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Geotechnical

Geotechnical

All large infrastructure projects require site investigations to assess the suitability of the ground for the resultant structure. As part of this assessment the composition and physical properties of the geology and the superficial cover (including sediments and soils) must be evaluated. X-ray Mineral Services is routinely commissioned to determine the mineralogical and elemental composition of the rocks, sediments and soils encountered onsite. The techniques deployed include x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and infra-red (IR). These techniques can be deployed in the laboratory on test samples or onsite to analyse samples from boreholes or extractions.

  • Determine the mineralogical and elemental composition of the rocks, sediments and soils encountered onsite
  • Algorithms to convert mineralogical data into proxies for shallow borehole logging tools
  • Provide rock mechanics parameters such as hardness, brittleness and ductility

X-ray Mineral Services has developed algorithms to convert mineralogical data into proxies for shallow borehole logging tools and to provide rock mechanics parameters such as hardness, brittleness and ductility (once calibrated using traditional test data). This analytical workflow provides clients a bespoke service based on laboratory data only, fast turnaround onsite data or a value added data and consultancy option.

Certain parameters of rock and soil masses are purely geotechnical and relate to fracturing and potential for failure, but critical characteristics include the state of weathering of the ground and the mineralogy of clays which are present. For example, clay-heave is a property of soils which include significant quantities of smectites, which have a very high water-storage potential. XRD is the best method for studying clay mineralogy because it is highly applicable to very fine-grained materials and relies upon the same responses as the clay particles in the ground. IR analysis can provide mineralogy rapidly and cost effectively onsite as an alternative to XRD. IR also characterises the amount of bound water (critical to sample ductility) and the presence of organics in the rocks or soils. Similarly, the weathering state of hard rocks can be studied using XRD and XRF to establish the stability of the groundworks.

Data quality is regularly assessed using standard reference materials and the by the participation in inter-laboratory proficiency tests and competitions.