Thermal conductivity evolution of saturated clay under consolidation process

This paper presents the results of a study on the thermal conductivity of a soft saturated clay (Bangkok clay) carried out in relation to an investigation into thermal ground improvement using prefabricated vertical drains. The thermal conductivity of clay specimens was measured, at different porosities and temperature levels, using a simple nondestructive steady-state test method. In addition, a theoretical mixture model to simulate the evolution of thermal conductivity of saturated fine-grained soils has been introduced. It is formulated in terms of thermal conductivity and volume fraction of each soil phase (solid and water), and a morphological parameter controlled by the soil fabric condition. The proposed model has been validated against thermal conductivity results reported in the literature and results obtained from the present investigation. Reasonable agreement has been obtained between the predicted and measured thermal conductivity values. © 2008 ASCE.