Miniature LVDT setup for local strain measurement on cement-treated clay specimens

ABSTRACT

Miniature submersible linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) is commonly used for small strain stiffness measurement. However, it has not been widely used on cement-treated clays. This paper proposes a method of installing and setting up submersible LVDT to minimize testing problems and errors for cement-treated clays. In soft clay testing, the LVDT mount can be anchored to the specimen by pressed-in anchor pins or rods. However, this cannot be done on cement-treated clay due to the latter’s hardness. Preliminary trials also indicate that direct attachment of the LVDT mounts to the membrane without anchor pins is not feasible owing to the tendency of the LVDT to tilt and detach from the specimen. The system adopted involves pre-casting holes for the insertion of anchor pins during placement of the admixture into the moulds. The diameter of the anchors pins was found to have significant effect on the results; smaller diameter pins give more consistent results with those of resonant column and bender element tests. This can be attributed to the effect of stress concentration around the anchor pins. The results showed that, used appropriately, submersible LVDTs can give small strain measurements which have a high degree of inner consistency with results from resonant column and bender element tests.     

Primary yielding locus of cement-stabilized marine clay and its applications

ABSTRACT

Strength and stiffness properties of materials are widely studied and used in civil engineering practice. However, most studies are based on unconfined conditions, which are different from real status of soil. This study investigated the primary yielding and yield locus for cement-stabilized marine clay. In this study, two types of cement-stabilized soils were studied through isotropic compression, triaxial drained shearing, unconfined compression, and bender element testing. Specimens with 20–50% of cement content and 7–90 days of curing period were used for the tests. Stress–strain behavior and primary yielding were evaluated, followed by construction of the primary yield locus. The characteristics of the primary yield locus and its development with curing time then were studied. The results showed that the properties of the primary yield locus were dependent on the type of stabilized soil, but were independent of the cement content and curing period. Thus, the approach provides a way to estimate the primary yield stress and drained stress path before primary yielding for cement-stabilized soil under confined condition. An empirical function was used to fit the primary yield locus. The primary isotropic yield stress was correlated to unconfined compressive strength or maximum shear modulus. Three indirect methods were proposed to predict the primary yield stress for cement-stabilized marine clay. The results showed that the primary yield stress can be estimated with reasonable accuracy.     

海底沉积物实验室剪切波速度及其与沉积物的物理性质之间的关系

采用压电陶瓷弯曲元法和共振柱试验的方法对采自我国海域的一些典型海底浅表层沉积物样品进行了剪切波速测试,获得首批可信数据.两种方法所测得的剪切波速数据具有很好的一致性,且在数赫兹至数十千赫兹频段范围内剪切波速不具明显弥散性.剪切波速与沉积物类型关系密切,不同海区和不同类型海底沉积物的剪切波速有明显差异.近海较细颗粒沉积物粉砂的剪切波速在100m/s左右,细颗粒沉积物的剪切波速在100m/s以下;陆架较粗颗粒沉积物的剪切波速最大,超过100m/s;深海、半深海细颗粒沉积物的剪切波速最低,小于50m/s.剪切波速与含水量、密度、孔隙度、塑限和液限等沉积物物理参数之间具很好的相关性,反映了剪切波速和物理性质之间的密切关系.剪切波速与压缩波速呈正相关性,但在不同的波速范围剪切波速随压缩波速的变化有很大不同.     

海-气界面动量通量的估计方法分析与应用

首次将经验模态分解方法引入湍流稳定性分析,与传统的线性和滑动平均去势方法进行了比较,发现经验模态分解方法的去势效果最好。基于"南海平台通量观测计划"(FOPSCS)近两年的连续通量观测数据,得到了22 476个摩擦速度的估算值,结果表明,当风速小于5m/s时,拖曳系数随风速增大而减小,而风速大于5m/s时,拖曳系数随风速增大而增大,两种情形分别反映了黏性表皮摩擦和波浪引起的形状阻力对海面风应力的贡献。同时发现短风区情形的拖曳系数大于长风区情形,说明波浪成长状态会对海-气界面动量交换产生影响。     

Physical and elastic properties of marine sediments off Bombay,India

Abstract

Keeping in view the paucity of information as to the nature of the marine sediments from the continental shelf adjoining the Indian subcontinent, a number of shallow seismic surveys were carried out, nearshore and offshore Bombay between 18°45'N and 21°00'N. Representative core samples preserving their natural state were also retrieved from the region in the water depths ranging from 5 to 70 m for the determination of physical properties in the laboratory. Data on the physical, acoustic, and elastic properties of the sediment cores are reported for the first time. Useful individual least‐squares relations are presented for acoustic impedance, reflection coefficient, and bulk modulus against density; for the dependence of rigidity and bulk moduli on the constrained modulus; for the association between impedance and field sediment velocity against P‐velocity; and for rigidity against Poisson's ratio. Results indicate that the bulk modulus and Young's modulus are higher for silty clay and clayey silt samples than for the clay samples. Similarly, the acoustic impedance, reflection coefficient, and constrained modulus of silty clay and clayey silt are also higher than clay. The results are found to be comparable to the North Atlantic and Bay of Bengal sediments.     

Settlement Analysis for An Embankment Considering Visco-Elasto-Plastic Characteristics

—In the paper.a visco-elasto-plastic constitutive model and a method for determining modelparameters for soft clay are presented.In this model total strain of soft clay is assumed to be divided intothree parts:instantaneous elastic.visco-elastic and visco-plastic.The characteristics of instantaneous andvisco-elastic deformation of soft clay are simulated by Merchant's model.the plastic is by a model withtwo yield surfaces.And related constitutive equation is conducted,A number of stress-controlled triaxialtests are performed to calculated the model parameters The visco-elasto-plastic model is used for analysisof the displacement of an embankment on soft ground by use of three-dimensional finite element method.The predicted settlements agree well with the measured data.It is indicated that the viscous characteristicsshould be taken into account in deformation analysis for soft clay.     

Discussion: A review on the behaviour of helical piles as a potential offshore foundation system

Abstract

Helical piles have emerged as an attractive foundation system for offshore applications with renewed interest from the offshore community. Significant research gap currently exists in transferring this technology offshore and this paper discusses how existing and emerging knowledge can be successfully used to bridge some of the gaps. We focus on the Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian (CEL) large deformation finite element (LDFE) modelling technique that is commercially available and can be used to model the three-dimensional installation process with consideration of strain rate and softening effects in soft offshore clays. A helical pile of L?=?7.5?m long is modelled with one or two large-diameter helices (D?=?2?m) attached to a central shaft of d?=?0.5?m in diameter.The net effect of strain rate and softening is to increase the installation torque. The measured torque is within the range of 200–400?kN.m for the offshore clay and the pile geometry studied. Additional helices increase the uplift force but to a lesser degree than that of the measured torque. Remoulding induced strength reduction is found to be within the range of 25–33% of the intact clay strength. Issues of extracting and reusing offshore helical pile foundations are discussed.     

Evaluation of the uplift behavior of plate anchor in structured marine clay

The uplift behavior of a plate anchor in a structured clay (soft Ariake clay) is investigated through a series of laboratory tests and method of finite element analysis. The tests are adopted to identify the factors influencing the behavior of the anchor, including the thixotropic nature of Ariake clay, consolidation time, and embedment ratio of the anchor. A finite element method (FEM) is used to analyze and predict the uplift behavior of the anchor plate well in the elastic region and the yield load. The results from both the laboratory tests and the FEM analysis suggest that the embedment ratio for a deep anchor in Ariake clay is close to 4. Further increase in embedment ratio improves the capacity to a lesser extent. FEM overestimates the failure load of the uplift anchor in soft Ariake clay by about 20%. This may be ascribed to the hypothesis in the FEM analysis that there is continuous contact between the clay and the anchor until failure. Vesic’s theory for deep anchors, which may be used to predict the ultimate pullout resistance of the plate anchor in reconstituted Ariake clay, is verified to be applicable. In this paper, the plastic flow zone around the anchor is discussed using FEM which makes the behavior of anchor more understandable during the design stage.     

Experimental Investigation of Unconfined Compression Strength and Stiffness of Cement Treated Salt-Rich Clay

Soft clay with high sodium chloride salt concentration is a problem encountered by geotechnical and highway engineers. Chemical stabilization using cement is an attractive method to improve the engineering properties of soft soil. However, very limited studies have been conducted to reveal the effect of salt concentration on the engineering properties of cement-stabilized soil and the reported results in literature are not consistent. The impact of sodium chloride salt on the strength and stiffness properties of cement-stabilized Lianyungang marine clay is studied in this study. The clay with various sodium chloride salt concentrations was prepared artificially and stabilized by various contents of Ordinary Portland cement. A series of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests of cement stabilized clay specimen after 7, 14, and 28 days curing periods were carried out. The results indicate that a high sodium chloride salt concentration has a detrimental effect on the UCS and stiffness of cement-stabilized clay. The detrimental effect of salt concentration on the strength and stiffness of cement-stabilized clay directly relates to cement content. Soils mixed with high cement content are more resistant to the negative effect of salts than soils mixed with low cement content. The ratio of modulus of elasticity to UCS of cement treated soil does not have an obvious relationship with salt concentration. The findings of this study present a rational basis for the understanding of the impact of salt on the engineering properties of cement-treated soil.     

