Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 5 (2013) 406411

Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering

Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical

Engineering
journal homepage: www.rockgeotech.org

Effects of physical properties on electrical conductivity of compacted lateritic soil

Wei Bai , Lingwei Kong, Aiguo Guo
State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 22 November 2012
Received in revised form 28 April 2013
Accepted 3 June 2013
Keywords:
Lateritic soil
Electrical conductivity
Water content
Dry density
Temperature

a b s t r a c t
Natural soils of various types have different electrical properties due to the composition, structure, water
content, and temperature. In order to investigate the electrical properties of lateritic soil, electrical conductivity experiments have been conducted on a self-developed testing device. Test results show that the
electrical conductivity of laterite increases with the increase of water content, degree of saturation and
dry density. When the water content is below the optimum water content, the electrical conductivity
of soils increases nonlinearly and the variation rate increases dramatically. However, when the water
content, degree of saturation, or dry density increases to a certain value, the electrical conductivity tends
to be a constant. In addition, soil electrical conductivity increases with the increase of temperature, and it
is observed that the electrical conductivity decreases with the increase of the number of wettingdrying
cycles.
2013 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by
Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The electrical conductivity is one of soil properties, which
are associated with the nature of soil composition (particle size
distribution, mineralogy), structure (porosity, pore size distribution, connectivity), water content, and temperature. Archie (1942)
proposed an empirical relationship (the Archies law) based on
laboratory measurements of clean sand stone samples. Nevertheless, the Archies law is only suitable for saturated rock or
sandy soil. In clayey soil, the electrical conductivity is related to
the particle size distribution, where the electric charge density
is basically located at the surface of the clay particles. Electrical current in soils mainly depends on the amount of water
remained in the pores. McCarter (1984) and Fukue et al. (1999)
observed through laboratory tests that the electrical resistivity of
soils decreases when water content increases. The structures, i.e.
the void distribution, geometry of pores, connectivity, and porosity, determine the proportion of air to water according to the
water potential. Robain et al. (1996) linked resistivity variations

Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 15171456249.

E-mail address: wbai@whrsm.ac.cn (W. Bai).
Peer review under responsibility of Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese
Academy of Sciences.

1674-7755 2013 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of

Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2013.07.003

with the structure of pedological materials, identifying that the

high and low resistivity values were related to macro- and mesoporosity, respectively. Temperature can excite and change the
viscosity of a uid and thereafter inuence the electrical conductivity (Campbell et al., 1949). By conducting laboratory experiments
on 30 samples of saline and alkaline soils, Campbell et al. (1949)
showed that conductivity increased by 2.02% per C (in the range
of 1535 C). However, the studies on problematic unsaturated
soils such as expansive soil, lateritic soil, and loess, are rarely
reported.
Lateritic soil is widely distributed in several southwestern
provinces of China such as Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi.
Lateritic soil is usually considered as a good natural foundation
and building material. However, the lateritic soil has many unfavorable properties, such as shrinkage, cracks, water sensitivity and
uneven distribution. Thus, usage of lateritic soil as a building material leads to various challenging issues in constructions of highway
and high speed railway in these southwestern provinces in China.
In those projects, the crack depth, water content and distribution
are approximately obtained by borehole surveying, exploration
holes, trenching exploration, and pit test. These geotechnical investigations involved extensive workload, time-consuming and low
effect. Electrical conductivity experiment offers an attractive tool
for describing the subsurface properties without digging, and thus
much time and effort can be saved.
In this paper, a self-developed testing device and a digital electrical system are used to understand the relationships between
the electrical conductivity (or resistivity) and the characteristics
of lateritic soil in Hunan Province, China. The effects of water
content, saturation, dry density, temperature, and soil structure
on the electrical conductivity of lateritic soil are analyzed as
well.

W. Bai et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 5 (2013) 406411

407

Table 1
The particles size distribution of lateritic soil samples.
Sample

Grain composition (%)

0.0750.05 mm

0.050.01 mm

0.010.005 mm

0.0050.002 mm

<0.002 mm

N1
N2
Average

17.1
17.8
17.5

41.1
39.3
40.2

10.4
10.6
10.5

7.6
8.1
7.9

23.8
24.2
24.0

Fig. 1. The grading curve of lateritic soil samples.

