Undrained shear strength and water content distribution of remoulded clay mixtures

Abstract

This study proposes a simple model for predicting the undrained shear strength and water content distribution of remoulded clay mixtures with non-swelling clay minerals. The model is based on simplifying the structure of a clay mixture in which the elements of the constituents are randomly distributed in a representative elementary volume. By defining a water content ratio (the ratio of water contents between constituents), the undrained shear strength of each constituent is estimated separately and then combined with corresponding volume fractions. Comparisons between the experimental data and predictions indicate that the proposed model can represent well the undrained shear strength of the clay mixtures.