Behaviors of Xiashu Loess in the Lower Reaches of China’s Yangtze River under Triaxial Compression and the Microscopic Explanations

Abstract:

To investigate the macroscopic mechanical properties of undisturbed structural Xiashu loess in the lower reaches of China’s Yangtze River under triaxial compression, and obtain the intrinsic explanations for the macroscopic mechanical properties from the microscopic point of view, in laboratory, triaxial compression tests were carried out, microstructure images of sheared samples were collected by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and quantitative parameters of microstructure (mainly about particle or pore size, distribution, and alignment) were extracted by digital image processing technique. Based on the test results, the deviator stress-strain relationships of both undisturbed and remoulded Xiashu loess, the structural strength, and the microstructural evolution mechanism about the formation of shear failure zone of Xiashu loess under triaxial compression were analyzed.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 858)
• Pages: 91-97
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.858.91
• Online since: November 2016
• Authors: Jun Hua Xiao*, Wen Qi Zheng
• Keywords: Deviator Stress-Strain Relationship, Microstructure Variation Laws, Structural Strength, Triaxial Compression, Xiashu Loess

References

[1] G. R. Gao, A. M. Han, Distribution of regional soils in China and formation of their special geotechnical properties, Chin. J. Geotechnical Eng. 27 (2005) 511-515.

[2] F. C. Li, Z. D. Jin, C. R. Xie, et al., Roles of sorting and chemical weathering in the geochemistry and magnetic susceptibility of Xiashu loess, East China, J. Asian Earth Sci. 29(5-6) (2007) 813-822.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2005.05.011

[3] J. Xia, G. L. Huang, Z. T. Liu, et al., Cyclic variability in chemical composition and swelling-shrinkage properties of the Xiashu loess stratum near Nanjing, China, Pedosphere 17(5) (2007) 666-672.

DOI: 10.1016/s1002-0160(07)60080-0

[4] J. Xia, A. M. Han, Cyclic variability in microstructure and physio-mechanical properties of the Xiashu Loess-palaeosol sequence in Nanjing, China, Eng. Geol. 104(3-4) (2009) 263-268.

DOI: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2008.11.002

[5] Q. Zhang, C. Zhu, T. Jiang, et al., Mid-pleistocene environmental reconstruction based on Xiashu loess deposits in the Yangtze Delta, China, Quat, Int. 135(1) (2005) 131-137.

DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2004.10.028

[6] L. P. Zheng, X. F. Hu, X. M. Fang, A review of the study on the origin of Xiashu loess in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River, Bull. Mineral. Petrol. Geochem. 21 (2002) 54-57.

[7] Ministry of Water Resources of PRC, Chinese Standard for Soil Test Method, GB/T50123-1999, China Planning Press, Beijing, (1999).

[8] G. R. McDowell, M. D. Bolton, Micro mechanics of elastic soil, Soils Found. 41 (2001) 147-152.

DOI: 10.3208/sandf.41.6_147

[9] C. Liu, B. Shi, J. Zhou, et al., Quantification and characterization of microporosity by image processing, geometric measurement and statistical methods: Application on SEM images of clay materials, Appl. Clay Sci. 54(1) (2011) 97-106.

DOI: 10.1016/j.clay.2011.07.022

[10] C. A. Moore, C. F. Donaldson, Quantifying soil microstructure using fractals, Geotechnique 45(1) (1995) 105-116.