2. Test materials

3. Test methods

The lateritic soil samples were taken from the Chenzhou section
of XiamenChengdu Expressway (depth of 0.81.5 m). Test results
of the particles size distribution are listed in Table 1, and the grading
curve is shown in Fig. 1.
The basic physical indices, such as natural water content w, bulk
density , specic gravity Gs , liquid limit wL , plastic limit wP , plasticity index IP , and free swelling ratio (FSR), are listed in Table 2. The
compaction curve obtained by the standard Proctor test is shown in
Fig. 2. From the curve, the optimum water content (wopt = 23.2%)
and the maximum dry density (1.66 g/cm3 ) are obtained.
The lateritic soils before testing were air-dried, crushed, and
sieved through a 2 mm sieve. Hydraulic jack and steel mold (inner
diameter of 61.8 mm) were used when preparing for the specimens.

Contact conditions between the electrodes and the specimens

may affect the measurement accuracy of electrical conductivity. Therefore, contact resistance should be rst calibrated. The
cylinder specimens with the same diameter (61.8 mm), dry density (1.58 g/cm3 ), and water content (20%) but different heights
(20125 mm) are tested for determination of electrical resistance
under temperature of 20 C. A self-developed testing device (see
Fig. 3) and a digital electrical system are used to measure the
electrical conductivity (accuracy of measured voltage and current:
1%).
Temperature and humidity chamber (accuracy of temperature measurement: 0.5 C) is used to analyze the relationship
between temperature and electrical conductivity. The lateritic
specimens are sealed by plastic membrane and then are placed in
the chamber, where different temperatures (1045 C) are considered. After three hours, the temperature of the specimens is stable,
and then the specimens are picked out for electrical conductivity
tests.
Electrical conductivities of different soil specimens (diameter of
61.8 mm and height of 20 mm) with ve dry densities (1.30 g/cm3 ,
1.38 g/cm3 , 1.46 g/cm3 , 1.54 g/cm3 , and 1.58 g/cm3 ) and four water

Fig. 2. Compaction curve of dry density and water content.

Fig. 3. Schematic drawing of testing device.

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W. Bai et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 5 (2013) 406411

Table 2
The physical indices of lateritic soil samples.
Sample

w (%)

 (g/cm3 )

Gs

wL (%)

wP (%)

IP

FSR (%)

N1
N2
Average

39.9
34.8
37.4

1.61
1.73
1.67

2.76
2.74
2.75

60.1
65.1
62.6

38.2
34.7
36.5

21.9
30.5
26.2

32.0
37.5
34.8

contents (14.7%, 19.1%, 23.4%, and 30.8%) are measured. The inuences of the water content, degree of saturation and dry density on
the electrical conductivity are analyzed.
Wettingdrying cycles will change the inner structure of the
lateritic soil. A lateritic soil specimen with initial dry density
1.58 g/cm3 and water content 20% is dried at constant room temperature (20 1 C) until the weight of the specimen is stabilized.
And then, vacuum-pumping method is used to saturate the specimen. After this wetting process, the specimen is dried at room and
then electrical conductivity is measured until the water content
reduces to 20%. This process is the rst wettingdrying cycle and a
total of four cycles are applied.
Table 3 shows the preparation of specimens for each test. After
completion of compaction, all the specimens were wrapped with
thin plastic lm and stored in the curing boxes (20 1 C) until
tested.
Fig. 5. Relationship between electrical conductivity and temperature.

4. Results and discussions

4.1. Electrical resistance of contact conditions between specimen
and electrode plate
Five soil specimens with different heights are tested for determining electrical resistance. The relationship between electrical
resistance and the height of specimen is shown in Fig. 4. According
to curve-tting (coefcient of correlation, R2 = 0.9908), the intercept on the axis of electrical resistance can be obtained, which is
regarded as the contact resistance R0 (R0 = 116.99 ). To get the
real electrical resistances, all the tested electrical resistances should
subtract R0 .
4.2. Effect of temperature on electrical conductivity
The electrical conductivity increases when the temperature
increases (see Fig. 5). On the contrary, the electrical resistivity
decreases when the temperature decreases (see Fig. 6). This is consistent with the results of Campbell et al. (1949). But the electrical
conductivity of lateritic soil is different, and it increases nonlinearly with increasing temperature. As shown in Fig. 5, the electrical

Fig. 4. Relationship between electrical resistance and the height of specimen.

conductivity changes rapidly when the temperature is above 30 C.

Fig. 6 reveals that the electrical resistivity decreases slowly when
the temperature is above 40 C.
Room temperature is kept at 20 1 C by air-conditioner, thus
20 C is regarded as the standard temperature. In Fig. 5, the relationship between the conductivity  T (T is the tested temperature)
and  20 can be described by
T = 20 + exp[(T 20)]

(1)

Electrical resistivity is the reciprocal of the conductivity, thus

the relationship between the resistivity T and 20 can be described
by
T =

20
1 + 20 exp[(T 20)]

(2)

where  T and T are the conductivity and resistivity respectively at

testing temperature T;  20 and 20 are the conductivity and resistivity respectively at 20 C; and are the tested constants, and
= 0.0012, = 0.1562. It should be noted that the range of test temperature in Eqs. (1) and (2) is 1045 C. Thus all the conductivities

Fig. 6. Relationship between electrical resistivity and temperature.

