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Studies on Hydraulic Conductivity of Fly Ash-Stabilised Expansive Clay Liners

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Abstract

Earthen barriers or clay liners are a major concern in geo-environmental engineering. They are designed to preclude or reduce leachate migration. Hence, a low hydraulic conductivity (k) is an important parameter in the design of clay liners. Materials such as bentonite and lateritic clays, which have a low hydraulic conductivity at high dry densities, are used in the construction of clay liners. Compacted expansive clays which are high in montmorillonite content also have a very low hydraulic conductivity. When expansive clays are blended with fly ash, an industrial waste, the hydraulic conductivity further reduces as the ash-clay blends result in increased dry densities at increased fly ash contents. Hence, fly ash-stabilised expansive clay can also be proposed as an innovative clay liner material. It is, therefore, required to study various physical and engineering properties of this new clay liner material. Liquid limit (LL) and free swell index (FSI) are important index properties to be studied in the case of this clay liner material. The hydraulic conductivity of this new clay liner material depends on the fly ash content in the blend. Further, parameters such as solute concentration and kinematic viscosity also influence hydraulic conductivity of clay liners. This paper presents experimental results obtained on hydraulic conductivity (k) of fly ash-stabilised expansive clay liner at varying fly ash content and solute concentration. The tests were performed with deionised water (DIW), CaCl2, NaCl and KCl as permeating fluids. Fly ash content in the blend was varied as 0, 10, 20 and 30 % by weight of the expansive clay, and the solute concentration was varied as 5 mM (milli molar), 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500. It was found that hydraulic conductivity (k) decreased with increasing fly ash content, solute concentration and kinematic viscosity. Further, hydraulic conductivity (k) was correlated with LL and FSI of the clay liner material for different fly ash contents and solute concentrations. Useful correlations were obtained.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore, 632 014, India

    B. R. Phanikumar & M. Uma Shankar

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  1. B. R. Phanikumar
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  2. M. Uma Shankar
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Correspondence to B. R. Phanikumar.

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Phanikumar, B.R., Uma Shankar, M. Studies on Hydraulic Conductivity of Fly Ash-Stabilised Expansive Clay Liners. Geotech Geol Eng 34, 449–462 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-015-9956-7

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