Thixotropy Of Clay | Sensitivity And Thixotropy Of Clay
In soil engineering, when the remoulded soil gains its strength with the passage of time then it is called Thixotropy when it happened with clay then it is called Thixotropy Of Clay.
Actually when the natural clay is remoulded, then the clay loses its natural orientation as well as its natural strength.
The loss of soil strength is basically due to the change in their structure and the disturbance caused to water molecules.
If remoulded soil does not allow for losing the water then it may retain some of its lost strength.
The thixotropy of clay plays an important role in soil engineering practice. It plays an important role in many engineering properties such as strength growing of filling soil, bearing capacity of pile foundation in clay layer, etc.
The soil that has strong thixotropy then this type of soil has more possibilities to regain its strength after resting.
When we are going to build a heavy building then we do not ignore the thixotropy, if we do that then we got a huge difference in the calculated results and the measured value of bearing capacity and settlements.
More read- Disturbed And Undisturbed Soil Sample
Sensitivity And Thixotropy Of Clay
Sensitivity is basically a measurement of loss of strength when the soil is remoulded. The sensitivity of clay of soil is defined as the ratio of the unconfined compressive strength of the clay in the undisturbed state to the unconfined compressive strength of the same clay in the remolded state at unaltered water content.
While thixotropy of clay is defined as the phenomenon of strength loss- strength gain with no change in water contact or volume is called thixotropy of clay.
When the sensitivity is higher the hardening of thixotropy is larger.
More Read- Plasticity Of Soil | Why is Plasticity Of Soil Important?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The thixotropy phenomena of clay are defined as, when the original structure of the soil is disturbed then the soil loses its mechanical strength very sharply and when the disturbance stops then the soil starts regaining its loss mechanical strength with the passage of time.