Thermodynamic stability of smectite treated with chemical stabilizer Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, London. In Texas and in other parts of United States, shrink-swell clays pose a significant threat to infrastructure. This characteristic behavior is due to the presence of smectite minerals such as montmorillonite. Montmorillonite absorbs water and expands when wet, and shrinks when dried. Chemical stabilizers such as hydrogen ion stabilizers reduce the shrink-swell behavior. The mechanism of stabilization can be modeled and studied using thermodynamic models. In this paper, Gibbs energy minimization is used to model the interaction of hydrogen ion stabilizer with montmorillonite. The model predicts the dissolution of montmorillonite and release of Al 3+ ions from the octahedral layer of montmorillonite. We also present X-Ray diffraction results that indicated significant reduction in the peak intensity which is due to the dissolution of montmorillonite.

published proceedings

  • Advances in Materials and Pavement Performance Prediction - Proceedings of the International AM3P Conference, 2018

author list (cited authors)

  • Akula, P., & Little, D. N.

complete list of authors

  • Akula, P||Little, DN

publication date

  • January 2018