Dielectrophoretic consolidation of clays

Author

Inculet, I.I. ; Lo, K.Y.

Author_Institution

Fac. of Eng. Sci., Univ. of Western Ontario, London, Ont., Canada

fYear

1988

fDate

2-7 Oct. 1988

Firstpage

1574

Abstract

The authors present laboratory test results for a method of consolidation of clay soils by means of dielectrophoresis. A system of electrodes consisting of an array of insulated, AC high-voltage electrodes, interspersed with electrodes maintained at ground potential, and mounted in holes drilled in clay mass of 27*27*27 cm/sup 3/ was shown to achieve excellent consolidation. Water was extracted dielectrophoretically at rates which were sufficient to increase the shear strength of the respective clay as much as 900% in 26 days. The corresponding settlement was 9 mm for a 22% decrease in water content. The method uses substantially less electrical energy than the well known electro-osmotic method, which could lead to more economical ways of construction in or on soft soils.<>

Keywords

civil engineering; clay; electrodes; electrophoresis; soil; AC high-voltage electrodes; civil engineering; clay soils; consolidation; dielectrophoresis; rock mechanics; shear strength; soil mechanics; water extraction; Dielectrophoresis; Electrodes; Insulation; Power generation economics; Soil; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, 1988., Conference Record of the 1988 IEEE

Conference_Location

Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IAS.1988.25267

Filename

25267