A new generalized soil thermal conductivity model for sand–kaolin clay mixtures using thermo-time domain reflectometry probe test

As the demand of exploitation and utilization of geothermal energy increases, more geothermal-related earth structures occur recently. The design of the structures depends upon an accurate prediction of soil thermal conductivity. The existing soil thermal conductivity models were mostly developed by empirical fits to datasets of soil thermal conductivity measurements. Due to the gaps in measured thermal conductivities between any two tested natural soils, the models may not provide accurate prediction for other soils, and the predicted thermal conductivity might not be continuous over the entire range of soil type. In this research, a generalized soil thermal conductivity model was proposed based on a series of laboratory experiments on sand, kaolin clay and sand–kaolin clay mixtures using a newly designed thermo-time domain reflectometry probe. The model was then validated with respect to k _dry–n (thermal conductivity of dry soils and porosity) and k _r–S _r (normalized thermal conductivity and degree of saturation) relationships by comparing with previous experimental studies. The predicted thermal conductivities were found to be in a good agreement with the experimental data collected from both this study and the other literatures with at least 85% confidence interval. It is concluded that the proposed model accounts for the effects of both environmental factors (i.e., moisture content and dry density) and compositional factors (i.e., quartz content and soil type) on soil thermal conductivity, and it has a great potential in predicting soil thermal conductivity more accurately for geothermal applications.     

基于微观结构重塑的非饱和冻土导热系数预测

为预测非饱和冻土的导热性能,基于土体微观结构,提出了非饱和冻土特征结构识别算法和多元素生成算法,并将该算法与传统有限单元法组合,建立非饱和冻土导热系数蒙特卡洛预测模型。通过土体SEM电镜图像,采用逆向四参数增长识别法识别土体中各组分含量、大小以及各方向分布概率;改进传统的四参数随机增长法,提出了考虑土、水、冰和气的多元素生成算法;基于生成的非饱和冻土模型,通过蒙特卡洛方法获得非饱和冻土导热系数,并与规范中冻土导热系数进行对比,验证了蒙特卡洛法预测模型的合理性（平均误差<4%）;通过多因素分析研究孔隙率、颗粒大小、土体导热性、饱和度以及结冰率对非饱和冻土导热性影响,各因素与导热系数的相关系数依次为：-0.352、-0.098、0.641、0.520和0.060,影响大小为：土颗粒导热性>饱和度>孔隙率>土颗粒大小>结冰率。各影响因素对非饱和冻土导热系数影响可以归纳为对热通量形成“热链”密度、宽度、连通性、热流承载力以及对“热桥”通量的影响。     

Time-Variant Reliability Analysis of Unsaturated Soil Slopes Under Rainfall

Time-variant reliability analysis for a typical unsaturated soil slope is performed. Eight rainfall conditions are considered, and three slope models are set up for studying the influence of shear strength parameters, hydraulic conductivity parameters, rainfall intensity and duration on the reliability of the soil slope. Sensitivity analysis shows that when the saturated hydraulic conductivity (k _s) is very small, the variation of hydraulic conductivity has little effect on the reliability index (β). For saving the computation effort, only the shear strength parameters are needed in performing the reliability analysis in this condition. With the increase of k _s, the importance of hydraulic conductivity becomes large. The reliability index of the soil slope is changing with time (t), and the shape of β–t curves for different slope model is quite different for they depend on the value of k _s. When k _s is very small, β keeps decreasing for all the 18 simulation days. With the increase of k _s, β decreases to its minimum value at about the cessation day of rainfall events, and it then increases gradually due to the redistribution of suction in the soil slope.     

