Evaluation of hydro-mechano-chemical behaviour of bentonite-sand mixtures

Bentonite-sand mixtures are widely used in engineering barrier of deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive nuclear waste and anti-seepage barrier of civil geotechnical engineering. Under the action of groundwater solution infiltration and external stress, the hydro-mechanical (HM) behaviour of bentonite-sand mixtures, i.e. the swelling characteristics and permeability, will change. Once the anti-seepage and filtration effect is weakened or lost, the pollutants will spread to the biosphere. Therefore, it is necessary to study the swelling characteristics and permeability of bentonite-sand mixtures under coupled mechano-chemical (MC) effect and to establish corresponding prediction model. For this reason, swelling tests under salt solution with different concentrations are conducted on pure bentonite and its mixtures with 30%, 70% and 90% sand contents, the compression tests are carried out on saturated samples, and the saturated permeability coefficient k of the sample under each load is calculated by Terzaghi's one-dimensional consolidation theory. The concepts of true effective stress p_e, montmorillonite void ratio e_m and critical sand content α_s are introduced to determine the e_m-p_e relationship and finally the k-e_m relationship of bentonite-sand mixtures. It is found that when the sand content α ≤ α_s, the e_m-p_e relationship of the mixture is linear and independent of the salt solution concentration, and when α > α_s, the e_m-p_e relationship of bentonite-sand mixture is bi-linear with the true effective deviatoric stress p_esα as the intersection. In addition, the e_m-k relationship also shows the linear trend when α ≤ α_s, and the slope of the line increases with the increase of the salt solution concentration. When α > α_s, the k-e_m relationship will deviate from the linear relationship. Moreover, the larger the sand content is, the farther the deviation is. On the basis of summing the regularity, a model for predicting the HM behaviour of bentonite-sand mixture under the coupled MC effect is proposed. By comparing the swelling and permeability test results with model prediction results of different types of bentonite and its sand mixtures, the predictive model is verified. The study on the HM behaviour of bentonite-sand mixtures under salt solution infiltration and the model establishment can provide experimental and theoretical basis for the design and construction of anti-seepage engineering by bentonite-sand mixtures.