Abstract
Purpose
The differences in particle composition and consistency limits result in the challenge in comparing the freezing points of different types of loess. The clay activity that well links the clay content and the plasticity index suggests a response to the above challenge. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between freezing point and clay activity of loess in different areas of Loess Plateau of China.
Materials and methods
The test loess was sampled from eight typical areas of the Loess Plateau of China, which could be classified as the lean clay (CL). The clay activity of loess was obtained based on the plasticity index and the clay fraction (< 5 μm). The freezing point and soil freezing characteristic curve (SFCC) of loess were measured by the 5TM transducer from METER Group, while the soil water characteristic curves (SWCC) were determined by the filter-paper method.
Results
When the clay activity is below 0.948, the freezing point increases with higher clay activity; otherwise it rises slightly, which is in contrast to the change of matric suction. A proportional function was approximated between freezing point and matric suction. The SFCC decays more sharply at greater initial water content, compared to that at higher clay activity. The free water content increases slightly with higher clay activity while the weakly bound water content declines, resulting in an insignificant change in the freezable water content. Based on the normalization of SFCC, an exponential model incorporating the effect of clay activity was established and verified. The clay activity of loess decays as the calcium chloride content increases, which shows a good linear relationship with freezing point.
Conclusions
The freezing point of loess shows high relevance to the clay activity. The clay activity–based freezing point predictive model well considers the differences in clay content and consistency limits of loess in different regions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) (2021) Standard specification for classification of soils and soil-aggregate mixtures for highway construction purposes (AASHTO M145–91)
Andersland OB, Ladanyi B (2003) Frozen Ground Engineering, 2nd edn. John Wiley & Sons Inc
ASTM International (2016) Standard Test Method for Measurement of Soil Potential (Suction) Using Filter Paper (ASTM D5298–16)
ASTM International (2017) Standard practice for classification of soils for engineering purposes (Unified Soil Classification System) (ASTM D2487–17e1)
Bing H, Ma W (2011) Laboratory investigation of the freezing point of saline soil. Cold Reg Sci Technol 67(1):79–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2011.02.008
Chai M, Zhang J, Zhang H, Mu Y, Sun G, Yin Z (2018) A method for calculating unfrozen water content of silty clay with consideration of freezing point. Appl Clay Sci 161:474–481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2018.05.015
Farrar DM, Coleman JD (1967) The correlation of surface area with other properties of nineteen British clay soils. J Soil Sci 18(1):118–124. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.1967.tb01493.x
Gao Z, Li P, Xiao J, Li T (2020) Evaluation of shear strength of unsaturated loess using conventional direct shear test. J Eng Geol 28(2):344–351. https://doi.org/10.13544/j.cnki.jeg.2019-238(inChinese)
Gibbs HJ, Holland WY (1960) Petrographic and engineering properties of loess. Technical Information Branch, USA, pp 1–37
Grim R, Guven N (1978) Bentonite: geology, mineralogy, properties and uses. Elsevier Science Publishing, N.Y.
Gu L (2021) Effect of sulfate content on physical and mechanical properties of loess particles. Dissertation, Lanzhou University. (in Chinese)
Guan H (2014) Investigation on freezing characteristics of Lanzhou loess under high loading conditions. Dissertation, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Hardy SC, Coriell SR (1968) Morphological stability and the ice-water interfacial free energy. J Cryst Growth 3–4:569–573. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0248(68)90225-X
Jin X, Yang W, Gao X, Zhao J, Li Z, Jiang J (2020) Modeling the unfrozen water content of frozen soil based on the adsorption effects of clay surfaces. Water Resour Res 56: e2020WR027482. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027482
Leong EC, He L, Rahardjo H (2002) Factors Affecting the Filter Paper Method for Total and Matric Suction Measurements. Geotech Test J 25(3):322–333. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ11094J
Li Y, Wang T, Su L (2015) Determination of bound water content of loess soil by isothermal adsorption and thermogravimetric analysis. Soil Sci 180(3):90–96. https://doi.org/10.1097/SS.0000000000000121
Li S, Wang CM, Zhang XW, Zou LL, Dai ZX (2019) Classification and characterization of bound water in marine mucky silty clay. J Soils Sediment 19:2509–2519. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-019-02242-5
Liu D (1985) Loess and the Environment. Science Press, Beijing (in Chinese)
Liu L, Li Z, Liu X, Li Y (2018) Effect of salt content on freezing temperature and unconfined compression strength of lime treated subgrade clay. Appl Clay Sci 158:65–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2018.03.022
Lu N, Likos JW (2004) Unsaturated soil mechanics. John Wiley & Sons Inc, Hoboken, New Jersey
Matsuoka H (2001) Soil Mechanics. Translated by Luo T, Yao Y. Beijing: China Water and Power Press.
Messad A, Moussai B (2016) Effect of water salinity on Atterberg limits of El-Hodna sabkha soil. Bull Eng Geol Environ 75:301–309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-015-0733-x
Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China (2019) Standard for Geotechnical Testing Method, GB/T 50123–2019.
