Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of 3D Printing on Clay Permeability and Strength

  • Published:
Transport in Porous Media Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Advances in additive manufacturing create unique opportunities for the investigation of permeability of fine-grained soils. The permeability of fine-grained soils, such as clays, plays an important role in various design considerations in the geotechnical, environmental, and stormwater management systems. This research investigates the application of 3D printed specimens in studying the hydraulic and mechanical properties of clayey soils. The effects of 3D printing, specifically direct binder jet printing, on the permeability, and other physical properties of clay were investigated. Cylindrical clay specimens were prepared using an advanced direct binder jet printing and tested in a flexible wall permeameter and triaxial compression setup under effective confining stresses representing clay at very shallow depths. The results of this study show that the 3D printing process affects the permeability of clay through changes in physical properties such as the specific surface area. However, the printing provides consistent and repeatable specimens with very low disturbance and efficient controlled geometry. Also, due to stiffer 3D printed specimen, less confinement impact was observed in 3D printed specimens. Also, 3D printed specimens showed significantly higher shear strength and friction angle. The outcome of this research could pave the path for future studies dealing with flow through fractured clays.

Article Highlights

  • 3D printing and sintering change the physical properties of clay powder leading to higher permeability.

  • The impact of confining pressure on 3D printed specimens is considerably low.

  • 3D printing increases the shear strength of soil specimens.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Most of the data and models generated or used during the study appear in the submitted article. However, some or all data used are available from the corresponding author by request.

References

  • ASTM D2487-17e1: Standard practice for classification of soils for engineering purposes (Unified Soil Classification System). ASTM International (2020).

  • Basak, P.: Non-Darcy flow and its implications to seepage problems. J. Irrig. Drain. Div. 103(4), 459–473 (1977)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockhorn, B., Klint, K.E.S., Locatelli, L., Park, Y.-J., Binning, P.J., Sudicky, E., Jensen, M.B.: Factors affecting the hydraulic performance of infiltration based SUDS in clay. Urban Water J. 14(2), 125–133 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062x.2015.1076860.

  • Chan, S.S.L., Pennings, R.M., Edwards, L., Franks, G.V.: 3D printing of clay for decorative architectural applications: Effect of solids volume fraction on rheology and printability. Additive Manufact. 35(April), 101335 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101335

  • Chapuis, R.P.: Similarity of internal stability criteria for granular soils. Can. Geotech. J. 29(4), 711–713 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1139/t92-078

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapuis, R.P.: Predicting the saturated hydraulic conductivity of soils: a review. Bull. Eng. Geol. Env. 71(3), 401–434 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-012-0418-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapuis, R.P., Aubertin, M.: On the use of the Kozeny–Carman equation to predict the hydraulic conductivity of soils. Can. Geotechn. J. 40(3), 616–628 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1139/t03-013.

  • Chapuis, R.P., Legare, P.-P.: A simple method for determining the surface area of fine aggregates and fillers in bituminous mixtures. ASTM Testing and Materials. ASTM STP 1147. ASTM, West Conshohocken, pp 177–186 (1992).

  • Chen, Z., Li, Z., Li, J., Liu, C., Lao, C., Fu, Y., Liu, C., Li, Y., He, Y.: 3D Printing of ceramics: a review. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 39(4), 661–687 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2018.11.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, J., Tong, H., Yuan, J., Fang, Y., Gu, R.: Permeability prediction model modified on Kozeny-Carman for building foundation of clay soil. Buildings. 12(11), 1798 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12111798

  • Clennell, M.B., Dewhurst, D.N., Brown, K.M., Westbrook, G.K.: Permeability anisotropy of consolidated clays. Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ. 158, 79–96 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1999.158.01.07

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dananaj, I., Frankovska, J.: Permeability of fine-grained Soils. Slovak Geol. Magaz 10(14), 3025–3312 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  • Das, B. M., Sivakugan, N.: Principles of foundation engineering. 8th ed., Cengage Learning (2017).

  • Dejam, M., Hassanzadeh, H., Chen, Z.: Pre-Darcy flow in porous media. Water Resour. Res. 53(10), 8187–8210 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dewhurst, D.N., Aplin, A.C., Sarda, J.P.: Influence of clay fraction on pore-scale properties and hydraulic conductivity of experimentally compacted mudstones. J. Geophys. Res. 104, 29261–29274 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foth, H.D.: Fundamentals of soil science, 6th edn., p. 436. Wiley, New York (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredlund, D.G., Xing, A., Huang, S.: Predicting the permeability function for unsaturated soil using the soil–water characteristic curve. Can. Geotech. J. 31, 533–546 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, W.R.: Some steady state solutions of the unsaturated moisture flow equation with application to evaporation from a water table. Soil Sci. 85(4), 228–232 (1958)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez, J.S., Chalaturnyk, R.J., Zambrano-Narvaez, G.: Experimental investigation of the mechanical behavior and permeability of 3D printed sandstone analogues under triaxial conditions. Transp. Porous Media 129(2), 541–557 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-018-1177-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grunberger, D., DjCran, I., Velde, B., Tessier, D.: Measurement through direct observation of kaoline particle orientation during compaction. C.R. Acad. Sci. Paris 318, 627–633 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanaor, D.A.H., Gan, Y.X., Revay, M., Airey, D.W., Einav, I.: 3D printable geomaterials. Geotechnique 66, 323–332 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.15.P.034

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Izbash, S.V.: O fl’tracii v krupnozernistom materiale [Seepage Through Coarse-grain materials]. NIIG, Leningrad (in Russian) (1931).

