Search results for "Expansive clay"
showing 3 items of 3 documents
Experimental study of a naturally weathered stiff clay
2016
Studying the shear strength of a naturally weathered clay is important to understand rain-induced slope failures in weathered soils. However, experimental studies on naturally weathered soils are limited. The paper focuses on the laboratory experimental investigation carried out to analyse the shear strength of a naturally weathered stiff clay that can be found in unsaturated conditions in situ. This has an important practical relevance in the evaluation of the stability conditions of natural slopes at clay outcrops. Different experimental techniques of suction measurement were used to obtain the soil-water retention curve of the clay over a wide range of suctions. Scanning electronic micr…
Fabric evolution and the related swelling behaviour of a sand/bentonite mixture upon hydro-chemo-mechanical loadings
2015
This experimental study investigates the swelling behaviour of an 80/20 sand/bentonite mixture and the associated fabric evolution under different hydro-chemo-mechanical loadings. Free and confined swelling tests are performed on specimens compacted to different dry densities and wetted with different pore fluids. Controlled suction confined swelling tests are performed to determine the suction–swelling pressure relationship for two different densities. An extensive microstructural characterisation is performed to relate the observed swelling behaviour to the evolution of the different pore networks during wetting. Based on the microstructural analysis, an expression is proposed to determi…
Water retention behaviour and microstructural evolution of MX-80 bentonite during wetting and drying cycles
2014
MX-80 bentonite used in engineered barrier systems would be subjected to wetting and drying cycles. To assess the response of the material under such circumstances, a comprehensive experimental characterisation of the water retention behaviour of compacted MX-80 granular bentonite was performed in this study. A new methodology is proposed to investigate this behaviour under a constant volume condition for specimens prepared at different dry densities. The material was subjected to different hydraulic paths, including cyclic variations of the water content. As a result, an irreversible modification of the retention behaviour was observed when the material approached a fully saturated state …