Swelling behaviour of compacted Maryland clay under different boundary conditions

This paper presents an experimental study on the swelling response of compacted Maryland clay specimens subjected to hydration under a range of boundary conditions. The research is multi-scale with swelling tests complemented by comprehensive mercury intrusion porosimetry analyses. The objective of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Géotechnique 2019-06, Vol.69 (6), p.514-525
Main Authors: Yuan, S., Buzzi, O., Liu, X., Vaunat, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Boundary conditions
Clay
deformation
Enginyeria civil
expansive soils
Flooding
Geotècnia
Intrusion
laboratory tests
Mecànica de sòls
Mecànica dels sòls
Mercury
Multiscale analysis
particle-scale behaviour
Porosity
Soil
Soil compaction
Soil conditions
Soil suction
Stiffness
Swelling pressure
Swelling soils
Void ratio
Workers
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC
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Summary:This paper presents an experimental study on the swelling response of compacted Maryland clay specimens subjected to hydration under a range of boundary conditions. The research is multi-scale with swelling tests complemented by comprehensive mercury intrusion porosimetry analyses. The objective of the experimental programme is to establish the locus of final swollen states (in terms of void ratio and swelling pressure) and assess its robustness by testing a range of boundary conditions or combinations thereof. Five initial soil conditions were tested and swelling was generated by flooding or incremental suction reduction by way of the osmotic technique. The paper shows that, for a given soil condition, there is no influence of the stress–volume path on the final swollen state. This observation was corroborated at the microscopic level by the mercury intrusion porosimetry. It was concluded that the effect of different stiffness can actually be analysed in terms of the maximum stress applied to the specimen. In particular, a clear correlation was identified between the macroscopic strains and the confinement applied during the test, regardless of the boundary conditions. Also, the conceptual model relating the water ratio and micro void ratio proposed by E. Romero and co-workers in 2011 was found to prevail, regardless of the boundary conditions.
ISSN:0016-8505
1751-7656
DOI:10.1680/jgeot.17.P.140