Pores Evolution of Soft Clay under Loading/Unloading Process

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript presents a study pore size and fractal dimension of clay under loading and unloading. In general the manuscript is good, but how the pore size is measured is not well explained and validate. From the SEM images show, the method to obtain the pore size does not seem valid. As the rest of the results are based on the pore size, they could be wrong. The writing and grammar should be improved. The results order should be changed as the first results is the pore size they should be shown first (with SEM image). The manuscript did not have FESEM image (Mag > 100kX), but only normal SEM images (Mag of 5 and 50kX), so FESEM should be replaced by SEM in the text.   See below more detailed comments and suggestions.   Below I have more comments about this issue and suggestion how to improve the manuscript.

1. Introduction
1. line 39: what is the contribution of each references 6-9 and the novelty of this work relative to them?
2. Experimental
1. line 56: what is the unit for "fourth soil layer at 9-11 depth"?
2. table 1: How the physical properties are obtained?
3. table 2: Why these 6 steps were chosen? What the difference between them mean?
4. line 67: What is the effect of applied time on the results, i.e., why 24 h?
5. Figure 1: Explain how e values are obtained? Should this figure in the results section?
6. line 73: which detector was used to obtain the image?
7. How the samples were prepared for FESEM observation? Look only at the surface or cross section?
8. lines 74-76: Could you show a FESEM image and threshold image?
9. lines 86-89: Explain how you get these value from a 2D image when a pore is a 3D structure.
3. Results and Discussion
1. Figure 3: How the sample is prepared to observe it in the FESEM from a pressure load?
2. Figure 5: How this pore size distribution compared to Mercury injection test or CT-Scan? Calculation of the pore size from FESEM image needs to be explained more and validate.
3. Figure 6: Explain how the value D_f and D_s were obtained (L and C1 and C2)
4. All figures: Add error bars for each data point.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper explores the behavior of pores in soft clay during loading and unloading process. The work is significant. However, I would like to offer following suggestions in order to increase the impact of the manuscript.

1. Please improve the Introduction section and provide details about earlier work and how the range of pressures for loading was selected. Also, provide more details about the material properties of the soft clay.
2. Please provide a figure for cumulative pore sizes after the loading process (if there is any change in the distribution).

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript can be published.

Author Response

Thank you for your comments concerning our manuscript entitled “Pores Evolution of Soft Clay under Loading/Unloading Process” (Manuscript ID: applsci-980960).

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have improved the manuscript for publication.