Spatial pore characteristics of unsaturated soils caused by dielectric geometric factors under permittivity method with 1 GHz frequency range

A dielectric measurement device called a frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) has been designed and constructed for the dielectric measurement of unsaturated soil consisting of a volumetric soil water content of about 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 m³/m³ with different soil porosity around 0.40–0.45, respectively. The dielectric constant is measured in the frequency range 1 GHz. Soil calibration tests and tracer injection tests on standard sand and river sand are carried out in the laboratory. FDR measurement probes at different soil depths allow volumetric soil water content and dielectric constant measurements. The tracer concentration in the pore water is monitored by determining the dielectric constant, from the soil impedance. From the relationship between volumetric soil water content and dielectric constant, the specific calibration equations for the unsaturated soils were derived, and one can easily estimate the volumetric soil water content from the response of the measured dielectric constant for the soils. In the study of dielectric mixture models using α-value of 0.5 which is dielectric geometric factor, the effective porosity for the soils was computed to a range of 87–92% compared with the soil porosity.     

Thermal conductivity of the sedimentary-cover rocks of the West Siberian Plate in relation to their humidity and porosity

We analyze the results of measurements of the thermal conductivity, porosity, and permeability of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks from wells drilled in the northeast of the West Siberian Plate and in the Cis-Yenisei basin. The thermal conductivity was measured by a “Thermal-conductivity comparator”, and the porosity and permeability were determined using standard techniques. A total of 135 samples of dry rocks were studied for thermal conductivity (Ad). Ninety-two of them were then saturated with water, and their thermal conductivity was measured again. The average thermal conductivity of dry and water-saturated (A_w) sedimentary rocks is 1.8-2.0 W/m/K and 2.4-2.8 W/m/K, respectively. Porosity (Kp_or) was measured for 95 samples, and permeability (Kp_erm), for 44 samples. Comparison of the results of measurements revealed stable linear correlations between the thermal conductivity of dry samples and A_w, K_por, and K_perm. The established dependences are proposed for the express evaluation of the thermal (A_w from Ad and K_por values) and structural (K_por and K_perm from Ad values) properties of sedimentary rocks, though the revealed correlations need further refinement.     

非饱和（冻）土导热系数预估模型研究

岩土材料的导热系数是岩土工程温度场分析及建筑热工计算中的重要参数。研究旨在建立一个基于归一化导热系数概念和以土的干燥和饱和状态导热系数为基准的非饱和土导热系数的通用预估模型。通过对文献中328组实测数据的分析发现,将同类土在不同密实度条件下的各种导热系数-含水率曲线簇进行归一化处理后,可以得到惟一的归一化导热系数kr与饱和度Sr（归一化含水率）关系,1/kr与1/Sr呈相关性较好的线性关系,而每支1/kr-1/Sr直线均通过坐标（1,1）点的斜率由土质类型决定。据此提出了一个集成土质类型、密实度（孔隙率）和含水率（饱和度）等因素综合影响的融土和冻土导热系数通用预估模型,并给出了导热系数预估模型中土质参数的取值范围,以及融土和冻土处于完全干燥状态和饱和状态的确定方法。对预估模型进行验证结果表明,所提出的非饱和土导热系数预估模型具有较好准确性。     

珊瑚砂热物理参数测试与预测模型对比分析

在我国“海洋强国”建设下,南海岛礁建设顺利推进,以浅层礁坪为介质的地源热泵技术、能量桩等,实质是与礁砂介质能量交换的过程,需进一步掌握珊瑚砂导热性能的演变规律。以南海岛礁珊瑚细砂为研究对象,测定并探讨在不同干密度和含水率下对3大热物理参数的影响,并选用12种砂土热物理参数模型的预测数据与实测数据进行类比分析,提出适宜预测珊瑚细砂导热性能的经验模型。结果表明,珊瑚细砂导热系数和体积比热容、热扩散系数均与干密度呈正相关关系,导热系数和体积比热容与含水率的相关系数高于干密度,而热扩散系数与含水率呈“凸”形增长关系,与干密度的相关系数远高于含水率。基于试验实测数据进行线性回归分析,修订Cote-Konrad模型与Gangadhara Rao模型,显著提高模型对珊瑚细砂导热系数预测准确性;通过De Vries模型与Xu模型的线性修正,大幅缩小珊瑚细砂体积比热容预测值与实测值的差异,在Dai模型相关系数的二元拟合分析基础上,建立表征珊瑚细砂热扩散系数预测模型,为岛礁隔热、控温工程设计以及珊瑚砂热物理特性研究提供参考。     

Porosity change model for watered super absorbent polymer-treated soil

Drought is a great concern in agricultural production, because it restricts normal plant growth, brings about enormous economic loss and deteriorates ecological environment. Proper use of super absorbent polymers (SAP) is helpful in the agricultural and horticultural industry in arid and semi-arid areas, because SAP can ease the burden of water shortage. Because porosity is one of the most important soil physical properties, it is a priority to study SAP to quantitatively express the swelling of watered SAP-treated soil. This study was aimed to evaluate the bulk density curve of watered SAP-treated soil and to construct and test the model for porosity change of watered SAP-treated soil. The results showed that the application of SAP can reduce soil bulk density, improve soil permeability and cause soil swelling. In addition, using three factors, i.e., water content, change in swelling ratio and SAP application rate, the paper constructed a model for porosity change of watered SAP-treated soil, which is {ln[(P _m − P)(P _m − P ₀)⁻¹]} βP ₀ θ = −η ₀ cθ − η ₀ a. This is a generic model. Two soil samples, namely, loam and sandy loam, were used to calculate the parameters and test the model. The results of the model were satisfying, thus this model is reliable.     

Analytical solution to 1D coupled water infiltration and deformation in two‐layer unsaturated soils

An analytical solution to 1D coupled water infiltration and deformation in layered soils is derived using a Laplace transformation. Coupling between seepage and deformation, and initial conditions defined by arbitrary continuous pore‐water pressure distributions are considered. The analytical solutions describe the transient pore‐water pressure distributions during 1D, vertical infiltration toward the water table through two‐layer unsaturated soils. The nonlinear coupled formulations are first linearized and transformed into a form that is solvable using a Laplace transformation. The solutions provide a reliable means of comparing the accuracy of various numerical methods. Parameters considered in the coupled analysis include the saturated permeability (k_s), desaturation coefficient (α), and saturated volumetric water content (θ_s) of each soil layer, and antecedent and subsequent rainfall infiltration rates. The analytical solution demonstrates that the coupling of seepage and deformation plays an important role in water infiltration in layered unsaturated soils. A smaller value of α or a smaller absolute value of the elastic modulus of the soil with respect to a change in soil suction (H) for layered unsaturated soils means more marked coupling effect. A smaller absolute value of H of the upper layer soil also tends to cause more marked coupling effect. A large difference between the saturated coefficients of permeability for the top and bottom soil layers leads to reduced rainfall infiltration into the deep soil layer. The initial conditions also play a significant role in the pore‐water pressure redistribution and coupling effect. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

非饱和膨润土的有效热传导特性模型

膨润土缓冲材料热传导特性的研究,对于高放废物深地质处置系统的安全评价至关重要。基于串、并联原理,通过将土体孔隙划分为与固相基质并联和串联两部分,提出了考虑矿物成分、颗粒亲水性、孔隙率及饱和度等因素的非饱和膨润土有效热传导系数的4种预测形式,建立了基于4种形式线性组合的有效热传导特性预测模型。详细讨论了模型参数的确定方法,并讨论了孔隙率、饱和度和孔隙结构、颗粒亲水性等因素对土体有效热传导特性的影响。基于MX-80膨润土和高庙子膨润土热传导特性试验成果,对模型的预测性能进行了验证。结果表明,由于膨润土颗粒尺寸较小且具有亲水特性,孔隙内的空气与水宜采用并联描述。研究成果对于非饱和膨润土的导热性能以及工程屏障系统的THM耦合数值模拟研究具有一定的参考价值。     

