Compression and undrained shear strength of remoulded clay mixtures

Abstract

Clay mixtures are a by-product from open pit mining during the excavation of various soil layers. The mechanical behaviour of landfills composed of these clay mixtures is complex. In the present study, two clays were used to produce soil mixtures artificially in the laboratory. The physical properties, compression behaviour and remoulded undrained shear strength of the resulting materials were investigated. The test results show that the actual measured values of the liquid limit were close to the expected theoretical value (the constituents are supposed to contribute proportionally to their amounts), but there was a non-negligible difference in the plasticity indices. The constants of intrinsic compressibility are affected by both the initial void ratio and the liquid limit. The remoulded shear strength of the clay mixtures can be also normalised with the liquid limit or the consistency index.