Numerical modelling on water retention and permeability of compacted GMZ bentonite under free-swelling conditions

In this study, a solid–liquid–gas coupled equation was established to simulate water retention characteristics of highly compacted GMZ bentonite. Then, modelling results were compared with laboratory test results. Results indicate that GMZ bentonite has a strong moisture expansion (or a limit drying shrinkage) characteristic. The control equation can simulate the water absorption and deformation characteristics very well at high relative humidity (or low suction). Environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) observation reveals the course grain soil texture of the surface under low relative humidity (RH), while the surface of GMZ bentonite becomes smooth (more fine-grained soil texture) as RH increases. Differences were found between the porosities calculated by macroexperiment results and microscopic observations with ESEM method. This is because only the interaggregate pores can be observed by ESEM photographs. Additionally, we find that the simulated effective porosities are close to the results calculated by microscopic tests, while the effective porosity is considered as the main flow channel of flow. Further, the intrinsic permeability, the effective water and gas permeability are calculated based on the proposed model. The modelling results coincide well with the laboratory experimental results and support the reliability of the proposed model.     

Effective stress incorporating osmotic suction and volume change behavior of compacted GMZ01 bentonite

Acta Geotechnica - Investigation of osmotic suction effects on the volume change behavior of clay is of great importance in evaluating the performance of engineering barrier in deep geological...     

Research on water retention and microstructure characteristics of compacted GMZ bentonite under free swelling conditions

In this study, water retention tests under free swelling conditions were performed to investigate the water intake (or loss) behaviour of compacted GMZ bentonite. First, the water retention characteristics were investigated, and then the microscopic pore structure was observed by environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). The results indicate that GMZ bentonite has a strong swelling (or a limited shrinkage ability) due to water intake (loss). The suction behaviour of GMZ bentonite is similar to MX80 bentonite and FEBEX bentonite. We also find that the confinement conditions can affect the suction behaviour of the material, especially at high relative humidity (RH). Additionally, a mathematic model can fit the mass change data very well. Microscopic tests show that the granular sensation of GMZ bentonite is obvious for a sample at low RH. With the increase in RH, the surface of GMZ bentonite becomes more smooth. The differences in the porosities calculated by the macroscopic and microscopic tests can be attributed to image resolution. The inter-laminar pores and intra-aggregate pores cannot be observed by the ESEM method. In addition, ESEM observation can provide an intuitive basis for the further research of the seepage property of GMZ bentonite.     

煤层气解吸的温度效应

为了探索温度对煤层气解吸效果的影响,通过对沁水南部寺河煤矿3号煤的吸附/解吸实验,经过数学分析,获得该煤层气吸附/解吸的数学式与等量吸附热表达式。分析认为：随着储层温度升高,饱和吸附量减小;解吸过程滞后于吸附作用的原因主要是非物理吸附常数 c值作用,随着储层温度增高,c值增大;降压解吸伴随吸热(温降),同时阻碍了持续解吸过程。通过提高储层温度来促进解吸过程,在理论上可行,工程中应该受到重视。     

Modeling aqueous ferrous iron chemistry at low temperatures with application to Mars

Major uncertainties exist with respect to the aqueous geochemical evolution of the Martian surface. Considering the prevailing cryogenic climates and the abundance of salts and iron minerals on Mars, any attempt at comprehensive modeling of Martian aqueous chemistry should include iron chemistry and be valid at low temperatures and high solution concentrations. The objectives of this paper were to (1) estimate ferrous iron Pitzer-equation parameters and iron mineral solubility products at low temperatures (from < 0 °C to 25 °C), (2) incorporate these parameters and solubility products into the FREZCHEM model, and (3) use the model to simulate the surficial aqueous geochemical evolution of Mars.Ferrous iron Pitzer-equation parameters were derived in this work or taken from the literature. Six new iron minerals [FeCl₂·4H₂O, FeCl₂·6H₂O, FeSO₄·H₂O, FeSO₄·7H₂O, FeCO₃, and Fe(OH)₃] were added to the FREZCHEM model bringing the total solid phases to 56. Agreement between model predictions and experimental data are fair to excellent for the ferrous systems: Fe-Cl, Fe-SO₄, Fe-HCO₃, H-Fe-Cl, and H-Fe-SO₄.We quantified a conceptual model for the aqueous geochemical evolution of the Martian surface. The five stages of the conceptual model are: (1) carbonic acid weathering of primary ferromagnesian minerals to form an initial magnesium-iron-bicarbonate-rich solution; (2) evaporation and precipitation of carbonates, including siderite (FeCO₃), with evolution of the brine to a concentrated NaCl solution; (3) ferrous/ferric iron oxidation; (4) either evaporation or freezing of the brine to dryness; and (5) surface acidification.What began as a dilute Mg-Fe-HCO₃ dominated leachate representing ferromagnesian weathering evolved into an Earth-like seawater composition dominated by NaCl, and finally into a hypersaline Mg-Na-SO₄-Cl brine. Weathering appears to have taken place initially under conditions that allowed solution of ferrous iron [low O₂(g)], but later caused oxidation of iron [high O₂(g)]. Surface acidification and/or sediment burial can account for the minor amounts of Martian surface carbonates. This model rests on a large number of assumptions and is therefore speculative. Nevertheless, the model is consistent with current understanding concerning surficial salts and minerals based on Martian meteorites, Mars lander data, and remotely-sensed spectral analyses.     

