Behaviour of the stiff and sensitive Saint-Jean-Vianney clay in intact, destructured, and remoulded conditions

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1075-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faten Saihi ◽  
Serge Leroueil ◽  
Pierre La Rochelle ◽  
Ivan French

The role of the degree of microstructure on the behaviour of clayey soils has been the focus of many studies. However, none so far have quantified the evolution of the shear strength parameters for a given soil for degrees of microstructure going from an intact condition to complete remoulding. In the present study, a series of compression triaxial tests have been performed on specimens of the naturally highly structured Saint-Jean-Vianney clay under the following conditions: intact, destructured by straining outside the limit state curve, and reconstituted and reconsolidated after complete remoulding. The results show that the limit state curve is influenced by the level of destructuration reached before testing, and moreover, that the shear strength parameters at large deformation are influenced by the level of destructuration at the beginning of the test. The compression tests infer that the soil seems to retain the memory of its initial microstructure, at least for consolidation volumetric strains up to 14%. The observed behaviour has implications for the understanding and modelling of natural clays; it also explains to some extent the difference in strength parameters used in stability analyses of embankments on soft clays and natural slopes in clay.Key words: clay, microstructure, destructuration, shear strength, large deformation shear strength, triaxial test.

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 732-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarek Omar ◽  
Abouzar Sadrekarimi

Triaxial tests are often used to determine the behavior and strength characteristics of soils without due attention to the differences in specimen size. Several drained and undrained monotonic triaxial compression shear tests are performed in this study on three different specimen sizes of the same sand to investigate the influence of specimen size and scale effect on sand compression and shear behavior. The behavior of a sand specimen is strongly influenced by shear banding and specimen boundary conditions, which are manifested as specimen size effects in the test results of this study. The measured sand compressibility and shear strength parameters are employed to describe scale effects, and investigate specimen size effects in liquefaction triggering analysis. The results show that while larger specimens exhibit a less compressible behavior during isotropic compression, larger shear strengths and effective friction angles are mobilized in the smaller specimens during shearing. A number of geotechnical analyses can be significantly affected by variations in strength parameters of the same soil determined from different specimen sizes. While using small size specimens for determining shear strength parameters might result in an unconservative design, a large specimen size provides a more accurate representation of different soil strength conditions and field deformations.


2011 ◽  
Vol 52-54 ◽  
pp. 1752-1756
Author(s):  
Li Hong Chen ◽  
Yu Fei Zhao

The design and safety evaluation of a geotechnical project is influenced by the shear strength parameters of geo-material. Moment method and linear regression method are the mainly used methods to estimate the shear strength parameters. But moment method is always over estimate the variation of strength parameters due to the smaller sample size, meanwhile the conventional linear regression method cannot obtain the standard deviation. Base on the reliability theory, a new method employing Solver add-in of spreadsheet was developed to calculate the shear strength parameters. The method was simplified by the principle that the shortest distance form origin point to the limit state surface in the normalization space was the reliability index. Four hundred and four samples of direct shear tests of rock mass from many large hydraulic projects in China were analyzed by four statistic methods including the new proposed one. Comparing results of different methods indicated that the new reliability statistic method had good performance than the traditional ways.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Kuna Raj

Three broad zones can be differentiated at the weathering profile; an upper, 9.4 m thick, pedological soil (zone I), an intermediate, 31.7 m thick, saprock (zone II) and the bottom bedrock (zone III). The saprock (zone II) comprises gravelly silty sands that distinctly preserve the minerals, textures and structures of the original granite and can be separated into sub-zones II A, II B, II C, and II D, based on differences in preservation of relict structures and content of litho-relicts (core-boulders). To characterize the undrained strength of saprock, samples were collected from sub-zones II A, II B, II C and II D and their physical and soil index properties determined before unconsolidated undrained triaxial tests were carried out on remolded samples. Three to four individual samples from each sub-zone were compressed under confining pressures of 138 kPa, 207 kPa, 276 kPa and/or 345 kPa. Plots of pf = [(σ1 + σ3)/2] versus qf = [(σ1 - σ3)/2] were then used to calculate apparent cohesions of 41.9 kPa, 100.3 kPa, 76.1 kPa and 73.9 kPa, and friction angles of 32.2o, 28.1o, 26.6o and 27.8o, for the samples from sub-zones II A, II B, II C, and II D, respectively. Regression analyses show apparent cohesions to decrease with increasing clay contents, and degrees of saturation; features indicating the influence of negative pore water (or suction) pressures. Regression analyses also show apparent friction angle to increase with increasing sand contents; a feature attributed to greater inter-locking and resistance to displacement of these particles. It is concluded that the undrained shear strength parameters of saprock are characterized by an average apparent cohesion of 54.6 kPa, and friction angle of 30.5o; the parameters influenced by the degree of saturation as well as clay and sand contents.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuan-yang Liang ◽  
Yue-dong Wu ◽  
Jian Liu ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Lai-he Lin ◽  
...  

