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Microstructural organization of remoulded clays in relation with dilatancy/contractancy phenomena

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Abstract

This experimental work aimed to identify local mechanisms in remoulded clays under different triaxial loading conditions. The behaviour at a given stress level reached by two different stress paths, i.e. the conventional constant σ′3 stress path and the purely deviatoric stress path, and the behaviour at two different stress levels along a given stress path were examined. The investigation concerned both normally consolidated and overconsolidated saturated specimens of remoulded kaolin clay. The microstructural states of the clay specimens induced by different triaxial loading paths were examined at two different scales using the scanning electron microscopy and the X-ray microtomography. The results highlighted five particle orientation modes that could be activated. These modes seem to be highly dependent on the stress level, the overconsolidation ratio and the stress path. Mesocracks were found to develop within strongly overconsolidated specimens accompanied by the occurrence of dilatancy. The proposed conceptual modes provide an interesting approach to understand the mechanical behaviour of remoulded clays, especially the macroscale dilatancy phenomenon, through the possible activation of different mechanisms at micro- and mesoscales.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Lamine Ighil Ameur (LEM3, Université de Lorraine) for giving us triaxial testing data, and we acknowledge the scholarship offered by China Scholarship Council (CSC, Grant No. 201508430168) for the first author’s Ph.D. study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Lorraine, CNRS, Arts et Métiers ParisTech, LEM3, 57000, Metz, France

    Qian-Feng Gao, Mahdia Hattab & Mohamad Jrad

  2. Laboratoire de Mécanique des Sols, Structures et Matériaux, CNRS UMR 8579, Université Paris-Saclay, CentraleSupélec, 3 rue Joliot Curie, 91190, Gif-Sur-Yvette, France

    Jean-Marie Fleureau

  3. Institut de Recherche en Génie Civil et Mécanique, CNRS UMR 6183, Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Université de Nantes, 1 rue de la Noë, BP 92101, 44321, Nantes Cedex 3, France

    Pierre-Yves Hicher

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  1. Qian-Feng Gao
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  2. Mahdia Hattab
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Correspondence to Qian-Feng Gao.

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Gao, QF., Hattab, M., Jrad, M. et al. Microstructural organization of remoulded clays in relation with dilatancy/contractancy phenomena. Acta Geotech. 15, 223–243 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-019-00876-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-019-00876-w

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