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Changes in the basic structure and strength deterioration of clay minerals with different hydration degrees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2023

Jiyu Lin ,
Daoyong Wu ,
Jiwei Jia ,
Jing Yan  and
Lingtong Cai
Jiyu Lin
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Karst Georesources and Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
Daoyong Wu*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Karst Georesources and Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
Jiwei Jia
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Karst Georesources and Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
Jing Yan
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Karst Georesources and Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
Lingtong Cai
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Karst Georesources and Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
*
Corresponding author: Daoyong Wu, Email: dywu@gzu.edu.cn
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Abstract

To investigate the influence of clay mineral microstructures on mechanical properties across varying hydration levels, this study employed molecular dynamics simulations to conduct uniaxial tensile strength tests in three orthogonal directions (x, y, z) using illite, montmorillonite and kaolinite. The moisture content was varied from 0% to 10% in 1% increments and from 0% to 50% in 10% increments. The observations highlight the role of water molecules in disrupting the inherent microscopic atomic structure of clay minerals, leading to diminished stability and a decline in tensile strength. As moisture content increased, there was a pronounced increase in the layer spacing of all three clay minerals, indicative of their hydration expansion behaviour. Concurrently, discernible reductions in both the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the clay minerals were observed.

Keywords

Atomic structureclay mineralmechanical propertiesmoisture contentmolecular dynamics simulation
Type
Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , September 2023 , pp. 324 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mineralogical Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland

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Footnotes

Associate Editor: Chun-Hui Zhou

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