COASTAL GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING IN PRACTICE

VOLUME 1
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM - IS-YOKOHAMA 2000
YOKOHAMA/JAPAN/20 - 22 SEPTEMBER 2000

st te C
n n ice
Edited by
Akio Nakase
Nikken S e k k i Co., Ltd., Japan
Takashi Tsuchida
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Japan

VOLUME 1

A A . BALKEMA/ROTTERDAM/BROOKFIELD/2000
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 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Table of contents

Preface xv
Organization XVII

1 Exploration of soft ground and determination of soil parameters

GIS applications in civil engineering 3
A. Visvunuthun, VSanthuswurubun, R. G.Sumy & M. Kuntharuj
Classification of methods to determine shear strength of clay for design purposes 9
H.Asudu, K. Suzuki, Y: Miturui & H. Hunzuwu
Correlation equations for normal consolidated clays 15
C Cherubini & C I. Giusi
Some aspects of settlement in thick soil deposits 21
S.G. Chung, S. K. Kim & N. K Lee
Evaluation of strength of marine surface sedirnents 27
M. Fukue, KTukami, I: Ide, S. Kuboshimu & S.Yumusuki
Liquefaction criteria for a non-plastic silt 33
I:Higuchi, A. F: L,Hyde & K. Yusuhuru
Compressibility of sensitive Ariake clays 39
2.Hong & TTsuchidu
Cyclic shear strength of marine clays 45
M. Hyodo, N. Yoshimoto,A. F: L. Hyde, YYumumoto & 7:Fujii
Experimental study on the consolidation properties of Osaka Pleistocene clay 51
by separated-type consolidometer test
M. S. Kung & TTsuchidu
Application of CPT on site investigation in a reclaimed land of West Taiwan 57
D.-H.Lee.J.-WChen & C-S.Ku
Permeability characteristics of dredged sludges mixed with crushed oyster shells 63
K. H. Lee, M. Kuzumu, EYanugisuwu & K. Terudu

V
Creep effects on G,,, of clayey soils in 1-D consolidation tests 67
T.N Lohani, G. Imai, K.Tani & S. Shibuya
Applicability of correlation of shear modulus 73
0.Mishima, H.Tanaka, D. R. Shiwakoti & M.Tanaku
Correction of unconfined compressive strengths based on residual effective stress 77
TMitachi, X Kudoh, I;:Fukuda.& MTsushirna
The coefficient of permeability of clays determined from permeability test 83
and consolidation test
T.Moriwaki, K. Urnehara,K. Horiuchi & H. Yoshikuni
KO-consolidationbehavior and dependence of undrained shear strength on consolidation time 89
for marine clay
S.Nishie & L.Wang
Determination of consolidation parameters for clay sludge by centrifuge 95
M. Nishirnura, M. Katagiri, M.Terashi & K. Saitoh
Consolidation inverse analysis using pore water pressure measurement 101
S.Nishirnura, H. Fujii & K. Shimada
Vane shear tests for an unsaturated silty soil in the laboratory 107
?:Nishirnura
‘Sensitivity ratio’ and ‘sampling disturbance’ of natural soils in terms of degradation 113
of soil structure
?:Noda, M. Nakuno, A.Asaoka & K. Mizuno
Mechanism of aging effect of alluvial marine clays with wide range of plasticity 119
N Noriyasu, M. Hyodo & N Miura
Deformation and strength characteristics of clay obtained by direct shear apparatus equipped 125
with bender elements
T.Ogino, HOikawa & TMitachi
Effects of heating on promotion of peat consolidation 131
HOikawa, TOgino & M. Igarashi
Classification and strength properties of coral gravelly soils - Case studies of the port 135
and coastal ground in Okinawa Islands
M.Oyadornari & H. Uehara
Correlations among liquidity index, undrained shear strength and fall cone penetration 141
of fine-grained soils
S. Shirnobe
A study on influences of diatom microfossils on soil behaviour 147
D. R. Shiwakoti, H Tanaku, M.Tanaka & 0.Mishirna
Applicability of the 45mm sampler for soft marine clay deposits 153
TShogaki,N Sakakibara, SYano, K. Watanabe & TSudo

VI
Undrained shear strength for natural clay deposits by shear tests 157
T Shogaki, S. Shirakawa & h? Sakukibara
Stress-displacementcharacteristics of natural clay deposits investigated by directed shear test 163
K. Suzuki, T Fukasawa, I% Hirabayashi, H Asada & R. Kamata
Relationships between vane strength and water content of very soft clays 167
XTanaka, G. Imai & M. Katagiri
Evaluating ageing effects of undrained shear strength of soft clays 173
M. Temma, S. Shibuya & T Mitachi
In-situ structure of Bangkok clay as measured in bender element test 181
h? Theramast, S. Shibuya & I:Ichikuwa
Evaluation methods of structure of aged marine deposits 187
TTsuchida
Consolidation of marine clays in compulsive electric current field 193
TTsuchida, T Kondo, M. Hashimoto, h? Yoshiizumi & Z. Hong
Nature of the Mekong Delta soft clay and its consolidation phenomenon 199
Le Ba Vinh, G.Imai & Nguyen Van Tho
Undrained shear strength of Pleistocene clay in Osaka Bay and its effect on the stability 205
of a large scale seawall structure
XWatabe, TTsuchida & KAdachi
Electro-osmosis properties of Singapore marine clay 21 1
B.M.Win, VChoa & X.Q.Zeng
Back analysis for determination of sedimentation and consolidation properties 217
TYamagami, J. -CJiang, K. Ueno & S. Sakai
An inter-link between stiffness at small strains and strength at large strains 223
of soft Bangkok clay
N. Yamamoto, M. Ternma & S. Shibuya
Rate effect on cyclic shear strength of clays of varying plasticity 229
XYamamoto, M. Hyodo & T Fujii
Correlations in soft ground engineering 235
Yudhbir

2 Prediction and performance of earth structures on soft ground

Insidious settlement of super-reclaimedoffshore seabed 243
K.Akui
Field verification of suction pile installation in sand 249
S. Bang, Echo, S. Kanorski & R.Taylor
Mechanism of penetration and soil compaction effect of jacked pile 255
WChen,J. Y: Shi & ? Zhao
B.I?

VI I
A rational procedure for comparing measured and calculated values in geotechnics 26 1
C Cherubini & 7:L.L. Orr
Case study of a failed embankment with consideration of progressive failure 267
VChou & H. Hanzuwu
On-line earthquake response tests on embankments based on clay foundation 27 1
7:Fujii, M. Hyodo, S Kusukabe & YYurnurnoto
A numerical model for consolidation based on microscopic consideration 277
S. Fukuharu, H. Shikatu & R. Kitamuru
Soil nailed structure in soft clay 283
L.Guo, K.-H.Xie & H.-WYing
Case studies on six earth structures constructed on soft clay deposits 287
H. Hunzuwu, 7:Kishidu, 7:Fukasuwa & K. Suzuki
A field test on a new chemical grouting method to improve the liquefaction resistance 29 1
of sandy layers beneath the existing structures
K. Huyushi, R.Yoshikawu, h?Huyushi, K. Zen & HYurnuzaki
Case history of the reclamation at Island City in Fukuoka 299
K.Henrni, M. Kutugiri, M.Terushi & K. Fukudu
Change of consolidation characteristics of clay from dredging to reclamation 307
M. Kutugiri, M.Terashi, K. Henrni & K. Fukuda
Limit analysis of sheet pile type retaining walls 315
S. KObuyashi
Seismic retrofit design for liquefaction-induced ground displacement mitigation 321
M. Kondoh & I. Tuwuru
Prediction and management of consolidation settlement with master-curve method in Tokyo 325
International Airport
D. Kozuwu, S Yurnuguchi,H. Matsurnoto,M.Arutu, H. Nukanodo & Y;Kunno
Analysis of lumpy fill 333
R. Munivunnun, C E Leung & S.A. Tun
Deformation and excess pore water pressure of the Pleistocene marine deposits 339
due to offshore reclamation
M. Mirnuru & Y; Surnikura
Observation and analysis of ground deformation of a road embankment on a manmade island 345
S. Ohrnaki,K. Sueki, S. Shikatu & S Suzuki
Effects of some parameters on braced-excavation of soft clay by numerical studies 35 1
7:Pipatpongsa, H. Ohtu, A. Iizuka & M. Hushirnoto
Modeling of the behaviour of sand drains installed at a Naval Dockyard, Thailand 357
1.U!Redunu, B.Indruratnu, WSulirn & A S Bulusubramaniurn
Construction of vertical seawall - Prediction and performance 363
7:-$Tan, R-L.Leong, K-XYong, R. Kamata, J. Wei, K.-CChuu & Y-H.Loh

Vlil
A proposal of method for calculating consolidation settlement 369
K. Teradu
Effect of the lateral resistance of coupled piles on the field loading test 375
K. Terauchi, ir: Sato, M. Suwaguchi, k:Kikuchi, S. Kituzuwu & M. Imui
Characteristics analysis of granular fill on oil-tank soft soils 38 1
L.-Z Wung,X. Liung, 1:-Q.Cai& S.-M.Wu
Perturbation stochastic finite element method and its application in the reliability analysis 387
of excavation
J.-PXu,J.Zhou & Y-WChi
Effects of the back-filling to the stability of a caisson 393
K.Yamadu, k:Kikuchi, S. Eguchi & H.Shinshu
Method of probability analysis for breakwater stability 399
W-HZhung, k:-M.Chen & KJin
Numerical modelling for beach profile 407
W-H.Zhung, X-M. Chen & k:Jin

3 Improvement of soft ground by consolidation and compaction techniques

Kinking deformation of PVD under consolidation settlement of surrounding clay 415
H.Ahoshi, k:Sutoh, T Inoue & k:Shirnizu
Settlement behavior of improved soils using the packed drainage procedure 42 1
NArita, H. Tukuhashi,A Shihatu, TSusagawu, H. Yumudu & T Shogaki
Recent developments of ground improvement with PVD on soft Bangkok clay 429
0.7:Bergado & M.A. B. Putuwaran
Improvement of hydraulic fills by using dynamic consolidation method 437
J. -WChen & J.-M. Liuo
Accelerated consolidation method in Minami-Honmoku Terminal construction project 443
TChiba
Relationships between settlement and lateral displacement of soft ground under embankment 449
H.I. Chung, k:S Lee, K. H. Kim & K. N Jin
Influence of the void ratio in soils treated with air foam and cement 453
Y Huyashi & A.Suzuki
Design of prefabricated vertical drain method on reclaimed marine clay 459
H. Imanishi, D. Zhung & S Suwu
Fibredrain development, design and performance 465
S. L. Lee, G.l? Kurunurutne, M.A.Aziz & K. XYong
Ground behavior during the consolidation by vacuum preloading of soft clay layer 47 1
K, Mutsumoto, K.Nukakuma, H. Shima, H. Ichikawu & G.Imui

IX
Simplified prediction of the shape of up-heaved ground caused by SCP 477
NMori, TIto & T.Sano
Modelling the effects of surcharge to reduce long term settlement of reclamations 483
over soft clays
D,ET.Nash & SJ.Ryde
Stability of soft clay improved by SCP with low replacement ratios under backfilled 489
caisson loading
Md. Z. Rahmun, J. Takemuru, M. Koda & I: Mizuno
A case of vacuum preloading in combination with filling 495
I. Sandanbatu, K. Matsumoto, K. Nakakuma, M. Kubo, TYoshida, K. Yumuguchi & R.Aritu
Self-weight consolidation of dredged clay with plastic board drain 501
K. Sato, h?Yoshida & T.Nomura
Reclamation control of pump-dredged clay by CONAN 507
I:Satu, K. Ishinuki, M. Katugiri, M.Terushi & S Kituzawa
Field performance of PVD improved soft clay under embankment 515
S. L. Shen, C.WYung,N Miura & J. C Chai
Strength and deformation characteristics of cement-mixed soft clay 521
M. Sugui, ETutsuoka, M. Kuwabara & K. Sugo
Compaction pile method utilizing coal ash as filled material 529
H. Taki, I:Nishiu, H. Suzuki, M. Higu, K. Harada & H. Nitao
CPT investigation to the ground treated by deep mixing method using 533
Flyash Gypsum Cement
M. Tanaka, H. Tunaka,J.Asanu & K.Azurnu
Use of stone column for improvement of very soft clay in the marine swamp area 537
W Teparuksa
New design method of short vertical drains to improve a soft clayey ground 543
in the Mekong Delta
Le Bu Vinh & G.Imai
Implementation of mega soil improvement works 549
B.M. Win,R. Bawajee & VChoa
Design and construction method of compaction grouting as a ground-improving technique 557
against liquefaction
S.Yamaguchi, D. Kozuwa, M.Aratu, H. Matsumoto, M.Taki & I:Kanno
Effects on environmental aspect of new sand compaction pile method for soft soil 563
M.Yamumoto & M. Nozu

4 Engineered geo-materials made from solid wastes withl without chemical

treatment
Properties and application of expanded glass waste at lightweight ground material 571
H Abe, E. Fukazuwu, H. Mizutani & I:Kuto
X
A study on the soil improvement properties of FGC hardening agent 577
B.S.Chun &J.CKirn
A study on the ground improvement of year 2002 World Cup stadium site using 583
hardening agent
B. S. Chun, K. H. Kirn & H. S. Kwon
Compression characteristics of sludge cake 587
H. Fujii, S. Nishirnura, Y:Wakitani, T.Inoue, 0.Seino & h? Nishino
Effect of alkaline-earth metal cations on stabilization of loessial and clayey soil 593
using alkalizing
L. NGera & F: E.Volkov
Development of light-weight soil using excavated sand and its application for harbor 599
structures in cold regions
M. Hirasawa, S. Saeki, S. Kodarna, T.Yakuwa & TTsuchida
A new method for predicting strength of cement stabilized clays 605
S. Horpibulsuk, h? Miura & T.S. Nagaraj
Tire shreds as lightweight fill for construction on weak marine clay 61 1
D.N Hurnphrey,h? Whetten,J. Weaver & K. Recker
Consolidation property of a highly compressible construction waste sludge 617
M. Ibaraki, T.Sasahara, Y: Sugawara & H.Akagi
Application of shredded tires as lightweight backfill 623
J. Lee, R. Salgado & C W Love11
Minimization of heavy metal leaching effect from dredged sediments involving reclamation 629
M. Karnon, T. Katsurni, h? Sawa & K. Ito
Permeability of light-weight soil made of dredged slurry mixed with air foam and cement 635
Y:Kikuchi & H. Yoshino
Development of a construction method for revetment using fly ash and cement treated sand 641
S. Kitahara, M. Okazaki, Y:Wakayarna,H. Kobayashi & h? Tanaka
Field test on pneumatic flow mixing method for sea reclamation 647
M. Kitazume, NYoshino, H. Shinsha, R. Horii & Y: Fujio
Mixing design of liquefied stabilization soil with sand 653
M. Koda, S.Tanamura, 0.Murata, S.Takizawa, M. Ichihara & G.L.Jiang
Construction of immersed undersea tube tunnel (Tokyo West Fairway Tunnel) 657
on the very soft ground
TMasuda, E.Susaki & TMurunaku
Engineering properties of granulated blast furnace slag 663
H.Mutsuda, A? Kitayamu, YAndo, 7:Koreishi & Y:Nakano
Estimating the dimensions of lightweight fill behind a seawall using the slice method 669
Y:Miturai, T.Amino & Z:Yumarnuru

XI
Geo-material properties of wasted oyster shell-sand mixture and its application as material 675
for sand compaction pile
YMiyuji & TOkumura
Evaluation of engineering properties of in-situ light-weight soil with air foam using 68 1
X-ray CT technique
TMukunoki, J. Otuni, T Nugatome & I:Kikuchi
Geotechnical characteristics of stone-muck for construction material of port 687
and harbor structures
H.Nukajimu, E. Hurnadu, K Shinohara, T.Kondo, I:Kuwuzuru & S. Furuyu
Applications of fly ash as material for coastal works 693
T Okumuru
New ground material made of dredged soil for port and airport reclamation projects 697
TOkumura, S. Nodu, S. Kitazawu & K Wadu
Estimating the stochastic variability of geomaterials 703
A. Porbuhu, TTsuchida & T Kishida
Underwater casting test of light-weight treated soil made of waste soils 709
TSatoh, N Ueno, K. Mitsukuri, K. Kuwuno & TTsuchidu
Mechanical property of submerged coal fly ash 715
D. Suetsugu, I:Miyuta & K. Kogure
Strength characteristics of stabilized ground by Plug-Flow Mixing method 719
H.Tuguchi, N Yumane, F: Hushirnoto & A. Sakamoto
Advanced reuses of dredging by cement treatment in practical engineering 725
I:X.Tung, IMiyazuki & TTsuchida
Effect of organic matter on the compressibility of a soil treated with cement 733
H.Tremblay,J. Locut & S. Leroueil
Mechanical characteristics of a cement treated dredged soil utilized for waste 739
reclamation landfill
I:Wutube, TTsuchidu, 1:Furuno & H.Yuasa
Properties of foam composite lightweight soil including FRJP 747
I:Wutunube & T.Kaino
Effect of pozzolanic and frost actions on the mechanical properties of fly ashes 75 1
I:Wen, J. Bian & H.Cai
Applications of FL-CPT for project control in the coastal areas 757
NYurnane, H.Taguchi, T.Kishidu & A. Porbahu
Long-term stability of coal-fly-ash slurry man-made island 763
M.Yanagihuru, S. Horiuchi & M. Kawaguchi
Microscopic aspects of a light-weight geomaterial using fly ashes 77 1
K.Yasuhuru, S. Murukami, H. Kanuzawu, T Iikubo, H. Yoshino & S. Horiuchi
Improvement of strength characteristics of surplus soil by slag addition 777
KYokotu, R.Yatube, NYugi & N P Bhandary
Cyclic characterization of municipal solid waste by cyclic triaxial test 78 1
J. Zhou, XChi, TTriuntafyllidis & D. Konig

Author index 785

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 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Preface

Soft marine deposits in coastal areas have posed challenges to geotechnical engineers from planning,
designing and construction to maintenance phases of coastal development activities throughout the
world. The international conference on ‘Geotechnical Engineering for Coastal Development’
(Geo-Coast ’91) was held in Yokohama, which attracted over 400 participants from all over the
world. A Technical Committee (TC-30) was established in 1994 by ISSMGE to promote exchange
of information on technical issues related to coastal geotechnical engineering. The TC-30 co-
sponsored the International Symposium on ‘Compression and Consolidation of Clayey Soils
(IS-Hiroshima ’95)’, and the workshop on ‘Characterization of Soft Marine Clays’ in Yokosuka
(1997). Subsequently,the TC-30 of ISSMGE and Japanese Geotechnical Society have organized the
International Symposium on ‘Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice (IS-Yokohama 2000)’.
This symposium brings together professionals who are actively involved as coastal development
planners, consultants, contractors, practicing geotechnical engineers, researchers, academicians and
students from various parts of the world. It offers them excellent opportunities to share their
concerns, exchange their skills, knowledge and ideas and also learn from others about cost-effective
solutions for diverse geotechnical problems related to coastal development.
The symposium themes are as follows:
Theme 1. Exploration of soft ground and determination of soil parameters:
- In situ investigation techniques and laboratory tests;
- Soft soil characterization.
Theme 2. Prediction and performance of earth structures on soft ground:
- Case studies;
- Applications and limitations of numerical analysis;
- Reliability-based design and observational methods.
Theme 3. Improvement of soft ground by consolidation and compaction techniques:
- Vertical drains (PVD, granular drains);
- Vacuum consolidation;
- Sand compaction piles.
Theme 4. Engineered geo-materials made from solid wastes witWwithout chemical treatment:
- Industrial byproducts (such as fly ash, slag, etc.);
- Lightweight geo-materials made of waste soils.
A total of 175 abstracts was submitted and was reviewed by the reviewing committee. Every
submitted paper was reviewed by two reviewers. After reviewing the manuscripts of the full papers,
the organizing committee finally accepted 131 papers from 17 countries and areas.
The organizing committee wishes to express sincere thanks to the authors who offered their latest
products and precious achievements to enhance the attainments in the coastal geotechnical engineer-

xv
ing. The organizing committee also greatly appreciates those esteemed reviewers for their valuable
comments. A few devoted individuals who carried out the burden of the project and editing of the
proceedings were: Dr Y.Watabe, Dr M.S.Kang, Dr Z.Hong & Dr D.R.Shiwakoti of Port and
Harbour Research Institute. Their contributions are highly appreciated.

Akio Nakase
Chairperson of the Organizing Committee and ISSMGE TC-30
Nikken Sekkei Co., Ltd., Japan

Takashi Tsuchida
Secretary of the Organizing Committee and ISSMGE TC-30
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Japan

XVI
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Organization

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Prof. A. Nakase - Chairman

Dr TTsuchida - Secretary
Members:
Dr H. Hanzawa T. Sato
Y. Higuchi Dr K.Takahashi
Prof. G. Imai Prof. J.Takemura
Dr T. Inoue Prof. T.S.Tan
Dr T. Kishida Dr H.Tanaka
Dr M. Kobayashi Prof. K.Tani
D. Kozawa Dr M.Terashi
Prof. 0.Kusakabe Prof. A.Yashima
Prof. M. Mimura Prof. K.Yasuhara
M.Owada K. Yasu take

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Prof. K. Ishihara - Chairman

Members:
Prof. E Baguelin Prof. D.T. Bergado
Prof. W h o a Dr ECotecchia
Prof. J. De Rouck K. Karlsrud
Prof. S. S. Kim Prof. S. Leroueil
Prof. G. Mesri Dr I? Noppodol
Prof. H.Ohta Dr J.J. M. Powell
Prof. H. Sekiguchi Prof. K.Y.Yong
Prof. Yudhbir Prof. W. Zhao

XVll
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1 Exploration of soft ground and deterrnination of soil parameters
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 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

GIS applications in civil engineering

A.Visvanathan- Sherys Incorporated, Madras, India
V. Santhaswaruban- Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Pondichen-y Engineering College,
India
R.G. Samy - Vux Consultancy, Chennai, India
M. Kantharaj-National Institute of Oceanography and Technology, Chennai, India

ABSTRACT: Recently GIS has been widely used for solving complex civil engineering problems which
handles large data. In this paper few methodologies of solving civil engineering related problems mainly
related to coastal geotechnical engineering have been reported. Also the salient features of GIS methodology
have been explained with suitable field problems.

1 INTRODUCTION
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a
computer system for the capture, storage,
manipulation, analysis and display of spatially
referenced information (Hiscock et al. 1995).
Eventhough GIS handles large data, pre-processing is
necessary to convert the data to a form that can be
integrated. Ocean covers more than 70% of the
planet, and holds the key to many global
environmental problems. The data to understand
these problems have some unique implications for
geographic data management due to the three
dimensional, highly !dynamic, and under sampled
nature of the measurements. Because of the high cost
involved in the survey of ocean floor sediments,
interpolation is often necessary for the data input
stage. In such cases GIS can be used to select the
new sites for disposal of dredged material by
evaluating suitable areas using the available data on
fisheries, currents, bottom sediments etc. This study
is used for the selection of open-water disposal sites
for dredged sediments. Boettcher et al. (1993)
designed a water quality module to determine the
temperature and water quality characteristics of
streams. Water resources are complex and dynamic
phenomena, and the spatial and temporal variations
in water quantity and quality reflect the combined
effects of various environmental and human factors
(Juracek, 1994). In Russia, GIS technology was used
to solve environmental problems, and the purpose of
study has been focused to develop a multi-layered
GIS data base to analysis the wetland impacts of
upstream hydrology for the Mississipi and Volga
rivers (Nawrocki, 1995). Since the water resource is
limited, it is necessary to protect, preserve and
predict the water quality to keep a clean
environment. In the present study, GIS applications
in solving various coastal as well as geotechnical
problems has been studied. Also few important
applications of GIS related to the coastal
geotechnical engineering study have been
highlighted.
2 GIS APPLICATIONS
2.1 Coastal pollution
GIS can be used for the study of coastal pollution
problems of contaminated marine sediments, oil spill
and thermal pollutions, and water quality and marine
ecosystems. One of the most effective technologies
for tracking the environmental disasters is satellite
remote sensing which suits oil spill tracking where
conditions preclude the applications of more
traditional ground and aerial monitoring techniques.
The ability of GIS to rapidly manipulate and display
complex spatial attributes for managing incidents
such as oil spill that have time as critical factor
(Garret and Jeffress, 1993). A database can be
formed to collect information on wind speed and
direction, water temperature, air temperature, and
other environmental data into a graphical diwlay,
and GIS helps in predicting oil spill trajectory.
Smith and Loza (1994) used GIS ‘or oil spill
management at Gulf of Mexico, USA (Figure 1).

3
Friel et al. (1993) studied the leaking of chemicals
towards the Florida’s most ecologically sensitive
habitats and popular beaches (Figure 2).
development of new technology for containment,
removal, and cleanup of pollutant spills is an integral
part of the prevention program. The needed details
includes bioremidiation, sorbent testing, trajectory
modeling, remote sensing, and sensitivity area
identification. The test results provide verification
for computer models that are capable of predicting
sea surface circulation in the spatial and temporal
scales necessary for oil spill response.

2.2 River water quality studies

Many water bodies suffer from pollution problems

due to the increase of intensive industrial water use,
wastewater discharges and direct run-off. Streams
are contaminated due to the anthropogeneic uses
such as industrial loads, run off from agricultural
areas or waste water discharges (Ruland and Rouve,
1992). In old industrialized regions, river systems
embody small reservoirs and lakes forming dead
zones and sediment traps. With time, these dead
zones and sediment traps would develop into
hazardous mud sites due to the presence of absorbed
pollutants such as heavy metals and hydro-carbons.
The careless weir operations or huge floods in the
rivers result in destabilization of the sediment
deposits. Also there is likely to be strong increase in
BOD/COD levels that could lower oxygen (DO)
concentrations at downstream and this may be
detrimental to the fish population. Dredging and
disposal of the polluted mud to a safe site is the best
solution but it is costly and also appropriate sites are
hardly available. In such case, GIS can be
successfully used to deal the risk in a sudden release
of environmental impact.
It is proposed to use a 2D-sediment transport
and a 2D-water quality models for studying the
pollutants in river sediments. More details about the
model aspects can be seen in Fig.3. The development
of 2D-sediment transport model includes a
hydrodynamic model to compute flow velocities,
wall shear stress and simulate the suspended
sediment transport. The characteristics of sediments
such as erosion, suspension, settling and
flocculation have to be taken into consideration
while developing the models. The simulation of
cohesive sediment movement requires modeling of
various physical processes such as erosion,
resuspension, dispersive transport, settling and
deposition. For a well mixed river region, the depth-
integrated mass balance equation for a continuous
To implement spill model it is necessary to collect point source in Cartesian coordinates can be used.
information on tidal information, water temperature For water quality constituents, sources and sinks may
and hydrodynamic models. Research and include settling, first order decay, reaeration,

4
chemical transformation, biological uptakes and
releases, growth, respiration and mortality including
predation.
The 2D-sediment transport and water quality model
can be integrated using GIS approach. For polluted
mud sites in reservoir systems, acquisition of
relevant data is important. A typical examples of the
pollutant transport phenomena in the sediments can
be seen in Figs.4 and 5. Fig.4 shows the release of
pollutants due to careless weir operations whereas
Fig.5 indicates the concentration of pollutants
especially water quality aspects of River Rhine
(Ruland and Rouve 1992).
2.3 Ground water pollution studies
GIS can be used to create an information GIS
network by facilitating data sharing and transfer, and
2D-HYDRODYNAMIC MODEL
velocities
\(I
2D-SEDIMENT TRANSPORT
MODEL
V
INPUT: Physical Process parameters
Erosion, resuspension, dispersive
transport, settling and deposition
2D-WATER QUALITY MODEL
INPUT: Hydrology and topography of the
coastal basin, geotechnical characteristics of
sediments, sources and sinks of pollutants
I I
OUTPUT:
Abiotic components such as temperature, DO, BOD,
- (1) COD, TSS, forms of Phosphorous and Nitrogen
(2) Variety of biological constituents like phytoplankton,
zooplankton etc.
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT TOOLS:
GIS - for the creation of data and management
Figure 3 Flow chart of sediment pollution problem
eliminating digitizing duplication efforts (Simmons
and Bell, 1991). GIS can be used to assess ground
water sensitivity to pesticide use, and a strategy to
prevent ground water contamination by managing
registered pesticides effectively in a way that reduces
or eliminates leaching into groundwater particularly
in vulnerable areas. Also it is easy to detect and
predict changes occurred in ground water quality
resulting from contamination by pesticides and other
chemicals (Hatchitt and Maddox, 1993). GIS has
wide applications in urban and environmental
planning to archaeology, and tourism and real estate
management (Laurini, 1996).
2.4 Geotechnical and Environmental problems
Lee and Terstriep (1991) mentioned that GIS can be
used as an effective tool for handling extensive
spatial and tabular databases in determining pollution
sources and their transport rates for agricultural and
watersheds. Simmons and Bell (1991) developed a
system with GIS that can be used to protect and
conserve soil and water resources by helping field
staff in targeting assistance to areas of greatest need.
With the help of GIS, it is possible to identify the
contributing sediment load by analyzing data layers
such as soil land cover, land use, streams, rainfall,
slope and conservation practices. Also GIS can be
used as a tool in environmental cleanup program that
can identify and evaluate environmental
contamination from past operations and waste
disposal practices (Douglas et al. 1992). Urenda
(1992) used PC based GIS system for effectively
managing municipal water systems. Rifai et al.
(1993) develops a GIS modeling user interface for
delineating Wellhead Protection Areas around public
supply wells for management of environmental
resources and identify potential contaminant sources.
Kramber at al. (1993) reported a pilot project
to develop depletion estimates for water resources in
the Idaho portion of Bear River Basin, and the flood
map of Tangail compartment project area is shown in
Fig.6.
GIS has been applied to evaluate waste management
I alternatives such as whether the sites are suitable for
constructing a sanitary landfill.
Adamus and Bergman (1996) used a simple
6 screening-level non-point source pollution control to
estimate annual nonpoint source pollution loads to
surface waters, and determine nonpoint source
pollution problem areas. Siddiqui et al. (1996)
- presented a method to identify and rank potential
landfill areas using GIS. With the numerous data
bases, GIS can be used to examine the soil
5
leachability (ie. the ability of fertilizers or pesticides 3 CONCLUSIONS
to reach water through the GIS can
GIS can be successfu~~y used to study the various
handle various databases under conversion, and
coastal geotechniccal engineering problems
display land areas most vulnerable to specific
including oil spill and water quality of rivers. The
chemicals.

