Effect of Fine Particle Migration on the Small-Strain Stiffness of Unsaturated Soils

The paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of fine particle migration from pore body to the pore throat and toward the contact between particles and its effect on skeleton stiffness of granular materials. We hypothesize that the suspended colloids in the pore fluid migrate and deposit on the contact surface between the skeleton-forming particles and change the magnitude of the soil stiffness. Three specimens were prepared using uniform spherical glass particles that were saturated with deionized water and kaolinite or silt-base slurries. The specimens were drained by evaporation which retained the fines in the soil while increasing the matric suction. Changes in soil dynamic stiffness were evaluated using piezoelectric transducers while the migration of fines and the changes of the properties of the pore fluid were monitored using synchrotron X-ray microcomputed tomography (SMCT) on identical specimens. The wave propagation experiments show that the stiffness of the tested specimens increased at different rates during the drying processes. These measurements were complemented with SMCT scanning analysis that shows an increase in mass density of the remaining slurry as the pore fluid concentrated near the particle contacts. The results indicate that the soil stiffness increase due to the alteration of the pore fluid at the particles' contact and changes caused at the contact behavior itself. These results provide an insight about parameters that influence soil stiffness which may help in better predictions of stiffness changes in compacted soils during moisture changes.