Empirical formulae for electric double-layer repulsion between two arbitrarily inclined clay particles

Abstract

To understand the mesoscopic mechanism of clayey soil in view of macroscopic behavior, it is essential to quantitatively calculate the electric double-layer repulsion between arbitrarily inclined clay particles. However, suitable calculation methods with high efficiency and accuracy are still rare at present in literature. Based on a great number of numerical calculations of the repulsion between two inclined platy clay particles, explicit empirical formulae for estimating electric double-layer repulsion between clay particles are put forward. Comparison between the empirical solutions and corresponding numerical results shows that the proposed formulae have a reasonable accuracy, and application of the presented formula is easy and efficient. Keywords: Clay particles, Electric double-layer repulsion, Numerical analysis, Empirical formula