Geot 1991 41 3 299 PDF

Mitchell, J. K. (1991). G~otechnique 41, No.
3, 299-340
Conduction phenomena :
from theory to geotechnical practice
J. K. MITCHELL*
Virtually all geotechnical problems involve the flow Pratiquement tous les prohlemes gbotechniques
of fluids, chemicals and energy. A current review of concernent Ecoulement de fluides, de mat&es chi-
the types of direct and coupled flow through soil is miques et d’knergie. Les types d’&coulement direct
given and assessment of their significance in geo- et couplb sont pas&s en revue et leur in&et pour
technical practice is made. Darcy’s, Fourier’s, la g(?otechnique pratique est &al&e. Les lois de
Ohm’s and Fick’s laws provide a suitable practical Darcy, de Fourier, d’Ohm et de Fick fournissent
basis for the analysis of water, heat, electrical and une base pratique convenable pour I’analyse des
chemical flows due to gradients of the same type. koulements aquatique, thermique, klectrique et
Prolonged application of gradients of the different chimique provoqub par des gradients du m&me
types can cause significant changes in the state and type. Une application de longue durire de divers
properties of a soil, and flows through it. The quan- types de gradient peut entrainer des cbangements
tification of coupled flows is most easily done by importants dans Mat et les propri&s d’un sol
direct measurement of coupling coefficients when aussi bien que dans les ecoulements $ travers le sol.
only two types of flow are important. The applica- La facon la meilleure de quantifier les Ccoulements
tion of irreversible thermodynamics is useful for couplCs est de mesurer directement les coefficients
quantification of flows in more complex systems. de couplage l$ oti seulement deux types
Relationships are provided for the expression of d%coulement sont d’importance. L’emploi de la
coupling coefficients in terms of directly measur- thermodynamique irrCversible est utile pour quanti-
able soil parameters such as hydraulic conductivity. fier les Ccoulements dans des systi?mes plus com-
Coupled fluid flows due to electrical and chemical plexes. Des relations sont p&en&s pour
gradients are significant relative to direct hydraulic exprimer les coefficients de couplage par des para-
flows in soils having hydraulic conductivity values metres des sols, tels que la conductibiliti: hydrau-
less than 1 x 10m9 m/s. Thermally driven fluid lique, qu’on peut mesurer de facon directe. Les
flows are important only in partly saturated soils. 6coulements coupl6s de fluides causes par des gra-
Applications of the concepts and theoretical devel- dients Clectriques et chimiques sont significatifs
opments are given. pour les itcoulements hydrauliques directs dans des
sols ayant des valeurs de conductibilit6 hydraulique
infi?rieures P 1 x 10m9 m/s. Les koulements de
fluides dtis $ la chaleur ne sont d’importance que
KEYWORDS: analysis; chemical properties; clays; dans des sols partiellement saturCs. Des concepts et
environmental geotechnics; groundwater; permeability; des dCveloppements thi?oriques sont p&en& dans
soil properties. Particle.
Soil mechanics is a complex subject because the ceptions and avenues of approach which form the
materials with which we deal are so utterly fundamentals of soil mechanics.
complex. In addition, to penetrate deeper and Arthur Casagrande, 1938
deeper into the mysterious behaviour of soils, we
need a much greater variety of tools than, for
example, are required in structural engineering. A INTRODUCTION
man who desires to work in soil mechanics needs In the more than 50 years since Arthur Casag-
not only a thorough knowledge of the properties of rande spoke these words at the close of an engin-
materials in general, of mathematics, and at least eering conference, their truth has been amply
the principles of the theory of elasticity, but also demonstrated. The importance of physico-
knowledge of physical chemistry and geology, and chemical phenomena in the engineering behav-
in addition the mastery of some entirely new con- iour of soil is so great than an entire subdiscipline
of our field has been built around it, and geology
* Edward G. and John R. Cahill Professor of Civil is essential to virtually everything that we do. It is
Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA. some of the ‘new conceptions and avenues of
Downloaded by [ Istanbul Technical University] on [22/03/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
300 MITCHELL
approach’ that I have chosen as the subject of this and Veder (1981) began investigations of the
Rankine Lecture. effects of self potentials in soil layers on slope sta-
Virtually all geotechnical problems involve bility. During the same period much fundamental
considerations of soil or rock deformation, stabil- research on chemically, hydraulically and ther-
ity and volume change, and/or the flow of fluids, mally driven flows was also being done by
chemicals and energy in various forms. Further- researchers in soil chemistry and soil physics.
more, the flows often play a vital role in the After relatively little attention to coupled flow
deformation, volume change and stability behav- processes in soils for several years, there has been
iour of geological materials, Accordingly, it is renewed interest recently because of new prob-
timely to re-examine the nature of flows through lems and applications in which they play impor-
soil for three reasons: first, an understanding of tant roles. These include contaminant transport
conduction phenomena is essential to the under- in the ground, waste containment, clean-up of
standing of soil behaviour; secondly, it is no polluted soil and groundwater, in situ measure-
longer suflicient to consider only the flow of ment of soil properties, ground stabilization and
water through soils, because separate and concur- improvement using electrical, chemical and
rent flows of chemicals, heat and electricity can thermal processes, underground storage of heat,
have profound effects on both the geotechnical gas and petroleum, and problems related to ther-
materials themselves and on the surrounding mally driven moisture flow.
environment; and thirdly, use can be made of My objectives in this Lecture are to provide a
some flow processes for geotechnical purposes. current review of the several types of conduction
When a soil mass is subjected to hydraulic, phenomena in soils and an assessment of their
chemical, electrical and thermal gradients, things significance in geotechnical engineering. This will
move. Weak and compressible soil masses can be be done through a review of the physics of
deformed by the gradients, while strong and coupled flow processes through soils, quantifica-
incompressible soil and rock masses experience tion of the phenomena in practical form, evalu-
flows of matter and energy through them. Earth ation of relevant parameters and their
materials of intermediate compressibility and magnitudes, and several examples of new applica-
strength may undergo both deformation and per- tions.
meation. Furthermore, it is now well known that The topic is, in my opinion, very appropriate
gradients of one type may cause flows of another for a lecture in honour of Professor William John
type, such as a hydraulic flow caused by an elec- Macquorn Rankine, who contributed so much to
trical gradient, and these coupled flows may be the development of engineering science and the
important under a variety of circumstances. Their practice of engineering. Although Rankine is best
roles in geotechnical problems were given partic- known to the geotechnical community for his
ular attention starting in the middle of the 20th paper ‘On the stability of loose earth’, which pro-
century. vides the basis for the Rankine theory of earth
Among the earliest publications were those of pressure, this formed only a small part of his
L. Casagrande (1941), who pioneered the applica- work, and he is much better remembered by the
tion of electro-osmosis for dewatering and slope rest of the scientific and engineering world for his
stabilization, and Winterkorn (1947, 1955), who contributions to thermodynamics, particularly the
noted the similarities between chemical osmosis, discovery of the second law and its application to
electro-osmosis and thermoosmosis, and who heat engines. Thermodynamics applied to the
suggested a generalization of Darcy’s law to physical chemistry of soil-water-chemical
include contributions from electrical and thermal systems provides the basis for the understanding
gradients. Winterkorn (1958) also proposed treat- and quantification of the conduction processes to
ing mass transport processes using irreversible be discussed herein.
thermodynamics-an approach widely used
today.
Subsequently Olsen (1969, 1972) analysed flows TYPES OF FLOW THROUGH SOILS
of various types in geological processes; L. Fluids, electricity, chemicals and heat flow
Casagrande (1952, 1959) developed electro- through soils. It has been well established that,
osmosis as a means for soil drainage and consoli- provided the flow process does not change the
dation; Gray & Mitchell (1967) elucidated the state of the soil, each flow rate or flux, Ji, as
fundamentals of electro-osmosis efficiency; Esrig shown in Fig. 1, is linearly related to its corre-
(1968) developed the theory for consolidation by sponding driving force Xi according to
electro-osmosis; Greenberg, Mitchell &
Ji = LiiXi (1)
Witherspoon (1973) and Mitchell, Greenberg &
Witherspoon (1973) presented a comprehensive in which L,, is the conductivity coefficient for
theory for coupled chemical and hydraulic flows; flow. When written specifically for a particular
CONDUCTION PHENOMENA 301
particle and pore sizes, tortuosity of flow paths,

non-uniform distributions of constituents, and
different concentrations of different phases.
Among the references which provide more
detailed descriptions of the different flow pro-
qn = k, y A cesses as related to geotechnical problems and
Darcy‘s law factors influencing them are Mitchell (1976) on
hydraulic flow; Arulanandan & Mitchell (1968),
Mitchell & Arulanandan (19683 and Arulanandan
(1991) on electrical flow; Quigley et al. (1987b),
CV
Shackelford (1991) and Shackelford & Daniel
I = ue 7 A (1991a, b) on chemical diffusion; and Brandon &
Ohm’s law Mitchell (1989) on thermal conductivity.
As long as the flow rates and gradients are lin-
early related, the mathematical treatment of each
flow type is the same, and solutions for flow of
one type may be used for problems of another
type provided the property values and boundary
conditions are properly represented. In those
L cases where the flow processes change the state of
the soil, the effects are either ignored in the
analysis or taken into account by updating the
&DyA
parameters as the analysis proceeds.
Flck‘s law In most cases there are simultaneous flows of
different types, even when only one type of
Fig. 1. Four types of direct flow through B soil mass driving force is acting. For example, when pore
water containing chemicals flows under the action
of a hydraulic gradient, there is a concurrent flow
flow type and in terms of familiar phenomeno- of chemical through the soil. This type of chemi-
logical coefficients, equation (1) becomes for cal transport is termed advection. In addition,
water flow owing to the existence of surface charges in soil
minerals, especially the clays, there are non-
q,, = k, i, Darcy’s law (2) uniform distributions of cations and anions
for heat flow within soil pores resulting from the attraction of
cations to and repulsion of anions from the nega-
qt = k, i, Fourier’s law (3) tively charged particle surfaces. The net negativity
of clay particles is caused by isomorphous substi-
for electrical flow
tutions within the crystal structure. The general
I = ee i, Ohm’s law (4) distribution of ions adjacent to a clay surface is
depicted in Fig. 2. The double layer consists of a
for chemical flow fixed part and a diffuse part, composed of the bal-
J, = Di, Fick’s law ancing cations which are held by electrostatic
(5)
attraction. Detailed descriptions of the double
In equations (2)(5) qh, q,, I and J, are the water, layer are given by Mitchell (1976) and van
heat, electrical and chemical flow rates, respec- Olphen (1977). Because of the small pore sizes in
tively. The coefficients k,, k,, u, and D are the clays and the electrical fields within them, clay
hydraulic, thermal and electrical conductivities
and the diffusion coefficient, respectively. Typical
ranges of values for these properties are given
later. The driving forces for flow are given by the
respective hydraulic, thermal, electrical and
chemical gradients, i,, i,, i, and i,. Until rela-
tively recently the interests of geotechnical engi-
neers focused primarily on hydraulic flows, with
some attention directed also at heat flow, particu-
larly in cold regions.
Although the conduction coefficients are
directly measurable quantities, the flow processes
themselves are complex, owing to the ranges in Fig. 2. Ion distributions adjacent to a clay surface
302 MITCHELL
layers may exhibit membrane properties, which studied in some detail recently (e.g. Barbour &
means that the passage of certain ions and mol- Fredlund, 1989), owing to its importance in
ecules through the clay may be restricted in part waste-containment systems,
or in full on both microscopic and macroscopic Isothermal heat transfer, caused by heat flow
levels. along with water flow, has been known to have
Owing to the internal non-homogeneities in caused great difficulties in the creation of frozen
ion distributions, restrictions on ion movements soil barriers in the presence of flowing ground-
caused by electrostatic attractions and repulsions, water. Electrically driven heat flow, the Peltier
and the dependence of these interactions on tem- effect, and chemically driven heat flow, the
perature, a variety of microscopic and macro- Dufour effect, are not known to be of significance
scopic effects may be observed when a wet soil in soils; however, to my knowledge they have not
mass is subjected to flow gradients of different been studied in any detail.
types. In particular, it has been observed that a Streaming current, the term applied to both
gradient of one type can cause a flow of another hydraulically driven electrical current and
type, according to hydraulically driven ion flows, has importance to
both chemical flow through the ground
Ji = LijXj (6) (advection) and the development of electrical
The L, are termed coupling coefficients. They are potentials, which may, in turn, influence both
properties that may or may not be of significant fluid and ion flows as a result of additional coup-
magnitude in any given soil, as discussed later. ling effects. The complete roles of thermo-
The types of coupled flow that can occur are electricity and diffusion and membrane potentials
listed in Table 1, along with the terms commonly are not known; however, electrical potentials gen-
used to describe them. erated by temperature and chemical gradients are
Of the twelve coupled flows shown in Table 1, important in corrosion and in some groundwater
several are known to be significant in soil-water flow and stability problems (e.g. Veder, 1981).
systems, at least under some conditions. Thermo- Whether or not thermal diffusion of electro-
osmosis, which is water movement under a tem- lytes, the Soret effect, is important in soils has not
perature gradient, is important in partly saturated been evaluated; however, since chemical activity
soils, but of limited influence in fully saturated is highly temperature-dependent, it may be a sig-
soils. Significant effects from thermally driven nificant process in some systems. Finally, electro-
moisture flow are found in semi-arid and arid phoresis, the movement of charged particles in an
areas, in frost-susceptible soils, and in expansive electrical field, has been used for concentration of
soils. An analysis of thermally driven moisture mine waste and high water content clays.
flow is developed later. Electra-osmosis has been
used for many years as a means for control of COMPATIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS
water flow and for consolidation of soils. Chemi- The prolonged application of hydraulic, chemi-
cal osmosis, the flow of water caused by a chemical, electrical or thermal potential fields across a
cal gradient acting across a clay layer, has been soil mass may cause significant changes in the
Table 1. Direct and coupled flow phenomena
Flow J Gradient X
Hydraulic head Temperature Electrical Chemical

I---- concentration
Fluid Hydraulic Thermo-osmosis Electra-osmosis 1 Chemical osmosis
-I---
conduction:
Darcy’s law
Heat Isothermal heat Thermal Peltier effect Dufour effect

transfer conduction:
Fourier’s law
Current Streaming current Thermo-electricity: Electric Diffusion and

Seebeck effect conduction: membrane
Ohm’s law potentials
Ion Streaming current Thermal diffusion Diffusion :

of electrolyte : Fick’s law
Soret effect
state and properties of the soil as well as flows (a) the magnitudes and types of the potential gra-
within and through it. These changes may be dients that act on the soil
beneficial, as in the case of clay consolidation by (b) the compositions of the soil and pore fluid
electro-osmosis, or detrimental, as in the case of (c) the initial state of the soil, especially its water
shrinkage-cracking of clay waste-containment content, saturation, density and compress-
barriers as a result of prolonged exposure to non- ibility
polar organic liquids. Among the effects that may (d) chemistry (e.g. electrode compositions, con-
be observed are centrations and compositions of fluids at the
boundaries of the soil mass).
(a) hydro-consolidation (i.e. consolidation due to
seepage forces) An excellent example of the combined effects of
(b) electro-osmotic consolidation (i.e. consoli- consolidation and electrochemical reactions
dation due to water drainage in a d.c. electri- during clay consolidation by electro-osmosis is
cal field) shown by the data in Fig. 3, from Bjerrum,
(c) electro-chemical reactions such as gas gener- Mourn & Eide (1967). The reduction in water
ation, electrode decomposition, ion exchange content and a portion of the strength increase are
and pH changes (Gray, 1970) a direct result of consolidation in the d.c. electric
(d) thermal drying field. However, the changes in Atterberg limits,
(e) chemically-induced volume change by which which are compositional properties, can only be
chemical concentration differences at the explained by electrochemical reactions. The rein-
boundaries and changes in pore fluid com- forcing steel electrodes used for this project were
position cause swelling or shrinkage of the observed to decompose during the treatment,
soil. thus contributing iron for ion exchange and clay
cementation.
The magnitudes of the effects depend on several In general, the finer-grained the soil, the more
factors, including active the clay minerals and the lower the void
Row of anodes Row of cathodes

