Strain-rate effects in pressuremeter testing using a cuboidal shear device: experiments and modeling

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayakar Penumadu ◽  
Arumugam Skandarajah ◽  
Jean-Lou Chameau

The objective of the present research was to study the effect of rate of probe expansion in pressuremeter testing for cohesive soil. Emphasis in this paper was given to quantifying and modeling the effect of strain rate on the undrained shear strength. The strain path followed by an element of clay adjacent to the expanding probe was simulated using an automated flexible boundary cuboidal shear device (CSD) typically up to a magnitude of strain level of 10%. Two types of soil (kaolin, kaolin-silica mix) were used consistently for all the testing. Repeatable cubical cohesive specimens were obtained from a high water content slurry consolidation technique. K0 consolidation was performed by using a constant vertical stress - zero lateral strain boundary condition using a closed-loop pneumatic system. A series of strain-controlled tests with increasing strain rates from 0.01 to 5%/min was performed under undrained conditions. The effects of increase of strain rate on shear stress - strain behavior and undrained shear strength were quantified. A numerical model based on cylindrical cavity expansion theory which accounts for higher strain rate and its variation with radial distance from an expanding probe membrane was calibrated using the single-element CSD test data.Key words: strain rate, pressuremeter, stress-strain, shear strength, strain path, cavity expansion.

2020 ◽  
Vol 975 ◽  
pp. 203-207
Author(s):  
Shih Tsung Hsu ◽  
Wen Chi Hu ◽  
Yu Heng Lin ◽  
Zhuo Ling

Constitutive models for soils are usually adopted in numerical method to analyze the behavior of geotechnical structures. This study performs a series of consolidated-undrained triaxial tests to establish the stress-strain curve of clay. A constitutive model that considers continuous strain hardening-softening is proposed based on the results of triaxial tests. Triaxial test results reveal that undrained shear strength linearly increases with an increase in consolidated pressure , the normalized undrained shear strength is about 0.52 not only for this study but also for the other two cases around Taipei Basin. Due to undrained condition, an associated flow rule between plastic strain increment and stress tensor is adopted. As accumulative plastic strain or/and consolidated pressure change, the mobilized undrained shear strength also changes. All parameters needed for the proposed model can be expressed as a function of undrained shear strength Su, The mobilized undrained shear strength for the proposed model during strain hardening-softening can be in term of accumulative plastic strain. This model can calculate the stress-strain curves of clayed soils accurately.


2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujan Dutta ◽  
Bipul Hawlader ◽  
Ryan Phillips

Vertical seabed penetration and lateral movement of deep-water offshore pipelines are simulated using the Coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) approach in Abaqus finite element (FE) software. Abaqus CEL has been used in some previous studies to simulate large-deformation behavior of offshore pipelines; however, the effects of strain rate and strain-softening on undrained shear strength (su) have not been considered. In this study, the effects of these factors are critically examined. The available built-in models in Abaqus CEL cannot account for these factors directly, especially the strain rate; therefore, the development of user subroutines is required. In the present study, a simple but realistic soil constitutive model (published by Zhou and Randolph in 2007) that considers the effects of strain rate and strain-softening on su is implemented in Abaqus CEL. The effects of FE mesh size and shear band formation on penetration resistance are discussed based on a comprehensive FE simulation. Lateral analyses are performed for “light” and “heavy” pipes in clay seabed having a linearly increasing undrained shear strength profile for smooth and rough pipe–soil interface conditions. The FE results are compared with previous theoretical, numerical, and centrifuge test results. Based on the present FE analyses, it is shown that, similar to the remeshing and interpolation techniques with small strain (RITSS) technique developed at the The University of Western Australia, the Abaqus CEL can successfully simulate the response of partially embedded pipelines in deep-water clay seabed, provided strain rate and softening dependent clay models are implemented. A methodology to implement such a model using Abaqus user subroutine is also presented.


1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Lefebvre ◽  
Denis LeBoeuf ◽  
Benoît Demers

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation performed to study the stability threshold under cyclic (repeated) loading, and the postcyclic static strength of a sensitive clay from the Hudson Bay region. The strain rate and structure effects were also studied by carrying out monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests at both slow and rapid strain rates or frequencies, and at confining pressures above and below the apparent preconsolidation pressure. The stability threshold for both structured and normally consolidated Grande Baleine clay is about 60–65% of the original undrained shear strength measured at the same strain rate as that used in the repeated loading test. The undrained shear strength and the failure envelope remain essentially unchanged if the repeated preloading is kept below the threshold. The clay structure remains unaltered by this preloading. Key words: clay, stability threshold, cyclic loading, earthquake, postcyclic strength.


