Effects of low clay content on the anisotropic behavior of sand-clay mixtures: laboratory investigation using TSHCA

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Undrained behavior of sandy soil with fines content is a challenge in geotechnical research. In this article, the effect of low clay content (plastic Kaolin) on the anisotropic behavior of sand is studied. In the technical literature, there are different data about the effect of fine particles (generally high percentage), but there are not enough studies on low fines content (especially plastic fines) and anisotropic conditions. For this purpose, 30 undrained tests are performed using a torsional shear hollow cylindrical apparatus (TSHCA) with constant (αo) and (b) values on Firoozkuh sand. The specimens had Kaolin contents of 0, 3, 5, 7 and 10%, and the inclination angle (αo) is varied from 15o to 60o. The specimens are prepared by dry deposition method and are consolidated under P'c= 100 and 200 kPa. The results of the experiments show that increasing the (αo) leads to more contractive behavior in sand. By adding clay particles to the host sand up to 3%, the peak strength of the specimen is increased (7% and 6% for α=15°and 30°, respectively), and then with the increase of clay content up to 10%, the strength of the specimen is decreased (33% and 22% for α=15°and 30°, respectively). But at α = 60o, with the addition of 5% clay, decrease in the peak strength is observed (about 15%) and with a further increase in the clay content, unlike the angles of 15o and 30o, increase in the peak strength of the specimen is observed, so that at 10% clay, the strength of the specimen is higher than the host sand (about 7%), which can be attributed to the cohesion nature of the clay particles. With the increase of clay content, anisotropy degree is decreased. In other words, with the increase of fines content, the anisotropic behavior is decreased.