Consolidation of Saturated Kaolin Subjected to Intermittent Thermal Loading with Temperature Gradient
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 8
Abstract
This paper explores the influence of two thermal loading protocols on the evolutions of stress state and soil consolidation characteristics during subsequent mechanical loading. We employed a specially designed thermal consolidometer to conduct a series of drained heating tests with temperature gradient across a saturated kaolin specimen at different levels of vertical effective stress. The thermal consolidometer accommodated for (1) continuous measurements of excess pore water pressure and temperature at different locations within a specimen; and (2) establishment of a steady nonuniform soil temperature distribution, a condition that often exists in the field. Staged and cyclic thermal loading revealed the influences of vertical effective stress on total and nonrecoverable thermal strain. Continuous measurements of pore pressure and soil volume change traced the evolution of average vertical effective stress with void ratio. While the negative pore pressure measurements at the end of thermal consolidation of normally consolidated clay suggested a pseudo-overconsolidated behavior upon heating at low values of vertical effectives stress, such a tendency diminished with an increase in stress level. A gradual shift in normal consolidation line at ambient temperature suggested continuous hardening of a normally consolidated specimen when subjected to repeated thermal loading cycles in the past.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Science and Engineering Research Board, Government of India, under Grant CRG/2022/000736.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150 • Issue 8 • August 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 1, 2023
Accepted: Feb 6, 2024
Published online: May 24, 2024
Published in print: Aug 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Oct 24, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Consolidated soils
- Effective stress
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Measurement (by type)
- Soil dynamics
- Soil mechanics
- Soil pressure
- Soils (by type)
- Static loads
- Statics (mechanics)
- Stress (by type)
- Structural analysis
- Structural engineering
- Temperature effects
- Temperature measurement
- Thermal loads
- Thermal properties
- Thermodynamics
- Vertical loads
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