+
IAverage water content before1
lelectro-osmosis I
$ Change in water content

1 corresponding to observed
z lo- I settlement
I
01
I I
2m
k @I
J
I
I
W, after electro-osmosis
W, and W, before electro-bsmosis

I I
ovawe
I / . . . .u
OL I
2m
I
I
2m
1 1, 1
(b) (d)
Fig. 3. Effects of electro-osmosis treatment on properties of quick clay at As (from Bjerrom et al., 1967): (a) undrained
shear strength; (b) remoulded shear strength; (c) water content; (d) Atterberg limits
304 MITCHELL
- Dwect stress.
100 kPato 200 kPa
380 g/lpolyethylene glycol
-20 1 I I I J
01 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Time: minutes
Fig. 4. Chemico-osmotic consolidation of hentonite; mechanical consolidation

under a pressure increment from 100 kPa to 200 kPa is shown for comparison
(from Mitchell et al., 1973)
ratio, the more important are the membrane phe- the integrity of the liners and barriers. Recent
nomena; that is, the more important are the summaries of this research are given by Mitchell
chemically and electrically induced flows through & Madsen (1987) and Quigley & Fernandez
the soil relative to hydraulic flows, and the more (1989).
effective is the clay in terms of preventing passage The collective results show that both concen-
of some ions and molecules through it. Con- trated free-phase non-polar, insoluble hydrocar-
versely, the higher the water content and void bons and water-soluble hydrocarbons present at
ratio, and the higher the compressibility, the more concentrations above 70% can have effects that
important are the changes in the state of the soil are damaging to barrier integrity where confining
that are caused by the different potential fields. stresses are low, especially in the case of clays
As an illustration of the latter point, the con- with low density and high water content.
solidation behaviour of saturated sodium benton- However, in the presence of high confining pres-
ite, initially at an effective consolidation pressure sures, shrinkage cracking may be minimized.
of 100 kPa is shown in Fig. 4. It may be seen that These effects are illustrated in Fig. 5, from Fern-
submergence of the clay in polyethylene glycol andez & Quigley (1988) which shows hydraulic
caused a chemico-osmotic consolidation that is of conductivity values for compacted Sarnia,
the same order as caused by doubling the effective Ontario, clay permeated by domestic-waste leach-
stress to 200 kPa. The total chemico-osmotic con- ate containing different amounts of dioxane. It
solidation is attributed by Barbour & Fredlund may be seen that for samples maintained under a
(1989) to, first, osmotic consolidation, which results vertical confining stress of 160 kPa the hydraulic
from changes in the electrostatic repulsive-minus- conductivity was virtually unaffected. However,
attractive (R-A) forces between the clay particles when the samples were unconfined, the per-
as the concentration of polyethylene glycol meability increased up to three orders of magni-
increases in the pore fluid, and secondly, tude for dioxane concentrations greater than
osmotically induced consolidation caused by flow 70%.
out of the clay due to osmotic gradients. Test These findings have been confirmed recently by
results by Barbour & Fredlund (1989) showed Broderick & Daniel (1990) who showed that high
that osmotic consolidation was the dominant compactive effort or the application of confining
mechanism for the clays they tested, which were stresses greater than about 70 kPa will make a
highly plastic Regina clay and sand- compacted clay invulnerable to attack by concen-
montmorillonite mixtures at consolidation pres- trated organic chemicals. They found treatment
sures up to 800 kPa. by addition of lime, Portland cement, or a lime/
Of special concern in recent years has been the sodium silicate mixture to be equally effective.
compatibility between waste chemicals, especially
liquid organics, and compacted clay liners and
slurry-wall barriers constructed to contain them. QUANTIFICATION OF COUPLED FLOW
Numerous studies have been carried out to evalu- PHENOMENA
ate chemical effects on clay hydraulic conductivi- The quantification of coupled flow processes
ty, because prolonged exposure may compromise may be done by direct, empirical determination of
10 ‘O
r
l Reference k (water) l Reference K (water)
D Final k of permeant D FInal K of permeant
Dioxane
f = 2.3
-?
Viscosity
20
F
I
control
% dioxane
T
I
40 60
6
0’”
/p
in the permeant
I
T/Y
= 160 kPa
I
80
1I
100 0 20 40
% dloxane
60
in the permeant
80 100
(a) (b)
Fig. 5. Hydraulic conductivity and intrinsic permeability of compacted Sarnia clay permeated with leachate-dioxane
mixtures; water-compacted, nV’ = 0 kPa, e, - O-85; tests ran using water (0) followed by leachate-chemical solution
(A) (from Fernandez & Quigley, 1988): (a) hydraulic conductivity; (b) intrinsic permeability
the relevant parameters for a particular case or tions is considered, then equation (6) yields
by use of relationships derived from a theoretical
4, = L,,V(-H) + L,,V(-i?) + LrrcV(-C)
thermodynamic analysis of the complete set of
direct and coupled flow equations. Each (7a)
approach has advantages and limitations. It is I = L,,V(--) + L,,V(-E) + L,,V(-C)
assumed in the following that the soil properties
remain unchanged during the flow processes, an (7b)
assumption that may not be justified in some J, = L,,V(-H) + Lc,V(-E) + LccV(-C)
cases. However, when properties are known to
vary in a predictable manner, their variations (7c)
may be taken into account when numerical in which q, is water flow rate, I is electrical
methods are used to analyse particular situations. current, J, is chemical flow rate, H is hydraulic
head, E is electrical potential, C is chemical con-
Direct observational approach centration, and L, are coupling coefficients, the
In the general case there may be fluid, chemi- first subscript indicating the flow type and the
cal, electrical and heat flows. The chemical flows second denoting the type of driving force.
can be subdivided according to the particular If there are no chemical-concentration differ-
species present. As discussed earlier, each flow ences across the system, then the last terms on the
type may have contributions caused by gradients right hand side of equations (7) do not exist. If
of another type, their importance depending on only the hydraulic and electrical flows are of
the values of the Lij and Xj in equation (6). Thus, interest, even though there may still be a chemical
to obtain a complete and accurate description of flow according to equation (7~) then equations
all flows may be a formidable task. (7a) and (7b) become, when written in more fam-
However, in many cases, flows of only one or iliar terms
two types may be of interest, some of the gra-
dients may not exist, and/or some of the coupling q, = k, i, + k, i, @a)
coefficients may be either known or assumed to I = (TVi, + oe i, (W
be unimportant. The matrix of flows and forces
then reduces significantly, and the determination where k, is hydraulic conductivity, k, is electro-
of coefficients is greatly simplified. For example, if osmotic hydraulic conductivity, o,, is electrical
simple electro-osmosis under isothermal condi- conductivity due to hydraulic flow, ee is electrical
306 MITCHELL
conductivity, i, is hydraulic gradient and i, is (a) local equilibrium, a criterion that is satisfied if
electrical potential gradient. local perturbations are not large
If permeability tests are done in the absence of (h) linear phenomenological equations, that is
an electrical potential difference, then the hydrau-
lic conductivity coefficient k, is readily deter- Ji = i LijXj 0’ = 1, 2 > . . . . n) (10)
mined.* The coefficient of electro-osmotic j=l
hydraulic conductivity is usually determined by

measuring the hydraulic flow rate developed in a
(4 validity of the Onsager reciprocal relations, a
condition that is satisfied if the Ji and Xj are
known d.c. potential field under conditions of
properly formulated (Onsager, 193 1a, b);
i, = 0. The electrical conductivity cre is obtained
experimental verification of the Onsager reci-
from the same experiment through measurement
procity for many systems and processes has
of the electrical current.
been obtained and is summarized by Miller
The main advantage of this empirical, but
(1960).
direct, approach is simplicity. It is particularly
useful when only a few of the possible couplings As both the driving forces and flows vanish in
are likely to be important and when some uncer- systems that are in equilibrium, the deviations of
tainty in the measured coefficients is acceptable. thermodynamic variables from their equilibrium
values provide a suitable basis for their formula-
General theory for coupledflows tion. The deviations of the state parameters A,
When several flows are of interest, each from equilibrium are given by
resulting from several gradients, a more forma1
fxi = Ai - Ai (11)
methodology is necessary so that all relevant
factors are accounted for properly. If there are n where Aio is the value of the state parameter at
different driving forces, then there will be n direct- equilibrium and Ai is its value in the disturbed
flow coefficients Lii and n(n - 1) coupling coefli- state.
cients Lij. The determination of these coefficients Criteria for deriving the forces and flows are
can be a formidable task, and it is best done then developed on the basis of the second law of
within a framework that provides a consistent thermodynamics, which states that at equilibrium
and correct description of each of the flows. Irre- the entropy S is a maximum, and a, = 0. The
versible thermodynamics, also termed non- change in entropy AS that results from a change
equilibrium thermodynamics, offers a basis for in a state parameter gives the tendency for a vari-
such a description. Furthermore, if the terms are able to change. Thus dS/aa, is a measure of the
properly formulated, then Onsager’s reciprocal force causing ai to change and is called Xi.
relations apply The flows Ji , termed fluxes in irreversible ther-
modynamics, are given by daJ& the time deriv-
Lij = Lji (9) ative of xi. On this basis the resulting entropy
and the number of coefficients to be determined is production D per unit time becomes
significantly reduced. In addition, the derived
forms for the coupling coefficients, when cast in o=$= f: J,Xi (12)
terms of measurable and understood properties, i= 1
provide a basis for rapid assessment of their

The entropy production can be related explic-
importance.
itly to various irreversible processes in terms of
The theory of irreversible thermodynamics as
proper forces and fluxes (Gray, 1966; Yeung &
applied to transport processes in soils is only out-
Mitchell, 1991). If the choices satisfy equation
lined here. More comprehensive treatments are
(12) then the Onsager reciprocity relations apply.
given by Fitts (1962), de Groot & Mazur (1962),
It has been found more useful to use Q = Tn,
Katchalsky & Curran (1967), and Yeung & Mit-
the ‘dissipation function’, than (T in the formula-
chell (1991).
tion of the ilow equations. @ is also the sum of
Irreversible thermodynamics is a phenomeno-
products of fluxes and driving forces
logical, macroscopic theory that can provide a
basis for description of systems that are out of
equilibrium. It is based on three postulates; CD= i
i=l
namely
However, the driving forces assume more familiar
forms. The units of @ are energy per unit time,
* Unless the ends of the sample are short-circuited to
prevent the development of a streaming potential, there and it is a measure of the rate of local free energy
will be a small electro-osmotic counter-flow contributed dissipation by irreversible processes.
by the k,i, term in equation @a). Streaming potentials Application of the thermodynamic theory of
may be up to a few tens of millivolts in soils. irreversible processes requires the following steps
(4 finding the dissipation function 0 for the different electrical potentials, and under different
flows hydraulic heads, as shown schematically in Fig. 6.
(b) defining the conjugated flows Ji and driving Only one anion and one cation species are
forces Xi from equation (13) assumed to be present. The detailed analysis for
(4 formulating the phenomenological equations multi-component systems would become too
in the form of equation (10) complex; for such systems the use of averaged
applying the Onsager reciprocal relations chemical properties and the assumption of com-
I$ relating the phenomenological
measurable quantities.
coefficients to posite single species of anions and cations is sug-
gested.
The driving forces are the hydraulic gradient
When the Onsager reciprocity is used, the
V( -P), the electrical gradient V( -E), and the
number of independent coefficients L, reduces concentration-dependent parts of the chemical
from n2 to [(n + l)n]/2. potential gradients of the cation V&‘) and the
anion V(&“). The fluxes are the volume flow rate
of the solution per unit area, J,, the electric
SIMULTANEOUS FLOWS OF WATER, current I, and the diffusional flow rates of the
CURRENT AND SALTS THROUGH A SOIL cation Jcd and the anion .Iad per unit area relative
Although the use of irreversible thermodyna- to the flow of water. These diffusional flows are
mics for the description of coupled flows is related to the absolute flows according to
straightforward in principle, it becomes progres-
sively more difftcult in application as the number Ji = .J; + 5 J, (14)
of driving forces and number of different flows c,
increase. This is because of, first, the need for in which .I, is the flow rate of water, ci is the
proper specification of the different coupling coef- concentration of ion i and c, is the concentration
ficients, and, secondly, the need for independent of water. The phenomenological equations that
methods for their measurement. Thus the analysis relate the four flows and driving forces are
of coupled hydraulic and electrical flows or of
coupled hydraulic and chemical flows is much J, = L,,V(-P)+ L,,V(-E)
simpler than the analysis of a system subjected to
+L13v(-&c)+ L,,V(-&') (154
electrical, chemical and hydraulic gradients simul-
taneously. Relationships for the volume flow rate I = L,,V(--P)+L,,V(-E)
of water for several cases and for thermoelectric
+ L,,v-&c) + L*4V(-AC) (15f-4
and thermo-osmotic coupling in saturated soils
are given by Gray (1966, 1969), The simultaneous J,d=LJ1V(-P)+L32V(-E)
flows of liquid and charge in kaolinite and the
+ L,,V-PC') + L,,v(-&c) (154
fluid volume flow rates under hydraulic, electric
and chemical gradients were studied by Olsen Jad= L,,V(-P)+ L,,V(-E)
(1969, 1972). The theory for coupled salt and
+ L‘t,V(-A")+ L,,v-K3=) (154
water flows was developed by Greenberg (1971)
and applied to coupled flows in a groundwater
basin (Greenberg et al., 1973) and to chemico-
osmotic consolidation of clay (Mitchell et al., - HI
T
1973). + T+ _
-
Complete equations for the simultaneous flows c.3, +
_
of water, electricity, cations and anions under
cc1 +
hydraulic, electrical and chemical gradients were
formulated by Yeung (1990) using the formalism -+- Hz- &
+-+ ‘_ +
of irreversible thermodynamics outlined. The Cd2
detailed development is given elsewhere (Yeung & _ 5’ cc2
_
Mitchell, 1991); only the results are given here.
+ -t - +
The chemical flow was separated into its anionic _ f-
and cationic components because of the need to
consider different chemical constituents in the
+
_
-+ +-
* ‘i
- +
particular problem under study; namely, the
potential for application of electrokinetic barriers
for waste containment. Fig. 6. Diagram of system for analysis of simultaneous
The analysis applies to an initially homoge- flows of water, electricity and ions through a soil: H is
neous soil mass which separates solutions of dif- hydraulic head, Y is electrical potential, e, is anion con-
ferent concentrations of anions and cations, at centration, c, is cation concentration
308 MITCHELL
These equations contain four conductivity coefh- L,, = L,, = 0 (24)

