Yu-Jun Cui

Bio: Yu-Jun Cui is an academic researcher from École des ponts ParisTech. The author has contributed to research in topics: Water content & Bentonite. The author has an hindex of 56, co-authored 434 publications receiving 12522 citations. Previous affiliations of Yu-Jun Cui include University of Liège & Tongji University.

Yielding and plastic behaviour of an unsaturated compacted silt

Abstract: Within the framework of an extended elastoplastic constitutive model for unsaturated soils (loading-collapse (LC) model), an experimental programme was performed in an osmotically controlled suction triaxial apparatus. The laboratory behaviour of a statically compacted silt was studied, and particular attention was given to the volume changes monitored during shear. Isotropic loading tests confirmed the main features of the LC model related to the effect of suction on volume changes, and allowed a direct determination of the LC curve. Constant σ3 and a few constant q shear tests were performed in order to study yielding and plastic flow at various increasing suctions, starting from the as-compacted condition. Several yield criteria were considered, depending on the type of test performed. Some similarities between compacted unsaturated soils and natural soft soils were shown, such as the inclined elliptical form of the yield curve, which results from the anisotropic state of stress prevailing during k0 co...

Microstructure of a compacted silt

Abstract: This paper presents a qualitative and quantitative study of the microstructure of a compacted silt, carried out using a scanning electron microscope and mercury intrusion pore size distribution mea...

Ageing effects in a compacted bentonite: a microstructure approach

Abstract: It is suspected that the as-compacted state of heavily compacted clays used as possible engineered barriers for nuclear waste disposal is time dependent, and that further change may occur in the material, even at constant water content and density. This paper presents an investigation of the time-dependent microstructure changes of an MX80 clay bentonite compacted at various dry densities and water contents. Microstructure investigation is based on mercury intrusion pore size distribution measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results obtained by other researchers by using X-ray diffraction at low angles are also used. Statically compacted samples of MX80 were kept at constant volume and water content for various periods of time (1, 30 and 90 days) prior to mercury intrusion and SEM micro-structure investigation. A significant change in micro-structure with time was observed, characterised by a decrease in the inter-aggregate porosity and an increase in the very thin porosity not intruded by...

Effect of Temperature

Abstract: A positive temperature coefficient is the term which has been used to indicate that an increase in solubility occurs as the temperature is raised, whereas a negative coefficient indicates a decrease in solubility with rise in temperature.

VALIDITY OF CUBIC LAW FOR FLUID FLOW IN A DEFORMABLE ROCK FRACTURE - eScholarship

Abstract: The validity of the cubic law for laminar flow of fluids through open fractures consisting of parallel planar plates has been established by others over a wide range of conditions with apertures ranging down to a minimum of 0.2 µm. The law may be given in simplified form by Q/Δh = C(2b)3, where Q is the flow rate, Δh is the difference in hydraulic head, C is a constant that depends on the flow geometry and fluid properties, and 2b is the fracture aperture. The validity of this law for flow in a closed fracture where the surfaces are in contact and the aperture is being decreased under stress has been investigated at room temperature by using homogeneous samples of granite, basalt, and marble. Tension fractures were artificially induced, and the laboratory setup used radial as well as straight flow geometries. Apertures ranged from 250 down to 4µm, which was the minimum size that could be attained under a normal stress of 20 MPa. The cubic law was found to be valid whether the fracture surfaces were held open or were being closed under stress, and the results are not dependent on rock type. Permeability was uniquely defined by fracture aperture and was independent of the stress history used in these investigations. The effects of deviations from the ideal parallel plate concept only cause an apparent reduction in flow and may be incorporated into the cubic law by replacing C by C/ƒ. The factor ƒ varied from 1.04 to 1.65 in these investigations. The model of a fracture that is being closed under normal stress is visualized as being controlled by the strength of the asperities that are in contact. These contact areas are able to withstand significant stresses while maintaining space for fluids to continue to flow as the fracture aperture decreases. The controlling factor is the magnitude of the aperture, and since flow depends on (2b)3, a slight change in aperture evidently can easily dominate any other change in the geometry of the flow field. Thus one does not see any noticeable shift in the correlations of our experimental results in passing from a condition where the fracture surfaces were held open to one where the surfaces were being closed under stress.

A Benchmark Study on the Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluids

Abstract: This article reports on the International Nanofluid Property Benchmark Exercise, or INPBE, in which the thermal conductivity of identical samples of colloidally stable dispersions of nanoparticles or “nanofluids,” was measured by over 30 organizations worldwide, using a variety of experimental approaches, including the transient hot wire method, steady-state methods, and optical methods. The nanofluids tested in the exercise were comprised of aqueous and nonaqueous basefluids, metal and metal oxide particles, near-spherical and elongated particles, at low and high particle concentrations. The data analysis reveals that the data from most organizations lie within a relatively narrow band (±10% or less) about the sample average with only few outliers. The thermal conductivity of the nanofluids was found to increase with particle concentration and aspect ratio, as expected from classical theory. There are (small) systematic differences in the absolute values of the nanofluid thermal conductivity among the various experimental approaches; however, such differences tend to disappear when the data are normalized to the measured thermal conductivity of the basefluid. The effective medium theory developed for dispersed particles by Maxwell in 1881 and recently generalized by Nan et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 81, 6692 (1997)], was found to be in good agreement with the experimental data, suggesting that no anomalous enhancement of thermal conductivity was achieved in the nanofluids tested in this exercise.

Suction Stress Characteristic Curve for Unsaturated Soil

Abstract: The concept of the suction stress characteristic curve (SSCC) for unsaturated soil is presented. Particle-scale equilibrium analyses are employed to distinguish three types of interparticle forces: (1) active forces transmitted through the soil grains; (2) active forces at or near interparticle contacts; and (3) passive, or counterbalancing, forces at or near interparticle contacts. It is proposed that the second type of force, which includes physicochemical forces, cementation forces, surface tension forces, and the force arising from negative pore-water pressure, may be conceptually combined into a macroscopic stress called suction stress. Suction stress characteristically depends on degree of saturation, water content, or matric suction through the SSCC, thus paralleling well-established concepts of the soil–water characteristic curve and hydraulic conductivity function for unsaturated soils. The existence and behavior of the SSCC are experimentally validated by considering unsaturated shear strength data for a variety of soil types in the literature. Its characteristic nature and a methodology for its determination are demonstrated. The experimental evidence shows that both Mohr–Coulomb failure and critical state failure can be well represented by the SSCC concept. The SSCC provides a potentially simple and practical way to describe the state of stress in unsaturated soil.