Technical Note

Oedometric Behavior of Diatomite–Kaolin Mixtures

Desh R. Sonyok 1 and Paola Bandini, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE 2

Abstract: This paper discusses the results of an experimental program to study the compressibility of mixtures of kaolin and diatom micro-
fossils, particularly the effects of diatomite content (DC) on consolidation, swelling, and long-term compression. Thirty long- and short-term
oedometer tests were performed on laboratory-sedimented, preconsolidated specimens of diatomite–kaolin (D-K) mixtures. The compression
and swelling of the mixtures were affected by the DC, especially when the DC was 60% (by dry mass) or greater. The effect of preconso-
lidation on the compression curve was much less evident as DC increased. For soils with diatoms, Cα does not have the same meaning of
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secondary compression or creep as for fine-grained soils. Greater Cc and Cα values with increasing DC were explained by contributions
from three mechanisms that may overlap during loading: faster pore pressure dissipation due to larger interparticle and intraparticle poros-
ities, rearrangement and bending of kaolin particles around frustules, and elastic compression and eventually breakage of frustule particles.
DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002084. © 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Consolidation; Particle breakage; Diatom; Microfossils; Frustule; Compression index; Swelling index; Secondary
compression.

Introduction large vertical stresses. Deformation or breakage of microfossils

Natural soil deposits that formed in marine or freshwater environ-
ments may contain various amounts of diatom microfossils. Such
deposits can be found within the depth range of engineering interest
in numerous places around the world (Mesri et al. 1975; Day 1995;
Shiwakoti et al. 2002; Hong et al. 2006). The distinct index proper-
ties and compressibility of diatomaceous fine-grained soils depend
greatly on their microfossil content, stress level (Shiwakoti et al.
2002; Diaz-Rodriguez and Gonzalez-Rodriguez 2013; Al Shatnawi
and Bandini 2018) and loading history (Mesri et al. 1975; Tanaka
and Locat 1999; Hong et al. 2006). Mexico City sediments contain
large amounts (up to 65%) of diatom microfossils, which are
responsible for their unusually high index properties such as water
content (w) up to 400%, plasticity index up to 350, and compres-
sion index (Cc ) as high as 10 (Mesri et al. 1975; Diaz-Rodriguez
et al. 1998). In another case, geotechnical and constructability
challenges were encountered when soils containing about 65%
diatom microfossils were used as fill in California (Day 1995).
In this fill material, the deformation-log(time) curves had no dis-
tinct end of primary consolidation (EOP), which was attributed to
frustule crushing at large stresses (up to 1,600 kPa) (Day 1995).
Osaka Bay clay also contains microfossils and has Cc as high
as 4.7 (Tanaka and Locat 1999). The high Cc values were explained
by an initial gradual compression of the interparticle pore space
followed by deformation of the clay matrix around frustules
and compression of the intraparticle pore space (frustules) under
1
Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Civil Engineering, New Mexico State Univ.,
P.O. Box 30001, MSC 3CE, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001. Email:
sonyokdr@yahoo.com
2
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, New Mexico State
Univ., P.O. Box 30001, MSC 3CE, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001 (corre-
sponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9055-3017. Email:
paola@nmsu.edu
Note. This manuscript was submitted on July 24, 2018; approved on
February 5, 2019; published online on June 25, 2019. Discussion
period open until November 25, 2019; separate discussions must be sub-
mitted for individual papers. This technical note is part of the Journal of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, © ASCE, ISSN
1090-0241.
is expected at much higher stress levels compared with the clay
matrix and depends on the frustules’ geometry, size, composition,
and orientation (Tanaka and Locat 1999).
The Cc values of artificial diatomite–clay mixtures tend to be
lower than those of natural diatomaceous clays because specimens
for laboratory testing are often prepared using commercially
available diatomaceous earth (DE) powder, which contains many
fragments of broken frustules and lacks fabric and particle bonding.
In addition, natural diatomaceous soils have a greater initial void
ratio (eo ) than laboratory-reconstituted specimens (Shiwakoti et al.
2002), leading to greater compressibility. Reconstituted diatomite-
clay specimens have shown a gradual Cc increase with the addition
of diatomite, from approximately 0.54 for either Singapore clay or
kaolin to 1.52 for diatomite (Shiwakoti et al. 2002). Another study
on reconstituted diatomite–kaolin (D-K) mixtures reported Cc
values that increased progressively from 0.45 for kaolin to 0.91
for 60% DC (Diaz-Rodriguez and Gonzalez-Rodriguez 2013).
Despite the important research efforts documented in the liter-
ature, questions remain on the influence of diatom microfossils on
the short- and long-term compressibility behavior of diatomaceous
soils. This paper discusses the results of an experimental program
to study the effects of DC on the compressibility of D-K mixtures
using oedometer tests.
Experimental Program
The experimental program consisted of 18 short-term and 12
long-term one-dimensional oedometer tests on preconsolidated
specimens of D-K mixtures according to the test procedure of
ASTM D2435/D2435M (Method B) (ASTM 2011). Tests were
performed on duplicate specimens as a minimum. One of the con-
solidation cells was set up for pore-water pressure measurements.
Loading and unloading cycles in the short-term tests lasted 24 h
each; loading and unloading cycles in the long-term tests lasted
7–21 days and 2–7 days, respectively. In the long-term tests, load
increments lasted until at least one logarithmic cycle of secondary
compression was completed or the axial deformation rate was less
than 0.0025 mm per day.

