Relationship between Chemical Weathering Indices and Shear Strength of Highly and Completely Weathered Granite in South Korea
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Test Sites
3. Test Program and Procedures
3.1. Pressuremeter Tests (PMTs)
3.2. Sampling and Geochemical Analysis
4. Test Results and Discussion
4.1. Shear Strength of Grade IV and V Granite
4.2. Chemical Weathering Indices
4.3. Correlation Analysis
- (1)
- The friction angles of grade III and IV granite represent site-specific characteristics.
- (2)
- The friction angles of grade III and IV granite affect those of grade IV and V granite.
- (3)
- The friction angles of grade III and IV granite vary with the degree of weathering, which the chemical weathering indices quantitatively represent.
5. Conclusions
- (1)
- By interpreting the results of PMTs, the evaluated friction angles of grade IV and V granite in the test sites are estimated from 33.6° to 52.1°, which is acceptable to the previous studies. However, the friction angles in the particular range decreased with depth, which was different from the general tendency. The weathering profile with depth was studied based on the chemical weathering indices, and the friction angles of grade IV and V granite were evaluated by considering the weathering effect and site-specific characteristics.
- (2)
- The weight percentage of alkaline oxides showed a distinct decrease with weathering intensity; however, the alkali oxides did not show a consistent decreasing tendency with weathering intensity. Especially, the composition of K2O was reduced because of the decomposition of K-feldspar with weathering, but the leached K ions are used to generate illite.
- (3)
- The composition of alkali and alkaline oxides used in the four chemical weathering indices (VR, CIA, Imob, MWPI) was consistently decreased with the change in weathering grade at each test site, so the VR, CIA, Imob, and MWPI has a typical tendency with weathering and can represent the weathering state of grade IV and V granite.
- (4)
- Correlation analysis, including the effect of weathering and site-specific characteristics, was performed to determine the relationship between the chemical weathering indices and friction. The VR, CIA, and Imob have a moderate correlation (R2 > 0.5). Considering the natural variation of the geotechnical properties, the coefficient of determination is acceptable. The highlight of the present study is the simple method to estimate the friction angle of weathered granite for preliminary site investigation, which is more reliable than the SPT.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Chemical Weathering Index | Equation | Ideal Tendency with Degree of Weathering |
---|---|---|
Vogt’s Ratio, VR [23] | (Al2O3 + K2O)/(MgO + CaO + Na2O) | ↑ |
Modified Weathering Potential Index, MWPI [24] | 100(K2O + Na2O + CaO + MgO)/(SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 + FeO + TiO2 + CaO + Na2O + MgO+ K2O) | ↓ |
Chemical Index of Alteration, CIA [25] | 100Al2O3/(Al2O3 + CaO + Na2O + K2O) | ↑ |
Mobiles Index, Imob [10] | (Ifresh − Iweathered)/Ifresh, I = (K2O + Na2O + CaO) | ↑ |
Property | Weathering Grade | A Site | G Site | S Site | Seo et al. [27] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Min. | Mean | Max. | Min. | Mean | Max. | Min. | Mean | Max. | Min. | Mean | Max. | ||
ϕ (deg.) | VI | 34.6 | 35.1 | 35.5 | - * | 31.6 | - | 21.4 | 23.5 | 25.7 | |||
