scholarly journals Improving the Mechanical Properties of Red Clay Using Xanthan Gum Biopolymer

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Lina Wang ◽  
Zhiyu Weng ◽  
Qiang Liu ◽  
Tianliang Wang ◽  
Xuemin Pan ◽  
...  

The traditional treatment of red clay using inorganic materials leads to many serious environmental problems. The study investigates the mechanical properties of red clay using an environmental-friendly material—xanthan gum—through confined compression, direct shear, and scanning electron microscope tests. At the macroscale, xanthan gum content and curing age had obvious effects on the compressibility, presenting the treated red clay was in the category of low compressibility which gradually increased when xanthan gum content exceeded 1.5%. The xanthan gum content and curing age also had significant influences on the cohesion but not on the internal friction angle. The shear strength of red clay can be improved by increasing the cohesion without obviously changing the friction characteristics. After curing for 28 days, the cohesion and internal friction angle of 2.0% xanthan gum-treated soil were effectively improved to 170.44 kPa and 20.56°, which were increased by 69.79% and 9.36°, respectively, compared with untreated red clay. Microscopic analysis indicated that the strengthening mechanism by xanthan gum was derived from changing the arrangement characteristics of soil particles and forming hard biopolymer-red clay matrices. The proper xanthan gum can effectively wrap clay particles and fill pore spaces. However, the extensive stacking of gels would also reduce the effective connection of clay particles and produce local weak points in the soil, resulting in attenuation of mechanical properties. This study enriches the treatment measure of red clay and provides beneficial experiences for biopolymer application on special clay.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Kaisheng Chen

By embedding water content sensors and pore water pressure sensors inside the red clay slope on-site in Guiyang, Guizhou, shear tests were performed on soil samples at different depths of the slope under different weather. The changes of water content, pore water pressure, and shear strength index of the slope inside the slope under the influence of the atmosphere were tracked and tested, and the failure characteristics and evolution of the red clay slope were analyzed. It is believed that the depth of influence of the atmosphere on red clay slopes is about 0.7 m, rainfall is the most direct climatic factor leading to the instability of red clay slopes, and the evaporation effect is an important prerequisite for the catastrophe of red clay slopes. The cohesion and internal friction angle of the slope soil have a good binary quadratic function relationship with the water content and density. The water content and density can be used to calculate the cohesion and internal friction angle. Failure characteristics of red clay slopes: the overall instability failure is less, mainly surface failure represented by gullies and weathering and spalling, and then gradually evolved into shallow instability failure represented by collapse and slump. The damage evolution law is as follows: splash corrosion and surface corrosion stage⟶ fracture development stage⟶ gully formation stage⟶ gully development through stage⟶ local collapse stage⟶ slope foot collapse stage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Haiping Shi ◽  
Zhongyao Li ◽  
Wenwei Li ◽  
Shaopeng Wang ◽  
Baotian Wang ◽  
...  

Laboratory freezing experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of polyacrylamide (PAM) and lignocellulose on the mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of Tibetan clay. Direct shear and unconfined compressive tests and field emission scanning electron microscopy analyses were performed on clay samples with different contents of stabilizers. The test results show that the addition of PAM can improve the unconfined compressive strength and cohesion of Tibetan clay, but an excessive amount of PAM reduces the internal friction angle. After several freeze-thaw cycles, the unconfined compressive strength and cohesion of samples stabilized by PAM decrease significantly, while the internal friction angle increases. Samples stabilized by PAM and lignocellulose have higher internal friction angles, cohesion, and unconfined compressive strength and can retain about 80% of the original strength after 10 freeze-thaw cycles. PAM fills the pores between soil particles and provides adhesion. The addition of lignocellulose can form a network, restrict the expansion of pores caused by freeze-thaw cycles, and improve the integrity of PAM colloids. It is postulated that the addition of a composite stabilizer with a PAM content of 0.4% and a lignocellulose content of 2% may be a technically feasible method to increase the strength of Tibetan clay.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanxi Zhao ◽  
Zhongxian Liu

