Comparison of vane shear and fall cone strengths of soft marine clay

A total of 1,014 measures of sediment shear strengths were measured by means of miniature vane shear and fall cone tests on five gravity cores collected in Eckernfo‐erde Bay, Baltic Sea. Paired t test was used to compare the shear strengths measured by the two methods. It was found that fall cone strength calculated with Wood's K₆₀value (0.29) overestimates the vane shear strength by 0.15 kPa (a = 0.001) and the sample mean of the fall cone strength is 4.1% higher than the mean of the vane shear strength. However, fall cone strength calculated with Hansbo's K₆₀ value (0.24) underestimates the vane shear strength by 0.88 kPa (a = 0.001), and the sample mean of the fall cone strength is 13.8% less than the mean of the vane shear strength. Both calculated fall cone strengths are significantly different from the vane shear strength, with a p value of less than 0.001. Regression analysis of the Echernfoerde Bay data indicates that a new K₆₀ value is 0.275 with a confidence interval (a = 0.01) from 0.2704 to 0.2786. Paired t test shows that there is no significant difference between miniature vane shear and fall cone tests for these samples if the fall cone strength is calculated with K₆₀ = 0.275.     

Determination of In Situ Sediment Shear Strength from Advanced Piston Corer Pullout Forces

Abstract

The advanced piston cover (APC) has been used by the Ocean Drilling Program since 1985 for recovering soft sediments from the ocean floor. The pullout force measured on extracting the core barrel from the sediment is shown to correlate with the average shear strength of the sediment core measured in the ship's laboratory. A simple rule of thumb is derived relating the shear strength of the sediment to the pullout force. Multiple APC holes at individual sites allow the consistency of the pullout measurements to be assessed. The effects of different operational procedures during APC coring are also explored. Although generally applicable, the correlation between pullout force and laboratory measurements of shear strength breaks down for some APC holes, possibly because of the disturbance of some sediment types during the APC coring process. A better understanding of the physical process of APC coring, and its effect on the properties of the sediment both inside and immediately outside the core barrel, would indicate what confidence can be put on the measurement of pullout force as a way of evaluating the in situ shear strength of deep sea sediments.     

Laboratory and Field Observations for Golden Horn Marine Clay

Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey and one of the major metropolitan areas in the world, cleaned one of its environmentally polluted areas—Golden Horn—by dredging 5 million m³ of the bottom sediments and pumping the resulting sludge to a storage area behind a dam built at an abandoned rock quarry site in Alibey district. The reclamation of the land that formed over the storage area of Golden Horn dredged material is socially and economically very desirable. In this paper, results from experimental studies that are focused on determining the shear strength behavior of the dredge material and undisturbed soil are presented. Slurry consolidometer test, large model tests and small model tests are used to consolidate the dredged soil samples from Halic to simulate the natural consolidation behavior of these soils. Shear strength parameters are determined by laboratory vane tests; unconfined compression tests; undrained-unconsolidated (UU) and consolidated-undrained (CU) triaxial tests on samples that are obtained through in situ undisturbed samples and laboratory model tank and slurry consolidation. Moreover, the effects of fly ash and lime additives on the undrained shear strength were determined by mixing the materials with the dredged clay from Golden Horn during the model experiments conducted in the laboratory. Based on these findings, equations are proposed that govern the relationships between undrained shear strength and water content value.     

A heuristic examination of cohesive sediment bed exchange in turbulent flows

Prediction of the concentration of suspended cohesive sediment in the marine environment is constrained by difficulties in interpreting experimental evidence on bed exchange, i.e. erosion and deposition of particles, which remains sparse in mechanistic details. In this paper, conditions under which bed exchange in turbulent flows collectively determines the concentration of suspended matter have been examined in the heuristic sense based on selective experimental data. It is argued that interpretation of such data can be significantly facilitated when multi-class representation of particle size, collisional interaction between suspended particles and probabilistic representations of the bed shear stress along with variables describing particle behavior (critical shear stress for deposition, bed floc shear strength) are taken into account. Aggregation—floc growth and breakup kinetics—brings about shifts in the suspended particle size distribution; bed exchange is accordingly modulated and this in turn determines concentration dynamics. Probabilistic representation of the governing variables broadens the suspended sediment size spectrum by increasing the possibilities of inter-particle interactions relative to the mean-value representation. Simple models of bed exchange, which essentially rely on single-size assumption and mean-value representation of variables, overlook the mechanistic basis underpinning particle dynamics.     

