The impact of soil structure and confining stress on the hydraulic conductivity of clays in brine environments

Abstract

Numerous studies have been completed in recent years on the alteration of the hydraulic conductivity of clayey soils as a result of exposure to concentrated organic or inorganic permeants. These hydraulic conductivity changes have been attributed to either changes in microstructure, due to contraction of the diffuse double layer, or to the alteration of the macrostructure, as a result of volume changes leading to shrinkage fractures or fissures. In this paper, the change in hydraulic conductivity of a highly plastic natural clay during exposure to a concentrated sodium chloride (NaCl) solution is described. The performance of samples with three different initial soil structures, prepared by slurry, static compaction, and kneading compaction, were investigated under various levels of confining stress. Hydraulic conductivity tests were carried out before and after the samples were exposed to the NaCl solutions. Scanning electron microscope photography was used to compare the soil structures before and after brine permeation. The test results show that the alteration of hydraulic conductivity is strongly related to the initial soil structure and the level of confining stress. No significant change in the microfabric of the clay was observed; however, the size of the interaggregate pores appeared to increase as a result of the physicochemical volume change that occurred during brine permeation. The increase in hydraulic conductivity that occurred during brine permeation could be prevented by increasing the level of confining stress. The stress levels at which significant increases in hydraulic conductivity occurred appeared to be coincident with low levels of vertical stress which allowed the sample to undergo lateral shrinkage and a subsequent loss of confinement. Key words : hydraulic conductivity, clay soils, osmotic consolidation, sodium chloride brine, soil structure, scanning electron microscope.