initial water content increases in the range studied, both the compaction energy and the maximum compaction force decrease linearly and there are less soil aggregates or agglomerations, and a smaller proportion of large pores in the compacted mixture structure. In addition, for specimens cured with or without external water supply and under different compaction degrees, the variation law of the unconfined compressive strength with initial water content is different and the highest strength value is obtained at various initial water contents. With the increase of initial water content, the percentage of the oxygen element tends to increase in the reaction products of the calcium-based stabilizer, whereas the primary mineral composition of the soil-stabilizer mixture did not change notably.


Author(s):  
Ke Rui ◽  
Wang Hongxing ◽  
Tan Yunzhi ◽  
Wang Lehua

Based on orthogonal experimental design, the key solidification controlling technology of Solidified/Stabilized (S/S) sludge with high total organic content (TOC) by cement, lime and metakaolin was explored by macroscopic tests, chemical components measurements and microscopic analysis. The macroscopic tests show that, the permeability coefficient is mainly affected by initial water content and lime content, and the unconfined compression strength is mainly affected by cement content and lime content. The chemical components measurements show that, the solidification effect of S/S sludge with high TOC is controlled by organic matter consumption, and organic matter consumption is determined by the alkaline environment from the cement and lime hydration reactions, which is mainly affect by the initial water content and lime-metakaolin content ratio. The microscopic analysis results show that, lime consumes parts of organic matter while excess lime produces weak Ca(OH)2 crystal fluffy sheet structure, matakaolin produces pozzolanic reactions with cement and lime instead of soil particles, and consumes the weak Ca(OH)2 crystal fluffy sheet structure produced by superfluous lime. The research has confirmed key controlling points of S/S sludge in case of high TOC, which will provide theoretical guidance and technical support for S/S sludge promotion with high TOC.


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