AbstractThe difference in the shear strength and other characteristics of the cohesive soil containing calcareous nodules (CSCN) between samples with large size and corresponding scaling size, which is called scaling effect, is significantly affected by its calcareous nodule content (CNC) of the gradation composition. However, current researches rarely reveal the influence of the CNC on the scaling effect in shear strength of samples. In this study, how and why the CNC affects the scaling effect in shear strength were explored. Then a method to reduce the scaling effect based on the reason for influence was proposed. Results show that the correlation between the scaling effect in shear strength and the CNC presents a step curve. This is attributed to that it is easier to form a skeleton effect in samples with scaling size for the same CNC. Considering the skeleton effect, a calculation model for the shear strength parameters of CSCN samples with large size is proposed to reduce the scaling effect. This paper demonstrates that the proposed calculation model provides an access to obtain calculated shear strength parameters of CSCN samples with large size by using measured results of samples with corresponding scaling size.


1982 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-420
Author(s):  
J. Lafleur ◽  
G. Lefebvre ◽  
M. Marcotte ◽  
V. Silvestri

This paper describes the sampling procedure and the results of large diameter (150 mm) CID triaxial tests made on samples recovered from the weathered clay crust of the Champlain sea deposits.A visual inspection of the fissures at the depth of sampling (3 m) revealed two types of discontinuities: (a) sub-vertical joints containing black organic matter, spaced approximately every 10 cm, and (b) closed microfissures, randomly distributed in spacing and direction. In order to recover unremoulded samples of this material and avoid a difficult retrimming in the laboratory, a double core barrel 150 mm in diameter (the same as that of the triaxial cell base) was used. Eight compression tests under low confining stresses were made; they showed that the post-peak strength parameters were substantially higher than those back-calculated from a landslide involving the same weathered crust. Examination of the shape of the failure planes and of the stress–strain curves led to the conclusion that, in spite of the large sample size, the propagation of the fractures was controlled by the intact clay matrix rather than by the fissures. Since this was not believed to reproduce the actual field behaviour, a complementary test programme was undertaken, which indicated that the strength parameters were better evaluated from CID tests performed in the normally consolidated range. Keywords: fissured clays, weathering, landslides, triaxial test, shear strength parameters, sampling, back-analysis.


Author(s):  
Šarūnas Skuodis ◽  
Neringa Dirgėlienė ◽  
Ieva Lekstutytė

Triaxial test is widely used to determine the behaviour and strength parameters of soil. Several consolidated drained triaxial compression tests were performed on two specimen sizes of sand and clay. This article investigate and compares the influence of specimen size and scale effect on the soil shear strength. The tests results show that the shear strength parameters are influenced by the clay specimen size. The results indicate that the effect of triaxial clay sample size is more significant with higher confining pressures. The second type of tests carried out on sand samples shows that sample size doesn‘t influence the results of the shear strength. Author’s show that clay analyses can be significantly affected by the choice of the specimen size used to determine shear strength parameters.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 007-015
Author(s):  
Ewa Daniszewska

The article was analyzed in order to test applicability and capability of the ANFIS tool used for interpretation of results of triaxial shear tests on loamy soils sampled near Olsztyn. The ANFIS system in the Matlab software programme was used to model and determine relationships between the shear stress and soil resistance parameters in a triaxial shear test apparatus. It has been demonstrated that the achieved shear strength parameters are significantly affected by the variables tested during the triaxial experiments and physical parameters of a given soil sample, but also by the loading increment rate during the tests. It is extremely important to adjust the rate of loading during a test according to the preliminary characterization of a tested ground sample so as to have some control over the obtained ground strength parameters. The neuro-fuzzy model has been constructed based on a set of values obtained after a series of experimental tests, including values of ground shear strength parameters. The database used for the neuro-fuzzy modelling consisted of 6 different ground parameters for each of the 12 shear stress rates applied during the triaxial tests. The learnability was verified on a database composed of the test results – a neuro-fuzzy model was built from learning sets and its accuracy was verified by sets of tests to which the model was applied for the first time. The results obtained from the ANFIS model did not diverge substantially from the ones obtained directly by performing the physical tests. The ANFIS proved to be highly universal and easy to operate. It accounted for the multi-faceted nature of interrelationships between ground parameters.


2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (9) ◽  
pp. 1374-1384
Author(s):  
Poul V. Lade ◽  
Jerry A. Yamamuro

Many steep soil slopes are apparently stable beyond what is indicated by slope stability analysis. The mechanism of slope stability in dilating soils is explained in detail, and the development of shear strength in such soils is demonstrated by drained and undrained tests on dense sand. It is argued that appropriate shear strength parameters for analysis of slope stability in dilating materials describe the residual strength. It is explained how reliance on peak shear strength parameters is unsafe, because the component of shear strength created by the additional effective confining pressure caused by development of suction due to inhibited dilation can be exhausted by either access to water or by drying the soil. The fleeting phenomenon of apparent additional shear strength causes super-stability of the slope. Exhaustion of the soil’s capacity to dilate results in reduction of shear strength and instability of the steep slope. It is difficult to predict the time when the soil’s capacity to dilate is exhausted and when the consequent decline in shear strength occurs. This is because this decline occurs with access to water. This is demonstrated by triaxial compression tests on saturated and partly saturated, dilating specimens.


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