Calculation of the Number of Structural Contacts in Disperse Clay Soils

The practice and methods of calculating the number of structural contacts in clay soils, which is an important physicochemical parameter of their structural composition, are discussed. Studies using the method X-ray computed tomography (X-ray mCT) confirmed the possibility to apply this method not only for analyzing the microstructural composition of clay soils, but also for the direct calculation of the number of contacts between mineral particles in them. Based on the results of these studies, the numbers of contacts of various predominant types in disperse clay soil varieties were refined and the empirical dependences between the number of contacts in clays and their particle-size distribution were obtained. The data obtained confirm the models of the microstructural composition of clay soil varieties developed by V.N. Sokolov, the bidisperse model and the model of a skewed card house.