南海台西南盆地南部海域19 ka以来沉积物物源与输运机制分析

通过对南海台西南盆地南部海域TS6岩芯沉积物样品稀土元素地球化学特征和黏土矿物组合进行分析,探讨了研究区近19 ka (末次冰消期)以来沉积物物质来源、输运机制及物源变化特征。物源综合分析结果显示,台湾河流是研究区沉积物的主要源区,其中台湾西部河流较东部河流贡献更大,珠江也为研究区输送了部分沉积物。由于各源区物质主要黏土矿物种类及含量存在较大差异,推测研究区沉积物黏土矿物中的伊利石和绿泥石主要由台湾河流提供,高岭石主要由珠江提供,含量较少的蒙脱石由东南部的吕宋岛提供。末次冰消期以来,研究区陆源物质输入量受控于海平面变化而逐渐减少,黏土矿物组合反映的物源变化主要受控于气候和洋流变化,还可能叠加了多种因素的影响。     

Laboratory Study for Influence of Clay Content (CC) on Wave-Induced Liquefaction in Marine Sediments

In this artice, the influence of clay content on the wave-induced liquefaction in marine sediments was reported. The one-dimensional (1-D) equipment was setup with a vertical cylinder and 1.8–m–thick clayey sandy deposit and 0.2–m–thick water above the deposit. Unlike the previous experimental study for a single soil layer, this study used sand-kaolin mixtures, sand-illite mixtures, and sand-bentonite mixtures as the experimental samples. A series of experiments with 3,000 wave cycles in each test were conducted under numerous wave and soil conditions, which allowed us to examine the influence of clay content (CC) on wave-induced liquefaction in marine sediments. The experimental results showed that the clayey sandy deposit will become prone to liquefaction with the increase of CC when CC is less than a critical value, which depends on the type of clay. However, when CC is greater than the critical value, liquefaction depth will decrease as CC increases. Furthermore, when the CC value reaches a certain level, liquefaction will not occur. For example, no liquefaction occurs when CC ≥ 33% for both kaolin-sand and illite-sand mixtures and CC ≥ 16.36% for bentonite-sand mixtures.     

Time-Dependent Deformation Behavior of Jiangsu Marine Clay

In this article, the mechanical behavior of a Jiangsu marine clay was investigated by drained triaxial tests, traixial rheological tests, and one-dimensional compression and swelling tests. A visco-plastic model, the Bingham model combining two yield surfaces model, was proposed to describe the time-dependent deformation behaviors of the marine clay. The governing equation of Biot's consolidation theory for the visco-plastic soil is solved using a finite element code which incorporates the visco-plastic model. Using the finite element method, settlements of a typical embankment on the Lianxu expressway in China are calculated. Settlement calculations using the visco-plastic model are in agreement with the measured settlements in the field. The results demonstrate that the visco-plastic model is appropriate for calculating the visco-plastic deformations of Jiangsu marine clay. Theoretical and experimental studies show that the visco-plastic deformation of Jiangsu marine clay is substantial.     

Evaluating the stiffness of chemically stabilized marine clay

Cement-stabilized clay is widely used in soft clay improvement for deep excavation, underground construction, and land reclamation. This paper presents a study on the evaluation of elastic modulus for cement-stabilized marine clay. First, two types of cement-stabilized soils were studied through isotropic compression tests and cylinder split tensile tests. Specimens with different mix ratios and curing periods were used. Stress–strain behavior under isotropic compression was discussed, followed by an introduction and estimation of the stress-free bulk modulus. Empirical correlations between elastic moduli and functions for estimating elastic moduli were then proposed. Further estimation of elastic modulus was conducted with another data set. The results showed that the proposed function for estimating elastic modulus is effective for cement-improved marine clay. Finally, the proposed method and empirical functions were validated with other types of cement-stabilized clay.     