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J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 2019, 145(9): 06019005

 The diatomite contents were 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and
100% (by dry mass). On the specimen labels, the digits before
D and K indicated the percentage by dry mass of diatomite and
kaolin, respectively (e.g., specimen 20D:80K contained 20% diato-
mite and 80% kaolin). The samples were prepared using a modified
version of the slurry consolidation method (Mesri et al. 1975;
Diaz-Rodriguez and Gonzalez-Rodriguez 2013) and were precon-
solidated to 60 kPa. The materials used were DE flour and kaolin.
The DE was crushed diatomite composed mostly of whole and
broken hollow cylinders (amorphous silica frustules) with numer-
ous micropores and nanopores distributed throughout the surface.
The DE flour was purchased from Perma-Guard (Albuquerque,
New Mexico) and contained particles mostly in the silt range.
The pulverized kaolin sample was purchased from Edgar Minerals
(Edgar, Florida) and contained 97.8% particles smaller than
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58.6 μm and 38.8% particles smaller than 2.3 μm (determined via
the hydrometer test).
Results and Discussion
Deformation-Time Characteristics
Table 1 provides average initial values of w, eo , and dry unit weight
(γ d ) of the specimens after preconsolidation. The volumetric strain-
logarithm of time [εv - logðtÞ] curves of a representative series of
oedometer tests for five values of axial effective stress (p) are pre-
sented in Fig. 1. The kaolin specimens and D-K mixtures with up to
40% DC exhibited the typical S shape (often called the Type-I
curve) of fine-grained soils. The compression of the D-K mixtures
was markedly affected by the DE when the DC was 60% and
greater, at which point it was either difficult or, in some cases,
impossible to identify graphically the end of primary consolidation
for stress levels equal to or greater than the preconsolidation pres-
sure (pc ). The addition of diatomite to kaolin increased particle size
and interparticle and intraparticle porosities of the mixtures, which
in turn accelerated the pore pressure dissipation. This explains why
the initial part of the εv - logðtÞ curves was slightly concave down
for the D-K mixtures with 60% and 80% DC and straight for
mixtures with 100% DC (Fig. 1). Pore pressure dissipation times
in select tests in this study and oedometer test results reported by
Shiwakoti et al. (2002) support this mechanism.
Deformation-Stress Characteristics
Fig. 2 shows the compression curves in terms of e-log p for the
test series shown in Fig. 1. The compression curves for the D-K
mixtures with up to 40% DC clearly showed the effect of precon-
solidation. For 60% DC and greater, the effect of preconsolidation
was much less evident and the radius of curvature of the compres-
sion curve around pc ¼ 60 kPa increased noticeably. Fig. 2 also
compares the compression curves using e values at the EOP and
Table 1. Average initial values of water content (w), void ratio (eo ), and
dry unit weight (γ d )
Diatomite
Mixture content (%) w (%) eo γ d ðkN=m3 Þ
0D:100K 0 52.5 1.42 10.64
20D:80K 20 57.8 1.58 9.73
40D:60K 40 76.5 1.99 8.26
60D:40K 60 97.9 2.44 6.87
80D:20K 80 113.1 2.74 6.25
100D:0K 100 135.6 3.28 5.35
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J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 2019, 145(9): 06019005
at the end of the loading increment (EOI). The data for the EOP
curves were estimated from the deformation-log(t) curves using
log-of-time curve fitting. The EOP curves for specimens with 80%
and 100% DC in this test series are not available due to the diffi-
culty in identifying EOP graphically. For p > pc, the vertical sep-
aration between the EOI and EOP curves increased gradually with
increasing DC (Fig. 2), which means that, for a given p, there was
more compression after EOP as DC increased. The addition of
diatomite to the kaolin significantly increased compressibility and
eo (after preconsolidation). For the test series in Fig. 2, the kaolin
specimen had eo ¼ 1.42; adding diatomite increased eo to 1.56,
1.99, 2.44, 2.74, and 3.28 for 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% DC,
respectively. As the DC increased, the greatest contribution to
increasing eo of the mixtures was the large intraparticle porosity of
frustules (Bandini and Al Shatnawi 2017).
The effects of DC on Cc and swelling index (Cs ) are presented
in Fig. 3. This figure includes long- and short-term tests. The seg-
mented lines suggest possible trends. The average Cc values for
kaolin at EOP and EOI were 0.293 and 0.327, respectively, and
for diatomite at EOI the value was 0.532. The average Cs values
for kaolin and diatomite were 0.021 and 0.050, respectively. The
average Cc and Cs values for kaolin and 20% DC were very similar;
further addition of diatomite caused a gradual increase in these two
indexes (Fig. 3). The Cc values of artificially sedimented D-K spec-
imens in this study as well as other values found in the literature
for similar D-K mixtures [e.g., Cc ¼ 0.52, 0.66, 0.82, 0.88, and
0.91 for 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% DC, respectively (Diaz-
Rodriguez and Gonzalez-Rodriguez 2013)] were lower than those
of natural diatomaceous soils [e.g., Cc up to 4.7 for Osaka Bay clay
(Tanaka and Locat 1999), Cc up to 10 for Mexico City sediments
(Diaz-Rodriguez et al. 1998)]. Obtaining relatively low Cc values
in this study was related to using DE flour, which contains partly
crushed or broken frustules and lacks the structure of natural soils.
Micromechanical measurements and numerical modeling on
living diatoms and frustules have determined remarkably large
Young’s modulus (E) and strength against compressive, tensile,
and indentation failures. The measured strength varies greatly de-
pending on frustule size, geometry (species), wall thickness, silica
content, and loading location and direction (e.g., Almqvist et al.
2001; Hamm et al. 2003; Subhash et al. 2005; Vebner 2013). The
E values for whole frustules vary greatly from 0.347 to 300 GPa
(Almqvist et al. 2001; Hamm et al. 2003). Tensile and compressive
strength varies from 155 to 560 MPa and 330 to 680 MPa, respec-
tively, depending on the part of the frustule (Hamm et al. 2003).
Frustules deform elastically under high compressive stresses, and
fractures are brittle (Hamm et al. 2003), which is consistent with the
smooth and sharp edges observed in the DE sample in this study.
The stress range in which plastic deformation of diatom particles
occurs is likely narrow.
In this study, the compressive strength of whole frustules was
likely greater on average than the applied effective stresses. How-
ever, randomly oriented and broken frustules have much less strength
than whole frustules overall; thus, the strength of particles in this
DE material is anisotropic and the particle compressibility depends
on the applied stress level. Under sustained loading, specimens with
high DC deformed in part because of elastic compression and break-
age of frustules. In addition, the observed increase in swelling
(in terms of Cs ) with additional DC during unloading was due to
the recovering of elastic compression in some diatomite particles.
Deformation after Primary Consolidation
Fig. 1 shows deformation during and after primary consolidation.
The secondary compression index (Cα ) was estimated graphically
J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng.
 0 0
0D:100K 20D:80K
1 (100% Kaolin) 1

