ISSN: 1945-7545
CODEN: GTJODJ
Published Online: 10 December 2012
Page Count: 9

Application of Laser Microscopy for Studying Crack Characteristics of Fine-Grained Soils

Uday, K. V.
Research scholar, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai,

Singh, D. N.
Professor, Member, ASTM International, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai,

(Received 21 January 2012; accepted 24 September 2012)

Abstract

Most of the studies dealing with cracking characteristics of the fine-grained soils focus on establishing the influence of various factors affecting cracking, after effects of cracking, and cracking patterns. Mathematical models have also been developed based on the experimental results, from these studies, to estimate time of initiation of the crack, water content at this instant, and the depth up to which these cracks propagate. However, validation of these parameters based on the real life measurements has not yet been demonstrated. In this situation, resorting to laser microscopy to capture cracking characteristics, particularly the depth of crack propagation of fine-grained soils, appears to be quite useful. This technical note deals with details of the application of a laser microscope which has been employed to study cracking characteristics of the fine-grained soils. This study has been found to be quite useful in correlating dimensions of the crack with each other and its volume.

Keywords:
fine-grained soils, desiccation cracks, cracking characteristics, laser microscopy

Paper ID: GTJ20120004
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ20120004
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