Mitchell JK, Soga K (2005) Fundamentals of soil behavior, 3rd edn. John Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken
Mizoguchi M (1993) A deviation of matric potential in frozen soil. The Bulletin of the Faculty of Bioresources, Mie University 10:175–182
Navarro V, Cabrera V, Merlo O, Morena GD, Torres-Serra J (2022) Density of water adsorbed on bentonites: Determination and effect on microstructural void ratio modelling. Appl Clay Sci 219:106434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2022.106434
Pandian NS, Nagaraj TS (1990) Critical reappraisal of colloidal activity of clays. J Geotech Eng 116(2):285–296. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1990)116:2(285)
Shariatmadari N, Salami M, Fard MK (2011) Effect of inorganic salt solutions on some geotechnical properties of soil-bentonite mixtures as barriers. Int J Civ Eng 9(2):103–110
Skempton AW (1984) The Colloidal “Activity” of Clays. In Selected papers on soil mechanics (pp. 60–64). Thomas Telford Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1680/sposm.02050.0009
Sun JM (2002) Provenance of loess material and formation of loess deposits on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Earth Planetary Sc Lett 203(3–4):845–859. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(02)00921-4
Tian H, Wei C (2014) A NMR-based testing and analysis of adsorbed water content. Scientia Sinica Technologica 44(3):295–305. https://doi.org/10.1360/092013-1133(inChinese)
Wan X, Lai Y, Wang C (2015) Experimental study on the freezing temperatures of saline silty soils. Permafrost Periglac 26(2):175–187. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1837
Wan X, Lai Y, Zhang M, Pei W (2018) Research on relationship between unfrozen water content in soil and temperature. J Chin Railw Soc 40(1):123–129 ((in Chinese))
Wang C, Lai Y, Zhang M (2017) Estimating soil freezing characteristic curve based on pore-size distribution. Appl Therm Eng 124:1049–1060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.06.006
Wang S, Wang Q, Qi J, Liu F (2018) Experimental study on freezing point of saline soft clay after freeze-thaw cycling. Geomech Eng 15(4):997–1004. https://doi.org/10.12989/gae.2018.15.4.997
Wang Z, Yang J, Kuang J, An J, Luo Y (2003) Application of filter paper method in on-site matrix suction force measurement. Chin J Geotech Eng 25(04):405–408 ((in Chinese))
Wang Y, Zhang A, Ren W, Niu L (2019) Study on the soil water characteristic curve and its fitting model of Ili loess with high level of soluble salts. J Hydrol 578:124067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124067
Wang Q, Qi J, Wang S, Xu J, Yang Y (2020) Effect of freeze-thaw on freezing point of a saline loess. Cold Reg Sci Technol 170:102922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2019.102922
Watanabe K, Mizoguchi M (2002) Amount of unfrozen water in frozen porous media saturated with solution. Cold Reg Sci Technol 34(2):103–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-232X(01)00063-5
Xu L, Dai FC, Tu XB, Tham LG (2014) Landslides in a loess platform, north-west China. Landslides 11(6):993–1005. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-013-0445-x
Xu J, Wang Z, Ren J, Wang S, Jin L (2018) Mechanism of slope failure in loess terrains during spring thawing. J Mt Sci 15(4):845–858. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4584-8
Xu J, Li Y, Lan W, Wang S (2019) Shear strength and damage mechanism of saline intact loess after freeze-thaw cycling. Cold Reg Sci Technol 164:102779. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2019.05.005
Xu J, Lan W, Li Y, Wang S, Cheng W, Yao X (2020) Heat, water and solute transfer in saline loess under uniaxial freezing condition. Comp Geotech 118:103319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2019.103319
Xu X, Wang J, Zhang L (2001) Frozen Soil Physics. Science Press, Beijing ((in Chinese))
Ying Z, Cui YJ, Duc M, Benahmed N, Bessaies-Bey H, Chen B (2021) Salinity effect on the liquid limit of soils. Acta Geotech 16:1101–1111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-01092-7
Zhang M, Li T (2011) Triggering factors and forming mechanism of loess landslides. J Eng Geol 19(4):530–540 ((in Chinese))
Zhou X, Wang S, Yao X, Ye W, Ding J (2022) Evaluation of the relationship between freezing point and suction in chloride loess. Int Commun Heat Mass 130(2):105780. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2021.105780
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Peng An and Dr. Hua Liu for the provision of additional data on the physical and chemical indexes of loess.
Funding
This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41972279 and 51778528), the Basic Research Program of Natural Science of Shaanxi Province (No. 2019JLM-56), and the Key Research and Development project of Shaanxi Province (No. 2022SF-197).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible editor: Yi Jun Xu
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, S., Ye, W., Wang, Y. et al. Evaluation of the relationship between freezing point and clay activity of loess. J Soils Sediments 22, 2262–2280 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03235-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03235-7