6
vulnerable cropping areas and watersheds can be Lee, M.T. & Terstriep, M.L. 1991. Integration of GIS
predicted with the combination of mapping data databases and water quality modeling for
bases and GIS, and suitable guide lines and agricultural and urban watersheds, Cohn, L.F. and
regulations can be further developed. Also a study on Rasdort, W. (eds), Computing in Civil Engg and
the environmental problems of rivers has been Symp. on Data Bases, Proc. of the 7th Con$ held
examined, and the test results were briefly reported. in Conjunction with AIEIC System’91,
It is suggested that GIS is a novel approach to solve Washington, D.C., pp.469-478.
future problems that are complex in nature. Nawrocki, T.B. 1995. Russian water quality projects
struggle for survival, GIS World, 50-52.
REFERENCES Rifai, H.S., Hendricks, L.A.& Harbaugh, A.W. 1993.
Geographic Information System (GIS) user
Adamus, C.L. & Bergman, M.J. 1996. Estimating interface for delineating wellhead protection
nonpoint source pollution loads with a GIS areas, Ground Water, 31: 480-488.
screening model, Water Resources Bulletin, 3 1: Ruland, P. & Rouve, G. 1992. Risk assessment of
647-655. polluted mud deposits in reservoirs and river
Boettcher, R., Ritterback, E. & Rouve’, G. 1993. basins, Fifth Int. Symp. on River Sedimentation,
Multi-disciplinary strategies for flood-plain 188-195.
restoration at the river Rhine, Proc. of National Siddiqui, M.Z., Everett, J.W. & Vieux, B.E. 1996.
Conf. on Hydraulic Engineering, July 25-30, San Landfill siting using Geographic Information
Francisco, California. Systems: A demonstration, J. of Environmental
Douglas, A., Wright, R. & Pailloz, V. 1992. GIS Engg., ASCE, 122:515-523.
tested as an environmental application tool, GIS Simmons, N. & Bell, C. 1991. GIS manages
World, 58-60. Hawaiian soil and water resources, GIS World,
Friel, C., Sargent, W. & Westlake, C. 1993, 42-44.
Ecosystem decline- Can GIS help save Florida Smith, L.A. & Loza, L. 1994. Texas turns to GIS for
Bay, GIS World, 40-44. oil spill management, Geo Info Systems, 48-50.
Garret, M. & Jeffress, G.A. 1993. Managing oil Urenda, C. 1992. PC-Based GIS manages municipal
spills, Geo Info Systems, 29-35. water systems, GIS World, 43-47.
Haness, S.J., Warwick, J.J. & Dickey, R.O. (1991).
Database generation using an ARCIINFO
Geographic Information System in storm water
quality, Cohn, L.F. and Rasdort, W. (eds),
Computing in Civil Engg and Symp. on Data
Bases, Proc. of the 7th Con$ held in Conjunction
with AIEIC System ’91, Washington, D.C., 460-
468.
Hatchitt, J. & Maddox, G.L. 1993. Using Drastic
methods to monitor the quality of Florida’s
groundwater, Geo Info Systems, 42-45.
Hiscock, K.M., Lovett, A.A., Brainard, J.S. &Parfitt,
J.P. 1995. Groundwater vulnerability assessment:
two case studies using GIS methodology,
Quarterly J. of Engg. Geology, 28: 179-194.
Juracek, K.E. 1994. Interactive query of state water-
approximations and water-use information. Geo
Info Systems, 44-48.
Kramber, W.J., Anderson, H., Verdun, M., Austiguy,
G. & Ondrechen, B. 1993. Idaho’s system for
monitoring water use in the Bear river basin, Geo
Info Systems, 48-51.
Laurini, R. 1996. Geographic information systems
and engineering utility networks, ACECOMS
News & Views, 4-5.

8
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam,ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Classification of methods to determine shear strength of clay for design

purposes
H.Asada, K. Suzuki, Y. Mitarai & H. Hanzawa
Technical Research Institute, TOA Corporation, Yokohama, Japan

ABSTRACT: Determination of the shear strength of soft clay for design use, ~ l , ( t ~ l o bhas
) been a very important
subject. Therefore, various methods have been proposed and practiced up to the present. These methods are
based on different concepts giving rise to different strength values necessary for design, thus affecting the
cost-effectiveness of the projects. The applicability and limitation of each method have not been clarified yet.
Accordingly, this paper presents the background of each method and the classification of the methods into the
three groups. The applicability of each group for short-term stability problems is highlighted.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 GENERAL EXPRESSION OF Sz,(l,,ob)

Evaluation of the mobilized shear strength is an im- In the 1970's two remarkable achievements on the
portant concept in classical soil mechanics and engi- research of soft clay behavior had been accom-
neering practice. Thus, various methods have been plished. One is the anisotropy of shear strength, the
proposed and practiced to determine the mobilized other is the strain ratio dependency of shear strength
shear strength of soft clay for design purposes, des- as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2, respectively.
ignated as &(,,lob) in this paper. The shear strength Therefore, S,,(,,,ob) will be written using Equ. 1 taking
from field vane test, S,,(FIT~, unconsolidated these factors into consideration:
undrained triaxial compression test, Slr~,,urc,~ and un-
confined compression test, S,,(c;cuhave been used to
determine s[,(t)job) based on local experiences. Addi- where S,, = undrained shear strength before correct-
tionally, the USALS method was proposed for ce- ing, IJA = correction factor for s,,on strength anisot-
mented East Canadian clay by Trak et al. (1 980). ropy, PR = correction factor for S,, on strain rate ef-
Meanwhile during 1970's, three methods based fect, a = correction factor for S,, during construction
on different concepts were proposed. Those were the
correcting method to vane shear strength, S t , ( ~ ,
based on case studies of failed structures (Bjerrum
1972), the Recompression method with the use of
&-consolidated triaxial compression and extension
tests (Bjerrum 1973, Hanzawa 1977) which was
named by Jamilkowski et al. (1 985), and the SHAN-
SEP method (Ladd & Foott 1974). At the same time,
Mesri (1975) indicated a new approach to determine
szl())lob) from consolidation yield stress, or,.evaluated
from Bjerrum's report on S,,(FI,V.
More simplified procedures to determine &(,1tob)
were also developed using direct shear test, DST and
simplified triaxial compression test, STCT (Han-
zawa 1989, Tsuchida 1989) as well as the correcting
method to half of unconfined compressive strength,
Slr("~u(Ohta et al. 1989). In this paper, classifica-
tions and backgrounds of these procedures of deter- Figure 1. Undrained shear strengths mobilized on a
mining &(,?,&) are presented here. slip surface (anisotropy of shear strength).

9
of a structure where a 2 1 .O for consolidation and a
< 1 .O for swelling and p = correction factor for S,, on
progressive failure effect where generally p =1 .O for
short-term stability of soft clay.
4 THE EMPIRICAL GROUP
4.1 Applicabilily of
St,/c;~nhas been used commonly for Japanese marine
clays as the shear strength while subjected to sample
disturbance and stress release through sampling pro-
cess. Because of this reason, SlI(,,~c~
becomes smal-
ler than in-situ compressive shear strength, Sl,(c,as
given by Equ. 2:

where p~ & ps are correction factors for S,, on

strength reductions induced by sample disturbance
and stress release.
&(,,rob/ as a function of S1,lc)on the other hand, is
written by Equ. 3 in case that a and p are negligible:

When p~ . ps (< 1.0) in Equ. 2 is practically the

Figure 2. Strain rate dependency of shear strength.
3 CLASSIFICATION OF METHODS TO
DETERMINE Sirfniob)
The procedures to determine &(,nob) can be classified
into three groups, 1) the empirical group, G-1, 2) the
case study group, G-2 and 3) the basic approach
group, G-3, as described in detail by Hanzawa
(1996). In the third group, the in-situ shear strength
is evaluated firstly based on either the Recompres-
sion method or the SHANSEP method before cor-
recting it by some of correction factors, p. A sum-
mary of sl,/,,,ob) and values of p, a and p are
presented in Table 1 . In the following sections, the
applicability and the background of each group to
determine Sl,/,nob) are presented.
same as p,,,. p~ (< 1 .O) in Equ. 3, S ) , / U Ccan
~ be used
as S,,(,,,ob)as shown in Figure 3 schematically and can
be expressed as Equ. 4:
S,W/,= s , , c , .PI>.P.S =S,,,c,.P,I 'P/<
=SNollOh) (4)
The effectiveness of Equ. 4 depends both on techni-
cal quality of sampling and testing (represented by
p ~ and
) locality of soil (represented by ps).
Degree of ps can be evaluated to some extent by
measuring residual effective stress, d r in Figure 3
just before performing UCT. Tanaka and Tanaka
(1997) demonstrated that there is a great difference
in ofrvalue between glacier produced low plastic
clay and non-glacier produced plastic clay. For ex-
ample, d r of Japanese marine clay is 1/5 to 1/6 of
ds0, while that of Drammen clay is 1/20 to 1/40 of
dv0.One important reason not to apply St,/~,cq as
$,(&,) in Western countries is the small value of d p

Table 1 . A summary of the methods to determine S,,l,,mh,of soft clay.

Group Test is,, P a P Remarks
FVT Sri/.~-/i 1 .o 1 .o I .o
UUTCT S,,r .I .I( '0 1.o 1 .o 1 .o
G- 1
UCT S>rIf:s7/ 1.o 1 .o 1 .o
UUTCT s,/r.I 'rl /,/..Y 1.o I .o < 1.0 USALS
FVT s,// 17, 1-1-1 ' P/< 1 .o 1 .o Bjerrum
G-2 UCT s,/r'f '7j P,1 P/<. P/>.p.s ' Jk < 1 .o
'
**I
> 1 .o 1 .o Ohta
ODT * 0') 1 .o 1 .o 1 .o Mesri
DST .s;,//>.Y/, t 1.0 2 1.0 1 .o Hanzawa
G-3 STCT s,,,,r' 7 1 1.o 1 .o 1 .o Tsuchida
I ODT, DSST '' I sm/, t 1.0 2 1.0 1.0 SHANSEP

reductions induced by sample disturbance, swelling and application of no confining pressure

10
 Through the above discussions, it is clear that UUTCT, Slr(IJ[JTCu is considered to be equivalent to
moderate disturbance represented by both p~ and ps Sit KICT).

