ON THE LIQUID LIMIT OF SENSITIVE CLAY

Paper in proceeding, 2024

Quick clays are ubiquitous materials in Sweden, Norway, and Canada. When disturbed, these sensitive clays transform into a liquid, losing all its strength, and cause natural disasters. Both mineralogy and salinity have a major impact on quick clay behaviour. Liquid limit is one of the determining properties for quick clays since the water content in this type of clay is usually higher than the liquid limit. In this study, two different types of commercial kaolinites, and natural Kärra clay were utilised to determine how mineralogy affects the liquid limit. In addition, a 1M NaCl solution was added to the clays to understand the impact of salinity on the liquid limit. The results showed that although the liquid limit for Kärra clay increases with an increase in salinity, adding NaCl solution to kaolinite causes a drop in the liquid limit. Therefore, kaolinite cannot be the determining mineral for the emerging liquid limit of sensitive clay.