现代黄河三角洲沉积物临界剪切应力研究

为研究现代黄河三角洲沉积物临界剪切应力空间分布特征及其影响要素,本文在现代黄河三角洲不同沉积区域,垂直海岸线布设测线,采用黏结力仪进行沉积物临界剪切应力测试,并在相应测点开展沉积物物理力学性质与粒度成分测量工作。研究结果表明高潮滩沉积物临界剪切应力最高,在1.1~4.02Pa之间,沉积物不易发生侵蚀,含水量低、干容重大、黏粒与粉粒含量高、平均粒径小、不排水剪切强度大是高潮滩沉积物临界剪切应力偏高的重要因素;中潮滩沉积物受生物活动影响显著,临界剪切应力在0.10~1.90Pa之间,生物活动扰动、生物排泄及遗体遗迹的程度与数量是造成不同区域测试差异的重要原因;低潮滩沉积物临界剪切应力很低,在0.08~0.80Pa之间,沉积物极易发生侵蚀,含水量高、干容重偏低、砂砾含量高、平均粒径大、不排水剪切强度小是其典型的沉积物物理力学性质,也是造成低潮滩沉积物临界剪切应力普遍低于高潮滩的重要原因;现代黄河三角洲沉积物临界剪切应力区域特征表现为北部沉积物临界剪切应力水平最低,在0.11~0.4Pa之间,东部最高,在2.8~4.55Pa之间,南部与东北部居中,分别在0.63~0.84Pa与0.83~2.99Pa之间,东北部空间非均匀性分布显著,粒度组分的分异是导致沉积物临界剪切应力区域差异显著的重要因素,黏粒含量高的沉积区域沉积物临界剪切应力普遍高于砂砾含量高的沉积区;与世界其他大型河口三角洲相比,现代黄河三角洲沉积物临界剪切应力水平偏低但非均匀程度较高。     

Estimation of undrained shear strength for saturated clay using shear wave velocity

Undrained shear strength is a fundamental parameter for estimating the stability of soft soils. This study explores the relationship between undrained shear strength, void ratio, and shear wave velocity for saturated and normally consolidated clay specimens. The undrained shear strength void ratio-shear wave velocity relationship was correlated to empirically determined parameters of selected marine clay specimens. To verify the proposed relationship between undrained shear strength and shear wave velocity, in situ flat dilatometer tests were used for determining the undrained shear strength, and downhole tests were used to assess the shear wave velocity on a natural soil deposit at various depths. The undrained shear strength estimated from the in situ shear wave velocities was compared to the undrained shear strength obtained in the field. The results show that the inferred undrained shear strength yield similar values and follow the same trends as the in situ undrained shear strength data. This method using shear wave velocity can help to nondestructively estimate the undrained shear strength of soft soils in the field and be used in both on-shore and off-shore geotechnical engineering projects.     

Determination of In Situ Sediment Shear Strength from Advanced Piston Corer Pullout Forces

The advanced piston corer (APC) has been used by the Ocean Drilling Program since 1985 for recovering soft sediments from the ocean floor. The pullout force measured on extracting the core barrel from the sediment is shown to correlate with the average shear strength of the sediment core measured in the ship's laboratory. A simple rule of thumb is derived relating the shear strength of the sediment to the pullout force. Multiple APC holes at individual sites allow the consistency of the pullout measurements to be assessed. The effects of different operational procedures during APC coring are also explored. Although generally applicable, the correlation between pullout force and laboratory measurements of shear strength breaks down for some APC holes, possibly because of the disturbance of some sediment types during the APC coring process. A better understanding of the physical process of APC coring, and its effect on the properties of the sediment both inside and immediately outside the core barrel, would indicate what confidence can be put on the measurement of pullout force as a way of evaluating the in situ shear strength of deep sea sediments.     

