Publications related to Water retention behaviour of compacted and reconstituted scaly clays

Pore-pressure coefficients for unsaturated soils: generalized effective stress approach

Lyesse Laloui, Alessio Ferrari, Angelica Tuttolomondo

Geotechnical problems with total stress changes occurring rapidly relative to the soil consolidation time can be conveniently addressed using an effective stress-based approach. For saturated states, analytical formulations of pore-pressure coefficients ad ...

CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING2023

Life cycle environmental assessment of retaining walls in unsaturated soils

Alessio Ferrari, Gianluca Speranza

Retaining structures above groundwater level support soils that are usually in a state of partial saturation and subject to the actions of atmospheric agents. The current design approach considers the possible extremes of soil conditions - either totally d ...

ELSEVIER2022

Freezing-induced stiffness and strength anisotropy in freezing clayey soil: Theory, numerical modeling, and experimental validation

Gioacchino Viggiani, Edward Carlo Giorgio Andò

This paper presents a combined experimental-modeling effort to interpret the coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviors of the freezing soil, where an unconfined, fully saturated clay is frozen due to a temperature gradient. By leveraging the rich experimen ...

WILEY2022

Role of Stress History on the Swelling-Shrinkage Behavior of Compacted Scaly Clay

Alessio Ferrari

Compacted scaly clays are complex geomaterials widely used for the realization of dam cores and waste dump liners. This research aims to investigate the swelling/shrinkage behavior of these geomaterials subjected in an oedometric cell to complex hydromecha ...

ASCE-AMER SOC CIVIL ENGINEERS2022

The effect of pore microstructure on strength and chloride ingress in blended cement based on low kaolin clay

Karen Scrivener, Diana Londoño Zuluaga

The objective of this study is to analyse the mechanical and durability properties of a high-performance mortars based on low grade kaolin clay and the effect of electrical conductivity and pore microstructure on the chloride penetration resistance. A tota ...

ELSEVIER2022

Swelling and shrinkage of partially saturated gas shales: from laboratory tests to an effective stress framework

Jinwoo Kim

Gas shale swelling during hydraulic stimulation is one of the major challenges in unconventional gas development. It is hypothesized that the large volumetric strain upon water imbibition is a consequence of dramatic changes in capillary pressure and disjo ...

EPFL2022

Molecular dynamics simulations of the evaporation of hydrated ions from aqueous solution

Philip Robin Loche

Although important for atmospheric processes and gas-phase catalysis, very little is known about the hydration state of ions in the vapor phase. Here we study the evaporation energetics and kinetics of a chloride ion from liquid water by molecular dynamics ...

NATURE PORTFOLIO2022

Microstructure observations in compacted clays subjected to thermal loading

Lyesse Laloui, Melis Sütman, Roba Houhou

The response of clayey materials to thermal variation has been the subject of extensive studies, given the wide range of engineering applications which involve subjecting soils to substantial temperature fluctuations. A number of hypotheses have been propo ...

2021

Hydrothermal interactions in energy walls

Lyesse Laloui, Alessio Ferrari, Jacopo Zannin

Energy geostructures (EGs) employ heat exchangers embedded in concrete geostructures, such as piles, walls, tunnels, and sewers. In this study, energy walls (EWs) are studied with an emphasis on the following objectives: (1) to understand the fundamentals ...

2021

Effective stress for unsaturated active clays and in-situ effective stress estimation methodology

Angelica Tuttolomondo

The complexity of the mechanics of active clays and, more generally, of geomaterials with clay minerals, under saturated and unsaturated conditions, still provides relevant scientific challenges today. Equally relevant challenges are the understanding of t ...

EPFL2021

Benchmark study of undrained triaxial testing of Opalinus Clay shale: Results and implications for robust testing

Lyesse Laloui, Alessio Ferrari, Alberto Minardi

Triaxial testing of argillaceous rocks and shales is significantly more challenging than conventional rock mechanical testing. The challenges are mainly related to the very low permeability of these geomaterials, and their sensitivity to exposure of atmosp ...

ELSEVIER2021

Geotechnical and environmental performance of retaining structures in unsaturated soils

Gianluca Speranza

Presently, environmental issues are considered as critical aspects concerning the market competitiveness in the building and construction sector. However, the construction sector is regarded as one of the main areas contributing to CO2 emissions and resour ...

EPFL2020

Cyclic thermomechanical response of fine-grained soil-concrete interface for energy piles applications

Lyesse Laloui, Melis Sütman, Elena Ravera

Understanding the behaviour of soil-structure interfaces is critical for addressing the analysis and design of energy geostructures. In this study, the interface failure mechanism of energy piles (where a shear band is detached from the surrounding soil th ...

2020

Increasing the kaolinite content of raw clays using particle classification techniques for use as supplementary cementitious materials

Karen Scrivener, Franco Alberto Zunino Sommariva

The adoption of blended cements to reduce the carbon footprint has increased significantly over the last decades. Clays containing kaolinite are a promising choice due to their widespread availability. Kaolinite content is the major factor controlling the ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2020

Effects of large macropores on soil evaporation in salt marshes

David Andrew Barry

The occurrence of macropores in salt marsh sediments is a natural and ubiquitous phenomenon. Although they are widely assumed to affect pore-water flow in salt marshes significantly, the mechanisms involved and their extent are not well understood. We cond ...

2020

Hydro-mechanical behaviour of a sandy silt from a river embankment

Alessio Ferrari

The paper presents the results of an experimental campaign aimed at characterizing the hydro mechanical behaviour of a sandy silt from a river embankment Due to continuous river level fluctuations and changing climatic and environmental conditions, flood e ...

E D P SCIENCES2020

Hydro-mechanical behaviour of shallow Opalinus Clay shale

Lyesse Laloui, Alessio Ferrari, Eleonora Crisci

In Switzerland, Opalinus Clay shale has been selected as the host formation for radioactive waste disposal. The minimum required depth of the repository is related to the long-lasting isolation required for the disposal (1 million years). During this perio ...

2019

Cell-free soil bio-cementation with strength, dilatancy and fabric characterization

Lyesse Laloui, Dimitrios Terzis

A multi-disciplinary approach is adopted in the present work towards investigating bio-cemented geo-materials which extends from sample preparation, to microstructural inspection and mechanical behaviour characterization. We suggest a new way to induce “ce ...

2019

Impacting factors and properties of limestone calcined clay cements (LC3)

Karen Scrivener, Julien Ston, François Henri Avet, Aurélie Rosine Favier, Wilasinee Hanpongpun, Hamed Maraghechi, Franco Alberto Zunino Sommariva

This paper details the main factors influencing the performance of limestone calcined clay cements (LC3). The kaolinite content plays a major role in the rheological properties as well as strength development. Even in the presence of secondary phases, kaol ...

ICE PUBLISHING2019

Hydro-mechanical response of Opalinus Clay shale: dependency on composition and burial depth

Eleonora Crisci

Shales are sedimentary formation currently studied for their involvement in many geo-energy related applications, such as radioactive waste disposal, CO2 sequestration, oil and gas extraction. In Switzerland the Opalinus Clay shale has been selected has ho ...

EPFL2019