Effects of Temperature and Thermal Cycles on the Elastic Shear Modulus of Saturated Clay
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 7
Abstract
Thermomechanical behavior of soils has attracted great attention in recent years because of its great importance in some emerging geotechnical applications such as energy piles. So far, the thermoplasticity (e.g., the influence of temperature on the yield surface) has been well understood, but the thermoelasticity has not been purposely studied. In this study, a temperature-controlled oedometer equipped with bender elements was developed and then used to mainly investigate effects of temperature and thermal cycles on the elastic shear modulus () of a saturated lateritic clay. In addition, one test was performed on kaolin clay to investigate the influence of thermal cycles on . Two types of thermomechanical paths were considered at different temperatures and stresses, including constant-temperature loading–unloading and constant-stress cyclic heating–cooling. Results from these tests consistently reveal that at a given stress, is smaller at a higher temperature. This can be attributed to the reduction of interparticle force during the heating of saturated clay, according to the double layer theories. Furthermore, of the lateritic clay increases by about 12% and 16% after four thermal cycles for overconsolidated and normally consolidated specimens, respectively. This can be due to soil densification and particle rearrangement during the heating–cooling cycles. These results are useful for improving the modeling of thermoelasticity and also for the analysis of thermally active structures such as energy piles.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation of China through the research Grant 52022004. The authors also would like to thank the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for providing financial support through the Grants 16216116 and AoE/E-603/18.
References
Abuel-Naga, H. M., D. T. Bergado, A. Bouazza, and M. Pender. 2009. “Thermomechanical model for saturated clays.” Géotechnique 59 (3): 273–278. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.2009.59.3.273.
Abuel-Naga, H. M., D. T. Bergado, A. Bouazza, and G. V. Ramana. 2007. “Volume change behaviour of saturated clays under drained heating conditions: Experimental results and constitutive modeling.” Can. Geotech. J. 44 (8): 942–956. https://doi.org/10.1139/t07-031.
ASTM. 2017. Standard practice for classification of soils for engineering purposes (unified soil classification system). ASTM D2487-17e1. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Brandl, H. 2006. “Energy foundations and other thermo-active ground structures.” Géotechnique 56 (2): 81–122. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.2006.56.2.81.
Campanella, R. G., and J. K. Mitchell. 1968. “Influence of temperature variations on soil behavior.” J. Soil Mech. Found. Div. 94 (3): 709–734. https://doi.org/10.1061/JSFEAQ.0001136.
Cekerevac, C., and L. Laloui. 2004. “Experimental study of thermal effects on the mechanical behaviour of a clay.” Int. J. Numer. Anal. Methods Geomech. 28 (3): 209–228. https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.332.
Di Donna, A., and L. Laloui. 2015. “Response of soil subjected to thermal cyclic loading: Experimental and constitutive study.” Eng. Geol. 190 (May): 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2015.03.003.
Ghahremannejad, B. 2003. “Thermo-mechanical behaviour of two reconstituted clays.” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Sydney.
Graham, J., N. Tanaka, T. Crilly, and M. Alfaro. 2001. “Modified Cam-Clay modelling of temperature effects in clays.” Can. Geotech. J. 38 (3): 608–621. https://doi.org/10.1139/t00-125.
Hamidi, A., S. Tourchi, and C. Khazaei. 2014. “Thermomechanical constitutive model for saturated clays based on critical state theory.” Int. J. Geomech. 15 (1): 04014038. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000402.
Hueckel, T., and G. Baldi. 1990. “Thermoplasticity of saturated clays: Experimental constitutive study.” J. Geotech. Eng. 116 (12): 1778–1796. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1990)116:12(1778).
Israelachvili, J. 2011. Intermolecular and surface forces. 3rd ed. New York: Academic Press.
Laloui, L. 2001. “Thermo-mechanical behaviour of soils.” Revue Française de Génie Civil 5 (6): 809–843. https://doi.org/10.1080/12795119.2001.9692328.
