Evaluation of tensile load-strain characteristics of geogrids through in-soil tensile tests

This paper evaluates in-soil tensile load-strain characteristics of geogrids with the help of a custom designed and developed in-soil tensile setup in the laboratory. Displacement controlled in-soil tensile tests were carried out to evaluate the effect of normal stress, soil type, and presence of sand-sandwiched layer, on the tensile load-strain characteristics of geogrid. Confinement of geogrid within the soil and application of normal stress were found to increase the mobilized tensile load and secant tensile stiffness of geogrid. Secant stiffness improvement factors were determined to quantify the improvement in tensile load-strain characteristics of geogrid under confinement, on comparison to in-isolation values. Geogrid was observed to exhibit lower secant tensile stiffness when embedded in marginal soil, moist-compacted at wet of optimum. However, the concept of sand-sandwiched geogrid was found to improve the tensile load-strain behaviour of geogrids embedded in marginal soil compacted at wet of optimum.     

Copper accumulation in soils from two different‐aged apricot orchards in Central Otago,New Zealand

In recent years there has been a move in New Zealand to convert small, uneconomic orchards to other agricultural uses. Overseas research has demonstrated that copper from fungicide sprays often accumulates in the soils of orchards and can cause certain problems for plant growth and livestock. To date, no assessments appear to have been made of the degree of copper accumulation in such older orchards in New Zealand. This study presents the results of an assessment of two well‐established apricot orchards in the Central Otago region of South Island, New Zealand.

Two aspects of the results are surprising. The first is the relatively low levels of copper in the soil when compared with results from another orchard in the region. That orchard is 18 years old and mean soil copper has already reached 100.0 μg/g, indicating a much faster rate of accumulation than in the two orchards in the current study. The second unexpected result is that the younger orchard has a significantly higher level of copper than the older orchard. Reasons for these findings are discussed in relation to apparent differences in soil properties.     

风化砂不同掺入率对膨胀土特性影响的研究

针对目前膨胀土改良措施中存在的问题,提出了一种新的改良方法——在膨胀土中掺入风化砂,对膨胀土实施物理改良。对风化砂不同掺入率的膨胀土进行颗分试验,液、塑限试验,活性指数试验,相对密度试验。试验表明:随着掺砂比例的增大,活性指数急剧下降,液性指数发生了降低;对风化砂不同掺入率改良膨胀土进行的自由膨胀率、有荷膨胀率、无荷膨胀率和膨胀力试验表明,随着掺砂比例的增加,膨胀土的膨胀性得到显著的抑制;最后对掺砂膨胀土进行了直剪试验、无侧限抗压强度试验、CBR试验和回弹模量试验,探讨不同掺砂率对强度指标的影响及其变化规律。试验研究结果表明,掺砂能较好地改良膨胀土的基本工程性质指标,有效抑制膨胀土的膨胀特性,改善膨胀土的力学强度性能,掺砂后膨胀土的各项指标均可达到路基填料的要求。     

Particle loss: An initial investigation into size effects and stress-dilatancy

Drained triaxial tests have been performed to explore the effect of particle loss on shearing behaviour and critical states in granular mixtures. The mixtures comprise Leighton Buzzard sand (d₅₀ = 0.8 mm), to which was added 15% by mass of salt particles of different nominal sizes: 0.063 mm, 0.25 mm and 0.5 mm. Shearing behaviours before and after particle loss (by dissolution) were compared. A good fit is observed between the test data and a stress-dilatancy relationship for the post-dissolution tests, highlighting the ability of the stress-dilatancy analysis as a means to interpret the effects of particle loss on shearing. It was noted that critical state strength parameter M is determined by the post-dissolution grading regardless of size of removed particle. However, the duration of contractant volumetric strain increased with the larger removed particles (0.25 mm & 0.5 mm) even when initial specific volumes were virtually identical. It is suggested that a loose volumetric state is reached if the sand particle network is initially disrupted by the amount and/or size of salt particles, which following dissolution results in structural or fabric phenomena that are not reflected in scalar volumetric measures such as specific volume.     

