Layering characteristic of salt-cemented granular media

Drying under changes of climate may cause some naturally-cemented phenomena such as salt cementation. This research is carried out to study the effect of capillary force on salt-cemented granular soil. Techniques including a cone penetration test, conductivity measurement and elastic wave scanning were applied to examine the salt-cemented specimens. Different sizes of glass beads and salt water for modeling from coarse and fine granular soils were used to prepare the specimens. The specimens are dried in an oven at 60°C for the cementation process. The measurement results of the cone-tip resistance, conductivity, and elastic wave amplitude methods show that in the smaller size specimens the salt cementation is highly concentrated at the top of the specimen, and in the larger particle specimens the cementation is mainly concentrated at the middle or bottom of the specimen. Capillary force strongly affects the movements of salt in the specimens.