Effects of clay content on the volumetric behavior of loess under heating-cooling cycles

Abstract

Although numerous studies have been carried out on investigating thermal volume changes in different soils, limited attention has been paid to loess. This study aims to investigate the effects of clay content on the deformation of loess under heating-cooling cycles. Three soils with different clay contents (i.e. SA: 7%; SB: 13%; SC: 35%) were prepared with loess collected in situ through the sedimentation method. The soil volume changes were measured under heating-cooling cycles by using a thermal invar oedometer. To interpret the experimental results, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) tests were conducted to identify the composition and microstructure of tested soils, respectively. The results show that the plastic axial strains of SA, SB, and SC accumulate to a certain level with the increasing number of heating-cooling cycles. At the stable state, the plastic axial strain of SC is 264% and This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature's AM terms of use (https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/accepted-manuscript-terms), but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections.