Modification of Kaolin Mineralogy and Morphology by Heat Treatment and Possibility of Use in Geotechnical Engineering

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental work on the effect of heat treatment on the mineralogy and morphology of kaolin. Kaolin, which is moderately expansive, was preheated at temperatures ranging from 200°C to 800°C by increment of 200°C and cooled at room temperature before it was mixed with peat. Peat represents a compressible soil and has low bearing value. The main aim of the work is to study the effect of heat treatment on shear strength parameters of peat-kaolin mixture. The mixtures are prepared at different proportions, and at each proportion triaxial samples were prepared and tested in the undrained condition to study the shear strength parameters. Untreated kaolin-soil mix was also prepared to provide a comparison between the treated and untreated soil mix in terms of the shear strength behaviour. XRD and FESEM were also carried out to investigate the change in soil micro-structure due to heat treatment. The tests showed that there was a slight improvement in the strength of peat-kaolin mixture when kaolin was preheated to a temperature of up to 400°C. Finally results were discussed and conclusions were made for the preheated kaolin-peat mixture.

Modification of the Filler based on Kaolin and its Use in the Polymer Composites

“…The main clay mineral, used in the polymer industry, is kaolinite, which represents the majority mineral of kaolin clay. Kaolinite is a 1:1 type clay mineral composed of stacked layers of SiO 4 tetrahedral (silica) sheets and AlO 2 (OH) 4 octahedral (alumina) sheets [1,2]. Kaolin clay is suitable for use as a functional filler to modify the properties of rubber composites and other polymer materials properties because of its fine particle size, layered structure and low heat, whiteness and electric conductivity.…”

Forecasting bearing capacity of the mixed soil using artificial neural networking

“…The bearing capacity of the L clay and composite ground were investigated [7][8], and soil mixture such as silty clay, soft Bangkok clay, fly and bottom ash mixtures, sand-clay mixtures using kenaf fiber reinforcement, chemical etc, were used to improve soil strength and stiffness [9][10][11][12][13]. With attention to the influence of the mineralogy on the soil and other construction materials [14][15][16], the bearing capacity of the soil is significantly controlled by the soil mineral. There are several types of research on the analytical, experimental and numerical analysis of the soil foundation, and the soil dynamic and static response evaluated with experimental, analytical and numerical results are reported in the literature [1][2][3][4][5][6][14][15].…”