cients Lii and twelve coupling coefficients L,. As
a result of the Onsager reciprocity, however, the D *c
number of independent coupling coefficients
L,, = =
RT
(25)
reduces, because
where k, is the hydraulic conductivity, k, is the
LIZ = L*, coefficient of electro-osmotic hydraulic conduc-
tivity, o, is the bulk electrical conductivity of the
LIZ = &I soil, w is the coefficient of osmotic efficiency, y,,, is
L1.S = LI the unit weight of water, c, is the concentration of
cation, c, is the concentration of anion, u,* is the
L, = L,, effective ionic mobility of the cation, u,* is the
effective ionic mobility of the anion, DC* is the
I-2, = L
effective diffusion coefficient for the cation, D,* is
L = Lx the effective diffusion coefficient of the anion, n is
the soil porosity, R is the universal gas constant
Thus there are ten independent coefficients
(8,314 J/K per mol) and T is the absolute tem-
needed for a full description of hydraulic, electri-
perature (K).
cal, anionic and cationic flows through a system
As the flows of ions relative to the soil are of
subjected to hydraulic, electrical and chemical
more interest than relative to the water, equation
gradients across it. If three of the four forces can
(14) and equations (15~) and (15d) can be com-
be set equal to zero during a measurement of the
bined to give
flow under the fourth force, then the ratio of the
flow rate to that force will give the value of the J, = (L,, + c,L,,)Y,v(--h)
corresponding L,, . However, such measurements
are not always possible or convenient. Accord- +L + ccL12M-a
ingly, two forces and one flow are usually set to
zero and the appropriate
ution of simultaneous
L, are evaluated by sol-
equations. Using measured
+ (L,, + ccL,,) F c
V(-cc)
values of hydraulic conductivity, electro-osmotic
hydraulic conductivity, electrical conductivity,
osmotic efficiency and effective diffusion coefti-
+ L + ccL,,) $ a
VC-c,) (26)
cients, obtained in the usual manner in the geo- and
technical or chemical laboratory, the detailed
application of irreversible thermodynamic theory J, = (L, + C,L,,)Y,V(-4
(Yeung, 1990) leads to the following definitions
for the Lij. It was assumed in the derivations that
+ (L,, + c,L12)V(-E)
the solution is dilute and that there are no inter-
actions between cations and anions. + CL, + G.&J F c
VC-4
(16) + w,, + caL,,) y VC-c,) (27)

a
L,, = L,, = 5n (17)

where V(-h) is the hydraulic gradient. In equa-
tions (26) and (27) the gradient of the chemical
potential has been replaced by the gradient of the
--cc&
-+-
L,,L,, concentration according to
L,, = L,, =
L 22
(18)
Ywn
L,, = L,, =
--WC k
ah
L,,L,,
+-
V( -p(i”) = F V( -ci) (28)
I
y,n L 22
These equations reduce to the known solutions
for special cases such as chemical diffusion,
advection-dispersion, osmotic pressure according
to the van? Hoff equation, osmosis, and ultrafil-
L,, = L,, = c,u,* (21) tration.
L,, = L,, = -call,* (22) The flow equations can be incorporated into
n *..
numerical models for the solution of transient
L,, = Kg flow problems.
(23)
Conservation of mass requires that
related to the diffusion coefftcient according to

(29)
Di I zi I F
u_= ~
in which G, is a source-sink term describing the (31)
RT
addition or removal rate of species i from the sol-
ution. As commonly used in groundwater flow in which zi is the ionic valence and F is Faraday’s
analyses of contaminant transport, Gi is given by constant.
Both the diffusion coefficients and ionic mobi-
lities are considerably less in a soil, especially a
fine-grained soil, than in free solution. There are
several reasons for this (Quigley et al., 1987b),
where li is the decay constant of species i, p is the including tortuous flow paths, small fluid volume
bulk dry density of the soil, K, is the distribution for flow, ion adsorption by particle surfaces,
coefficient, and n is the soil porosity. The distribu- electro-osmotic counter-flow, and possible anion
tion constant is the ratio of the amount of chemi- exclusion owing to high osmotic efficiency of the
cal adsorbed on the soil to that in solution. The membrane. Of these factors, the tortuosity is par-
quantity in the brackets on the right-hand side of ticularly important, accounting for a several-fold
equation (30) is commonly referred to as the reduction in diffusion coefficients and mobility
retardation factor R,. factors in some cases. The range of diffusion coef-
Many numerical models are available for ficients listed in Table 2 is for diffusion through
groundwater flow and contaminant transport soil.
into which the above flow equations can be intro- The importance of coupled flows to fluid, elec-
duced. They are not dealt with here. Instead, trical current, and chemical transport through
attention is now focused on the values of the coef- soil under different conditions can be examined
ficients. through study of the contributions of the different
terms in equations (15a), (15b), (26) and (27). For
this purpose, the equations have been rewritten in
TRANSPORT COEFFICIENTS one-dimensional form and in terms of the hydrau-
In order to assess those conditions where lic, electrical and chemical concentration gra-
coupled flows will be significant relative to direct dients, i, = -dh/dx, i, = -dV/dx and i, =
flows, it is necessary to know the values of the L,, -dc/dx respectively. In addition, the chemical
relative to the Lii. This can be done through a flows have been represented by a single equation.
consideration of the probable values of the soil This assumes that all dissolved species are
state parameters and the several flow and trans- moving together. Terms involving the ionic
port coefficients given in equations (16H25). mobility u do not exist in such a formulation,
Practical ranges are given in Table 2. because the cations and anions are assumed to
In Table 2 the diffusion coefficients and ionic move together, the effects of electrical fields being
mobilities for cations and anions are considered assumed to accelerate the slower-moving ions
together, since they lie within similar ranges for and retard the faster-moving ions. Thus there is
most species. Values for specific ions in dilute sol- no net transfer of electric charge due to ionic
ution are given in standard chemical references mobility differences. The Lij coefficients have been
(e.g. Dean, 1973). Values of diffusion coefficients replaced by the physical and chemical quantities
are also given by Quigley, Yanful & Fernandez that determine them, as given by equations (16) to
(1987b) and Shackelford (1991). Ionic mobility is (25). The resulting equations, for fluid flow, elec-
Table 2. Practical ranges of flow parameter values for saturated fine-grained soils*
Parameter Symbol Units Minimum Maximum

Porosity 0.1 0.7
Hydraulic conductivity m/s 1 X lo-” 1 X 10-b
Electra-osmotic permeability m’js per V 1 X 10-s 1 X 10-s
Diffusion coefficient m’/s 2 x lo-lo 2 x 1o-9
Electrical conductivity S/m 0.01 1.0
Osmotic efficiency 0 1.0
Ionic mobilitv m2/s per V 3 x 1om9 1 X 10-s
* Values may be much less in partly saturated soil.
310 MITCHELL
trical current flow, and chemical flow relative to to give equal flow rates. They will be equal if
the soil, are respectively
k,i, = k,i, (35)
The hydraulic gradient required to balance an

electro-osmotically induced flow then becomes
(32) k
i, = fl i,
As the hydraulic conductivity of soils in which

electro-osmosis is likely to be used is usually of
the order of 1 x lo-’ m/s or less, whereas k, is in
the range of 1 x 10m9 to 1 x lo-* m2/s per volt,
it follows that even small electrical gradients can
balance flows caused by large hydraulic gradients.
(34)
It is because of this and because k, is insensitive
to particle size, whereas k, decreases rapidly with
decreasing particle size, that electro-osmosis is
effective in fine-grained soils.
Coupling ir@ences on hydraulicflow Chemically driven hydraulic flow is given by
In the absence of applied electrical and chemi- the last term on the right hand side of equation
cal gradients, flow under a hydraulic gradient is (32). It depends primarily on the osmotic efti-
given by the first term on the right hand side of ciency o. Osmotic efhciency has an important
equation (32). This neglects the very small contri- influence on both the movement of chemicals
bution from the i, term generated by a streaming through a soil and the development of osmotic
potential that could develop in any case where pressure, and further discussion of its magnitude
the opposite sides of the soil being permeated are for different soils is warranted.
not short-circuited. Streaming potentials of up to Osmotic effxiency. The osmotic efficiency of a
a few tens of millivolts per atmosphere pressure clay is a measure of its effectiveness in causing
difference have been measured for clays. hydraulic flow under an osmotic pressure gra-
In the usual type of permeability test, it is the dient and of its ability to act as a semi-permeable
first bracketed term on the right hand side of membrane in preventing the passage of ions,
equation (32) that is measured and termed the while allowing the passage of water. The osmotic
hydraulic conductivity. Provided the k,*yw/me pressure concept can be better appreciated by
term is negligibly small, this assumption is writing, from the last term in equation (32)
correct. This term represents an electro-osmotic
counter-flow which results from the streaming
potential and acts in the direction opposite to the 100 ooo-
hydraulically driven flow. Analysis based on the + Efficiency = 1.0

--O- Effb?ncy = 03
values of properties in Table 2, as well as the 10 000 - U Efficiency = 0.2
results of measurements (e.g. Michaels & Lin, U Efflclency = 0.1
1954; Olsen, 1962) show that this counter-flow is m
negligible in most cases, but may become signifi- 4 1000 -
hi
cant relative to the true hydraulic conductivity 5
for soils of very low hydraulic conductivity (e.g.
< 1 x lo- lo m/s). For example, for a value of k,
of 5 x lo-’ m2/s per volt, an electrical conduc-
tivity of 0.01 S/m, and a porosity of 35%, the
counter-flow term is 0.7 x 10mio m/s, or of
almost equal magnitude to the direct-flow term.
It is well known that electrically driven hydrau-
lic flow, electro-osmosis, can be very large relative
to hydraulic flow, as k,, which typically ranges
within only narrow limits, is large relative to k,
for soils finer than silts (i.e. k, < 1 x lo-’ m/s). Concentratm difference: mol/l
The relative effectiveness of hydraulic and electri- Fig. 7. Theoretical values of osmotic pressure as a func-
cal driving forces for water movement can be tion of concentration difference across a clay layer for
assessed readily by comparing gradients needed different values of osmotic efficiency (w) (T = 2O’C)
k RTAc 1 thicknesses on all particles, using specific surface

w -JL RTi, = wk, -_ (37) areas corresponding to different clay types, and
y,n Y, Ax
noting that volumetric water content equals
This form is analogous to Darcy’s law, with the surface area times film thickness. The relationship
quantity RT Ac/yw being the head difference. The between specific surface area and liquid limit
osmotic efficiency is a measure of the extent to obtained by Farrar & Coleman (1967) for 19
which this theoretical pressure difference actually British clays-i.e.
develops. Theoretical values of osmotic pressure
LL = 19 + 0.56/l, (k20) (38)
as a function of concentration difference, for dif-
ferent values of osmotic efficiency, are shown in in which the specific surface area A, is in m’/g
Fig. 7. was then used to obtain the relationships shown
Values of osmotic efficiency have been mea- in Fig. 9. What these results indicate, as also
sured for many clays (e.g. Kemper & Rollins, found both experimentally and theoretically by
1966; Letey, Kemper & Noonan, 1969; Olsen, Barbour & Fredlund (1989), is that high osmotic
1969; Kemper & Quirk, 1972; Bresler, 1973; efficiencies are developed only at low water con-
Elrich, Smiles, Baumgartner & Groenevelt, 1976; tents; that is, in very dense, low-porosity clays
Barbour & Fredlund, 1989). Values from 0 to and in dilute electrolyte systems. The computed
100% have been determined, the value in any efficiencies shown in Fig. 9 should be considered
case depending on the clay type, porosity, and upper bounds, because the assumption of uniform
type and concentration of salts in solution. The water distribution over the full surface area
results of many determinations were summarized underestimates the effective particle spacing in
by Bresler (1973) as shown in Fig. 8. most cases. The reason for this is that in most
To put these relationships into more familiar clays, especially those with divalent adsorbed
terms for use in geotechnical studies, the half- cations, individual clay plates associate in clus-
spacings between particles were converted to ters, giving an effective specific surface that is less
water contents, on the assumption of uniform film than that determined by most methods of mea-
surement. This means that the curves in Fig. 9
should in reality be displaced to the left. It is con-
sistent, also, with the finding that the measured
b\ c for monovalent cation (Na’) values of osmotic efficiency reported by Barbour
0.1 1 10 100 & Fredlund (1989) for Regina clay and sand-
1.o montmorillonite mixtures were somewhat less
than would be obtained from Fig. 9.
Nonetheless, osmotically driven water flow
may be significant relative to hydraulically driven
water flow in heavily overconsolidated clays and
o-1
clay shales, where the void ratio is low and the
hydraulic conductivity is also very low. As
0”
E pointed out by Olsen (1969, 1972), such flows
e may be important in geological processes. It is
E
”
important to note also that densely compacted
clay barriers for waste containment may possess
E O-01 osmotic membrane properties. As the chemical
0
concentrations on the inside of a lined repository
should be greater than on the outside,
0 osmotically driven water flow should be from the
outside in.
Ai
A distinction was made earlier between osmotic
-0-01
,t I I consolidation and osmotically induced consoli-
1 10 100 1000
bVc for divalent cation (Ca’ ‘) dation; the former resulting from changes in
interparticle forces due to changes in pore fluid
0 Theoretical
l Letey et al. (1969), loam solI
chemistry, and the latter resulting from the
0 Kemper & Rollins (1966), Wyoming bentonlte seepage forces caused by osmotic pressure gra-
A Kemper & Qurk (1972). bentonlte. dients. Fig. 4 was introduced to illustrate consoli-
ill& and kaollnlte dation due primarily to changes in interparticle
Fig. 8. Osmotic effkiency as a function of LSC”~,where e forces. Given that clays at high water content and
is concentration of monovalent anion in normality, and low density are much more compressible than
26 is the effective spacing between particle surfaces (from heavily overconsolidated and compacted clays, it
Bresler, 1973) follows that the higher the density and the lower
312 MITCHELL
(a)
Water content: % Water content: %

