Impact of clay particle reattachment on suffusion of sand-clay mixtures

Abstract

The detached clay particles directly filtrated through the sand-clay mixture lead to suffusion; however, if the detached clay particles are subjected to reattachment, the degree of suffusion may be less significant. This study investigates the impact of clay particle reattachment on suffusion of sand-clay mixtures through laboratory soil-column experiments. The observed breakthrough curves (BTCs) of kaolinite, illite, and montmorillonite for 5 different column lengths (3 in, 6 in, 9 in, 12 in, and 18 in; 1 in = 2.54 cm) indicated that a higher breakthrough concentration was observed as the column length (L) decreased for kaolinite and illite, whereas a reverse trend was observed for montmorillonite. In addition, the increase in the fraction of filtrated clay particles (Me) with an increase in L (Me = 10.42% for L = 3 in and Me = 3.59% for L = 18 in) for the sand-illite mixture indicated that the reattachment effect became more significant as the travel length of detached clay particles increased. The observed BTCs, retention profiles after injection, and fraction of filtrated clay presented herein suggest the need to incorporate the reattachment effect when assessing the suffusion of clay-containing soils.