SEDL / STP / STP883-EB / STP36341S

Three-Dimensional Stress Relaxation Behavior of Marine Sediments

Drumright, EE
Graduate student and professor of civil engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

Nelson, JD
Graduate student and professor of civil engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

Pages: 12    Published: Jan 1985

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Abstract

An experimental program was conducted to investigate the creep-relaxation behavior of ocean bottom sediments under a three-dimensional state of stress. At the onset of stress relaxation, a linear relationship was found to exist between the octahedral shear stress and the logarithm of time, over some finite time span. The magnitude of stress decrease and the rate of relaxation was larger for a highly plastic marine clay than for a low plasticity silty clay. Both clays were able to sustain a constant, nonzero value of octahedral shear stress at the completion of the relaxation phase of each experiment. The minimum value of the octahedral shear stress was accurately computed using a hyperbolic fit of the observed data.