ISSN: 0149-6115
Page Count: 8

1 g Small-Scale Modelling of Saturated Cohesive Soils

Bray, JD
Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering,Purdue University,IN,

Seed, RB
Professor of Civil Engineering,University of California,CA,

Seed, HB
University of California,CA,

Abstract

This paper describes the use of 1 g small-scale models composed of weak, saturated clay mixtures to investigate the response of natural clay deposits to underlying base rock fault displacements. A 3:1 mixture of kaolinite and bentonite at water contents between 150 and 100% produces a material with undrained shear strengths on the order of 1 to 2.5 kPa and well-scaled stress deformation behavior for small-scale model testing without the need for a centrifuge apparatus. Strength testing indicated that the axial strain at failure could be controlled to evaluate the importance of this parameter in base deformation testing. It was found that the height of the shear zone in the saturated clay overlying the base rock fault offset was related to the magnitude of base movement and the failure strain of the soil.

Keywords:
cohesive soils, earthquakes, failure, faults, physical models

Paper ID: GTJ10266J
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ10266J
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