(b) Cd)
Fig. 9. Osmotic efficiency of clays as a function of water content: (a) monovalent cation, O-01 N concentration; (b)
divalent cation, 091 N concentration; (c) monovalent cation, 1 N concentration; (d) divalent cation, 1 N concentration
the compressibility, the less important is osmotic Coupling influences on chemical.flow

consolidation. It also explains why chemical Equation (34), which provides a description of
incompatibility problems in clay barriers for chemical transport relative to the soil, contains
waste containment are far more severe for slurry two terms influencing chemical flow under a
walls and poorly compacted clay than for heavily hydraulic gradient, one for chemical transport
compacted clay liners. under an electrical gradient, and one for trans-
port of chemical under a chemical gradient. The
first term in the first bracket of the right hand
Coupling influences on electricalflow side of equation (34) represents advective trans-
Substitution of values for the parameters in port. As would be expected, the smaller the
equation (33) indicates, as would be expected, osmotic efficiency of the soil, the greater is the
that electrical current flow is completely domi- possibility for chemical flow through the soil. The
nated by the electrical gradient i,. Thus, in the second term in the same bracket simply reflects
presence of an applied voltage difference, the the advective flow reduction that would result
other terms are of little importance, even if the from electro-osmotic counter-flow arising from
movements of anions and cations are considered the development of a streaming potential. As
separately and the contributions due to ionic noted earlier, this flow will be small, and its con-
mobility are taken into account. However, even tribution to the total flow will be small except in
when a soil layer behaves as an open electrical clays of very low hydraulic and electrical conduc-
circuit, small electrical potentials, measured in tivities. Advective transport is the dominant
millivolts, may exist if there are hydraulic and/or means for chemical flow for soils having a
chemical flows. This may be seen by setting I = 0 hydraulic conductivity greater than about
in equation (33) and solving for i,, which must 1 x lO_‘m/s.
have value if i, or i, has value. The importance of an electrical driving force
These small potentials and flows are relevant to for chemical flow depends on the electrical poten-
such processes as corrosion and electro-osmotic tial gradient. For a unit gradient (i.e. 1 V/m), the
counter-flow. chemical flow quantities will be comparable to
those produced by advective flow under a unit diffusion would be very long. For diffusion alone,
hydraulic gradient in a clay having a hydraulic the transit time would be about 49 years.
conductivity of about 1 x lo-’ m/s. Electrically Most compacted clay liners are likely to have
driven chemical flow will be less important in hydraulic conductivity values in the range of
higher-permeability soils and more important in 1 x 10-i’ to 1 x 10m9 m/s, with the latter value
soils with lower k,. In cases where the electrically being the upper limit allowed by the US Environ-
driven chemical transport is of interest, as in mental Protection Agency for waste-containment
applications of electrokinetic waste-containment applications. In this range, diffusion reduces the
barriers discussed later, anionic, cationic and transit time significantly in comparison to what it
non-ionic chemical flows must be considered would be due to advection alone. This is shown
separately, using expanded relationships such as by the curve labelled advectiondispersion in
given by equations (26) and (27). Fig. 10. The calculations were done by Shackel-
The last bracketed quantity of equation (34) ford (1988) using the well known advection
represents diffusive flow under chemical gra- dispersion equation (Ogata & Banks, 1961), in
dients. The quantity Di, gives the normal diffusive which the dispersion term includes both mechani-
flow rate. The second term represents the cal mixing and diffusion. Mechanical mixing is
restriction on this flow that results from the clay’s negligible in low-permeability materials such as
osmotic efficiency w; that is, if the clay acts as an compacted clay.
effective semi-permeable membrane, diffusive flow
of chemicals is restricted. However, under condi-
GEOMEMBRANES
tions where the value of w is low, chemical trans-
Owing to the continually increasing applica-
port by diffusion will become significant relative
tions of geosynthetic membranes in waste con-
to advective chemical transport in soils with
tainment liner systems, my analyses of conduction
hydraulic conductivity values less than 1 x 10m9
phenomena in geotechnical engineering would
to 1 x 10-i’ m/s, for chemicals with diffusion
not be complete without some reference to these
coefficients in the range given by Table 2 (i.e.
special materials. A common application of geo-
1 x 10-i” to 1 x 10e9 m’/s).
synthetic membrane materials is shown in
This is illustrated by Fig. 10, from Shackelford
Fig. 11, which is typical of the double-liner
(1988). This figure shows the relative importance
systems now being constructed in the USA. The
of advective and diffusive chemical flows on the
concept is that the geomembrane, typically 0.5-2
transit time through a 0.91 m thick compacted
mm thick, acts as the main barrier to fluid and
clay liner having a porosity of 0.5 and acted on
chemical transport. The underlying compacted
by a hydraulic gradient of 1.33. A diffusion coefli-
clay then serves as a back-up barrier to retard, by
cient of 6 x 10mio m2/s was assumed. The transit
virtue of its low hydraulic conductivity and
time is defined as the time required for the solute
adsorption properties, any flow that has made its
concentration on the discharge side to reach 50%
way through the membrane. Such flow may result
of that on the upstream side. It may be seen that
from both holes in the membrane and conduction
for hydraulic conductivity values less than about
through the intact membrane material by various
2 x 10m9 m/s, the transit time in the absence of
means.
Thus, the transport properties of the membrane
become of importance in determining both break-
10-E- through times and flow rates. Information about
these properties and test methods for their deter-
mination have been summarized by Haxo (1990),
and what follows has been condensed from this
reference.
All polymeric materials are permeable to some
degree, because they contain interstitial spaces
between their molecules through which small
molecules can diffuse. Permeants pass through
Pure dlffuslon the geomembrane by an activated diffusion
Advectlon-disperwn process and not as a liquid. According to Haxo
(1990) the process involves three steps
Transit time. years (a) solution or absorption of the permeant at the
Fig. 10. Transit times for chemical flow through a upstream surface
091 m thick compacted clay liner having a porosity of (b) diffusion of the dissolved material through the
O-5 and acted on by a hydraulic gradient of 1.33 (from geomembrane; at steady state this process
Shackelford, 1988) follows Fick’s law
MITCHELL
Intact geomembranes act as semi-permeable

barriers to inorganic salts; that is, they have
osmotic efficiency coefficients close to 1.0 against
passage of inorganic cations and anions in solu-
tion. However, since water can permeate the
membrane, water transport across a membrane
Operailons from a low-concentration side to a high-
layer
concentration side is possible and has been mea-
‘
Primary sured. Water transport of this type has
leachate implications for the interface conditions between
collection and
removal system a geomembrane and the underlying clay layer in
a composite double-liner system.
Primary The foregoing considerations mean that geo-
composite liner
<
membranes, while providing good fluid and
Secondary chemical flow barriers, are not impervious. Even
leachate
collection and
though the hydraulic conductivities and the diffu-
removal system sion coefficients are small, the transit time for
flow across a membrane may be very short
because of its small thickness. Thus the conduc-
Secondary
composite liner
tivity properties of geosynthetic membrane layers
as well as the compacted clay layers must be
given consideration in the analysis and design of
<
waste-containment barriers.
Vadosezone
monitoring
system
THERMALLY DRIVEN FLOWS
A theoretical analysis of coupled flows of heat
and water through soils based on irreversible
Fig. 11. Typical waste-containment double-liner system
thermodynamics was developed by Taylor &
incorporating geomembrane and compacted clay com-
ponents; configuration shown is for the Kettleman Hills Cary (1964). Gray (1969) reviewed prior work and
waste repository in California added data on thermo-osmosis in soils, and also
analysed thermoelectric currents. It appears that
thermal effects in saturated soils are rather small.
Thermoelectric currents of the order of l-10
(c) evaporation or desorption from the down-
uA/deg C per cm were measured, with the warm
stream surface.
side positive relative to the cold side. Thermo-
Gas and water permeabilities vary considerably osmotic pressures of only a few tenths of a centi-
for different geomembrane polymer types. metre water head per deg C were measured in
However, from the data given by Haxo (1990) the saturated soil. Net flows were measured in differ-
gas transmission rate is typically lO&gOOO ml (at ent directions in different investigations, evidently
STP) per m2 per day per atm for CO,, 10&1500 because of different temperature-dependencies of
ml/m2 per day per atm for CH, and 20-125 chemical activity coefficients. Whether or not
ml/m2 per day per atm for N,. The permeability these small thermoelectric and thermo-osmotic
to water is in the range of about 3 x lo-i5 to effects in saturated soils are of practical signifi-
300 x lo-i5 m/s for several polymer types, and cance in geotechnical problems is not known.
decreases with increasing pressure difference However, it has been well established that ther-
across the membrane. mally driven moisture flows in partly saturated
When geomembranes are to be exposed to soils can be large and that these flows can be very
organic liquids, the compatibility of the liquid important in such problems as subgrade stability,
and polymer becomes a consideration, because swelling soils, and in heat transfer and storage
some organic liquids can cause swelling of the problems of various types. Theoretical representa-
polymer and changes in its properties. Per- tions of moisture flow through partly saturated
meability values of different polymeric geo- soils based solely on the application of irrevers-
membranes to various solvents are given by Haxo ible thermodynamics, such as developed by
(1990). They range from less than 1.0 to several Taylor & Cary (1964) have not been completely
hundred g/m2 per day. When membranes are successful as they underestimate the flows sub-
exposed to mixtures of organic liquids, different stantially, perhaps because of inability to ade-
transmission rates are likely for different chemi- quately represent all the processes and
cals. interactions.
The most widely used theory for coupled heat The isothermal diffusivity is given by
and moisture flow through soils is that of Philip
& DeVries (1957). Flows in both the liquid and
vapour phases are considered. Vapour-phase flow
depends on the thermal and isothermal vapour
e is the surface tension of water (F/L). Use of the
diffusivities and is driven by temperature and
above equations requires knowledge of four
moisture-content gradients. The liquid-phase flow
relationships to describe the properties of the
depends on the thermal and isothermal liquid dif-
soils in the system
fusivities and is driven by the temperature gra-
dient, the moisture-content gradient, and gravity. (a) hydraulic conductivity as a function of water
The governing equations for vapour-phase and content
liquid-phase flow respectively are (b) thermal conductivity as a function of water
content
4
A%? = -D,,VT - D,,V@ (c) volumetric heat capacity
PW (d) suction head as a function of water content.
qliq_- -D,,VT-DD,,VO-kk,i The analysis is complicated by the fact that the

(40)
PW hydraulic conductivity and suction relationships
are hysteretic; that is, they depend on whether the
in which qvap is vapour flux density (M/L’/T), p, soil is wetting or drying.
is density of water (M/L3), T is temperature (K), The vapour flow is made up of a flow away
0 is volumetric water content (L3/L3), D,, is from the high-temperature side that is driven by a
thermal vapour diffusivity (L’/T/K), D,, is iso- vapour density gradient and a return flow caused
thermal vapour diffusivity (L’/T), qlig is liquid by variation in the pore vapour humidity as
flux density (M/L’/T), D,, is thermal liquid diffu- reflected by variations in soil suction. Analysis by
sivity (L’/T/K), D,, is isothermal liquid diffusi- McMillan (1985) showed that at moderate soil
vity (L’/T), k, is unsaturated hydraulic suction values (e.g. a few metres for sand and
conductivity (L/T) and i is unit vector in vertical several tens of metres for clay), the thermal
direction. The thermal vapour diffusivity is given vapour diffusivity predominates and moisture is
by driven away from the heat source. The isothermal
diffusivity term becomes important only at very
va(a +f(a)O)h< (41) high suction levels. The liquid flow consists of a
capillarity-driven flow towards the heat source
The isothermal vapour diffusivity is given by and an outward liquid flow due to variations in
water surface tension with temperature. McMil-
lan’s analysis showed that for both sand and clay
(42) the isothermal liquid diffusivity term was 45
orders of magnitude greater than the thermal
in which D, is molecular diffusivity of water liquid diffusivity term. Thus capillarity-driven
vapour in air (L’/T), v is mass flow factor (=P/ flow predominates for any significant gradient in
(P - p)), P is total gas pressure in the pore space, the volumetric moisture content. That the
p is partial pressure of water vapour in the pore thermal liquid diffusivity is very small is consis-
space, a is tortuosity factor, a is volumetric air tent with the results noted earlier for saturated
content (L3/L3), h is relative humidity of air in soils in which measured water flows under
pores, 5 is ratio of the average temperature gra- thermal gradients are small.
dient in the air-filled pores to the overall tem- The thermal properties of soils can be either
perature gradient, g is acceleration of gravity estimated with sufftcient accuracy for many appli-
(L/T’), R is gas constant (FL/M per K), p,, is cations or measured directly. Some representative
density of saturated water vapour (M/L3), II/ is values are given by Mitchell (1976), and the mea-
suction head of water in the soil (negative head) surement of thermal conductivity and factors
(L), f(a) = a/a, for 0 < a < uk and f(a) = 1 for influencing it are discussed by Mitchell & Kao
a>a,, and uk is the value of a at which liquid (1978) and Brandon & Mitchell (1989). The
conductivity is lost or at which the hydraulic con- parameter values in Table 3 can be used to esti-
ductivity falls below some arbitrary fraction of mate the thermal conductivity and heat capacity
the saturated value. of a soil.
The thermal liquid diffusivity is given by The total water flow q in an unsaturated soil
under the action of a temperature gradient and its
D resulting water-content gradient equals the sum
TL
of the vapour-phase and liquid-phase movements.
316 MITCHELL
Table 3. Thermal properties of soil The heat conduction equation for the soil is
Material Thermal
conductivity: (49)
W/m per K
in which k, is thermal conductivity and C is volu-
Air 0.024
metric heat capacity. The ratio of thermal con-
Water 0.60
Ice 2.25
ductivity to the volumetric heat capacity is the
Shale 1.56 thermal diffusivity A.
Granite 2.16 Both transient and steady-state temperature
Copper 389 distributions computed using the Philip &
Soil 0.25-2.5 (N 1.7) DeVries theory incorporated into numerical
models have agreed well with measured values in
Material Heat
capacity : a number of cases. The actual moisture move-
kJ/kg per K ments and distributions have agreed less well (e.g.
Abdel-Hadi & Mitchell, 1981; Cameron, 1986).
Water 4-186 The numerical simulations have been done using
Ice 2.093
transform methods, finite difference methods, the
Minerals 0.710
finite element method, and the integrated finite
Material Volumetric difference method. These procedures have been
heat :* reviewed by Cameron (1986), who reformulated
kJ/m3 per K the equations in terms of suction head rather
Unfrozen soil ~~(72.4 + 427)(w/lOO) than moisture content, and incorporated them
Frozen soil ~~(72.4 + 213)(w/lOO) into the finite element model of Walker, Sabey &
Hampton (1981) for solution of two-dimensional
Material Heat of fusion* problems.
Water 333 kJ/kg
Soil 3-40 x 104(w/100)y, kJ/m3
Material Heat of vaporization* APPLICATIONS
Conduction phenomena in soils have been
Water 2.26 MJ/kg reviewed from the perspectives of the physics of
Soil 23o(w/lOO)y, MJ/m3 direct and coupled flows, the theory for their
* yd is dry unit weight in kN/m3, w is water quantification in terms of appropriate driving
content in “/o. forces and soil properties, and an assessment of
the ranges of values for the relevant parameters.
The remainder of this Lecture is focused on
Thus from equations (39)(44) several recent and new applications of these phe-
nomena that are of interest in geotechnics.
” = -(Dr, + D&VT - (Do, + D&V@
w
-k,i = -D,VT - D,V, - k,i (45) Thermal stability ofburied power cable backfills
Undergrounding of high voltage, high ampa-
in which city electrical power transmission cables requires
(46) that the backfill soils surrounding them be able to
D, = D,v + D,,
transmit heat away from the cable efficiently.
is thermal water diffusivity and Typical backfill soils are densely compacted, well
graded sandy materials with good moisture-
D, = De, + De,. (47)
retention properties. A cross-section of a typical
is isothermal water diffusivity. buried electrical transmission cable installation is
Equation (45) is the governing equation for depicted in Fig. 12. As long as the backfill retains
moisture movement under a thermal gradient in moisture above a few percent, the thermal resis-
unsaturated soils as proposed by Philip & tivity will be sufficiently low (i.e. of the order of
DeVries (1957). Differentiation of this equation 0.5”C m/W, for most cable systems at present in
and application of the continuity requirement use. However, if the heat generated by the cable
gives the general differential equation for mois- system initiates drying of the backfill, then the
ture flow thermal resistivity can rise to a value up to three
times greater. This can, in turn, cause a rapid rise
ao in temperature of the cable, leading ultimately to
- = V(D,VT) + V(D,VO) + 2 (48)
at an insulation breakdown and possible cable
=
CONDUCTION
To 20°C
ko
PHENOMENA 317
Cable
Trench A 0.6 m
Fig. 12. Typical configuration of a buried electrical

