Experimental study on collapsible and structural characteristics of artificially prepared loess material

Collapsibility and structural are two of the typical characteristics of natural undisturbed loess. It is of great significance to effectively simulate the collapsibility and structural of natural loess by preparing artificially loess. However, the existing methods of artificially preparing collapsible loess are complex, and the collapsibility of the prepared samples is difficult to control. In this paper, the collapsibility mechanism of loess was re-analyzed, and on this basis, a new method for preparing artificial collapsible loess using remolded loess, industrial salt, CaO particles and gypsum powder was proposed. The basic principle is: the CaO particles have structural strength and would transfer to Ca(OH)₂ after soaking, this progress can simulate the disappearance of loess structural strength; The dissolution of industrial salt can simulate the collapse of loess internal pores, the collapsibility of artificial loess can be adjusted by adjusting the percentage of industrial salt; the gypsum powder can simulate the cementation of loess as a bonding material. The shear test, consolidation test and collapsibility test of artificially prepared loess and undisturbed loess were carried out. The test results of artificial loess were compared with undisturbed loess. The results show that: the plastic limit and liquid limit of the artificially prepared loess is smaller than that of the undisturbed loess; The optimal moisture content and maximum dry density are close to that of the undisturbed loess; The collapsibility coefficient of artificial prepared samples increases first and then decreases with the increase of load level, and gradually increases with the increase of industrial salt particle content; The structural parameters of artificially prepared loess samples first increase and then decrease with the shear process, but the structural parameters of artificial prepared loess and undisturbed loess are different under different confining pressure conditions.