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Study of the relationship between hydro-mechanical soil behavior and microstructure of a structured soil
Estudio de la relación entre el comportamiento hidromecánico y la microestructura de un suelo estructurado
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15446/esrj.v22n2.65640Keywords:
hydro-mechanical behavior, microstructural behavior, pore size distribution. (en)Comportamiento hidromecánico, Comportamiento microestructural, Distribución del tamaño de los poros, (es)
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Structured soils, such as residual laterites or volcanic ashes, abound in tropical regions. The hydro-mechanical behavior of these soils is clearly related to their structure. New techniques based on microstructural studies constitute a powerful tool for investigating these soils. This work presents an experimental investigation that documents the relationships between the microstructure and the mechanical behavior of these soils. This study focuses on the microstructural behavior of Brasilia clay, a structured, highly porous tropical soil (n>50%) with a bimodal pore size distribution. The microstructure was investigated using pore size distribution analyses of different structural states and void ratios. The mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) technique was used to explore the pore size distribution of samples in various conditions, i.e., natural, compacted, slurry or consolidated states. Modeling of the pore size distribution curves was performed using the bimodal van Genuchten curve, which permits the linking of the pore size distribution curves (PSD) to the water retention curve. We observed that loading and compacting did not affect the micro-pores of this soil, and we conclude that the changes occurred entirely within the macro-pores.
Los suelos estructurados, tales como las lateritas residuales o las cenizas volcánicas, abundan en las regiones tropicales. El comportamiento hidromecánico de estos suelos está claramente relacionado con su estructura. Las nuevas técnicas basadas en estudios microestructurales constituyen una poderosa herramienta para investigar estos suelos. Este trabajo presenta una investigación experimental que documenta las relaciones entre la microestructura y el comportamiento mecánico de estos suelos. Este estudio se centra en el comportamiento microestructural de la arcilla de Brasília, un suelo tropical estructurado y altamente poroso (n> 50%) con una distribución de tamaño de poros (PSD) bimodal. Fueron utilizados los análisis de PSD para investigación de la microestrutura del suelo en diferentes estados y con diferentes índices de vacíos. Se utilizó la técnica de porosimetría por intrusión de mercurio (MIP) para explorar la PSD de muestras en diferentes condiciones, es decir, natural, compactado, lodo o estados consolidados. Se realizó la modelación de las curvas PSD utilizando la curva bimodal de Van Genuchten, que permite el enlace de curvas PSD a la curva de retención de agua. Observamos que la aplicación de carga sobre las muestras de suelo y la compactación de las mimas no afectaron los microporos y se concluyó que los cambios que ocurrieron en este suelo fueron completamente dentro de los macroporos.
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