Log tfme
power transmission cable: T, is temperature at cable
&face, TO is initial soil temperature, k, is thermal con- Fig. 13. Temperature of cable surface as a function of
ductivity of trench backfill, k, is thermal conductivity of time before and after the onset of thermal drying
native soil
in which A is the thermal diffusivity, defined pre-

viously, t is time, and r is the radius of the heat
failure. Accordingly, electrical utilities are con-
source. Thus, two heat sources of different dia-
cerned with maintaining thermal stability of the
meter can be compared for a given heat input
backfill systems under all operating conditions.
rate in the same medium, because the Fourier
The problem, then, is to determine the
number and thermal diffusivity will be the same
maximum heat input rate that can be accommo-
at the onset of instability in each case. So, if the
dated by a given backfill without the onset of
time to instability for a small-diameter heating
thermal drying, and this is clearly a case of
rod of diameter d, is t,, then the time to insta-
coupled thermally driven moisture flow in partly
bility t, for the same rate of heat input for a cable
saturated soils.
of diameter d, will be
Unfortunately, the direct application of the
theory summarized in the preceding section has t, = t,d22/d,2 (51)
so far met with only partial quantitative success.
However, a methodology that combines theoreti- This relationship was tested using uniformly
cal concepts with short-term laboratory or field heated cylindrical sources ranging from 1.8 mm
test results for representative samples of the back- dia. needles placed inside test boxes in the labor-
fill material at its in situ state, has been shown atory to 114 mm dia. and 218 mm dia. pipes used
(Brandon, Mitchell & Cameron, 1989) to give a to simulate buried cables in a series of field tests
good prediction of conditions causing thermal at the Richmond Field Station of the University
instability. of California, Berkeley. Complete details of the
testing programme and the field tests are given by
It may be shown (Carlslaw & Jaeger, 1957) that
if a buried cylindrical heat source is heated at a Mitchell, Brandon, Cameron, McMillan & Chan
(1986) and Brandon et al. (1989). A well graded
constant rate of heat input, then the temperature
river sand from the Sacramento River valley was
at its surface will increase linearly with the
used as the backfill soil for all tests. It was placed
logarithm of time. If at some point the thermal
at an initial water content of 8.5% and a dry unit
resistivity of the surrounding soil increases as a
weight of 18.4 kN/m3. The thermal resistivity of
result of drying, then the slope of the straight line
this sand at 20°C ranged from 0.47”C m/W at
will increase. The intersection of the projections
placement water content to 0.9”C m/W when dry.
of the two lines defines the time before initial
drying ti and the temperature at which it occurs The time to thermal instability divided by the
7;) as shown in Fig. 13. heat source diameter squared, termed the ‘stabil-
ity limit’, was plotted as a function of heat input
By using Darcy’s law for fluid flow and Fick’s
rate, as shown in Fig. 14. All values fall on the
law for the mass flow of vapour in the equations
same line, thus validating the Hartley and Black
of conservation of mass and energy, it was shown
approach and providing a basis for assessing long
by Hartley and Black (Hartley, 1977; Hartley,
Black, Bush & Martin, 1981; Hartley & Black, term thermal stability in the field using short term
1979, 1983) that the rise in temperature and tests in the laboratory.
change in moisture content at the surface of a Data of the type in Fig. 14 can also be used to
heated cylinder were a function only of the develop relationships between heat input rate and
Fourier number, F, , which is defined by time to instability for cables of different diameter
installed in a given backfill soil. This information
F, = At/r2 (50) can be important to cable designers in the deter-
318 MITCHELL
5oor are developed in response to the application of a

direct current potential field (Banerjee & Mit-
400 chell, 1980; Mitchell & Banerjee, 1980). An insu-
lating cylindrical testing device with two
s h
strip-ring electrodes (Fig. 16) is inserted into the
clay. A constant electrical potential is applied
between the electrodes to subject the surrounding
medium to electro-osmosis. Measurement of the
induced transient pore pressure response enables
the determination of the coefficient of consoli-
dation. The coeficient of volume change can be
determined by measurement of the electro-
osmotic flow rate in a closed loop between the
electrodes. In the absence of chemical and
Fig. 14. Stability limits of heated cables of different dia- thermal gradients, the equations for hydraulic
meters as a function of heat input rate (from Brandon et and electrical flows can be written
al., 1989)
J,= -%bkk,V~ (53)

Y,
mination of the cable sizes required to limit tem-
perature rises and the development of thermal
instability during periods of peak demand, or I= -a”Vu-a,Vb (54)
during extended drought, when the replenishment Y,
of backfill moisture would not occur. A straight
line fitted to the data in Fig. 14 gives in which 4 is voltage at any point, J, is discharge
velocity of water, uh is coefficient of streaming
current conductivity, and the other terms are as
1% = -@005q - 1.81 (52) previously defined. Continuity of water flow and
electrical flow respectively requires that
in which q is the heat input rate in W/m, t is in
days and d in mm. This relationship was used to
develop contours of time to thermal instability VJh=%
(Fig. 15) for cables of different diameter and for
different heat input rates.
VI =g
Consolidation properties measured in situ using

electro-osmosis
A technique has been developed for the in situ
determination of the coeflicient of consolidation
and the compressibility of clays by means of the
measurement of the transient pore pressures that
_ Hollow cyllndrlcal tube
01 I I I I I
0 100 200 300 400 500
60’ cone penetrometer V
Heat input rate: W/m
Fig. 15. Contours of time to thermal instability as a Fig. 16. Device for determination of consolidation
function of cable diameter and heat input rate properties in situ using electro-osmosis
in which E, is the volumetric strain and C is the and the case of a drained cathode and an
charge density. The resulting diffusion equations undrained anode. Solutions in terms of degree of
for the coupled flows, after substituting from consolidation as a function of dimensionless time
equations (53) and (54), are factor are shown in Fig. 17 for different values of
probe diameter 2a, electrode separation b, and
electrode width c. In parts (a) and (b) of the figure
:Vu+k.&b=z
_I
-v
(w > (57) the time factor is in terms of b; in part (c) it is in
terms of a.
From an analysis of the results in Fig. 17 and
-v
(O”Vu+a,Vcp=g
Yw >
from practical considerations, it was concluded
that suitable probe dimensions would be a = 178
mm, which is the shaft radius of a standard cone
Since the streaming potential is very small and for penetrometer, b = 50 mm and c = 5 mm. With
steady state the current flow X/at = 0, equation these dimensions and closed electrodes, the
(58) reduces to relationship between degree of consolidation at
the centre of the cathode and time factor is as
v’c#J= 0 shown in Fig. 18. Measurement of pore pressure
(59)
increase at an undrained cathode as a function of
time then provides data from which the coefft-
The solution to equation (59) for the given
cient of consolidation can be deduced with the
geometry of probe and electrode gives the dis-
aid of Fig. 18. A method for doing this, based on
tribution of electrical potential in the soil sur-
Scott (1961) that avoids the necessity for carrying
rounding the probe. The solution was developed
the test to 100% consolidation is given by
in successive stages (Banerjee & Mitchell, 1980).
Banerjee & Mitchell (1980).
First the potential field surrounding a ring of
As the final excess pore pressure at the cathode
charges was determined. Then the solution was
u, can be determined by direct measurement or
obtained for a ring of charges surrounding an
by theoretical extension using Fig. 18, the value
insulated cylinder, and finally the solution was
of k,/k, can be obtained from
extended to a band of charges of width c (Fig. 16).
The consolidation solution was developed from
equation (57) by assuming constant electro- (63)
osmotic permeability k, throughout the medium,
transforming the equation into cylindrical co-
in which 4, is the electrical potential at the
ordinates, assuming constant normal stresses with
cathode. The coefficient of volume change can
time, and relating pore pressure change to volu-
then be computed if either k, or k, can be deter-
metric strain E, according to
mined. One way to determine k, is to measure the
electro-osmotic flow rate caused by a known
!5_ 3(1 - 2/L) au potential gradient with the anode and cathode
at - -~- E at
(6’4 open, and fit this flow to a theoretical solution
consistent with the geometry of the potential field,
in which E is Young’s modulus and p is Poisson’s
as described by Banerjee & Mitchell (1980).
ratio. The result is
The suitability of the theory and method out-
lined above was evaluated by means of a test
32~ 1 au 32~ 3(1 - 2p)y, a~
program in which large samples of clay could be
g+;z+aZ’=
k, E at consolidated within a calibration chamber and
the consolidation properties determined both by
1 au conventional methods and by the proposed
(61) method (Mitchell & Banerjee, 1980). The tests
cV3 at
were done using Hydrite R, a kaolinite having
in which cV3 is the coefficient of three-dimensional liquid limit 67%, plastic limit 42%, specific
consolidation. For the one-dimensional case gravity 264, and 81% of the particles finer than
2 pm. The clay was consolidated from an initial
k,E k, slurry state of 1.16 : 1 water to solids. A probe
c,=-=- with platinum electrodes, to minimize electro-
Yw %Yw
chemical reactions, and electrode arrangement
in which m, is the one-dimensional coefficient of and dimensions corresponding to those for the
volume change. theoretical solution in Fig. 18 was installed in the
Equation (61) has been solved by finite element clay. The consolidation properties were measured
analysis for the case of no drainage at electrodes, for each stress increment of isotropic consoh-
320 MITCHELL
dation pressure by determination of the amount coefftcient of consolidation shown are averages of
of water drained from the sample as a function of values obtained using both log time and square
time. Plots of equilibrium void ratio against pres- root of time fitting methods.
sure and coefficient of consolidation against pres- Electra-osmosis measurements were made at
sure are shown in Fig. 19. The values of the end of each stage of mechanical consolidation.
60
80
10-e 10-S 10-A 10-3 10~2 10 ’ 1 10

Time factor J,, (= cvg l/b’)
(b)
c/a = 0.25
/b/a 50
IO
80
Time factor J, (= cvg t/a’)
(c)
Fig. 17. Consolidation-time relationships for in situ electro-osmosis probe having

different electrode radii u, spacings b, and widths c: (a) drained cathode, undrained
anode; (b) no drainage at either electrode; (c) drained cathode, undrained anode
(from Banerjee & Mitchell, 1980)
i ‘:,t;‘I 0.05
Time factor
0.10
T (= cv3t/a’)
0.15 0.20
” 01 10
Effectw
100
consolidation pressure
Fig. 20. Variation of coefficient of consolidation with

kPa
1000
Fig. 18. Degree of consolidation at centre of cathode as

a function of time factor for electro-osmosis consoli- effective consolidation pressure as determined by direct
dation probe of dimensions (I = 173 mm, b = 50 mm loading and by electro-osmosis (from Mitchell &
andc=Smm Banerjee, 1980)
First, the changes in pore pressure at the two methods for most values of consolidation
undrained cathode were measured as a function pressure.
of time, which enabled computation of the coeffi- For the coefficient of volume change, agree-
cient of consolidation. Then the volume flow rate ment between the values determined by the two
of water resulting from application of a known methods was good at the higher pressures;
voltage drop between the electrodes was deter- however, at the lower pressures, the value deter-
mined, which enabled computation of k, and then mined by electro-osmosis is considerably less
the coefficient of volume change m, Values of the than that determined from the slope of the curve
coefficient of consolidation and the coefhcient of of equilibrium void ratio against pressure. It is
volume change determined from the electro- possible that at the lower effective stresses, where
osmosis data are compared with the values the water content was greater than the liquid
obtained by conventional means in Figs 20 and limit, some particle movements occurred as a
21 respectively. For the coefficient of consoli- result of electrophoresis, and that this affected the
dation, it may be seen that there is reasonable values of k, that were used for determination of
agreement between the values determined by the the quantities needed to compute m,
An in situ consolidation evaluation device
(ICED) that utilizes the methods described above
2.2r was designed and developed by Vitayasupakorn
& Banerjee (1986) (Fig. 22). The configuration is
similar to that of a self-boring pressuremeter. The
1.8 outside diameter of this instrument is 889 mm,
e
2 the width of each electrode strip is 1I.1 mm, and
% the electrodes are spaced 111 mm apart. Tests
’ 1.4 were done in a soft clay at a site in Seattle, Wash-
ington, having the soil profile shown in Fig. 23.
I\
0.0001
I ,
I 1 10 100 1000
01
10 100 1000 Effective consolldatlon pressure kPa
Effective consolldatlon pressure- kPa
Fig. 21. Variation in coefficient of volume change with
Fig. 19. Consolidation characteristics of kaolinite deter- effective consolidation pressure as determined by direct
mined by direct isotropic loading in a large chamber loading and by electr+osmosis (from Mitchell &
(from Mitchell & Banerjee, 1980) Banerjee, 1980)
322 MITCHELL
Dr111rod both electrodes closed. Measurements of in situ

N- hydraulic conductivity were successful; however,
Electrical cable
and tubing to .
attempts to obtain values of k, by measurement
ground surface of electro-osmotic flow rates in situ were not suc-
cessful. Therefore, laboratory tests were used by
Vitayasupakorn & Banerjee (1986) to determine
this property for comparison with values deter-
mined from the field data.
A comparison of the values of consolidation
Instrument housing and compressibility properties of the soil deter-
module
mined by the in situ instrument and by conven-
tional laboratory tests is given in Table 4. The
results indicate that the values are comparable.
Thus, further development of such a system
would appear to offer the potential for rapid and
reliable measurement of consolidation properties
Electrodes
Testing module of clays in situ using electro-osmosis.
<
Diffusive chemicalflow through a landfill liner

It was shown by the theoretical analyses pre-
sented earlier that under some conditions diffu-
sion may provide an important mechanism for
chemical transport through the ground. Further-
Self-boring module
more, in soils having hydraulic conductivity less
Cutting shoe ~
than about 1 x 10m9 m/s, transport by diffusion
may exceed that by advection. Although only a
few field cases have been documented in detail,
Fig. 22. Self-boring electro-osmosis device for in situ those that have show that these conclusions are
determination of consolidation properties (redrawn from correct. Among the most comprehensive studies
Vitayasupakorn & Banerjee, 1986) have been those by Quigley and his colleagues
(Quigley, Crooks & Yanful, 1984; Quigley &
Rowe, 1986; Quigley et al., 1987a, b; Quigley,
The soft clay had water contents in the range of 1989; Yanful, Nesbitt & Quigley, 1988a; Yanful,
about 4&55%, liquid limits of 4447% and plas- Quigley & Nesbitt, 1988b). The following exam-
ticity indices of 2&25%. ples of both long term (thousands of years) and
Electra-osmotically induced pore pressure short term (several years) diffusion in fine-grained
changes were measured as a function of time with soils are summarized from this work.
0 ‘P East
West I
18 Scale of metres
B-6 B-2
(5 m north)
12
E
c
B
2
d 6
-t- 1
Fig. 23. Generalized soil profile at site used for evaluation of in situ consolidation
evaluation device (redrawn from Vitayasupakorn & Banerjee, 1986)
Table 4. Comparison of consolidation and compressibility properties of a soft clay determined by con-
ventional laboratory tests and by the electro-osmosis in situ test method (data from Vitayasupakorn &
Banerjee (1986))
Property Laboratory Field

