Impact of brine on physical properties of saline soils

摘要

Engineering activities in the salt lake region continue to increase where fresh water resources are scarce.This paper investigates the physical properties of saline soils during mixing with brine.Fine-grained saline soils with salt content varying from 2.6%to 78.5%were collected along Qarhan-Golmud Highway(QGH)and Sebei-Qarhan Highway(SQH)on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to conduct laboratory physical properties tests.Liquid plastic limit tests were conducted.Results show that liquid plastic limit parameters will decrease with an increase of salt content ranging from 2.6% to 78.5%,and the relationship between them is linear.After considering the content ratio of chloride and sulfate,results show that liquid plastic limit parameters will decrease with an increase of the ratio of chloride to sulfate ranging from 0.7% to 7.0%;liquid plastic limit parameters enter a stable period at the ratio of chloride to sulfate ranging from 7.0% to 37.4%;liquid plastic limit parameters enter a decline period at the ratio of chloride to sulfate ranging from 37.4% to 77.2%.After brine and fresh water are separately mixed into saline soil,the optimal moisture content of the soil samples after the brine action is lower than the saline soil under the action of fresh water,and the maximum dry density of the soil sample is higher than that under the action of fresh water.At the same time,these changing laws show a certain correlation with the chloride ion content and the ratio of chloride to sulfate in saline soils.The results are of significance for engineering activities in salt lake regions with extensive saline soil distribution.