Welcome to Dr. Jintai Wang's Personal Website
Jintai Wang, Ph.D., P.E.
Department of Civil Engineering
Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
3201 Campus Dr., Klamath Falls, OR 97601
Phone: (541) 885-1504
Email: jintai.wang@oit.edu
Research
Recent Research
Engineering Characterization of Diatomaceous Earth
Interest has been increasing in studying diatomaceous earth stemming from the challenges posed by their presence in various engineering projects, such as the US 97 at Wickiup Junction project in Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ. At Wickiup Junction, an overpass crossing was being built to replace the last at-grade rail crossing on US 97, and the previously undetected presence of diatomaceous earth caused massive and uneven settlement under the earth embankments.
Diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, which have a highly varied and interlocking shape, giving the impression of strength until the skeletons crush under excessive stress. The shape of these diatoms is unique to each of the estimated 20,000 species, creating a highly varied material that may behave differently depending on the species encountered. The engineering properties and liquefaction potentials of diatomaceous earth are not well understood.
SEM image of diatomaceous earth sample
This project aims to investigate the engineering characterization and liquefaction potential of diatomaceous earth. A series of geotechnical laboratory tests including grain-size distribution, Atterberg limits, specific gravity, direct shear, 1-D consolidation, and cyclic triaxial tests were performed.
The figure below presents the cyclic responses of the diatomaceous earth sample with a confining pressure (σ3c΄) = 103 kPa and a cyclic stress ratio (CSR) = 0.2.
The paper summarizing the results of this project can be found here: