Abstract
Sand characteristics such as liquefaction susceptibility can be affected as a result of change in degree of saturation of sand. New liquefaction mitigation technique by inducing partial saturation in sands is introduced by Yegian et al in 2007[1]. This technique requires to monitor changes in degree of saturation of sand. By nature, changes in degree of saturation of sand can lead in changes in its electric conductivity. Electric conductivity is the property of a material that represents its ability to conduct electric current. Fully saturated sand can conduct electric current better than sand with lower degree of saturation. Therefore, the change in measured electric conductivity can be used to calculate the change in degree of saturation of sand. In 1942, Gus Archie [2] expressed that the electric conductivity of soil is a function of its porosity, degree of saturation, tortuosity and electric conductivity of pore fluid. Using Archie’s law electrical conductivity can be related to the degree of saturation in sands. Typically, electric conductivity probes and meters are instruments which are used to measure electric conductivity. Using electrical conductivity probes, sets of bench top tests were conducted on Ottawa sand to study the relation between degree of saturation and electric conductivity in sand. Partial saturation in sands were created by pouring dry sand into sodium percarbonate solution with a known initial concentration. By nature, sodium percarbonate in water, generates oxygen gas bubbles in time. The changes in electric conductivity in the specimen were measured using electric conductivity meters and probes. In addition, changes in degree of saturation of the specimen were measured using soil phase relations equations. Measured electric conductivity data and calculated degree of saturations were correlated to explore relation between electric conductivity and degree of saturation. This paper presents results of bench top tests, and suggests a relationship between, final degree of saturation of sand and initial concentration of sodium percarbonate solution
Highlights
1.1 Electric conductivity and its applicationElectric conductivity is a property of the material that represents its ability to conduct electric current
Degree of saturation of sand decreased as a result of the replacement of pore fluid with gas bubbles
It was noticed that some gas bubbles tend to escape from the specimen when the concentration of solution was more than 1.2%
Summary
Electric conductivity is a property of the material that represents its ability to conduct electric current. There are soil treatment techniques that include sending a chemical solution through a porous media where pore fluid’s electric conductivity changes during the treatment and electric conductivity measurement can be a useful data to monitor the zone of treatment. 1.2 Archie’s law Archie in 1942 expressed that electric conductivity of clean sand can be calculated using Equation 1. Understanding Archie’s law, when it is assumed that tortuosity, cementation exponent, pore fluid’s electric conductivity and porosity of soil do not change during treatment, degree of saturation of a soil at any time during soil treatment can be calculated using Equation 2. Bench-top tests on Ottawa sand specimen is used to study the relations between changes in electric conductivity and degree of saturation of soil using Archie’s law
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