伶仃洋河口泥沙絮凝特征及影响因素研究

泥沙絮凝对河口细颗粒泥沙运动过程起着极其重要的作用。本文通过LISST-100激光粒度仪等仪器实测伶仃洋河口2013年洪季悬浮泥沙絮凝体现场粒径及水动力、泥沙条件,结合实验室悬沙粒径分析,研究大小潮期间伶仃洋河口泥沙絮凝特征,探讨紊动剪切强度、含沙量、盐度分层及波浪等因素对伶仃洋河口泥沙絮凝的影响。结果表明:伶仃洋河口水体中现场粒径平均值为148.53 μm,大于实验室悬沙分散粒径36.74 μm,河口絮凝现象明显;沉速与有效密度、粒径呈正相关,絮团平均有效密度为153.49 kg/m3,平均沉速达1.13 mm/s;小潮时絮团平均粒径大于大潮,垂向上表底层絮团粒径小、中层大,中底层絮团沉速大于表层。伶仃洋河口水动力、泥沙条件是影响其泥沙絮凝的重要因素,低剪切强度（小于5 s-1）、低含沙量（小于50 mg/L）及高体积浓度有利于细颗粒泥沙之间的相互碰撞,促进絮凝作用;当剪切强度与颗粒间碰撞强度高于絮团所能承受的强度时,絮团易破碎分解成小絮团或更细的泥沙颗粒;伶仃洋河口盐度层化引起的泥沙捕获现象增大中层泥沙体积浓度,有利于中层絮凝体的发育;观测期相对较大的波浪增强水体紊动,增大了水体细颗粒泥沙的碰撞几率,表层絮团粒径随波高峰值的出现而增大。     

海洋污损生物藤壶生长过程及附着强度研究

研究海洋污损生物藤壶（Barnacle）不同生长阶段附着强度，可为科学制定藤壶清除规范及设计相关机械设备提供依据。本文采用浸泡法在湛江调顺岛（21°31''N，110°41''E）实海中挂板，结合形貌观察藤壶生长过程，利用自行设计的剪切强度测试装置，选取网纹藤壶测试不同生长阶段剪切强度。结果表明：试板浸泡10 d，幼体藤壶开始附着；30 d试板表面藤壶覆盖面积约占30%，基底直径1~6 mm，部分藤壶死亡形成空壳；60 d试板约50%面积被藤壶覆盖，试板表面有覆膜，空壳现象加剧，藤壶基底直径最大达10 mm；90 d试板约95%面积被藤壶覆盖，出现藤壶相叠现象，基底直径1~13 mm。藤壶附着生长过程中，剪切强度变化符合“快-慢”的特点，以藤壶基底直径为变量，构建藤壶剪切强度Logistic增长模型，决定系数R²=0.99，说明模型拟合良好。利用构建的Logistic增长模型将藤壶剪切强度划分为速增期（基底直径4.0~6.4 mm），缓增期（基底直径6.4~8.7 mm）及渐停期（基底直径>8.7 mm）3个阶段。结合藤壶附着生长过程，藤壶在附着后采用机械方式清除的最佳清除时期在速增期。     

Field Evaluation of Undrained Shear Strength from Piezocone Penetration Tests in Soft Marine Clay

The use of the piezocone penetration test (CPTU) in a geotechnical site investigation offers direct field measurement on stratigraphy and soil behavior. Compared with some traditional investigation methods, such as drilling, sampling and field inspecting method or laboratory test procedures, CPTU can greatly accelerate the field work and hereby reduce corresponding operation cost. The undrained shear strength is a key parameter in estimation of the stability of natural slopes and deformation of embankments in soft clays. This paper provides the measurements of in situ CPTU, field vane testing and laboratory undrained triaxial testing of Lianyungang marine clay in Jiangsu province of China. Based on the literature review of previous interpretation methods, this paper presents a comparison of field vane testing measurements to CPTU interpretation results. The undrained shear strength values from both the field vane tests and cone penetration resistances are lowest at the mid-depths of the marine clay layers, and the excess pore water pressures are highest at the mid-depths of the marine clay layers, indicating that the marine clay layer is underconsolidated.     

