Clay Minerals (1996) 31,243-252 PREDICT ING THE PROPERTIES OF BENTONITE-SAND MIXTURES

ABSTRACT: One-dimensional swelling tests and hydraulic conductivity tests have been performed at vertical effective stresses up to 450 kPa on Na-bentonite powder and compacted sand/Na-bentonite mixtures (5, 10 and 20 % bentonite by weight) to investigate he use of bentonite-improved soils for waste containment. It was found that bentonite powder swells to reach a final state described by a single straight line on a plot of void ratio against the logarithm of vertical effective stress, regardless of preparation technique. Swelling of sand/bentonite mixtures expressed in terms of the clay void ratio show a deviation from bentonite behaviour above a stress which depends on the bentonite content. Hydraulic onductivity data for bentonite and sand/bentonite mixtures indicate an approximately linear elationship between logarithm of hydraulic onductivity and logarithm of void ratio. A design model based on the clay void ratio, and the sand porosity and tortuosity is presented enabling the hydraulic onductivity of a mixture to be estimated. A modern landfill must be designed to prevent fluids in the waste migrating from the site. Currently, engineered liner systems are usually a composite of a compacted clay soil and a syntheti