W. Bai et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 5 (2013) 406411

409

Table 3
Preparation of specimens for different tests.
Tests

Specimen preparation
Size (mm mm)

Dry density (g/cm3 )

Water content (%)

Temperature ( C)

Contact
test

61.8 20
61.8 40
61.8 60
61.8 80
61.8 100
61.8 125

1.58

20.0

20

Temperature test

61.8 60

1.58

20.0

10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45

Water content test

61.8 20

1.30
1.38
1.46
1.54
1.58

14.7
19.1
23.4
30.8

Wettingdrying cycles test

61.8 20

1.58

20.0

20

20

are signicantly inuenced by water content, but minor inuence

is observed when the water content is above 23.4%. Taking the
specimen with dry density 1.38 g/cm3 as an example, the electrical
conductivities of specimens with different water contents of 19.1%,
23.4%, and 30.8% increase by 63.9%, 143.9%, and 238.1%, respectively, compared with the specimen with water content of 14.7%.
The gradient of electrical resistivity decreases to 40.5% when the
water content increases from 23.4% to 30.8% (see Fig. 8).
Degree of saturation, a physical index, can be obtained by
Sr =

Fig. 7. Relationship between water content and electrical conductivity at different

dry densities.

and resistivities mentioned above should be revised to the standard

room temperature (20 C).
4.3. Effect of water content on electrical conductivity
Fig. 7 demonstrates that the electrical conductivity of lateritic
soil increases when the water content increases. The results in
Figs. 7 and 8 indicate that the electrical conductivity and resistivity

Fig. 8. Relationship between water content and electrical resistivity at different dry
densities.

wGs d
Gs w d

(3)

where Sr is the degree of saturation, d is the dry density, and w

is the density of water.
Fig. 9 demonstrates that the electrical conductivity of lateritic
soil increases when the degree of saturation increases. Fig. 10 indicates that the electrical resistivity decreases when the degree of
saturation increases and the electrical resistivity decreases evidently after the water content is above 23.4%.
Three pathways of current ow contribute to the electrical conductivity (Rhoades et al., 1989, 1999). As shown in Fig. 11, the path
2 is the primarily contribution (Rhoades et al., 1999). When the
water occupies the larger pores and are connected, the electrical
conductivity will increase dramatically, suggesting that the electrical conductivity of lateritic soil increases when the water content
and degree of saturation increase. When the water content is above
23.4%, the increment rate of electrical conductivity slows down due
to that the water content is close to saturation.

Fig. 9. Relationship between degree of saturation and electrical conductivity.

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W. Bai et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 5 (2013) 406411

Fig. 10. Relationship between degree of saturation and electrical resistivity at different dry densities.

Fig. 13. Relationship between wettingdrying cycle and electrical conductivity.

of 1.30 g/cm3 . The increment rate of the electrical resistivity slows

down and tends to be constant. It can be described by the contact
conditions of the soil particles: the more densely the lateritic soil
is compacted, the better the conductive performance is. When the
density of soil approaches the maximum dry density, soil particles
are packed to the closest state, therefore, the electrical resistivity
changes indistinctively approaching the maximum dry density.
4.5. Effect of inner structure on electrical conductivity

Fig. 11. Soil electrical conductance pathways (modied after Rhoades et al., 1989).

4.4. Effect of dry density on electrical resistivity

The relationship between electrical resistivity and density is
shown in Fig. 12, which demonstrates that the electrical resistivity
of lateritic soil decreases when the dry density increases.
Taking the specimens with water content of 23.4% as an example, the electrical resistivity of specimens with increasing dry
densities (1.38 g/cm3 , 1.46 g/cm3 , 1.54 g/cm3 , and 1.58 g/cm3 ) is
decreased by 29.1%, 44.3%, 58.2%, and 62.0%, respectively, compared to the electrical resistivity of specimen with the dry density

Fig. 12. Relationship between dry density and electrical resistivity at different water
contents.

