Complementary Wave-Based Characterizations of Sedimentation Processes
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 1
Abstract
In this paper, the sedimentation behavior of two kaolinite samples with distinct fabric associations is characterized using mechanical and electromagnetic wave-based techniques. The two different fabric formations, the edge-to-face (EF) flocculated structure (i.e., Sample A) and the dispersed and deflocculated structure (i.e., Sample B), were produced by changing the pH of the pore fluid. The anisotropy of the shear-wave velocity and DC conductivity was not observed in the sediment of Sample A because of EF isotropic fabric associations, but it was detected in Sample B as a result of face-to-face aggregation. An open card-house structure of the Sample A sediment results in a higher relaxation strength of the bulk water, owing to a higher water content; the smaller measured in the Sample B sediment indicates denser packing. In both samples, sediment consolidation gives rise to a decrease in the bulk-water relaxation strength, but an increase in the bound-water relaxation strength owing to increasing particle content. During sediment consolidation, the sediment conductivity of Sample A continuously decreases because of the reduced contribution from the fluid conductivity. In Sample B, the surface conduction overcompensates such a decreased contribution so that the sediment conductivity increases with increasing particle content.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (HKUST 6034/02E) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HIA04/05.EG02). The writers are grateful to reviewers for valuable comments.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 1 • January 2008
Pages: 47 - 56
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 8, 2006
Accepted: May 2, 2007
Published online: Jan 1, 2008
Published in print: Jan 2008
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