Performance of total stress cells in model experiments in soft clays

Abstract

It is well known that the isotropic fluid calibration does not truly reflect the response of the total stress cell in soil owing to soil-cell interaction. The objective of this paper is to examine the reliability of the total stress readings given by the stress cells under a variety of conditions. In this study, total stress cells were tested in dry kaolin and saturated kaolin at 1g and at high-g in centrifuge environment. The results show that total stress cells incur significant under-reading of the applied stress when tested in dry soil. The amount of under-reading also appears to depend upon whether the cell is facing the direction of the load or in a transverse direction. Using a saturated soil under 1g conditions leads to a reduction in under-reading errors. The best results were obtained by testing the total stress cell in saturated soil under high-g conditions. The results show that the stress cells should be calibrated, not just in the soil type in which they are to be used but also under conditions similar to that in which they will be used.