Previous studies indicate that cracking occurs when the tensile stress induced by the developed suction exceeds the tensile
strength of the specimen (Morris et al., 1992; Miller et al., 1998;
Pron et al., 2009). During wettingdrying cycles, volume shrinkage and cracking evolution would change soil fabric and destroy the
integrity of lateritic soil. Thus, the tensile strength of specimen is
further reduced, and more cracks are generated. The changes of soil
inner structure will affect the electrical conductivity of the specimens. Fig. 13 shows the changes of electrical conductivity during
wettingdrying cycles. It indicates that the electrical conductivity decreases rapidly during the rst three wettingdrying cycles,
and no major change is observed in the fourth wettingdrying
cycle. Fig. 14 shows the changes of electrical resistivity during
wettingdrying cycles, and a similar trend is observed. For instance,
in the rst three cycles the electrical resistivity is increased by
199.3% compared to the specimen without wettingdrying cycle,
whereas it only accounts for 4.9% (in the fourth wettingdrying
cycle) higher than that in the third wettingdrying cycle.

Fig. 14. Relationship between wettingdrying cycle and electrical resistivity.

W. Bai et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 5 (2013) 406411

In fact, wettingdrying cyclic process caused by alternating climates is far more than four cycles. It can be consider as repeated
unloading and reloading cycles of matric suction. Previous studies
(Lu et al., 2009; Fang et al., 2011; Tang and Shi, 2011) show that
the strength parameters and deformation of expansive soil tend
to be smooth after 35 wettingdrying cycles. The test results in
present work indicate that the electrical conductivity of lateritic
soil presents a similar tendency during wettingdrying cyclic process. However, the variation of inner structure is inuenced by
many factors, such as initial water content, the rate and amplitude
of suction, and stress state. Therefore, the effect of inner structure
on electrical conductivity may be much more complex, and further
study is needed.
5. Conclusions
Summarizing the effects of physical properties on electrical conductivity of compacted lateritic soil is the rst step to use the
electrical conductivity to describe the state of density, the generation and developmental degrees of cracks. In this paper, the contact
resistance is rst obtained, and then standard temperature revised
equation is estimated. Moreover, the relationship between physical
properties of lateritic soil (water content, saturation, dry density,
and soil structure) and the electrical conductivity is analyzed. The
following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The electrical conductivity of lateritic soil increases nonlinearly with increases of temperature, which is different from
the results of saline and alkaline soils. The electrical conductivity and resistivity are signicantly inuenced by water content,
but it decreases after the water content is above 23.4%, which
is close to the optimum water content. The phenomenon can
be explained by the theory of the soil electrical conductance
pathways.
(2) The dry density reects the soil particle compactness to some
degree: the bigger the dry density is, the better the connectivity of Rhoades solid pathway is (Rhoades et al., 1989), which is
the reason that the electrical resistivity decreases with increasing dry density. However, once the dry density approaches the
maximum one, the decrement rate of the resistivity slows down
and tends to be stable.
(3) The change of electrical conductivity of soils during
wettingdrying cycles indicates that electrical conductivity decreases rapidly during the rst three wettingdrying
cycles, and no signicant change is observed during the fourth
wettingdrying cycle. It is because that, in the rst three
wettingdrying cycles, the volume shrinkage and cracking
evolution are developed rapidly, which results in the change
of soil fabric and the destruction of the soil integrity.
(4) In this paper, all the results are obtained by single factor analysis
method. However, effects of physical properties on electrical conductivity are actually working in a combined pattern.
How to describe the soil structure quanticationally and to
describe the relationship between shear strength, deformation
and electrical conductivity is still a challenging issue, which
needs further study.

411

Acknowledgements
The nancial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51209196) and the Science and
Technology Project of Ministry of Transport of China (Grant No.
20113184931700) are gratefully acknowledged.
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Bai Wei was born and grew up in Tianmen, Hubei Province
in China. He got Bachelor and Master degrees in civil engineering and geotechnical engineering from Three Gorges
University in 2005 and 2008, respectively. In 2011, he
obtained Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from Institute
of Rock and Soil Mechanics (IRSM), Chinese Academy
of Sciences (CAS), under the supervision of Prof. Lingwei Kong. Now he is working at IRSM as an Assistant
Professor. His research interests include engineering and
mechanical characteristics of problematic soil and disaster prevention. Until now he has taken part in various
research programs, including Effect of moisture migration rate on engineering characteristics of expansive soil
and instability mechanics of cut slope (National Natural Science Foundation of
China, No. 10872210); Mechanical response and subgrade stability of lime-treated
expansive soil under trafc loading (National Natural Science Foundation of China,
No. 40772185); Mechanical response and disaster mechanism of ssured subgrade under high-speed trafc loading (Knowledge Innovation Program of CAS,
No. kzcx2-yw-150) and Macro-mechanical and mesomechanical characters of ssured laterite under the drywet cycles (National Natural Science Foundation of
China, No. 51209196).