Abstract

Densely compacted loess foundations of many man‐made infrastructures are often exposed to various loads and extreme weathering processes (e.g., drying‐wetting cycles), which significantly deteriorate their mechanical properties. Traditional methods applied to characterize soil engineering properties are primarily based on visual inspections, point sensors, or destructive approaches, the results of which often have relatively high costs and cannot provide large‐area coverage. The electrical resistivity method is a reasonable alternative that provides a nondestructive, sensitive, and continuous evaluation of the soil physical properties. Thus, the relationships between electrical resistivity and soil strength should be understood, particularly for scenarios in which soils undergo significant loads and cycles of drying and wetting. In this study, a suite of laboratory tests simulating loads (consolidation tests, unconfined compression tests, and uniaxial cyclic unloading‐reloading tests) and seasonal field conditions (drying‐wetting cycle tests) were conducted to quantitatively assess their deterioration effects on the geophysical and geotechnical properties of compacted loess. The experimental results indicated that electric resistivity decreases with the increase in stress and then approaches a stable value after the stress becomes 200 kPa. During the uniaxial compression process, the electric resistivity corresponds to both the stress and strain of loess in real‐time. The electrical resistivity of loess reflects plastic damage under uniaxial unloading‐reloading tests, but it is deficient in representing the dissipated energy of loess. The electrical resistivity of loess samples increases as the number of drying‐wetting cycles increases but decreases with increasing cycle numbers after stabilization under consolidation load. The electrical resistivity can effectively characterize the mechanical and deformation characteristics of loess samples under loads and drying‐wetting cycles, exhibiting a certain potential for long‐term monitoring of soil engineering properties.

Highlights

  • Loess is a loose aeolian deposit of yellowish silt-sized dust and is generally found in arid and semiarid regions [1, 2]

  • Owing to the load and environmental changes after the engineering works, the relationship between soil strength and electrical resistivity when subjected to load and WD cycles must be understood to evaluate the possibility of longterm monitoring engineering stability based on electrical resistivity method. erefore, a suite of laboratory tests simulating loads and seasonal field conditions (DW cycle tests) were conducted to resolve the effects of loads and DW cycles on geotechnical and geophysical properties, which are essential for the success of a long-term monitoring system of engineering stability based on electrical resistivity tomography

  • Relationship between Electrical Resistivity and Compression Characteristics of Compacted Loess. e relationship between the electrical resistivity of compacted loess specimens and loading time during the consolidation test is plotted in Figure 4. e electrical resistivity of soil samples exhibited a trend of decreasing abruptly and gradually becoming constant with each new first load applied

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Summary

Introduction

Loess is a loose aeolian deposit of yellowish silt-sized dust and is generally found in arid and semiarid regions [1, 2]. An increasing number of studies use electrical resistivity to characterize the physical and mechanical properties of soil, the direct application of electrical resistivity methods to monitor engineering stability is still rare. Owing to the load and environmental changes after the engineering works, the relationship between soil strength and electrical resistivity when subjected to load and WD cycles must be understood to evaluate the possibility of longterm monitoring engineering stability based on electrical resistivity method. Erefore, a suite of laboratory tests simulating loads (consolidation tests, unconfined compression tests, and uniaxial cyclic unloading-reloading tests) and seasonal field conditions (DW cycle tests) were conducted to resolve the effects of loads and DW cycles on geotechnical and geophysical properties, which are essential for the success of a long-term monitoring system of engineering stability based on electrical resistivity tomography Owing to the load and environmental changes after the engineering works, the relationship between soil strength and electrical resistivity when subjected to load and WD cycles must be understood to evaluate the possibility of longterm monitoring engineering stability based on electrical resistivity method. erefore, a suite of laboratory tests simulating loads (consolidation tests, unconfined compression tests, and uniaxial cyclic unloading-reloading tests) and seasonal field conditions (DW cycle tests) were conducted to resolve the effects of loads and DW cycles on geotechnical and geophysical properties, which are essential for the success of a long-term monitoring system of engineering stability based on electrical resistivity tomography

Materials and Methods
Test Procedures
Results and Discussion
Conclusions
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