Soil and Unsaturated Flow Peer reviewed

Pore size distribution of granular bentonite using MIP and micro-CT

Hao Zeng, Laura Gonzalez‐Blanco, Enrique Romero

Géotechnique Letters | Jul 6, 2026

Abstract

Granular bentonite (GB) consists of millimetre-scale granules, leading to numerous large inter-granular macropores that substantially influence its hydro-mechanical (HM) behaviour. After high-stress HM paths involving soaking of GB samples, undrained unloading under saturated conditions increases the matric suction. Freeze-drying, required before mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), removes the liquid phase and alters the inter-granular interactions induced by matric suction, causing macropore expansion that affects the pore size distribution (PSD). Therefore, a simplified methodology combining MIP and X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is proposed to characterise the GB’s PSD. Micro-CT images of non-freeze-dried samples allow PSD determination, avoiding the inter-granular pore expansion. The experimentally measured total void ratio was used in CT image processing to segment the pore network used for the 3D MIP simulation of inter-granular pores. Despite limitations associated with the simplified processing steps and the combination of data from both techniques, the methodology provided reliable and systematic PSDs, especially for the inter-granular pores. Thus, the methodology enables correct interpretation of the multiple-porosity network of GB samples and its evolution in HM paths, improving multi-scale understanding of GB’s HM behaviour.

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Authors

Researchers on this paper

Hao Zeng

first | International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering | ORCID 0000-0002-5101-3982

Laura Gonzalez‐Blanco

middle | International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering | ORCID 0000-0003-3800-3007

Enrique Romero

last | International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering | ORCID 0000-0002-4105-8941

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Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous Media Landfill Environmental Impact Studies Latest Soil and Unsaturated Flow research

Citation

BibTeX

@article{Zeng2026Pore,
  title = {Pore size distribution of granular bentonite using MIP and micro-CT},
  author = {Hao Zeng and Laura Gonzalez‐Blanco and Enrique Romero},
  journal = {Géotechnique Letters},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1680/jgele.25.00008},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.25.00008}
}

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