Mechanical behavior in hydrated Na-montmorillonite clay

Molecular Dynamic simulations methods have been performed here in order to investigate the mechanical properties of Na-montmorillonite at different hydrated states during swelling and shrinking process. Porosity, elastic constants, bulk and shear moduli as well as Young modulus have been studied for dry Na-montmorillonite at states of “before swelling” and “after shrinking”. Results agree well with both available theoretical and experimental results. The great difference noticed with experiments is likely due to the anisotropy of montmorillonite. In addition, the evolution of the mechanical quantities of Na-montmorillonite with variation of water content during swelling and shrinking processes has been also investigated. It follows a clear hysteresis phenomenon in almost each case.