Soil-rock mixtures are often seen in geological deposits. Mechanical properties of these mixtures are controlled by microstructural characteristics such as rock size distribution, rock shape, locations, and content. The effects of material composition on soil-rock mechanical properties were studied in the laboratory. The soil-rock material was screened into different size categories. Medium-scale shearing and triaxial experiments were used to study the relationships among macrodeformation, strength, content, size, and random location of rocks. The medium-scale triaxial shearing instrument included the computer control system, EDC control system, and sensor response. The stress-strain curve of soil-rock mixtures was found as a hardening curve which is approximately hyperbolic, and there was no obvious peak intensity value. When the Mohr–Coulomb criterion was used to depict the curve under a shear strain of 0.15, cohesion first increased and then decreased, a finding opposite to the internal friction angle with a decrease in particle size. Elastic modulus increased with an increase in rock size, but Poisson’s ratio remained constant. In similar conditions, the random location of rocks can lead to a variation range of 4 degree of the internal friction angle, and cohesion values can change in a large range than the mean value.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 2182
Author(s):  
Hanbing Liu ◽  
Shuang Sun ◽  
Lixia Wang ◽  
Yunlong Zhang ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
...  

In order to study the effects of the microstructure parameters of cement modified subgrade silty soil (CMSS) in a frozen area under freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles on the macroscopic mechanical properties, the static triaxial test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and grey relation analysis (GRA) were implemented on silty soil modified with 0% and 2% cement at optimum moisture content from the northwest in Jilin Province in China. The results showed that the shear strength, the cohesion of 0% and 2% CMSS, decreased with the increase of F-T cycles, while the internal friction angle was not obviously changed. The shear strength and its parameters of 2% CMSS doubled compared to that of 0% CMSS. The micro-parameters, representing the particle morphological characteristics, particle arrangement, and pore characteristics of CMSS, changed differently under F-T cycles. If the cement was not added, the cohesion and the internal friction angle were most sensitive to the average particle diameter (Dp) and the average particle abundance (C), respectively. When the cement content was 2%, the cohesion was chiefly affected by the particle size fractal dimension (Dps), while the internal friction angle was mainly related to the average pore diameter (Dh). The main principle of cement improvement was to decrease Dh of soil under F-T cycles.


2020 ◽  
Vol 857 ◽  
pp. 203-211
Author(s):  
Majid Hamed ◽  
Waleed S. Sidik ◽  
Hanifi Canakci ◽  
Fatih Celik ◽  
Romel N. Georgees

This study was undertaken to investigate some specific problems that limit a safe design and construction of structures on problematic soils. An experimental study was carried out to examine the influence of loading rate and moisture content on shear strength of organic soil. Influece of moisture content on interface friction between organic soil and structural materials was also attempted. A commonly used soil in Iraq was prepared at varying moisture contents of 39%, 57% and 75%. The experimental results showed that the increase in water content will decrease the shear stress and the internal friction angle. An increase of the shearing rate was found to decrease the shear stress and internal friction angle for all percetanges of water contents. Further, direct shear tests were carried out to detect the interface shear stress behavior between organic soil and structural materials. The results revealed that the increase in water content was shown to have significant negetavie effects on the interface internal friction and angle shear strength.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanhui Cheng ◽  
Weijun Yang ◽  
Dongliang He

Structural plane is a key factor in controlling the stability of rock mass engineering. To study the influence of structural plane microscopic parameters on direct shear strength, this paper established the direct shear mechanical model of the structural plane by using the discrete element code PFC2D. From the mesoscopic perspective, the research on the direct shear test for structural plane has been conducted. The bonding strength and friction coefficient of the structural plane are investigated, and the effect of mesoscopic parameters on the shear mechanical behavior of the structural plane has been analyzed. The results show that the internal friction angle φ of the structural plane decreases with the increase of particle contact stiffness ratio. However, the change range of cohesion is small. The internal friction angle decreases first and then increases with the increase of parallel bond stiffness ratio. The influence of particle contact modulus EC on cohesion c is relatively small. The internal friction angle obtained by the direct shear test is larger than that obtained by the triaxial compression test. Parallel bond elastic modulus has a stronger impact on friction angle φ than that on cohesion c. Under the same normal stress conditions, the shear strength of the specimens increases with particle size. The shear strength of the specimen gradually decreases with the increase of the particle size ratio.


