Laboratory-Prepared Iron Oxide Coatings on Sands: Surface Characterization and Strength Parameters
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 4
Abstract
Soils containing iron oxides that are derived from chemical weathering are widespread in geotechnical systems. This work studies the effect of adsorbed iron oxides on the shear strength of laboratory-prepared iron oxide–coated sands. Goethite- and hematite-coated Ottawa sands were synthesized in the laboratory via a heterogeneous geochemical suspension-reaction method. Surface roughness parameters and fractal dimension were determined using atomic force microscopy (AFM), which showed that hematite-coated sands exhibited the roughest surfaces. -adsorption experiments also helped characterize the mineral surfaces. Shear strength parameters were obtained through consolidated drained (CD) triaxial compression, showing an increase in the critical state friction angle of more than 5% when the sands were coated with iron oxides. Iron oxide coatings also increased dilatancy and decreased contractiveness. The experimental results can be attributed to changes in mass-to-mass concentration and intrinsic soil fabric changes due to the presence of iron oxide coatings, as well as to increased roughness and particle-to-particle interlocking.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors are very grateful to Dr. Carlos Santamarina, Mr. Nortey Yeboah, and Mr. Andy Udell of Georgia Tech for their assistance and thoughtful comments during the course of this research.
References
Al-Kindi, G. A., and Shirinzadeh, B. (2007). “An evaluation of surface roughness parameters measurement using vision-based data.” Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf., 47(3–4), 697–708.
ASTM. (2011). “Standard test method for consolidated undrained triaxial compression test for cohesive soils.” ASTM D4767-11, West Conshohocken, PA.
Bloomfield, E. M., and Ware, C. I. (2004). “Fines content for optimum stability within coastal dune sands within Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.” Bull. Eng. Geol. Environ., 63(4), 303–308.
Brenner, R. P., Garga, V. K., and Blight, G. E. (1997). Shear strength behaviour and the measurement of shear strength in residual soils, Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Cornell, R. M., and Schwertmann, U. (2003) The iron oxides: Structure, properties, reactions, occurrences and uses, Wiley, Weinheim, Germany.
Cresswell, A. W., and Barton, M. E. (2003). “Direct shear tests on an uncemented, and a very slightly cemented, locked sand.” Q. J. Eng. Geol. Hydrogeol., 36(2), 119–132.
Cudennec, Y., and Lecerf, A. (2005). “Topotactic transformations of goethite and lepidocrocite into hematite and maghemite.” Solid State Sci., 7(5), 520–529.
Dixon, J. B., and Weed, S. B. (1989). Minerals in soil environments, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI.
Drever, J. I. (2005). Surface and ground water, weathering, and soils, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Faure, G. (1998). Principles and applications of geochemistry: A comprehensive textbook for geology students, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Gidigasu, M. D. (1976). Laterite soil engineering: Pedogenesis and engineering principles, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Gokceoglu, C., Sonmez, H., and Kayabasi, A. (2003). “Predicting the deformation moduli of rock masses.” Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci., 40(5), 701–710.
Gupta, A. S., and Rao, K. S. (2000). “Weathering effects on the strength and deformational behaviour of crystalline rocks under uniaxial compression state.” Eng. Geol., 56(3–4), 257–274.
Gurocak, Z., and Kilic, R. (2005). “Effect of weathering on the geomechanical properties of the Miocene basalts in Malatya, Eastern Turkey.” Bull. Eng. Geol. Environ., 64(4), 373–381.
Gwyddion 2.25 [Computer software]. Praha, Brno Czech Republic, Czech Metrology Institute.
Hale, P. A., and Shakoor, A. (2003). “A laboratory investigation of the effects of cyclic heating and cooling, wetting and drying, and freezing and thawing on the compressive strength of selected sandstones.” Environ. Eng. Geosci., 9(2), 117–130.
Jackson, M. L. (2005). Soil chemical analysis, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries, Madison, WI.
Larrahondo, J. M. (2011). “Carbonate diagenesis and chemical weathering in the southeastern United States: Some implications on geotechnical behavior.” Ph.D. thesis, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.
Larrahondo, J. M., Burns, S. E., and Elliott, W. C. (2010). “Laboratory-prepared iron oxide coatings on coarse-grained soils as residual soil simulants.” GeoFlorida 2010: Advances in analysis, modeling & design, D. Fratta, A. J. Puppala, and B. Muhunthan, eds., ASCE Geo-Institute, Reston, VA, 2712–2721.
Larrahondo, J. M., Choo, H., and Burns, S. E. (2011). “Laboratory-prepared iron oxide coatings on sands: Submicron-scale small-strain stiffness.” Eng. Geol., 121(1–2), 7–17.
Liu, C., and Huang, P. M. (1999). “Atomic force microscopy and surface characteristics of iron oxides formed in citrate solutions.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 63(1), 65–72.
Lohnes, R. A., Fish, R. O., and Demirel, T. (1971). “Geotechnical properties of selected Puerto Rican soils in relation to climate and parent rock.” Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 82(9), 2617–2625.
Loukidis, D., and Salgado, R. (2009). “Modeling sand response using two-surface plasticity.” Comput. Geotech., 36(1–2), 166–186.
Martini, I. P., and Chesworth, W. (1992). Weathering, soils & paleosols, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
McNally, G. H. (1995). “Engineering characteristics and uses of duricrusts in Australia.” Aust. J. Earth Sci., 42(6), 535–547.
Minitab 15 [Computer software]. State College, PA, Minitab.
Mitchell, J. K., and Soga, K. (2005). Fundamentals of soil behavior, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
Murthy, T. G., Loukidis, D., Carraro, J. A. H., Prezzi, M., and Salgado, R. (2007). “Undrained monotonic response of clean and silty sands.” Geotechnique, 57(3), 273–288.
Rao, S. M., Sridharan, A., and Chandrakaran, S. (1988). “The role of iron oxides in tropical soil properties.” Proc., 2nd Int. Conf. on Geomechanics in Tropical Soils, Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 43–48.
Rao, S. M., Sridharan, A., and Ramanath, K. P. (1995). “Collapse behavior of an artificially cemented clayey silt.” J. ASTM Geotech Test., 18(3), 334–341.
Samieh, A. M., and Wong, R. C. K. (1997). “Deformation of Athabasca oil sand at low effective stresses under varying boundary conditions.” Can. Geotech. J., 34(6), 985–990.
Scheidegger, A., Borkovec, M., and Sticher, H. (1993). “Coating of silica sand with goethite: Preparation and analytical identification.” Geoderma, 58(1–2), 43–65.
Sridharan, A. (1990). “General report: engineering properties of tropical soils.” Proc., 2nd Int. Conf. on Geomechanics in Tropical Soils, Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 527–540.
Veeco Instruments. (2004). “NanoScope software 6.13 user guide.” 〈https://depts.washington.edu/ntuf/facility/docs/NanoScope_Software_Guide.pdf〉 (Oct. 27, 2013).
Wesley, L. D. (2010). Geotechnical engineering in residual soils, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
Wong, R. C. K. (2000). “Shear deformation of locked sand in triaxial compression.” J. ASTM Geotech Test., 23(2), 158–170.
Xu, Y., and Axe, L. (2005). “Synthesis and characterization of iron oxide-coated silica and its effect on metal adsorption.” J. Colloid Interface Sci., 282(1), 11–19.
Zhang, G. P., Germaine, J. T., and Whittle, A. J. (2003). “Effects of Fe-oxides cementation on the deformation characteristics of a highly weathered old alluvium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.” Soils Found., 43(4), 119–130.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 4 • April 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 10, 2013
Accepted: Nov 4, 2013
Published online: Dec 19, 2013
Published in print: Apr 1, 2014
Discussion open until: May 19, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.