粘土矿物对重金属镉的吸附研究

通过等温吸附试验，研究了粘土矿物膨润土、海泡石、凹凸棒石对Cd^2 的吸附情况，并与土壤对Cd^2 的吸附情况进行了对比。试验表明，几种粘土矿物对Cd^2 有很好的吸附作用，可用于重金属污染土壤的治理。pH值是影响吸附效果的一个重要因素。     

A Generalized Relationship for Determination of Tensile Strength of Fine-Grained Soils from Shrinkage Characteristics

Tensile strength of fine-grained soils has been extensively investigated by earlier researchers and several methodologies have been evolved for its determination. However, either most of these methods are not valid/applicable for a wide range of moisture contents or they involve tedious sample/specimen preparation. In this context, the methodology of determining tensile strength by employing thin films, which is available in the literature, has been found to be quite handy and useful. It has been observed that a unique relationship exists among the tensile strength, moisture content, and shrinkage characteristics of fine-grained soils. This methodology is appreciable due to its applicability to a wide range of moisture contents, comparable ease of sample preparation and testing, and the obtained results lack generalization. Exhaustive tests were conducted on fine-grained soils of entirely different characteristics and generalized relationships have been proposed between the percentage linear shrinkage, tensile strength, and moisture content (defined as liquid to solid ratio). Based on a critical analysis of the results available in the literature, the efficiency of such relationships for determination of tensile strength of fine-grained soils has been demonstrated. In the authors’ opinion, such relationships would be quite useful for determining tensile strength of fine-grained soils from their linear shrinkage, which can easily be measured in a conventional geotechnical engineering laboratory.     

土壤汞污染生物修复法的研究现状及发展前景

近年来,利用生物修复法来治理受汞污染的土壤得到了迅速发展,并取得了很多的成果。文章对土壤汞污染生物修复技术的国内外研究现状进行综述,进而展望其发展前景,以对今后土壤修复进行指导。     

Consolidation of Soft Clay Foundations Reinforced by Stone Columns under Time-Dependent Loadings

This paper presents an analytical solution for the consolidation of soft soil foundations reinforced by stone columns under time-dependent loadings. The differential equations of the foundations reinforced by stone columns are obtained including smear and well resistance under arbitrary applied loadings. The closed-form solutions of pore pressure and the overall average degree of consolidations are obtained for some common types of loadings, such as step loading, ramp loading, and cyclic trapezoidal loading. By solving the equations using a semianalytical method, the comparisons agree very well with the existing analytical solutions, which verify the correctness and accuracy of the proposed methods. Using the solutions obtained, some selected charts are presented and the relevant consolidation behavior is investigated and discussed.     

Axial Compression of Footings in Cohesionless Soils. II: Bearing Capacity

An extensive database of full-scale field load tests was used to examine the bearing capacity for footings in cohesionless soils. Each load test curve was evaluated consistently to determine the interpreted failure load (i.e., bearing capacity) using the L1-L2 method. This test value then was compared with the theoretical bearing capacity, computed primarily using the basic Vesi? model. The comparisons show that, for footing widths B>1?m, the field results agree very well with the Vesi? predictions. However, for B<1?m, the results indicated a relationship between B and the predicted-to-measured bearing capacity ratio. Accordingly, a simple modification was made to the bearing capacity equation, and the resulting predictions are very good.     

Cross-Well Radar. I: Experimental Simulation of Cross-Well Tomography and Validation

This paper explains and evaluates the potential and limitations of conducting cross-well radar (CWR) in sandy soils. Implementing the experiment and data collection in the absence of any scattering object, and in the presence of an acrylic plate [a representative of dielectric objects, such as dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) pools, etc.], as a contrasting object in a water-saturated soil is also studied. To be able to image the signature of any object, more than one pair of receiving and transmitting antennas are required. The paper describes a method to achieve repeatable, reliable, and reproducible laboratory results for different transmitter-receiver combinations. Different practical methods were evaluated for collecting multiple-depth data. Similarity of the corresponding results and problems involved in each method are studied and presented. The data show that the frequency response of a saturated coarse-grained soil is smooth due to the continuous and dominant nature of water in saturated soils. The repeatability and potential symmetry of patterns across some borehole axes provide a valuable tool for validation of experimental results. The potential asymmetry across other borehole axes is used as a tool to evaluate the strength of the perturbation on the electromagnetic field due to hidden objects and to evaluate the feasibility of detecting dielectric objects (such as DNAPL pools, etc.) using CWR. The experimental simulation of this paper models a real-life problem in a smaller scale, in a controlled laboratory environment, and within homogeneous soils that are uniformly dry or fully water saturated, with a uniform dielectric property contrast between the inclusion and background. The soil in the field will not be as homogeneous and uniform. The scaling process takes into consideration that as the size is scaled down; the frequency needs to be scaled up. It is noteworthy that this scaling process needs to be extensively studied and validated for future extension of the models to real-field applications. For example, to extend the outcome of this work to the real field, the geometry (antenna size, their separation and inclusion size) needs to be scaled up back to the field size, while soil grains will not. Therefore, soil, water, and air coupling effects and interactions observed at the laboratory scale do not scale up in the field, and may have different unforeseen effects that require extensive study.