Description
Clay behaviour is affected by coupled mechanical and chemical processes occurring in them at various scales. The peculiar chemical and electro-chemical properties of clays are the source of many undesired effects, such as: heaving of structures founded on active clays, instability of slopes with a significant expansive clay fraction, swelling and instability of walls of boreholes for petroleum exploitation when filled with water-based mud, an often dramatic increase in permeability of clay liners, slurry walls and clay based geotextile barriers exposed to organic leachates, and a possible increase in permeability of barriers exposed to a prolonged heating of the nuclear waste decay. This book contains the papers which were presented at the workshop, with the belief that a cross-disciplinary approach will provide a deeper insight in the variables and parameters controlling clay behaviour.