Stress-strain behaviour of reconstituted illitic clay at different temperatures

Tests on specimens of reconstituted illitic clay have examined the influence of temperature on the mechanical behaviour of clay soils. The program involved consolidation to effective confining pressures up to 1.5 MPa, heating to 100°C, and tests on normally consolidated and overconsolidated specimens with OCR = 2. The tests included isotropic consolidation, undrained triaxial compression with pore water pressure measurement, drained tests along controlled stress paths to investigate yielding behaviour, and undrained tests which involved heating and measurement of the resulting induced pore water pressures. The large strain strength envelope is independent of temperature. However, peak undrained strengths increase with temperature because smaller pore water pressures are generated during shearing. An important contribution from the study is a series of results for the yielding of illitic clay at three different temperatures. For the first time, there is clear evidence of yield loci decreasing in size with increasing temperature. An associated flow rule can be assumed without serious error. The results contribute to the confirmation of a thermal elastic-plastic soil model developed by the authors from cam clay following the addition of a small number of extra assumptions. Depending on the initial stress state, heating under undrained conditions may produce shear failure.     

Retention behaviour of natural clayey materials at different temperatures

The water retention capacity of geomaterials, and especially clayey soils, is sensitive to temperature changes as the physical mechanisms of retention, such as capillarity or adsorption, are affected by it. It is therefore a major issue to be able to define temperature-dependent behaviour of materials, especially for geo-energy and geo-environmental applications involving non-isothermal conditions. This paper presents results of experiments conducted on two representative materials: a hard clay (Opalinus clay) and a plastic clay (Boom clay), both of which have been considered as buffer materials for underground radioactive waste disposal, in Switzerland and Belgium, respectively. Two new devices were developed for this purpose to permit the analysis of water retention behaviour at different temperatures. The behaviour of these two materials at ambient (20 °C) and high temperature (80 °C) was observed and described through the evolution of the degree of saturation, the water content and the void ratio with respect to suction. It appears that the retention capability of the clays reduces significantly with an increase in temperature; on the other hand, the change in temperature had less of an effect on the total volume variation.     

Solubility of cyclooctasulfur in pure water and sea water at different temperatures

The solubility of cyclooctasulfur in water and sea water at various temperatures in the range between 4 and 80 °C was determined. Cyclooctasulfur in equilibrium with rhombic sulfur reacted with hot acidic aqueous potassium cyanide to form thiocyanate anion which was measured by anion chromatography. Sulfur solubility in pure water was found to increase with temperature by more than 78 times: from 6.1 nM S₈ at 4 °C to 478 nM S₈ at 80 °C. The following thermodynamic values for solubilisation of S₈ in water were calculated from the experimental data: K° = 3.01 ± 1.04 × 10⁻⁸, ΔG_r° = 42.93 ± 0.73 kJ mol⁻¹, ΔH_r° = 47.4 ± 3.6 kJmol⁻¹, ΔS_r° = 15.0 ± 11.7 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹). Solubility of cyclooctasulfur in sea water was found to be 61 ± 13% of the solubility in pure water regardless of the temperature.     

Erosion of bentonite particles at the interface of a compacted bentonite and a fractured granite

Compacted bentonite has been considered as a candidate buffer material in the underground repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste. An erosion of bentonite particles caused by a groundwater flow at the interface of a compacted bentonite and a fractured granite was studied experimentally under various geochemical conditions. The experimental results showed that bentonite particles could be eroded from a compacted bentonite buffer by a flowing groundwater depending upon the contact time, the flow rate of the groundwater, and the geochemical parameters of the groundwater such as the pH and ionic strength.