is definitely necessary, and this requirement should Trak et al. (1980) proposed the method to deter-
be very difficult to achieve when considering region- mine S,,~,,b) using the shear strength at an axial strain
al variations both in soil behavior (= soil locality) of 15% in UUTCT, S ~ i ( I J I J T C 7 ) L Land
~ , thus determined
and technical quality around the world. Sll(,,,,b,can be expressed by Equ. 7:
=Su(ll I l (
SlI(,?l,h) I)/\ =slI(','PA 'PR4 (7)
4.2 New Explanation of S,,(FI'7) The validity of the method had confirmed only for
Slr(lI I ) which has also long time been used as Su(rnoh), cemented East Canadian clay, therefore, it is not
consists of vane shear strengths on the horizontal clear whether or not it can be applied to other clays.
and the vertical planes of the vane, Sli(Fl,T,,, & Sll(FI~~,q
as schematically shown in Figure 4. For the standard 5 THE CASE STUDY GROUP
size of the vane with N = 2 0 , S l , ( ~7) -is [ mostly occu-
pied by S,,(,.-r I),, as given by Equ. 5 : Correction factors are estimated on the basis of the
stability analysis of failed structures, of which mini-
mum safety factor, FJrnln will be assumed to be 1 .O in
this group, as explained in the followings. Correc-
tions to S l , ~byF Bjerrum,
~~~ to S l i ( ~by~ Ohta
c ~ and to
Since the shearing mechanism on the horizontal 0').by Mesri will be cited as the methods classifiable
plane is approximately the same as that in DST, in this group.
SI,(/ I /)I, can be assumed to be equal to direct shear
strength, &([jST) as also shown in Figure 4. As
Sl,(lI I l l l is a little bit greater than Sl,([I n, for general 5.1 Bjerrum 's Method
cohesive soils, correlation between S;,(FI 7 ) and S l , ( I ~ ~ ~SlIfrI
I 1) was firstly corrected by corresponding p
will be given by Equ. 6: being a function of plasticity index, I,, and then sta-
%,/ 17 ) = L ~ u ( / ) \ / ) -P<SI,(/h,) (6) bility analysis was carried out using Sli(/-I7) . p / 1 to
obtain another correction factor, p' satisfying the re-
S l , ~ ~ ~can
S , , be used as ~ 5 ' 1 , ~ ~ >after
~ ~ ~ , corrected by lation given by Equ. 8:
(Hanzawa 1989), and then Sll(/I r) is equal to '5'1[(,rlob,
in practice without any correction if p in Equ. 6 is L,,,
(from S1,(/17)'P1).Pf=1.0 (8)
balanced with PR. According to Bjerrum, p' is p ~ which, is also a func-
tion of Ip, therefore, p for S,,([-r is written by Equ. 9:
4.3 The USALS Method P=P 1 .P"P 1 .CL/, = f ( I / , > (9)
The principle of UUTCT is almost the same as that However, two questions arise on Bjerrum's ap-
of UCT. Therefore, undrained shear strength from proach:

11
 1) Slf(,.,,~)
values including p,fare greatly affected
by clay properties such as containing sand seam
and shell, but his investigations had been lack-
ing in this important inspection.
2) Drainage takes place more or less during con-
struction of a structure, consequently shear
strength increases and its effect, i.e., a should be
also considered in the approach adopted in the
case study group. But this effect was not taken
into account too.

5.2 Ohta's Method

Ohta et al. (1 989) detailed theoretical and experi-
mental studies on UCT and proposed a method to
determine SI,(r,lob) based on Sll(r;cn,which uses five
correction factors (p) i.e., FA, p ~po, , ps & pc (= p
on strength reduction induced by application of no
confining pressure) as well as a as presented in Ta-
ble 1. Sfl(uc.l;,value was firstly corrected by five of p
evaluated either theoretically or experimentally, and
then stability analysis was carried out to satisfy the
relation given by Equ. 10 taking the same approach
as Bjerrum's method:

According to Ohta, a multiplied five of p value, be-

ing a function of ,] becomes smaller than 1.O, there-
fore, a is greater than 1.O as written by Equ. 11:
p,r *p,<-p/>. p . y 'P(. <1.0 ' a>1.0 (1 1)
One important question to this approach is its direct
use of Bjerrum's pr (= p ~which
) should be relevant
to a in Equ. 10, as p~in this method.
Figure 5 . Typical ratios for normally consolidated
5.3 Mesri's Method late glacial and post-glacial clays.
Since Mesri's method (Mesri 1975) used orybased
on S,,(Fb,U and p values proposed by Bjerrum, alt- that S,, of aged marine clays distributed along the
hough the approach was different from the two other East to Southeast Asian coastal regions can be
methods, it ought to be classified into this group. evaluated generally by Equ. 13:
When S l l ( ~ , values
,~) of late glacial and post-glacial
clays are normalizcd by orjj,the correlation between
S,, =c,, + k .z (13)
Sf,(~,7~)/csrJand I, can be presented by a unique line ir- where co = cohesion at a ground surface. z = depth
respective of aged and young clays as shown in Fig- originated at a ground surface and k = strength in-
ure 5c. Mesri also pointed out that S l , ( ~ , ~ ~multi-
/orj crease ratio with depth. Because Sll/orvo of these
plied Bjerrum's p approximately indicated a clays decrease with depth, they will never be esti-
constant value of 0.22 as also shown in Figure 5d. mated only by I , values.
&(/)lob) is then given by Equ. 12:

6 THE BASIC APPROACH GROUP

Although Equ. 12 seems to give reasonable value of
sl,(t),oh) resultantly, it is difficult to accept Bjerrum's
report entirely where he indicated that both of
S2((~, and ~ ' ~ /(=dOCR) , , ~ for normally con-
solidated clay would just depend on I,, as shown in
Figure 5a & 5b respectively. But it is well known
In this group the in-situ shear strength is initially
determined by using some laboratory test, and then
the results are corrected by p,,jand p~ as well as by a
if necessary. The Recompression and the SHANSEP
methods are classified into this approach. Natural

12
 of 0.25mm/min. S,,l,,,,b, can be estimated after cor-
recting thus obtained S,,(DsU by p~ as given by Equ.
15:

6.2 Tsuchida Method

Figure 6. Stress histories for two types of overcon-
solidated clays.
sedimentary clays are almost in the overconsolidated
state more or less, and the aging effect has been
found to be a major factor in overconsolidation
process in comparison with the unloading of over-
burden pressure. Stress histories for the two types of
overconsolidated clays are shown schematically in
Figure 6. The “ 0 -+ A -+ C” path will be adapted
for the clay affected by the aging effect, while the “0
-+ B 4 C” path is for the overconsolidated clay in-
duced by the stress reduction. s,,of the clays can be
expressed by Equ. 14:
S,f = s,/t,
/ Olo * 0;I [for 0 + A -+ C] (14.1)
Tsuchida (1989) carried out two series of triaxial
tests on Japanese marine clays, 1) KO-consolidated
triaxial compression and extension tests by the Re-
compression method and 2) isotropically consolidat-
ed compression test, so named simplified triaxial
compression test, STCT in this paper. In the second
test, each specimen was consolidated at a mean ef-
fective stress of 2/3d,, assuming KO = 0.5 for 2
hours, and then was sheared at a strain rate of
0.1%/min. Tsuchida (1 989) found that compressive
shear strength from STCT, Szr(STcr) was approxi-
mately the same as in-situ compressive shear
strength from KO-consolidated triaxial compression
test by the Recompression method, and then pro-
posed &(rnoh) after correcting Sit(STC7) by p~ and p~ as
written by Equ. 16:
S,r(moh) =Su(\l( I ) ‘P4 .P/?=0.75*Si/(,/,,) (16)

. a ,r
. di2
SIf= S,,, / o:.,, [for 0 -+ B -+ C] (1 4.2)
where S,r,7/~’,,o= strength increase ratio at normally
consolidated state and asr= correction factor for S,,
on the stress reduction. The Recompression method
assumes that the stress history of clay follows the “0
+ A -+ C” path while the SHANSEP method re-
gards it as the “0+ B + C” path.
Because the aged structures which most of natural
clays have will collapse completely when the
SHANSEP approach is employed, a discussion only
on the Recompression method will be given in this
section. Especially, more Simplified two procedures
proposed in 1989 are described here instkad of the
Figure 7. Comparison of I-1 values in the four meth-
much more complicated procedure using KO-
consolidated triaxial compression and extension tests ods. (by Bjerrum, Ohta, Hanzawa and Tsuchida)
in 1970’s.

6. I Hanzawa Method 7 BRIEF DISCUSSION ON CORRECTION

S,,(~suwhich gives approximately the same shear
strength as an average of compressive and extensile
strengths, is determined by DST where an undis- It should be pointed out that there is a fundamental
turbed clay sample is firstly reconsolidated at a stress difference in defining the correction factor c1 be-
of d,,,for 5 to 10 minutes and then sheared under tween the group (Bjerrum & Ohta) and
the constant volume condition at a displacement rate the basic group (Hanzawa ~32Tsuchida) as

13
shown in Figure 7. While p in the former group are
functions of Ip, the latter group insists that p values
are constant and independent of I,,, as expressed by
Equ. 17:
p = f’(I,, ) [the case study group] (17.1)
p = const. [the basic approach group] (1 7.2)
8 CONCLDING REMARKS
A critical review of ten methods to determine the
design shear strength of clay is presented. The con-
clusions derived from this review are summarized as
follows :
The procedures to determine the mobilized
shear strength of soft clay, S,,(,,,Ot,,can be classi-
fied into three groups, 1) the empirical group, 2)
the case study group and 3) the basic approach
group.
The methods proposed by the empirical group
are based on soil locality and technical quality.
On the other hand, the case study group uses
undrained shear strengths of Sll(~-,,~l (by Bjerrum)
& Sll(ccTl(by Ohta) in their methods. Both of
them are greatly affected by soil properties,
sampling and testing qualities. Therefore, the
applicability of the methods should be limited. It
can be said that the basic approach group takes
most reasonable approaches. In the group, how-
ever, the SHANSEP method seems not to be
practical because Ladd & Foott assumed that the
laboratory test of an artificially overconsolidated
clay sample could reproduce the shearing be-
havior of the natural sedimentary clay.
Most of the natural sedimentary clays are in the
overconsolidated state affected by the aging ef-
fect. Because Hanzawa’s and Tsuchida’s
methods which are classified into the Recom-
pression method pay much attention to the fact.
they are intended for practical iise in comparison
with the other methods.
DST will be a most recommended testing pro-
cedure because it has the advantage of easy
testing or giving an average of compressive and
extensile strengths.
REFERENCES
Bjerrum. L. 1972. Embankment on soft soil. ASC‘E
Confirence, PeTformance on Eurth and Earth-
Supported Structures, Vol. 2: 1-54.
Bjerrum, L. 1973. Problems of soil mechanics and
construction on soft clay and structurally unstable
soils. Proceedings of the 8th ICSMFE, Vol. 3:
1 1 1-159.
14
Hanzawa, H. 1977. Geotechnical property of nor-
mally consolidated Fao clay, Iraq. Soils and
Foundations, Vol. 17, No. 4: 1-15.
Hanzawa, H. 1989. Evaluation of design parameters
for soft clay as related to geological stress history,
Soils and Foundations, Vol. 29, No.3, 99-1 11.
Hanzawa, H. 1996. Procedures to determine the
shear strength of clay for short-term stability
analysis, 4lst Japanese Geotechnical Engineering
Symposium, JGS, Tokyo, 89-94. (in Japanese)
Jamikowski, M., Ladd, C. C., Germain, J. T. &
Lancellotta, R. 1985. New development in field
and laboratory testing of soils. Proceedings of the
11th ICSMFE, Vol. 1: 57-153.
Ladd, %. C. & Foott, R. 1974. New design procedure
for stability of soft clay. ASCE, Vol. 100, GT7:
763-786.
Mesri, G. 1975. Discussion on new design procedure
for stability of soft clay. ASCE, Vol. 101, GT4:
409-41 1.
Ohta, H., Nishihara, A., Iizuka, A., Morita, Y.,
Fukagawa, R. & Arai, K. 1989. Unconfined com-
pressive strength of soft aged clays. Proceedings
ofthe 12th ICSMFE, Vol.1, 71-74.
Trak, B., La Rochelle, P., Tavenas, F., Leroueil, S. &
Roy, M. 1980. A new approach to the stability
analysis of embankments on sensitive clays. Ca-
nadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 17, No. 4:
526-544.
Tanaka, H. & Tanaka, M. 1997. Applicability of UC
test for two European clays, Proceedings o f the
12th ICSMGE, Hamburg, Germany, 209-2 12.
Tsuchida, T. 1989. New method for determining
undrained shear strength of cohesive soils by
means of triaxial tests, Doctoral thesis, University
of Tokyo.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Correlation equations for normal consolidated clays

C.Cherubini & C. 1.Giasi

Istituto di GeologinApplicata e Geotecnicu, Politecnico di Bnri, Ituly

ABSTRACT. The variability of soil properties leads to a wide use of statistical procedures to process data
when numerous. Among statistical procedures, regression techniques are widely used in geotechnics.
These equations are generally evaluated respect to specific data bases, and are often incorrectly utilised for
various reasons, discussed in the paper.
Examples and considerations are developed on a data base of NC clays showing:
- The importance of choosing the correct regression procedure.
- The necessity of comparing the correlation coefficient obtained with the minimum correlation coefficient
connected to a specified confidence level.
- The opportunity to examine the residuals after trend evaluation.
- The necessity to indicate the boundaries between which the equation is valid, and the number of data
processed.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 CORRELATION EQUATIONS

The multiphase nature of soils, the extreme
variability not only of their grain size distribution
but also their index and mechanical parameters mean
that the number of geotechnical tests that are usually
carried out on samples taken from the subsoil is both
large and on occasion redundant. Often involving
highly sophisticated tests. the more simple ones are
carried out to obtain basic information and for
classification purposes. Numerous contemporary
statistical studied are carried out that tend to
correlate the basic geotechnical properties (and
therefore those relatively easy to determine) with
more complex ones (Carter and Bentley, 1991).
These statistical procedures cannot be explained
simply as a minimal knowledge of their underlying
problems is required. This paper will attempt to shed
some light on some categories of equation in use in
the geotechnics of normally consolidated clays.
highlighting the inconveniences of the incorrect use
of regression methodology and proposing some
simple rules for the use of such methods, both in
professional practice and in the field of research.
Normally consolidated clays, because of the
simplicity of the way in which they are subjected to
stresses readily lend themselves to simple
correlations derived from statistical analysis. In
particular (Lancellotta, 1993, Cherubini et al., 1996)
among the most used are the following correlations
between the limit of liquidity and the compression
index C,, valid for N.C. clays:
C, = 0.009-(LL - 10)
Terzaghi and Peck ( I 974)
C, O.O07.(LL - 5.3) (2)
Ricceri ( 1974), from Cherubini et a1 (1 996)
C, = 0.00604.LL (3)
Nagaraj and Srinivasa Murthy ( I 986).
Other correlations, certain11 derived fi-om
statistical procedures invo Ive clays fi-om Greece and
the USA (Azzouz et al., 1976) are:
C, O.O06.(LL - 9) (4)
C, = 0.21 + 0.008.LL (5)
and Bangkok clay (Adikari 1977).

15
 The number of samples examined are 678 for taken on site. The former often assume the function
Eq.4, 113 for Eq.5, as well as the relative correlation of expressing the local situation and contingencies
coefficients r = 0.59, and r = 0.70. However there is and for this reason are not worth spending too much
no indication of the applicability boundaries of such time on. For the latter it is enough to recall the
equations. equation, valid for OCR 5 1.4, relative to piezocone
Furthermore, there exist other equations that tests
connect the compression index C, to the initial void
ratio or to the natural water content. In this way = 0.95 - 0.35.LL
(Bq)N~ (13)
there are equations available (Balasubramaniam and
Brenner 198 1, Al-Khafaj i and Andersland 1992,
Cherubini 1993, Giasi and Guadagno 1993) that link between the parameter (B, )Nc = * U
as
C, simultaneously these properties. (q.1 - O , J
Other important equations are those that link the defined by Senneset and Janbu (1984) and Liquid
plasticity index or liquid limit to the ratio C,,/O',,~).
In Limit, the latter expressed as a decimal.
particular:
3 THE REGRESSION MODEL
c,, = 0.45 . (PI) ' 2 (6)
(3VO Analysing the linear regression model, which from
for PI > 5% (Bjerrum and Simons ,1960) the remainder can lead back to the various
(PI is reported in decimal form) expressions cited in the previous section, the
following can be written:
%= 0.5 . LL (7) y = ax + b + E (14)
"0

for LL > 20% (Karlsson and Viberg ,1967)

indicating LL in decimal form where x and y are the independent and dependent
variables. a and b are constants and E is the random
(error) component.
& = 0.0045 .LL (8) The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method
0 \o represents the Best Linear IJnbiased Estimate
(Hansbo ,1957) with LL expressed as a percentage. (BLUE), if the following basic assumptions are
substantially satisfied (Li and White, 1993):
The following equation is also worth noting: a) x and y do not have measurement errors
b) x and y are not functionally dependent
5= 0. I 1 + 0.0037 . (PI) (9)
c) there is a linear relationship between x and y
d) the random component (E) has a constant
(3V"
(Skempton ,1967) with PI expressed as a percentage. variance (homoscedastic ity)
e) the random component (&)isnot self correlated.
The following equations that link the friction These conditions are often not respected; despite the
angle to the liquidity limit and the plasticity index least squares method being widely employed, also
are less used: because of its simplicity and availability in the form
of computer calculation codes.
sincp' = 0.82 - 0.24 log PI Among the various inconvenient practices it is
possible to meet, with the indiscriminate use of OLS
(Kenney ,1959)
procedure, the following geotechnical data can be
briefly mentioned:
S h ( p = 0.35 - 0.7 111PI ( 1 1) 1 ) Measurement errors. Apart from whcn
(Muir Wood .1994) with PI as a decimal determining an equation for variation of a propcrty
with depth, for which the latter can be accurately
PI measured, in general x and y are affected by
sincp = 0.656 - 0.409- (12)
LL measurement errors.
(Mayne ,1980) 2) It is not always clear an equation derived from
In addition another series of correlation the analysis of experimental represents a regression
equations. which are often linear, relate a soil of x on y or of y on x, that, it should be noted, leads
property with depth or certain with a measurement to results that differ.

16
3) The number of data on which the elaboration
was carried out is hardly ever indicated. It is
somewhat obvious that an analysis carried out on
300 pairs of data is going to be more significant than
one carried out on 30.
4) The correlation coefficient obtained is often not
indicated, knowledge of which alone, within certain
limits (Berthouex and Brown, 1994), makes it
possible to define the degree of fit of the equation to
the data as a whole.
5 ) The upper and lower validity limits of the
equation are often not known. This can be very
dangerous, especially when extrapolations are
carried out that cover ranges of values for
experimental data are not available.
6) On occasion, from the results of two OLS
regressions that link, for example, x to y and y to z
another equation is deduced that links x to z or, in
any case, various types of operations are carried out
on the variables cited. Not all the possible algebraic
manipulations are permissible in the case of results
of OLS tests. Table I (Williams and Troutman,
1987) shows which manipulations are and are not
permissible, not only for the OLS technique but also
for the Least Normal Squares and Reduced Major
Axis techniques.
The first of these latter two techniques minimises
the sum of the squares of the normal distances to the
required. The second minimises the area of the
triangles identified by the required terms and of the
horizontal and vertical segments that starting fkom
the single experimental point meet the term itself.
Other regression techniques exist (Troutman and
Williams, 1987) among which should be included at
least one EDA (Exploratory Data Analisysis)
(Resistant line) technique (Velleman and Hoaglin,
198 1) which, however will not be discussed here for
reasons of space.

4 SOME EXAMPLES

In order to shed more light on at least some aspects
previously highlighted, some elaborations are
developed based on a table by Humphrey and Holtz
(1988) in which are reported some geotechnical
properties of N.C. clays. Clays showing very
elevated LL values and those for which values of cpl,
C,. etc. were measured on remoulded samples have
been removed. This has reduced the data from 52 to
45 (in some cases). Some of the previously indicated
equations have been tested on these data, in some
cases determining ex MOW equations on the basis of
the techniques previously dealt with.
Figure 2. Relation between sincp' and logPI
according to OLS, LNS, RMA tecniques. The
straight line based on the equation of Kenney (1959)
is also shown.
Table 2 contains the minimum and maximum
values, the median and the standard deviation of the
data originally analysed. The corresponding
statistics for sinq', logPI, etc. are not reported.
Some equations found using OLS tecnique on the
45 data cited are (Figs 1,2,3):
C, -0.044 + 0.009 * LL (15)

17
 sin<p'=0.673 - 0.153610g PI (16)

PI
sin<p'=0.645 - 0.377 - (1 7)
LL
In the case of the equation that correlates sinq'
and InPI(see Eq. l l ) , the 45 points in the table are
reported on the diagram that identifies the equation
sinq' = 0.35 - 0.7 In PI (Fig. 4), together with the
further 65 points from Mitchell (1976) and Brooker
and Ireland (1965) (reported in Muir Wood, op. cit.).
The points are in close agreement with the equation
cited. .
As for the relationship between undrained
cohesion and effective vertical tension the results
obtained do not appear to be in line with what can be
deduced from the literature.
The graphs of Figure 1,2,3 also contain the lines
RMA (Reduce Major Axis) and LNS (Least Normal
Squares) that, as can be seen, sometimes give
significantly different results. It is obvious that the
Figure 3. Relation between sincp' and PULL use of one method or another depends on the
according to OLS, LNS, RMA tecniques. The conditions previously highlighted and any
straight line based on the equation of Mayne (1 980) successive manipulation (see Table 1) of the results
is also shown. obtained.
It should also be stated that the correlation
coefficients found, in general, were not very high,
Table 1. Summary of Mathematical Validity of but sufficient for the number of data investigated. at
Algebraic Manipulation of Laws Fitted by OLS, 1% significance (Berthouex and Brown, 1997).
LNS, and RMA Methods. The highest value of r (0.632) is relative to the
Type of Ordinary Least Least Normal Reduced Major linear equation between C, and LL.
manipulation Squires Squares Axis
Rearrangement No Yes Yes
Eauatine No No Yes*
Substitution No No Yes* 5 CONCLUSIONS
Multiplication Yes No No
(Addition) This paper has briefly reported and analysed some
Division Yes No No equations between geotechnical parameters for
(Subtraction) normally consolidated clays. The problems related to
means the manipulation is valid.
means the manipulation is invalid or is valid only in some the use, both proper and improper. of regression
cases. techniques have also been exposed. Some equations
"Calculated slopes will have the correct magnitude but the from the literature have been analysed. also
signs may be wrong; this is not a problem if the correlation is reporting those derived form the use of some of the
high. various regression techniques available and applying
them to a wide data bank for NC clays.
One conclusion that can be drawn is relative to the
Table 2. Significant statistical values of data care with which such techniques should be used. On
considered in the analysis. the other hand a widely collected and numerous data
L1, (%) PI (%) 4 cc(-) C,,/O',<>
(0) (-)
0.124 0.158
can permit the employment of ever more significant
Min 28 10 12.8
Max 110 80 42.2 1.121 0.510 statistical investigations.
Mean 59 31.6 27.0 0.491 0.320
Median 57 31 26.1 0.412 0.310
St. Dev. 20.54 16.10 5.93 0.294 0.078

18
Figure 4. Relation (Eq. 1 1 ) between sincp' and P I in logaritmic scale and as decimal, based on the data of
Mitchell(1976) Brooker and Ireland (1 965) and Humprey and Iioltz (1988).
RE FE REN CE S
Adikari G.S.N. ( 1 977). Statistical Evaluation of
Strength and Deformation Characteristics of
Bankok Clays. M.Eng. Thesis. Asian Institute of
'I'echnology. Bangkok.
Al-Khafaji D.W.N., and Andersland O.B. (1992).
Equations for Compression Index
Approximation. Journal of Geotechnical
Engineering ASCE, vol. 1 18 n. 1, pp. 148-153.
ALZOULA.S.. Krizek R.J.. Corotis R.B. (1976).
Regression analysis of soil compressibility. Soils
and Foundations 16(2): 19-29.
Balasubramaniam A.S., Brenner R.P. (1 981).
Consolidation and settlement of soft clay. In: Sbf/
C l ~ y Engineering. Brand and Brenner Eds
Elsevier Amsterdam.
Berthouex 1'. M., Brown L. C. (1 997). S'htistics for
Environimcwtul Engineers. Lewis Publishers.
Boca Raton.
B.jerrum I... Sinions N.E. (1 960). Comparison of
Shear strength Characteristics of Normally
Consolidated Clays. 1" PSC ASCE pp.71 1-726.
Brooker E.W. and Ireland H.O. (1965). Earth
pressures at rest related to stress history.
Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 2( 1) pp. 1- 15.
Carter M., Bentley S.P. (1 99 1). Cbrrelcr/ion.s of soil
properties. Pentech Press London.
Cherubini C., (1993). Discussion on the article of
Al-Khafaji and Andersland: Equation for
Compression Index Approximation. Journ.
Geotec. Eng. ASCE, vol. I 19. n.4. pp.801-802.
Cherubini C., Giasi C. I., Guadagno F. M. (1988). I1
coefficiente di spinta a riposo delle argille
azzzurre subappennine di Matera. Rivista Italiana
di Geotecnica. Anno XXIII n.4, pp. 183-193.
19
Cherubini C., Cucchiararo L., Giasi C.I., Santoro F.
(1996). The validation of correlation laws for
some properties of normally consolidated clays.
XXV AI AS International Conference on Material
Engineering. Gallipoli, vol.11 pp.1221-1227.
Giasi C. I., and Guadagno F. M. (1993). Discussion
on the article of Al-Khafaji and Andersland:
Equation for Compression Index Approximation.
Journ. Geotec. Eng. ASCE, vol. 1 19, n.4, pp.801-
802.
Hansbo S. (1957). A new approach to the
determination of the shear strength of clay by the
fall-cone test. Swedish Geotechnical Institute
Stockolm Proceedings n. 14.
T-lumphrey D.N., Holtz R.D. (1988). Cap parameters
fiom clayey soils. Numerical methods in
geomechanics. Innsbruck pp.441-446.
Karlsson R., Viberg L. (1967). Ratio c,,/p' in relation
to Liquid Limit and Plasticity index with special
reference to Swedish Clay. Proc. Geot. Conf.
Oslo. vol. I pp.43-44.
Kenney T.C. (1 959). Discussion. Proc.ASCE Vo1.85
n.SM pp.67-79.
Lancellotta R. ( 1993). Geofccnicu. Zanichelli.
Bologna.
Li K.S., White W. (1993). Use and misuse of
regression analysis and curve fitting in
geotechnical engineering. Probabilistic Methods
in Geotechnical Engineering Li and Lo Eds,
Canberra pp. 145-152 Balkema.
Mayne P.W. (1980). Cam Clay predictions of
undrained strength. ASCE Journal of
Geotechnical Engineering Division. vol. 106 GT
11, pp.1219-1242.
Mitchell J.K. (1 976). Fundmneii/uls of soil
behaviour. J.Wiley and Sons N.Y..
Muir Wood D. (1994). Soil behaviour and critical
state soil mechanics. Cambridge University
Press.
Nagaraj T.S., Srinivasa Murthy B.R. (1980). A
critical reappraisal of Compression Index
equations. Geotechnique 36, 11.1 pp.27-32.
Senneset K., Janbu N. (1994). Shear Strength
Parameters obtained from Static Cone Penetration
Tests. In "Strength Testing of Marine Sediments"
ASTM Special Technical Publication STP 833.
Philadelphia.
Skempton A.W. (1967). Discussion. The planning
and design of New Hong Kong Airport. Proc.
Inst. Civ. Eng., vo1.7, pp.305-307.
Terzaghi K., Peck R.B. (1974). Geotecnica. Utet
Torino, Italy.
Troutnian B.M.. Williams G.P. (1987). Fitting
Straight lines in the Earth Sciences. In: Use and
Abuse of Statisticul Methods in the Earth
Sciences W.B. Size Ed. Oxford University Press.
Velleman P.F., Hoaglin D.C. (1981). ABC of EDA.
Duxbury Press. Boston.
Williams G.P., Troutman B.M. (1 987). Algebraic
manipulation of equation of Best-Fit Straight lines.
In: Use and Abuse of Statisticul Methods in the
Emth Sciences W.B. Size Ed. Oxford University
Press.

20
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)@ 2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 1

Some aspects of settlement in thick soil deposits

S.G.Chung
Dong-A University, Pusan, Korea
S. K. Kim
Dong-Pusan College, Pusan, Korea
N. K. Lee
Dohwa Consulting Engineers Company Limited, Seoul, Korea

ABSTRACT: A large-scale soil improvement project was performed on a thick soft ground that is located at
the estuary of the Nakdong River. In order to accelerate the consolidation settlement, vertical band drains were
installed and then an 8m-high embankment was constructed. Some features of settlements for the site are de-
scribed in this paper with the measurements of settlement and pore water pressure. The reasons of the discrep-
ancy between predicted and measured settlements are also discussed.

1 INTRODUCTION Compression index is variable, ranging from 0.5 to

0.8. OCRs (over-consolidation ratio) are much less
A wide delta area has been formed at the estuary of than unity from the lab consolidation test. The clay
the Nakdong River, which is called the Kimhae has high sensitivity of 8 to 22.
Plain. It is a thick deltaic deposit formed through The upper silty sand layer being the ground sur-
prolonged geologic time, the thickness of which is face has been deposited by frequent flooding of the
80m or more at its coast line. In order to develop the Nakdong River. Its thickness ranges from 18m to
offshore of the delta area as industrial and residential 20m. The sand layer is unusually thick, comparing
complexes, many reclamation projects have been with other part of the delta area (10m in average).
performed on the lowland. It was known that there The silty sand layer is loose and the N values are
was a big discrepancy between predicted and meas- variable but the maximum value does rarely exceed
ured settlements through reclamation works per- 20/30.
formed over this area. Our experiences show that the
observed settlement is 2 to 3 times greater than pre-
dicted settlement (Kim, 1999).
This paper aims at disclosing the discrepancy
through in-situ measurements for a soil improvement
project performed at the site of Ulsookdo. The site is
a part of the estuary and is an island formed on the
main stream of the Nakdong River mouth (see Fig.
1).

2 GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF SOILS

A typical soil profile of the site is shown in Fig. 2.

Gravel and sand were first deposited on the bedrock
but those layers are not main concern of this paper.
A thick silty clay layer of around 25m lay on the
coarse materials. Some locations of the clay layer
contain a sand layer of maximum 3m in the middle
part of the layer but it is not continuous. The clay
layer is soft, and its natural water content is 50% in
average with liquid limit slightly exceeding it. Un-
confined compression strength is less than 10t/m2 in
the upper part of the layer and increases with depth. Figure 1. Location of the soil improvement project.

21
Figure 2. The soil profile and physical properties of soils for Ulsookdo site.

3 GROUND IMPROVEMENT AND It was known that the settlement occurred during
PRELOADING PBD installation was as large as 20.5cm at location
P1. Almost similar trend was observed at other loca-
The site was planned to build 2- to 8-story buildings
after soil improvement. Prefabricated band drains
(PBD) were installed into the soft ground to the
depth of 43.0m with the space of 1.5m square. Then
an embankment was constructed on the area of 207m
x 157m with the construction speed of 0.4m/month.
Since the final embankment-height was 8m, it took
330days until its completion.
A monitoring system was planned as shown in
Fig.3(a). Seven locations were selected for moni-
toring including measurements of settlement, pore
water pressure, and water table. The detailed profile
for monitoring was shown in Fig. 3(b).

4 SETTLEMENT CHARATERISTICS OF SAND

AND CLAY
4.1 Settlement characteristics ofsilty sand layer
Shown in Fig. 4 is the relationship of settlement and
elapsed time obtained from in-situ measurements at
the location P1 for the silty sand layer. The em-
bankment load has increased until its height reaches
8m, as shown in the figure. Settlement measure-
ments have been taken for more than two years from
the start of embankment construction. It is known
from the measurements that total settlements can be
divided into three parts: the settlement that occurred
during PBD installation, the immediate settlement
due to the embankment load increment and the set-
tlement due to creep under the final embankment
load. Figure 3. Layout of monitoring system; (a) plan (b) profile.

22
 that the settlement covers 24.3% of total settlement
for the 8-meter fill height. The immediate settlement
that occurred with an increase of fill weight was
59.3cm at PI, and it continued to occur even some
time after application of final load.

4.2 Settlement characteristics of silty clay layer

The settlement curve of the silty clay layer for loca-
tion P1 is shown in Fig. 5. This can be drawn de-
ducting the settlement for the upper silty sand layer
from total settlement measured at the ground sur-
face. The settlement can be divided into three parts
as mentioned in the previous section.
The settlement that occurred during PBD in-
stallation for PI is 8.4cm for the thickness of 25.5m,
which covers 4.1% of total settlement. Comparing
this value with that of silty sand layer, the amounts
are small as expected. On the other hand, consolida-
tion settlement and creep settlement are 86.6% and
9.3% respectively. Table 2 gives settlement data of
the silty clay layer for all locations.

Table 1 . Summary of settlement occurred in the upper silty

sand layer.
LOC. Thickness Setttement (cm)
(m) SPDD*' Sembi2 Screep" Total"
PI 18.5 20.5(24.3) 59.3(70.3) 4.5(5.3) 84.3
P2 19.0 18.2(20.2) 66.1(73.2) 5.9(6.5) 90.2
P3 18.1 20.8(29.6) 46.1(65.6) 3.4(4.8) 70.3
P4 20.0 20.6(20.0) 52.4(68.9) 3.1(4.0) 76.1
P5 19.0 21.1(29.3) 47.6(66.1) 3.3(4.6) 72.0
P6 19.1 12.7(23.0) 39.1(70.8) 3.4(6.1) 55.2
P7 21.0 6.4(7.8) 70.6(86.3) 4.8(5.9) 81.8
* 1 : Settlement occurred during PBD installation.
*2: Settlement occurred during embankment construction.
*3: Settlement due to creep deformation.
*4: Percent of total settlement.

Table 2. Summary of settlement measured in silty clay layer.

LOC. Elev. from Setttement (cm)
ground (m> sPDD*' Sbefore*2 Safter? screep" ~otal
PI 18.0-43.5 8.4 49.7 128.8 19.2 206. I
P2 18.0-33.0 3.9 28.7 70.5 17.6 120.7
33.0-44.0 0.9 14.0 35.2 6.4 56.5
P3 18.0-33.7 5.5 32.3 88.2 20.7 146.7
33.7-42.5 0.2 13.2 39.2 19.2 71.8
Figure 5. Settlement curve of silty clay layer for location PI P4 20.0-32.0 0.0 19.4 75.1 18.2 112.7
32.0-41.5 0.4 15.1 41.5 11.7 68.7
P5 18.0-42.0 9.6 64.9 135.5 15.6 225.6
tions except P6 and P7, as shown in Table 1. Such P6 19.0-42.0 4.8 30.8 96.2 2.2 134.0
large settlements were caused by vibration occurred P7 21.0-34.0 0.0 1.6 46.7 27.0 75.3
during PBD installation because the sand layer is 34.0-42.0 0.0 0.0 29.1 4.9 34.0
-
very loose @=I -4 mostly, but become higher when * 1 : Settlement occurred during PBD installation.
gravel is contained). Less settlement at P7 seems to '2: Settlement occurred before yield stress.
be due to relatively higher content of gravel. With a ' 3 : Settlement occurred after yield stress.
*4: Settlement due to creep.
vibro-hammer of 60KW loaded on a crawler tractor
o f 100 ton, the PBD was installed with the help of
casing of 45.5m through the sand layer. It is noted

23
Figure 6 . Field compression curve.
5 PARAMETERS OBTAINED FROM FIELD
COMPRESSION CURVE
5.1 Characteristics of Jield compression curves
Shown in Fig. 6 are field compression curves that
were drawn on semi-log scale for silty clay layer.
Void ratio at a given elevation is calculated with
strains of the clay layer. Effective vertical stress is
determined deducting the measured pore water pres-
sure from the overburden pressure calculated in
terms of total stress. Because of unstable measure-
ments of initial pore water pressure, some plots in
the initial stage were scattered. Measurements of
pore pressure were taken from vibration-wire type
piezometers.
A general pattern of the compression curves is
close to a straight line on semi-log scale but is
slightly bent more downwards in the middle part.
The stress at the slope change indicates the yield
stress of the bottom elevation of the clay layer that a
settlement gauge is installed. It is noted, however,
that those in-situ settlement curves are basically dif-
ferent from the consolidation curves obtained from
24
the lab consolidation test, because the former is the
accumulated settlement occurred over a thick clay
layer while the latter is the one for the elevation at
which a sample is taken.
Fig. 7 may be helpful to understand the features
of in-situ compression curve. For convenience of its
explanation, a thick clay layer is divided into 3 sub-
layers. Assuming the clay layer is in normally con-
solidated state, the maximum past pressure coincides
with the overburden pressure at every elevations, as
shown in the lab e - 0’ relationship for each layer.
When an embankment load is applied on the ground
surface, stresses are induced within the soil mass and
their distribution with depth can be assumed as
shown in the figure. If stress increment induced by
the embankment load is A o l , the third sub-layer al-
most does not settle down because the stress incre-
ment is negligible within the layer. This is the set-
tlement occurring before yield stress. When the
induced stress increases further, the whole thickness
of the clay layer are mobilized to settle down, as
seen in the steeper line of Fig. 6.
Figure 7. Explanation of features of in-situ compression curve.

5.2 Comparison offield OCR with lab OCR

Many lab consolidation data for the estuary of the Figure 8. Determination of OCR from in-situ test.
Nakdong River have shown that maximum past
pressure is less than the overburden pressure
( O C R 4 , see Fig. 2), which means that the clay is Table 3. Comparison of in-situ compression index with the lab
compression index.
under-consolidated state.
Fig. 8 shows OCR calculated based on yield LOC. Thickness Field Lab
