Experimental study of the overconsolidation and saturation effects on the mechanical characteristics and residual strength of Chlef river sandy soil

Abstract

This paper presents a laboratory study of the influence of the saturation evaluated in terms of Skempton´s pore pressure coefficient (B) and overconsolidation ratio (OCR) on the behavior of Chlef sand. The study is based on drained and undrained triaxial compression tests which were carried out for Skempton´s pore pressure coefficient varying between 13 and 90% and OCR varying between 1 and 8. Tests were conducted on medium dense sand samples having an initial relative density Index Id = 0.5 at an effective stress of 100 kPa. The paper is composed of two parts. The first one presents the characteristics of the sand used in this study, the second provides an analysis of the experimental results and discusses the influence of Skempton´s pore pressure coefficient (B) and OCR on the mechanical characteristics of the sand. The tests show that the increase in the Skempton´s pore pressure coefficient (B) reduces the soil dilatancy and amplifies the phase of contractancy and reduces the frictional and characteristic angle of the sand. The increase of OCR improves the stiffness of sand and accelerates the appearance of dilatancy; and increases frictional and characteristic angle of the sand. Moreover, the present study focuses on the effect of saturation and overconsolidation on the residual shear strength of sand.