TY - JOUR
T1 - Multi-scale investigation on dynamic characteristics of clayey soil evaporation and cracking
AU - Zeng, Hao
AU - Tang, Chao Sheng
AU - Fraccica, Alessandro
AU - Zhu, Cheng
AU - Tian, Ben gang
AU - Shi, Bin
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2024/7
Y1 - 2024/7
N2 - Up to now, the correlation between soil evaporation and cracking within a multi-scale perspective remains unclear so far. For this purpose, X-ray computed tomography was used to dynamically capture the 3D cracking process of a compacted clayey soil with evaporation. The proposed image processing methods combining CT image segmentation and digital image correlation (DIC) allowed multi-scale quantitative analysis of the temporal evolution of soil water distribution, regional deformation and crack network upon evaporation. Different mechanisms are defined to explain the development of regional crack networks. Evaporation-mobilised tensile stress leads to cracking in the top part of the soil, with a single-peaked change along drying time in the cracking rate. A similar variation appears in the cracking process of the bottom soil, attributed to the basal friction activated by soil desiccation shrinkage. Besides, the cracking rate of this region is nearly independent of the regional evaporation. As for the middle part of the soil, a double-peaked pattern dominates the cracking rate, as the curling contributes to the formation of new inner cracks and the bottom soil cracks propagate upwards. Furthermore, desiccation cracks developing to a certain extent facilitate the water loss of neighbouring soil bodies, whereas this phenomenon is difficult to present over the whole soil scale. The current outcomes are expected to advance insights into the spatial–temporal cracking mechanism of soils under evaporation.
AB - Up to now, the correlation between soil evaporation and cracking within a multi-scale perspective remains unclear so far. For this purpose, X-ray computed tomography was used to dynamically capture the 3D cracking process of a compacted clayey soil with evaporation. The proposed image processing methods combining CT image segmentation and digital image correlation (DIC) allowed multi-scale quantitative analysis of the temporal evolution of soil water distribution, regional deformation and crack network upon evaporation. Different mechanisms are defined to explain the development of regional crack networks. Evaporation-mobilised tensile stress leads to cracking in the top part of the soil, with a single-peaked change along drying time in the cracking rate. A similar variation appears in the cracking process of the bottom soil, attributed to the basal friction activated by soil desiccation shrinkage. Besides, the cracking rate of this region is nearly independent of the regional evaporation. As for the middle part of the soil, a double-peaked pattern dominates the cracking rate, as the curling contributes to the formation of new inner cracks and the bottom soil cracks propagate upwards. Furthermore, desiccation cracks developing to a certain extent facilitate the water loss of neighbouring soil bodies, whereas this phenomenon is difficult to present over the whole soil scale. The current outcomes are expected to advance insights into the spatial–temporal cracking mechanism of soils under evaporation.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.compgeo.2024.106312
DO - 10.1016/j.compgeo.2024.106312
M3 - Article
SN - 0266-352X
VL - 171
JO - Computers and Geotechnics
JF - Computers and Geotechnics
M1 - 106312
ER -