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Physical and numerical model of colloidal silica injection for passive site stabilization
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Physical and numerical model of colloidal silica injection for passive site stabilization

Patricia M. Gallagher, Stefan Finsterle and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Vadose zone journal, v 3(3), pp 917-925
Aug 2004
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2113/3.3.917
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

box models colloidal materials computer programs data processing digital simulation earthquakes Engineering geology foundations ground water injection liquefaction methods movement multiphase flow numerical models physical models pore water preventive measures risk assessment sandbox models seismic risk Seismology silica soils stabilization TOUGH2 transport viscosity
Passive site stabilization is a new technology proposed for nondisruptive mitigation of liquefaction risk at developed sites susceptible to liquefaction. This technology is based on the concept of slow injection of stabilizing materials at the edge of a site and delivery of the stabilizer to the target location by using the natural or augmented groundwater flow. In this research, a box model was used to investigate the ability to uniformly deliver colloidal silica stabilizer to loose sands using low-head injection and extraction wells. Five injection wells and two extraction wells were used to deliver stabilizer in a generally uniform pattern to the loose sand formation. Numerical modeling was used to identify the key parameters affecting stabilizer migration and to determine their effective values for the box experiment. In our modeling approach, the stabilizer is treated as a miscible fluid, the viscosity of which is a function of time and the concentration of stabilizer in the pore water. Inverse modeling techniques are employed to reproduce data from the laboratory experiment for the determination of soil and stabilizer properties. While the details of the stabilizer distribution were difficult to reproduce with the simplified conceptual model we used, the overall system behavior was well captured, providing confidence that numerical simulation is a useful tool for designing centrifuge model tests, pilot tests, and eventually field stabilizer-injection projects.

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28 citations in Web of Science
28 citations in Scopus

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Environmental Sciences
Soil Science
Water Resources
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