Variation of cohesive sediment strength with stress level

Abstract

Undrained strengths of a range of natural cohesive soils are investigated over an effective stress range of 0.1 to 10 MPa. The resedimentation technique is effectively used to produce identical samples for KO-consolidated undrained triaxial compression testing. Normalized shear stress - strain responses and undrained strength ratios are found to vary considerably and consistently when viewed over a significant stress range. The undrained strength ratio of a soil and its variation with stress level can be estimated from liquid limit, an easily measured index property which reflects clay mineralogy and clay fraction of a cohesive soil. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.