2015 ◽  
Vol 744-746 ◽  
pp. 593-596
Author(s):  
Yuan Meng

When calculating the dam slope failure process, traditional strength reduction method doesn't consider the difference of decay rate between cohesion and internal friction angle and discount the strength parameters for all elements. This paper uses two different reduction factors for material strength parameters, slope cohesion and internal friction angle. Based on the yield approach index criterion, we change the reduction region in time and put forward a double safety factor of dynamic local strength reduction method for engineering analysis of dam slope stability.


Author(s):  
Khelifa Harichane ◽  
Mohamed Ghrici ◽  
Said Kenai

Cohesive soils with a high plasticity index present difficulties in construction operations because they usually contain expansive clay minerals. However, the engineering properties of soils can be improved by different techniques. The aim of this paper is to study the effect of using lime, natural pozzolana or a combination of both lime and natural pozzolana on plasticity, compaction and shear strength of two clayey soils classified as CH and CL according to the unified soil classification system (USCS). The obtained results indicated that for CH class clay soil, the plasticity index decreased significantly for samples stabilized with lime. On the other hand, for the soil classified as CL class clay, a high decrease in the plasticity index value was observed for samples stabilized with natural pozzolana compared to those stabilized with lime. Also, both the cohesion and internal friction angle in lime added samples were demonstrated to increase with time. The combination of lime and natural pozzolana exhibits a significant effect on the enhancement of both the cohesion and  internal friction angle at later stages. The lime-natural pozzolana combination appears to produce higher shear strength parameters than lime or natural pozzolana used alone.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Jianwei Yue ◽  
Limin Zhao ◽  
Baoxi Zhang ◽  
Qingmei Kong ◽  
Siyuan Wang ◽  
...  

The silty clay in the lower reaches of the Yellow River is characterized by loose structure, low strength, and strong capillary effect. Based on the technology of ancient glutinous rice mortar and microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP), experiments on optimal mass ratio of cementitious liquid to bacterial liquid and optimal concentration of cementitious liquid for MICP and improved MICP technology were carried out by measuring the production of CaCO3, and direct shear test and unconfined compressive strength test of plain silt, glutinous mixing silt, and improved silt with MICP and modified MICP were conducted. The microstructure of the reaction products of MICP and improved MICP technology were also evaluated based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Research results showed that the mechanical properties of silt with glutinous rice slurry were effectively improved. With the increase in the concentration of glutinous rice slurry, the strength and internal friction angle of soil samples first increased and then decreased, and the cohesion presented a linear increasing trend. When the concentration of cementitious liquid was 0.5 M and the mass ratio of cementitious liquid to bacterial liquid was 2 : 1, the amount of CaCO3 formed was the most, and the conversion rate of Ca2+ was more than 80%. The improved MICP could increase the conversion rate of Ca2+ (93.44%). An improved MICP showed that glutinous rice slurry could improve bacterial activity, increase the urease content in the bacterial solution, and promote the production of CaCO3. Silt cohesion and internal friction angle of the silt were improved by the improved MICP technology, and the strengthening effect of mechanical properties of modified MICP-reinforced soil is better than that of the MICP-reinforced soil; conventional MICP technology could also improve the soil cohesion, but the improvement in the internal friction angle was not obvious. The SEM results indicated that compared with the reaction product of MICP technology, the structure of the product of improved MICP technology is more compact, resulting in a marked reinforcement of MICP performance with glutinous rice slurry. This study provides new insights into enhancing the mechanical behaviour of MICP-treated silt in the Yellow River Basin with glutinous rice slurry.


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