• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.113-120
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• 2023

Coastal and offshore structures such as ports and offshore wind farms will often need to be built on fine-grained sediments. Geotechnical properties associated with sediment compressibility are key parameters for marine construction designs especially on soft grounds, which involve clay-mineral dominated fines that can consolidate and settle significantly in response to engineered and environmental loads. We conduct liquid limit tests and 1D consolidation tests with fine-grained soils (silica silt, mica, kaolin and bentonite) and biogenic soils (diatom). The pore fluids for the liquid limit tests include deionized water and a series of brines with NaCl salt concentrations of 0.001 m, 0.01 m, 0.1 m, 0.6 m and 2.0 m, and the pore fluids for the consolidation tests deionized water, 0.01 m, 0.6 m, 2 m. The salt concentrations help the liquid limits of kaolin and bentonite decrease, but those of diatom slightly increase. The silica silt and mica show minimal changes in liquid limit due to salt concentrations. Accordingly, compression indices of soils follow the trend of the liquid limit as the liquid limit determined the initial void ratio of the consolidation test. Diatoms are more likely to be broken than clastic sediments during to loading, and diatom-rich sediment is therefore generally more compressible than clastic-rich sediment.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.323-336
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• 2011

The hydro-mechanical behavior of the Earth's crust is strongly dependent on the fractional volume and geometrical structure of effective pore spaces. This study aims to understand the characteristics of pores using electrical impedance. We measured the electric impedance of core samples (diameter, 38-50 mm; length, 70-100 mm) of three types of granite (Hwangdeung, Pocheon, and Yangsan) and two types of sandstone (Boryung and Berea) with different porosities and pore structures, after saturation with saline water of varying salinities. The results show that resistance decreases but capacitance increases with increasing salinity of the pore fluid. For a given salinity, the resistivity and formation factor are reduced with increasing porosity of the rocks, and the capacitance increases. Berea sandstone shows anisotropy in resistance, tortuosity, and cementation factor, with these factors being highest normal to bedding planes. This result indicates that the connectivity of pores is weakest normal to bedding. In conclusion, the electrical characteristics of the tested samples are related not only to their porosity but also to the pore geometry.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.73-82
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• 2015

Despite significant effects on macroscopic migration and distribution of CO₂ injected during geological sequestration, only limited information is available on wettability in microscopic scCO₂-brine-mineral systems due to difficulties in pore-scale observation. In this study, a micromodel had been developed to improve our understanding of how scCO₂ flooding and residual characteristics of porewater are affected by the wettability in scCO₂-water-glass bead systems. The micromodel (a transparent pore structure made of glass beads and glass plates) in a pressurized chamber provided the opportunity to visualize scCO₂ spreading and porewater displacement. CO₂ flooding followed by fingering migration and dewatering followed by formation of residual water were observed through an imaging system. Measurement of contact angles of residual porewater in micromodels were conducted to estimate wettability in a scCO₂-water-glass bead system. The measurement revealed that the brine-3M NaCl solution-is a wetting fluid and the surface of glass beads is water-wet. It is also found that the contact angle at equilibrium decreases as the pressure decreases, whereas it increases as the salinity increases. Such changes in wettability may significantly affect the patterns of scCO₂ migration and porewater residence during the process of CO₂ injection into a saline aquifer at high pressures.