Specific models for estimation of locally oriented laboratory thermal conductivity of tertiary sediments in the Niger Delta using wire line logs

In this study, specific development of empirical models for estimation of laboratory thermal conductivities from wire line log thermal conductivity within the ambience of locally oriented wells located in the Niger Delta have been established. The laboratory thermal conductivity is characterised with high fidelity compared to wire line log thermal conductivity whose values vary as the dependence of lithology of the subsurface geomaterials, well effects, as well as the effects of the limited bed thickness of the adjacent lithological units of the Niger Delta where the study was stationed. The generalised equation k _leff = 0.709 k _weff + 0.188 is an empirically estimated model based on site variables (porosity, permeability and temperature) and constants (cementation factor, formation factor and tortuosity) of the locally oriented wells in the Niger Delta. It can be used to set bounds on the unstable wire line log thermal conductivity values within the 1-2.5 km depths where the oil-rich geomaterials in the Niger Delta are usually found. Equations have been established which show inter-convertibility between laboratory and wire line log thermal conductivity. These equations are considered useful in converting the available wire line log thermal conductivity data of nearby wells in the area to the usually desired and stable laboratory thermal conductivity. Various diagrams in 2-D and 3-D have been established to show the distribution of the parameters considered, and this could help the operating companies in the zone to predict the density of oil.     

Evaluation of probabilistic flow in two unsaturated soils

A variably saturated flow model is coupled to a first-order reliability algorithm to simulate unsaturated flow in two soils. The unsaturated soil properties are considered as uncertain variables with means, standard deviations, and marginal probability distributions. Thus, each simulation constitutes an unsaturated probability flow event. Sensitivities of the uncertain variables are estimated for each event. The unsaturated hydraulic properties of a fine-textured soil and a coarse-textured soil are used. The properties are based on the van Genuchten model. The flow domain has a recharge surface, a seepage boundary along the bottom, and a no-flow boundary along the sides. The uncertain variables are saturated water content, residual water content, van Genuchten model parameters alpha (α) and n, and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The objective is to evaluate the significance of each uncertain variable to the probabilistic flow. Under wet conditions, saturated water content and residual water content are the most significant uncertain variables in the sand. For dry conditions in the sand, however, the van Genuchten model parameters α and n are the most significant. Model parameter n and saturated hydraulic conductivity are the most significant for the wet clay loam. Saturated water content is most significant for the dry clay loam. Electronic Publication     

青藏高原含砂砾石土壤导热率实验研究

土壤导热率是土壤的基本物理参数之一,也是陆面模式的重要输入量,对研究土壤热传输、水热耦合运移有重要意义。青藏高原由于独特的地理环境备受学者关注,但目前常用的土壤水、热属性参数化方案仅仅考虑了沙土、粉土和黏土,就砂砾石重要性的认识还不足,很少有模式模拟砾石对青藏高原多年冻土和高寒草地的影响。采用便携式热导仪（KD2 Pro,DECAGON,美国）测量了青藏高原玛多和北麓河两地典型土壤在冻结和未冻结状态下不同水分条件时的土壤导热率,分析了砂砾石含量对土壤孔隙度的影响及冻结和未冻结状态下,不同水分条件下砂砾石含量对土壤导热率的影响。结果表明：当含水量高于某一阈值时,含水土壤冻结状态下的导热率高于未冻结状态下的导热率;土壤含水量对土壤导热率影响显著,导热率随着含水量的增加而增大,在含水量较小时变化更明显;砂砾石含量比重多的土壤孔隙度较小,且砂砾石含量越大的土壤在冻结状态下导热率高。以上结果表明,砂砾石对土壤导热率有显著影响,在将来的模式模拟研究中必须考虑砂砾石对土壤热属性的影响,进而提高土壤水热过程模拟的精度。     

Analytical solution to 1D coupled water infiltration and deformation in unsaturated soils

