Insight into Role of Clay-Fluid Molecular Interactions on Permeability and Consolidation Behavior of Na-Montmorillonite Swelling Clay
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 2
Abstract
Swelling clays, also known as expansive clays, are encountered extensively all over the world. These clays are problematic for geotechnical engineering applications because of distress caused to structures and infrastructure as a result of swelling and swelling pressure. These clays are also often used in geoenvironmental engineering applications because of their effective barrier properties as liner materials, e.g., in landfills, ponds, and cutoff trenches. In this study, we report the effect of dielectric constant of fluid on the permeability and consolidation characteristics of Na-montmorillonite swelling clay to investigate the role of clay-fluid molecular interactions on the macroscale properties of the clay. A new “porous rigid wall, flexible wall” permeability device specifically designed for swelling clays that allows for accurate measurement of permeability, swelling pressure and consolidation characteristics, and evaluation of microstructure of swelling clays with fluids with different polarities is used in this study. Results show that clay-fluid molecular interactions have a tremendous effect on the permeability and consolidation characteristics of swelling clay and its microstructure.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the support of National Science Foundation grant NSF# 0556020 and Dr. Richard Fragaszy, the cognizant program director. The FTIR instrumentation was supported by NSF grant NSF#0320657. The authors also acknowledge Mr. Scott Payne from NDSU electron microscopy center for help with scanning electron microscopy imaging and undergraduate student Mr. Nicholas Peterka and graduate student Mr. Md. Zillur Rahman Patwary for help with permeability testing.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 2 • February 2012
Pages: 138 - 146
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 20, 2010
Accepted: May 9, 2011
Published online: May 11, 2011
Published in print: Feb 1, 2012
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