Multiscale Facilities for Analyzing the Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Behavior of Unsaturated Earth Surface Porous Materials
Abstract
Publicly Releasable Abstract While clays have smaller particles and experience more complex interaction with water compared to silts, the response of silts to combined thermal and mechanical loadings is currently used to approximate the clay behavior. This approximation was adopted mainly because of the faster testing time on silt samples, ignoring the fact that the thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of clays depends on complex microstructural factors. These microstructural factors include (1) the clay micro-fabric in the form of particle arrangements, and pore spaces, (2) inter-particle forces since clay particles are negatively charged, and (3) clay-water interactions. Ignoring these microstructural factors results on uncertainties about the thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of clays under, for example, the effect of the increasing earth temperature due to global warming or the effect of extreme temperatures expected in the battlefield. The primary objective of this proposal is to obtain several testing instruments forming the cornerstone of an integrated multiscale facility at SUNY Stony Brook. The testing facility will include a thermo-mechanical triaxial apparatus for unsaturated soils to determine the effect of extreme temperature effects on large (macroscale) clay samples at various degrees of saturations. Furthermore, a freeze drier will be acquired to prepare microscale samples for fabric determination tests to be performed on the requested Mercury Porosimeter and the Physisorption Analyzer, in addition to other existing facilities at SUNY Stony Brook and Brookhaven National Lab. To further support this equipment, a cost match of $10k cash will be provided by the Department of Civil Engineering at SUNY Stony Brook to reduce the government funds needed to acquire the requested facilities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 11, 2018
- Source ID
- W911NF1710262
Entities
People
- Sherif Lotfy Abdelaziz
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Research Foundation for the State University of New York
- United States Army