  • Jiang, L., Yoon, H., Bobet, A., Pyrak-Nolte, L.J.: Mineral fabric as a hidden variable in fracture formation in layered media. Sci. Rep. 10(1), 2020 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58793-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klint, K.E., Gravesen, P.: Fractures and Biopores in Weichselian Clayey till Aquitards at Flakkebjerg, Denmark. Hydrol. Res. 30(4–5), 267–284 (1999). https://doi.org/10.2166/nh.1999.0015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klosek-Wawrzyn, E., Malolepszy, J., Murzyn, P.: Sintering behavior of 533 kaolin with calcite. Proc. Eng. 57, 572–582 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2013.04.073

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski, T., Ludynia, A.: Permeability coefficient of low permeable soils as a single-variable function of soil parameter. Water 11(12), 2500 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3390/w11122500

  • Li, L., Ma, W.: Experimental study on the effective particle diameter of a packed bed with non-spherical particles. Transp. Porous Media 89(1), 35–48 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-011-9757-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, C.: Void ratio–permeability relations for clays. Quart. J. Eng. Geol. Hydrogeol. 53(2), 298–303 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2018-158.

  • Liiv, J., Teppand, T., Rikmann, E., Tenno, T.: Novel eco-sustainable peat and oil shale ash-based 3D-printable composite material. Sustain. Mater. Technol. 17, e00067 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susmat.2018.e00067

  • Lofrano, F.C., Morita, D.M., Kurokawa, F.A., de Souza, P.A.: New general maximum entropy model for flow through porous media. Transp. Porous Media 131, 681–703 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loudon, A. G.: The computation of permeability from simple soil tests. Géotechnique. 3(4), 165–183 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.1952.3.4.165.

  • Mesri, G., Olson, R.E.: Mechanisms controlling the permeability of clays. Clays Clay Miner. 19, 151–158 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.1971.0190303

  • Mitchell, J.K., Soga, K.: Fundamentals of Soil Behavior, 3rd edn. Wiley, Hoboken (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mualem, Y.: Hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils: Prediction and Formulas. In: A. Klute, ed.,Methods of Soil Analysis. Part I. Physical and Mineralogical Methods, 2nd ed. Agronomy Monograph No. 9, American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp. 799–823 (1986).

  • Panda, B., Chandra, P.S., Jen Tan, M.: Anisotropic mechanical performance of 3D printed fiber reinforced sustainable construction material. Mater. Lett. 209, 146–149 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2017.07.123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pap, M., Mahler, A.: Comparison of different empirical correlations to estimate permeability coefficient of quaternary Danube soils. Periodica Polytechn. Civil Eng. (2018). https://doi.org/10.3311/ppci.13108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Revelo, C.F., Colorado, H.A.: 3D printing of kaolinite clay ceramics using the Direct Ink Writing (DIW) technique. Ceram. Int. 44(5), 5673–5682 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2017.12.219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samarasinghe, A.M., Huang, Y.H., Drnevich, V.: Permeability and consolidation of normally consolidated soils. J. Geotech. Eng. Div. 108(6), 835–850 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1061/ajgeb6.0001305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tay, Y.W.D., Panda, B., Paul, S.C., Noor Mohamed, N.A., Tan, M.J., Leong, K.F.: 3D printing trends in building and construction industry: a review. Virtual Phys.Prototyping 12(3), 261–276 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/17452759.2017.1326724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, D.W.: Fundamentals of Soil Mechanics. Chapman and Hall: London (1948)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Terzaghi, K.: Principles of soil mechanics I—Phenomena of cohesion of clays. Eng. News-Record 95(19), 742–746 (1952)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tethan. Tethonite. Retrieved from https://tethon3d.com/wp-content/uploads/Tethonite.pdf (2022)

  • van Genuchten, M.T.: A closed form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 44, 892–898 (1980)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei, D., Wang, Z., Pereira, J.-M., Gan, Y.: Permeability of uniformly graded 3D printed granular media. Geophys. Res. Lett. 48, e2020GL090728 (2021)https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090728

  • White, R. E.: Principles and practice of soil science : the soil as a natural resource, 4th ed. ISBN-13: 978-0-632-06455-7 (2006).

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was made possible by the University of New Hampshire Collaborative Research Excellence (CoRE) initiative Fund, who we graciously thank for their funding and support. A special thanks to Hebatalla Ghoneim, Maya Norris, and Alex Rinn for their support in this research.

Funding

This work was partly supported by the University of New Hampshire Collaborative Research Excellence (CoRE) initiative Fund.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Morghan M. Carr & Majid Ghayoomi

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Yanbo Wang & Pania Newell

Authors
  1. Morghan M. Carr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yanbo Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Majid Ghayoomi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Pania Newell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization was performed by MG, PN; methodology by MG, PN, MC, YW; formal analysis and investigation by MG, MC, and YW; writing—original draft preparation—by MC; writing—review and editing—by MG, PN, YW; funding acquisition by MG; resources by MG, PN; supervision by MG, PN; project administration by MG; data Curation by MC, MG.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Majid Ghayoomi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Carr, M.M., Wang, Y., Ghayoomi, M. et al. Effects of 3D Printing on Clay Permeability and Strength. Transp Porous Med 148, 499–518 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-023-01955-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-023-01955-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation