Eighth International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Measuring Thermal Conductivity of Unsaturated Sand under Different Temperatures and Stress Levels Using a Suction-Controlled Thermo-Mechanical Method
Publication: Geo-Congress 2019: Geotechnical Materials, Modeling, and Testing (GSP 310)
ABSTRACT
Soil thermal conductivity is a function of pore water saturation, temperature, and stress level. A suction-controlled thermo-mechanical (SCTM) method has been developed to measure thermal conductivity of unsaturated soils at different temperatures (5.5°C to 75.5°C), isotropic normal stresses (35 kPa to 400 kPa), and wetting conditions. The apparatus consists of three main testing systems, including temperature-control, pressure-control, and sensor and data acquisition systems. This method permits quantification of soil thermal conductivity under the influence of stress level and temperature (i.e. construction and environmental conditions). A poorly-graded sand is used to investigate the effects of temperature and stress level on thermal conductivity of unsaturated sands. The thermal conductivity increases appreciably as stress and temperature increases at intermediate saturations (S~0.3 to 0.75). Maximum thermal conductivity occurs at 75.5°C and 400 kPa when S=0.54, where the value of thermal conductivity is about twice that at 5.5°C and 35 kPa. Hysteresis in thermal conductivity with respect to wetting-drying and loading-unloading was also observed.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2019: Geotechnical Materials, Modeling, and Testing (GSP 310)
Pages: 784 - 793
Editors: Christopher L. Meehan, Ph.D., University of Delaware, Sanjeev Kumar, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Miguel A. Pando, Ph.D., University of North Carolina Charlotte, and Joseph T. Coe, Ph.D., Temple University
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8212-4
Copyright
© 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Mar 21, 2019
Published in print: Mar 21, 2019
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Measurement (by type)
- Saturated soils
- Soft soils
- Soil dynamics
- Soil mechanics
- Soil properties
- Soil stress
- Soil suction
- Soil water
- Soils (by type)
- Stress (by type)
- Structural analysis
- Structural engineering
- Temperature measurement
- Thermal loads
- Thermal properties
- Thermodynamics
- Unsaturated soils
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