Abstract
The unconfined compressive strength is one of the influencing parameters that are used for determining the in situ strength of soft, fine-grained soil deposits. Since many previous research works have highlighted the influence of pore fluid type, electrolyte concentration, pH and valence of the pore fluid on unconfined compressive shear strength. The present study has inferred the effect of pore size distribution (PSD) on unconfined compressive shear strength (UCS) of bentonite and kaolinite minerals. It is observed that the pore size distribution of bentonite is a bimodal distribution representing both interpore and intrapore, whereas the kaolinite mineral exhibits a unimodal distribution representing only the interpore. The interpore represents the water molecules bounded between soil aggregates, whereas the intrapore represents the water molecules bounded within the soil aggregated and on the clay surface. From the obtained UCS value of bentonite and kaolinite minerals, it can be inferred that the UCS strength variation of bentonite mineral is strongly influenced by the water molecules bounded on the clay surface or diffused double layer water, whereas the UCS strength of kaolinite minerals is controlled by the net attractive force between the clay particles. The present study demonstrated that the pore size distribution is also one of the parameters that strongly influences the unconfined compressive strength of the soil.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Du, Y., Li, S., & Hayashi, S. (1999). Swelling-shrinkage properties and soil improvement of compacted expansive soil, Ning-Liang Highway, China. Engineering Geology, 53, 351–358.
Heeralal, M., Murty, V. R., Praveen, G. V., & Shankar, S. (2012). Influence of calcium chloride and sodium silicate on index and engineering properties of bentonite. In International Conference on Chemical, Environmental science and Engineering (ICEEB’2012) (pp. 52–57).
Lin, B., & Cerato, A. B. (2012). Prediction of expansive soil selling based on four micro-scale properties. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and Environment, 71, 71–78.
Mitchell, J. K. (1976). Fundamentals of soil behavior (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
Romero, E., Gens, A., & Lloret, A. (1999). Water permeability, water retention and micro-structure of unsaturated Boom clay. Engineering Geology, 54, 117–127.
Sasanian, S., & Newson, T. A. (2013). Use of mercury intrusion porosimetry for microstructural investigation of reconstituted clays at high water contents. Engineering Geology, 158, 15–22.
Sridharan, A., & Prakash, K. (1999). Mechanisms controlling the undrained shear strength behavior of clays. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 36, 1030–1038.
Umesh, T. S., Sharma, H. D., Dinesh, S. V., Sivapullaiah, P. V., & Basim, S. C. (2011). Physico-chemical changes in soil due to sulphuric acid contamination. In Proceedings of Indian Geotechnical Conference (Paper no. L-320, pp. 765–768).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Saranya, N., Arnepalli, D.N. (2019). Effect of Pore Size Distribution on Unconfined Compressive Shear Strength. In: Stalin, V., Muttharam, M. (eds) Geotechnical Characterisation and Geoenvironmental Engineering. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering , vol 16. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0899-4_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0899-4_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0898-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0899-4
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)