Consolidation Properties of Soil/Modified Bentonite Backfill in Salt Solution

Abstract

The consolidation properties of soil-bentonite (SB) backfills containing 20% of the weight of sodium-hexametaphosphate-modified calcium bentonite (SHMP-20CaB) and prepared with 0 mM to 1000 mM calcium chloride (CaCl2) solution were evaluated. The results indicated that both consolidation stress and CaCl2 concentration had significant effects on the consolidation behaviors of the SHMP-20CaB backfill. In general, an increase in consolidation stress resulted in a decrease in the void ratio (e) and in the coefficient of volume change (mv), alongside an increase in the coefficient of consolidation (cv). The increased CaCl2 concentration yielded a dropped void ratio, and a nonlinear decreased compression index (Cc) and rebound index (Cs), respectively, from 0.18 to 0.13 and from 0.022 to 0.010, and a nonlinear increase cv. A threshold CaCl2 concentration of 100 mM was observed at the inflection points of the Cc, Cs, and cv. In contrast, the mv was insensitive to the CaCl2 solutions. The deterioration in e, Cc, and Cs and the increase in cv were the result of a compressed diffuse double layer of the bentonite by the CaCl2 solution, which thus exerted certain negative effects on the consolidation behaviors of the SHMP-20CaB backfill.