Macroscopic and microscopic investigation of the structural characteristics of artificially structured marine clay

Artificial structural soil is the best medium for simulating the structural characteristics of undisturbed soil, which is a unique property of undisturbed soil. To figure out the macroscopic and microscopic structural properties of artificially structured soil, this study proposed a method of dispos...

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Main Authors: Huayang Lei, Ziyang Qi, Shuangxi Feng, Shanghua Lei
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-12-01
Series:Soils and Foundations
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038080622001512
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author Huayang Lei
Ziyang Qi
Shuangxi Feng
Shanghua Lei
author_facet Huayang Lei
Ziyang Qi
Shuangxi Feng
Shanghua Lei
author_sort Huayang Lei
collection DOAJ
description Artificial structural soil is the best medium for simulating the structural characteristics of undisturbed soil, which is a unique property of undisturbed soil. To figure out the macroscopic and microscopic structural properties of artificially structured soil, this study proposed a method of disposing artificial structural soil to simulate in situ marine clay. In addition, a series of one-dimensional compression tests considering three influencing factors—the initial void ratio, interparticle cementation strength (determined by cement content) and pore size distribution (determined by initial salt content)—were conducted to explore the macroscopic structural properties of artificially structured marine clay. Then, SEM and MIP tests were performed to investigate the microstructure properties of artificially structured marine clay. With respect to the macro-scale experiment, the results show as the initial void ratio increases, the yield stress decreases while the compressibility increases in postyield stage. The pore size distribution mainly affects deformation, which increases with the quantity of relatively large pores. In terms of the micro-scale test, we found that the general microstructure is composed of aggregates of small clay platelets, some of which are either attached to the aggregates or linked to the surrounding aggregates with cemented bridges crossing the interaggregate pores. The most and least common pore space types feature entrance pore diameters of 1 ∼ 17 μm and larger than 17 μm, respectively. An increase in cement content causes increases in intra-aggregate pore space and interparticle cementation strength. Initial salt particle content exerts an influence predominantly in the pores with entrance diameters of 0.3 ∼ 1 μm and 1 ∼ 17 μm.
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spelling doaj.art-62d2e58f327a4e6ca8df8c0bb13c129a2022-12-22T04:35:42ZengElsevierSoils and Foundations2524-17882022-12-01626101243Macroscopic and microscopic investigation of the structural characteristics of artificially structured marine clayHuayang Lei0Ziyang Qi1Shuangxi Feng2Shanghua Lei3Key Laboratory of Coast Civil Structure Safety of Education Ministry, School of Civil Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; Corresponding author.School of Civil Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, ChinaArtificial structural soil is the best medium for simulating the structural characteristics of undisturbed soil, which is a unique property of undisturbed soil. To figure out the macroscopic and microscopic structural properties of artificially structured soil, this study proposed a method of disposing artificial structural soil to simulate in situ marine clay. In addition, a series of one-dimensional compression tests considering three influencing factors—the initial void ratio, interparticle cementation strength (determined by cement content) and pore size distribution (determined by initial salt content)—were conducted to explore the macroscopic structural properties of artificially structured marine clay. Then, SEM and MIP tests were performed to investigate the microstructure properties of artificially structured marine clay. With respect to the macro-scale experiment, the results show as the initial void ratio increases, the yield stress decreases while the compressibility increases in postyield stage. The pore size distribution mainly affects deformation, which increases with the quantity of relatively large pores. In terms of the micro-scale test, we found that the general microstructure is composed of aggregates of small clay platelets, some of which are either attached to the aggregates or linked to the surrounding aggregates with cemented bridges crossing the interaggregate pores. The most and least common pore space types feature entrance pore diameters of 1 ∼ 17 μm and larger than 17 μm, respectively. An increase in cement content causes increases in intra-aggregate pore space and interparticle cementation strength. Initial salt particle content exerts an influence predominantly in the pores with entrance diameters of 0.3 ∼ 1 μm and 1 ∼ 17 μm.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038080622001512Artificially structured marine clayMacroscopic structural propertyMicrostructure characteristicsPore size distributionSEM testsMIP tests
spellingShingle Huayang Lei
Ziyang Qi
Shuangxi Feng
Shanghua Lei
Macroscopic and microscopic investigation of the structural characteristics of artificially structured marine clay
Soils and Foundations
Artificially structured marine clay
Macroscopic structural property
Microstructure characteristics
Pore size distribution
SEM tests
MIP tests
title Macroscopic and microscopic investigation of the structural characteristics of artificially structured marine clay
title_full Macroscopic and microscopic investigation of the structural characteristics of artificially structured marine clay
title_fullStr Macroscopic and microscopic investigation of the structural characteristics of artificially structured marine clay
title_full_unstemmed Macroscopic and microscopic investigation of the structural characteristics of artificially structured marine clay
title_short Macroscopic and microscopic investigation of the structural characteristics of artificially structured marine clay
title_sort macroscopic and microscopic investigation of the structural characteristics of artificially structured marine clay
topic Artificially structured marine clay
Macroscopic structural property
Microstructure characteristics
Pore size distribution
SEM tests
MIP tests
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038080622001512
work_keys_str_mv AT huayanglei macroscopicandmicroscopicinvestigationofthestructuralcharacteristicsofartificiallystructuredmarineclay
AT ziyangqi macroscopicandmicroscopicinvestigationofthestructuralcharacteristicsofartificiallystructuredmarineclay
AT shuangxifeng macroscopicandmicroscopicinvestigationofthestructuralcharacteristicsofartificiallystructuredmarineclay
AT shanghualei macroscopicandmicroscopicinvestigationofthestructuralcharacteristicsofartificiallystructuredmarineclay