An analytical solution to 1D coupled water infiltration and deformation is derived using a Fourier integral transform. Exponential functional forms are used to represent the hydraulic conductivity–pore‐water pressure relationship and the soil‐water characteristic curve. Fredlund's incremental‐linear constitutive model for unsaturated soils is adopted. The analytical solution considers arbitrary initial pore‐water pressure distributions and flux and pressure boundary conditions. The corresponding analytical solutions to coupled steady‐state problems are also obtained. The analytical solutions demonstrate that the coupling of seepage and deformation plays an important role in water infiltration in unsaturated soils. In the early stages of infiltration, the difference between uncoupled and coupled conditions becomes marked over time, and in late stages, the difference caused by the coupling effects diminishes toward the steady state. The difference between the uncoupled and coupled conditions increases with decreasing desaturation coefficient (α). Pore‐water pressure or deformation changes caused by the coupling effects are mainly controlled by the degree of soil volume change due to a change in soil suction (H). The smaller the absolute value of H, the greater the effect of coupling on the infiltration and deformation. The ratio of rainfall intensity to saturated permeability (q/k_s) also has a strong influence on the coupled seepage and deformation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A modified normalized model for predicting effective soil thermal conductivity

Effective soil thermal conductivity (λ _eff) describes the ability of a multiphase soil to transmit heat by conduction under unit temperature gradient. It is a critical parameter for environmental science, earth and planetary science, and engineering applications. Numerous models are available in the literature, but their applicability is generally restricted to certain soil types or water contents (θ). The objective of this study was to develop a new model in the similar form of the Johansen 1975 model to simulate the λ _eff(θ) relationship of soils of various soil textures and water contents. An exponential type model with two parameters is developed and a new function for calculating dry soil thermal conductivity is presented. Performance of the new model and six other normalized models were evaluated with published datasets. The results show that the new model is able to well mimic λ _eff(θ) relationship of soils from sand to silt loam and from oven dry to full saturation. In addition, it has the best performance among the seven models under test (with root-mean-square error of 0.059 W m^?1 °C^?1, average deviations of 0.0009 W m^?1 °C^?1, and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.994). The new model has potential to improve the reliability of soil thermal conductivity estimation and be incorporated into numerical modeling for environmental, earth and engineering studies.     

热红外反射光谱技术在石英含量评价中的应用

石英是热液矿床重要的找矿标志,也是影响页岩气储层可压裂性评价的关键性因素,目前主要利用X射线衍射方法和扫描电镜矿物定量分析方法进行实验室内石英定量分析。为满足野外钻井现场进行快速、大批量矿物定量分析的需求,本文以羌塘盆地泥岩、砂岩、砾岩、灰岩和白云岩等沉积岩样品为研究对象,应用热红外反射光谱技术和综合自动矿物岩石学(QEMSCAN)矿物定量分析技术,开展了石英热红外反射光谱含量评价研究。结果表明:石英在8625nm、12640nm和14450nm三个特征中心波长位置的相对深度(D_(8625)、D_(12640)、D_(14450))可以用来区分陆源碎屑岩和碳酸盐岩,当D_(8625)0.14或D_(12640)0.02或D_(14450)0.02时,样品岩性主要为陆源碎屑岩,否则主要为碳酸盐岩。此外,D_(8625)、D_(12640)、D_(14450)三个石英光谱特征参数均与石英含量具有高度的相关性,均可以利用最小二乘法构建石英含量评价模型。以拟合优度(R~2)和均方根误差(RMSE)两个指标评价三个模型的精度,其中根据D_(8625)参数建立的石英含量估算模型的拟合优度最大(R~2=0.9237),且均方根误差最小(RMSE=8.51),基于此认为D_(8625)石英光谱参数可以作为评价石英含量的最优光谱指标。本文基于热红外反射光谱技术建立的该种野外快速估算钻井中石英含量的方法,为热液矿床找矿勘查和页岩气勘探开发提供了借鉴和参考。     