筒型基础安装过程中筒内土塞生成的可视化模拟计算

筒型基础安装过程中,筒内的负压作用会导致土塞现象的出现。以试验模型为基础建立可变形离散元计算模型,通过VC＋＋编制的程序SPSAⅡ对筒型基础负压沉贯中土塞的生成过程进行可视化模拟计算。考虑渗流力、筒壁内外摩擦阻力和筒内负压吸力作为土塞产生的主要外荷载,分别模拟渤海地区3种典型土（黏土、粉土和砂土）的情况。其中,粉土情况下。程序的收敛速度最快,黏土情况下,土塞的计算高度最接近试验测量值,数值计算结果表明该计算方法作为筒型基础施工前筒内土塞高度的预测方法是可行的。     

深海沉积物分类与命名的参数指标和主成分分析

对于南海中部(118个表层沉积物样,水深82~4 420 m)、东部(106个表层沉积物样,水深700~4 508 m)海域的表层沉积物的粒度资料按小于200 m,200~2 000 m,大于2 000 m水深段对水深、平均粒径、黏土含量进行统计分析,结果表明从陆架到陆坡再到深海,平均粒径和黏土含量随水深增加呈非常有规律的变化;把大于2 000 m水深区域再细分为大于2 500 m,大于3 000 m,大于3 500 m,结果表明平均粒径和黏土含量随水深增加几乎无变化,在南海中部水深大于2 000 m海域平均粒径为3.39~3.54μm,黏土平均含量为54.91%~55.47%;在南海东部水深大于2 000 m海域平均粒径为3.25~3.37μm,黏土平均含量为53.91%~54.56%。研究表明2 000 m水深具有划分深海沉积物的指示意义。南海中部水深大于2 000 m海域黏土平均含量为55.19%,平均粒径为3.39μm;在南海东部水深大于2 000 m海域黏土平均含量为53.91%,平均粒径为3.37μm;在南海中部、东部水深大于2 000 m海域平均粒径均小于4μm,黏土平均含量均大于50%,表明深海沉积物粒度特征是平均粒径小于4μm和黏土平均含量大于50%。黏土含量是非生物组分的代表和划分深海沉积物类型的一个独立参数,钙质生物和硅质生物组分是另外两个独立参数。南海东部海域表层沉积物中55种元素总含量为47.50%,硅、铝、钛、钠、钾、磷、钙、镁、铁、锰十种主元素含量为47.03%,其他45种元素含量为0.47%,虽然沉积物来源复杂、成因不同,但沉积物化学主成分并不复杂,主要由前10种主元素和氧元素组成。沉积物主元素铝、钙、硅分别富集于黏土、钙质沉积、硅质沉积中。通过建立沉积物生源组分与碳酸钙、三氧化二铝、二氧化硅的量化关系,可把碳酸钙、生物二氧化硅作为钙质生物和硅质生物的两个替代参数。     

Use of the dilatometer test to estimate the maximum shear modulus of normally consolidated Busan clay

ABSTRACT

The aim of this experimental study is to estimate the maximum shear modulus (G_max) of normally consolidated clayey soils using the results of a dilatometer test (DMT). A series of DMTs was conducted at the Busan New Port and Noksan sites in South Korea. In addition, basic index tests, bender element tests (i.e., shear wave velocity (V_s) measurements), and standard 1-D consolidation tests were performed using the undisturbed specimens. The results demonstrate that the G_max of normally consolidated Busan clays cannot be adequately captured by the horizontal stress index (K_D)-based empirical formula. Therefore, a G_max estimating formula for normally consolidated clayey soils is newly suggested in this study using the dilatometer constrained modulus (M_DMT) and stress-normalized material index (I_D). Most notably, the estimated G_max values using the suggested formula are comparable with the measured G_max of both this study and the previous study on normally consolidated clayey soils.     

Geology and geotechnical characteristics of sediments in east bay area,Mississippi delta

Abstract

Deltaic sedimentation has produced an accumulation of clay and silt with a maximum thickness of 90 m in East Bay area. Sediments in the upper 50 m grade from interbedded sand, silt, and clay near South Pass and Southwest Pass to predominantly clay in the central part of the area. The variation in the types of sediments and rates of deposition greatly affected the engineering properties of these deposits. Sediments from boreholes in the central part of the area have shear strengths of less than 10 kPa to a depth of at least 50 m. Near the distributaries, shear strength increases with depth; values as high as 43 kPa were measured in sediments in the upper 50 m. These sediments are generally stronger and coarser, and have a lower water content and liquid limit than do sediments at comparable depths in the central part of the area.     

