Stiffness decay characteristics and disturbance effect evaluation of structured clay based on in-situ tests

Abstract

The structure of the sedimentary clay influences its mechanical behavior in non-negligible ways. This paper proposes an effective approach for investigating the in-situ stiffness characteristics from shear modulus and strain decay curves (G–γ curves) based on self-boring pressuremeter and seismic dilatometer tests. To evaluate the excavation disturbance effects on the structured clay, the stiffness parameters from pre-bored pressuremeter tests are compared with the results of self-boring pressuremeter tests. The result indicates that the complete in-situ G–γ curves can be acquired by integrating the strain-dependent tangent shear modulus Gt from self-boring pressuremeter tests and the small-strain modulus G0 from seismic dilatometer tests. Simultaneous observations of the G–γ curves with hyperbolic shapes in semi-logarithmic coordinates at the same strain scale show the similarity of the stiffness decay mode of the soil at different depths. The increase in the measured values of Gt and G0 with depth can be attributed to the improved consolidation pressures and cemented strength in the structured clay. Additionally, the G/G0–γ curves measured by the in-situ tests generally agree well with the results predicted by the Stokoe model. The excavation disturbance weakens the stiffness of the structured clay, as evidenced by Gt from the pre-bored pressuremeter data being significantly smaller than that from self-boring pressuremeter tests at the same depth. Based on quantitative analysis, the disturbance degree computed from the measured results has a low sensitivity to the soil depth and a strong negative correlation with the strain level of the soil. This study provides an effective method for predicting the stiffness parameters of structured soil based on in-situ tests.