花岗岩风化土微观结构及其工程地质特性研究

Saprolite is the residual soil resulted from completely weathered or highly weathered granite and with corestones of parent rock. It is widely distributed in Hong Kong. Slope instability usually happens in this layer of residual soil and thus it is very important to study the engineering geological properties of Saprolite. Due to the relic granitic texture, the deformation and strength characteristics of Saprolite are very different from normal residual soils. In order to investigate the effects of the special microstructure on soil deformation and strength, a series of physical, chemical and mechanical tests were conducted on Saprolite at Kowloon, Hong Kong. The tests include chemical analysis, particle size analysis, mineral composition analysis, mercury injection, consolidation test, direct shear test, triaxial shear test, optical analysis, SEM & TEM analysis, and triaxial shear tests under real-time CT monitoring.Based on the testing results, intensity and degree of weathering were classified, factors affecting and controlling the deformation and strength of Saprolite were identified, and the interaction between those factors were analyzed.The major parameters describing soil microstructure were introduced mainly based on optical thin section analysis results. These parameters are of importance and physical meaning to describe particle shape, particle size distribution (PSD), and for numerical modeling of soil microstructure. A few parameters to depict particle geometry were proposed or improved. These parameters can be used to regenerate the particle shape and its distribution. Fractal dimension of particle shape was proposed to describe irregularity of particle shapes and capacity of space filling quantitatively. And the effect of fractal dimension of particle shape on soil strength was analyzed. At the same time, structural coefficient - a combined parameter which can quantify the overall microstructure of rock or soil was introduced to study Saprolite and the results are very positive. The study emphasized on the fractal characteristics of PSD and pore structure by applying fractal theory and method. With the results from thin section analysis and mercury injection, it was shown that at least two fractal dimensions Dfl(DB) and Df2 (Dw), exist for both PSD and pore structure. The reasons and physical meanings behind multi-fractal dimensions were analyzed. The fractal dimensions were used to calculate the formation depth and weathering rate of granite at Kowloon. As practical applications, correlations and mathematical models for fractal dimensions and engineering properties of soil were established. The correlation between fractal dimensions and mechanical properties of soil shows that the internal friction angle is mainly governed by Dfl 9 corresponding to coarse grain components, while the cohesion depends on Df2 , corresponding to fine grain components. The correlations between the fractal dimension, friction angle and cohesion are positive linear.Fractal models of PSD and pore size distribution were derived theoretically. Fragmentation mechanism of grains was also analyzed from the viewpoint of fractal. A simple function was derived to define the theoretical relationship between the water characteristic curve (WCC) and fractal dimension, based on a number of classical WCC models. This relationship provides a new analytical tool and research method for hydraulic properties in porous media and solute transportation. It also endues fractal dimensions with new physical meanings and facilitates applications of fractal dimensions in water retention characteristics, ground water movement, and environmental engineering.Based on the conclusions from the fractal characteristics of Saprolite, size effect on strength was expressed by fractal dimension. This function is in complete agreement with classical Weibull model and a simple function was derived to represent the relationship between them.In this thesis, the phenomenon of multi-fractal dimensions was theoretically analyzed and verified with WCC and saprolite PSD results, it was then concluded that multi-fractal can describe the characteristics of one object more accurately, compared to single fractal dimension. The multi-fractal of saprolite reflects its structural heterogeneity and changeable stress environment during the evolution history.