Laloui, L., and A. Di Donna. 2013. “Energy geostructures.” In Energy geostructures: Innovation in underground engineering, edited by L. Laloui and A. Di Donna. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Laloui, L., and M. Sutman. 2021. “Experimental investigation of energy piles: From laboratory to field testing.” Geomech. Energy Environ. 27 (Sep): 100214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gete.2020.100214.
Lv, Z., G. Kong, H. Liu, and C. W. W. Ng. 2020. “Effects of soil type on axial and radial thermal responses of field-scale energy piles.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 146 (10): 06020018. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002367.
McCartney, J. S., M. Sánchez, and I. Tomac. 2016. “Energy geotechnics: Advances in subsurface energy recovery, storage, exchange, and waste management.” Comput. Geotech. 75 (May): 244–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2016.01.002.
Ng, C. W. W., D. B. Akinniyi, and C. Zhou. 2020. “Volume change behaviour of a saturated lateritic clay under thermal cycles.” Bull. Eng. Geol. Environ. 80 (1): 653–661. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-01899-4.
Ng, C. W. W., D. B. Akinniyi, C. Zhou, and C. F. Chiu. 2019a. “Comparisons of weathered lateritic, granitic and volcanic soils: Compressibility and shear strength.” Eng. Geol. 249 (Jan): 235–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2018.12.029.
Ng, C. W. W., Q. Y. Mu, and C. Zhou. 2017. “Effects of boundary conditions on cyclic thermal strains of clay and sand.” Géotech. Lett. 7 (1): 73–78. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.16.00155.
Ng, C. W. W., Q. Y. Mu, and C. Zhou. 2019b. “Effects of specimen preparation method on the volume change of clay under cyclic thermal loads.” Géotechnique 69 (2): 146–150. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.16.P.293.
Ng, C. W. W., C. Shi, A. Gunawan, L. Laloui, and H. L. Liu. 2015. “Centrifuge modelling of heating effects on energy pile performance in saturated sand.” Can. Geotech. J. 52 (8): 1045–1057. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2014-0301.
Pan, Y., J. B. Coulibaly, and A. F. Rotta Loria. 2020. “Thermally induced deformation of coarse-grained soils under nearly zero vertical stress.” Géotech. Lett. 10 (4): 486–491. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.20.00013.
Sultan, N., P. Delage, and Y. J. Cui. 2002. “Temperature effects on the volume change behaviour of Boom clay.” Eng. Geol. 64 (2–3): 135–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013-7952(01)00143-0.
Tang, A.-M., Y.-J. Cui, and N. Barnel. 2008. “Thermo-mechanical behaviour of a compacted swelling clay.” Géotechnique 58 (1): 45–54. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.2008.58.1.45.
Vahedifard, F., S. K. Thota, T. D. Cao, R. A. Samarakoon, and J. S. McCartney. 2020. “Temperature-dependent model for small-strain shear modulus of unsaturated soils.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 146 (12): 04020136. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002406.
Zhou, C., and C. W. W. Ng. 2015. “A thermomechanical model for saturated soil at small and large strains.” Can. Geotech. J. 52 (8): 1101–1110. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2014-0229.
Zhou, C., J. Xu, and C. W. W. Ng. 2015. “Effects of temperature and suction on secant shear modulus of unsaturated soil.” Géotech. Lett. 5 (3): 123–128. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.14.00096.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 7 • July 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 4, 2021
Accepted: Mar 9, 2022
Published online: Apr 29, 2022
Published in print: Jul 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Sep 29, 2022
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.
Cited by
- Sheqiang Cui, Chao Zhou, Cao Shi, Hu Lu, Thermomechanical Behavior of Energy Piles with Different Roughness Values in Unsaturated Soil, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 10.1061/JGGEFK.GTENG-11735, 150, 5, (2024).
- Charles Wang Wai Ng, Daniel Peprah-Manu, Pore structure effects on the water retention behaviour of a compacted silty sand soil subjected to drying-wetting cycles, Engineering Geology, 10.1016/j.enggeo.2022.106963, 313, (106963), (2023).
- Zengchun Sun, Yang Xiao, Minqiang Meng, Hong Liu, Jinquan Shi, Thermally induced volume change behavior of sand–clay mixtures, Acta Geotechnica, 10.1007/s11440-022-01744-w, (2022).