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Evolution of disintegration properties of granite residual soil with microstructure alteration due to wetting and drying cycles

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Abstract

Despite extensive investigations of the disintegration behavior of rock, much less is known about the disintegration behavior of residual soil derived from the weathering of the parent rock. The engineering geology of RS is widely recognized as being associated with the parent rock properties as well as the weathering conditions. In the case of granite residual soil, how climate changes affect its disintegration behavior is currently not well understood. This paper performed laboratory disintegration tests on natural and remolded GRS as well as the residual soil subjected to various wetting–drying (W–D) cycles. The soil microstructure alterations due to W–D cycles are also investigated through scanning electron microscope and mercury intrusion porosimetry. The W–D cycles transform the microstructure of natural GRS toward the pattern for remolded soil by damaging the cementation among soil particles, expanding the pore diameter, and forming macropores and fissures. The deterioration of cementation weakens the particle association; thus, the soil is more disintegrative, and the generation of fissures facilitates this water–soil interaction by allowing infiltrating water to pass through. Several parameters are proposed to quantify the microstructure alterations and are found to correlate well with the disintegration rates of soil subjected to W–D cycles. This paper quantifies the microstructure evolution as induced by W–D cycles and enhances the understanding of the mechanism for the disintegration of residual soil.

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modified from Liu et al. (2022b)

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the constructive suggestions from editors and reviewers.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41972285, 41672293), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (Grant No. 2018363), the opening fund of State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection (Grant No. SKLGP2020K024), Open Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Z0190202) and Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Hubei Province (2020CFA103), and the CRSRI Open Research Program (CKWV2021884/KY).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China

    Xianwei Zhang, Xinyu Liu, Cheng Chen & Yiqing Xu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Xinyu Liu & Yiqing Xu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, China

    Honghu Liu

  4. Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute, Changjiang Water Resource Commission, Wuhan, China

    Honghu Liu

Authors
  1. Xianwei Zhang
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  2. Xinyu Liu
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  3. Cheng Chen
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  4. Yiqing Xu
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  5. Honghu Liu
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Contributions

Writing-original draft preparation: Xianwei Zhang, Xinyu Liu, Cheng Chen. Writing-review and editing: Xianwei Zhang, Xinyu Liu, Yiqing Xu, Honghu Liu. Data collection and analysis: Xianwei Zhang, Xinyu Liu, Yiqing Xu. Methodology: Xianwei Zhang, Xinyu Liu, Cheng Chen.

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Correspondence to Xinyu Liu.

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Zhang, X., Liu, X., Chen, C. et al. Evolution of disintegration properties of granite residual soil with microstructure alteration due to wetting and drying cycles. Bull Eng Geol Environ 81, 93 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-02602-5

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