Efficient stochastic analysis of unsaturated slopes subjected to various rainfall intensities and patterns

Rainfall infiltration poses a disastrous threat to the slope stability in many regions around the world. This paper proposes an extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost)-based stochastic analysis framework to estimate the rainfall-induced slope failure probability. An unsaturated slope under rainfall infiltration in spatially varying soils is selected in this study to investigate the influences of the spatial variability of soil properties (including effective cohesion c′, effective friction angle φ′ and saturated hydraulic conductivity k_s), as well as rainfall intensity and rainfall pattern on the slope failure probability. Results show that the proposed framework in this study is capable of computing the failure probability with accuracy and high efficiency. The spatial variability of k_s cannot be overlooked in the reliability analysis. Otherwise, the rainfall-induced slope failure probability will be underestimated. It is found that the rainfall intensity and rainfall pattern have significant effect on the probability of failure. Moreover, the failure probabilities under various rainfall intensities and patterns can be easily obtained with the aid of the proposed framework, which can provide timely guidance for the landslide emergency management departments.     

Some investigations to quantify hysteresis associated with water retention behaviour of fine-grained soils

The soil water retention characteristics curve (SWRC) has been reported to be quite useful for estimation of unsaturated soil properties. However, the uniqueness of SWRC is questionable due to hysteresis associated with the drying- and wetting-path SWRCs and this poses great challenge in utilising the SWRC for reliable estimation of unsaturated soil properties. Although hysteresis associated with SWRCs has been extensively studied for coarse-grained soils, due to limited studies on wetting-path SWRC for fine-grained soils, the hysteresis for fine-grained soils is not well understood. The present work attempts to address this gap, by studying the drying- and wetting-path SWRCs for eight different fine-grained soils by employing Dew point Potentiameter (WP4C®), Environmental Chamber and Controlled Water Sprinkling method. The study employs the concept of ‘Suction Hysteresis’, ψ_h, for quantification of hysteresis. Further, the influence of various soil-specific properties on the variation of ψ_h-water content relationship (viz., slope of variation of suction hysteresis, S_ψh) has also been studied and demonstrated. The findings of the study are quite encouraging and it has been realised that extensive studies on soils of different characteristics would be quite useful in quantifying the variation of SWRC during drying and wetting cycles.     

土体电阻率与导热系数的相关性实验研究

将南京下蜀土与中砂以不同比例混合,配制了四种土样,利用室内四极法分别测试了每种土样在不同含水率条件下 的电阻率,发现随含水率和黏土颗粒含量的增加,土体电阻率减小;同时,采用DRE导热系数测试仪测试了每个试样的导 热系数,发现随含水率和砂含量的增高,导热系数增大。已有研究表明,土的电阻率与导热系数均与土体饱和度及孔隙率 等物理性质有关。通过将土的电阻率与导热系数进行拟合,发现两者符合指数关系,并建立了表征电阻率与导热系数相关 性的数学模型。该文研究结果为利用现场实测的电阻率指标间接求取土体的导热系数提供了依据。     

Simulation modelling of pollutant transport from leachate in Shiraz landfill

A one-dimensional mathematical model based on convection–dispersion equation in unsaturated porous media is presented to compute inorganic total solid concentration in the soil column under the Shiraz landfill. In addition, a dynamic mathematical model is formulated to simulate concentrations of ions such as Ca²⁺ , Mg²⁺, Fe²⁺, K⁺, Na⁺, Cl⁻, SO₄ ²⁻ and HCO₃ ⁻ as well as PH and EC in soil profile under the Shiraz landfill. Leachw model was applied to simulate water flow, water content and hydraulic conductivity in soil depth. The model was calibrated and verified by using different sets of data collected from several segments of soil depth in the study area. The numerical solution obtained using finite element method. The simulated values for the parameters were compared with measured values as well as analytical solution. The simulated results are in good agreement with measured values. This model could be applied to field scale problems for the landfill management.