Erosion behaviour of raw bentonites under compacted and confined conditions: Relevance of smectite content and clay/water interactions

Results clearly showed that clay erosion under compacted state was hindered for those bentonites with high content of bivalent cations in exchangeable positions ((Ca + Na) > 90%), low smectite content (Sm. < 70 wt %) and high tetrahedral charge (|τ| > 0.1 e/h.u.c.). In addition, it was demonstrated that, at high solid to liquid ratios, dissolution of salts present in the clay and cation exchange reactions decrease the extent of erosion.