INFLUENCE OF PARTICLE ORIENTATION ON ONE-DIMENSIONAL COMPRESSION OF MONTMORILLONITE

Methods have recently been developed for calculating the double-layer repulsive and the van der Waals attractive forces between two nonparal lel clay particles immersed in a fluid system. In the present study, t hese theories are used in an approximate model of one-dimensional comp ression to examine the role of particle orientation on the behavior of a montmorillonite. It is shown that consideration of nonparallel fabr ic could potentially explain the discrepancy observed in the past betw een experimental and theoretical behaviors. (C) 1997 Academic Press.