Effect of salt concentration on desiccation cracking behavior of GMZ bentonite
2017
Zhang, Xu-Dong | Chen, Yong-Gui | Ye, Wei-Min | Cui, Y. J. (Yu Jun) | Deng, Yong-Feng | Chen, Bin
Bentonite has been proposed for use as an engineering barrier and buffer in nuclear waste repositories and has been used frequently in municipal waste landfills. The cracking behavior and deformation properties of this material can be influenced by the chemistry of pore water. In the present work, the influence of salt concentration on the desiccation cracking behavior of GMZ bentonite was investigated with laboratory experiments. Image processing techniques and SEM tests were performed on the specimens which had undergone the desiccation testing in order to analyze the cracking mechanisms. Results show that the water evaporation process can be identified by a steady rate stage, a falling rate stage and a residual stage. The water evaporation rate is strongly affected by the salt concentration of the pore water; higher salt concentrations result in lower evaporation rates; the final water content is strongly impacted by a high initial salinity; otherwise the water contents are very similar for the residual stage. During desiccating, most of cracks appeared at the steady evaporation stage. The cracking morphology and patterns were greatly affected by the salt concentration of the pore water; and larger crack lengths and lower crack densities were obtained as the initial salinity was increased.
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