Microstructural insight into permeability and water retention property of compacted binary silty clay

Abstract

The durability of silty clay embankments is partially controlled by the moisture migration, which depends on soil hydraulic properties. This paper presents an experimental study of hydraulic properties of compacted binary silty clay. Specimens with different mixing ratios and dry densities were prepared. Scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion porosimetry were used to characterise the microstructure of silty clay. Thereafter, falling-head permeability tests and water retention tests were conducted to study the permeability and water retention property, respectively. The results demonstrate that clay particles are dispersed and show preferred arrangements after compaction when the clay content is 100%. As the clay content decreases, the arrangement of clay particles is gradually disturbed because of the existence of silt particles, causing the formation of large pores around silt particles. When the dry density increases, the pores around silt particles significantly decrease. Moreover, the permeability of silty clay decreases but the water retention capacity increases with increasing clay content and dry density. This is because the silty clay with larger clay content and dry density has fewer large pores, which greatly restrains the flow of water. Both the permeability and water retention property of silty clay can be predicted from pore size distribution parameters.

摘要

粉质黏土路堤的耐久性在一定程度上受水分迁移控制,而后者取决于土的水力特性。本文研究 了压实二元粉质黏土的水力特性。首先,按不同混合比和干密度制备了的二元粉质黏土试样,并利用 扫描电镜和压汞仪分析了粉质黏土的微观结构。然后,通过变水头渗透试验和持水性试验,研究了粉 质黏土的渗透性和持水性。结果表明,当黏土含量为100%时,压实后黏土颗粒分散性良好,并呈现 定向排列特征。随着黏土含量降低,黏土颗粒的定向排列逐渐受到粉粒存在的干扰,导致粉粒周围形 成许多大孔隙。但粉粒周围孔隙的数量随着干密度的增加明显减小。并且,随着黏土含量和干密度的 增加,粉质黏土的渗透性降低而持水性增强。黏土含量和干密度越大,粉质黏土中的孔隙越少,对水 体流动的阻碍越强。粉质黏土的渗透与持水特性均可通过孔径分布特征参数进行预测。