stresses determined from in-situ compression curves. (m> Cc,*’ Cc2*2 Elevation C,
Though the data are limited only to three elevations PI 18.0-43.5 0.35 1.04 24.4 0.63
of the clay layer, it is known from the figure that 37.9 0.80
OCR of the clay layer is larger than unity. This does P2 18.0-33.0 0.50 0.66 27.4 0.77
33.0-44.0 0.17 0.49 39.4 0.63
not agree with results obtained from the lab test. P3 18.0-33.7 0.30 0.62 22.9 0.58
Chung et al. (1999) determined OCR by measur- 33.7-42.5 0.59 0.86 36.4 0.79
ing the change of pore pressure with the change of P4 20.0-32.0 0.18 0.51 21.4 0.78
the induced stress within the soil mass, using .the 32.0-41.5 0.41 0.58 37.9 0.77
method suggested by Leroueil et al. (1978). The re- P5 18.0-42.0 0.23 0.55 24.4 0.60
sults are also presented in Fig. 8. It is known that the 36.4 0.55
P6 19.0-42.0 0.22 0.66 25.9 0.58
values of OCR vary from 0.98 to 1.25. No matter 36.4 0.51
whether the clay is normally consolidated or not, it is P7 21.0-34.0 0.47 0.34 24.4 0.61
known that the OCR in lower depth is lower than 34.0-42.0 0.51 0.65 36.4 0.61
that of the upper part of the clay layer. * 1 : Compression index before yield stress.
*2 : Compression index after yield stress.
5.3 Compression index
The values of compression index are mainly deter- It is known from the table that the compression in-
mined from the standard consolidation test in the la- dex after yield stress ranges from 0.34 to 0.86 except
boratory for settlement prediction. Since the field for P1, which is not much different from the lab val-
compression curve is a direct measurement of set- ues (C,=0.5 to 0.8).
tlement of the clay layer, its inclination is the practi- When the samples have been disturbed during the
cal compression index of a clay layer. process of sampling and testing, Schmertmann’s
Table 3 shows the inclination of the field com- scheme is applicable for its correction. Fig. 9 also
pression curves. The inclination of the curve is di- shows a comparison of the two. It is known that
vided into two parts, the inclination before yield Schmertmann’s correction leads to overestimate the
stress and the one after the yield stress. value.

25

Figure 9. Comparison of conipression indices and Schmert-
mann's correction.
6 DISCUSSION
Some reasons of the big discrepancy between predict
and measured settlements were investigated from the
results of in-situ settlement measurement and their
analysis. It was disclosed that the settlement that oc-
curred during PBD installation occupied approxi-
mately 7% of total settlement of both silty sand and
silty clay layers. Although foundation engineers are
well aware that loose sand is very sensitive to volu-
me change when it is subjected to vibration, it is
surprising to understand that PBD installation con-
tributes greatly to the settlement of the sand layer.
The immediate settlement of silty sand layer is
very significant in our case. Its prediction from ex-
isting empirical formulas is usually low for the sand
layer at the estuary of the Nakdong River (Chung et
al., 1999). Also creep of the sand is not negligible
because of fine materials involved in the sand layer.
In general, the in-situ compression curve is
nearly straight line on the e - log CJ' plot but a break
point appears on the curve. The stress at the break
point is the yield stress of a clay layer. This may be a
reliable method in predicting the yield stress as long
as pore water pressure is correctly measured. It is,
however, noted that the pore water pressure tends to
be measured low because residual pore pressure ex-
isists after consolidation settlement is completed.
The silty clay layer is thick and exhibits slightly
over-consolidated behavior from in-situ settlement
measurements. However, the results of the standard
consolidation test shows that the clay is under-
consolidated with OCR of 0.4 to 0.7. This big dis-
crepancy between the field and the lab tests should
26
be studied further. The low OCR may be caused by
soil disturbance, while the high OCR may be caused
by lower measurement than actual values of pore
water pressure. This is because the vertical effective
stresses are calculated based on pore pressure meas-
urement and the developed pore water pressure may
rapidly dissipate because PBDs have been installed
on the soft ground.
It is known that the inclinations of the lab and
field compression curves are not much different.
This means that the C, values obtained from the
standard consolidation tests are reliable for the cal-
culation of consolidation settlements.
7 CONCLUSION
Soil improvement for a thick soft soil deposit was
performed with the technique of PBD installation
and preloading. The deposit for the improvement is
the upper loose sand layer and the underlying soft
clay layer.
For the sand layer, it is found that large settle-
ment occur during PBD installation, amounts of
which is approximately one fourth of total settlement
in the sand layer. The settlement of the silty sand
layer is nearly half or more of total settlement of
silty clay layer for almost similar thickness. Since it
has been shown that the settlement for the upper
sand layer is very important, it is advised to develop
a reasonable empirical formula for its accurate pre-
diction.
In predicting settlements occurring in the Nak-
dong deltaic deposits, some features have been dis-
closed through in-situ measurements in this paper.
Further research is needed with emphasis on the un-
usual thick deposition of Kimhae clay formed at the
estuary of the Nakdong River mouth.
8 REFERENCES
Leroueil, S., Tavenas, F., Trak, R.,La Rochelle, P. and Rpy,
M. 1978. Consolidation pore pressures in clay foundation
under embankments. Pai-t 11: gencralizcd bchavior, Curiadii-
~ t Ceotechriical
i Joitrrial, 15 (1) : 66-82.
Chung, S. G., Kiln, G. J., Lee, D. M., Cho, K. Y . 1999. Deter-
mination of OCR in the deltaic clay of the Nakdong River.
Jorirtml (fthe Korerin Geotecliriicul Socieo: Vol. 15. No.
4: 85-97.
Kim, S. K. 1999. Unusual large settlement by reclamation on
thick deltaic deposits, A Pre-Conference LSymnpo.~iztn~ 017
Gt-ozmd Improvenient and Geotynthetics in conjzrnction
with AIT 40'" Anniversuty Celebration, Asian Institute of
Technology; 227-24 1.
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

Evaluation of strength of marine surface sediments

M. Fukue, Y.Takami & T Ide

Tokai UniversiQ Shimizu, Japan
S. Kuboshima & S.Yamasaki
Aoki Marine Company, Osaka,Japan

ABSTRACT: The strength of marine-sediments has been mainly developed by consolidation and
cementation effects and varies considerably with depth. The consolidation effect is due to tlie overburdened
pressure, but the cementation effect is basically independent of depth or overburdened pressure. Since
cementation varies within a very small thickness of sediments. the actual strength profile of inarine sediiiients
can hardly be obtained, because there is no available test method for such a thin layer or sample. Under this
situation, the strength of natural marine sediinents measured by laboratory tests, e.g. unconfined conipression
test, will depend on tlie size of specimens.
In this study, the following method is proposed to evaluate the strength of thin soil layers. based on the
previous studies.
a)For sediments. the strength aiid CaCO, content shall be measured. Then, the strength caii be correlated to
the CaCO, content. This correlation will be a standard relationship to separate consolidation effect and
cementatioii. 111fact, the shear strength of sediinents can be expressed by

s,, = IL z + s,,() + 7.5 (C-(J

where s,, (kPa) is the undrained shear strength of sediiiients at depth z (in), A, is the increasing rate of shear
strength due to consolidation alone, s,,~)(kPa) is the iiull undrained shear strength at the surface, and ( ' and
C',)(%) are the iiull aiid actual carbonate contents at depth z and the surface, respectively.
b)The CaCO, content of the sediments shall be measured with a small depth interval.
c)The strength corresponding to CaCO; content is determined using the standard correlation obtained
previous 1y.

1. INTRODUCTION obtained are often too approximate if thin ueak

layers are coiicerned, 14 hen engineering
I n marine condition, the sediiiieiitatioii of' solid requirenients are not alu ays satisfied. For example.
particles occ~irsvery slowly. It L I S L I ~takes
~ ~ ~ more during the construction of marine embaiiknieiit. as
than one year to accuniulate a sediment layer of 1 shown in Fig.1, a shear failure may occur through a
ciii. Illider this situation, the properties of sediment thin layer of the sedinients. Actually. this type of
layer vary considerably with depth. because of failure has occurred during construction. but it has
varied nature of sedimentation due to climate and not been published. In this case. the failure plane caii
other factors. Accordingly, the mechanical and
physical properties of the sediinents also vary in a
very small thickness.
-.
I lie previous study showed that the calcium
carbonate plays an important role as a cementing
agent (Fukue cf (11. 1986. I999b), aiid that a very few
amount of' carbonate aflects on the strength of
sediments. Therefore, the variation in carbonate
content will determine the nature of sediment layers.
On the other hand, the measurement of soil
properties usually reyuires certain mass, volume or
thickness of sediment. Therefore, these properties Fig. I Failure at seabed.

27
be considerably different from the theoretical
circular sliding, because of the layered seabed with
different strength. Even if the failure plane is
circular, the strength of thin weak layers has to be
obtained for the stability analysis.
2. EFFECT OF WEAK LAYER IN SPECIMEN
Specimens used for unconfined and triaxial
compression tests generally have a height of several
centimeters. Consequently, the result obtained on
sediments will become an over-estimated value to a
thin weak layer existing in the specimen.
In order to investigate the strength characteristics
of multi-layered soil, clayey soil specimens were
prepared as follows.
a) Commercially available clayey soil was mixed
with water and compacted into a cylinder with a
diameter of 3.5 cm at a water content of 20 %
and 25 %.
b)The compacted soil was pushed out from the
cylinder and was cut to be subjected to
unconfined compression test (single layered
specimen).
c) Specimen was prepared by stacking of the short
soil samples with a different water content
(multi-layered specimen). The order of stacking
and the thickness of the each layer were varied.
Figure 2 shows the stress-strain relationships for the
clayey soil specimens. The specimen consists of unit
layer or multiple layers with a water content of 20 or
25 %. Tlie thickness and stacking order of the layers
were varied. For example. the legend “20.25,20 in
F i g 2 Stress- strain curves of stacked samples.
28
Fig.2 denotes the water contents of each layer from
the top to the bottom layers, respectively, and the “1 :
1: 1” denotes the thickness ratio of the each layer.
The “20” means a water content of 20 %, and “25”
means 25 %. The unconfined coinpressive strength
of the single layered specimen with a water content
of 20 940 is 58.6 kPa, as can be seen in Fig.2. On the
other hand, the single layered specimen with a water
content of 25 YOshowed an unconfined compressive
strength of 15 kPa.
In Fig.2, it is apparent that tlie unconfined
compressive strength on the multi-layered specimens
ranges between those of tlie single layered
specimens. This is because the multi-layered
specimens include both soils with a water content of
20 and 25 %. The effect of respective thickness of
the layer is shown in Fig.3. In Fig3, L, and Lzo
denote the total height of specimen and the height of
a layer(s) with a water content of 20 9’0,respectively.
The height of specimens, L, was 7 cm. Tlie figure
shows that the increase in L2,,IL, value provides the
increase in uiiconfined compressive strength.
Thus, when a specimen consists of multiple layers,
the strength characteristics are influenced by tlie
strength characteristics of each layer. as shown in
Figs. 2 and 3. This means that the size of specimen
becomes an important factor for estimating sediment
strength, because weak parts will govern the strength.
Since the minimum size of specimen is constraint
with respect to the test methods and procedures,
some other evaluation method is required to predict
better strength characteristics.
3. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRENGTH AND
CARBONATE CONTENT
Preliminary studies showed that the shear strength
and unconfined compressive strength for marine
sediments are strongly influenced by carbonate
content (Fukue and Nakamura, 1996), where
carbonate content C is defined as the ratio of
contained carbonate to the dry weight of solid in
weight. It is noted that the origin of carbonates is
coccolith and.foraminifer (Fukue et al, 1996).
The carbonate content is determined by
measuring COz gaseous pressure produced by
mixing soil and acid, based on the following
reaction.
D, and incremental carbonate content with depth, A
Cl AD, for Tokyo and Osaka Bay sediments (Fukue
et al. 1999b). The data for Tokyo Bay plotted in
Fig.5 are obtained from the original data shown in
Fig.4, but the original data for Osaka Bay are given
in the previous literature (Fukue et ul, 1999b). This
relationship is used as a standard correlation for the
incremental strength against carbonate content.
Figure 5 indicates that the standard correlation is
almost linear and does not pass the origin. The
intersection with the axis of A Tl A D is tentatively
taken as 1.0 kPa/m. It is important that the
intersection will present the increasing rate of vane
shear strength with depth at a constant carbonate
content, because A Cl A D = 0.

CaCO, + 2 HCl -+ H 2 0+ CaC1, +COz

The apparatus for measuring the gaseous pressure is

presented in the previous literature (Fukue and
Nakamura, 1996).
Figure 4 shows profiles of carbonate content and
vane shear strength of sediment samples obtained
from Tokyo Bay. Fig. 4 shows that the increment of
vane shear strength is influenced by the carbonate
content. Quantitative analysis of this cementation
effect due to carbonate was made by Fukue et al,
(1999b). Similar results were also obtained on
various types of marine sediment (Fukue and
Nakamura, 1996).
Figure 5 demonstrates the relationship between
incremental vane shear strength with depth, A Tl A

Fig.4 Carbonate content and vane shear strength for Tokyo Bay sedirnents.

29
 On the other hand, the gradient shown in Fig. 5
provides a mean value of the cementation effect, i.e.,
A Tl A C, which is approximately 7.5 kPa/%. This
means that the increase in vane shear strength to the
increase in one percent of carbonate content is 7.5
kPa for the sediments obtained from Tokyo Bay and
Osaka Bay. Therefore, for the sediments the
following relation can be obtained.
A T = 7.5 A C (1)
Equation (1) indicates that the shear strength
increases linearly with incremental carbonate
content.
Then, the cementation effect on tlie undrained
shear strength can be given by
where s,l(cal)is the undrained shear strength
developed by carbonate, s , , ~ is the null undrained
shear strength and COis the null carbonate content at
the surface. The null undrained shear strength and
null carboiiate content are not actual value but
virtual as demonstrated in Fig. 6. These values can
be obtained from the best fitting curves, respectively.
It is noted that in fact, the value of A T/ A C is
dependent on depth, i.e., other physical properties
(Fukue et nl, 1999b). Therefore, the value of A Tl A
C has to be obtained at a given range of depth. It was
found that deeper soils has a greater value of A T/ A
C'. For example, the A Tl A C for Tokyo Bay
sediments is approximately 64 kPa/% for a depth of
about 40 111. In general, the higher tlie density of
soils, the stronger the cementation will be. These are
presented in the previous literatures (Fukue et al,
1996, 1999b).
In Fig.5. the soil depth ranges from 0 to 5m. This
may lead the lowest cementation effect for soils,
because of the youngest sediments.
Fig5 Standard correlation for Tokyo Bay
and Osaka Bay sedinients.
30
4. SEPARATION BETWEEN CONS 0LID AT1ON
AND CEMENTATION EFFECTS
As the relationship between A TlA D and A Cl A D
can be represented by a straight line, the undrained
shear strength at depth z can be given i n ternis of
consolidation and cementation effects, as shown in
Fig.7. It is assumed that the undrained shear strength
due to consolidation alone increases liiiearly with
depth. The undrained shear strength becomes the
sum of the consolidation and cementation effects.
where s,, is tlie uiidrained shear strength, (s,,)? is tlie
undrained shear strength developed by consolidation
alone at a depth z, and A. is the increasing rate of
undrained shear strength due to the consolidation
effects. The k can be identified as the intersection
of the A Tl A D axis, i.e., increasing rate of shear
strength without change in carbonate content, as
shown in Fig. 7.
From, Eqs.(2) and (4). we obtain
s,, = k z + s , , ~+ A T(C- C'") /A(' (5)
5. DETERMINATION OF CONSTANTS
The calculation of Eq.(5) requires tlic determination
or estimation of constants, i.e., A , .s!!,, ,A T/A(' and
CO *
The value of k can be obtained from the
standard correlation. As was mentioned previously,
the value k for the Tokyo Bay sediments is
given by the intersection of vertical axis in Fig. 5.
The k is approximately 1 .O kPa/m.
The value of A T / A C can also be obtained from
the standard correlation. This value is given by the
gradient of the standard correlation. In tlie case of
the Tokyo Bay sediments, the value of A T / A C was
7.5 kPa/%.
 The null shear strength sul, and null carbonate s,, =1.0 z + 6 +7.5 (C-2.5) (kPa) (7)
content COare the standard values for the profiles, as
illustrated in Fig.6. It is of importance that the CO The calculation of the undrained shear strength for
corresponds to the si,(,. At present, these values are Osaka Bay sediments is shown in Fig.9. The
tentatively taken as the intersection of the measured strength is considerably lower than the
approximate fitting curves in Fig.4. For the Tokyo
Bay sediments, the value of s,,~, is 4.0 kPa and COis
1 %.

6. EXAMPLE OF ESTIMATION

6.1 Tokyo Buy sediments

The undrained shear strength can be estimated froin

the measured carbonate content, by calculating
Eq.(6) using the estimated values of A. , s,,", A Tl A C
and Co.The undrained shear strength of the Tokyo
Bay sediinents is given by

s,, =I .O z + 4 +7.5 (C- 1 .O) (kPa) (6)

where s,, (kPa) is the shear strength, z (m) is the

depth and c' (%) is the carbonate content.
The example of calculated undraiiied shear
strength from the carbonate content for Tokyo bay
sediment is shown in Fig.8. For the comparison, the
data of measured vane shear strength are also plotted
in tlie figure. Fig.8 shows that the values of the
estimated vane shear strength deviate widely than
the measured values. This trend is not similar to the
Osaka Bay sediments, as shown later. It is noted that
the constants used for calculation here can be
applicable for the surface sediments, i.e., from the
bottom to several meters. When it is intended to
apply to deeper soils or other site locations, the
standard correlation must be obtained in a similar
inaiiiier described in this study.
Since carbonate content can easily be measured
on a few gram of soil sample, the measurement can
be achieved for very thin layers. Therefore. the
method proposed in this study can be useful for
estimating the undrained shear strength for very thin
layers, and also for time and cost savings.

6.2 Osuku Bcry .c.edinierit.s

The carbonate content of Osaka Bay sediiiients is

relatively high in comparison to the Tokyo Bay
sedinients. Consequently, the undraiiied shear
strength of' the Osaka Bay sedinients is also
relatively high. Therefore, the values of s,," and CO
for the Osaka Bay sediinents are higher than those of
the Tokyo Bay sediments.
According to the previous literature (Fukue et crl,
1999b), the values of sIlO and COfor the Osaka Bay
sediinents are estimated to be 6 kPa and 2.5 %,
respectively. Therefore, the undraiiied shear strength
for tlie Osaka Bay sediments is presented by

31

estimated strength near the surface. This may be
because the cementation is not significantly
developed for the younger soils with a high water
content higher than the liquid limit. It is noted that
most marine sediments deposited near the bottom
have a water content higher than the liquid limit
(Fukue et ul, 1999a). In Fig.9, the difference
between the measured and estimated strengths at
deeper sediments. i.e.,from 2.5 to 2.8 m and 3.5 to
5.5 in. may be due to the disturbance of sediment
samples or varied nature of soil type. The
disturbance will decrease the strength, whilst
cementation may be dependent on soil type. For
example. the cementation effect due to carbonate is
much stronger for sandy soils than for clayey soils
(Fukue et NI. 1999b).
7. CONCLUSIONS
It is important to determine the shear strength of thin
layers for sediments for the stability analyses under
loading.
An estimation technique of undrained shear
strength for the thin layers of marine sediments was
shown in this study, based on the experimental facts
that undrained shear strength of marine sediments
are strongly dependent on the carbonate content,
which plays an important role as a cementing agent.
The development mechanism of undrained shear
32
strength is divided into two processes, i.e.,
consolidation and cementation. In this study, these
two processes were quantitatively separated, using
the standard correlation defined.
For the surface sediments, the undrained shear
strength, i.e., vane shear strength, developed by
consolidation effects is expressed by
s,, =1 .o z
for Tokyo and Osaka Bays, whilst cementation effect
is expressed by
s,, = 4 +7.5 (C -1 .O)
for Tokyo Bay sediments, and
s,, = 6 +7.5 (C-2.5)
for Osaka Bay sediments, where s,, (kPa) is the shear
strength, z (m) is the depth and C (%) is the
carbonate content.. However, further examination
for the applicability is needed.
REFERENCES
Fukue, M. , Nakamura, T. , Kato, Y. and Naoe. K.
1996, Correlation among carbonate content,
accumulation rate and topography of seabed,
Soils and Foundutions. 36( 1 ), 5 1-60.
Fukue, M. aiid Nakamura, T., 1996, Effects of
carbonate on cementation of marine soils,
Marine Georesour-ces and Geotechnology, 14,
3 7-45.
Fukue, M., Minato, T. and Kazama. H., 1999a,
Hypothesis on virgin compression and
consolidation behavior of marine soils, Annual
Report of Hydroscience and Geotechnology
Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, Saitama
University, 24, 1 19- 132.
Fukue, M., Nakamura, T. aiid Kato, Y., 1999b
Cementation of soils due to calcium carbonate,
Soils & Foundations , 3 9 (6), 5 5 -64.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Liquefaction criteria for a non-plastic silt

T. Higuchi
University of Durham, UK
A. E L. Hyde
Department of Civil and Structurul Engineering, University of Sheffield, UK
K.Yasuhara
Ibaruki University, Hituchi, Japan

ABSTRACT: The increasing use of reclaimed land filled with non-plastic silt materials in seismically active
areas has led to a need for a knowledge of their liquefaction characteristics, however sample preparation and
testing methods affect these Characteristics. Samples prepared using 1-D consolidation had heavily overcon-
solidated characteristics while sediinented silt behaved like a lightly overconsolidated material. Sedimented
silt had a much lower cyclic strength than the denser iiiaterial and a cyclic strength curve prepared using the
dense silt would give optimistic unsafe predictions of seismic susceptibility. Open loop stress control systems
are unable to maintain constant cyclic stress conditions for samples undergoing large strains. The initiation of
liquefaction is often accompanied by a decay in the cyclic stress amplitude, resulting in a higher measured cy-
clic strength. The use of closed loop stress control systems is recommended.

1 INTRODUCTION Table 1 Particle size distribution

The incrcasing use of‘ reclaimed land filled with noii-
plastic silt materials in seismically active areas has
led to a need for a Imowledge of the engineering
characteristics of these materials when sub.jected to
brief periods of cyclic loading. The method of sam-
ple preparation for silts has a marked influence 011
their strength and needs to be carefully defined. Fre-
quently cyclic loading tests for liquefaction suscep-
tibility are carried out using piieuinatic loading ac-
tuators (Yasuhara et al., 1998) I n this case the
qualitj of the stress control influences the nature of
the cyclic strength curves. ’Tests have bcen carried
out 017 isotropically and anisotropically consolidated
silt samples which highlight the importance of the
testing methods in the definition of cyclic strength.
2 MA’TERIAIdAND SAMP1.E PREPARATION
2. I l\kl~el.l~l/
Tests were carried out on a low plasticity silt
(G,=2.71. 1’1 = 6%, U, = 24%, w,, = 18%) consisting
of a crushed limestone obtaincd from Sliap Beck
quarries in Cumbria, UK. The results of the particle
size distribution were as follows:
Sand >O.O6111111 11.6%
Coarse silt 0.02-0.061nm 33.4%
Medium silt 0.006-0.021nm 30.6%
Fine silt 0.002-0.006mni 17.8%
Clav <0.002 6.6%
2.2 Snnzple preparafion
Two techniques were used to produce triaxial sam-
ples. In the first method samples were initially one-
dimensionally ( 1 -D) consolidated from a slurry in a
1OOiiim diameter consolidation mould at an initial
mean normal effective stress p’ = 80kPa. Samples
from the mould were then extruded into three 38111111
sample tubes and stored. Prior to testing the samples
were extruded into a split former and mounted on
the triaxial cell base.
This technique produced relatively dense samples
which because of their low undrained shear strength
u w e also easily damaged while the top platen,
niembrane, and 0-rings were placed. The 11011-
plastic silt prepared in this way demonstrated sand
like characteristics with a high 1-D compressive
stiffness, high pre-consolidation or yield pressure
and a propensity to dilate. They also had a high vari-
ability due to friction in the consolidation mould and
sample disturbance during preparation. It was felt
that this inethod of preparation did not produce sam-
ples which were representative of silt placed as a fill
material, which would more often than not be pluvi-

33
ated under water and then consolidated by an over-
burden.
A new sedimentation technique was therefore de-
veloped in which a de-aired slurry with a moisture
content of 48% was poured into the split mould fit-
ted with a membrane on tlie triaxial cell base. Water
was then drawn out through a porous disc at the base
of the sample using a l m negative head of water
(equivalent to an effective confining pressure of ap-
proximately 1 OkPa) for exactly one hour. ‘]This pro-
duced consistent loose samples with a moisture
content of 26% whose initial void ratio was easily
controlled.

2.3 S f ~ r lpiiths
e

Figure 1 shows the consolidation curves for the two

preparation methods, 1 -D consolidated and sedi-
mented. Nakata et al. (1999) testing a silica sand at
high confining pressures showed that the yield
stress, defined as the point of maximum curvature on
a e-log p’ plot, increased with decreasing particle
size. For single size sands with particle sizes de-
creasing from l .5mm to 0.~7111111yield stresses in-
creased from approximately 1 OMPa to 6OMPa. The
limestone silt tested had a smaller particle size and
sand like characteristics thus the consolidation yield
stress for the silt was likely to be in excess of these
figures and was not reached for the compression
tests shown in Figure 1. Superposition of tlie critical
state line on this figure taken from Moradi (1998)
who tested tlie same material, reveals that samples
prepared using the sediinentation technique lie on
the wet/loose side of critical state while those ini-
tiallj prepared using the 1 -Dconsolidation mould
lay largely on the dry/dense side of critical (Scho-
field & Wrotli 1968).

Figure 3 Stress strain cut-vcs

Moiiotonic test data fhr samples consolidated to

1 OOkPa is shown in Figures 2 and 3. ‘The silt which
was initially 1-D consolidated in a mould had char-
actzristics of a dense heavily overconsolidated mate-
rial with a correspondingly large undrained shear
strength and a stress path indicating dilative behav-
iour On the other hand the sedimented material be-
haved like a lightly overconsolidated material devel-
oping positive pore pressures and a much lower
undrained shear strength.
Figure I Isotropic consolidation curves and critical state line

34
 phenomenon and depends only on the ability of the
loading equipment to follow large strains and to
modify the load accordingly. Thus the initiation of
liquefaction is often accompanied by a decay in the
cyclic stress amplitude, resulting in a higher meas-
ured cyclic strength. On the other hand closed loop
stress control systems maintain a constant cyclic
stress by modifying the command signal to the sam-
ple loading device according to the magnitude of the
feedback signal from the load transducer.
Figures 5 and 6 show the cyclic stress and stress-
strain paths for two identical samples prepared using

Figure 4 Cyclic strength curves for samples prepared by I-D

consolidation and sedimentation

2.4 Cyclic strength curses

Figure 4 shows the cyclic strength curves (Hyodo &
Hyde 1999) for samples prepared using each of the
techniques described above. It can be seen that the
sample preparation technique dramatically affects
the position of the cyclic strength curve. The loose
sedimented material had a much lower strength than
the dense 1-D material. Thus a cyclic strength curve
prepared using the dense silt would give optimistic
and thus unsafe predictions of seismic susceptibility
of these types of material.

3 STRESS CONTROL SYSTEMS

The cyclic testing method is as important as the

sample preparation method in the determination of a
silt's cyclic strength.

3.1 Open and closed loop systems

In open loop testing systems the magnitude of the
cyclic loading is usually preset and is not continu-
ously maintained with reference to the actual applied
stresses. On the other hand in closed loop systems
the stress applied to the soil is monitored and fed
back and compared to the load command signal and
an error function is used to modify the loading on a
continuous basis. Testing of the liquefaction char-
acteristics if soils has traditionally been carried out
using open loop pneumatic stress control systems.
Open loop stress control systems, even when con-
trolled by skilled operators, are unable to maintain
constant cyclic stress conditions for samples under-
going large strains. This is not a material dependent Figure 6 Stress-strain for open and closed loop systenls

35
the sedimentation system and tested using closed
and open loop cyclic triaxial testing systems. Each
sample was isotropically consolidated in the triaxial
cell to IOOkPa and then subjected to a symmetrical
two-way cyclic deviator stress of 40kPa. It can be
seen in Figure 5 for the open loop test that as the
peak of the cyclic stress path approaches a critical
stress ratio given by the initial peak on the
nionotonic stress path, the amplitude of the cyclic
deviator stress begins to decay. At the same time the
corresponding cyclic strain amplitude in Figure 6
begins to increase over a number of cycles until fail-
ure, defined as a double amplitude cyclic strain of
5%. occurs. In the case of the closed loop testing
system the cyclic stress amplitude is maintained and
failure occurs within one cycle of the stress path
touching the critical stress ratio line. The contrast
between the stress strain plots can be seen in Figure
6 where the test using the closed loop system leads
to rapid failure over about one cycle where the open
loop system continues for several more cycles. It
will be shown that the difference in behaviour which
is predicted by the two systems is critical in defining
the cyclic strength of a silt particularly for earth-
quake conditions where the number of cycles is re-
latively small.

4 CYCLIC STRENGTH

The cyclic strength of isotropically and anisotropi-

cally consolidated silt was compared using both
open and closed loop triaxial testing systems. The
authors were also interested in the influence of a
previous liquefaction history on the cyclic strength.
Thus samples which had liquefied were reconsoli-
dated and sub-jected to a second cycle of loading.
Liquefaction was defined to have occurred at a
double amplitude strain of 5% or axial plastic strain
of 5%, depending on whether the sample was under-
going one-way or two-way loading. Thus samples
reloaded after re-consolidation were not badly dis-
torted.

4.1 Isotropically consolidureu’ cyclic strength

IsotroPicallY consolidated salnP1es were subjected to
syiiinietrical two way loading. The cyclic strength
was defined as the number of cycles. N.to reach a
double amplitude axial strain of 5% (E,,~),., = 5%).
Figure 7 shows the cyclic strength curves for sam-
ples tested using closed loop and open loop stress
control systems. It can be seen that open loop con-
trol slightly over-predicts the strength.
Liquefied samples were re-consolidated at
lOOkPa and subjected to a second period of cyclic
loading. Figure 8 shows the comparison between the
cyclic strength curves for first and second loading.
The cyclic strength of samples testcd using a closed
loop system reduced slightly while that of open loop
samples increased a little.
4.2 Animtmpiccrlly consoliu’crleu’~ y c l i csir-ength
Anisotropically consolidated samples were subjected
to asymmetric two way loading and thus failure
tended to occur as a result of the development of cy-
clic mobility accompanied by the development of
increasing compressive axial strain. Thus failure was
defined as the development of a peak compressive
strain of 5%. = 5%). Figures 9 and 10 show
cyclic strength data for samples with consolidation

36
stress ratios q,/p', of 0.25 and 0.5 respectively. In
this case the definition of failure was different with
failure tending to occur in compression and the clos-
ed loop cyclic strength being much lower than the
open loop.
The relation between first and second periods of
loading has been examined in figures 1 1 and 12.
Whereas there was a decrease in the cyclic strength
for the second loading of isotropic samples the an-
isotropically consolidated samples showed a marked
increase in strength on second loading. This can be
put down to the different definition and type of fail-
ure for the anisotropic samples. The isotropically
37
consolidated and anisotropically consolidated (q,/p',
= 0.25) samples underwent two-way loading and
subsequently failed at a double amplitude strain of
=
E
,, 5%. In contrast to this most of the anisotropi-
cally consolidated samples with q,/p', = 0.5 failed
under one way loading at a peak compressive strain
of E , , ~ ~ ;=, ~ 5 % . The total liquefaction for samples
under two way loading results in a weaker isotropic
soil structure even after re-consolidation whereas re-
consolidation after cyclic mobility as is the case for
anisotropically consolidated samples results in a
structure which not only retains it's isotropic nature
but is more resistant to further large axial strains
under further periods of cyclic loading. This has sig-
nificant practical implications and suggests that soils
which are anisotropically consolidated by the weight
of an overlying structure and have been liquefied are
subsequently more resistant to seismic aftershocks.
4.3 Re-liquefcrcfion strength
Figure 13 shows a comparison for all the closed loop
tests of the cyclic strengths for first and second
loading. The results for the isotropically consolidat-
ed samples and anisotropically consolidated samples
with q,/p', = 0.25 are grouped together on this figure
having failed at E,),, = 5%. I n strong contrast to this
however the sample consolidated with a greater de-
gree of anisotropy (q,/p', = 0.5) showed a very
marked increase in cyclic strength defined as E , = In the case of isotropically consolidated samples
5% reinforcing the practical conclusion above.
Figure 13 Siiiiimary data cyclic strength for 1st and 2nd load-
ing cycles
5 CONCLUSIONS
'The sample preparation technique dramatically af-
fects the position of the cyclic strength curve. Silt
which was initially 1-D consolidated in a mould had
characteristics of a dense heavily overconsolidated
material with a correspondingly large undrained
shear strength and a stress path indicating dilative
behaviour. On the other hand sedimented material
behaved like a lightly overconsolidated material de-
veloping positive pore pressures and a much lower
undraiiied shear strength. Samples prepared using
the sedimentation technique lie on the wet/loose side
of critical state while those initially prepared using
38
the 1-D consolidation mould lay largely on the
dry/dense side of critical. The loose sedimented
material had a much lower cyclic strength than the
dense 1-D material. Thus a cyclic strength curve
prepared using the dense silt would give optimistic
aiid thus potentially unsafe predictions of seismic
susceptibility.
The cyclic testing method is as important as the
sample preparation method i n the determination of a
silt's cyclic strength. Open loop stress control sys-
tems, even when controlled by skilled operators. are
unable to maintain constant cyclic stress conditions
for samples undergoing large strains. Thus the ini-
tiation of liquefaction is often accompanied by a de-
cay in the cyclic stress amplitude. resulting in a
higher measured cyclic strength.
sub.jected to a second period of cyclic loading. the
cyclic strength of samples tested using a closed loop
system reduced while that of open loop samples in-
creased. In the case of anisotropically consolidated
samples the definition of failure was different with
failure tending to occur in eompressioii aiid a
marked increase in cyclic strength was observed on
second loading. Thus soils which are anisotropically
consolidated by the weight of an overlying structure
and have been liquefied are likely to be more resis-
tant to seismic aftershocks.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors gratefdly acknowledge the co-operation
of ELE International Ltd, whose loan of a computer
controlled pneumatic testing system allowed the car-
rying out of high quality closed loop cyclic triaxial
tests distributed in this paper.
REFERENCES
Hyodo, M. & Hyde, A.F.L. 1999. Cyclic shear strength of Ltn-
disturbed and remoulded marine clays. Soils ur7d Fourida-
[iotis 39, No. 2, 45-58.
Hyodo, M., Hyde, A.F.L., & Aramaki. N . 1998. Liquefaction
