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    5 views3 pages

    How Negative Pore-Water PDF

    Uploaded by

    Alfredo Dex Quispe Marrón

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 3
    How Negative Can Pore-Water Pressures Get? Introduction Ever since the inception of moder soit ‘mechanics, there has been a controversy regarding the magnitude of negative pore-water pressures. One viewpoint hhas been that the vapour pressure of water forms the lowest pressure (in an absolute sense) for the water in the pores of a soil. The vapour pressure of the water at 20C is 2.3 kPa (absolute). This ‘means that the pore-water could simply approach zero absolute pressure or one slmosphere negative. This concept has given tise to the term capillary zone, or capillary water where the pressures ‘must be greater than zero absolute pres- sure. Water in the soil at drier condi tions was referred to as hygroscopic ‘water with lite reference tothe state of stress in the water. The convincing ar- ‘gumentin favor ofthis concept srelated to subjecting a container of water to one atmosphere of vacuum and watching it boil tthe other extreme, it is possible to ‘measure the relative humidity of a near air dried sample and compute a total suction approaching 10,000 atmos: heres, Total suction is generally visu D.G. Fredlund alized as being comprised of matric, (ug-uy) and osmotic components: he(usuw)}+R, a where: tus = pore-ar pressure and uw = pore-water pressure In the case ofa sandy soil where the ‘osmotic component is negligible, the pore-water pressure can be visualized as being highly negative: as much as 10,000 atmospheres. Therefore, as engineers, we are faced With one concept which limits pore- water pressures to one atmosphere negative and another concept which al- Tows it to be as much as 10,000 atmos- heres negative. This is an extremely wide range and surely questions regard- ing a carrier limit an be resolved; or can they? In order to case some light on this ‘question, let us review some theory and then go through some “thought experi- As a first “thought experi- let us take a sample of relatively wet clayey soil and insert a tensiometer tomeasure the pore-water pressure. Let us Suppose that a measurement of 20 kPa gauge pressure is observed. Now the soi is allowed to dry and as it does the water content reduces to 35% as the ‘pore-water pressure becomes -100 KPa, ‘This is the limit for measurement using. the tensiometer, however, the water content in the soil continues to digress as drying occurs. There is no evidence of the pore-water boiling and the ques- tion could be asked “What is the pore- water pressure as the soil becomes increasingly dry?” Is it lower than zer0 absolute? Or, is there some component of the pore-water potential which is not being realized? Or, does the pore-water totally change in its behaviour in the presence of a particular media. thus, al~ owing highly negative magnitudes 10 be realized? Where does the answer lie? Physical Considerations Probably the first question which should be askedis “What would be the meaning ‘of a pore-water pressure less than I at- mosphere negative?” By definition, lig- lids convert to vapour when subjected to their vapour pressure. Solids, on the other hand, can be subjected to large tensile stresses. For example, metals plication and measures combined ef- namic principles and exhibits a smooth can be subjected to many almospheres fects of pore-watr sas and the radius transition from zero to thousands of at of tensile sess before breaking. Does of curvatures. However, once again ia mospheres. It sate thatthe potential in this, therefore, mean thatthe pore-water_ sandy soil considered, the osmotic the pore-water can continually decrease must be acting more like a slid once it component can be taken as being negli-- without providing a microscopic ius is subjected to water than are aimos- gible. tration ofthe mechanisms involved. In heres of tension? Equation (2 is based on thermody: other words, Lord Kelvin's equation Let us consider the physics related 10 the experiment illustrated in Fig. | aad Rae in There appears to be only two things ‘ieen “na which affect the vapour pressure adja- wate cent to an at-water interface namely. the radius of curvature of the meniscus | and the presence of sls in the id aa “The effec ofthe radius of curvatures onthe meniscus is enforced frm phys ics since it has been physically imposs- ble to measure the vapour pressure about an ar-water interface when the fm son radius of curvature i extremely small | Figure 1. Total suctionandits The effect ofthe radius of curvature is 5 “ es infered from the Lod Kelvin ype eap- Leste] Eieeoe a ilary model which in tum is related to the thermodynamic fre energy ofthe Soil water (Edlefsen and. Anderson, 1943) ae (@) 2 ¥ Voth "(iho where: Y= soil or total suction (kPa) R= universal (molar) gas constant (he. 831432 JAmol K) ‘content versus matric suction for a variable pore size ceramic (rom Mandziak, 1991) Figure 2. Gravimetric water T= absolute temperature (ie, T=273.16 = 1°) (K)) P= temperature (°C) ‘ao =specific volume of water or 1,000,000 the inverse of water density 100,000 Ge, Mr) (om fkg) pw = water density (i.e. 998 om Total suction for kg/m’ at = 20°C) x 1.000 clayey sol Suction (KPa) «0, = molecular mass of water va- 100+} Matic suction for pour (ie, 18.016 kg/km!) vol Vrs a00¥ 501 = partial pressure of pore- water vapour (kPa) ae Zz Y a a ‘Water content (%) Tivo =saturation pressure of pure ‘water vapour over a flat sur- Co face of pure water at the same temperature (kPa) Figure 3. Water content versus the components of suction for a sandy and This equation shows no limit of ap- clayey soil does not make clear whether the pore- water pressures are actually highly negative. Rather, there could be other ‘mechanisms involved. ‘Before proceeding, let us clarify the role of osmotic suction in understanding pore-water pressures. The sats in the ppote-water give rise to an osmotic suc- tion component. Osmotic suction is present whether the sol is saturated or ‘unsaturated. Simply pu, saturated soils ‘with positive pore-water pressures have ‘osmotic suctions. However, their influ- ence is not generally taken into account inthe application of classical geotechni- cal mechanics. The question could be asked, “Why not?” Consideration of ‘osmotic suction as an independent com- ponent of the stress state is avoided through the simulation of the compo- nent in the field and the laboratory test- ing, Therefore, any changes in osmotic suction in the field have also taken place in the laboratory when testing for soil parameters. ‘The same rational can be provided when studying the behaviour of unsaturated soils. Nothing appears to change with respect othe osmotic com- ponent as the pore-water pressure goes from positive to negative or so the soil becomes unsaturated, Therefore, once again we are left with the pore-water Dressure as the primary component of interest, The exception is the situation where the osmotic component alone may be altered by adding salts to the soil. Variable Pore Size Ceramic Experiment Let us now conduct an experiment with a variable pore size, centered stone. Let tus suppose that a specimen of soil is removed and backed within a kiln, The end resultis a(e.g.,20mm diameterand 40 mm long) ceramic stone with a vari- ety of pore sizes. Next, a3 mm diameter hole is drilled into the ceramic and a thermocouple is epoxied into the ce- ramic. This is essentially what is done in the manufacturing of thermal condue- tivity matric suction sensors. ‘The sensor can now be placed in pressure plate apparatus and calibrated against applied suctions. The pressure plate apparatus uses an axis-translation 46 Conectrica News, Sepa 1991 techniques (i.e. the reference or atmos- pheric pressure is increased) in order to apply suctions greater than one atmos- Phere. In other words, various suctions applied to the ceramic will cause it to

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