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Fractal characteristics of pore structure of compacted bentonite studied by ESEM and MIP methods

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Abstract

In this paper, we aim to clarify microstructure of bentonite from Cerny vrch deposit in the Czech Republic. We adopt results of ESEM and MIP experiments performed at various suctions along wetting and drying paths on bentonite samples compacted from powder to two different initial dry densities. The data were used for quantification of fractal dimension characteristics of pores of different sizes. Two different methods of calculating fractal dimension were used for MIP data, and one method was used for evaluation of ESEM images. Fractal dimensions obtained from MIP data, combined with the measured pore size density functions, allowed us to identify two different pore families: micropores and macropores. Macropores can be further subdivided into fine macropores and coarse macropores based on fractal analysis. The pore systems were further distinguished by different responses to suction changes and to compaction effort. In general, we observed slight increase in fractal dimension with increasing suction and with increasing dry density.

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Acknowledgements

This project receives funding from the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2014–2018 under grant agreement No. 745942. The first author acknowledges support by the grants Nos. 846216 and 1476119 of the Charles University Grant Agency. Institutional support by Center for Geosphere Dynamics (UNCE/SCI/006) is greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, Charles University, Albertov 6, 128 43, Prague, Czech Republic

    Haiquan Sun, David Mašín & Jan Najser

  2. Institute of Scientific Instruments, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 147, 612 64, Brno, Czech Republic

    Vilém Neděla & Eva Navrátilová

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  1. Haiquan Sun
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Correspondence to David Mašín.

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Sun, H., Mašín, D., Najser, J. et al. Fractal characteristics of pore structure of compacted bentonite studied by ESEM and MIP methods. Acta Geotech. 15, 1655–1671 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-019-00857-z

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