基于流变仪测试海底浅表层软黏土不排水强度研究

鉴于海底浅表层软黏土强度测试精细化程度不足的现状,引入流体测试中的流变仪,对青岛海域海底浅表层软黏土开展多组原状和重塑试样的不排水剪切强度试验,通过对比静力触探和微型十字板测试结果,验证了流变仪测试方法的有效性。基于流变仪试验结果,揭示了海底软黏土原状和重塑状态下不排水剪切破坏模式,探讨了海底软黏土不排水剪切强度和灵敏度随埋深及液性指数的发展演变趋势,评价了软黏土的结构性特征。最后,引入含水率与液限之比对海底浅表层软黏土重塑不排水剪切强度进行了归一化分析,为近海海洋开发活动提供技术支撑。     

南中国海神狐海域天然气水合物上覆地层不排水抗剪强度预测

浅层沉积物不排水抗剪强度（Su）是深水作业的关键参数之一。为了获取南海神狐海域首次海域天然气水合物试采区W18-19框体的基本工程地质特征,试采工程准备阶段开展了原位孔压静力触探测试（CPTU）及大量的室内实验。本文将主要基于CPTU计算不排水抗剪强度的基本模型,采用微型十字板、电动十字板、袖珍贯入仪及不固结不排水三轴实验,确定该区域不排水抗剪强度的基本模式,并提出适用于南海神狐钙质黏土层的不排水抗剪强度纵向分布规律计算模型,对该区域水合物上覆层的不排水抗剪强度进行预测。 结果表明,基于总锥端阻力、有效锥端阻力、超孔隙压力的模型系数分为13.8、4.2、14.4。综合考虑地层压实效应和含气情况,本文提出的分段函数预测模型与室内结果的一致性较好,可用于工程设计阶段进行工区不排水抗剪强度纵向分布规律的预测。另外,基于有效锥端阻力的不排水抗剪强度经验模型适应于浅层极软-较硬压实的钙质粘土层,基于超孔隙压力的不排水抗剪强度模型适用于较硬-坚硬的不含气层,而基于总锥端阻力的不排水抗剪强度计算模型则适用于坚硬含气的钙质黏土层。本文提出的分段函数模型有效的提高了经验模型在南海神狐水合物赋存区的适用性,计算结果可为工程安全评价提供支撑。     

Vertical Variability of the Undrained Shear Strength of Golden Horn Clay

In this study, a stochastic method was applied to investigate if there exists a statistical correlation between values of undrained shear strength at various vertical distances along Golden Horn. Therefore, the undrained shear strength values measured by field vane shear tests at different depths were used to determine the depth dependent variation of the mean value and standard deviation. Futhermore, autocorrelation functions were defined to describe the correlation between values of c_u at different depths. The study showed that the applied method might provide a statistical range to estimate the undrained shear strength value at depths where no measurements are undertaken.     

Research on Measurement of Bed Shear Stress Under Wave?Current Interaction

The movement of sediment in estuary and on coast is directly restricted by the bed shear stress. Therefore, the research on the basic problem of sediment movement by the bed shear stress is an important way to research the theory of sediment movement. However, there is not a measuring and computing method to measure the bed shear stress under a complicated dynamic effect like wave and current. This paper describes the measurement and test research on the bed shear stress in a long launder of direct current by the new instrument named thermal shearometer based on micro-nanotechnology. As shown by the research results, the thermal shearometer has a high response frequency and strong stability. The measured results can reflect the basic change of the bed shear stress under wave and wave?current effect, and confirm that the method of measuring bed shear stress under wave?current effect with thermal shearometer is feasible. Meanwhile, a preliminary method to compute the shear stress compounded by wave?current is put forward according to the tested and measured results, and then a reference for further study on the basic theory of sediment movement under a complicated dynamic effect is provided.     