2004 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 738-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Silvestri

This paper analyzes the effect of borehole disturbance, caused by installation of pressuremeter probes in clays, on the derived stress–strain curves. Both overpushing- and overcutting-induced disturbances are considered. It is shown that overpushing results in underestimation of the undrained shear resistance. In general, the degree of underestimation cannot be determined. As for overcutting, the derived stress–strain curves are characterized by high peak strengths. The degree of overestimation of the undrained shear strength may reach 100% for the case of a strain-hardening material. Determination of the strain that corresponds to the peak shear strength allows determination of the true stress–strain curve from the expansion test. Analysis of four well-documented case histories serves to illustrate the proposed approach.Key words: pressuremeter, borehole disturbance, clay, stress-strain curves, case histories, undrained shear strength.


2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1272-1282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun-Gao Zhu ◽  
Jian-Hua Yin

A total number of 24 consolidated undrained triaxial shear tests on reconsolidated saturated Hong Kong marine clay (HKMC) have been performed in both compression and extension shear states. The specimens were prepared in four different overconsolidation ratios (OCRs) and sheared at three different axial strain rates. The strain-rate dependency of undrained shear strength, pore-water pressure, stress path, and secant Young's modulus are investigated. The influence of OCR on the stress–strain–strength behavior of HKMC is also examined. The results of all tests are presented and interpreted. The interpreted results are compared with the results in the literature. For the HKMC with OCR varying from 1 to 8, the average value of the strain-rate parameter [Formula: see text] 0.15 is 5.5% for compression tests and 8.4% for extension tests. Most interpreted results are conclusive and consistent with the published results, whereas some results are not conclusive. A new parameter for describing the strain-rate dependency of undrained shear strength of overconsolidated soil is introduced.Key words: strain-rate effects, clay, overconsolidated, triaxial, shear strength, pore-water pressure.


1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-M. Konrad ◽  
K. T. Law

With the advent of piezocones — penetrometers measuring both the mechanical resistance and induced pore pressures near the tip during penetration into the soil — a new interpretation of penetrometer test data is possible. This paper presents a review of available interpretation methods for obtaining the undrained shear strength of soft soils, and introduces a new interpretation taking into account measured pore pressures. The undrained shear strength is considered to be solely related to the ultimate cavity expansion pressure, which is one of the components of the tip resistance. The other component is calculated assuming that effective friction is developed at the cone–soil interface.Parametric studies on the parameters required for strength determination based on the proposed method are also presented. Special self-boring pressuremeter tests to obtain relevant values of soil rigidity index, which is a key parameter for cavity expansion modelling, are described. Tests were conducted at three sites having the characteristics of soft sensitive clay, stiff sensitive clay, and clayey silt. The operational undrained strength mobilized during the cone insertion derived from the proposed model is equal to or lower than the CK0U triaxial strength, which depends on soil brittleness. The proposed approach yields results consistent with known soil behaviour at all three sites. Key words: piezocone penetrometer, pressuremeter, excess pore-water pressure, undrained shear strength, rigidity index, in situ tests, laboratory test.


2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 896-910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toralv Berre

The tests in this investigation were performed on a natural soft clay with plasticity index around 32%, which was K0 consolidated to a vertical stress of 2942 kPa and then K0 unloaded to a vertical stress of 74 kPa (i.e., to the “in situ” stress). The specimens so created were disturbed in various ways to study the effect of sample disturbance on the stress–strain relationships during undrained shearing and during drained K0 loading (i.e., K0 triaxial and oedometer tests). The results for two testing alternatives may be summarized as follows. Alternative 1: Allow the specimen to swell at the correct in situ effective stresses, but accept an initial water content that is higher than the in situ value. This alternative was found to give the best stress–strain relationships around the in situ effective stresses for undrained triaxial tests, but with undrained shear strength values up to about 20% too low, due to the swelling taking place during consolidation to the in situ effective stresses. Alternative 2: Prevent swelling by starting the test at effective stresses that are higher than the in situ stresses, but with a water content that is closer to the in situ value than if alternative 1 is chosen. Using only isotropic stresses prior to shearing, this alternative was found to give better undrained shear strength values (although up to about 14% too high) but strain values much too small around the in situ effective stresses. For oedometer tests, only alternative 2 was investigated. Also, for these tests, the strains around the in situ stress were too small, but preconsolidation stresses estimated from stress–strain curves were typically only around 60% of the true value.


1988 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul W. Mayne ◽  
James K. Mitchell

The field vane (FV) has traditionally been utilized to obtain profiles of undrained shear strength in soft to medium clays. After some 40 years of experience with FV results, it has been suggested that empirical correction factors be applied to the FV data to account for the effects of strain rate, anisotropy, and disturbance on measured shear strengths. As an additional use of the device, the FV may be calibrated at each site to develop profiles of overconsolidation ratio (OCR) with depth. A data base of oedometer test results and FV strengths from 96 different clays has been compiled to use as a basis for this calibration. Key words: field vane, undrained strength, clay, overconsolidation ratio, preconsolidation pressure, shear strength, vane shear.


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