Compaction of Clay Sediments in the Range of Molecular Particle Distances
- 1 February 1962
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Clays and clay minerals (National Conference on Clays and Clay Minerals)
- Vol. 11, 178-187
- https://doi.org/10.1346/ccmn.1962.0110116
Abstract
The physical process of compaction of clay sediments and the inverse process of swelling can be discussed in terms of particle interaction forces. The swelling pressure in a given situation equals the nct repulsive force per unit area between the particles. The net repulsive force is the resultant of various repulsive and attractive forces. Two stages of swelling or compaction can be distinguished, one in which the particles are relatively far apart, and a second in which they arc separated by only a few monomolecular layers of water.In the first stage the swelling pressure is primarily due to double-layer repulsion (“osmotic swelling”). The pressures range from a fraction of one atmosphere to several times ten atmospheres. These pressures are of particular interest for foundation engineering problems.In the second stage the swelling pressures are dominated by the work of adsorption of the water layers on the clay surfaces. Tile pressures may reach several thousand atmospheres. Quantitative data on the swelling pressures in this range are derived from water vapor sorption isotherms combined with X-ray data on the c-spacing of expanding clays during dehydration.It is concluded that overburden pressures in nature will seldom be high enough to remove all adsorbed water from between parallel grain surfaces.This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- Unit layer interaction in hydrous montmorillonite systemsJournal of Colloid Science, 1962
- Compression Apparatus for Powder X-Ray DiffractometryReview of Scientific Instruments, 1962
- Density Studies in Clay-Liquid SystemsPublished by American Chemical Society (ACS) ,1961
- The swelling of montmorilloniteDiscussions of the Faraday Society, 1954