Journal Published Online: 14 September 2021
Volume 45, Issue 1

Calibrating Thermomechanical Triaxial Cells for Transient Thermal Loads

CODEN: GTJODJ

Abstract

This paper presents a method to integrate the thermal calibration of triaxial cells into the testing procedure, facilitating accurate measurements of thermally-induced pore pressures and volumetric strains during transient thermal loads. For this purpose, a modified thermomechanical triaxial cell that can control the specimen temperature at a specified rate is utilized. Unlike other thermomechanical systems, a separate backpressure pump is connected to each drainage line (top and bottom) measuring the thermally-induced volumetric strains of water filling the respective line. These volumetric strains are measured using a solid acrylic dummy sample under different effective stresses and heating rates. These calibrated system strains were independent of the temperature change rate but impacted by effective stress. These system volumetric strains are withdrawn from the system when applying a transient thermal load to an actual soil specimen either at the drained or undrained boundaries. In the end, we demonstrate the capability of the developed system calibration to capture accurate thermally-induced pore pressures and volumetric strains in two clay specimens subjected to transient heating loads at different rates.

Author Information

Abdelaziz, Sherif L.
The Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Morteza Zeinali, Seyed
The Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Pages: 11
Price: $25.00
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Details
Stock #: GTJ20200299
ISSN: 0149-6115
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ20200299