Impact of pore fluid salinity on the mechanical behavior of unsaturated bentonite–sand mixture

High salinity of local groundwater and the thermal gradient present within the deep geological repository environment make it necessary to investigate the effect of the pore fluid salinity on the hydro-mechanical behavior engineered barriers at different degrees of saturation. This study examines th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental earth sciences 2016-11, Vol.75 (22), p.1, Article 1434
Main Authors: Tabiatnejad, Bardia, Siddiqua, Sumi, Siemens, Greg
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bentonite
Biogeosciences
Calcium chloride
Distilled water
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Environmental Science and Engineering
Geochemistry
Geology
Groundwater
Hydrology/Water Resources
Original Article
Salinity
Sand
Shear strength
Terrestrial Pollution
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Summary:High salinity of local groundwater and the thermal gradient present within the deep geological repository environment make it necessary to investigate the effect of the pore fluid salinity on the hydro-mechanical behavior engineered barriers at different degrees of saturation. This study examines the impact of CaCl 2 salt solution at two concentrations, i.e., 100 and 250 g/L on the compressibility and shear strength behavior of the bentonite–sand buffer (BSB) within a range of saturations. Both as-compacted and desiccated BSB specimens were studied. Desiccated specimens were prepared in a constant-suction environment using the vapor equilibrium technique, and high-pressure cells were used to carry out the triaxial shear experiments. Experimental results were compared with the available data from the literature for BSB materials prepared with distilled water in order to get a better understanding of the impact of the salinity. The comparison shows that the existence of salt in the specimens has notable effect on the total suction levels, compressibility and shear strength of the material.
ISSN:1866-6280
1866-6299
DOI:10.1007/s12665-016-6246-5