Small-scale evaporation tests on clay

influence of drying rate on clayey soil layer

Journal article (2018)

Authors

R.N. Tollenaar Gonzalez Geo-engineering - CEG
L.A. van Paassen Geo-engineering - CEG , Arizona State University
C. Jommi Politecnico di Milano, Geo-engineering - CEG
Research Group
Geo-engineering (CEG) (TU Delft)
Suction Clay desiccation Drying rate Evaporation test Soil drying
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Published Date

2018

Language

English

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Faculty

Civil Engineering & Geosciences

Department

Geoscience and Engineering

Research Group

Geo-engineering

Abstract

Cracks in drying soils have detrimental effects on the integrity of geotechnical structures. The evaporation rate is recognized to play an important role in fracture generation, having a direct impact on the amount of cracks produced. This investigation examined the drying behaviour of a clay with different initial water contents and under different evaporative conditions. Small-scale evaporation experiments were carried out using a river clay and commercially available suction-measuring equipment. The results showed that the initial conditions have great influence on the drying performance of a soil, which can be partly attributed to the influence of the surface texture and the pore structure. It was observed that under certain circumstances, the evaporation of a soil surface can be higher than that of open water. The different evaporation rates had a marked effect on the water distributions with depth within the soil. The evaporation rate also produced a dynamic response of the soil-water retention curve.

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Cgj_2017_0061.pdf
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