Characterization of small-strain behavior of water repellent soils using a resonant column test

D. H. Kim, T. S. Yun, C. Lee, J. S. Lee

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

    Abstract

    The capillary pressure at inter-particle contacts dominates the small-strain behavior of unsaturated soils while the capillarity depends on the particle surface wettability. This study explores the small-strain behavior of both wettable and water-repellent soils using resonant column test. The water-repellency is achieved by coating soils with a hydrophobic agent such as nano-particles. The property of water-repellent soils is classified by optical observation. The microscopic observation using the scanning electron microscope and the atomic force microscopy images confirms the existence of coated nano materials on the silicate mineral surface. The different degrees of saturation and confining pressure are applied to investigate the evolutionary behaviors of small-strain shear stiffness Gmax. The capillary effect is more pronounced at the lower degree of saturation for hydrophilic soils. Results also highlight that synthesized hydrophobic samples have higher stiffness presumably. It is presumably attributed to the surface coating effect by nano-particles to improve the particle interlocking at small strain regime. The hydrophobic agent used in this study not only causes the water repellency but also improve the maximum small-strain stiffness. This observation can be further investigated to engineer natural soils for practical applications.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publication5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils 2012
    Pages533-537
    Number of pages5
    Publication statusPublished - 2012
    Event5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils 2012 - Pattaya, Thailand
    Duration: 2012 Feb 292012 Mar 2

    Publication series

    Name5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils 2012
    Volume2

    Other

    Other5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils 2012
    Country/TerritoryThailand
    CityPattaya
    Period12/2/2912/3/2

    Keywords

    • Capillary pressure
    • Hydrophobic soil
    • Maximum shear stiffness
    • Nano coating

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Soil Science

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