Microfabric and rock properties of experimentally compressed silt-clay mixtures

Oedometric mechanical compaction tests were performed on brine-saturated synthetic samples consisting of silt-clay mixtures to study changes in microfabric and rock properties as a function of effective stress. The silt consisted of crushed quartz (∼100%) with grain size range between 4 and 40 μm, whereas the clay consisted of 81% kaolinite, 14% mica/illite and 5% microcline of grain size between 0.4 and 30 μm. Five sample pairs ranging in composition from pure silt to pure clay were compacted to 5 and 50 MPa effective stress respectively. SEM studies were carried out to investigate microfabric changes in the mechanically compacted silt-clay mixtures. The degree of alignment of the different minerals present (quartz, mica/illite and kaolinite) were computed by using an image analysis software. Experimental compaction have measured the changes in the rock properties such as porosity and velocity as a function of effective stress for different mixtures of clay and silt. Clay-rich samples showed a higher degree of mineral orientation and lower porosity compared to silt-dominated samples as a function of effective stress. Pure clay sample had 11% porosity at 50 MPa effective stress whereas the pure silt sample retained about 29% porosity at the same effective stress. The experiments showed that low porosity down to 11% is possible by mechanical compaction only. A systematic increase in strain was observed in the silt-clay mixtures with increasing clay content but the porosity values found for the 50:50 silt-clay mixture were lower than that of 25:75 silt-clay mixture. No preferential mineral orientation is expected before compaction owing to the high initial porosity suggesting that the final fabric is a direct result of the effective stress. Both P- and S-wave velocities increased in all silt-clay mixtures with increasing effective stress. The maximum P- and S-wave velocities were observed in the 25:75 silt-clay mixture whereas the minimum Vp and Vs were recorded in the pure silt mixture. At 50 MPa effective stress P- wave velocities as high as 3 km/s resulted from experimental mechanical compaction alone. The results show that fine-grained sediment porosity and velocity are dependent on microfabric, which in turn is a function of grain size distribution, particle shape, sediment composition and stress. At 5 MPa effective stress, quartz orientation increased as a function of the amount of clay indicating that clay facilitate rotation of angular quartz grains. Adding clay from 25% to 75% in the silt-clay mixtures at 50 MPa effective stress decreased the quartz alignment. The clay mineral orientation increased by increasing both the amount of clay and the effective stress, the mica/illite fabric alignment being systematically higher than that of kaolinite. Even small amount of silt (25%) added to pure clay reduced the degree of clay alignment significantly. This study demonstrates that experimental compaction of well characterized synthetic mudstones can be a useful tool to understand microfabric and rock properties of shallow natural mudstones where mechanical compaction is the dominant process.     

Sound speed dispersion characteristics of three types of shallow sediments in the southern yellow sea

To accurately characterize sound speed dispersion of shallow sediments in the Southern Yellow Sea, three types of sediments, i.e., silt, clayey silt, and silty clay, were selected to measure the sound speeds at 25–250?kHz. Over the frequency range, the sound speeds vary approximately from 1,536 to 1,565?m?s^?1 in silt sediment, from 1,511 to 1,527?m?s^?1 in clayey silt sediment, and from 1,456 to 1,466?m?s^?1 in silty clay sediment. The sound speed exhibits a slow increase with frequency in a nearly linear gradient, but these three types of sediments have different sound speed dispersion characteristics. The silt sediment with relatively coarse grains has the most significant sound speed dispersion, while the sound speed dispersions of the two others are relatively weak. Comparison between the measured dispersions and the model predictions shows that the grain-shearing model can match the measured data at most of frequencies. Nevertheless, when the grain bulk modulus was assigned 3.2?×?10¹⁰?Pa according to relevant references, the Biot–Stoll model predictions were higher than the measured values at high frequencies; when it was assigned a relatively small value of 2.8?×?10¹⁰?Pa, the model predictions achieved optimal matching with the measured values.     

风场对SWAN模式在台湾海峡后报结果的影响

本文利用SWAN模式模拟分析了CCMP和DASCAT两种常用风场数据在台湾海峡海面的浪场结果。东北季风期3个月的浪场模拟结果与浮标实测波高时序数据相比,偏差均值不大于0.33 m,偏差均方根不大于0.59 m。一般在浮标波高大于3.5 m和小于1.0 m时,偏差偏大。6 h分辨率的风场数据相较于24 h分辨率风场数据对应的模拟结果更接近于浮标实测结果。在6 h和24 h分辨率的CCMP风场数据和24 h分辨率的DASCAT风场数据的模拟结果中,两两结果间的空间相关系数均不低于0.90,偏差均值不大于0.32 m,偏差均方根不大于0.4 m。