Biological influences on morphology and bed composition of an intertidal flat

Biological activity is known to influence sediment strength at bed–water interfaces. However, its precise effect on geomorphology and on bed composition is not known. This paper proposes a parameterization of sediment destabilizing and stabilizing organisms on three parameters that describe the erosion and mixing processes of the sediment bed, namely the critical bed shear stress, the erosion coefficient and the bioturbation coefficient. This parameterization is included in a 3D sand–mud morphodynamic model to form the sand–mud–bio model. The performance of the sand–mud–bio model is demonstrated by testing it on the Paulinapolder intertidal flat in the Western Scheldt estuary of The Netherlands. Model results show that biological influences on sediment strength result in significant morphological change and bed composition variations. Destabilizing organisms always cause a significant decrease in mud content in the bed and an increase of erosion. On the other hand, stabilizing organisms can, but do not necessarily, cause an increase of mud content and additional sedimentation.     

San Diego trough geotechnical test area

Abstract

The San Diego Trough Geotechnical Test Area, located about 24 km southwest of San Diego in a water depth of about 1.2 km, lies near the base of the Coronado Escarpment directly north of the Coronado Fan. A new bathymetric map delineates a shallow basin in the soft, highly plastic, clayey silts flooring the Test Area. Measurements of shear strength by vane and static cone pene‐trometer, and bulk density by nuclear densitometer, were made in place from the submersible Deep Quest. Sixteen short (< 1.6 m) gravity cores were collected from ships.

The geotechnical properties show little areal variation and generally change uniformly with depth within the 55 km² Test Area. Silt is the predominant grain size, averaging about 62%. In‐place bulk density shows little change with increasing depth, values range from 1.23 to 1.26 Mg/m³; laboratory density values increase with depth, ranging from 1.30 to 1.52 Mg/m³ between the surface and a depth of about 1.1 m. The difference between the in place and laboratory values may indicate sampling densification of the cored sediment. Water content in the cores decreases uniformly within the range of 249 to 43% dry weight. Shear strength increases linearly with depth. The laboratory shear strength values are lower than the in place values, which range from 4 kPa at the surface to about 29 kPa at a depth of 3.27 m. Predictor equations relate Atterberg limits, bulk density, water content, and laboratory and in place shear strength to depth. Sedimentation‐compression e log p curves have an equivalent compression index of 1.5 to nearly 2. Excluding rurbidite layers and sampling disturbance effects, all cores indicate a uniform depositional environment in the surface to 1.6 m of sediment sampled. The geotechnical properties indicate that the sediments in the west central and southwest parts of the Test Area exhibit vertical heterogeneity due to thin silt‐sand layers, presumably of turbidity current origin, that originated from the Coronado Canyon.     

Fine sediment resuspension dynamics in a large semi-enclosed bay

A field study was conducted to investigate fine sediment resuspension dynamics in Moreton Bay, a large semi-enclosed bay situated in South East Queensland, Australia. One S4ADW current meter and three OBS sensors were used to collect the field data on tides, mean currents, waves and suspended sediment concentrations in a mean water depth of 6.1 m for about 3 weeks. Two small cleaning units were specially designed to automatically clean the OBS sensors several times every hour to avoid biological growth on the OBS sensors. Based on the collected field data, the main driving force for fine sediment resuspension is found to be the storm wind-waves generated locally in the Bay, not the tidal current or penetrated ocean swell. The critical wind-wave orbital velocity for sediment resuspension was determined to be U_rms=7 cm/s and the critical bed shear stress τ_cr=0.083–0.095 Pa at this study site.     