48, No. 4, 527-543.
of crushable soils. Gc.o~c.chtiic~iie
Moradi, C 1998. Symmetrical and non-syninietrical cyclic tri-
axial loading of silt. PhD Thesis, University of Bradford,
UK.
Nakata, Y . , Hyde, A.F.L., Hyodo, M. & Murata, H. 1999. A
probabilistic approach to sand crushing in the triaxial test.
Geo1echt7iyice49. No. 5 , 567-583.
Schofield A.N. & Wroth C.P. 1968. Critical state soil mechan-
ics. McCraw-]Hill, London.
Yasuhara, K., Hyde, A.F.L.; Toyota, N.. Murakami, S. & Yo-
kokawa, S . 1998. Cyclic and post-cyclic stiffness and de-
gradation of a plastic silt with initial sustained shear stress.
G'eolechnique Sjwiposiim in Priiil, PreTfailure Defotxintioti
qf' Geon~uteriuls,lSBN 072 77 26 420, T h o n m Telford Lid,
Part 11: 373.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

Cornpressibility of sensitive Ariake clays

2.Hong & TTsuchida

Port and Hurbor Research Institute, Ministry c$ Transport, Yok)suka,Japan

ABSTRACT: It has been well reported that the resistance of soil structure is the same important as the stress his-
tory and the initial water content in interpreting the mechanical behavior for most natural soils. For assessing the
effects of the resistance of soil structure on the mechanical behavior, Burland has proposed the so-called intrinsic
compression line (ICL) and the sedimentation compression line (SCL) with introducing a normalizing parameter
called the void index. However, the sensitive clays are not included in his study. The extensive data on sensitive
Ariake clays are used in this study to investigate the compression behavior of sensitive clays. The analysis results
indicate that the compression curves of the remolded Ariake clays can be normalized by the void index proposed by
Burland. But most natural Ariake clays lie well above the sedimentation compression line. Salt removal is consid-
ered to be the main factor for natural Ariake clays lying above well the SCL.

1 INTRODUCTION is compared to the so-called sedimentation compres-

Ariake clays are widely deposited around Ariake Bay
with an area of several hundreds of km2. It has been
well documented that the sensitivity of Ariake clays are
very high (Ariake Bay Research Group, 3965).
Torrance and Ohtsubo (1995) have reported that Ariake
clays often have a sensitivity larger than 16, with the
maximum over 1000. Ariake Bay Research Group
(1965) has revealed that the upper Ariake layer above
l l m was deposited in a marine condition, while the
lower Ariake layer below l l m was deposited in a
brackish condition. Salt removal has been reported to
be an important factor causing high sensitivity for Ari-
ake clays (Torrance and Ohtsubo, 1995; Ohtsubo et al.,
1995).
Burland (1990) has introduced a normalizing pa-
rameter I, called the void index to aid in correlating the
compression characteristics of various sedimentary
soils. Based on the extensive data of reconstituted soils,
Burland (1990) has proposed a so-called intrinsic com-
pression line (ICL) as a frame for assessing the in-situ
state of a natural soil and the influence of the resistance
of soil structure on its intact properties. The sensitive
clays, however, are excluded from Burland's study. In
this study, the compressibility of remolded Ariake clays
is investigated using the void index proposed by Bur-
land (1990). Furthermore, the relationship between the
in-situ void index and the effective overburden pressure
sion line (SCL) proposed by Burland (1990).
2 COMPRESSIBILITY OF REMOLDED
ARIAKE CLAYS
The intrinsic compression line (ICL) proposed by Bur-
land (1990) was obtained from reconstituted clays hav-
ing an initial water content between 1.0w, and 1.5 wfd,
where wL represents the liquid limit. The ICL can be
expressed using the following equation (Burland,
1990).
I, = 2.45- 1.285~+ 0.015x' ...... (1)
where x = log (J 'v and (1 'v is the effective vertical
stress in kPa. The void index I,, is defined in the fol-
lowing equation (Burland, 1990).
The quantities eY:]Wand ed:lm are the void ratios
corresponding to (1 '" = 100 kPu and 1000 kPu of the
reconstituted clays, respectively. When the oedometer
tests are not performed on the remolded or reconsti-
tuted soils, the values of e"lW and e4:1m can be ap-

39
proximately calculated by the following equations
(Burland, 1990).
e*loo= 0.109+0.679e,,- 0.089 e t +0.016 e:
(e*lm - e*I(xx))
= 0.256 eL- 0.04
where e, represents the void ratio at liquid limit.
For Ariake clays, the natural water content w, is
generally in the range of 1 . 0 - 1 . 5 (Fujikawa
~~ and Ta-
kayama, 1980; Hong and Tsuchida, 1999). Hence, most
remolded Ariake clays are in fact the reconstituted
clays defined by Burland (1990). The oedometer tests
were performed on remolded Ariake clays sampled
from several locations around Ariake Bay. The
oedometer test data of remolded h a k e clays are used
to verify the validity of the ICL shown in Equation 1
for Ariake clays. The basic properties of the remolded
...... (3) Ariake clays used herein are shown in Table 1.
The relationship between the void index I,, and the
...... (4) effective vertical stress (r '" for the remolded Ariake
clays is shown in Figure 1, compared with the ICL
proposed by Burland (1990). The value of I,, is calcu-
lated using the directly measured values of e"1w and
e*lm. It can be seen that the relationship of I,, against
log (r 'v for remolded Ariake clays is in excellent
agreement with the ICL.
Furthermore, Figures 2 and 3 show the relationships
of (e*la - e*1m) against eL and ehlm against eL for
remolded Ariake clays, respectively. The relationships

Table 1. Physical properties of remolded Ariake clays

Site Density of soil Water content Liquid limit Plastic limit

particles r, (g/cm') w n (%) w, (%) wp ( % )

Ashikari Town 2.69 149 127 50

Saga Prefecture

Ashikari Town 2.66 139 115 47

Saga Prefecture

Ashikari Town 2.65

Saga Prefecture

Higashiyoka Town 2.58 220 156 55

Saga Prefecture

Ashikari Town 2.66 149 120 47

I I 1
Saga Prefecture

Kawasoe Town 2.62 175 149 56

Saga Prefecture

Hasuike Town 2.59 165 1I 6 46

Saga Prefecture

Fig. 1. Relationship bet\veen void index and

effective vcrtical stress for remolded Ariake clays. Fig. 2. Relationship between (er,,,, - e*,,,J
and e,for remolded h a k e clays.

40
are also compared with Equations 3 and 4 proposed by
Burland (1990), respectively. It can be seen that there is
good agreement for the values of (e*lm - e*IW). But
the experimental values of e*,m of remolded Ariake
clays lie a little above the line defined by Equation 3.
These comparisons are consistent with the comparisons
reported by Burland (1990) on the experimental data
versus Equations 3 and 4 for the reconstituted marine
clays from a number of locations in Japan published by
Nakase et al. (1988). Ariake clays, however, were not
included in the data reported by Nakase et al.

3 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VOID INDEX

AND EFFECTIVE OVERBURDEN PRESSURE
FOR NATURAL ARIAKE CLAYS

Skempton (1970) has presented the so-called sedimen-

tation compression curves, relating the void ratio to the
effective overburden pressure for a wide lithological
range of argillaceous deposits, and he has reported that
in all cases the data are derived from “nor-
Fig. 3. Relationship between e*,,,,)
and e, mally-consolidated” deposits, strata that have never
for remolded Ariake clays. been under a pressure greater than the existing effective

Table 2. Basic properties of natural Ariake clays.

Site Depth Overburden Density of Natural water Liquid limit Plastic limit Initial
pressure soil particles content void ratio
m (kP4 P< (dcm’) W” (%I Wl (%I WP (9%) e,
Hama Town,
Kashima City,
Saga Prefecture
4.0 rv 19.0 20.9 - 87.7 2.56 2.66 74 - 117 72 - 117 32 51 1.86 - 2.98

Mikazuki Town.
Ogi City.
Saga Prefecture
4.0 - 13.0 23.4 - 63.8 2.55 - 2.69 59 - 115 54 - 105 29 - 41 1.53 - 2.93

Fukudomi Town,
Kishima City,
Saga Prefecture
2.0 ‘v 15.0 11.9 - 71.5 2.57 - 2.68 62 - 149 44 - 103 22 -+ 49 1.64 - 3.82

Otonari Town.
Kashima City,
Saga Prefecture
1.0 - 10.0 7.9 ,.-. 53.8 2.62 - 2.71 73 - 151 64 - 122 32 -+ 45 1.95 - 3.90

Ariake Town,
Kishinia City,
Saga Prefecture
2.0 cv 37.0 10.3 - 172.2 2.58 cv 2.69 51 - 146 87 - 129 36 - 50 1.36 cv 3.84

Kose Town,
Saga City,
Saga Prefecture
4.0 + 7.0 28.0 - 38.6 2.63 - 2.66 85 - 89 59 - 72 31 -+ 34 2.28 - 2.29

Kouhoku Town,
Kishima City,
Saga Prefecture
2.0 T.r 19.0 13.0 - 98.2 2.57 - 2.67 70 - 161 86 - 143 35 -+ 46 1.84 - 4.12

Kawasoe Town,
Saga City.
Saga Prefecture
3.0 - 17.0 22.4 - 98.1 2.63 - 2.69 55 - 99 54 - 98 29 “v 39 1 47 2.33

lIda Town,
Kashima City.
Saga Prefecture
2.0 5.0 12.8 - 20.9 2.57 - 2.69 123 - 164 91 - 104 51 - 60 3.17 - 4.17

41
overburden load. Excluded from Skempton's study
were sensitive/quick clays, diatomaceous clays, clays
containing more than 5% organic matter as well as
clays with a carbonate content of more than 25%.
Based on the data published by Skempton (1970), Bur-
land (1990) has proposed a so-called sedimentation
compression line (SCL).The SCL is expressed in terms
of I,,o versus the effective overburden pressure CJ '"".
The quantity is termed as the void index similar to I,.
and defined as follows (Burland, 1990).

(e - e ~i,ll
(5)
I I,, =
(e11111 - e lllilll

where eo represents the in-situ void ratio. Extensive

data of sensitive Ariake clays are used herein to inves-
tigate the relationship of I,,o versus log CJ 'vo. The data
were obtained from the specimens sampled from vari-
ous sites around Ariake Bay through different depths of
1.Om to 37.0m. Table 2 shows the basic properties of
the Ariake clays used herein. It can be seen that the
specimens have a wide range of liquid limit w L varying
Fig. 5. Relationship between void index and effective
overburden pressure for h a k e clays.
be seen that most of the Ariake clay data lie above the
SCL.This is explained as mainly due to the salt re-
moval as follows. It has been reported that salt removal
has definitely occurred in some sites of Ariake deposits,
and the decrease in salinity decreases the liquid limit
and increases the sensitivity for Ariake clays (Torrance
and Ohtsubo, 1995; Ohtsubo et al., 1995). The data of
I,,o versus 0 'vo for Ariake clays are replotted by
means of wL as shown in Figure 6. It can be seen that at
a given value of (i 7vo the higher the liquid limits, the

Fig. 4. Relationship between liquid limit

and natural water content for Ariakc clays.

from 40% to 140%. Figure 4 shows the relationship

between the natural water content w,,and wL for the
natural Ariake clays. It can be seen that most of the
Ariake clays have a ratio of w,,/wL, defined herein as
normalized water content w',between 1.O and 1.5. This
result is consistent with that reported by Fujikawa and
Takayama (1980).
The relationships O f I,, VerSUS log 0 'vo Of Ariake ~ i6 , ~~ .~ l ~ tof iI ",)~and~oiv0
~ forh Ariakc
i ~ ~
clays at various sites are shown in Figure 5, and com- clays with different wL.
pared with the SCL proposed by Burland (1990). It can

42

Fig. 7. Relationships of 1 vLI and B',,, for Ariake
clays with different w'.
closer to the SCL are the data of I,, for Ariake clays.
Furthermore, Figure 7 shows the relationships of I,,
versus log 0 '"<)with different ratios of normalized
water content ws.It can be seen that for a given value of
CJ 'vo the I,,, with higher value of w*lies above the I,,o
with lower value of w*. The most probable explanation
for the above results is that the Ariake clays deposited
under marine or brackish condition had a high liquid
limit during deposition. Salt removal occurring during
the post-depositional process decreased the liquid limit
and the corresponding initial water content might have
little change. That is, salt removal decreases the liquid
limit, consequently increases the value of the normal-
Fig.8. Relationshipof I, and w"for Ariake clays
43
ized water content w". Figure 8 shows the relationship
between I,,o and w" based on the Ariake clays data
shown in Table 2. It can be seen that increasing the
normalized water content linearly increases the value of
the void index Iv0. The regression analysis gives its
best-fit line as the following simple equation.
I,, = 4 ~ " - 2 . 5 ...... (6)
Hence, for leached Ariake clays, the data of I,,, cal-
culated by Equation 6 depending on the initial void ra-
tio and the liquid limit measured at present lie above
the originally deposited compression curve corre-
sponding to the liquid limit before leaching.
In addition, from Figures 5 through 7 it can be seen
that the various sedimentation curves related to I,,o ver-
sus log 0 'vo for Ariake clays converge with increasing
the effective overburden pressure, in particular when
0 is larger than about 5OkPa. This may be due to the
depositional environment, because an overburden
pressure of 50 kPa is responsible for the boundary at
about l l m for the upper layer and the lower layer of
Ariake clays. As aforementioned, the upper layer was
deposited under high salinity in marine condition,
whereas the lower layer was deposited under relative
low salinity in brackish condition. Torrance and
Ohtsubo (1995) have considered that the most probable
leaching way for Ariake clays is leaching from below
in responsible to excess water pressures in the underly-
ing coarse sediments. However, they have also indi-
cated that no evidence to support or reject the presence
of excess ground water pressures for Ariake deposits in
the past.
It should be mentioned that Burland (1990) has also
reported that freshwater glacial lake clay lies above the
SCL due to the presence of haematite, which has given
rise to cementation between the particles. Den Hann
(1992) has also reported a similar phenomenon for Ca-
nadian cemented clays. Torrance and Ohtsubo (1995)
have considered that cementation remains the most
plausible explanation for higher than expected undis-
turbed strengths found in high sensitivity marine Ariake
clays. However, the evidence for cementation in Ariake
clays is ambiguous. In our opinion, if the term cemen-
tation is referred to relate the cementing agents among
particles or aggregations, it is considered that cementa-
tion is probably not an important factor responsible for
the Ariake clays lying above well the SCL.
4. CONCLUSIONS
The main conclusions obtained in this study are sum-
marized as follows.
1) The void ratios of the remolded Ariake clays can be
 correlated with the effective overburden pressure SYMBOLS
using the void index proposed by Burland (1990).
2)Most natural Ariake clays lie above well the sedi- e =void ratio
mentation compression line (SCL) proposed by e -in-situ void ratio
(?-
Burland (1990). This is considered mainly due to salt e 100=voidratio of reconstituted clays for U ,=lookPa
removal. e 1000=void ratio of reconstituted clays for
3) The field void index I,, of Ariake clays has an ex-
U =loo0 kPa
cellent good relationship with the normalized water
eL=voidratio at liquid limit
content w*. The best-fit regression line can be ex-
pressed by the following simple equation: ICL =intrinsic compression line
I,=void index for e
IvO=4w*-2.5.
I,,=void index for eo
SCL =sedimentation compression line
REFERENCES W L =liquid limit
w: =natural water content
- Ariake Bay Research Group. 1965. Quaternary sys- w =normalized water content (=WL/w,)
tem of the Ariake and the Shiranui Bay areas with spe- U =effective vertical stress
cial reference to the Ariake clay. The Association for U 0 =effective overburden pressure
the Geological Collaboration in Japan, pp. 1-86 p =density of soil particles
(in Japanese).
- Burland, J.B. 1990. On the compressibility and shear
strength of natural clays. Gitotechnique, 40: 329-378.
- Den Hann, E.J. 1992. The formulation of virgin
compression of soils. Gitotechnique, 42: 465-483.
- Fujikawa, T. and Takayama, M. 1980. Physical
properties of Ariake marine clays. Transactions of
Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage and Recla-
mation Engineering, No.88: 51-61 (in Japanese).
- Hong, Z. and Tsuchida, T. 1999. On compression
characteristics of Ariake clays. Canadian Geotechnical
Journal, 36(5).
- Leroueil, S., Tavenas, F., Brucy, F., La Rochelle, P.
and Roy, M. 1979. Behavior of destructured natural
clays. ASCE, 105(6): 759-778.
- Leroueil, S. and Vaughan, P.R. 1990. The general and
congruent effects of structure in natural soils and weak
rocks. Gitotechnique,40: 467-488.
- Nakase, A., Kamei, T. and Kusakabe, 0. 1988. Con-
stitutive parameters estimated by plasticity index.
ASCE, 114 (7): 844-858.
- Ohtsubo, M., Egashira, K. and Kashima, K. 1995.
Depositional and post-depositional geochemistry, and
its correlation with the geotechnical properties of ma-
rine clays in Ariake Bay, Japan. Gkotechnique, 45(3):
509-523.
- Skempton, A.W. 1970. The consolidation of clays by
gravitational compaction. Q.J. Geology Society, 125:
373-41 1.
- Torrance, J.K. and Ohtsubo, M. 1995. Ariake Bay
quick clays: A comparison with general model. Soils
and Foundations, 35(1): 11-19.

44
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 7

Cyclic shear strength of marine clays

M. Hyodo & N.Yoshimoto Department of Civil Engineering, Yarnaguchi University, Ube,Japan

-

Adrian E L. Hyde - Depurtment of Civil and Structural Engineering, University of Shej$eld, UK

Y.Yamarnot0 - Technical Research Institute, Mitsui Construction Conzpany Linzited, Nugareyama, Japan
Fujii - Fukken Company Limited, Hiroshima, Jupun

ABSTRACT: Undisturbed clay samples were taken from alluvial deposits at seven different urban coastal lo-
cations in Japan using a thin wall sampler. The samples were then triaxially tested in both undisturbed and re-
moulded states. The cyclic data for the normally consolidated samples was used empirically to define the cyclic
strength of the clays as an intrinsic function of the plasticity index I,. This was then modified taking into ac-
count the vertical yield stress ratio o, '/ova',degree of aging. The cyclic strength of anisotropically consolidated
clays at low initial drained shear stress ratios increased with decreasing plasticity. This reversed as the drained
shear stress ratio increased. It was possible to define a simple function for the cyclic strength normalised by the
isotropic cyclic strength RI,, against the initial drained shear stress ratio. This function was shown to be depen-
dent on plasticity index I,.

1 INTRODUCTION At several of the locations samples were taken from

The shortage of land around the large conurbations
in Japan has resulted in numerous coastal engineering
schemes including coastal defences, break waters,
harbour and reclaimed land developments. These are
often located on soft marine clay deposits. Addition-
ally many cities and urban areas are located on alluvi-
al clay deposits. Thus a knowledge of the properties
of these soils particularly under wave and earthquake
loading conditions is essential. The major concern in
seismic design has usually been related to the prob-
lems of liquefaction of sands while clays have always
been considered as stable materials under earthquake
conditions. However there are frequently recorded
instances of earthquake initiated failures in clay de-
posits. For example in the 1964 Alaska earthquake, a
major slope failure occured in quickclay; in the 1985
Mexico earthquake, buildings founded on clay suf-
fered severe damage (Mendoza,1985) and in the
1964 Niigata, 1978 Miyagi-ken Oki (Sasaki, et al.
1980) and the Nihonkai Chubu earthquakes, road
and river embankments founded on clay deposits un-
derwent deep seated slope failures. Although rela-
tively clear guidelines exist on the liquefaction be-
haviour of sands, a similar knowledge base for clays
under cyclic loading needs to be developed, particu-
larly for in-situ undisturbed clays.
For the purpose of this research programme
therefore, over 100 undisturbed clay samples were
taken from alluvial deposits at seven different urban
coastal locations in Japan using a thin wall sampler.
many different depths in order to sample different
sedimentary environments. The samples were then
tested in both undisturbed and remoulded states.
Hyodo et.al., (1994a) has already shown that the
properties of these clays depend not only on charac-
teristics such as their plasticity but also their sedi-
mentary origins, fabric and applied stress path. A
testing programme was devised to separately exam-
ine the influence of plasticity index and aging factors
on the undrained cyclic strength of clays.
2 CYCLIC FAILURE OF CLAYS
Cyclic failure in clay deposits due to earthquakes or
wave loading usually occurs in the foundation zone
below civil engineering structures where there is an
imposed initial drained shear stress. This form of fail-
ure can be distinguished from the liquefaction type of
failure occuring in sands and will be called cyclic
shear failure. Hyodo et.al. (1994b) have shown that
the cyclic strength of clays decreases with increasing
initial drained shear stress. This can be contrasted
with the behaviour of sand where the cyclic shear
strength increases with an initial drained shear stress.
This is because in a clay an initial drained shear stress
moves the state path closer to the critical state and
resulting instability, while in a sand it is moved to-
wards a point of phase transformation after which the
sand hardens under undrained cyclic loading.

45
 fiom Nagasaki harbour and Arakawa clay fiom the a
riverbank in Tokyo Arakawa district. The remould-
ed soil in each case was reconstituted fiom a mixture
of tested and untested undisturbed samples. The re-
moulded soil properties therefore tended to have
single average values compared with the variation in
the undisturbed samples. Reconstituted samples were
prepared over a period of two weeks by reconsoli-
dating a slurry mixed to twice the liquid limit.

3 TRIAXIAL TESTING

Triaxial Specimens with initial dimensions of 50mm

Fig. 1. Distinction between the dynamic failure of sands and
clays
In- situ a sand is likely to liquefy due to cyclic
horizontal shearing without any initial shear stress.
Clays however fail along a circular shear plane be-
neath a structure which also imposes an initial shear
stress. This distinction between the dynamic failure
of sands and clays is illustrated in Figure 1. The
transmission of horizontal shear waves in a liquefied
sand is likely to be heavily damped and there are
therefore smaller inertial forces applied to any struc-
ture. Nonetheless, because of the liquefied state of
the ground, instability and failure still occur. In the
case of a clay deposit, the inertia forces from the
structure will be very large, such as those witnessed
in the Mexico earthquake in 1985 (Mendoza et al.
1988). These forces in turn will impose cyclic shear
stresses along a failure plane beneath the structure,
causing instability but with a different failure mecha-
nism to that for sand.
Eight kinds of marine clay were collected. Samples
of Hiroshima A and B clays were obtained from Uji-
na and Itsukaichi respectively in Hiroshima bay. Ari-
ake A and B clays were fiom the mouth of the Shira-
kawa river in Kumamoto and Higashiyoka in Saga
prefecture on the coast of the Ariake Sea. Yokohama
clay was taken from area MM21 in Yokohama har-
bour, Oita clay from Oita harbour, Nagasaki clay
diameter and 1OOmm height were trimmed from
blocks of clay. These were initially isotropically con-
solidated for 24 hours. In the case of samples with an
initial drained shear stress, this was applied in steps
over 24 hrs until the prescribed stress was achieved.
Samples were then tested under cyclic two-way
loading using a pneumatic actuator at a frequency of
0.02Hz. Although earthquake frequencies are often
closer to 1 or 2 Hz it was considered to be more im-
portant to allow an even dissipation of pore water
pressures throughout the samples by testing at a low-
er frequency.
A test programme was devised to examine the ef-
fects of aging and initial undrained shear strength on
the cyclic strength of the clays. To determine the ef-
fects of sedimentation and aging, tests were first car-
ried out on isotropically consolidated undisturbed
samples and compared with data from remoulded
samples. A further- series of tests was carried out on
remoulded samples in order to determine the effects
of an initial drained shear stress on the cyclic strength
of these clays. Additionally cyclic tests with an initial
drained shear stress were carried out on undisturbed
Ariake B samples.
Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of the e-logo"
curves for undisturbed clay. The values of isotropic
consolidation pressure o,' chosen for testing are
shown relative to the vertical yield stress 0,. In the
case of isotropically consolidated tests the value of
the consolidation cell pressure oc'is assumed equal to
0, for the one dimensional oedometer test. It is ac-
knowledged that the stress conditions are only com-
parable if the KOvalue is unity, but in order to carry
out symmetrical two way loading isotropic consoli-
dation was needed and it was felt therefore that some
compromise was necessary. For overconsolidated
clays KOis likely to be between 0.5 and 1. In the in-
terests of developing an initial approach to the
evaluation of in-situ cyclic shear strength it is felt
therefore that this approximation is valid at this
stage.
Considering the consolidation pressure oC'in
each of the figures, samples in Figure 2(a) have been
taken beyond the vertical yield stress onto the normal
consolidation curve as might occur under a large

46
structure. In figure 2(b) samples which might be de-
fined as normally consolidated in geological terms
have not been loaded past the yield point ov and still
have a residual shear stress ratio.
Fig.2. Schematic diagram of e-logo; showing different rela-
tive magnitudes of effective confining pressure
47
4 LNDRAINED CYCLIC BEHAVIOUR OF
CLAYS
4.1 Eflect of plasticity index on cyclic behaviour
Figures 3(a)-(c) show typical cyclic stress paths and
related cyclic stress-strain curves for normally con-
solidated clays of varying plasticity index from N.P.
to I,= 72.8. Examination of the stress path for the
non-plastic Hiroshima A clay sample reveals a be-
haviour similar to that for sands with the stress path
cycling through zero effective stress. As the plasticity
increases, the behaviour changes and although the
effective stresses still decrease, at I,=27 the stress
path does not go through the zero effective stress
state and instead moves towards a state of cyclic
mobility. As the plasticity increases further the locus
of the cyclic stress path becomes vertical and p' be-
comes almost constant although still non-zero. The
corresponding stress-strain curves for the non-plastic
clay show it to be weaker in extension than in com-
pression. In the case of the more plastic clays a more
even development of strain was seen with compres-
sive axial strains increasing to about 5%. It can also
be observed that the cyclic stiffness of the clays in-
creases with increasing plasticity.

Fig.6. Relationship between plasticity index and cyclic
strength at 20 cycles for normally consolidated clays
4.2 Intrinsic cyclic strength ratio
Figure 4 compares the cyclic strength for undisturbed
and disturbed samples of Hiroshima B clay. The cur-
ve shown is for the normally consolidated clay, that
is the clay has been consolidated past the vertical
yield stress and the effects of aging and sedimenta-
tion have been removed for the undisturbed clay. It
can be seen that both the remoulded and undisturbed
samples lie on the same curve and have the same cy-
48
Fig.7. Cyclic strength of clays at 20 cycles for G,;>G>>G,.c~
clic strength. The cyclic data for the normally con-
solidated clays therefore will be used to define an in-
trinsic cyclic strength ratio which will then be
modified for aging effects, plasticity and overcon-
solidation ratio (OCR). Figure 5 shows the normal-
ised cyclic strength for a double amplitude strain
10%, for normally consolidated samples of
varying plasticity index I,. It can be seen that as the
plasticity index increases so does the cyclic strength.
In each case the clays were undisturbed except for
the Arakawa clay which was remoulded.
The cyclic deviator stress ratio od/20c to cause fail-
ure after 20 cycles defined as RL(N=~o) is defined as the
cyclic strength ratio. The data in figure 5 and data for
remoulded samples from Figure 4 together with other
data has been redrawn in Figure 6 as a fknction of
the plasticity index. Since all the clays were normally
consolidated both undisturbed and remoulded sam-
ples lay on the same line. A unique relationship was
obtained such that:
RI= 0.00071, + 0.25 (1)
This will be called the intrinsic cyclic strength ra-
tio, R I .
4.3 Eflect of aging on the intrinsic cyclic strength
In Figure 7 the data for undisturbed samples with a
residual yield stress ratio i.e. ovy'>oc'>ovO' is com-
pared with the line drawn using Equation (1). In this
case the aging effects remaining in the undisturbed
clay can be seen quite clearly such that most of the
samples lie above the computed line. This deviation
of the aged cyclic strength, RL, from the intrinsic cy-
clic strength ratio R I , will be defined as R2 and has
been plotted against the initial yield stress ratio
o,'/ovO'for the undisturbed clays with a residual
stress ratio in Figure 8. It was apparent from this
diagram that the deviation tended to be greater for
the samples with a greater initial yield stress ratio. An
aging parameter a was therefore introduced which is
a measure of the residual yield stress ratio for the
clays, such that:
 a - 0v -Oc
(2)
0,y - 0,o
The: aging parameter a only applies to soils with an
initial vertical yield stress ratio i.e. o,'>o,'>o~' . If
ocl is equal to the insitu overburden stress ova' then
the strength is identiacl to the insitu aged stress,
while if ocl becomes equal to owlthe aging effect is
destroyed. Lines representing values for a between
0.1 and 1.0 were subsequently drawn on Figure 8
and can be compared with the actual data points.
This parameter has been introduced as a fbrther nor-
malising parameter in Figure 9 and it can be seen that
the data then forms a unique line such that:
Fig.9. Normalised function for aging correction factor R2
49
4.4 Cyclic strength relations
The cyclic strength has been determined as an intrin-
sic fbnction of the plasticity index I, modified for the
vertical yield stress ratio ovyt/odt or "aging" effect.
For isotropically consolidated remoulded or undis-
turbed clzys (0,' > o,'):
RL= RI= 0.00071p+ 0.25 (4)
In the case of an undisturbed aged clay where
o,~'<o,'<o,', then:
R, = R, + R , = 0.00O7Ip + 0.25 + 0.044
(5)
5 UNDRAINED CYCLIC STRENGTH FOR
ANISOTROPICALLY CONSOLIDATED
CLAY
In the above section a formula has been developed
for the cyclic strength of isotropically consolid&ed
marine clays with varying plasticities and aging ef-
fects. However cyclic failure in plastic clays will tend
to occur beneath structures where the stress condi-
tions are anisotropic. Undrained cyclic shear tests
were carried out on Ariake B, Arakawa, Hiroshima
A and B clays which had been initially isotropically
consolidated for 24hrs and then subjected to a pre-
scribed initial drained shear stress for a fbrther 24h.
In the cases of high initial drained shear stress, prin-
cipal stress reversal did not occur during cyclic
loading and failure occured not as a result of high
amplitude shear strains but as a result of increasing
peak axial strains. It was therefore necessary to de-
fine the cyclic failure criterion as a peak axial strain
of 10% or a double amplitude strain of 10% de-
pending on which occured first, which was itself de-
pendant on the degree of principal stress reversal un-
der cyclic loading.
The cyclic deviator stress ratio to cause failure af-
ter 20 cycles, has been plotted against the initial
drained shear stress ratio in Figure 10 for the full
range of clays. In this figure it can be seen that for
this standard definition of cyclic strength in the case
of cyclic stress reversal the cyclic strength increases
with plasticity and for the higher plasticity clays de-
creases with initial drained shear stress ratio. The de-
crease is particularly marked for the highly plastic Hi-
roshima B clay such that on the non-reversal side of
this figure the cyclic strength decreases with increas-
ing plasticity. This contrasts with the behaviour of
sands such as that shown for Toyoura sand in this
figure Hyodo et al. (1991), where the strength in-
creases consistently with increasing initial shear
stress ratio. It can be seen that for clays the cyclic
strength defined in terms of the peak axial strain de-
creases at higher initial drained shear stress ratios
while for sands, liquefaction is more critical under
low initial shear stress ratios. As has already been
mentioned cyclic failure of clays will tend to occur
under anisotropic stress conditions beneath struc-
tures. As the weight of structures increases so the
initil drained shear stresses will increase with a re-
sulting decrease in cyclic strength.
Finally we have normalised the data for all the clays
shown in Figure 10 by dividing by the cyclic strength
ratio RLO\J=~O)=RISOfor an initial drained shear stress
ratio oJ20,'=0, that is by the values of the inter-
cepts for each curve on the vertical axis. This nor-
malised data is presented in Figure 11. This figure
clearly demonstrates the effect of the initial drained
effective stress ratio particularly in relation to the
plasticity of the clay. A general equation for these
curves could be written as:
where a varies with plasticity index I, such that:
U = -0.0321, 0.725
i-
Fig. 1 1. Variation of cyclic strength normalised with respect to
isotropic cyclic strength
In general the normalised cyclic strength decreases
with initial drained shear stress ratio and increasing
plasticity.
6 CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions were drawn from the pre-
sent study.
1. The cyclic data for the normally consolidated sam-
ples was used empirically to define the cyclic strength
of the clays as an intrinsic function of the plasticity
index I,. This was then modified taking into account
the vertical yield stress ratio ovy'/ovo' and degree of
aging. Normalised cyclic strengths were lowest for
normally consolidated clays where the aging effects
had been removed and increased with increasing ag-
ing factor and initial vertical yield stress ratio.
2. Examination of the stress path for the non-plastic
clay revealed a behaviour similar to that for sands
with the stress path cycling through zero effective
stress. As the plasticity increased. the behaviour
changed towards a state of cyclic mobility. As the
(7) plasticity increased hrther the locus of the cyclic
stress path became vertical and p' became almost
constant although still non-zero. The corresponding
stress-strain curves for the non-plastic clay showed it
to be weaker in extension than in compression. In the
case of the more plastic clays a more even develop-
ment of strain was seen with compressive axial
strains increasing to about 5%. It was also observed
that the cyclic stiffness of the clays increased with in-
creasing plasticity.
3. The cyclic strength of anisotropically consolidated
clays at low initial drained shear stress ratios in-
creased with decreasing plasticity. This reversed as
the drained shear stress ratio increased. It was pos-
sible to define a simple function for the cyclic
strength normalised by the isotropic cyclic strength
RIso against the initial drained shear stress ratio. This
function was shown to be dependent on plasticity in-
dex I,.
REFERENCES
Hyodo, M., Murata, H., Yasuhku, N. & Fujii, T. 1991.
Undrained cyclic shear strength and residual shear strain
of saturated sand by cyclic triaxial tests. Soils and Foun-
dations, 3 l(3): 60-76.
Hyodo, M., Kawata, Y. & Ue, S. 1994a. Undrained cyclic
shear strength of in-situ clay. Proc. of 9th Japan Earth-
quake Engineering Symposium: 805-8 10, (in Japanese).
Hyodo, M., Yamamoto, Y. & Sugiyama, M. 1994b.
Undrained cyclic shear behaviour of normally consolidated
clay subjected to initial static shear stress. Soils and Foun-
dations, 34(4): 1-11.
Mendoza, M. J. & Auvinet, G. 1988. The Mexico Earthquake
of September 19, 1985- Behaviour of building foundations
in Mexico City. Earthquake Spectra, 4(4):835-852.
50
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Experimental study on the consolidation properties of Osaka Pleistocene clay

by separated-typeconsolidometer test

M. S. Kang & T.Tsuchida

Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuka, Japan

ABSTRACT: For the investigation on the consolidation characteristics of Osaka Pleistocene clay with a well-
developed soil structure due to long-term secondary consolidation and aging effects, separated-type consoli-
dometer test is carried out. From the tests, very unique consolidation behavior of the clay was observed espe-
cially at the loading stage exceeding preconsolidation pressure where the compressibility of soil is started to
drastically increase overtaking the dissipation rate of excess porewater pressure.

1 INTRODUCTION and with its well-developed structure, separated-type

As the large-scale reclamation constructions and
other projects in the Osaka offshore area such as
construction of an artificial island for a new airport
have recently been progressed, it is now required to
have a new look at the consolidation characteristics
of thick compressible soil layers like Pleistocene
clays. Many investigations of Osaka Pleistocene
clay, which forms the uppermost part of the soil pro-
file where the Kansai international airport is being
built, have been carried, especially an effect of soil
structure on the characteristics of consolidation be-
havior. Osaka Pleistocene clay shows a remarkable
increase in compressibility when the overburden
pressure exceeds the preconsolidation pressure is
loaded due to its well-developed soil structure. It is
therefore necessary to adopt more elaborated and
sophisticated method for the investigation on this ty-
pe of clay retaining peculiar compressibility charac-
teristics in the purpose of proper understanding on
the development of deformation and porewater pres-
sure.
Generally oedometer tests on the specimens with
different height has been adopted for the verification
of various consolidation theories available so far.
Several researchers have found that the separated-
type consolidation test method is a highly effective
method for this subject(Berre and Iversen(l972),
Mesri and Choi(1985), Aboshi et aL(1985) and Imai
and Tang(1992)).
In this study, a separated-type consolidometer test,
in which the soil layer is divided into five inter-
connected sub-specimens is carried out for Osaka
Pleistocene clay. For the typical condition of Osaka
Pleistocene clay with high preconsolidation pressure
consolidometer of high capacity was specially de-
signed. Osaka Pleistocene clay examined in this
study was collected from some 150m below the sea
water level. It shows considerably higher preconsoli-
dation pressure above 1Mpa. This high preconsoli-
dation pressure is believed to be originated not only
by the high overburden pressure, but also by its well-
developed structure resulting from long-term secon-
dary compression and aging effects.
2 TEST METHOD AND PROCEDURE
2.1 Test concept and apparatus
The fundamental concept of separated-type consoli-
dometer test is illustrated in Fig.1. The soil specimen
is separated into several interconnected samples, so
that the consolidation characteristics of the soil by
thickness variation together with the internal varia-
tion of porewater pressure can be examined in con-
nected test cells. Those are usually impossible to be
obtained in the conventional type of oedometer test.
The bottom drainage plane of one sub-specimen is
connected to the top drainage of the next one in the
series.
Fig.2 shows a diagram of the systematic diagram
for the separated-type consolidometer test. The cell
is made of metallic body to endure the high pressure
and drainage between the sub-specimens is also car-
ried by copper pipes to support high porewater pres-
sures during the tests. Porewater pressure is meas-
ured at the bottom of each sub-specimen by pressure
transducers. To increase saturation of the specimen,
back-pressure is applied to the drainage surface of
the top specimen.

51

Fig.1. Concept of separated-type consolidation
Fig.2 Systematic diagram of the separated-type consolidometer
To obtain more accurate data with high resolution
for the vertical displacement of soil specimen, a gap-
sensor of non-contact type measuring the gap dis-
tance by magnetic pulse between the sensor and the
target plate on the loading cap is employed. This ty-
pe of sensor is suitable for extremely high pressure
condition inside a cell. Considering the high precon-
solidation pressure of Osaka Pleistocene clay, it was
also necessary to design a pressure device that can
build high test pressures for the separated-type con-
solidometer. This was achieved with a pressure mul-
tiplier tank in which maximum air pressure of about
800kPa from an air compressor is conversed and
multiplied up to 5Mpa of water pressure. A soil
sample trimmed into five sub-specimens, 60mm in
diameter and 10mm in thickness each, was used for
this test. Each sub-specimen was placed into the
consolidometer cells, labeled No.1, No.2, * * * , No.5
52
(No.4 for reconstituted soil). This gives a total
maximum length of 50mm for the whole drainage
path. The drainage was allowed only at the upper
boundary of sub-specimen No.1 cell and the drain-
age volume was measured for the total volume
change by a burette in which back-pressure is ap-
plied.
2.2 Properties and conditions of soil
Osaka Pleistocene clay tested in this study was col-
lected from the soil layer of 150-170m depth below
the sea water level. This layer was selected because
it contains large amount of Diatom microfossils
which are believed to be a major influential factor
for the high compressibility of Osaka Pleistocene
clay(Tanaka and Locat, 1999). Soil properties of
Osaka Pleistocene clay used in this test are shown in
Table 1.
Table 1. Soil properties of Osaka Pleistocene clay
Natural water Liquid limit, Plastic limit, Specific
Content, w,(%) LL(%) Py%) gravity, G,
53.8-57.8 73.6-108 31.1-36.6 2.69-2.72
To examine the effect of soil structure, reconstitut-
ed samples from the same Osaka Pleistocene clay
were prepared for the comparison of test results. For
the preparation of a reconstituted sample, the soil
passed with 106pm sieve, was remolded and mixed
thoroughly at the water content of above 180% whi-
ch is almost twice the liquid limit of soil to eliminate
the possible effect of soil structure. Then it was pres-
surized in a cell up to 196.lkPa by step loading until
the 95% of consolidation by d t method was ob-
tained.
3 TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
3.1 Strain and excess porewater pressure
During the separated-type consolidometer test, one-
dimensional displacement and excess porewater
pressure of each sub-specimen by the increment of
loading are measured at a given measuring time.
Back-pressures were applied by 196.lkPa for recon-
stituted soil and by 392.3kPa for undisturbed soil.
Four sub-specimens in series were used for the re-
constituted soil and five for undisturbed soil.
Figs.3 and 4 show the variation of strain and ex-
cess porewater pressure as a function of time for
each increment of stage loading for the reconstituted
and the undisturbed sample respectively. In the case
of the reconstituted sample, the delayed compression
by the distance from the drainage surface can be
clearly seen because sub-specimen nearer to the free
drainage boundary is compressed faster by taking
place of rapid dissipation of excess porewater pres-
sure. Comparison of over-consolidated and normally
consolidated compression, no distinctive difference
of the consolidation behavior is observed except an
increase in primary strain and coefficient of secon-
dary consolidation in the normally consolidated
range. However, for the undisturbed sample of Osa-
ka Pleistocene clay, the consolidation behavior
shows evident contrast between the normally con-

Elapsed Time (rnin) Elapsed Time (rnin)

(c) Au/Ap -time (over-consolidated range) (d) A d A p - time (normally-consolidated range)
Fig.3 Variation of strain and porewater pressure with time for reconstituted sample (preconsolidation stress, P, =185kPa by oedometer)

Elapsed time (min) Elapsed time (min)

(c) AuiAp - time (over-consolidated range) (d) Au/Ap - time (normally-consolidated range)
Fig.4 Variation of strain and porewater pressure with time for undisturbed sample (preconsolidation stress, P, =1176kPa by oedometer)

53
solidated and the over-consolidated ranges as it can
be seen in Fig.4. In the over-consolidated range,
primary consolidation is over almost instantly and all
subsequent strains for all sub-specimens continue at
nearly constant rate of secondary compression. But
in the normally consolidated range, consolidation
behavior shows delayed compression similar to the
one for reconstituted sample. While the excess
porewater pressure for reconstituted sample dissi-
pates at nearly the same rate regardless of consolida-
tion range, undisturbed sample shows a dissipation
rate of excess porewater pressure in the over-
consolidated range, that is more than 100 times
faster than the one in the normally-consolidated
range.
The coefficients of secondary consolidation de-
fined as Ca (=A e/log t) which implies the rate of re-
duction in void ratio with time at constant effective
stress are computed at each loading increment and
compared in Fig.5 for reconstituted and undisturbed
soils. For both soil conditions, while Ca in the range
of over-consolidation showed constant and low val-
ues, but in the normally consolidated range after pre-
consolidation pressure, it increases dramatically.
Contrarily for undisturbed soil, Ca reached to the
maximum peak value right after passing over pre-
consolidation pressure, P, and then decrease with
effective stress. This result implies that Ca is highly
dependent upon the effective stress and is consistent
with the result presented by Mesri and Godlew-
ski(1977) only in the hypothesis that there is no con-
sistent relationship between Ca and load increment
ratio. However it is necessary to comment that Ca
continuously increased with the increase of effective
stress for reconstituted sample on the contrary and
that the layers nearer to drainage boundary show
smaller values of Ca.
Meanwhile it was found that the dissipation char-
acteristics of excess porewater pressure at the load-
ing stage exceeding the preconsolidation pressure of
undisturbed soil, displays very unique aspect. At the
Fig.5 Variation of C, with effective stress
54
Elapsed time (min)
Fig.6 Effective stress at the loading stage spanning preconsoli-
dation pressure (undisturbed sample)
stage loading spanning preconsolidation pressure,
once the variation of excess porewater pressure
shows the decreasing tendency at first, then it is in-
creased again to a notable degree in the loading stage
exceeding yielding stress of soil overstepping from
over-consolidation to normally consolidation. This
tendency is seen in Fig.6 where the porewater pres-
sure variation is evaluated by the term of effective
stress. Effective stress for separated-type specimen is
calculated by the following equation considering the
porewater pressure measured at the top and the bot-
tom of each specimen(1mai and Tang, 1992).
where p’ : effective stress
P : total stress
uT : Porewater pressure measurement at the top of
each subspecimen (ui-, for No.i (i=1,2,. ..5),
Back pressure for No.1)
uB : Porewater pressure measurement at the
bottom of specimen (ui for N0.i)
For the reconstituted sample, it is not shown here
however, only a little effect of yielding can be seen
at the moment that the effective stress reaches to the
preconsolidation pressure. However the variation of
effective stress for the undisturbed sample shows
large fluctuation after exceeding the preconsolida-
tion pressure as shown in Fig.6. For the main reason
of this, it is considered that excess porewater pres-
sure once dissipated with a higher rate in the over-
consolidated range is affected by the rapid increase
of compressibility developed in the process shifting
over to the normally-consolidated range. This means
that the rate of increase in compressibility becomes
much higher than the rate of excess porewater pres-
sure dissipation when soil skeletons of Osaka Pleis-
tocene clay with well-developed structure are yield-
ed by a high overburden pressure.
In Fig.7, the distribution of degree of consolida-
tion, U, to the thickness of soil layer according to the
length of drainage path is compared with theoretical
solution by Terzaghi’s one-dimensional consolida-
tion theory. Both soil conditions are for the loading
spanning the preconsolidation pressure.
Fig.8 Relations between void ratio and effective relations on a
time constant lines (Reconstituted soil)
55
For the reconstituted sample, the distribution of U,
to the depth of soil from measured values is well
consistent with theoretical solutions. However in the
case, it can be said that, even though the primary
consolidation of undisturbed soil is once ended up at
much higher rate than that of reconstituted one after
yielding, the consolidation process became greatly
delayed and showed complexity at the consolidation
process near preconsolidation pressure.
3.2 Variation of void ratio with effective stress
In the region of normally consolidated condition, e-
log p’ relations at the same elapsed time for two suc-
cessive load increment shows linear relationship.
Thus the time constant lines for different times were
obtained as in Fig.8. Those lines for 10,000 and
100,000min had to be extended by the spacing in-
crement from the previous time constant line. In the
figure, e-log p’ relations for the reconstituted soil is
plotted together. From the variation of void ratio by
the increase of stress intersecting through the time
constant lines, it seems to be possible to say that the
creep component analogous to secondary compres-
sion under equal stress is included in the primary
consolidation. This also supports the notion that
there is no unique EOP relationship for the thickness
variation of soil even though there is uncertainty re-
mains for further research on this subject.
Relations between void ratio and effective stress
are shown respectively for reconstituted and undis-
turbed samples in Fig.9. For the comparison, void
ratio is normalized with the initial void ratio, e,. It is
clear that the e-log p’ relation from the results by
separated-type consolidometer test is not linear
either with any load increment or with the length of
drainage path for both sample conditions. Due to the
fact that, at the soil layer which is near to the drain-
age boundary, effective stress instantaneously in-
creased, the curve for No.1 layer reveals the e-log p’
relation almost close to the ideal no water condition
with the largest curvature. However it is notable that
varied relation of e-log p’ by the length of drainage
path for undisturbed sample can be observed at the
next load increment after exceeding the preconsoli-
dation pressure.
And also for the undisturbed soil, before the sub-
stantial increase of compressibility after preconsoli-
dation pressure, large span of over-consolidated
range with respect to the increase of stress implies
high resistance of soil structuration. It is also expect-
ed that the e-log p’ curve for undisturbed soil has a
tendency to return to the original compression line at
the extremely high stress.

(a) reconstituted sample
REFERENCES
Aboshi, H, Matsuda, M. and Okuda, M. 1981. Pre-
consolidation by separate type consolidometer.
Proc. of 10th International Conference on SMFE,
V01.3. pp.572-579.
Berre, T. and Iversen, K. 1972. Oedometer tests with
different specimen heights on a clay exhibiting lar-
ge secondary compression. Geotechnique 22. No. 1.
pp.53-70.
Imai, G. and Tang, Y. X. 1992. A constitutive equa-
tion of one-dimensional consolidation derived
from inter-connected tests. Soil and Foundations.
JSSMFE. Vol. 32. NO. 2. pp.83-96.
Mesri, G. and Choi, Y. K. 1985. The uniqueness of
the end-of-primary (EOP) void ratio-effective
stress relationship. Proc. of the 1l t h International
Conference on SMFE. Vol. 2. pp587-590.
Mesri, G. and Godlewski, P. M. 1977. Time- and
stress-compressibility inter-relationship. Journal of
the Geotechnical Engineering Division. ASCE.
V01.103. NOS. pp.417-430.
Tanaka, H. and Locat, 5.1999. A microstructural in-
vestigation of Osaka bay clay : the impact of mi-
crofossils on its mechanical behavior. Canadian
Geotechnical Journal. Vol. 36. pp.493-508.

(b) undisturbed sample

Fig.9 Relations between void ratio and effective stress

4 CONCLUSIONS

Using separated-type consolidometer of high capac-

ity designed in this study, the consolidation charac-
teristics of Osaka Pleistocene clay was examined
with the purpose of investigating soil structural ef-
fect. Through the tests as a fundamental stage, un-
disturbed soil in the over-consolidated range showed
extremely faster expulsion of excess porewater pres-
sure than the normally consolidated range and that
the most part of consolidation settlement is occupied
by secondary compression at a given pressure incre-
ment.
At the pressure increment spanning the preconsoli-
dation pressure of Osaka Pleistocene clay, effective
stress increasing with elapsed time showed sudden
decreasing tendency after the effective stress ex-
ceeded the preconsolidation pressure. It is estimated
that the cause of this unique behavior is to be attrib-
uted to the fact that radical increase of compressibil-
ity by the yielding of soil structure surpasses the dis-
sipation rate of excess porewater pressure. This
behavior is particularly relevant to clays with a well-
developed structure such as Osaka Pleistocene clay.

56
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Application of CPT on site investigation in a reclaimed land of West Taiwan

Der-Her Lee, Jing-Wen Chen & Chih-Sheng Ku

National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

ABSTRACT: The Cone Penetration Test (CPT) can provide continuous subsurface data with little human
error, and faster and more economical than the traditional SPT test. It is one of the most suitable investigation
techniques for the exploration of soft ground. This paper presents a site investigation study on a reclaimed
land in Chia-Yi, Taiwan. The CPT data are used to compare with SPT data which were obtained from the
boring test performed near the CPT hole less than 1.5 meter.

1.INTRODUCTION demand pressure from the both economical and

The cone penetration test (CPT) is one of the
popular investigation methods. It can provide
ground data with simple, rapid, accurate and
economic process. Because the cone has built-in
several electronic sensors; such as pore
pressuremeter and loal cells, it can be pushed into
ground with a constant rate, and ground properties
can be continuously measured. Hence, it is one of
the suitable equipment to explore the geological
structure and mechanical behaviors of soft ground;
especially the nearshore reclaimed land.
Table 1 lists the reliability of adopting the
CPT/CPTU data to apply to engineering design
evaluated by Lunne et al. (1997). From the table, it
can found that data from CPT is suitable for
performing the pile design, compaction control for
sandy soil, and liquefaction potential evaluation.
industrial activities, a series of land reclamation
projects; such as, Chang-Hwa Coastal Industrial
Park (3643 hectares) and Formosa Plastic Industrial
Park (2167 hectares), are carried out in the seashore
of western Taiwan. Most of these reclaimed lands
are hydraulic-filled. However, many geotechnical
problems, for example, pile design, stabilization
control of soil and soil liquefaction, must be
overcome during construction of land reclamation.
The accurate data of soil properties for the new land
are quite necessary. Traditional boring with standard
penetration test (SPT) can be adopted to serve this
purpose. But, CPT is also an approved one.
This paper presents a site investigation study on
a reclaimed land in Chia-Yi, Taiwan. The CPT data
are used to compare with SPT data which were
obtained from the boring test performed near the
CPT hole in 1.5 meter.

Table1 Perceived applicability of the CPTICPTU for 2. CPT EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES
various direct design problems (Lunne et al. 1997)
I 1 I
Pile Bearing Settlement IConipactionl Liquefaction]
The cone penetration test equipment consists of a
design capacity control
Sand 1-2 1-2 2-3 1-2 1-2 cone penetrometer, pushing equipment and data
Clay 1-2 1-2 3-4 3-4 acquisition systems. A cone with an apex angle of
Intcrmediate
soils
1-2 2-3 3-4 2-3 60" and of a I Ocin' base area is generally accepted as
Reliability rating: 1 High, 2 High to moderate 3 standard. The friction sleeve, located above the
Moderate, 4 Moderate to low, 5 Low conical tip, has a standard area of 15Ocm'. Electronic
penetrometers have built-in load cells that record
end bearing stress (4,) and friction sleeve stress (f,).
Taiwan is an island country, however, more than The rigs used for pushing the penetrometer
75% of land are mountainous area. Only the west consist basically of a hydraulic jacking system. The
part, less than 25% of land in Taiwan, is covered by thrust capacity needed for cone testing commonly
plain and low hill. In order to reduce the land varies in between 100 and 200kN. The load of

57
200kN is about the maximum allowable thrust on a
high tensile steel push rod with 35.7 mm diameter. A
200kN thrust will normally results in penetration
depths of 50 to 60 meters in medium dense to dense
sand and stiff clays. The standard cone rods are the
same diameter as the base of the tip and sleeve,
measure 1 meter in length, have tapered threads and
are assembled and dismantled by hand.
The electronic penetrometer produces
continuous data that requires relatively complex data
collection and processing. The signals are usually
transmitted via a cable prethreaded down the
standard push rods. Most data acquisition systems
include analogue to digital converters so that the
analogue signals can be directly converted to digital
form for data logging. Advances in
microelectronics have made it possible to amplify
and digitize the data in the cone. The digital data is
incremental in nature; typically recording all
channels every 5cm in depth. Data is normally
stored on hard disk for processing and plotting.
The cones and the data acquisition systems
including cables and connections need to be
regularly checked or recalibrated. In the field simple
check calibration and procedures are essential after
connecting the equipment to ensure that all is
functioning properly. The standard penetration speed
for CPT testing is 20 mm/sec (ASTM D5778-95),
and readings are taken at a minimum of every 50mm
of penetration.
Figure 1 Soil behavior type classification chart
3. RESULTS OF CPT (Robertson, 1990)

The general form of CPT raw data is shown in

Table=!.The tip resistance (Q,), Sleeve friction (fJ, The soil types in the table is obtained by using
pore pressure ( P , ) and inclination angle (Inc) can be raw data of CPT with the CPT soil behavior type
measured directly from the sensors built-in the cone. chart proposed by Robertson et al. ( I 986), the chart
The friction ratio (Rf) and pore pressure ratio (B,) shown in Figure 1 is revised by Robertson (1990).
are derived by the definitions as: And the SPT-N value is calculated from the
relationship of (qc/pa)/N60with soil classification
fs
RJ = - x loo%, and Bq = ____
U?-U0 zone that suggested by Robertson et al. (1986), and
(3.1) this approach has been modified by Lunne et al. for
4' qr - Cr'O
use with the Robertson (1990) nornialized CPT soil
Where q, = corrected cone resistance
classification chart shown in Figure1 .
uz= pore pressure measured behind cone In the site of Chia-Yi reclaimed land, four holes
U,= in situ equilibrium pore water pressure
of CPT were performed and traditional boring with
G,,,= in situ total vertical stress.
SPT was also carried out near the CPT holes.
Therefore, the ground data obtained from CPT and
Table2 General form of CPT output data boring can be used to make a detail comparison with
each other.
Depth qc f, R, P, Inc soil Type
(in) (MPa) (kPa) (!A)) (kPa) Ba (deg) Since CPT data are accumulated every 5cm
...
during the cone penetrating into the ground, the
33.85 1 351 28.58 2.03 278.2 0.136 2.54 Clayey 5111 7
continuous engineering properties of the ground can
13 9 1 316 20.81 1.4 349.6 0.177 2 5 5 Silty salid
be collected. The original data of CPT obtained from
13 95 1.66 26.67 1.54 343.5 0.148 2.55 Silty sand
the test holes of A l , A2. A3, and A4 are shown from
Figure 2 to Figure 5, respectively. Most tip

58
resistance (Qc) of these holes are less than SMPa, it
means that the ground is a soft or loose one. From
the variation of friction ratio (Rf), we can understand
that the type of soil of the upper layer, from ground
surface to -7m - -9m, is quite simple, but it is
complicated for layer lower than -7m - -9m. In
addition, according to pore pressure increased
rapidly in the clay or clayey silt, we can make an
accurate judgement about soil types.
On the other hand, the results of boring are
shown in the left part of Fig. 6 to Fig. 9 From boring
log and soil types based on the Unified classification
System, we can find that the soil formation in these
four holes is quite similar. From ground surface to -
8m - -9m, the major type of soil is SM or SP-SM,
however, below -8m - -9m, most Of the Soil type is Figure 4 Original data of CPT in ~3
ML or CL.
The right parts of Figure 6 to Figure9, present
the soil type and fines content evaluated from the
original data of CPT using the methods suggested by
Robertson et al. (1998). From these figures, it

Figure 5 Original data of CPT in A4

Figure 2 Original data of CPT in A 1

Figure 6 Boring data in Aland CPT soil classification

Figure 3 Original data of CPT in A2

59
 shows that the upper part of the ground (from
ground surface to -7m - -9m) is almost composed by
the soils, whose I, value fall into the interval of 1.3
and 2.6 (i.e. sands or sand mixture). But in the
lower part of the ground (from -7m - -9m to -25m),
most of the I, value of the soil will be classified as
sand mixture, silt mixture and clays.

4. COMPARISON THE SOIL TYPES OBTAINED

FROM CPT AND BORING TEST

Robertson proposed a chart for determining the soil

type by using the CPT data Q, and F, (shown in Fig.
1). Lunne et al. (1 997) found out that the radius of
the boundaries among soil type 2 to 7 in Fig. 1 could
be used as an index to identify the soil type.
Figure 7 Boring data in A2 and CPT soil classification The boundary between soil behavior type zones
(2 to 7) can be approximated as concentric circles,
and the radius of each circle can be expressed as a
soil behavior type index (I,). The soil behavior type
index can be defined as follows:

I, = ((3.47 - logQ,)' + (logF, +1.22)')'.' (3.2)

Where:
Q, : the normalized cone penetration resistance
F,: the normalized friction ratio (in percent).

The boundaries of soil behavior type are given in

terms of the index, Ic and listed in Table 3.

Table3 Boundaries of soil behavior type

1 Soil behavior type index, I, I Zone I Soil behavior type
1,<1.31

2.05<1,<2.60 Sand mixture - silty sand to sandy silt

Figure 8 Boring data in A3 and CPT soil classification Silt mixture clayey silt to silty clay
~

1,>3.60

4.1 Comparison of soil type

The soil types of the four holes classified by using
the CPT data are compared with those of the SPT
specimen in same depth where classified by Unified
Soil Classification System.

(a) CPT soil type for soil SP-SM

In Fig. 10, 219 soil samples of CPT correspond to
soil SP-SM are described in Robertson's soil
classification chart. From this figure, it shows that
about 89% of the soil samples (21 9) locate in zone 6
(sand). The rest 11% distribute in zone 5 .

(b) CPT soil type for soil SM

Fig. 11 shows the classification results of soil SM in
Figure 9 Boring data 111 A4 and CPT soil classification

60
Robertson’s soil classification chart. From this
figure, it can be found that 152 of 178 soil SM
specimens are classified in zone 5 (sand mixture). It
is about 85% of the soil SM specimens. The rest U
15% of SM specimens are located in zone 6 (sand)
c
and zone 4 (silt mixture). UI
[L
m
(c) Comparison of soil ML 0
0
C

The 203 specimens of soil ML classified by ;

Robertson’s method are shown in Fig. 12. These soil
data distribute from zone 3 (clays) to zone 6 (sands),
E
g
and concentrate at zone 5 (sand mixtures). This
means that the soil ML has a wider correspondence
than other soils when the soil specimens are
classified by Robertson’s classification.
Normalized Friction Ratio, F ( % )
(d) Comparison of soil CL Figure 12 CPT Classification on ML
The correspondence of CL to the soil classification

Figure 13 CPT Classification on CL

Figure 10 CPT soil classification on SP-SM

Figure 14 Estimated FC by SPT and CPT

Figure 11 CPT soil classification on SM

61
system by Robertson, et al. is shown in Figure 13.
From this figure it can be seen that the 98% of 123
soil specimens which studied in this paper and
classified as CL are corresponded to the zone 3,
which is recognized as clay in Robertson’s soil
classification chart.
The comparisons of these soil specimens studied
in this paper with two different soil classifications
are listed in Table 4. In the table SP-SM, SM, and
CL are corresponded well to zone 6, 5 and 3 in
Robertson’s CPT soil classification chart,
respectively. However, the match of ML is
somewhat deviated.
The comparison of two soil classifications with
soil in hydraulic landfill is, generally, in a
reasonable agreement. CPT is much better than
conventional SPT since soil properties can be
obtained constantly by former; however, the later
one can only conduct the same process with per
1.5m. By comparing proceeding time required to
obtain the same amount of soil properties; say, in a
50m boring hole, time for CPT is only 2.5 hours;
however, it may take 4days for SPT and the time
consuming in laboratory is still not included.
Therefore, CPT is one of the suitable appropriate
methods to explore the geological structure and
mechanical behaviors of soft ground.
Table4 CPT Classification on SP-SM
Total 723 1 CPT Classification
UnifiedSoil
Classification
I I 6
Sands
5
Sand I 4
Silt
mixtures mixtures
I No. 194 25
SP-SM I % I 89 I 11 I explore the geological structure and mechanical
No. 19 152 7 behaviors of soft ground; especially the nearshore
SM % 11 85 4 reclaimed land.
No. 17 87 55
No. 2 121
CL % 2
4.2 Comparison offines content
In Robertson’s CPT classification system, fines
content (FC) is calculate by classification index, I,;
the increase of FC is followed as the soil that
contented an amount of FC is more close to the
corresponding zone in CPT classification system.
Based on the definition of the I, in the zones in CPT
classification system and Equation (4. I), (4.2) and
(4.3), the range of FC in corresponding zone can be
calculated; the results are listed in Table 5.
1,<1.26 FC ( % ) = O (4.1)
1.2651,53.5 FC ( % ) = 1.75 I, 3.25-3.7 (4.2)
I, > 3.5 FC ( % ) = 100 (4.3 )
Table5 Relationship of I, and fine content
I, Ic1.31 11.31-2.0512.05-2.6012.60-2.9512.95-3.601 >3.60
Soil Zone I 7 I 6 I 5 I 4 I 3 1 2
1 F C i % ) 10-51 151-1431143-3531353-5521552-1001 100 I
The FC obtained from specimens sampled by
SPT and from the estimation by CPT in
corresponding soil layers are shown in Figure 14.
In the Figure it can be found that it is more deviated
as FC from CPT in soil ML and the matches for SP-
SM, SM and CL are more agreeable; especially, for
FC‘ less than 35%. It may concluded that the
estimation of FC by Robertson’s CPT classification
system. The deviation in ML could be due to the
sandy soil in seam or fissure occurred in the silty
layers or could be due to the classification of denser
ML leaning to sand zone in CPT classification
system
5.CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
(1) The soils SP-SM, SM and CL in Unified Soil
Classification System match well to zone 6,5,3 of
SM and CL
I
Robertson’s CPT soil classification system,
respectively. However, ML is somewhat deviated.
(2) The estimation of fines content obtains better
II 3
Clays 1 agreement in SP-SM, SM and CL, especially for FC
less than 35%.
(3) CPT is one of the suitable appropriate methods to
44
REFERENCES
98
Lunne, T., Robertson, P. K., and Powel, J. J. M.,
1997. Cone penetration testing in geotechnical
practice, Chapman & Hall.
Robertson, P. K. and Wride C. E., 1998, “Evaluating
cyclic liquefaction potential using the cone
penetration test,” Canadian Geotechnical Journal,
Vol. 35, pp. 442-459.
Robertson, P. K., 1990, “Soil classification using
electric cone penetration test”, Canadian
Geotechnical Journal 27( 11, pp 151- 158.
62
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 157 7

Permeability characteristics of dredged sludges mixed with crushed oyster

shells

K. H. Lee, M. Kazama & E.Yanagisawa

Department of Civil Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
K .Terada
Department of Human-Social Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

ABSTRACT: In order to utilize mass of oyster shells for material of reclamation directly, we investigate the
permeability characteristics of dredged sludge mixed with oyster shells. The coefficient of permeability of the
mixture are obtained from the consolidation tests and the apparent permeability of the oyster shell is determined
by carrying out a numerical analysis based upon the homogenization method. It is found that the oyster shells
play a role of improving permeability for mixed soils, and such an effect is due to the geometrical configurations
of soils and shells in a micro-mechanical scale.

1 INTRODUCTION Table 1. Physical characteristics of soil

Oyster shell is one of a wasted material, which can be

used as a geomaterial. For example, in Shiogama port
area, one of most famous oyster production district in
Japan, lots of oyster shells are piled up near the port
as fishery wastes. Disposal of the oyster shell is
environmental problem and practical re-application
has been expected.
So far, several attempts have been made for utilizing
the oyster shell for geomaterial. The most successful
use of oyster shells so far is use of substitute material
for sand used as a compaction pile (Okumura,T. and
Kobayashi,M. 1996). However, when the oyster shell is
used as compaction material, quantity of oyster shell
t o be used is limited. Then, we investigate the
possibility of direct use for reclamation material mixed
with dredged sluges. T o do this, in this paper,
permeability and consolidation characteristics of
dredged clay mixed with the crushed oyster shells are
studied by physical experiments and numerical
method.
2 CONSOLIDATION CHARACTERISTICS
2.1 Preparation for mixed soil
Table1 shows the summarized physical characteristics
of clay and crashed oyster shells. The dredged clay
used in this test is sampled from Shiogama port area.
Its plasticity index is 54 as shown in Table 1 and its
water content before mixing with oyster shell is exactly
controlled 90%. Because of a limitation of mold size,
oyster shell is shattered to small grains. The grain size
Soil test I Clay [Oyster shell1
of oyster shell distribute from 2 to 9.5mm. For
homogeneous distribution of oyster shell grain, we
mixed 2 to 4.75 mm grain and 4.75 to 9.5mm grain as
a half and half. Before mixing with clay, oyster shells
are dried under the sun in couple of days.
Mixed soils are made by the weight ratio of clay and
oyster shells as 10:0,8:2,7:3,6:4,5:5,4:6,3:7,2:8. It is
noted that, as the oyster shell content increase, then
the water content decrease because the weight of solid
particle, which consists of clay and oyster shell
becomes larger. After mixed with clay and oyster
shells, mixed soil was deaired for two hours and left
for 24 hours in order to be the same temperature in a
specimen.
2.2 Experiment methods
Because oyster shells grinded in 9.5mm maximum
diameters are used as an experimental material, a large
scale equipment having 100mm in diameter and
300mm in heights consolidation mold are designed and

63
 the consolidation coefficient is six times as large as that
of clay alone. The variation pattern of consolidation
coefficient changed around 60% of mixed ratio. More
than 60% mixed ratio, consolidation coefficient
becomes much larger than in rage of lower mixed ratio.
Detailed information is available in Lee et.al 1998.

3 APPARENT PERMEABILITY COEFFICIENT

OF OYSTER SHELL

Although a large number of studies have been made

on mixed soil of permeability characteristics, no
studies have ever tried to estimate influences of mixed
materials on permeability characteristics. Here, we
propose an estimation procedure based upon the
homogenization method and consolidation test. This
concept is applicable to the case of mixed soil with

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of experimental equipment

used instead of standard equipment. Figure1 shows a

schematic diagram of this equipment.
In experiment, the top and bottom of cylinder are
capped with porous stone, only the drainage in vertical
direction is permitted. In order to decrease the friction
of side wall, the mold was made of teflon material.
Pressure gauge to measure the water pressure are
placed in center of specimen. To avoid directive
acceptance of load, pressure gauge is covered with the
porous-stone box. Vertical consolidation stress is
98kpa and the consolidation time is determined by the
3T method. Time (min)

Volume change ratio = change amount

2.3 Experimental results x 100
Clay of volume

Figure 2 shows the relation between the volume change Figure 2. Curve of volume change ratio
ratio and mixing ratio of oyster shells. Volume change
of mixed soil is caused by drainage of pore water in
clay. That is, volume change of mixed soil during cv(cm2/day)
consolidation can be deal with that of clay as a matrix
part. In case of the higher mixing ratio of oyster shells,
volume change ratio becomes larger at initial stage.
However, at the final stage, as a mixing ratio of oyster
shells increased, volume change ratio becomes smaller.
Figure 3 shows the relation between the coefficient
of consolidation for overall soil and mixing ratio of
oyster shells. In case of mixed soil that has a large
consolidation settlement velocity in early steps, the
consolidatioin coefficient of mixed soil is determined
by Casagrande method which has relatively less
dependence on initial step. Results of consolidation Mixed ratio(%)
test shows that oyster shells accelerate the rate of
Figure 3. Coefficient of consolidation of overall soil
consolidation. Incidentally, in case of 80% mixed ratio,

64

Picture of cutting plane Simplified image by NIH
image drawing software
Figure 4. Unit cell model for numerical analysis
Coefficient of permeability (cm/s) x10"
Figure 5. Relation between the coefficient of permeability and
void ratio obtained from the consolidation test for clay alone
another material. As described in Chapter 2, as mixing
ratio of oyster shell increased, dissipation velocity of
pore water prcssurc becomes larger, then oyster shells
play a role on accelerating drainage rate. Coefficient
of permeability of mixed soil will be constituted from
permeability of clay and oyster shells, and its micro-
s t r u c t u r a 1 co n f i g u r a t i on. Apparent 1y in p h y s i ca 1
condition, oyster shell itself is impermeable material.
However, if we assume oyster shell to be impermeable,
experimental fact that oyster shell accelerate the
consolidation of mixed soil can not be explained. Thus
we have to regard oyster shell as a permeable material
vcrtually. Perhaps, from micro- mechanical viewpoint,
it is considered that oyster shell makes the pore water
easy to flow through the interface between clay and
oyster shell. Here, we assume the oyster shells to be
homogcncous permcablc material and obtain apparent
permeability of it. T o determine the apparant
pemcability of oyster shells, we conducted numerical
c a 1c u 1at i o n b as c d on h o m o g c n iz a t ion m c t h o d.
Detailed information on the method is available in
Terada K.(1996).
3.1 Alumerica1 model
In homogenization method, a unit cell has to be made,
which is reflecting the micro-structure of mixed soil.
To do this, after the consolidation test, the specimen is
65
Table 2. Coefficient of permeability of clay alone and void ratio
Mixed ratio Permeability Void ratio
m) coefficient (cm/sl
0 7.031e-07 1.372
20 7.107e-07 1.379
30 8.522e-07 1.395
40 9.080e-07 1.403
50 9.101e-07 1.425
60 9.13%-07 1.429
70 9.338e-07 1.467
80 9.401e-07 1.479
pull out from the mold and cuts it in vertical direction.
Its cross sectional image was taken by digital camera.
To generatc image, we used the software of NIH Image.
The distribution of oyster shell is defined considering
the hand sketch. Figure 4 shows example of the unit
cell model converted from this method. This modcling
technique is known as the DIB (digital image-based)
modeling recently. In this study, unit cell model is
represented by 200*200 pixels. Thus, total number of
40000-elements.
When the micro-structure of mixed soil and
permeabilty of clay alone is known factor, it is possible
to determine the apparent permeability of oyster shells
which explain the overall permeability of mixed soils
by try and error procedure.
3.2 Coefficient ofpermeability coefficient of mixed soil
and clay
Coefficient of permeability of mixcd soil during the
consolidation process can be calculated with settlement
and the variation of pore water pressure using the
following equation.
where, AQ is drainage quantity, is mean height of
specimen,p is pore water pressure andA is area of
specimen. Relation between the coefficient of
pcrmeability and void ratio for clay alone is shown in
Figure 5. Since we can deduce the void ratio of clay at
the time when pore watcr dissipation is completed, the
coefficient permeability of clay alone can be deduced
from Figure 5. Table 2 shows the relation between
coefficient of permeability and void ratio of clay
deduced from the way as mentioned above.
The example of permeability coefficients in case of
20% and 80% mixed ratios are shown in Figure 6.
Coefficient of permeability of mixed soil also
calculated from cquation(1). From the consolidation
start, coefficient of permeability is calculated during
every of pore water pressure dissipation 10%.Then
we take the permeability coefficient of mixed soil at
the moment when dissipation of pore water pressure
become 90-100% as presented in Table 3.
Table3. Coefficient of permeability of mixed soil
Mixed ratio (%) Permeability coefficient (cm/s)
0 7.123e-07
20 9.818e-07
30 1.164e-06
40
50 1.230e-06
60 1.298e-06
70 1.417e-06
80 1.499e-06
Dissipation degree of water pressure = 90-100 (%)
Dissipation of degree of water pressure (%)
Figure 6. Coefficient of permeability of mixed soil
3.3 Apparent permeability coeficient of oyster shells
deduced from homogenization method.
Oyster shells arc assumed as water permeable material.
For deducing of apparent coefficient of permeability,
computations are repeated until the assumed values
for oyster shells agrcc with the overall permeability
obtained from consolidation test. As a result of
homogenization method permeability coefficients are
cxprcssed as follows.
wherc, k" i s t h c matrix of homogenization
pcrmeability coefficient, k, and k,. arc permeability
coefficient in vertical and horizontal direction,
respectively. The results are influenced by anisotropy
of micro-mechanical structure, for example as shown
in Figure 4. During the consolidation process, initial
random structure moves to the oriented structure. In
this case the result of the experiment corresponds to
k,, on the permeability matrix, because drainage is
permittcd only in vertical direction.
Figure 7 shows apparent coefficient of permeability
of oyster shells determined by the procedure explained
above. In the figurqthc permeabilities of mixed soil
in both directions calculated from the identified model
parametcrs. Apparent permeability coefficients of
oyster shells increases lincally until the mixing ratio
66
Figure 7. Coefficient of Permeability
of 6096, but no changes appear after that. This imply
that micro-structural configuration does not affect on
the permeability of mixed soil in the region over 60%.
A s shown in Figure 7, i t is also found that the
permeability of mixed soil in horizontal direction is
larger than that in vertical direction.
4 CONCLUSION
Considering the reclamation field with mixed material
composed of clay and oyster shells, permeability
characteristic was studied through large scale
cons ol id at i o n e x p e r i m e n t s and horn og e n i z a t i on
method. Conclusions arc summarized as follows:
1)It is verified that permeability of dredged clay is
improved by mixing with oyster shells. Since
apparently oyster shell itself is impermeable, thcre must
be particular mechanism on that.
2) The homogenization method for deducing
apparent permcability coefficient of oyster shells,
which can consider micro-structure of mixed soil, is
introduced. Apparent permeability coefficient of oyster
shells identified increase until the mixed ratio of 6095,
but no change appear after that.
REFERENCES
Lee,K.H., Kazama,M., Yanagisawa, E.and Ohneda,H. 1998.
Consolidation characteristics of the dredged sluge mixed with
oyster shells. Proc. of the international symposium on
problematic soils, IS-TOIIOKU : 575-578.
Okumura,T. & Kobayashi,M. 1996. Oyster shell-sand mixture
as material of sand cornpaction piles. Proc. of the 2nd intern.
cong.on environmental geotechnics.Vol2: 863-868.
Terada,K. 1996. Global-local modeling for composites by the
homogenization method. Paper for degree of doctor of
philosophy in Michigan university.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkerna, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Creep effects on Gmax

of clayey soils in 1-D consolidation tests
T. N.Lohani, G. Imai & K.Tani
Department of Civil Engineering, Yokohama National University,Japan
S. Shibuya
Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

ABSTRACT: Creep effects, together with the effects of initial water content at deposition, on the quasi-
elastic shear modulus, Gmm, of clayey soil is studied in the consolidometer equipped with bender elements.
The reconstituted clay samples from Minato-Mirai (MM) site in Yokohama were prepared by means of two
different methods. One refers to the conventional method (i.e.ytype-A) in which the samples were cut out of
preconsolidated block samples prepared with the initial water content twice the liquid limit. The other group
of samples (type-B) was directly consolidated in the consolidometer with initial water content ranging from
1.5 to 5.0 times the liquid limit. The samples with higher initial void ratio showed little higher degree of on-
depositional structuration. The increase in Gm, with time, represented by a factor NG, showed similar
variations in both types of samples and its absolute value fluctuated around 0.20. It is also manifested that the
aspect of structuration and destructuration may be successfully expressed by Metastability Index MI(G~=),
which reaches to a maximum at the end of sustained loading and vanishes slowly with increase in stress level.
For the present test conditions and duration, subsequent stress of 1.5-2.0 times the creep stress brought about
the complete destructuration of the creep-added soil-structure formed in the previous creep step.

1 INTRODUCTION know the aftermath on the soil properties. The effect

Soils in the nature are deposited with a variety of
circumstances such as marine, alluvial or diluvial
environments. The diagenesis effect while
consolidation due to overburden stress over the
geological time period makes the soil mass stronger.
This phenomenon is normally referred as ‘soil
ageing’. The soil structure formed during diagenesis
could be due to the effect of particle rearrangements,
thixotropy, chemical bonding and others.
The long-term consolidation tests at constant
stress, normally called creep tests, in the laboratory
are assumed to provide a valuable insight into the
mechanism of natural ageing. The results in these
limited duration tests are extrapolated to the desired
time scale to check the safety in design, and to
predict the altering soil properties in the future.
Reconstituted soils are frequently in use for
assessing the normally consolidated (NC) soil
parameters in the laboratory. It is commonly
practiced to prepare the preconsolidated sample
from the slurry having the initial water content twice
the liquid limit. However, the formation process of
natural clay might start from flocculation and
sedimentation of the particles at higher water
content. In other words, initial water content of the
natural soil during deposition could be different and
it is very important for the geotechnical engineers to
of different initial water content on consolidation
properties has been analyzed by Tsuchida (1994)
and Katagiri and Imai (1994) among others. The
latter paper clearly shows that final void ratios are
very much different even at large pressures if the
initial water content is different. Citing the
persistence of the difference in coefficient of
compression (C,) as well, a big question over the
uniqueness in C, parameter was raised for any given
soil. However, could similar ideas be extrapolated
for small strain properties too? If different, how it
actually varies? The answer is still unknown in Gm,
perspective and will be a milestone if properly
explained and quantified.
Besides, the concept of structuration and
destructuration as well as Metastability Index
(Shibuya et al. 1999), possible linkage of Gm, - time
relationship with plasticity index, soil grain size
(Kokusho et al. 1982, Ishihara 1996), secondary
consolidation coefficient (Lo Presti et al. 1996) are
other important aspects that are to be reaffirmed
from various perspectives. Though there are many
other researches in this regard (Anderson and Stokoe
1978, Jamiolkowski et al. 1995, Shibuya et al. 1997,
Kokusho 1987), the knowledge is still far from the
present day need and will be attempted to clear a
little further in this research.

67
2 SOIL STRUCTURE AND METASTABILITY
INDEX (MI)
A soil mass is a matrix formed with numerous
arrangement of soil particles with different degree of
binding in between them. When a clayey soil, which
generally consists of platy or flat particles, is in
dispersed orientation, i.e. in edge-to-edge or face-to-
face condition, the soil is relatively stable and less
porous. However, if the particles are in edge-to-face
arrangement or flocculated condition, the particles
are arranged loosely and small force on it may cause
large settlement. The effect of ageing, especially
chemical hardening or cementation makes the soil
fabric stable even in the relatively looser state
without letting it to reduce the void ratio, i.e. makes
it metastable. Very similar to the concept of Intrinsic
Consolidation Line (ICL) (Burland 1990) in e-log
(0"' plot,
) we can define a Intrinsic Gm, Line (IGL)
in e- Gm, plot with the data points associated with
the normally consolidated condition without the
effect of soil-structure, such as line AA (for test Bl)
or BB (for test B2) in Figure Id. Creep steps in the
laboratory tests that are similar to the natural ageing
resulted in a kink and the plot shifted towards the
right of IGL. As IGL denotes the relation for
maximum possible void ratio for any G, value
without the effect of soil structure, the plot will
gradually join the IGL if higher stress is applied
because of destructuration. The quantification of soil
structure is an important aspect and is expressed
here using the parameter ((MI)Gm, ') or ((MI)Gm=
IL), Metastablity Index for a constant Gm, value in
terms of void ratio or liquidity index (IL). As an
example, ((MI)Gm, ') for a constant Gm, (along C-
C) between IGL BB and the data point indicating the
end of creep is shown in Figure Id. Higher MI
indicates higher structuration.
3 EXPERIMENTAL SET UP AND PROPERTIES
OF SOIL SAMPLES
Two types of MM clay samples were prepared for
the tests. The type-A samples were prepared by
using conventional reconstitution method; i.e., the
slurry having the initial water content twice the
liquid limit was gently poured into a consolidation
chamber, and subjected to 1-D consolidation at the
vertical stress of 49 kPa. Each specimen having the
dimension of 60 mm in diameter and 40 mm high
was trimmed out of the preconsolidated block
sample. The general loading steps applied in A-
series of tests was 25-40-60-90-135-200-300-450-
670-170-42 (kPa). The type-B samples were
consolidated from the slurry in the consolidometer
starting at small (16 kPa) vertical stress. Vertical
load was immediately applied once the slurry was
put in the testing apparatus without allowing
68
Test Creep Symbol Sample Remarks
Stress used Diameter
sedimentation. The initial water content of these
samples along with other descriptions is shown in
Table 1 (type-B samples). The type-A tests were
performed in a special consolidometer fitted with
Bender Elements (BE) and also equipped with the
load cell at the bottom. The average of top and
bottom stress is taken as the effective stress acting
on the sample. As the friction between the specimen
and consolidometer cell reduced the bottom stress
appreciably, net effective stress for A-type of
samples were lower than that of applied stress from
the top. The type-B tests were carried out in a 100
mm diameter Perspex-glass cell equipped with a set
of bender elements. In this case, the top stress was
only considered because no bottom stress
measurement was done.
The MM clay used in the test was originated from
Minato Mirai 21 area in Yokohama, Japan. The soil
was wet-sieved through 75-micron sieve before
using it for the test. However, it contained very
small percentage of particles coarser than 75 micron.
The index properties of the soil were; Liquid Limit
(LL) 132%, Plastic Limit (PL) 54% and specific
gravity @J 2.65. Shear wave arrival time was
continuously monitored throughout the test. For the
interpretation of shear wave arrival time, peak-to-
peak time lag in case of sine wave at higher
frequencies, tppand to in case of square wave input
pulse, as explained in Lohani et al. (1999a) was
selected.
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4. I Effect of initial water content
Figure 1 shows the results of type-B tests. In the
plots, data corresponding to the end of primary
consolidation period (EOP), time obtained by 2t-
method (Kamei et al. 1987) and [he end of creep (if
performed) are plotted thus showing a set of two or
three data points for each step of loading. The EOP
was confirmed by using Casagrande's method of
construction. The e-log (av')curves exhibited
Figure 1 Effect of initial void ratio on (a) e- log (av’)(b) G,,,-
enlarged at higher G,, range to show the creep effect clearly.
noticeable difference at lower stress levels, but
tended to join together at higher stresses. Similar
plots pointing the higher initial water content
samples lying above the smaller initial water content
ones in e-log (0.’)plot were also shown by Tsuchida
(1994), Imai (198 1) and Katagiri and Imai (1994) in
their researches. The compression index, C,, in the
present study was not influenced appreciably as
shown in those references.
As can be clearly seen in Figure lc, or more
clearly in Figure Id, each specimen was subjected to
drained creep at different stress levels, at which the
rate of increase in Gmw against void ratio showed a
kink, implying structuration. Apart from the creep
behavior, the Gm, value increased exponentially
against the decrease in void ratio for the portions
involved with increased loading, which in turn
resulted in a linear relationship between e and
logarithm of Gma.
The difference in void ratio at a given stress, and
also in Gm, at a given void ratio along the
consolidation paths forms primary metastable region
(Shibuya et al. 1999) that can be defined for any
comparable set of tests with different initial water
69
log (av’)(c) e-G,, plots for Type B samples and (d) plot (c)
content. It is interesting to note that the test results
for test B1, at highest initial void ratio lies slightly
above the other series in the e- Gm, plot, showing
similar Gm, even at higher void ratio. In the log
(Gm&log (0”’)plot, (Fig. lb), the lower boundary
between Gm, and 0.’ at higher stress is taken by the
smallest initial void ratio (B3) samples, also
concluding their least structuration. By taking the
additional stiffness gain on B1 samples be due to
stronger on-depositional soil-structure, it can be
interpreted that the soils deposited from higher
initial water content are relatively stiffer at any
given void ratio and are more structured. The sample
B2 and B3 show continuously softer behavior. For
in-situ marine clays that are deposited under water
and start the consolidation process from very high
initial water content, the test from higher initial
water content samples could be better representative.
The water content of twice the liquid limit that is
generally adopted in the laboratory reconstitution
practice lies in between B1 and B2, so it may be
inferred that these samples are little softer in
comparison to in-situ soils even at normally
consolidated region. Indeed, the slopes of e- log
Figure 2. Plot showing consolidation time against (a) Void Ratio and (b) Ratio of G,,
type-B samples.
Figure 3. Plot showing consolidation time against (a) Void Ratio and (b) Ratio of G,
type-A samples.
( G m a ) plots while creeping and also while stress
increase were almost similar for all of the tests (Fig.
Id).
4.2 Variation of G,,,, with time
Two forms of equations are being used to quantify
the long-term consolidation factor of Gmm. These are
the forms of relation from Anderson and Stokoe
(1978)
and as mentioned in Shibuya et al. (1995, 1999)
70
(t) /G,, (tp)during sustained loading for
(t) /Gm, (rp) during sustained loading for
where, t, - time required to reach the end of primary
consolidation, t - any time (t > t,) from the start of
the consolidation, NG - a constant, Gmm (t) and Gmm
(t,) are the value of Gm, at time t and t, respectively.
Figure 2 and 3 show creep behavior of type-B and
type-A samples at different stresses with
consolidation time, respectively. Both figures plot
the logarithms of consolidation time as abscissas
with void ratio, e and Gmm (t)l Gm, (t,) as ordinates.
Figure 2, that is showing the change for type-B
samples and Figure 3, showing the properties for
normal reconstituted (type-A) soils, almost show
similar behavior. The EOP are marked by small
arrows in e-log t plots and are obviously represented
by the ordinate 1 in Figures 2b, 3b. The linear
behavior in these plots start very much earlier before
the end of primary consolidation period. This is a
welcomed feature because it will make the factor NG
Figure 4. Plot showing the variation of NG against C, for both
A and B type samples including two Kaolin samples.

independent to the method of deciding the end of

primary consolidation time. In the plots, there are no
visible kinks as explained in Kokusho et al. (1982)
separating primary and secondary consolidation. The
reason for such difference could be related to the
highly plastic (Ip= 78) nature of tested clay inferring
zero or negligible kinks for such cases. Numerical
values of NG for MM clay fluctuated around 0.2. In
one of the test, it even reached 0.23 exceeding the
extreme end of the limit, 5 to 20 %, explained in
Jamiolkowski et al. (1995). The scatter in NG
ranging as low as 0.15 was also observed for type-A
samples.
Summaries of Figures 2 & 3 are plotted in Figure
4. The plot is between the factor NG (=AGmm/
Gmm.(tp).1lAlog(t)) and coefficient of secondary
compression, Ca (=(AelAlog(t)) and actually shows
the relation between incremental Gm, and rate of
void ratio change. In this plot, additional data for
type-B tests and other data available with the author
for Kaolin samples having Liquid limit- 56% and Ip
= 26 (as NSF clay mentioned in Shibuya et al.
(1999) are also added. By using Kaolin samples at
lower limit, the data points between NG and Ca fit
tentatively in exponential type of relation having
asymptotic nature at higher Ca. The numerical
values of NG for the clays tested (Ca =0.03-0.04) are
little on higher side than those given by NG-Ca
relation in Lo Presti et al. (1996).
The stiffness increase behavior during creep state
is also observed in Figure 5. Data used in these
figures are type A samples obtained from the same
batch of reconstituted specimen. The differences
among those samples are that one is one l-week-
creep step at 90 kPa (A2) and the other one is with
two I-week-creep steps at 90 kPa (Ala) and 300 kPa
(Alb). Though the variation nature is practically
similar to that of e - log Gm, plot, Figure 5 is
Figure 5. Metastability Index (MI)G,,IL observed during
creep for (a) Al-test with two creep steps and (b) A2-test
with one creep steps for Type A samples.
plotted in terms of liquidity index (IL) against
logarithm of Gmm. On the same figure, plots of
Metastability Index, MI(Gm,)lL, that is the difference
of IL at similar Gm, value, are superimposed on the
same abscissa. The formation and breakdown of
soil-structure and overshooting behavior associated
with creeping, as also discussed in Shibuya et al.
(1999) are conspicuous. The clear increase of MI
value with creep period and tendency to come back
to the original IGL at higher stresses was affirmed
with both of these case examples. Referring Figure
Id again, if normally consolidated points after
complete destructuration of the creep-added soil
structure is are joined, such as line AA for Bl test,
persistence of the soil-structure formed during
higher creep stress (stress on top = 450 kPa) is seen.
Similar behavior is also observed in Figure 5a (stress
on top = 300 Ha). Regarding the quantification of
the stress at which the creep-added soil structure
from the previous step will be completely broken,

71
Figures Id & 5 show that in most of the cases it lies
in between 1.5-2.0 times the stress at which creep
occurred. However, these were the cases for
laboratory-aged soils. For in-situ soil behavior, if we
refer Lohani et al. (1999b), we can see two particular
type of case examples; one, showing complete
breakage of soil-structure on undisturbed Louiseville
samples at about 1.5 times the yield stress and
merging completely to reconstituted ones, and the
other, maintaining MI(Gmax) even at large pressure,
as shown by the e- log Gm, plot of Ariake samples.
The maximum destructuration on Ariake samples
took place at more than 3 times the yield stress. The
cause of different degree of destructuration of in-situ
soil-structure and at different stress could be because
of the relatively slender and flat type of soil-particles
in Ariake clay maintaining stiffness in comparison
of relatively round-shaped soil particles of
Louiseville clay (shown in electron microscope
photograph there). But there are so many other
differences such as origin, OCR, presence of
microfossils and others that might have affected the
result leading Louiseville clay to show brittle nature.
The detail role of each factor on Gmax therefore may
need further attention in the future.
5 CONCLUSIONS
Effect of initial void ratio on the Gm, variation is
studied. Increase of Gmax with time in ordinary
reconstituted method and those tests starting with
different initial water content are found to be similar.
Samples from higher initial void ratio (or water
content) show a little higher on-depositional soil-
structure than those with smaller water content
samples. As the natural soils are assumed to start
from high initial water content, the results from the
slurry of high initial water content (B1 types) are
taken to match the natural soil closely. In such a
case, we have to clearly point out that the samples
prepared from the normal reconstitution procedures,
from the slurry of twice the liquid limit show little
smaller degree of soil-structure than those of natural
soils even at NC stage. Numerical values of NG for
MM clay fluctuated around 0.2 showing little scatter
in some samples, ranging as low as 0.15.
Structuration and destructuration behavior is shown
by MI(Gmax) values that become maximum at the end
of sustained loading and vanishes slowly with the
increase in stress level. The stress at which complete
breakdown of soil-structure formed while short term
ageing, i.e. in laboratory creep tests, was judged to
lie somewhere in between 1.5-2.0 times the creep
stress. The slopes of e- log (Gmax) plots while
performing creep and also while stress increase were
almost similar for both A and B type of tests.
For present testing condition and interpretation
method, M I ( G ~was ~ ~ )found to decrease at higher
72
creep stress level (see Figure 5a). According to the
present definition, MI(Gmax) is determined by the
change in e and Gm, during creeps and are directly
related to constants C a and NG respectively. The
present understanding of void ratio change factor Ca
being independent of stress level leaves no other
option except to accept the involvement of stress
effect on NG.This concept is also supported by many
data points of NG values in Figure 4. However,
further confirmation from additional data on other
different type of soils may be needed to generalize
this concept.
REFERENCES
Anderson, D.G. & Stokoe, K.H. 1978. Shear Modulus: A time-
dependent material property, Dynamic Geotechnical
Testing, ASTM STF' 654, 69-90.
Burland, J. B., 1990. On the compressibility and shear strength
of natural clays. Geotechnique 40, No. 3, 329-378.
Imai, G., 1981. Experimental studies on sedimentation
mechanism and sediment formation of clay materials. Soils
and Foundations. Vol. 21, No. 1, 7-20.
Ishihara, K., 1996. Soil Behavior on Earthquake Geotechnics.
Clarendon Press. Oxford.
Jamiolkowski, M., Lancellotta, R. and Lo Presti, D.C.F., 1995.
Remarks on the Stiffness at Small Strains of Six Italian
Clays. Prefailure Deformation of Geomaterials, Balkema.
Vol. 2, 817-836.
Kamei, T., Ogawa, S. & Tanaka, N. 1987. The variation in
undrained shear characteristics during consolidation
process. Soils and Foundations. Vol. 27, No. 3, 91-98.
Katagiri, M. & Imai, G. 1994. A new in-laboratory method to
make homogenous clayey samples and their mechanical
properties. Soils and Foundations. Vol. 34, No. 2, 87-93.
Kokusho, T., Yoshida, Y. & Esashi, Y . 1982. Dynamic
properties of soft clay for wide strain range. Soils and
Foundations. Vol. 22, No. 4, 1-18.
Kokusho, T. 1987. In-situ dynamic properties and their
evaluations. Proceedings of the 8" ARC on SMFE Kyoto,
Vol. 2, 215-240.
Lohani, T. N., Imai, G. & Shibuya, S. 1999a. Determination of
shear wave velocity in bender element test. Proceedings of
the 2"d International conference on earthquake
Geotechnical Engineering, Sec0 e Pinto (ed.) Balkema,
101-106.
Lohani, T. N., Imai, G. & Shibuya, S. 1999b. G,,, of natural
clays at normal consolidation. Proceedings of the 11th
Asian Regional Conference, Seoul, Korea, 133-136.
Lo Presti, D.C.F., Jamiolkowski, M., Pallara, 0. & Calvallaro,
A. 1996. Rate and creep effect on the stiffness of soils.
Measuring and modeling time dependent soil behavior,
Geotechnical Special Publication No. 61, ASCE 166-180.
Shibuya, S., Mitachi T., Yamashita, S. & Tanaka, H., 1995.
Effect of sample disturbance on G, of soils - a case study.
Prefailure Deformation of Geomaterials, Balkema. Vol. 2,
77-82.
Shibuya, S., Hwang, S.C., and Mitachi, T. 1997. Elastic shear
modulus of soft clays from shear wave velocity
measurement. Geotechnique 47, N0.3~593-601
Shibuya, S., Mitachi, T., Tanaka, H., Kawaguchi, T. & Lee, I.
1999. Measurement and application of quasi-elastic
properties in Geotechnical site characterization. R e m e
Lecture, Proceedings of the 1lfhARC.
Tsuchida, T. 1994. A unified concept of e-logp relationship of
clays. Proceedings of the 131hICSMFE. India. 71-74.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Applicability of correlation of shear modulus

0.Mishima, H.Tanaka, D. R. Shiwakoti & M.Tanaka
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuka, Japan

ABSTRACT: The in-situ tests, including cone penetration test (CPT), dilatometer test (DMT) and seismic
cone test (SCT) were carried out at a site of Pusan, Korea. Laboratory tests, such as bender element test and
unconfined compression test, were also carried out on samples retrieved from the same site. Shear modulus
measured by in-situ and laboratory tests have been compared. In this paper, correlations of shear modulus
obtained by field test and laboratory tests are examined, and the results have been compared with those of Ja-
panese soft clays.

1 INTRODUCTION (DMT). In the subsequent works, they have revealed

Due to the dense concentration of the population and
increasing infrastructure development activities in
cities, construction works required to be carried out
near existing structures under strict regulations are
broadening day by day. Deformation caused by ex-
cavation and embankment, for example, is strictly
restricted in the surrounding area. Therefore, in such
cases, in-situ shear modulus of such ground needs to
be determined with high accuracy so as to evaluate
the deformation behavior of the ground.
In Japan, usually the secant modulus (Eso) is
measured by unconfined compression test (UCT), in
practice. However, results obtained from UCT are
considerably affected by sample disturbance caused
by the sampling process, because the specimen in
the UCT is sheared under unconfined conditions. In-
situ tests or recompression laboratory tests are capa-
ble of yielding data free from such scatters owing to
varying sample quality. Based on such tests, several
methods for estimating shear modulus have been
proposed by various researchers.
It has been revealed by several researchers, for
example Tatsuoka & Shibuya (1992), that shear
modulus depends on strain level ( y ), and its value
obtained by the conventional test cannot be directly
applied to design works. They have shown that shear
modulus increases with decreasing strain level, but it
becomes constant when the order of y is less than
10.’. Tanaka & Tanaka (1996) investigated small
strain shear modulus (GmJ for Japanese marine
clays using seismic cone test (SCT) and have estab-
lished correlations for G,, data obtained by UCT,
cone penetration test (CPT) and dilatometer test
that the correlations established for Japanese marine
clays are also valid for foreign clays such as Both-
kennar clay (UK), Singapore clay and Bangkok clay
(Tanaka et al., 1999).
The authors have carried out extensive site inves-
tigation works at Yangsan, which is located at the
suburb of Pusan city, Korea. This paper will exam-
ine whether the shear modulus correlations estab-
lished for Japanese marine clays and other non-
Japanese clays can be applied to Pusan clay as well.
2 TESTING METHOD
2.1 In-situ Tests
CPT was carried out at Yangsan site following the
standard of Japanese Geotechnical Society (JGS
1435-1995). The diameter and the edge angle of the
cone used are 35.7 mm and 60°, respectively. The
cone was penetrated at the speed of 1 &min. Tip re-
sistance (qJ, pore water pressure (U) and sleeve fric-
tion E.) were measured by CPT. The qr value has
been calculated considering the effective area.
Marchetti’s dilatometer (1 980) was also used as a
part of the investigation. As recommended by
Marchetti & Crapps (1 98 l), poandp, were measured
within 15 seconds after the blade was penetrated to
the testing depth. The p o and p, values are air pres-
sures when the membrane at the center of the blade
expands 0.1 mm and 1.1 mm, respectively.
SCT was done using the device type developed
by Campanella (1986). A shear wave was generated
at the ground surface by hitting a wooden plank. The
shear wave was received by receivers at the tip of

73
Figure 1. Soil profile at Pusan site

the cone. To attain high accuracy in the arrival time
of the shear wave, two receivers were installed 1 m
apart in the cone. The velocity of the shear wave (v,J
has been calculated from the travel time between
these two receivers. The shear modulus (G,J has
been calculated using the following equation:
where p , is unit weight of soil mass; G,xcis the shear
modulus measured by the seismic cone and v , ~is the
velocity of the shear wave.
2.2 Laboratory Tests
Soil samples for laboratory tests were retrieved by
the Japanese standard sampler. The soil samples
were transported by a commercial cargo, while
keeping in the sampling tube.
The diameter and height of the specimen used for
UCT were 35 mm and 80 mm, respectively. Strain
rate of UCT was 1 %/min.
To obtain G,, at laboratory, bender element test
was carried out as follows: 1) Diameter and height
of the specimen were 50 mm and 55 mm, respec-
tively. 2) Specimen was reconsolidated under the in-
situ effective stress conditions, assuming the coeffi-
cient of the earth pressure at rest (KO)of 0.5. 3)
Wave velocity measurements were done at the end
of primary consolidation. 4) Square wave generated
at frequency of 50 Hz having IOV amplitude was
used. The direction of this shear wave is the same as
that of the SCT.
Tip to tip length between the bender elements has
been considered as the effective length for shear
wave calculation. Arrival of shear wave was taken as
the time at the first major reversal of polarity ob-
served in the received signal.
of pumice stone have been found in this clay layer.
Physical properties are nearly constant with depth:
namely, density of soil particles ( p ,), liquid limit
( w L )and plastic limit ( u p )are about 2.72, 60% and
25%, respectively. Undrained shear strength (c,,)
measured by UCT, field vane test (FV) and laborato-
ry vane test (LV) are also plotted in Fig. 1.
Figure 2 shows the preconsolidation pressure (p,)
measured by Constant Rate of Strain (CRS)
oedometer test, at the strain rate of 0.02%/min. It
should be remembered that a sand mat of 1.8 m
thickness had been spread at the site, three months
before the present investigation was carried out. The
solid and dotted lines in Figure 2 indicate the effec-
tive overburden pressure (p profile, before and
after the fillings, respectively. The degree of con-
solidation (U) that might have occurred due to the
sand mat is estimated to be only 7 % from Ter-
zaghi’s consolidation theory, using the coefficient of
consolidation (c,,) of 50 cm2/day, which was meas-
ured by CRS. Therefore, the p ’\,o value at the site can
probably be indicated by the solid line (i.e., before
the sand mat filling), when the investigation was

3 SOIL PROFILE

Figure 1 shows the physical properties of Pusan

clay. Objective layer lies from 6 rn to 22 m. Pieces Figure 2. Preconsolidation pressure at Pusan site

74
Figure 3. Results of CPT and DMT

carried out. The p, value at depths higher than 13 m
is nearly constant. When depth is lower than 13 m,
p, increases with depth and its value is nearly equal
to or slightly larger than p Similar tendency was
’yg.
However, it is found in Fig. 5 that G,, for Pusan
clay is larger than the value given by line of
G,,=IOG,,, for both the upper and lower clay layers.

observed for c, profile measured by UCT and FV. 4.3 CPTandDMT

Locat & Tanaka (1939) and Tanaka et al. (2000) Tanaka & Tanaka (1996) have shown a relation
have discussed the various characteristics of these between the net tip resistance and G,s, as the follow-
two layers in terms of chemical properties as well as ing equation:
microstructure analysis.
Figure 3 shows the results of CPT and DMT.
From these tests, the difference in mechanical prop-
erties as observed inp, and c,,, cannot be recognized Figure 6 shows the relation for Pusan clay, including
in these upper and lower clay layers, implying that the data measured from the previous investigations
properties in these two clay layers may be the same. by the authors. It can be seen in this figure that every
Material index (I,) from DMT is 0.15. This number point of G,5,for Pusan clay is located above the line
suggests that the objective layer can be classified as of eq. (2).This result has the tendency similar to the
clay. test result obtained from UCT.
Dilatometer modulus (ED) is an equivalent
Young’s modulus as indicated by Marchetti (1 980).
4 TESTRESULT Thus, this modulus may be related to G\c.Tanaka &
4.1 Bender Element Test Tanaka (1996) have found the following relation
between SCT and dilatometer shear modulus, as in-
Figure 4 shows the comparison of G,,, measured by dicated in eq. (3).
SCT and the bender element tests. It is seen that G,,,,
measured by SCT increases with depth. The same G,sc
=7.5ED (3)
tendency can be observed in the bender element
tests, although G,?,, from the bender element test is
slightly smaller than that from SCT. The reason for
relatively small G,, measured by the bender ele-
ment may be attributed to the soil disturbance
caused by sampling (Tanaka & Shiwakoti, 2000). In
this study, G,,, from SCT, that is, G,scwill be com-
pared with G measured or estimated by other tests.

4.2 UCT
Figure 5 shows the relation between G,, and G,sc.
The
value of G,, was calculated from the ESo,which is
the secant modulus at a stress level of qJ2 in UCT,
assuming Poisson’s ratio ( U ) of 0.5. Tanaka & Ta-
naka (1996) have shown the relation of G,sc=IOG,,
for Japanese marine clays, provided that the sample
quality is good enough.
Figure 4. Shear modulus from SCT and bender element test

75
 From this investigation, it is found that G,, for
Pusan clay shows higher value than that for Japanese
clays. The reasons for higher value of G.,cfor Pusan
clay may be considered as follows:
@The dependency of shear modulus on the strain
level for Pusan clay may be different compared to
that for the Japanese clays. This dependency may
be influenced by chemical properties such as clay
mineral as well as environments during and after
the sedimentation.
@A lot of pumice stones are found in Pusan clay. It
is anticipated that the existence of these stones
overestimate the velocity of shear wave since the
shear wave passes through the stiff part, such as
pieces of pumice.
Figure 5. Comparison shear modulus from UCT and SCT

5 CONCLUSION

An extensive site investigation program was carried

out at the site of Pusan, Korea. Shear moduli meas-
ured or estimated by various in-situ and laboratory
tests were compared. The correlations of these
moduli, which have been established for Japanese
clays, were examined for Pusan clay. It is found that
G,, for Pusan clay is considerably greater than that
estimated by the correlation for Japanese clays. The
reason for higher value of G,, for Pusan clay could
not be specified. So, more investigations and test
data are required to confirm these considerably large
G,, values for the Pusan clay.

REFERENCES
Figure 6. Relation between q, from CPT and G,,
from SCT
Campanella, R. G., Robertson, P. K., Gillespie, D., Laing, N.
and Kurfurst, P. J. 1986: Seismic cone penetration testing in
the Beaufort Sea, 3'"Canadian Conf: on Marine Geot. Eng.,
pp.299-321.
Locat, J. and Tanaka, H. 1999: Microstructure, mineralogy and
physical properties: techniques and application to the Pusan
Clay, Proc. of '99 Dredging and Geoenviromental Confei--
ence, Seoul Korea, Korean Geotechnical Society, pp. 15-3 1.
Marchetti, S. 1980: In situ tests by flat dilatometer, ASCE, Vol.
106, No.GT3, pp.229-32 1.
Marchetti, S. and Crapps, D. K. 198 1 : Flat Dilatometer Man-
ual, GPE, Inc., Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Tanaka, H. and Tanaka, M. 1996: A site investigation method
using cone penetration and dilatometer tests, Technical note
of Port and Harbour Research Institute, No.837.
Tanaka, H., Locat, J., Shibuya, S., Soon, T. T. and Shiwakoti,
D. R. 1999: Characterization of Singapore, Bangkok and
Ariake Clays, Canadian Geotechnical Journal. (submitted)
Tanaka, H., Mishima, O., Tanaka, M., Park, S. Z., Jeong, G. H.
and Locat, J. 2000: Characterization of Yangsan clay,
Pusan, Korea, Soils and Foundation. (submitted)
Tanaka, H. and Shiwakoti, D. R. 2000: Small strain stiffness of