IV & V | 33.6 | 37.4 | 39.4 | 35.4 | 43.3 | 52.1 | 34.3 | 37.9 | 40.1 | 30 | 33.7 | 55 | |
III | - | 40.2 | - | - | 55.8 | - | 47.4 | 49.8 | 52.3 |
Test Site | Weathering Grade | Weight Percentage of Major Oxide | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SiO2 | Al2O3 | TiO2 | Fe2O3 | MgO | CaO | Na2O | K2O | MnO | P2O5 | Loss on Ignition | ||
A site | VI | 67.24 | 16.81 | 0.62 | 3.84 | 0.51 | 0.65 | 2.08 | 3.71 | 0.05 | 0.24 | 4.22 |
IV and V | 68.51 | 15.75 | 0.57 | 3.48 | 0.64 | 0.83 | 3.28 | 3.76 | 0.05 | 0.20 | 2.91 | |
III | 62.58 | 15.81 | 0.54 | 3.98 | 1.89 | 2.63 | 2.2 | 4.29 | 0.05 | 0.16 | 5.85 | |
G site | VI | 72.82 | 11.58 | 0.33 | 6.58 | 0.80 | 0.46 | 0.74 | 3.59 | 0.36 | 0.08 | 2.65 |
IV and V | 68.09 | 15.66 | 0.43 | 3.78 | 1.06 | 1.70 | 3.40 | 3.75 | 0.06 | 0.18 | 1.83 | |
III | 66.89 | 15.94 | 0.45 | 3.69 | 1.40 | 3.32 | 3.52 | 3.55 | 0.06 | 0.17 | 0.82 | |
S site | VI | 66.45 | 16.17 | 0.56 | 3.69 | 0.88 | 1.58 | 3.16 | 3.82 | 0.06 | 0.19 | 3.46 |
IV and V | 67.89 | 15.40 | 0.50 | 3.22 | 0.82 | 1.74 | 4.08 | 3.74 | 0.04 | 0.17 | 2.38 | |
III | 67.54 | 15.10 | 0.52 | 3.51 | 1.15 | 2.84 | 3.72 | 3.23 | 0.05 | 0.15 | 2.22 |
Test Site | Weathering Grade | Chemical Weathering Index | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
VR | MWPI | CIA | Imob | ||
A site | VI | 3.53 | 6.93 | 66.09 | 0.35 |
IV and V | 2.37 | 8.59 | 59.01 | 0.17 | |
III | 1.55 | 12.53 | 54.78 | 0.01 | |
G site | VI | 3.79 | 5.41 | 66.09 | 0.62 |
IV and V | 1.77 | 10.35 | 55.27 | 0.19 | |
III | 1.29 | 12.73 | 50.43 | 0.00 | |
S site | VI | 1.99 | 9.88 | 57.03 | 0.24 |
IV and V | 1.65 | 10.76 | 52.53 | 0.13 | |
III | 1.32 | 11.80 | 50.60 | 0.08 |
Weathering Grade | Chemical Weathering Index | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
VR | MWPI | CIA | Imob | |
k | 0.722 | 0.941 | 0.619 | 0.675 |
R2 | 0.58 | 0.45 | 0.66 | 0.57 |
Reference | Correlation Equation |
---|---|
Peck, Hanson, and Thornburn (PHT) (1974) as mentioned in Kulhawy and Mayne (1990) | |
Hatanaka and Uchida (1996) | |
PHT (1974) as mentioned by Wolff (1989) | |
Mayne et al. (2001) based on data from Hatanaka and Uchida (1996) | |
Specifications for Highway Bridges (SHB) Japan, JRA (1996) |
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Lee, S.-H.; Chung, C.-K.; Song, Y.-W.; Woo, S.-I. Relationship between Chemical Weathering Indices and Shear Strength of Highly and Completely Weathered Granite in South Korea. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 911. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11030911
Lee S-H, Chung C-K, Song Y-W, Woo S-I. Relationship between Chemical Weathering Indices and Shear Strength of Highly and Completely Weathered Granite in South Korea. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11(3):911. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11030911
Chicago/Turabian StyleLee, Seung-Hwan, Choong-Ki Chung, Young-Woo Song, and Sang-Inn Woo. 2021. "Relationship between Chemical Weathering Indices and Shear Strength of Highly and Completely Weathered Granite in South Korea" Applied Sciences 11, no. 3: 911. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11030911
APA StyleLee, S.-H., Chung, C.-K., Song, Y.-W., & Woo, S.-I. (2021). Relationship between Chemical Weathering Indices and Shear Strength of Highly and Completely Weathered Granite in South Korea. Applied Sciences, 11(3), 911. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11030911