Microstructure and Hydraulic Properties of Coarse-Grained Subgrade Soil Used in High-Speed Railway at Various Compaction Degrees
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 31, Issue 12
Abstract
This study presents an experimental investigation on the microstructure and the hydraulic properties of a coarse-grained soil used in high-speed railway track bed at various compaction degrees. A large-scale infiltration column was adopted to study the soil water retention curve (SWRC) and the hydraulic conductivity. The microstructure of the fines in the samples was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests. The results reveal the existence of a characteristic pore diameter as 12.1 μm, separating two pore groups: macropores (pore ) and micropores (pore ). According to the Young-Laplace law, this characteristic pore diameter is consistent with the matric suction (negative pore water pressure, the difference value between the air pressure and the water pressure) value of 24.0 kPa. This value is also the characteristic matric suction identified from the infiltration column test. When the matric suction is lower than , the hydraulic properties of this soil are primarily affected by the macropores. As the compaction degree increases, the macropore content decreases, leading to the decreases of the water retention capacity and the hydraulic conductivity in this suction range. However, with the matric suction higher than , the micropores more significantly affect the hydraulic properties. As the compaction degree increases, the micropore content increases, resulting in the increase of the water retention capacity and the hydraulic conductivity at this suction state.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41472244, 51608188, and 751201246) for the financial supports. The authors also want to express their thanks to Mr. Jin Wu from Zhejiang University for his help with the experiments.
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 31 • Issue 12 • December 2019
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©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 19, 2018
Accepted: Jun 14, 2019
Published online: Sep 28, 2019
Published in print: Dec 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Feb 28, 2020
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