ISSN: 0149-6115
Page Count: 15

Influence of Reconsolidation Techniques and Strain Rate on the Stiffness of Undisturbed Clays from Triaxial Tests

Lo Presti, DCF
Associate professor,Politecnico di Torino,

Pallara, O
Technician,Politecnico di Torino,

Cavallaro, A
Post-graduate student,University of Catania,

Jamiolkowski, M
Professor,Politecnico di Torino,

(Received 15 June 1998; accepted 26 March 1999)

Abstract

This paper concerns the stiffness assessment of undisturbed clays from triaxial tests. The paper summarizes the research activity undertaken at the authors' universities over the last five years by means of triaxial cells equipped with local gages for axial and radial strain measurements and with piezoceramic bender elements for the measurement of the propagation velocity of differently polarized shear waves. The main purpose of this research was to define reliable test procedures in order to determine the stiffness of geomaterials to be used for settlement analysis under working load conditions. In particular the paper deals with four different topics: (1) evaluation of sample disturbance by means of different methods, (2) assessment of the reconsolidation techniques that minimize the sample disturbance effects, (3) influence of strain rate on the stiffness of undisturbed clays, (4) stiffness anisotropy of undisturbed clays at small strains.

Keywords:
undisturbed clays, triaxial tests, reconsolidation techniques, stiffness, stiffness anisotropy, strain rate

Paper ID: GTJ11112J
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ11112J
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