(%)

(%)
2 2

v
Volumetric strain,

Volumetric strain,
3 3

4 4
61.93 kPa 61.93 kPa
5 5 123.86 kPa
123.86 kPa
247.73 kPa 247.73 kPa
6 6 495.45 kPa
495.45 kPa
990.91 kPa 990.91 kPa
7 7
0.1 10 1000 100000 0.1 10 1000 100000
Time, t (min.) Time, t (min.)
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0 0
40D:60K 60D:40K
1 1
(%)

(%)
2 2
v

v
Volumetric strain,

Volumetric strain,
3 3

4 4
61.93 kPa 61.93 kPa
5 123.86 kPa 5 123.86 kPa
247.73 kPa 247.73 kPa
6 495.45 kPa 6 495.45 kPa
990.91 kPa 990.91 kPa
7 7
0.1 10 1000 100000 0.1 10 1000 100000
Time, t (min.) Time, t (min.)

0 0
80D:20K 100D:0K
1 1 (100% Diatoms)
(%)

(%)

2 2
v

v
Volumetric strain,

Volumetric strain,

3 3
4 4
61.93 kPa 61.93 kPa
5 123.86 kPa 5 123.86 kPa
247.73 kPa 247.73 kPa
6 495.45 kPa 6 495.45 kPa
990.91 kPa 990.91 kPa
7 7
0.1 10 1000 100000 0.1 10 1000 100000
Time, t (min.) Time, t (min.)