A gel formation of the bentonite was observed to be a dominant process in the erosion of bentonite particles although an intrusion of bentonite into a rock fracture also contributed to the erosion. The concentration of the eroded bentonite particles eroded by a flowing groundwater was increased with an increasing flow rate of the groundwater. It was observed from the experiments that the erosion of the bentonite particles was considerably affected by the ionic strength of a groundwater although the effect of the pH was not great within the studied pH range from 7 to 10. An erosion of the bentonite particles in a natural groundwater was also observed to be considerable and the eroded bentonite particles are expected to be stable at the given groundwater condition.

The erosion of the bentonite particles by a flowing groundwater did not significantly reduce the physical stability and thus the performance of a compacted bentonite buffer. However, it is expected that an erosion of the bentonite particles due to a groundwater flow will generate bentonite particles in a given groundwater condition, which can serve as a source of the colloids facilitating radionuclide migration through rock fractures.     

膨润土(蒙脱石)在城市环境治理中的应用

现代城市地质环境日益恶化,环境污染日趋严重.粘土矿物因具有特殊的层间域而具有吸附作用、离子交换作用等性质,在治理城市环境污染、净化城市空间等方面发挥着重要的作用.本文对利用膨润土(蒙脱石)在治理城市垃圾产生的渗滤液污染、修复和净化城市污染水体中的研究现状进行了综述.     

PFF复合反滤层及其在支挡工程中的应用研究

为避免地下水对支挡结构的不利影响,需设置反滤层排除支挡工程背后岩土体的渗水。目前支挡工程多采用混凝土浇筑施工,受墙后空间狭小影响,常规的砂砾石反滤层不易压实,影响支挡工程受力和使用功能。文章结合反滤层的隔离挡土、过滤、排水等基本作用原理,研制开发了一种由隔水层、排水层、透水层相结合形成的具有墙背模板功能的PFF整体式复合反滤层,以适应混凝土支挡结构浇筑施工工法。试验工点排水试验表明,该新型反滤层排出水数量和效率均优于传统的砂砾石反滤层,可在支挡工程中推广应用。     

Effects of experimental reheating of natural basaltic ash at different temperatures and redox conditions

A set of experiments have been performed on volcanic materials from Etna, Stromboli and Vesuvius in order to evaluate how the exposure to thermal and redox conditions close to that of active craters affects the texture and composition of juvenile pyroclasts. Selected samples were placed within a quartz tube, in presence of air or under vacuum, and kept at T between 700 and 1,130 °C, for variable time (40 min to 12 h). Results show that reheating reactivates the melt, which, through processes of chemical and thermal diffusion, reaches new equilibrium conditions. In all the experiments performed at T = 700–750 °C, a large number of crystal nuclei and spherulites grows in the groundmass, suggesting conditions of high undercooling. This process creates textural heterogeneities at the scale of few microns but only limited changes of groundmass composition, which remains clustered around that of the natural glasses. Reheating at T = 1,000–1,050 °C promotes massive groundmass crystallization, with a different mineral assemblage as a function of the redox conditions. Morphological modifications of clasts, from softening to sintering as temperature increases, occur under these conditions, accompanied by progressive smoothing of external surfaces, and a reduction in size and abundance of vesicles, until the complete obliteration of the pre-existing vesicularity. The transition from sintering to welding, characteristic of high temperature, is influenced by redox conditions. Experiments at T = 1,100–1,130 °C and under vacuum produce groundmass textures and glass compositions similar to that of the respective starting material. Collapse and welding of the clasts cause significant densification of the whole charge. At the same temperature, but in presence of air, experimental products at least result sintered and show holocrystalline groundmass. In all experiments, sublimates grow on the external surfaces of the clasts or form a lining on the bubble walls. Their shape and composition is a function of temperature and fO₂ and the abundance of sublimates shows a peak at 1,000 °C. The identification of the features recorded by pyroclasts during complex heating–cooling cycles allows reconstructing the complete clasts history before their final emplacement, during weakly explosive volcanic activity. This has a strong implication on the characterization of primary juvenile material and on the interpretation of eruption dynamics.     

Experience from preparation and application of till/bentonite mixtures

Clay-based layers which serve to minimize infiltration of surface water into waste piles seem to form a promising concept, since their hydraulic conductivity can be kept so low that the net effect of cyclic drying and wetting in Sweden will be that no water penetrates. Problems may arise, however, from physico/chemical processes as well as from swelling, one example being given in this paper.     

