Thixotropic mechanism of clay: A microstructural investigation

Clays with high sensitivity exhibit varied degrees of thixotropic characteristics. Previous research has been focused on dilute suspensions, but only a few studies have investigated normal clay with water contents lower than the liquid limit. Given the limited studies performed, the thixotropic behavior of clays and the underlying mechanism remain ambiguous, particularly in the microscopic scale. In this study, samples of Zhanjiang clay from southern China were used to elucidate the thixotropic process. The samples were agitated and then subjected to unconfined compressive strength and pocket penetrometer tests, scanning electron microscopy, and mercury intrusion porosimetry to evaluate their regain strength and microstructure. After 500 d of thixotropy, the strength of the Zhanjiang clay was 2.58 times higher than that after the disturbance and significantly higher than that of the other clays reported in the literature. These findings provide evidence that thixotropy is a process in which the dispersed structure is transformed into a flocculent structure through the homogenization of the pore size distribution caused by particle movement. This phenomenon may be due to the changes in the interaction of attractive and repulsive forces between particles. Given the experimental findings, a thixotropic mechanism for clay is proposed. This study will be beneficial for predicting the strength of disturbed soils.