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SURFACE FRACTAL DIMENSION OF SWELLING CLAY MINERALS

YONGFU XU

School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, 1954 Hua Shan Road, Shanghai 200030, P. R. China

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218348X03002245Cited by:13 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

A simple method is proposed to determine the surface fractal dimension of swelling clay minerals. When swelling clay mineral is immersed into the water solution, swelling deformation and swelling pressure will occur. The swelling deformation and swelling pressure are proportional to the amount of water volume absorbed by swelling clay minerals. The water volume absorbed by swelling clay minerals is related to its surface fractality. The correlation of the normalized water volume by the volume of swelling clay minerals (V_w/V_m) to vertical overburden pressure (p) is obtained as V_w/V_m = Kp^D_s-3, from which the surface fractal dimension of swelling clay minerals can be estimated. The surface fractal dimension (D_s) of Wyoming bentonite is 2.64, obtained from the swelling tests. The surface fractal dimension of Wyoming bentonite determined from the swelling tests nearly equals to that obtained from the nitrogen adsorption isotherms, and is larger than that measured using the mercury intrusion porosimetry.

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