Shrinkage behaviour of slurry-consolidated and compacted clay soil

Abstract

This research investigates the shrinkage behaviour of clay specimens subjected to different hydraulic paths. The volume change and microstructure of desiccated clay specimen directly dried from reconstituted slurry and compacted states, and the desiccated clay specimens obtained by subjecting the as-compacted clay specimen to cyclic wetting and drying process were compared. The experimental results showed that the initial microstructural difference between reconstituted slurries and compacted specimens influences their shrinkage behaviour. The compacted clay specimens retained the bimodal structure even after subjecting to cyclic wetting and drying, unlike the reconstituted slurry, which showed a predominant unimodal structure at the end of drying process. This is due to the absence of large macropores in the desiccated clay specimen dried from reconstituted slurry state, which is evidenced from the mercury intrusion porosimetry studies, scanning electron microscopy and nano-focus X-ray-computed tomography imaging experiments.