measurement measurement
Hydraulic conductivity, k,: 10m9 m/s 1.3-16

Electra-osmotic permeability, k,: 10m9 m*/s per V 2.6-54 14-2.9
Coefficient of consolidation in compression, c,: lo-’ m’/s 1.2-3.0
0.6-2.3
Coefficient of consolidation in unload/reload, c,: lo-’ m’/s 1.2-23 1
Coefficient of volume change in compression, m,: 10m4 kPa_’ 2.6-19
0.620
Coefficient of volume change in unload/reload. m. : 10m4 kPa_’ 0.3-1.3 1
Long-term dtjiision. A profile through the Leda the full depth of the Leda clay layer was about
clay at Hawkesbury, Ontario, is shown in Fig. 24 15 g/l.
(Quigley, Gwyn, White, Rowe, Haynes & Bohda- Following removal of the sand layer at the time
nowicz, 1983). Analysis of the geological history of the uplift of the Champlain Sea, diffusion has
and geotechnical profile indicates that 21 m of been occurring from the clay towards a fresh-
sand was eroded from above the clay 10000 years water boundary at the upper surface. There is no
ago, some 70 years after its deposition. At that indication of any hydraulically driven flow
time the Leda clay had been only partially con- through the clay. A diffusion coefficient was cal-
solidated under the sand loading, as shown by the culated to fit the observed salinity curve assuming
distribution of the maximum precompression a time of 10000 years and no advective flow.
pressure, oP, in Fig. 24. Evidence is presented by Actual and computed diffusion profiles are com-
Quigley (1989), based on analysis of oxygen-18 pared in Fig. 25 for the assumption of a diffusion
content, that the original salt content throughout coefficient of 2 x lo-” m2/s. The close agree-
Stress. kPa
0 200 400 CIC,
0 0.4 O-8
I 1
Salrlty: g/l
5 10
( 1”;
\
1cI-
Sahty: g/l
5 10 15 C
E L
i
'L
E
B
- 2c )-
F?
0
. V = 0 cm/a
30 I- /// //
t = 10 000 years
;i
drainage
boundary
40 u 40
Fig. 24. Diffusion profile for saline Leda clay at Fig. 25. Actual and calculated diffusion profiles for bulk
Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada after - 10000 years salinity, Hawkesbury Leda clay after - 10000 years
(from Quigley, 1989) (from Quigley, 1989)
324 MITCHELL
ment between the observed and computed curves, eration Road site, and these results confirm that
as well as the deduced value of the diffusion coef- expectation.
ficient, support the hypothesized mechanisms and Quigley and his colleagues have presented
demonstrate the importance of chemical diffusion much additional important information in the
in nature. cited references about the migration of different
Short-term d$iuion. Detailed study of chemical constituents of landfill leachate, including heavy
profiles within a massive grey clay beneath the metals, through clays. Among the significant find-
Confederation Road municipal waste landfill at ings are that municipal solid-waste leachate does
Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, has been made by not adversely afffect the hydraulic conductivity of
Quigley & Rowe (1986) Quigley et al. (1987a), clay barriers containing inactive clay minerals.
and Yanful et al. (1988a, b). The soil conditions at
this site are shown in Fig. 26. About 7.5 m of
waste, including cover, are placed in a 5.5 m deep
trench. A small regional gradient produces a Eiectro-kinetics in waste containment and cleanup
downward pore fluid velocity that averages about of contaminated sites
2.4 mm/year. The soil is overconsolidated by Because of the ability of electro-osmosis to
about 90 kPa, with a small increase near the clay/ move fluids and chemicals through fine-grained
waste interface. The clay has been found to be soils, and for electrophoresis to concentrate fine-
without fissures throughout its full depth beneath particle systems, a number of potential apphca-
the landfill. tions for waste containment and site remediation
Profiles of Naf and Cl- concentrations after suggest themselves (Mitchell, 1986b). These
twelve years are shown in Fig. 27. At that time include concentration, dewatering and consoli-
salt had migrated about 1.5-2.0 m below the dation of sludges, slimes and tailings; electro-
waste/clay interface, whereas the advection dis- kinetic extraction of pollutants from fine-grained
tance at that time was only 30 mm. The hydraulic soils; electrokinetic injection of grouts for cut-offs
conductivity of the clay is within the range of or reactants for waste treatment; and electro-
about 0.8 x 10-r’ to 1.6 x 10mro m/s. Diffusive osmotic flow barriers. Substantial research has
flows would be expected to be much greater than been under way on these applications, and recent
advective flows for the conditions at the Confed- summaries have been prepared by Cabrera-
Effectw? stresses: water content: SOII

kPa % profw?
Fig. 26. Present soil conditions at Confederation Road landfill site, Sarnia,
Ontario, Canada (from Quigley & Rowe, 19%): a”’ is vertical effective stress,
up’ is preconsolidation pressure, wp is plastic limit, w, is natural water
content, wL is liquid limit
Concentration mol/m3
0 20 40 60 80 100
/ I I 1 I /
/
3 SolId 126 5
e Na’range,t=6a
75 waste
Cl ,f= 12a
/ #- Na-. t = 12 a+’
1
/,,c
,,,,/,,,/,,,,,, 3m
f= 12a Estimated
seepage
t= 100a
fronts
Fig. 27. Concentrations of sodium and chloride in clay beneath the waste at
the Confederation Road landfill after twelve years (from Quigley & Rowe,
1986)
Guzman, Swartzbaugh & Weisman (1990) and dimensional large-strain electrokinetic consoli-
Acar & Hamed (1991). In this section the con- dation model has been developed by Feldkamp &
cepts and status of the first three applications are Belhomme (1990) that gave good quantitative
summarized briefly, and some results concerning prediction of the consolidation of colloidal silica
the fourth that were obtained in the author’s from high void ratios at an anode. Such a model
laboratory are presented. may be useful for analysis of the electrokinetic
Concentration dewatering. Electrically charged densification of tailings of various types.
small particles in suspension, such as clays or The main limitation to densification by electro-
other Colloids, are attracted in a d.c. field to the phoresis appears to be the practical difficulties
electrode of the opposite sign. The process is associated with establishing efficient processes at
termed electrophoresis. Thus insertion of elec- reasonable cost. For example, Baglin & McIntosh
trodes into a high water content slurry of tailings, (1987) found that electrokinetic dewatering of red
slimes or sludge can be used to concentrate the and black muds from the Bayer process for
solids into a denser state, as shown in Fig. 28 for recovery of aluminium from bauxite may not be
negatively charged particles such as clay minerals. practical because of the processing costs associ-
Metal mine tailings (Sprute & Kelsh, 1974), mine ated with removal of dissolved ions to reduce the
drainage sediment (Sprute & Kelsh, 1980), coal electrical conductivity of the mud.
waste (Sprute & Kelsh, 1982), phosphatic clay Electrokinetic extraction. Removal of pollut-
waste (Chemical und Engineering News, 1984), and ants from the pore water of fine-grained soils
clay slimes (Lockhart, 1983a, b, c) have been suc- by advection is impractical because of the very
..*=
.:::
.+ -......
cessfully dewatered in this way. A one- low hydraulic conductivity of such soils.
However, owing to the greater effectiveness of
electro-osmosis in such soils, rather intensive
study of the suitability of electro-osmosis in the
Anode Cathode
laboratory and the field has been made during
the past few years. The concept is shown in
7 I-::
l-l r-l
Fig. 29 as it has been developed by Lageman
l
(1989). Ionic pollutants are attracted to their
l l
0. l respective electrodes and collected for treatment
. . .:*: l
as shown.
. l * .:*
l ‘0.: l
Results so far, which have been summarized by
:.. l
. .::: Cabrera-Guzman et al. (1990) and Acar &
l . . . ..
. . . . .. Hamed (1991), indicate that more than 90% of
. ..a:: heavy metal ions have been removed in some
. *a* *a*
cases. The method is also effective for the removal
Fig. 28. Densification of negatively charged particles of dissolved organic pollutants as demonstrated
from suspension by electrophoresis by Shapiro, Renaud & Probstein (1989a, b), who
326 MITCHELL
clay. The concept of an electrokinetic flow

barrier across a compacted liner of low hydraulic
conductivity is shown in Fig. 30. Its purpose is to
prevent the escape of hazardous chemicals
through the liner. A low-voltage d.c. electric field
having the polarity shown in Fig. 30 produces an
electro-osmotic water flow V, acting inward in
opposition to the downward seepage flow V,
caused by a leachate head in the landfill above
the liner. Both advective chemical transport and
diffusive chemical flow are countered by the
electro-osmotic flow. At the same time, however,
the electric field will produce a downward anionic
flow V,, dependent on the ionic mobility of the
particular anions in the leachate, whereas the
cationic flow VC acts inward. The relative move-
ments of water, cations and anions under the
combined influences of the imposed hydraulic,
chemical and electrical gradients after some time t
are shown in Fig. 31.
From the theoretical analysis presented earlier,
it is readily shown that provided a partly saturat-
‘?!YYZSE
Crculation system ed compacted clay has a coefficient of electro-
- Current supply
osmotic hydraulic conductivity of the same
--- Boundary of electroklnetic treatment magnitude as a saturated soft clay of the type
typically treated using electro-osmosis in prior
Fig. 29. Electra-osmotic extraction system for in situ projects, only a very small potential, of the order
soil clean-up (patent pending) (redrawn from Lageman, of a few volts or less, will be needed to completely
1989) block hydraulically driven flow. A complete
analysis of the system, however, requires con-
sideration of all the flowsPhydraulic, chemical
measured a degree of removal of more than 94% and electrical-acting concurrently. Such an
for dissolved 0.5 mol/l acetic acid and 450 ppm analysis has been made (Yeung, 1990; Mitchell &
dissolved phenol. The energy cost was low, and a Yeung, 1990) and evaluated by experiment.
theoretical model for the process agreed well with The results of the theoretical analysis were pre-
the measurements. sented earlier as equations (15a), (15b), (26) (27)
It would appear from these results that dis- and (29) with the coupling coefficients defined by
solved, uncharged organics move with the pore equations (16) to (25). A new apparatus (Fig. 32)
water that is undergoing electro-osmotic flow. If was fabricated that contains two sets of fixed wall
this is so, then those conditions that favour efli- permeameters. One set contains electrodes and
cient electro-osmosis (i.e. low dissolved electrolyte
content, high water content, and inactive clay
minerals (Gray & Mitchell, 1967)) will favour efh-
cient removal of dissolved organics. It remains to
be determined if electro-osmosis can remove free-
phase non-polar organics; however, it seems
likely that this would only be possible if they were
present as small bubbles that could be swept
along with water that is moving by electro-
osmosis.
Electrokinetic injection. To date little has been
done to evaluate the potential for injection of new
materials at the anode concurrently with removal
Compacted clay Iher
of water and pollutants at the cathode. However,
it would seem possible to inject grouts or other
materials for creation of flow barriers and to
inject chemicals or biological agents for reaction
with chemicals already present in the soil. Fig. 30. Concept of flow barrier for chemical contain-
Electrokinetic jlow barriers in compacted ment using electro-osmosis
cability of the coupled flow theory, ten uniform

replicate samples were prepared by kneading
compaction and saturated by back-pressure using
tap-water. Compaction was wet of optimum to a
relative compaction of 90% of modified Proctor
maximum, a condition typical of what is used in
compacted-clay liners. The hydraulic conductivi-
ties of these samples averaged about 1 x lO-‘i
m/s, and the coefficients of electro-osmotic
p---y
hydraulic conductivity averaged about 2 x 10m9
m’/s per V. The diffusion coefficient of sodium
chloride was measured separately on similar
(b) I samples, and was equal to 3 x 10-i’ m’/s.
All samples were permeated using sodium chlo-
ride solution under hydraulic gradients of 50. An
electrical gradient of 1 V/cm was applied for one
hour per day in a direction to cause electro-
osmotic flow in the direction opposite to the
hydraulic flow. One sample was removed from
the system every five days, sectioned into eight
pieces, and analysed for sodium and chloride con-
centrations.
The periodic application of an electrical poten-
tial greatly retarded the migration of sodium ions,
but accelerated the flow of the chloride ions, as
predicted by the theoretical analysis. The flow
l3stance rate of the chloride towards the anode due to its
Cd) high ionic mobility exceeded the electro-osmotic
fluid flow towards the cathode, so there was net
Fig. 31. Movements of cations and anions under the migration of chloride towards the anode. The dis-
influences of hydraulic, electrical and chemical flows: (a)
tributions of sodium and chloride after 20 days of
advection; (b) advection + dispersion; (c) advection +
sustained hydraulic flow under a gradient of 50
dispersion + electro-osmosis; (d) advection + dispersion
+ electro-osmosis + ionic mobility
with and without periodic application of electro-
osmotic counter-flow are shown in Fig. 33. Dis-
tributions predicted using the theory and
the other serves as controls for determination of coefficients derived from the measured param-
flows in the absence of an electrokinetic barrier. eters are shown for comparison with the mea-
The cylindrical samples are 35.6 mm in diameter sured values. It may be seen that there is
by 101.6 mm long. Inflow and outflow volumes reasonable agreement.
are measured independently for each sample. The results of this study have demonstrated
Separate stainless steel voltage and platinum that an electrokinetic barrier against migration of
current electrodes are used to minimize electro- cations, and presumably dissolved organics as
chemical reactions. well since they have been shown to travel with
The (CH) soil used in the testing programme is electro-osmotic flow, is feasible. The observed
the same as used for construction of a landfill behaviour is in reasonable quantitative agreement
liner in northern California. It has liquid limit, with the prediction of coupled-flow theory
plastic limit, and plasticity index values of 52%, derived using irreversible thermodynamics. In
27% and 25%, respectively. Optimum water application, a wire-mesh, two-electrode system
content is 17.4% and maximum dry density is can be imagined, in which one mesh placed on the
17.3 kN/m3 using modified Proctor compaction. top of a compacted clay liner serves as the
It was determined in an initial test series that cathode, and another across the bottom serves as
electro-o.;mosis was effective in this partly satu- the anode. Small electrical gradients, periodically
rated compacted clay. The coefficient of electro- applied, could in principle provide sufficient flow
osmotic hydraulic conductivity k, was from rates to counter the chemical advection by
1 x 10m9 to 7 x 10m9 m2/s per V, depending on hydraulic flow. An on-site windmill might be a
initial density and water content, which is typical suitable power source.
of most soils.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the electro- Injuences of coupledflow on slope stability
kinetic flow barrier concept, and to test the appli- The usefulness of electro-osmosis as a tech-
328 MITCHELL
Inflow reservoirs
l-5 inflow reservoir
Inflow volume
measunng dwces
Soil samplf Electroklnetic test

(4 in long )
1.4 in dia. ;
\ .
Compressec I
a,r supply -
/’ Power
/
Control
permeameter s
Outflow volume
measuring dewes
‘a’
Outflow reservoir
( Outflow reservors
Fig. 32. Apparatus for measurement of hydraulic, diffusive, and electrokinetic flow rates
Cathode Anode
nique for slope stabilization has been appreciated
since Leo Casagrande employed it for the stabili-
+ With electrokinetic bamer zation of a railroad cut in Salzgitter, Germany, in
-a-- WIthout electroklnet!c barrier 1939 (Casagrande, 1952). What has been unap-
preciated until relatively recently, however, is that
* natural passive coupled flow phenomena can
Hydraulic gradlent = 50 both cause instability and be used to re-establish
it (Veder, 1981).
Electric potential differences of up to a few tens
of millivolts exist between soil layers of different
(a) types. These self potentials result from differences
Cathode Anode
between the chemical conditions in the soil layers,
and their magnitudes depend on the contents of
oxidizing and reducing substances in the layers
(F. Hilbert, in Veder, 1981). Such potentials can
be responsible for a natural electro-osmosis in
which water flows in the direction from the higher
to the lower potential (i.e. towards the cathode).
The process is shown in Fig. 34. An oxidizing
soil layer is positive relative to a reducing layer,
thus inducing an electro-osmotic water flow
towards the interface. Water that accumulates at
Distance mm the interface can cause swelling and loss of
(b) strength, leading ultimately to formation of a slip
Fig. 33. Distribution of sodium and chloride in com-
surface. Three questions are of interest, namely,
pacted clay after 20 days of hydraulic flow with and ‘What is the mechanism?, ‘How much water
without application of an electro-osmotic flow barrier: (a) pressure can be generated at the interface?, and
sodium; (h) chloride ‘What can be done to stabilize a slope in which
potential for electro-osmosis. Values calculated

