Abstract
A large number of experimental studies on sand–clay mixtures are well documented in the literature; however, the preparation protocol is rarely clearly detailed or varies a lot according to the authors. Variations in the preparation technique obviously increases the challenge of comparing different test results. As a consequence, sample preparation for sand–clay mixtures should be kept as constant as possible to ensure homogeneity and uniformity of samples and limit result variability. This paper develops a detailed procedure on how to prepare sand–clay samples for interface direct shear tests. Sand–clay mixtures are prepared with Fontainebleau sand, kaolinite clay and distilled water by the S1 (sand–water–clay) protocol. The uniformity of the reconstituted specimens is assessed by measuring the water content and density on three slices from the top to the bottom across the specimens. The repeatability of the samples is checked with oedometer and interface direct shear tests. This sample preparation procedure can be used for preparing sand–clay mixture for interface direct shear tests to investigate the influence of clay content or other effects (e.g., temperature) on the mechanical behavior of soil–structure interface. It has demonstrated great performance in preparing samples with good homogeneity and shape, compared to other traditional reconstitution techniques. With the sample preparation procedure, we can obtain repeatable test results as well.
Highlights
The behavior between soil and construction materials is of major concern in soil–structure interaction problems including deep foundations, retaining walls, nuclear waste disposal, heat storage, geothermal piles, cutoff structures, coal mine shaft failure, marine energy foundations, earth reinforcement, etc. [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
This study presents a method to prepare sand–clay mixture samples for interface direct shear tests
Regarding the high number of experimental studies involving very variable preparations of soil samples, mixtures consisting of Fontainebleau sand, kaolinite clay, and water were prepared by the S1 protocol to verify the uniformity and repeatability of the samples
Summary
The behavior between soil and construction materials is of major concern in soil–structure interaction problems including deep foundations, retaining walls, nuclear waste disposal, heat storage, geothermal piles, cutoff structures, coal mine shaft failure, marine energy foundations, earth reinforcement, etc. [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Shear stresses and strains occur at the interface between the soil and the structure due to the difference in mechanical properties of the materials. Interface direct shear tests have often been adopted to study the behavior of soil–structure interfaces [14,17,20,21,22,23,24] Several factors such as soil properties, materials, loading conditions, temperature effect, and surface roughness have been investigated to study their effects on the interface characteristics [7,13,17,18,22,25,26,27,28,29,30,31]
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