Abstract
Loess in northwest regions of the Chinese Loess Plateau contains a high level of soluble salt, and it is exposed to periodic freezing and thawing in winter. The coupled influence of salt content and freeze–thaw cycling in altering the strength of loess is a matter of concern, yet remains poorly understood. This paper presents an experimental investigation into the problem using the elastic wave method, in which the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the compacted saline loess (salt concentration is 0, 0.5, and 1 mol/L) subjected to the freeze–thaw cycling (0, 1, and 5 cycles) was evaluated by the wave velocities. At a similar void ratio and water content, the UCS of the loess samples decreases with either the add-in of salts or the number of the freeze–thaw cycles. Of a particular interest is that the reduction of the UCS is prominent (maximum reduction of 37%) for the saline loess after the first cycle of freezing and thawing. By performing the bender element tests, it was found that the wave velocities decrease with the salt content, and the impact of the freeze–thaw cycling on the P wave velocity is more pronounced than on the S wave velocity. A fairly good correlation between the elastic wave velocities and the UCS values of saline loess has been established, providing a promising approach to evaluate the soil strength in the field conditions.
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Funding
This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41927806; 42041006; 52108351; 41807226), the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (No. 2022JQ-251), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities through Chang’an University, China (No. 300102260201). These financial supports are gratefully acknowledged.
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Liu, X., Wei, X. & Qin, H. Characterizing compressive strength of compacted saline loess subjected to freeze–thaw cycling with wave velocity. Bull Eng Geol Environ 81, 168 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-02663-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-02663-6