Fig. 1. Volumetric strain-time curves for a test series.

using e-log(t) curves. Several specimens with 80% and 100% DC
did not clearly show EOP. Thus, when pore pressure measurements
were available, the time near the condition of zero excess pore-
water pressure was considered as the EOP and/or the beginning
of secondary compression to estimate Cα (Mesri et al. 1997).
The Cα index increased gradually with DC and p, but the influence
began to be significant for 40% DC and greater (Fig. 4). Using the
classification based on secondary compressibility (Mesri 1973),
kaolin and 20% DC mixtures were shown to have medium com-
pressibility and mixtures with 40% DC or more were shown to have
high compressibility. The observed deformation in specimens with
high DC was not caused by primary consolidation and secondary
compression as expected in fine-grained soils. Greater Cc and Cα
values with increasing DC were the result of three mechanisms,
whose effects may have overlapped as they occurred: (1) faster pore
pressure dissipation due to greater interparticle and intraparticle
porosities; (2) rearrangement and bending of kaolin particles
around frustule pieces; and (3) elastic compression and eventually
breakage of frustule fragments and whole frustules. The first and
last mechanisms explain why the εv - logðtÞ curves for specimen
100D:0K (100% diatomite) in Fig. 1 were straight lines during
the test duration.
The Cα =Cc ratio is a fundamental parameter that relates to com-
pressibility and is not affected by p, e, or elapsed time of consoli-
dation (Mesri and Godlewski 1977). The Cα =Cc ratio increased
with increasing DC (corresponding to steeper best-fit lines in
Fig. 5), but the increase in Cα =Cc was relatively small between
60% and 100% DC. For 60% DC and greater, compressibility was
dominated by the presence of diatom fossils. A larger Cα =Cc ratio
with increasing DC means that the deformation rate in the long term
(given by Cα ) is greater than in the initial loading part in soils with
diatoms. The Cα =Cc ratios for 40% and 60% DC (0.028 and 0.035,

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J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 2019, 145(9): 06019005

 3.5 0.030
100D:0K (EOI)
80D:20K (EOI)
0.025
3.0 60D:40K (EOI)
C = 0.038Cc
60D:40K (EOP)
0.020 R² = 0.87
40D:60K (EOI)
2.5 40D:60K (EOP) 0.015 100D:0K

C
Void ratio, e

20D:80K (EOI)
80D:20K
2.0 20D:80K (EOP) 0.010 60D:40K
0D:100K (EOI)
40D:60K
0D:100K (EOP) 0.005 20D:80K
1.5 C = 0.015Cc
100D:0K
R² = 0.82
0.000
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0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

1.0 Compression index, Cc

Fig. 5. Relationship between Cα and Cc . R is the coefficient of

0.5 correlation.
10 100 1000
Axial effective stress, p (kPa)

Fig. 2. Compression curves for the test series in Fig. 1. respectively) were very close to those of Mexico City soil
(i.e., 0.03–0.035) (Mesri and Godlewski 1977) which consists of
55%–65% silt-size siliceous microfossils that are mostly diatoms.
0.8 0.24
Cc EOI (long term)
0.7 Cc EOI (24 hours) 0.20 Conclusions
Cc EOP (long term)
Compression index, Cc

0.6 The compressibility and swelling of D-K mixtures were affected

Swelling index, Cs

Cc EOP (24 hours) 0.16 by DC, but the effects were more significant when DC was 60%
0.5 Cs or greater. The Cc and Cs values for 20% DC were very similar to
0.12 those of kaolin, but increased gradually with further addition of
0.4 diatomite. Greater swelling during unloading with increasing
0.08 DC was explained by recovered elastic compression of some diato-
0.3 mite particles. Compression in terms of Cα (i.e., compression after
EOP) also increased noticeably with DC. Specimens with 40%–
0.2 0.04
100% DC had Cα values 2–5 times greater than kaolin and were
described as having high compressibility. The Cα =Cc ratio also
0.1 0.00 showed a tendency to increase progressively with increasing
0 20 40 60 80 100
DC, meaning that the deformation rate in the long term (given
Diatomite content (%)
by Cα ) is greater than before EOP. For soils with diatoms, Cα does
Fig. 3. Effects of diatomite content on Cc and Cs . not have the meaning of secondary compression or creep as for
fine-grained soils. For D-K mixtures, greater Cc and Cα values with
increasing DC result from faster pore pressure dissipation, rear-
rangement and bending of kaolin particles around frustules, and
0.030 elastic deformation and eventually breakage of frustules.
100D:0K
0.025 80D:20K
60D:40K Acknowledgments
0.020 40D:60K
20D:80K
The second author thanks Prof. J. Abraham Diaz-Rodriguez for the
enlightening discussions about the mechanical properties of soils
0.015 0D:100K
C

with diatoms that eventually motivated this study.

0.010
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