Effect of initial water content and pore water chemistry on intrinsic compression behavior

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe effect of initial water content (w0) and pore water chemistry on the intrinsic compression curve of clays was investigated experimentally. The test results indicate that w0 had a considerable effect on the intrinsic compression curve of a clay, and the degree of the effect is a function of pore water chemistry. The fundamental mechanism of the effect of w0 and pore water chemistry on the intrinsic compression curve is through its influence on the microstructure of clays. For relatively stable flocculated microstructures, the effect of w0 will disappear under a small value of effective vertical consolidation stress, σ′v, for example, σ′v < 20 kPa; under one-dimensional deformation condition, but for a dispersive microstructure, the effect of w0 can remain up to σ′v > 1,000 kPa. Furthermore, it has been shown that when σ′v is larger than the remolded yield stress, almost all the test data follow the intrinsic compression line (ICL) proposed by Burland. Finally, based on the test data, a new equation for estimating void ratio () under σ′v = 100 kPa on ICL from the void ratio (el) corresponding to the liquid limit water content has been proposed.