MICRO-STRUCTURE OBSERVATION AND ANALYSIS OFN GUANGZHOU SOFT SOIL DURING CONSOLIDATION PROCESS
ZHOU Hui1，2，FANG Yingguang1，2，YU Changjiang3
(1. School of Civil Engineering and Transportation，South China University of Technology，Guangzhou，Guangdong 510641，China； 2. State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building Science，South China University of Technology，Guangzhou，Guangdong 510641，China；3. Yongji Building Foundation Co.，Ltd. of Guangdong Province，Guangzhou，Guangdong 510370，China)
Abstract：Environmental scanning electron microscope(ESEM) was used to observe microstructures and their changes of soft soil samples of a typical soft soil district of PRD in consolidation test from Guangzhou Jinsha Delta. By analyzing the micrographs of soft soil obtained from consolidation test，characteristical parameters of the microstructure such as scale，shape，orientation of structural units and holes under the different consolidation pressure were obtained. At the same time，computer image processing software was used to analyze quantitatively the laws of some micro-structural parameters including microporosity，the distribution angle of the soil structural units and holes. In accordance with the analytical results from microscopic observation，some valuable conclusions were presented as follows：with the increasing consolidation pressure，the soil structural units increases constantly，microporosity decreases，and the shape of aggregates in the perpendicular direction to the pressure is longer，and the orientation of soil structural units increases and the fractal dimension of pore distribution has been a downward trend and in stability gradually.
