Effect of Sulfuric Acid on the Shear Strength and Consolidation Parameters of a Clayey Soil

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

Abstract

The vast use of chemical productions and the large amount of leachate which produced by human, lead to the pollution of the soil and groundwater supplies. Acidic contamination is one of the most common contaminations that goes to the nature by different ways such as leachate of factories, industry and acidic rains. These contaminants which cause environmental hazards, are also important in geotechnical perspectives and need more investigations. In this paper, the effects of sulfuric acid contamination on the shear strength and consolidation parameters of a clay soil is studied. Unconfined compression strength and one-dimensional consolidation test conducted on the soil under specific conditions. The soil itself was clean at first, and it was contaminated by adding sulfuric acid in three different pH values (5, 3 and 1). Also in order to compare the test results, one test conducted with drinking water (pH=7.8). The results showed that acidic contamination and pH reduction, decreases the shear strength of clay. Also, by reducing the pH values, the coefficients of compression and swelling increased under the influence of the contaminant. The presence of the acid, increases the coefficient of consolidation and the rate of consolidation.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1] M. H. Khatami, Investigation the effect of Acidic contaminants on the shear strength of fine-grained soils by Triaxial Test method. M.Sc. Thesis. Imam Khomeini International University, 2014 (in Persian).
[2] W. H. Huang, and W. D. Keller, Dissolution of Clay Minerals in Organic Acids at Room Temperature, American Mineralogist, 56 (1971) 1080–1094.
[3] A. Sridharan, and G. Venkatappa Rao, Shear Strength Behavior of Saturated Clays and the Role of the Effective Stress Concept, Geotechnique, 29.2 (1979) 177–193.
[4] J. C. Santamarina, K. A. Klein, A. Palomino, and M. S. Guimaraes, Micro-Scale Aspects of Chemo-Mechanical Coupling: Interparticle Forces and Fabric, Chemomechanical Coupling in Clays: From Nano-Scale to Engineering Applications, Lisse, Swets & Zeitlinger (2002).
[5] U. Gori, Influence du pH sur les propriétés des argiles, Bulletin of the International Association of Engineering Geology, 50 (1994) 37–42.
[6] Y. H. Wang, and W. K. Siu, Structure characteristics and mechanical properties of kaolinite soils I. Surface charges and structural characterizations, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 43 (2006) 587–600.
[7] I. B. Gratchev, and K. Sassa, Cyclic behavior of fine-grained soils at different pH values, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenviromental Engineering ASCE, 135 (2) (2009) 271–279.
[8] A. Gajo, and M, Maines, Mechanical effects of aqueous solutions of inorganic acids and bases on a natural active clay, Géotechnique, 57 (8) (2007) 687–699.
[9] M. Kashir, and E. Yanful, Hydraulic conductivity of bentonite permeated with acid mine drainage, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 38 (5) (2001) 1034–1048.
[10] J. L. Ruhl, and D. E. Daniel, Geosynthetic clay liners permeated with chemical solutions and leachates, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 123 (4) (1997) 369–381.
[11] J. G. Dillard, and M. H. Koppelman, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopic (XPS) Surface Characterization of Cobalt on the Surface of Kaolinite, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 87.1 (1982) 46-55.
[12] A, Sridharan, S. M. Rao, and N. S. Murthy, Geosynthetic clay liners permeated with chemical solutions and leachates, Geotechnical Testing Journal, 9 (3) (1986) 156–159.
[13] A. Mahdavi, Effect of pH changes on some mechanical parameters of clay, M.Sc. Thesis. Islamic Azad University, 1997 (in Persian).
[14] F. T. Madsen, and J. K. Mitchell, Chemical Effects on Clay Hydraulic Conductivity and Their Determination, Open file Report, Environmental Institute for Waste Management Studies, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa (1987).
[15] B. M. Sunil, S. Nayak, and S. Shrihari, Effect of pH on the Geotechnical Properties of Laterite, Engineering Geology, 85 (2006) 197-203.
[16] T. S. Umesh, H. D. Sharma, S. V. Dinesh, P. V. Sivapullaiah, and S. C Basim, Physico-Chemical Changes in Soil due to Sulphuric Acid Contamination. Proceedings of Indian Geotechnical Conference, paper No.L-320, (2011).
[17] I. Gratchev, and I. Towhata, Compressibility of Natural Soils Subjected to Long-Term Acidic Contamination, Environmental Earth Sciences, 64 (2011) 193–200.
[18] A. Hamidi, and S. Jedari, Investigating the Consolidation Behavior of Contaminated Clay, Sharif Civil Engineering Journal, 29.2 (2011) 29-35 (in Persian).
[19] S. Prakash, and P. D. Arumairaj, Effects of Acid and Base Contamination on Geotechnical Properties of Clay, International Journal of Science and Research, 4.5 (2013) 2319-7064.
[20] A. R. Estabragh, I. Beiytolahpour, M. Moradi, and A. A. Javadi, Consolidation Behavior of Two Fine-Grained Soils Contaminated by Glycerol and Ethanol, Engineering Geology, 178 (2014) 102-108.
[21] M. M. Ahmadi, M. Hassanlourad, and M. H. Khatami, An Investigation of the Effect of Variations in the pH of Leachate on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Kaolinite Clay Soil in Presence Bentonite, Journal of Experimental Research in Civil Engineering, 2.1 (2015) 25-33 (in Persian).
[22] I. Gratchev, and I. Towhata, Compressibility of Soils Containing Kaolinite in Acidic Environment, International Journal of Science and Research, 20 (2) (2016) 623-630.
Amirkabir Journal of Civil Engineering
Volume 50, Issue 6
March and April 2019
Pages 1127-1136

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics