Physical modeling of the mechanical behavior of crude oil contaminated mixed soils based on Mini-Cone data

It has been a long time since crude oil products and, their derivatives have contaminated soil. Crude oil contamination is an unavoidable consequence of rapid overpopulation and, the industrialization process. Crude oil contamination can change soil geotechnical behavior and, affect soil strength, foundation-bearing capacity, and slope stability. On the other hand, “mini-cone’ tests have rapidly become the most famous type of on-site testing. Because, the mini cone is a fast and, economical experiment that continuously provides information on the geological layout and, the proper assessment of soil properties. This paper compares the changes in the tip and, side resistance of the mini-cone. There are mixed soils of two types of fine-grained sand with 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% kaolinite clay, which were tested with 4% and, 8% crude oil and, different moisture contents. These investigations have been done with the physical modeling method and, calculating the value of Ic, focusing on the mini-con data. Results showed that the tip and, the side resistances of the “mini-cone” were decreased in mixed soils with increasing crude oil content and, changes in moisture contents. Except for two sandy soils mixed with 10% and, 20% clay, which were mixed with 4% crude oil. There was an increase in tip and, side resistance due to the lack of the maximum density in the laboratory chamber compared to the standard Proctor test. Also, with these changes, Ic calculation found that the soil's behavior shifted towards finer soils.