Hz0 Hz0 HpO Hz0 Hz0 Hz0 Hz0 Hz0 using the Nernst equation will be too high in
actual soil systems, because it applies for condi-
I I I II 11 i tions of no current flow, and the flowing current
--\ POtefltlal gives an additional diffusion potential in the
Reducing solI layer
slip surface opposite direction. Further analysis by Hilbert in
Fig. 34. ‘Natural electro-osmosis’ due to self potential Veder (1981) gives the electrical potentials as a
difference between oxidizing and reducing soil layers: the function of the in situ pH; that is
oxidizing soil layer is positive relative to the reducing
layer (redrawn from Hilbert, in Veder, 1981) 4 = 0.186 - 0.059pH (65)
Reasonable agreement has been obtained
between measured and calculated values of C$for
this is occurring? Answers can be found in the different soil layers. The end result is that poten-
publication by Veder (1981) and the contributions tial differences of up to 50 mV or so are devel-
therein by Fritz Hilbert, from which the following oped between different layers. Potentials
summary and interpretation has been developed. measured in a trench excavated in a slide zone
Generation of self-potentials. Soils in an oxidi- are shown in Fig. 35.
zing environment are usually yellow or tan to Generation of excess pore pressure by sel$
reddish brown and are characterized by oxides potentials. The pore pressure that may be devel-
and hydrates of trivalent iron and a low pH rela- oped at an interface between two different soil
tive to reducing soils, which are usually dark grey layers is given by equation (63), in which 4 is the
to blue-grey in colour and contain sulphides and difference in self potentials between the layers.
oxides and hydroxides of divalent iron. The local For a given value of c$, the magnitude of pore
electrical potential of the soil, #J, depends on the pressure depends directly on k,/k,. For example,
iron concentrations and can be calculated from ifk,=5x10~gm2/sperVandk,=1x10~10
Nernst’s equation m/s, then k,/k, = 50 m/V. If the self potential dif-
ference is 50 mV, then from equation (63) a pore
pressure value of u = 50 x 9.81 x 0.05 x 25 kPa
4 = 0.771 + $ In (64) is generated, which is not an insignificant value. If
water driven towards the interface cannot escape
in which the concentrations are of Fe in solution or be absorbed by the soil, then the effective stress
in moles per litre of pore water. The difference in will be reduced by this amount. If the water is
potentials between two layers gives the driving absorbed into the clay layer, then softening will
Potential: mV
Om
Light-brown loam 0 (reference point)
-0.9 m
Brown loam +11

-1.15 m
Reddlshkbrown loam -15

ml.60 m
Blue-grey loam, stiff

-32
-2.20 m
Brown loam
-2-45 m
Fine, silty sand.

water-bearing
-3-05 m
OverconsolIdated silt -34
Fig. 35. Electrical potentials measured in a trench cut into a slide (redrawn from
Hilbert, in Veder, 1981)
330 MITCHELL
result. Either way, the resistance to sliding along conductors have three main effects (Veder, 1981).
the interface will be reduced.
(a) Natural electro-osmosis is prevented because
Landslide stabilization using short-circuit con-
the short-circuiting conductors eliminate the
ductors. If slope instability is caused by a slip
potential difference between the two soil
surface between reducing and oxidizing soil
layers.
layers, then a simple means for stabilization can
(6) The electro-chemical reactions described
be used that was developed (and patented) by
above produce electro-osmotic flow in the
Veder (198 1). Short-circuiting conductors, such as
opposite direction, thus helping to drain the
steel rods, are driven into the soil so that they
shear zone.
extend across the slip surface and about l-2 m
(c) Corrosion of the conductors produces high-
into the soil below. The mechanism that is then
valence cations that exchange for lower-
established is shown in Fig. 36.
valence adsorbed cations (e.g. iron for
An electric current flows through the conduc-
sodium), which leads to soil strengthening.
tors that is generated by reduction reactions in
the oxidizing soil layer and oxidizing reactions in Several successful cases of landslide stabiliza-
the reducing layer. Because of the presence of oxi- tion using short-circuiting conductors have been
dizing agents that take up electrons, such as ferric described by Veder (1981) and the references cited
iron, oxygen and manganese compounds, in the therein. Typically, steel rods about 25 mm in dia-
upper oxidizing layer, electrons pass from the meter are used, spaced a maximum of 34 m
metal conductor to the soil. That is, the intro- apart in grid patterns covering the area to be sta-
duction of electrons initiates reducing reactions. bilized. Conditions favourable for use of short-
In the reducing layer, on the other hand, there is circuiting conductors are intact cohesive soils
already a surplus of electrons. If these pass into with a low hydraulic conductivity; shear between
the conductor, then the environment becomes oxidizing and reducing clay layers; and a rela-
favourable for oxidation reactions. Thus positive tively thin, well defined shear zone.
charges are generated in the reducing soil layer as
electrons are carried away by the conductor.
These electrons are then taken up by the oxidi- Electra-osmosis for stabilization of a foundation on
zing soil layer. a soft clay
Completion of the electrical circuit requires Perhaps no other structure has been given as
current flow through the soil pore water in the much attention by soil and foundation engineers
manner shown in Fig. 36, where adsorbed as the leaning tower of Pisa. Speculation and
cations, shown as Na’, plus the associated water, hypotheses about the causes of its tilt, which now
flow away from the soil-layer interface. This amounts to 5.5” to the south, continue unre-
electro-osmotic transport of water reduces the solved, and a solution as to what to do about it
water content in the slip zone. Thus, short-circuit has not yet been agreed upon. Owing to collapse
of the civic tower of Pavia in 1989, as well as the
continuation of tilting and deterioration of the
structure at Pisa, which led to closure of the
tower to visitors in early 1990, interest has been
greatly renewed, with a new Italian government
Fe’+ tFe3’ + e e + Fe”‘-+Fe”
committee appointed in 1990 to develop rec-
ommendations for its stabilization. An excellent
history of the tower construction and the circum-
stances surrounding it, hypotheses about the
cause of the lean, the history of tower movements,
and the various schemes that have been attempt-
ed and proposed to stabilize it is given by Vig-
giani (1990). A cross-section through the tower
and data concerning its dimensions and loads are
given in Fig. 37.
Wet slip surface The general soil conditions beneath the tower
are shown by the profile in Fig. 38. Stress
Reducing analyses indicate that the upper, or Pancone, clay
SOII layer
beneath the south side of the tower may be nearly
Steel rod at a state of plastic failure. Whether or not there
may have been a bearing capacity failure in the
Fig. 36. Mechanism for slide stabilization using short- past as suggested by Leonards (1979) has been a
circuiting conductors (adapted from Veder, 1981) subject of debate.
Fig. 37. Cross-section through the leaning tower of Pisa

(redrawn from Viggiani, 1990): G is centre of gravity,
C,C’ = 5g36 m, C,G = 226 m, W = 14453 t = 142
MN; foundatio*D, = 1958 m, Di = 45 m, pa, = 51
t/m2 = 497 kPa, e = 2.24 m
0.0 0 Water ;‘: 0

- table kNlm3 OCR degrees K.
Silty sands with

lenses of clayey 30
silt 0.56
33
I / 16-70
1.3 22 0.63
20.5
I: 25,0/ IntermedIate clay / 1960 2 28 O-63
Intermediate sand 18.60 33 0.46

27.5
I
20
Lower clay 18.45 1 0.59
25
(W
4oopq Fig. 39. Some schemes that have been proposed for sta-
hilization of the tower of Pisa: (a) underpinning, anchor-
ing and pile support options; (b) tower support (redrawn
Fig. 38. Generalized soil profile at the tower of Pisa from Minister0 dei Lavori Pubblici, 1979)
332 MITCHELL
Most proposals for stabilization of the tower of

Pisa involve underpinning and shoring schemes
of various types, some of which are shown in
Fig. 39 (Minister0 dei Lavori Pubblici, 1979).
Each of those shown involves what might be
termed ‘hard’ intervention with the ground and
tower foundation, as well as with the tower struc-
ture itself in many cases. Any tower support
system that is used must be examined very care-
fully to insure that it may be implemented
without risk of further weakening the clay or of
increasing the deviatoric stresses acting upon it.
Other schemes have been proposed that might Pore pressure reduction: kPa
be termed ‘soft’ solutions, in that both the addi-
tion of new structural elements and underpinning Fig. 41. Reduction in tilt of the tower of Pisa as a func-
are avoided. The idea behind these schemes is to tion of pore pressure reduction in the Pancone clay
beneath the north edge of the tower (redrawn from
improve the stability of the tower through
Calabresi & Tamagnini, 1989)
strengthening the subsoils and reducing the tilt so
as to reduce the overturning moment. These
methods include such ideas as dewatering in the
upper clay or preloading on the north side, Preliminary elastic analyses of the present
removal of clay on the north side using a series of states of stress in the soil beneath the tower, of
small holes, and electro-osmosis to induce con- the stability in relation to the angle of tilt, and of
solidation and soil strengthening. This latter some possibilities for electro-osmotic stabilization
possibility is the subject of the final coupled flow of the tower have been made at the University of
application to be described in this Paper. Rome. Electra-osmosis offers the potential for
consolidation of the clay on the north side of the
tower in a manner controlled by the placement
and operation of the electrodes, assuming, of
course, that the properties of the clay make it
suitable for electrical treatment. In this way a
reduction in the angle of tilt could be achieved,
the loading eccentricity would be reduced, and
the stability would be improved.
Preliminary test results and analyses at the
University of Rome (Calabresi & Tamagnini,
1989) have shown that the Pancone clay has an
electro-osmotic hydraulic conductivity of
1.75 x 1O-9 m’/s per V, and that the hydraulic
conductivity is about 1 x 10-i’ m/s. Thus the
possible increases in effective stresses due to elec-
trical potential are high, theoretically, being equal
ProfIle to
Cl Al A3 c3
I!
or, about 175 kPa/V. As the clay is only slightly
3m overconsolidated, and the compressibility 1 is
0.26, significant volume reduction should be pos-
sible. Three possible electrode arrangements were
considered, as shown in Fig. 40. With the aid of
these geometries and the above properties, and
using the theoretical solutions for rate of consoli-
dation as developed by Esrig (1968) and Esrig &
Fig. 40. Possible electrode arrangements for stabilization Henkel (1968) (these solutions have governing
of the tower of Pisa using electro-osmosis (adapted from equations similar to equations (60) to (62)), values
Calabresi & Tamagnini, 1989): A, anode; C, cathode; 1, of tilt reduction as a function of pore pressure
scheme 1; 2, scheme 2; 3, scheme 3 change and pore pressure as a function of time
1 000 -
“z
+!
E loo-
i=
b Electrode pattern 1
io- 0 Electrode pattern 2
0 Electrode pattern 3
Unit pore-pressure decrease: kPaiV
Fig. 42. Time for change in pore pressure (increase in effective stress) for
different electrode arrangements (redrawn from Calabresi & Tamagnini,
1989)
were computed, with the results shown in Figs 41 duration of treatment. Moreover, electro-
and 42. chemical effects around the electrodes can cause
These results show, at least theoretically, that beneficial electro-chemical hardening of the
negative pore pressures of magnitudes that ground.
should be fairly readily attainable could produce Finally, the ground disturbance associated with
a reduction of tilt of a few tenths of a degree; also installation of the electrodes should not be great.
that the required treatment times should not be A composite drain/electrode could be fabricated
excessive, especially for electrode patterns 1 ani using flexible band-shaped geosynthetic drains
2. Tilt reductions of a few tenths of a degree have (wick drains) with embedded wires. Such a drain
a significant stabilizing effect through reduction
in the load eccentricity. These analyses are admit-
tedly only approximate, owing to idealizing 0 _. 1 Isotropic consolidation
assumptions and uncertainty in the data; of lightly overconsolidated
however, the concept of stabilizing the tower of Pancone clay
1 + 2 Re-establishment of stress
Pisa by this means would seem to warrant addi- equilibrwm after removal
tional study. It should be noted also that it offers of electrical potential
some features that may not be not readily achiev-

able by most other methods. These include the
following.
First, the consolidation loading of the clay is
isotropic, since it is done through increasing the
effective stress through reduction in the pore
water pressure. This means that the stress state of
the soil will move in the direction shown in Effective consolidation pressure
Fig. 43, taking it away from the failure envelope

or critical state line. (However, changes in the 0.0’ lnitlal stress and strength
tower tilt due to differential settlements beneath it 1.1’ Stress and strength at
end of treatment
caused by electro-osmosis will result in changes in
2.2’ Final stress and strength
the total stress state. This means that some
change in deviatoric stress will be possible, and
the importance of these changes requires further
study.)
Secondly, those zones that are consolidated by
electro-osmosis will be overconsolidated follow-
ing removal of the electrical potential and
readjustment of the pore pressure to its hydro-
static value. Other advantages are that zones to
Effective consolidation pressure
be consolidated can be defined by appropriate
location of electrodes, and that the amounts and Fig. 43. Simplified stress paths for clay consolidated by
rates of consolidation can be controlled by varia- electro-osmosis assuming no changes in applied total
tions in electrode spacing, applied voltages and stress or in stress distribution
334 MITCHELL
should be easy to install and its flexibility would Prolonged application of hydraulic, chemical,
allow it to adapt readily to ground movements. electrical or thermal potentials can change both
the state and the properties of a soil. Of particu-
lar interest are interactions with chemicals which
CONCLUSIONS may cause shrinkage-cracking of clay waste-
Flows of matter and energy through soils are containment barriers.
ubiquitous in geological processes and geotech- The higher the activity and plasticity, water
nical problems. Although a consideration of only content and compressibility of a soil, the greater
single flows of water, chemicals, heat and elec- are the changes in state that are caused by pro-
tricity under their respective gradients is adequate longed application of different potential fields.
for many problems, especially in coarse-grained The higher the activity and plasticity, and the
materials, it is often necessary that coupled flows lower the void ratio, the more effective is the soil
also be taken into consideration. This is particu- as a semi-permeable membrane, and the higher its
larly true when dealing with all flow processes in osmotic efficiency.
fine-grained soils and for flows of large volumes Direct determination of coupling coefficients
of fluid in coarse-grained soils which may involve and the use of simple phenomenological equa-
concurrent transport of heat or chemicals. tions is the simplest procedure for analysis of
The large specific surface areas of fine-grained systems with only two flow types. Use of the for-
soils and the net negative electrical charge of the malism of irreversible thermodynamics is needed
clay minerals mean that electrochemical force for complete analysis and determination of the
fields exist between particle surfaces and the pore coupling coefficients in systems in which there are
water and within the pore water itself. As a result, several simultaneous flows.
innumerable interactions are possible that not Practical ranges for the hydraulic, electrical
only are responsible for coupled flows of the and chemical flow parameters in usual fine-
various types discussed herein, but also mean that grained soils (i.e. hydraulic conductivity, electro-
soils cannot be dealt with as inert engineering osmotic permeability, diffusion coefficient, ionic
materials that respond only to changes in stress mobility and osmotic efficiency) are given in
state. Rather they are very much ‘alive’ and sensi- Table 2. The coupling coefficients can be esti-
tive to the chemical, biological, pressure and mated on the basis of these values.
thermal environments in which they live, as well Electra-osmotic and chemico-osmotic fluid
as to time, as has been illustrated by the recent flows and diffusive chemical flows become impor-
analysis of several special geotechnical problems tant relative to hydraulically driven flows in soils
(Mitchell, 1986a). with a hydraulic conductivity less than about
In the preceding pages, I have reviewed a 1 x 10m9m/s.
number of consequences of this ‘aliveness’, as well Geosynthetic membranes which are now widely
as the theory that can account quantitatively for used as hydraulic and chemical flow barriers are
their effects in terms of flow processes through not totally impervious. Although their water per-
soils. Attention has been directed at the proper- meability is several orders of magnitude less than
ties and parameters that control the magnitudes that of clays, organic chemicals can pass through
and rates of coupled flows, using the theory of them by a diffusion process, and, as they have an
irreversible thermodynamics as a base. The osmotic efficiency close to unity, water will pass
results of the theoretical analyses and experimen- through them in response to osmotic pressure dif-
tally observed facts lead to a number of theoreti- ferences caused by different inorganic ion concen-
cal and practical conclusions about flow process trations on opposite sides.
through soils and their consequences. These are Although the physics of thermally driven flows
stated briefly as follows. through soils seem quite well understood, quanti-
First, Darcy’s, Fourier’s, Ohm’s and Fick’s laws tative predictions of flow quantities and water-
provide a suitable practical basis for the analysis content changes due to temperature differences
of water, heat, electrical and chemical flows due often are not successful. Such flows may be
solely to gradients of the same type. important in partly saturated soils, but are of
In most cases there are simultaneous flows of little significance in saturated soils.
different types even when only one type of driving From several recent studies of conduction phe-
force is acting. nomena and their applications that were
Of the twelve coupled flows listed in Table 1, described in the final section of this Paper, the
the following are of greatest importance in soils: following practical conclusions can be drawn.
thermo-osmosis in partly saturated soils, electro- (a) The onset of a thermally driven moisture flow
osmosis, chemical osmosis, isothermal heat adjacent to a heat source in a partly saturated
transfer, streaming current (advection) and soil can be predicted from the results of a
electrophoresis. short term laboratory test by utilization of the
theoretical finding, now verified by full-scale the extreme complexities of soils and the innu-
experiments, that temperature rise and merable processes that transpire within them in
moisture-content change depend only on the response to changes in stress, temperature, pres-
Fourier number. sure, biochemical environment and time, has led
(b) Transient hydraulic flow caused by electro- to less than perfect agreement between theory
osmosis can be used as a basis for rapid in and measurement, and not all observed behav-
situ determination of the compressibility and iour has been properly described.
coefficient of consolidation of clays. Thus, the challenge will remain for us to pay
(4 Diffusive chemical flow through fine-grained close attention to the development of new theory
soils may exceed that by advective chemical and understanding to help guide us in what to
transport under typical hydraulic gradients in think, but at the same time, we must keep any
the absence of chemical retardation by differences between theoretical predictions and
adsorption or precipitation. real behaviour fully in mind, so that with the aid
(4 Small electrical potential differences (i.e. a few of past experience, observations and engineering
tens of millivolts) between soil layers of differ- judgement we can make the correct decisions
ent types may cause loss of slope stability due about what to do.
to water flow into the interface zone caused
by coupled hydraulic, chemical and electrical
flows. Stabilization may be accomplished by ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
use of short-circuiting conductors. Professor Giovanni Calabresi generously pro-
(4 There are several potential applications of vided results of preliminary studies at the Uni-
electrokinetics in waste containment and versity of Rome on the possibilities for
clean-up of contaminated sites. The theory for stabilization of the tower of Pisa using electro-
an electrokinetic flow barrier summarized osmosis.
herein was supported by controlled labor- I am especially indebted to a number of former
atory measurements. and present graduate students who chose to
VI Electra-osmosis offers intriguing possibilities undertake research with me on flow processes in
for stabilizing the leaning tower of Pisa clays. Not only did they stimulate and sustain my
without the need for extensive ground dis- interest in these problems, but they taught me
turbance, underpinning, or structural support most of what I know and have attempted to com-
systems. municate in this lecture. These include Professor
R. G. Campanella, who elucidated the influences
of temperature changes on stressdeformation
Theory and practice
behaviour; Professor K. Arulanandan, who
This lecture has been prepared in honour of the
adapted theories for electrical conduction and
distinguished Professor Macquorn Rankine. Pro-
dielectric dispersion to soils; Professor D. H.
fessor Rankine had keen insights about the role
Gray, who first introduced me to coupled flow
of theory and its relation to practice. In his inau-
process and developed a basic model for electro-
gural address upon accepting the professorship of
osmosis efficiency; Dr D. T. Y. Wan, who devel-
engineering at the University of Glasgow in 1856,
oped new insights into consolidation by
he posed two questions
electro-osmosis; Dr James A. Greenberg, who
In theoretical science, the question is-what developed the theory for chemico-osmotic con-
are we to think? solidation; Professor Sunirmal Banerjee, who
showed how transient flows produced by electro-
In practical science, the question is-what are
osmosis can be used to deduce consolidation
we to do?
properties; Dr T. C. Kao, Dr 0. N. Abdel-Hadi,
As engineers our concern is with the second Dr J. C. McMillan, Dr J. T. Cameron and Pro-
question. Enormous progress has been made fessor T. L. Brandon, who contributed to under-
during the past 50 years in the understanding and standing of thermal processes in soils, including
quantification of soil properties and behaviour thermal conductivity, thermal stability and mois-
and their utilization for solution of geotechnical ture movement; Dr R. J. Dunn, who was among
problems. This is especially true for problems the early researchers on chemical compatibility
involving the flows of fluids, chemicals, heat and issues in clay barriers; Professor A. T.-C. Yeung,
electricity through soil, wherein the application of who showed the potential for electrokinetic flow
theory has paid rich dividends. Examples have barriers; and Dr S. M. Sadek, who has elucidated
been given herein of several direct and coupled similarities and differences between electrical and
flow situations where theory has been used to hydraulic flow through soils.
account for what has happened and to predict Special thanks are given to Salah Sadek for his
what should happen. However, as we have seen, expert assistance in the preparation of figures.
336 MITCHELL
Finally I credit my wife for her observations coefftcient for hydraulic flow under an electrical
and insights which provided the inspiration for gradient
selection of flow phenomena as the topic for this coefftcient for hydraulic flow under a hydraulic
Lecture. gradient
conductivity coefftcient for direct flow of type i
coupling coefficient for flow of type i under a
driving force or gradient of type j
NOTATION mass unit
coefficient of volume change
A cross-sectional area; thermal diffusivity
porosity
Ai state parameter hydraulic pressure; total gas pressure in pore
A; state parameter at equilibrium
space
A, specific surface area partial pressure of water vapour in pore space
a volumetric air content
average bearing pressure beneath the leaning
ak value of a at which liquid conductivity is lost or
falls below a fraction of the saturated value tower of Pisa
C charge density; volumetric heat capacity hydraulic flow rate
heat flow rate
c concentration
water flow rate
C” coefficient of consolidation
universal gas constant
D diffusion coefficient
retardation factor
D, external diameter of the foundation of the
radius
leaning tower of Pisa
entropy
*i internal diameter of the foundation of the
temperature
leaning tower of Pisa
time unit
molecular diffusivity of water vapour in air
time
thermal liquid diffusivity
ionic mobility; pore water pressure
thermal vapour diffusivity
effective ionic mobility
effective diffusion coefficient
voltage
isothermal liquid diffusivity
mass flow factor
isothermal vapour diffusivity
driving force for flow of type i
diameter
ionic valence
electrical potential; Young’s modulus
volumetric air content
Faraday’s constant
unit weight of water
Fourier number
volumetric water content
source-sink term for addition or removal of
clay compressibility
species i
decay constant for species i
H, h hydraulic head
chemical potential
I electrical current
Poisson’s ratio
t, chemical gradient ratio of average temperature gradient in air-filled
1, electrical potential gradient pores to overall temperature gradient
tll hydraulic gradient
dry density
thermal gradient
density of water
J:: chemical flow rate
entropy production per unit time; surface
J, flow rate or flux of type i tension of water
J” volume flow rate of solution per unit area electrical conductivity
K.3 distribution coefficient electrical conductivity due to hydraulic flow
k electro-osmotic hydraulic conductivity precompression stress
4, hydraulic conductivity effective normal stress
4 thermal conductivity dissipation function
ke unsaturated hydraulic conductivity voltage at any point
L length
suction head of water
L length unit
volumetric strain
L cc coefftcient for chemical flow under a chemical
osmotic efficiency coefhcient
gradient
L CE coefftcient for chemical flow under an electrical
gradient
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VOTE OF THANKS
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PROFESSOR P. R. VAUGHAN
namics 11, No. 5/6, 785-802. We have had the pleasure of hearing the 31st
Sprute, R. H. & Kelsh, D. J. (1974). Laboratory experi- Rankine Lecture, delivered by a distinguished
mends in electrokinetic densification of mill tailings: 1. practitioner of our subject.
Development of equipment and procedures. US Geotechnical engineering is a complex subject,
Bureau of Mines RI 7892. involving widely varying materials of different
Sprute, R. H. & Kelsh, D. J. (1980). Slimes consolidation geological origins, with submicroscopic particles
at the Henderson Mine. US Bureau of Mines RI
which have surface characteristics which cannot
8441.
be ignored. It also involves the intricacies of
Sprute, R. H. & Kelsh, D. J. (1982). Electrokinetic densi-
Jication of solids in a coal mine sediment pond-a fea-
multi-phase behaviour, in which the habits of the
sibility study: I. Laboratory and field tests. US fluids occupying the pores between the solids are
Bureau of Mines RI 8666. as important as the habits of the solids them-
Taylor, S. A. & Cary, J. W. (1964). Linear equations for selves. Most of us give these things insufficient
the simultaneous flow of matter and energy in a consideration. Tonight we have been taught our
continuous soil system. Soil Sci. Sot. America Proc. mistake.
28, No. 2, 167-172. The flow of fluids and soluble solids through
van Olphen, H. (1977). An introduction to clay colloid
porous materials is of self-evident importance. It
chemistry, 2d edn. New York: Wiley.
controls effective stress, and hence stress-strain
Veder, C. (1981). Landslides and their stabilization, with
contributions by R. Hilbert. New York: Springer-
behaviour. It also involves the transport of other
Verlag. fluids and of dissolved solids in groundwater. The
Viggiani, C. (1990). La Torre di Piss; una storia italiana. latter is of growing importance as we realize that
Alti dell’Academia degli Zelanti e dei Dafnici, Aci- many of these transported materials are nasty.
reale. Most geotechnical engineers are aware of
Vitayasupakorn, S. M. & Banerjee, S. (1986). Initial Darcy’s law, flow nets and phreatic surfaces.
results from an in-situ consolidometer. Use of in situ Many have learned that these are seldom enough
tests in geotechnical engineering, American Society of
to solve our problems. Many are aware that more
Civil Engineers geotech. special pubn No. 6, pp.
sophisticated methods have been developed in
1249-1262.
Walker, W. R., Sabey, J. D. & Hampton, D. R. (1981).
other allied subjects such as groundwater hydrol-
Studies of heat transfer and water migration in soils. ogy and soil physics.
Final report, US Department of Energy contract However, those of us who talk to specialists
No. DE-AC02-79CS30139. from other fields often suffer from strong feelings
340 MITCHELL
of insecurity. We cannot understand what they of his polished exposition tonight, I feel much
are talking about, and we wonder if they under- closer to understanding what he is talking about,
stand what we are talking about. We feel we are and the new perspectives which this brings to a
engaged in a dialogue of the deaf. part of our subject of such importance to us all.
Professor Mitchell occupies an unusual- Professor Mitchell has the gift of making us want
perhaps a unique-position. He has trained, prac- to understand that which, previously, we have
tised and taught as a geotechnical engineer thought incomprehensible. I think this Lecture
throughout his career, yet, ever since his early will have done good.
training, he has worked in soil physics, and on Professor Mitchell, on behalf of the British
the type of problem on which he has lectured Geotechnical Society, I thank you most warmly
tonight, without any overt signs of having devel- for starting the fourth decade of Rankine Lec-
oped schizophrenia. tures with such distinction, on a subject of such
Speaking as a geotechnical engineer, I have no importance. I call on those present to endorse my
doubt that Professor Mitchell understands what thanks by acclamation.
we talk about, because he is one of us. As a result

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Mitchell, J. K. (1991). G~otechnique 41, No.

particle and pore sizes, tortuosity of flow paths,

Table 1. Direct and coupled flow phenomena

Hydraulic head Temperature Electrical Chemical

Fluid Hydraulic Thermo-osmosis Electra-osmosis 1 Chemical osmosis

Heat Isothermal heat Thermal Peltier effect Dufour effect

Current Streaming current Thermo-electricity: Electric Diffusion and

Ion Streaming current Thermal diffusion Diffusion :

Row of anodes Row of cathodes

$ Change in water content

W, and W, before electro-bsmosis

380 g/lpolyethylene glycol

Fig. 4. Chemico-osmotic consolidation of hentonite; mechanical consolidation

hydraulic conductivity is usually determined by

provide a basis for rapid assessment of their

These equations contain four conductivity coefh- L,, = L,, = 0 (24)

(16) + w,, + caL,,) y VC-c,) (27)

L,, = L,, = 5n (17)

related to the diffusion coefftcient according to

Parameter Symbol Units Minimum Maximum

The hydraulic gradient required to balance an

As the hydraulic conductivity of soils in which

hydraulically driven flow. Analysis based on the + Efficiency = 1.0

k RTAc 1 thicknesses on all particles, using specific surface

Water content: % Water content: %

the compressibility, the less important is osmotic Coupling influences on chemical.flow

Intact geomembranes act as semi-permeable

qliq_- -D,,VT-DD,,VO-kk,i The analysis is complicated by the fact that the

Fig. 12. Typical configuration of a buried electrical

in which A is the thermal diffusivity, defined pre-

5oor are developed in response to the application of a

J,= -%bkk,V~ (53)

Consolidation properties measured in situ using

10-e 10-S 10-A 10-3 10~2 10 ’ 1 10

Time factor J, (= cvg t/a’)

Fig. 17. Consolidation-time relationships for in situ electro-osmosis probe having

Fig. 20. Variation of coefficient of consolidation with

Fig. 18. Degree of consolidation at centre of cathode as

Dr111rod both electrodes closed. Measurements of in situ

Diffusive chemicalflow through a landfill liner

Property Laboratory Field

Hydraulic conductivity, k,: 10m9 m/s 1.3-16

Effectw? stresses: water content: SOII

clay. The concept of an electrokinetic flow

cability of the coupled flow theory, ten uniform

l-5 inflow reservoir

Soil samplf Electroklnetic test

potential for electro-osmosis. Values calculated

Light-brown loam 0 (reference point)

Brown loam +11

Reddlshkbrown loam -15

Blue-grey loam, stiff

Fine, silty sand.

OverconsolIdated silt -34

Fig. 37. Cross-section through the leaning tower of Pisa

0.0 0 Water ;‘: 0

Silty sands with

I: 25,0/ IntermedIate clay / 1960 2 28 O-63

Intermediate sand 18.60 33 0.46

Most proposals for stabilization of the tower of

Unit pore-pressure decrease: kPaiV

some features that may not be not readily achiev-

Fig. 43, taking it away from the failure envelope