Titre :
|
Morphology of horizontal cracks in swelling soils
|
Auteurs :
|
V. Chertkov ;
I. Ravina
|
Type de document :
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article/chapitre/communication
|
Année de publication :
|
1999
|
Format :
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p. 19-29
|
Langues:
|
= Anglais
|
Catégories :
|
SCIENCES FONDAMENTALES ET APPLIQUEES
|
Mots-clés:
|
SOL
;
GONFLEMENT
;
FISSURATION
;
RETRAIT
;
ARGILE
;
MODELISATION
|
Résumé :
|
Horizontally formed cracks in the network of cracked swelling soils tend to influence water and solute transport. An approach is suggested for estimating the mean width and volume of horizontal cracks. It is assumed that the nearly horizontal cracks appear as a result of inhomogeneous soil subsidence caused by rapid drying and shrinkage of thin layers at the walls of vertical cracks. Compared with the moist soil matrix, at the same soil depth, horizontal cracks originate as ruptures in stretched layers of the drying walls of vertical cracks. A characteristic of the average inhomogeneity of soil subsidence, i.e., the mean potential relative subsidence (MPRS) depending on the soil depth is defined. It is calculated on the basis of linear shrinkage in the clay soil matrix and at the walls of vertical cracks of different depths, and on two geometrical parameters of crack networks. They are namely the maximum crack depth and the thickness of the upper intensive-cracking layer. The absolute value and sign of the derivative of the MPRS function with respect to soil depth determine the specific volume of horizontal cracks (horizontal-cracks porosity), and their mean width as functions of depth. Model predictions are obtained using published data on variation of linear shrinkage with depth in 19 soil profiles.
|
Source :
|
Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, vol. 31
|