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Multi-effect investigation on desiccation crack evolution and mechanical behavior of swelling clay

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Abstract

Crack initiation and propagation of swelling clay in sustaining drying conditions are influenced by various factors such as soil size, fiber reinforcement, and interfacial friction. A series of laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the effects of soil layer size, fiber contents and interface roughness on desiccation crack evolution via using digital image technology. The crack patterns are influenced by the overall size parameter of the soil layer, the ratio of thickness to diameter (Rtd). The cracks gradually become dense and textured as the decreasing Rtd. These different crack textures originate from the differential stress accumulation and release induced by the Rtd during the drying-cracking process, and the quantitative correlations between the Rtd and crack parameters are initially established. Since the fiber reinforcement, the major crack is restricted under increased layer tensile strength. However, more cracks are generated by a noticeable tension in the shallow layer of swelling clay due to the increased rough interface in the bottom of the soils. The basic parameters of crack evolution under the effects of fiber reinforcement and interfacial friction were further analyzed including the crack area (CA), the total length of cracks (TLC), and the average width of cracks (AWC). It follows that two types of fractal dimensions were introduced to estimate the crack patterns and distribution, and the correlation between fractal dimension and surface crack ratio (Rsc) was provided based on a logarithmic mathematical model. Multiple effects on soil stress formation and release lead to different processes of crack evolution closely related to the microscopic soil–water interaction. The present findings serve as a reference for preventing geotechnical and geological disasters in swelling clay regions.

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Data Availability

Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

A:

Constant for fractal dimension calculation.

A1 :

Coefficient of the formula on the Rld.

A c1 :

Actual surface crack area

A c0 :

Pixel values of the surface crack area

AFD:

Area fractal dimension

A s1 :

Actual values of specimen surface area

A s0 :

Pixel values of specimen surface area

AWC:

Average width of cracks

CA:

Crack area

CIF:

Crack intensity factor

D F :

Fractal dimension

I:

Constant on the LFD fitting function.

J:

Constant on the LFD fitting function.

k 1 :

Conversion coefficient of crack area

k 2 :

Conversion coefficient of crack length

L c0 :

Pixel value of the total length of cracks

L c1 :

Actual value of the total length of cracks

LFD:

Length fractal dimension

N i :

The number of blocks with similarity under the corresponding εi size

R td :

Ratio of thickness to diameter of specimens

R ld :

Ratio of total crack length to specimen diameter

R sc :

Surface crack rate

R wd :

Ratio of average crack width to specimen diameter

R 2 :

Fitting determination coefficient

TLC:

Total length of cracks

Ts :

Tensioning force on the liquid contraction film

u a :

Pore air pressure

u w :

Pore water pressure

w :

Moisture content

α :

Contact angle

ε i :

Size of digital image segmentation

∆Xi :

Shrinkage difference

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 11972311), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No.2022CDJQY-012), and the Innovation Research 2035 Pilot Plan of Southwest University (SWU-XDPY22003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Engineering and Technology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Zhaogang Luo, Shiji Wang, Muhammad Qayyum Hamka, Xian Li & Chong Xu

  2. College of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, China

    Zhaogang Luo, Qiang Ou & Xuanming Ding

  3. Key Laboratory of New Technology for Construction of Cities in Mountain Area, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, China

    Zhaogang Luo, Qiang Ou & Xuanming Ding

  4. Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Structure Full-Life-Cycle Health Detection and Disaster Prevention, Yangtze Normal University, Chongqing, 408100, China

    Shiji Wang

  5. Yokohama National University, Yokohama, 240-8501, Japan

    Chong Xu

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  1. Zhaogang Luo
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Luo, Z., Wang, S., Ou, Q. et al. Multi-effect investigation on desiccation crack evolution and mechanical behavior of swelling clay. Acta Geotech. 18, 5503–5518 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-023-01910-8

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