Republic of Iraq

Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research

University of Technology
Building and Construction Department

Geotechnical Engineering

Sensitivity and thixotropic of

clay

By: Kamal K. Alwan

Sensitivity of clay

Clay sensitivity is defined as the ratio of strength

between the undisturbed soil and the remodeled one
and, were most undisturbed natural clayey soil
deposits show a pronounced reduction of strength
when they are remolded.
Sensitivity=

Su undisturbed
Su remolded

The classification of clays based on sensitivity is

:as follows
Sensitivity
1
12
24
48
816
16 <

Clay
Insensitive
Low sensitivity
Medium sensitivity
Sensitive
Extra sensitive
Quick

most clays sensitivity generally falls in a range 18. However,

a sensitivity of 150 for a clay deposit at St Thurible, Canada,
was reported by Peck et al. (1951).
There are some factors may be responsible for the reduction
in the strength of the clay one of them is the breakdown of
the original structure of natural deposits and the other one is
known as thixotropy.

Thixotropy of clay
Thixotropy (form the Greek thix, meaning touch and tropein,
meaning to change) is defined as an isothermal, reversible,
time-dependent process that occurs under constant
composition and volume, whereby a material softens as a
result of remolding and then gradually returns to its original
strength when allowed to rest, the regaining of a part of the
strength after remolding has important application in
connection with pile-driving operations, and other types of
construction in which disturbance of natural formation is
inevitable
if a remolded clay sample with sensitivity greater than one is
allowed to stand without further disturbance and change in
water content, it may regain at least part of its original
strength and stiffness. This increase in strength is due to the
gradual reorientation of the absorbed molecules of water
Most soils, however, are partially thixotropicthat is, part of
the strength loss caused by remolding is never regained with
time. The nature of the strength-time variation for partially
thixotropic materials. For soils, the difference between the
undisturbed strength and the strength after thixotropic
hardening can be attributed to the destruction of the clayparticle structure that was developed during the original
process of sedimentation. The effect of thixotropy in clay by
Seed and Chan (1959) is shown in figure (1)
Thixotropic strength ratio=

cu(at timet after com paction)

cu(at timet=0 after compaction )

Figure(1) Thixotropy of a clay

Some clays turn to viscous fluids upon remolding. These clays
are found mostly in the previously glaciated areas of North
America and Scandinavia. Such clays are referred to as
quickclays. Rosenqvist (1953) classified clays on the basis of
their sensitivity.
Figure (2), which is based on the work of Moretto (1948),
shows the thixotropic strength regain of a Laurentian clay with
a liquidity index of 0.99 (i.e., the natural water content was
approximately equal to the liquid limit). In Figure (3), the
acquired sensitivity is defined as
Acquired sensitivity=

Su(t )
Su(remolded)

Figure (2) Acquired sensitivity for Laurentian clay (after Seed

and Chan, 1959)

Figure (3) Variation of sensitivity with liquidity index for Laurentian clay (after
Seed and Chan, 1959).

where Su(t) is the undrained shear strength after a time t

from remolding. Acquired sensitivity generally decreases with

the liquidity index (i.e., the natural water content of soil), and
this is demonstrated in Figure (3). It can also be seen from
this figure that the acquired sensitivity of clays with a liquidity
index approaching zero (i.e., natural water content equal to
the plastic limit) is approximately one. Thus, thixotropy in the
case of overconsolidated clay is very small.
There are some clays that show that sensitivity cannot be
entirely accounted for by thixotropy (Berger and Gnaedinger,
1949). This means that only a part of the strength loss due to
remolding can be recovered by hardening with time. The
other part of the strength loss is due to the breakdown of the
original structure of the clay. The general nature of the
strength regain of a partially thixotropic material is shown in
Figure (4).

Figure (4) Regained strength of a partially thixotropic material

Seed and Chan (1959) conducted several tests on three

compacted clays with a water content near or below the
plastic limit to study their thixotropic strength-regain
characteristics. Figure (5) shows their thixotropic strength
ratio with time. The thixotropic strength ratio is defined as
follows:
Thixotropic strength ratio=

Su(t)
Su compacted at (t=0)

where Su(t) is the undrained strength at time t after

compaction

Figure (5) Increase of thixotropic strength with time for three

compacted clays
(after Seed and Chan, 1959).

These test results demonstrate that thixotropic strengthregain is also possible for soils with a water content at or near
the plastic limit.
Figure (6) shows a general relation between sensitivity,
liquidity index, and effective vertical pressure for natural soil
deposits.

Figure (6) General relation between sensitivity, liquidity index,

and effective vertical stress.

References:
1 - Braja M. Das .Advanced Soil Mechanics, Third edition
2- V. N. S. Murthy Geotechnical Engineering