Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

An experimental study of vaporous water migration in unsaturated lime-treated expansive clay

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To ensure safety of lime treatment for expansive clay foundation, investigation of vaporous water migration features is of great significance since moisture migration leads to changes in engineering behaviors of the lime-treated expansive clay. Herein, a novel model was described to perform the vaporous water migration tests of unsaturated lime-treated expansive clays. And effects of initial water content, lime dosage, curing time, migration period, and transfer distance on vaporous moisture migration were discussed. The soil–water characteristic curves (SWCCs) and textures of expansive clay and the corresponding improved soil treated with 7 % lime were determined to further investigate changes in hydraulic characteristics by means of the geotechnical digital system (GDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests. The results indicated vaporous water migration between two soil columns of different initial water contents increased as migration time went by, and moisture content variation mostly occurred in the first 30 days. For the cases of same 24 % initial water content in the left soil column, variation of moisture content in the case of 0 % initial water content in the right soil column after 90 days migration was about 3 times and 78 times, respectively, bigger than that for the cases of 6 and 12 % initial water content in the right soil column. Besides, as migration distance increased, it took longer time to reach the water migration balance. Moreover, the left and right soil columns behaved different migration characteristics, and transfer speeds of mixing water within the soil columns and vaporous water between columns were different.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akcanca F, Aytekin M (2012) Effect of wetting–drying cycles on swelling behavior of lime stabilized sand–bentonite mixtures. Environ Earth Sci 66:67–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Mukhtar M, Khattab S, Alcover JF (2012) Microstructure and geotechnical properties of lime-treated expansive clayey soil. Eng Geol 139–140:17–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azam S, Shah, Raghunandan ME, Ito M (2013) Study on swelling properties of an expansive soil deposit in Saskatchewan, Canada. Bull Eng Geol Environ 72:25–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choo LP, Yanful EK (2000) Water flow through cover soils using modeling and experimental methods. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 126:324–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobchuk BS, Barbour SL, Zhou J (2004) Prediction of water vapor movement through waste rock. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 130:293–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Favre F, Boivin P, Wopereis M (1997) Water movement and soil swelling in a dry, cracked vertisol. Geoderma 78:113–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flerchinger G, Sauer T, Aiken R (2003) Effects of crop residue cover and architecture on heat and water transfer at the soil surface. Geoderma 116:217–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grifoll J, Cohen Y (1996) Contaminant migration in the unsaturated soil zone: the effect of rainfall and evapotranspiration. J Contam Hydrol 23:185–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanks R (1958) Water vapor transfer in dry soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 22:372–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson RD (1964) Water vapor diffusion in relatively dry soil: I. Theoretical considerations and sorption experiments. Soil Sci Soc Am J 28:172–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jury WA, Letey J (1979) Water vapor movement in soil: reconciliation of theory and experiment. Soil Sci Soc Am J 43:823–827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kean WF, Waller MJ, Layson HR (1987) Monitoring moisture migration in the vadose zone with resistivity. Ground Water 25:562–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim D, Angulo R, Vauclin M, Feyen J, Choi S (1999) Modeling of soil deformation and water flow in a swelling soil. Geoderma 92:217–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krishnaiah S, Singh D (2003) A methodology to determine soil moisture movement due to thermal gradients. Exp Thermal Fluid Sci 27:715–721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li RP, Shi HB, Flerchinger G, Akae T, Wang CS (2012) Simulation of freezing and thawing soils in inner Mongolia Hetao Irrigation District, China. Geoderma 173:28–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin B, Cerato AB (2013) Hysteretic soil water characteristics and cyclic swell–shrink paths of compacted expansive soils. Bull Eng Geol Environ 72:61–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu W, Zhao XX, Mizukami K (1998) 2D numerical simulation for simultaneous heat, water and gas migration in soil bed under different environmental conditions. Heat Mass Transf 34:307–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mao XS, Hou ZJ, Kong LK (2010) Dynamic observation and analysis of moisture migration for wind-blow sand in open system during frost. Chinese J Rock Mech Eng 29:202–208 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohamed A-MO, Antia HE, Gosine RG (2002) Water flow in unsaturated soils in microgravity environment. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 128:814–823

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ng CWW, Zhan LT, Cui YJ (2002) A new simple system for measuring volume changes in unsaturated soils. Can Geotech J 39:757–764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poulose A, Nair SR, Singh DN (2000) Centrifuge modeling of moisture migration in silty soils. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 126:748–752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romano N, Brunone B, Santini A (1998) Numerical analysis of one-dimensional unsaturated flow in layered soils. Adv Water Resour 21:315–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salzmann W, Bohne K, Schmidt M (2000) Numerical experimentsto simulate vertical vapor and liquid water transport in unsaturated non-rigidporous media. Geoderma 98:127–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shoop SA, Bigl SR (1997) Moisture migration during freeze and thaw of unsaturated soils: modeling and large scale experiments. Cold Reg Sci Technol 25:33–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh AK, Singh R, Chaudhary D (1989) Heat conduction and moisture migration in unsaturated soils under temperature gradients. Pramana 33:587–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoltz G, Cuisinier O, Masrouri F (2012) Multi-scale analysis of the swelling and shrinkage of a lime-treated expansive clayey soil. Appl Clay Sci 61:44–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas HR (1987) Nonlinear analysis of heat and moisture transer in unsaturated soil. J Eng Mech 113:1163–1180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tonoz M, Gokceoglu C, Ulusay R (2003) A laboratory-scale experimental investigation on the performance of lime columns in expansive Ankara (Turkey) clay. Bull Eng Geol Environ 62:91–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang GY, Li B, Fu H (2010) Experimental study of moisture migration of unsaturated soil in embankment. Rock Soil Mech 31:61–65 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang MW, Yang JF, Li J, Qin S (2012) Soil-water characteristics of undisturbed and unsaturated expansive clays in the xinqiao international airport area of Hefei. Ind Constr 42:41–45 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang MW, Li J, Xu P, Zhao KY (2014) Cloud model for shrinkage-swelling property classsification of untreated and lime-treated expansive clay. J Southeast University (Natural Science Edititon) 44:396–400 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wuest SB (2002) Water transfer from soil to seed. Soil Sci Soc Am J 66:1760–1763

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang JH, Lo MC, Hu LM (2002) Centrifuge modeling of moisture and contaminant migration in unsaturated soils. Chinese J Geotech Eng 24:622–625 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XF, Xin DG, Zhang DQ, Wang XR (2004) Water migration and variation in the subgrade soils of expressway in seasonally frozen ground regions. J Glaciol Geocryol 26:454–460

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Financial support provided by National Natural Sciences Foundation, China (no. 41172274) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to express their sincere thanks to the reviewers for their thorough reviews and useful suggestions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, 193 Tunxi Road, Hefei, 230009, China

    Mingwu Wang, Jian Li, Song Ge, Shuai Qin & Peng Xu

Authors
  1. Mingwu Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jian Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Song Ge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shuai Qin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Peng Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mingwu Wang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, M., Li, J., Ge, S. et al. An experimental study of vaporous water migration in unsaturated lime-treated expansive clay. Environ Earth Sci 73, 1679–1686 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3520-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3520-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation