Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
5-31-1989
Degree Name
Master of Science in Civil Engineering - (M.S.)
Department
Civil and Environmental Engineering
First Advisor
Raj P. Khera
Second Advisor
Jay N. Meegoda
Abstract
The upper reaches of slurry wall, in a waste containment structure may under go cycles of wetting and drying, because of seasonal ground water level fluctuations. This may result in desiccation and cracking of back fill material. Experiments were conducted to study these effects with water, aniline, phenol, hydrochloric acid solutions on soils containing different proportions of bentonite, kaolinite, and sand. The largest crack was formed with phenol and the smallest with water. With hydrochloric acid no crack was formed. With increase kaolinite content, the width and density of crack decreased. Hydraulic conductivity tests on cracked specimens indicated high hydraulic conductivity initially, which decreased with time and reached the same order magnitude of permeability as of an uncracked specimen. Also, hydraulic conductivity measurements were made to study the effect of fly ash on backfill material. It was found that the proportion of bentonite in specimen has a greater effect on soil hydraulic conductivity than the total percentage of fines.
Recommended Citation
Thilliyar, Mahendraratnam, "Slurry wall backfill integrity and desiccation" (1989). Theses. 2933.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/2933
