Influence of Sand Grain Size and Clay Mineralogy on Suffusion of Sand-Clay Mixtures

Abstract

Suffusion is a type of internal erosion caused by the detachment of fine particles. Additionally, continuous suffusion reduces the stability of geotechnical infrastructures. In this study, the impact of clay mineralogy and sand grain size on the suffusion of sand-clay mixtures was investigated using two-dimensional laboratory experiments on nine different sand-clay mixtures made of three types of sands (K3, K4, and K5) and clays (kaolinite, illite, and bentonite). The breakthrough curve for each sample was obtained for the top/middle/bottom outlets of the designed cell to measure and analyze the amount of detached clay. It was observed that as the sand grain size decreased, the amount of detached clay was more and clays with kaolinite exhibited greater suffusion than those with illite. Bentonite exhibited the lowest amount of detached clay owing to its high swelling potential. The influence of clay mineralogy and sand grain size on the suffusion has been discussed based on the obtained breakthrough curves.