不同温度条件下气体压力升降过程中瓦斯运移规律的试验研究

利用自主研发的含瓦斯煤热-流-固耦合三轴伺服渗流装置,对不同温度条件下型煤试件在气体压力升降过程的渗流特性进行了试验研究,以模拟随采深增加引起的地温升高条件下煤的渗透特性。同时,为探讨低渗储层的滑脱效应进行了相同条件下氦气的平行试验。研究结果表明：（1）升压阶段,轴向应变增大,径向应变减小,近似呈线性变化;降压阶段,随气体压力降低,应变呈现出与升压阶段相同的变化趋势。随温度升高,应变随气体压力变化的斜率增大。（2）升压阶段,随气体压力升高,渗透率呈二次抛物线型变化,约在气体压力为3.0 MPa左右到达最小;降压阶段,随气体压力减小,渗透率先略有减小后增大,升压阶段渗透率大于降压阶段渗透率。（3）升压阶段滑脱效应引起的渗透率变化量大于降压阶段的变化量,且滑脱效应所引起的渗透率变化量随气体压力增加呈幂指数函数降低。     

一种预测不同温度下非饱和土相对渗透系数的间接方法

高放核废料地下处置、城市供热管道及埋地高压电缆等工程建设的进行,使得考虑温度影响的非饱和土渗透性能越来越受到人们的重视。在考虑温度效应的非饱和土土-水特征曲线研究基础上,结合利用土-水特征曲线预测非饱和土相对渗透系数的方法,建立了一种预测不同温度下非饱和土相对渗透系数的间接方法。所建立的表达式是针对土-水特征曲线的整个吸力范围,从而使得其在应用上更具一般意义。利用MX-80班脱土和黄土土样的试验结果,对不同温度下相对渗透系数随吸力的变化进行了预测,得到了令人满意的结果     

Calibration and validation of rockfall modelling at regional scale: application along a roadway in Mallorca (Spain) and organization of its management

The Tramuntana range, in the northwestern sector of the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain), is frequently affected by rockfalls which have caused significant damage, mainly along the road network. In this work, we present the procedure we have applied to calibrate and validate rockfall modelling in this region, using 103 cases of the available detailed rockfall inventory (630 rockfall events collected since the eighteenth century). We have exploited STONE (Guzzetti et al. 2002), a GIS-based rockfall simulation software which computes 2D and 3D rockfall trajectories starting from a DTM and maps of the dynamic rolling friction coefficient and of the normal and tangential energy restitution coefficients. The appropriate identification of these parameters determines the accuracy of the simulation. To calibrate them, we have selected 40 rockfalls along the range which include a wide variety of outcropping lithologies. Coefficients values have been changed in numerous attempts in order to select those where the extent and shape of the simulation matched the field mapping. Best results were summarized with the average statistical values for each parameter and for each geotechnical unit, determining that mode values represent more precisely the data. Initially, for the validation stage, 10 well-known rockfalls exploited in the calibration phase have been selected. Confidence tests have been applied to their modelling results taking into account not only the success but also the mistakes. The best accuracy is obtained when the rockfall has a preferential trajectory and worse results when the rockfall follows two or more trajectories. Additionally, the greater the rockfall runout length, the less precise the simulation is. We have further validated the calibrated parameters along the Ma-road (111 km), the main transportation corridor in the range, using 63 rockfall events that occurred during the past 18 years along the road. Of the rockfalls where source areas were properly identified, 81.5 % are well represented by STONE modelling, as the travel paths and the depositional areas are successfully ascertained. Results of the analysis have been used by the Road Maintenance Service of Mallorca to assess hazard and risk posed by rockfall at regional scale to design the road management plan.     

不同温度条件下冻结兰州黄土单轴试验的CT实时动态监测

改进了与CT扫描系统配套使用的三轴仪。改进后三轴仪由控温精度达到±0.1℃的压力罐和加载装置组成,能够实现对冻土力学试验过程真正的CT实时动态监测。对不同温度条件下的冻结兰州黄土单轴压缩过程进行了CT动态扫描, 得到如下结论,应变0～0.7%的阶段,试样发生弹性变形,CT数轻微增大;应变0.7%～6.5%的阶段,开始发生塑性变形,但还没有发生损伤,CT数变化不大;当应变大于6.5%时,试样的CT数明显变小,损伤开始发生,直至应变达到10%时,试样发生破坏,随后CT数也急剧减小。因此,冻结兰州黄土的屈服应变为0.7%,损伤应变临界值为6.5%,破坏应变临界值为10%。另外,温度对试样的CT数也有影响,在-0.6～-1.7 ℃的温度范围内,试样CT数变化具有很明显的规律,即温度越低,CT数越小,在-1.7 ℃和-5 ℃试验条件下CT数变化不大。