Investigation of thixotropy of underwater silty soils

Abstract

In the natural state, thixotropic phenomena in soils most often occur under external loads of a dynamic nature: earthquakes, vibrations from moving vehicles, working machines and mechanisms. Data on the study of soil thixotropy indicate that under dynamic load to reduce the strength and go into a liquid state can be dispersed soils of different types, genesis and age. The influence of dynamic loading is especially significant in the case of poorly compacted and water-saturated sandy and clay soils.
 At dynamic loading there can be both consolidation of soil and accordingly increase in its durability, and decrease in durability. More often it is necessary to face processes of decrease in durability and thinning of soils at dynamic influence. The most studied processes occurring in water-saturated sands. The state of liquefaction during vibration occurs due to the destruction of contacts between individual grains, the strength of sandy soil drops to almost zero. After removing the vibration load, the grains of sand under the influence of their own weight move down, causing compression of the liquid phase. The more sands contain fine particles and organic matter, the longer they retain a liquid state, the slower the squeezing of water and compaction. The possibility of thinning sandy soils is determined not so much by natural porosity, but by the stress of the soil and the nature of vibration.