Investigation of Thermal Conductivity and Prediction Model of Mucky Silty Clay
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 32, Issue 8
Abstract
The thermal conductivity of soil is an important parameter that determines the geothermal properties of geotechnical engineering structures. In this research, a series of thermal needle tests were conducted to investigate the effects of water content, dry density, degree of saturation, and porosity on the thermal conductivity of mucky silty clay. Three models were used to predict the thermal conductivity of mucky silty clay in Nanjing, China. The results indicate that the critical water content of 25% can be attained by mucky silty clay, while its thermal conductivity is related linearly and exponentially to dry density and degree of saturation, respectively. Similarly, thermal conductivity is exponentially related to porosity. A modified predictive model of mucky silty clay that considers its high water content was established based on a parallel-series mixed model. By comparing it with three classic models and three sets of measured data from three sites in Nanjing, it is demonstrated that the modified predictive model can accurately estimate the thermal conductivity of mucky silty clay. This research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the heat transfer mechanism in mucky silty clay and provides thermal parameters for the design of geothermal-related structures in such soils.
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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 are grateful for the financial and technical support provided by the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFC0800200) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41672294 and 41877231).
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 32 • Issue 8 • August 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 10, 2019
Accepted: Feb 6, 2020
Published online: May 29, 2020
Published in print: Aug 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Oct 29, 2020
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