The void ratio of saturated red clay calculated from a micro-structure model
Abstract：The red clay found in Guangzhou easily softens and has caused collapse during subway construction.This threatens urban subway construction and other major engineering projects.Changes in physical properties of this clay caused by moisture changes are the key to the problem.The mineral components of the clay were obtained from X-ray diffraction analysis and the soil micro-structure was determined with a scanning electron microscope.A soil model is proposed to predict the physical mechanics of the red soils in terms of soil micro-structure.At a saturated moisture content of 62% the free swelling of the red soil is 40%,mostly driven by the clay minerals in the soil.Flaky clay particles gather together to form a micro layered aggregate that composes the main structural unit of the micro-structure.The void ratio is about 1.62 to 1.80,based upon the micro-structural parameters.This is identical to the void ratio obtained from macroscopically sized experiments.
Keywords：saturated red claymicro-structurevoid ratioSEM
Publication Date：2011-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)