In situ tensile fracture toughness of surficial cohesive marine sediments

This study reports the first in situ measurements of tensile fracture toughness, K _IC, of soft, surficial, cohesive marine sediments. A newly developed probe continuously measures the stress required to cause tensile failure in sediments to depths of up to 1 m. Probe measurements are in agreement with standard laboratory methods of K _IC measurements in both potter’s clay and natural sediments. The data comprise in situ depth profiles from three field sites in Nova Scotia, Canada. Measured K _IC at two muddy sites (median grain size of 23–50 μm) range from near zero at the sediment surface to >1,800 Pa m^1/2 at 0.2 m depth. These profiles also appear to identify the bioturbated/mixed depth. K _IC for a sandy site (>90% sand) is an order of magnitude lower than for the muddy sediments, and reflects the lack of cohesion/adhesion. A comparison of K _IC, median grain size, and porosity in muddy sediments indicates that consolidation increases fracture strength, whereas inclusion of sand causes weakening; thus, sand-bearing layers can be easily identified in K _IC profiles. K _IC and vane-measured shear strength correlate strongly, which suggests that the vane measurements should perhaps be interpreted as shear fracture toughness, rather than shear strength. Comparison of in situ probe-measured values with K _IC of soils and gelatin shows that sediments have a K _IC range intermediate between denser compacted soils and softer, elastic gelatin.     

Channelled erosion through a marine dump site of dredge spoils at the mouth of the Puyallup River, Washington State, USA

Channels are relatively common on river-mouth deltas, but the process by which they arise from river sediment discharge is unclear because they can potentially be explained either by negatively buoyant (hyperpycnal) flows produced directly from the river outflow or by flows generated by repeated failure and mobilisation of sediment rapidly deposited at the delta front. Channels eroded through a dump site of dredge spoils are described here from multibeam and older sonar data collected in Commencement Bay, at the mouth of the Puyallup River. Shallow channels on the seaward upper surface of the dump site, away from any flows that could have been produced by delta front failures, suggest that at least some hyperpycnal flows were produced directly from the positively buoyant river outflow up to 200 m from the edge of the river mouth platform. The form of channel bed erosion is revealed by the longitudinal shape of the main eroded channel compared with the adjacent dump site profile. It suggests that the channel evolved by its steep front retreating, rather than by simple vertical entrenchment or diffusive-like evolution of the profile, a geometry interpreted as evidence that repeated failure of the bed occurred in response to shear stress imposed by bottom-travelling flows. Model calculations based on shear strengths back-calculated from the geometry of channel wall failures suggest that, if the main channel were eroded solely by hyperpycnal flows, their generation was remarkably efficient in order to create flows vigorous enough to cause channel bed failure. Besides the sediment concentration and discharge characteristics that have been considered to dictate the ability of rivers to produce hyperpycnal flows, it is suggested that the timing of floods with respect to the tidal cycle should also be important because extreme low tides may be needed to ensure that coarse sediment is transferred vigorously to the edge of river mouth platforms.     

Experimental Study on the Bed Shear Stress Under Breaking Waves

The object of present study is to investigate the bed shear stress on a slope under regular breaking waves by a novel instrument named Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) flexible hot-film shear stress sensor. The sensors were calibrated before application, and then a wave flume experiment was conducted to study the bed shear stress for the case of regular waves spilling and plunging on a 1:15 smooth PVC slope. The experiment shows that the sensor is feasible for the measurement of the bed shear stress under breaking waves. For regular incident waves, the bed shear stress is mainly periodic in both outside and inside the breaking point. The fluctuations of the bed shear stress increase significantly after waves breaking due to the turbulence and vortexes generated by breaking waves. For plunging breaker, the extreme value of the mean maximum bed shear stress appears after the plunging point, and the more violent the wave breaks, the more dramatic increase of the maximum bed shear stress will occur. For spilling breaker, the increase of the maximum bed shear stress along the slope is gradual compared with the plunging breaker. At last, an empirical equation about the relationship between the maximum bed shear stress and the surf similarity parameter is given, which can be used to estimate the maximum bed shear stress under breaking waves in practice.