Figure 7. Relation between E , from DMT and G,, from SCT marine clay, Proc. of the 35"' Japan National Conference
on Geotechnical Engineering. (in press)
Tatsuoka, F. and Shibuya, S. 1992: Deformation characteristics
Figure 7 shows comparison of G,, and E,. Similar of soils and rocks from field and laboratory tests, Proc. of
to the correlations descried above, G,,, for Pusan clay 9"' Asian Regional c o n ! on SMFE, "01.2, PP.101-170.
is greater than shear modulus estimated from DMT.

76
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 1

Correction of unconfined compressive strengths based on residual

effective stress
A
T Mitachi, Y. Kudoh & E Fukuda
Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkuido University, Sapporo, Japan
M.Tsushima
Department of Civil Engineering, Akita National College of Technology,Japan

ABSTRACT: A practical method for estimating in situ undrained strength (c,,)of soft clays from the results of
conventional unconfined compression (UC) test together with suction measurement is proposed. From the
comparisons of profiles of undrained strength along depth estimated by the proposed method with the strength
profiles obtained by in situ sounding test such as field vane, cone penetration and pressure meter test, it was
found that the strength obtained froin UC test can be reasonably corrected to estimate in situ undrained strength
of clay ground.

1 INTRODUCTION residual effective stress possessed by individual test

In estimating in situ shear strengths based on labo-
ratory shear test, high quality ”undisturbed” samples
are required. Even the samples retrieved from the
ground by high level sampling technique. the quality
of samples will deteriorate if the samples are handled
in careless manner. Unconfined compression (UC)
tests have been widely performed so far in Japan on
“undisturbed” samples for the purpose of determining
undrained strength of soft clay deposits. In this case,
inevitable change of effective stress occurs in the soil
sample due to stress release during the process from
sampling to laboratory test. Moreover, soil samples
suffer with various mechanical disturbances due to
the intrusion of sample tube in the ground, vibration
during transportation, and straining during extruding
from the tube and trimming work. Since the distur-
bances due to these causcs includc human factors,
considerable scattering of unconfined compression
strengths is usually observed. Therefore, it is very
much important to evaluate the sample quality just
before laboratory testing.
Research works on the influences of stress release
and disturbances on the strength characteristics of
cohesive soils have extensively been done since
1960s (e.g. Skempton and Sowa. 1963) and its sig-
nificance has strongly been recognized. Unconfined
compressive strength (ql,) is especially sensitive to
the disturbances and consequently the data of ql, are
usually scattered considerably even if specimens
tested seem to have been subjected to the same stress
history. This is due to the characteristics of the uii-
confined compression test itself that it is performed
under unstable confining pressure come arise from
specimen.
In view of these circumstances. the authors (Mi-
tachi et al. 1996) formerly proposed a new method for
estimating in situ undrained strength of clays from
the results of conventional unconfined compression
test with suction measurement. By this method, in
situ undrained strength (c,,) corresponding to effec-
tive overburden stress ( dVc) can be estimated based
on the observed data of compression and swelling
indices R and K from oedometer test, and unconfined
compressive strength (ql,) and residual effective
stresses (d,. ) unconfined compression test with
from
suction measurement. In situ undrained strength can
also be estimated without the data of R and K by
plotting several sets of ql,data having different value
of quasi overconsolidation ratio QCR (=d,,Jd,.) for
the samples with different degree of disturbance.
I n this paper, the present authors examined the
applicability of the proposed method to the over-
consolidated clay and aged clay and it is also shown
the comparisons of profiles of cl, along depth esti-
mated by the proposed method with the strength pro-
files obtained by in situ sounding test such as field
vane, cone penetration and pressure meter test for
several domestic and foreign sites.
2 EFFECT OF DISTURBANCES ON
UNDRAINED STRENGTHS
In order to make clear the cause of scattering of the
measured strengths ql,, a series of test simulating the
process from sampling to unconfined and triaxial
compression test for saturated reconstituted clay

77

Figure 1. Effective stress paths during undrained shear in vari-
ous simulation tests for; (a) MC kaolin, (b) Kiyohoro clay and
(c) NSF clay.
samples was performed. and the influence of stress
release and mechanical disturbance of test specimen
on the undrained strength were examined.
Experiments performed in this study are divided
into three series of test simulating the stress history of
the sample. Otherwise stated. all of the stresses in the
rest of this paper are effective stresses.
a) IS test (KO Consolidated Undrained Triaxial
Compression Test); Specimens are consolidated
under KO condition and then sheared under
undrained condition. This test simulates the con-
dition giving in situ undrained strength (ideal
strength) of clay.
78
b) PS test (Unconfined Compression Test for Perfect
Sample); After KO consolidation, vertical and
horizontal stresses are released under undrained
condition and then sheared in the triaxial cell.
c) UC test (Unconfined compression Test with Suc-
tion Measurement); Simulation of the process from
sampling to unconfined compression test with
suction measurement is performed as follows. Af-
ter KO consolidation with the specimen of 75mm
diameter and 150rnm height, vertical and horizon-
tal stresses are released under undrained condition
and some intentional disturbances ( 5 times re-
peated application of _+5%axial strain) are given to
the specimen, then the triaxial cell is disassembled
and filter paper strips on the specimen are re-
moved. The specimens are trimmed to be 50nznz
diameter, and then the specimens are cut into two
parts, 100mm height specimen (SL) and 20mm
height specimen (SS). Unconfined compression
tests are performed with SL specimen, and the
measurements of suction are performed with SS
specimen at the same time. Ceramic disc with air
entry value (AEV) of 240kPa is used to measure
the suction of S S specimen.
Figure l(a) shows an example of effective stress
path of IS, PS and UC test on MC kaolin in terms of
principal stress difference (01-03) and mean effective
stress o,,, normalized by effective vertical consolida-
tion pressure o,,,where broken lines in the figure
illustrate conceptual change of effective stress during
the process from sampling to laboratory shear test.
From this figure, it is found that the effective stress at
the start of undrained shear, i.e. residual effective
stress 0; (=-U,; U , is pore water pressure), decreases
with the increase of disturbance. The undrained
strength reduction for the sample experienced the
stress release only (PS test) is less than 10% and the
strength decreases 20% for carefully performed un-
confined compression test (UCl), and 30% for the
sample which was given an intentional disturbance of
5 cycle of *5% axial strain (UC2). These strength
decreases are controlled by reduction of initial effec-
tive stress due to stress release and mechanical dis-
turbances experienced before shear. It is also found
that the magnitude of residual effective stress is im-
portant for an index of sample disturbance and the
measure of sample quality evaluation.
Almost the same trend as in Figure l(a) is seen in
Figures 1(b) and (c) for Kiyohoro clay and NSF clay.
In Figure l(b), CAU means undrained triaxial com-
pression test for the specimen experienced initial KO
consolidation and stress release, which is reconsoli-
dated succeedingly (with back pressure of 200kPa for
CAUl and without back pressure for CAU2) under
anisotropic stress condition.

3 METHOD FOR ESTIMATION OF

UNDRAINED STRENGTH IN SITU
Figure 2. Conceptual change of effective stress fiom sampling to
3.1 Frame of the proposed method the end of undrained shear test.

Figure 2 illustrates the conceptual change of effec-

tive stress from in-situ to the laboratory. Point A
shown in the figure represents the state after KO
consolidation. The straight line having a slope of -A
is the normal consolidation line in terms of mean ef-
fective stress o,,,.
The line having a slope of -K* is the
one combining the point A mentioned above with the
point B which corresponds to the state after the
change of void ratio due to effective stress change
during the process from sampling to laboratory test.
Figures 3 (a) and (b) show examples comparing
the void ratio change which was measured by the
volume change of inner cell in double chamber type
triaxial cell during “undrained” stress release after
isotropic consolidation with that during swelling
which was calculated from the volume of water
sucked in the saturated specimen. It is considered that
the volume increase during “undrained” stress release
is caused by diffusion of dissolved air in the pore
water, and it can be seen that the assumption made in
relation to Fig.1 is supported.
Assuming that the effective stress at the critical
state of a clay sheared under undrained condition
starting from the point D in Fig2 reaches the same
point C which comes from the point B, following
equations are derived. Figure 3. Comparison of the volume change during “undrained”
As the void ratio ch2ige is$e same for the stress stress release with that during swelling for; (a) MC kaolin and
change along the line AB and AD, following equation (b) NSF clay.
is obtained.
where,

The ratio of the undrained strength c,, to the residual A* = l - K * / A (3)

effective stress o,.is given as follows by using Eq. (1). Mean effective stresses ocand o,are represented by
using vertical stress U,,, equivalent consolidation
10,/or),‘‘
c,, / 0,= (c,, / oc, stress o,,,and KOvalue as follows.

79
o,= KO,,, and oe= KO,,, (4)
where,
K = (1 +2K0)/3
Combination of Eq. (4) with (2) gives the following
equation.

where, quasi-overconsolidation ratio QCR (=o,,&,.)

is an index representing the degree of disturbance.
Eq. ( 5 ) implies that c,Jo; versus QCR relationship
shows a straight line in the log-log plot, and this re-
lationship is confirmed for many kinds of clayey soils
(Mitachi et al. 1996) including highly organic soils
(Tsushima & Mitack! 1998).
The parameter K in Eq. (5) is the slope of the line
linking anisotropically consolidated state with iso-
tropic effective stress state after the stress release
accompanie: by some disturbances. Assuming the
value of K //2=0.1, and calculating the coefficient
KK*" by changing the KO value as 0.5-0.6, then we
'
obtain K h X =O. 96-0.97. Therefore. approximating as
K s l , the equation for estimating in situ undrained
strength C ~ J O from
,~ the result of unconfined com-
pression test with suction measurement (q,JZo,) is
obtained as follows.
c,, / o,.~= (q,, 20, )QCR-"
Eq. (6) is similar to the equation for estimating
undrained shear strength of clay for any overcon-
solidated state using the strength test result for nor-
mally consolidated clay (Mitachi and Kitago, 1976).
3.2 Examples of correction f o r merrsured unconfined
compressive strengths
Figure 4 illustrates the procedure in which the
method mentioned above is applied for cohesive soils
in overconsolidated and normally consolidated aged
state as well as young normally consolidated state.
( 1) For overconsolidated and normally consolidated
aged states;
The stress state corresponding to point C in Fig.4.(a)
is now considered for an example, in which effective
overburden stress and consolidation yield stress are
defined as o,,,and ovy, respectively. In Fig.4 (a), it is
assumed that the state point C aged from point A is
equivalent to the state over consolidated from point
B. Procedures of correction for measured q,, are ex-
plained as follows;
1) Plot the data of measured unconfined compres-
sive strengths divided by residual effective stress
qlJ20,.with corresponding value of ovJ/o,.,which
is called as quasi-overconsolidation ratio and
denoted by QCR in this paper, as shown in
Figure 4. Proposed method for estimating in situ undrained
shear strength based on UC test with suction measurement; (a)
state of specimen before UC test and (b) log c,/o,. vs. log QCR
relationship.
Fig.4(b). Residual effective stress or is calcu-
lated from the data of suction measurement
performed simultaneously with UC test for the
specimen cut from the same sample used for UC
test.
Obtain a line having slope A* which fits the data
points given by the specimen having different
value of QCR for the samples with different de-
gree of disturbance or for the samples retrieved
from different depths of the same clay layer.
Calculate the overconsolidation ratio OCR in situ
for the given depth, which corresponds to point C
in Fig.4(a), by using consolidation yield stress
ovJjand effective overburden stress ovc.
Applying the value of OCR (=ovJ/ovc) in situ to
the qIJ2or-QCR relationship as shown in
Fig.4(b), the value of clJovcfor the given depth
can be obtained.
Multiplying the overburden pressure U,,, to the
value cl+/q.cobtained above, corrected value of
qJ2 corresponding to point C is obtained.
For normally consolidated state;
For the case in- which the stress state is normally
consolidated corresponding to point B as shown in
Fig.4(a), quasi-overconsolidation ratio OCR is cal-
culated as the ratio of o,,Jo,.since ovJ,=qjrin this
case. In situ undrained strength can be obtained by

80
Figure 5. Relationship between log c,/q and log QCR for over-
consolidated highly organic soil.

substituting QCR=Z in applying the procedure men-

tioned above for overconsolidation case.
Figure 5 shows the results of application of the
proposed method to overconsolidated highly organic
soil, in which normalized undrained strength c,Jo,.
versus log QCR relationships obtained by IS and UC
tests are plotted. The intercept of the straight line,
which is fitted to the plotted points (0mark), with the
ordinate axis (QCR=l) gives in situ cJo,., for nor-
mally consolidated state. The deviation of calculated
values of c,Jov, by using fitting line in Fig3 from
measured ones obtained by IS tests for overconsoli-
dation ratio of 3, 6, 9 and 15 (@ mark), respectively
are about 2%. Thus in situ undrained strengths, even
for overconsolidated case, can be estimated by un-
confined ccmpression tests with suction measure-
ment.
Figure 6 shows an example of correction for Figure 6. An example of correction for undrained shear strength
measured unconfined compressive strengths of un- q1/2obtained by UC tests; (a) logc,/c~,-logQCRand (b) Profile
disturbed Ariake Clay based on the c,Jo,- QCR rela- of undrained shear strength with depth.
tionships. Profiles of measured values of unconfined
compressive strengths along depth (U,O and A
marks) and corrected values of those by proposed measurement were performed by PHRI (Tanaka et
method (U mark) are shown in Fig.6(b). al., 1997). For the case of Bothkennar clay (wL=70%,
Undrained strengths obtained by KOconsolidated @ = d o ) , scattering of q,J2 data are minimized by ap-
undrained triaxial test and cone penetration (CPT) plying correction and their increasing trend along
and field vane (FV) test are also shown in Fig.6(b) for depth become close to that by field vane shear test.
the comparison. Test data obtained by CPT and FV Self boring pressure meter (SBPM) test results are
were given by Port and Harbor Research Institute also shown in the figure. Figure 7(b) illustrates the
(PHRI). The profile of undrained strength along case for very sensitive cemented clay of Louiseville
depth obtained by correction mentioned above shows ( w ~ = 6 0 % Ip=30).
, Corrected qJ2 data, which are
fairly well coincidence with those obtained by triax- originally distributed almost constant irrespective of
ial, CPT and FV test. depth, show clear tendency to increase along depth
Figures 7(a) to (c) are the examples of corrected and to become very close to field vane shear test re-
qJ2 versus depth relationships for the clay deposit of sults. For the case of Singapore clay (w~=60-80%,
Bothkennar (U.K.), Luiseville (Eastern Canada) and Ip=40-60), the trend of qiJ2 varying along depth of
Singapore. Unconfined compression test with suction corrected data is close to that for CPT and FV results.

81

Figure 7. Comparisons of undrained strength profile along the
depth estimated by the proposed method with the strength pro-
file obtained by in situ sounding test results; (a) Bothkenner
clay, U.K, (b) Louiseville clay, Eastern Canada and (c) Singa-
pore clay.
4 CONCLUSIONS
By measuring the suction value when performing
unconfined compression test. in situ undrained
streiigth can be estimated by using Eq.(6). 111 situ
undrained strength can also be estimated without the
data of A and K by plotting at least two sets of data of
unconfined compressive strength having different
value of quasi overconsolidation ratio as shown in
Figs. 5 and 6 for the samples with different degree of
disturbance.
82
From the comparisons of profiles of undrained
strength along depth estimated by the method men-
tioned above with the strength profiles obtained by in
situ sounding test such as field vane, cone penetration
and pressure meter test, it was found that the strength
obtained from unconfined compression test can be
reasonably corrected to estimate in situ undrained
strength of clay ground by applying a simplified
method proposed by the authors.
REFERENCES
Mitachi, T. & Kitago, S. (1976) Change in undrained shear
strength characteristics of saturated remolded clay due to
swelling, Soils and Foundations, Vol. 16, No, 45-58.
Mitachi, T., Kudoh, Y . & Endo, D. (1996) A new approach to
evaluate undrained strength of clays by unconfined com-
pression test with suction measurement, Proc. qf 2nd. In[.
Conj on Sofi Soil Engineering, Nanjing, 15 7- 163.
Tsushima, M. and Mitachi, T. (1998) Method for predicting
in-situ undrained strength of highly organic soil based on the
value of suction and unconfined compressive strength, Proc.
Of the Int. Symp. on Problematic Soils, Sendai, Vol.1,
pp.11-14.
Skempton, A.W. & Sowa, V.A. (1963) The behavior of satu-
rated clays during sampling and testing, Ceo[echniqzre,
Vol. 13, No.4, 269-290.
Tanaka, H., Tanaka, M. & Hamouche, K. (1997) Applicability
of unconfined compression test for the clay soils outside
Japan, Proc. 14th Symposium on Geotechnical Engineering,
6 1-67(in Japanese).
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

The coefficient of permeability of clays determined from permeability test

and consolidation test

T. Moriwaki & K.Umehara

Hiroshima UniversiQ, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan
K. Horiuchi
Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
H.Yoshikuni
Hiroshima Institute of Technology, Japan

ABSTRACT: In order to confirm the reliability of the proposed method for determining the coefficient of
permeability of clay, the constant rate of strain consolidation tests under three kinds of strain rates were car-
ried out on some reconsolidated clays. The permeability tests using a flow pump and the conventional con-
solidation tests were also carried out on the same clays for comparing the coefficient of permeability obtained
from each test. As the results, it was found that the Coefficient of permeability obtained by the proposed
method from the constant rate of strain consolidation tests agrees with the coefficient of Permeability obtained
from the permeability tests.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 SAMPLES AND TEST METHODS

Consolidation is a combined phenomenon of com- 2.1 Samples

pression and seepage. Therefore, if consolidation The samples used in this study were three kinds of
analysis for clay ground is carried out by use of the reconsolidated clays taken at three different sites
finite element method, it is necessary to input the from the seabed of the Inland Sea at Hiroshima city
coefficient of permeability of clay with compression of Hiroshima Prefecture(Hir0shima clay), the seabed
parameters. The coefficient of permeability deter- of Maizuru Bay at Maizuru city of Kyoto Prefec-
mined from the conventional consolidation test, ture(Maizuru clay) and park construction site at Ku-
which is generally used in numerical analyses, lacks rashiki city of Okayama Prefecture(Kurashiki clay),
rigorous physical meaning, because the coefficient of Japan. The physical properties of the samples are
permeability of clays having the time dependent listed in Table 1. In order to maintain a homogeneity
characteristics is determined by an elastic consolida- of samples, each natural sample was completely re-
tion theory. Accordingly, if the numerical analysis is niolded in a mixer, screened through a sieve of
carried out based on other constitutive model than 0.420mm and finally mixed into the slurry with the
the elastic one, it is required to use the coefficient of water content twice of its liquid limit. The slurry was
permeability determined without using any consoli- placed under a vacuum and periodically agitated to
dation thcory. Authors (1 995) regarded the constant remove entrapped air. It was then poured into a
rate of strain consolidation test as both constant rate stainless steel mold and was one-dimensionally re-
of compression test and permeability test, and then consolidated under 49.0kPa.
presented a new method for determining the coeffi-
cient of permeability of clays from the constant rate
of strain consolidation test without any consolidation Table 1. Physical properties of clay samples
theory. This study is to confirm the reliability of the w, (%) W,d%) I” G,
coefficient of permeability calculated by the pro- H i rosh i 171a
posed method. The constant rate of strain consolida- 80.50 35.50 45.00 2.640
clay
tion tests under three kinds of strain rates were car- Maizuru
ried out on some reconsolidated clays. The 83.32 31.53 51.79 2.736
clay
permeability tests using a flow pump and the con- Kurashiki
ventional consolidation tests were also carried out on clav
59.90 26.70 33.20 2.683
the same clays.

83
2.2 C‘onstat rate of strain consolidation test
In constant rate of strain consolidation tests (CRS
tests), an oedometer of closed type was used, of
which ring was 60mm in diameter and 20mm in
thickness. The CRS test apparatus is shown in Fig. 1.
A loading system used in this CRS tests enables to
apply arbitrary constant strain rate to the samples by
use of a digital servo-controlled motor. The strain
rate of O.Ol%/min was used as the standard value
according to the plasticity indices of the samples and
the strain rates of 0.05 and O.OOS%/min were also
used to investigate effects of the strain rate. A back-
pressure of 196kPa was loaded in all CRS tests. The
coefficients of permeability in CRS tests were de-
termined from the method proposed by Yoshikuni et
al. (1 995) and the method standardized by Japanese
Industrial Standard (JIS, 1992) based on Wissa’s
theory (Wissa et al, 1971) using linear elastic model.
The coefficient of permeability determined from the
proposed method, kCRS,pRO, was calculated by Eq.( 1).
where
-
i :average rate of strain (%/min)
H,:initial height of the specimen (cm)
H :height of the specimen at time t (cm)
U,) :excess pore water pressure developed at the im-
pervious end of the specimen at time t (kN/m2)
The coefficient of permeability by the proposed
method can be directly calculated from measured
values. The coefficient of permeability determined
by the JIS method, kCRS,JIS,is calculated from m,,cRs
and C,.CRSas shown in Eq. (4) based on elastic con-
solidation theory.
a4
(3)
where
A o : increment of the axial loading pressure between
-
time t and t’ (kN/m2)
H : average height between time t and t’ (cm)
AH : axial deformation between time t and t’ (cm)
-
Z[ : average excess pore water pressure between
time t and t’ (kN/m2)
2.3 Permeability test
As-shown in Fig.2, the permeability tests were car-
ried out by using the same oedometer of closed type
used in the CRS tests and a flow pump was connect-
ed to the drainage path from the bottom of the
specimen. The flow pump, of which piston is pushed
by the loading system of the CRS test apparatus, can
supply arbitrary flow quantity of water to the speci-
men. After the specimen was consolidated under the
loading pressures of 7.8, 15.7, 31.4, 62.7 and 125.4
kPa for 24 hours, a constant flow quantity of water
was supplied to the specimen from its bottom drain-
age by the flow pump under the constant consolida-
tion pressure. When the excess pore water pressure
at the bottom of the specimen become to be almost
constant, the seepage in the specimen is considered
to reach a steady state. Therefore, the coefficient of
permeability, kpER, in the permeability tests was cal-
culated by Eq. (5). The velocity of water flowing in
the specimen was 0.0001 and 0.0002cm/min. The
coefficients of permeability under the velocities of
0.0001 and 0.0002cm/min are expressed as kpERl and
kpERZ, respectively. The velocity of 0.0001 cm/min in
the permeability tests corresponds to the velocity of
water flowing in the specimen consolidated under
the strain rate of O.Ol%/min in the CRS tests.
where
v : velocity of water flowing in the specimen
(cm/min)
H : height of the specimen (cm)
A M : excess pore water pressure in steady state
(kN/m2)

2.4 Conventional oedometer test

Conventional oedometer tests were also conducted
based on the JIS method. The dimensions of the spe-
cimens were the same as these of the CRS tests. The
coefficients of permeability in the oedometer test,
koED,JIS,are calculated by Eq. (7) based on the elastic
consolidation theory. However, Mikasa has empha-
sized that the value of cv to be used in prediction of
consolidation process on actual field should be as
follows ( Mikasa and Ohnishi, 1981 ).

Where r is the primary consolidation ratio and is de-

fined by the ratio between the consolidation strain at
the EOP in field, E I J O I , , and the consolidation strain
at 24 hours elapsed in the oedometer tests, E ~ as~ ,
shown in Eq.(8). Therefore, the modified coefficient
of permeability, koED,MOD, is expressed by Eq. (9).

3 RESULTS OF TESTS

3.1 Compressibility
Figure 3 shows the e-log o relationships of the CRS
tests and the oedometer tests for Hiroshima clay,
Maizuru clay and Kurashiki clay. The e-log o rela-
tionships in CRS tests well agree with that of the
oedometer tests. Although the e-log o relationship
of the CRS tests slightly shifts to right side with an
increase of the strain rate. the effect of the strain rate
on the e-log o relationship is negligible small for
all clay samples.
Figure 4 shows the r-log o relationships obtained
from the oedometer tests. The values of r for
Hiroshima clay, r=0.5-0.6, are smaller than those for
Maizuru clay and Kurashiki clay, r=0.7-0.8. This
implies that the component of the secondary com-
pression included in the total strains of consolidation
is larger in Hiroshima clay than in Maizuru clay and
Kurashiki clay.

Figure 4 r-log o ‘ relationship

85
3.2 Permeability v=O.OOO1c d m i n . This means non-Darcy’s phe-
nomena that the effect of the velocity of the water
3.2.1 Results of CRS tests flowing in the specimen appears with the decrease of
Figure 5 shows the e-logk relationships obtained the void ratio and the coefficient of permeability in
from the proposed method of Eq. (1) and from the the case of a large velocity of water is smaller than
JIS method of Eq. (4) in the CRS tests for three that in the case of a small velocity of water. Moreo-
kinds of clays. It is found from those figures that the ver, although the excess pore water pressure in the
relationship between e and logk is almost linear ex- case of v=O.O002cm/min gradually increases and
cept the overconsolidated region. Focusing on the ef- then reaches to a steady state, the excess pore water
fect of the strain rate for the e-logk relationships, pressure in the case of v=O.OOO 1cm/min decreases
although there are some scatter of k values, the aver- after a peak and then reaches to a steady state for all
age relationship between e and logk is not influenced clay samples. Those differences of behavior are con-
by the difference of the strain rate. Comparing the e- sidered to be caused by the existence of air bubbles
logk relationships calculated by the proposed in the drainage paths and effects of an adsorbed wa-
method with those by the JIS method, the scatter of k ter layer around clay particles, etc. However, from
values calculated by the proposed method is much only data obtained in this study it is impossible to
smaller than those by the JIS method for all clay specify reasons why different behavior occurs by the
samples. As was previously mentioned, the consoli- difference of the velocity of water flowing in the
dation theory does not come into the process of cal- specimen.
culating k values, which are directly calculated by
Eq. (1) from the excess pore water pressure ub and
the specimen height H in the proposed method. On
the other hand, k is determined by Eq. (4) in the JIS
method from m, and cv values based on elastic the-
ory. Eq. (4) is reduced to Eq. (I), if Eqs. (2) and (3)
are substituted into Eq. (4). This means that k should
be identical both in the proposed method and the JIS
method. But the process of calculating k value from
measured values is different and consequently per-
fect matching is practically impossible. The number
of measuring items is different in both methods and
the proposed method is considered to be more accu-
rate and convenient than the JIS method because the
proposed method can calculate k value by measure-
ments of only two stable values of ub and H without
using any consolidation theory.

3 2 . 2 Results ofpermeubility tests

The increasing processes of the excess pore water
pressure in the permeability tests are shown in Fig.
6. The vertical axis in this figure is expressed by the
ratio of the excess pore water pressure to the applied
velocity of water flowing in the specimen. Au/v:As
the void ratio of the specimens consolidated under
the same consolidation pressure is almost equal as
shown in Fig. 6, the Au/v-t relationships indicated
by the same shape of solid and open marks can be
regarded as the behavior under the same void ratio. It
is found fkoin those figures that the developed excess
pore water pressures become to be constant after
about 60min from the start of the permeability test.
The values of Au/v in this steady state become to be
larger with a decrease of the void ratio and the val-
ues of Au/v under the same void ratio are almost
equal in spite of the difference of the velocity of
water v. However, in the cases where the void ratio
is small, the values of Au/v in the steady state for
v=O.O002cm/min are larger than those for Figure 5 e-Iogk relationships from CRS test

86

Figure 6. Excess pore water pressure in permeability tests
3.2.3 Efects of tesi niethod on e-logk relationships
As the excess pore water pressure reaches to a steady
state after about 60min from the start of the perme-
ability as mentioned above. the coefficients of per-
meability are Calculated by substituting the values of
the excess pore water pressure in this steady state
into Eq. ( 5 ) . Figure 7 shows the e-logk relationships
obtained from the permeability tests with those from
the CRS tests and the oedometer tests. In this figure,
-
the e-logk relationships of the CRS tests are indicat-
ed by the e logk relationships by the proposed
method for the case of the strain rate of O.Ol%/min.
As was previously mentioned, the coefficient of
permeability in the case of v=O.O002cm/min in the
permeability tests, kptli2, are smaller than those in
87
Figure 7. e-logk relationships from all test methods
the case of v=O.OOO 1cm/min. kpER I , but the differ-
ence of both kpER1 and kpr 112 is very small for all clay
samples.
Comparing the e-logk relationships obtained from
the oedometer tests, the CRS tests and the perme-
ability tests, kprnl and kpf ~2 are the smallest value
and the coefficients of permeability calculated by the
JIS method for the oedonieter tests. ko1 D 115. are the
largest value for all claq samples. In Hiroshima clay,
the coefficient of permeability in the CRS tests.
kclir PRO, are larger than kpLKI and kpI 112. but are
smaller than koLD JIs. The coefficients of permeabil-
ity modified by the Mikasa’s method for kom 115 in
the oedometer tests, koLD MOD, correspond to kpCR1
and kpER2 in Hiroshima clay. In Maizuru clay, kpEp.1.
kpER2, kCRs PRO and koLD MOD are almost equal among
them and koEDJI7 is slightly larger than others. In
Kurashiki clay, kCRs PRO corresponds to kom 11s and
is slightly larger than kpERI, kPEli2 and kOED.MoD, but
the difference in their values is small. It is found
from those results that kcRs,PRo for the clays having
the large values of the primary consolidation ratio r:
namely Maizuru clay and Kurashiki clay, is almost
equal to ~ P E RkwR2
I , and kom,MoD and ~ C R S . P R Ofor
the clay having small values of r , namely Hiroshima
clay, is middle values between kpz:R and kOED.JIs.
Wissa,A.E.Z., Christain,J.T., Davis,E.H. and Heiderg$. :
Consolidation at Constant Rate of Strain, Proc. of
A.S.C.E., V01.97,N0.SMIO,pp.1393-1413, 1971.
Yoshikuni,H., Moriwaki,T., Ikegami,S. and
Xo,T. :Direct determination of permeability of clay
from constant rate of strain consolidation tests, Proc of
International Symposium on Compression and Con-
solidation, “IS-Hiroshima’95”,Vol.1,pp.609-614, 1995.

4 CONCLUSIONS

As a method for determining the coefficient of per-

meability of clay, the constant rate of strain consoli-
dation tests (CRS tests) were examined with the
conventional oedometer tests and the permeability
tests. As the results, the following conclusions were
obtained.
1) The e-logk relationships obtained from the CRS
tests are not influenced by the strain rate used.
2) The proposed method can directly determine the
coefficient of permeability without using any
consolidation theory and give a unique e-logk
relationship having small scatter of k values.
3) The e-logk relationships obtained from the per-
meability tests are little influenced by a velocity
of water flowing in the specimen.
4) The coefficients of permeability obtained from
the permeability tests are the smallest value and
the coefficients of permeability calculated by the
JIS method for the oedometer tests are the largest
value for all clay samples.
5 ) The coefficients of permeability modified by the
Mikasa’s method for the oedometer tests are
close to that from the permeability tests.
6) The coefficients of permeability obtained from
the CRS tests are almost equal to that from the
permeability tests for the clays having a large
value of the primary consolidation ratio and is
middle between the value obtained from the
permeability tests and the value calculated by the
JIS method in the oedometer tests for the clay
having a small value of the primary consolida-
tion ratio.

REFERENCES

JIS A 1217-2000 : Test method for one-dimensional

consolidation properties of soils using incremental
loading, Japanese Industrial Standard, 2000.
JIS A 1227-2000 : Test method for one-dimensional
consolidation properties of soils using constant rate of
loading, Japanese Industrial Standard, 2000.
Mikasa,M. and Ohnishi,H. : Soil improvement by
dewatering in Osaka south port, Proc. of the 6th
I.C. on S.M.F.E., Case Study Volume, pp.639-664,
1981.

88
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

KO-consolidation behavior and dependence of undrained shear strength

on consolidation time for marine clay
S. Nishie & L.Wang
Chuo Kaihatsu Company Incorporated, Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT: In order to investigate an effect of stress history on KOvalue and a change in undrained shear
strength which caused by secondary consolidation during KO condition, triaxial compression tests using undis-
turbed marine clay were carried out. Results from laboratory CKo undrained shear test could be summarized as
follows. 1) value would be subject to stress history. 2) KO value would be kept constant during secondary
consolidation. 3) The peak strength of undrained shear test in secondary consolidated state would be increasing
in proportion to consolidated elapsed time on scale of logarithm.4) The increase of undrained shear strength
could be explained from the decrease of void ratio during secondary consolidation.

1 INTRODUCTION The other is based on the theory which stress state

In order to clarifL behaviors of undrained shear
strength (USS) for normally consolidated (NC) aged
clay demonstrated by Bjerrum (1967), a lot of con-
tinuos works have been carried out. Past researches
can be roughly classified into two groups. One is
based on the SHANSEP method by Ladd and Foot
(I 974) that quasi-overconsolidated (QOC) state in-
duced by secondary consolidation is equivalent to
overconsolidated (OC) state formed by stress relief
(Mitachi and Kitago. 1976; Yasuhara and Ue. 1983).
of QOC is different than that of OC formed by stress
relief (Akai and Sano. 1985; Hanzawa. 1983).
However, as there has not been complete under-
standing of this problem in spite of these researches,
firther research seems to be required.
For the purpose of evaluating the behavior during
KO consolidation (CKo) test and characteristics of
USS post CKo test, authors (1 997,1998,1999) had
developed KO triaxial compression test system, and
had performed experiments using both undisturbed
clays and remolded clay.
This paper describes an effect of stress history on
KO value and a change in USS due to secondary con-
solidation based on results obtained by KO consoli-
dated-undrained triaxial compression test with pore
water pressure measurement (CKoUC) using undis-
turbed marine clay.

Fig. 1 Depth distribution of eo,I,,q,,P,,OCR and I<ONC
2 LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS
2.1 Specimen used for Laboratory Test
Undisturbed Specimens of a marine clay, which were
sampled at Kobe bay (so-called Ma13), have been
used in this study. Figure 1 shows the relations of
depth with plasticity index (Ip), unconfined compres-
sive strength (qu), consolidation yield stress (Pc),
overconsolidation ratio (OCR) and coefficient of
earth pressure at rest in the normally consolidated
region (KoNC).The marine clay shows a higher plas-
ticity of Ip = 60 and exists in the QOC state whose
OCR is about in the range of 1.5-2.0.

89
2.2 Test Contents & Loading Procedure
In order to investigate an effect of stress history on
KOvalue and a change in undrained shear strength
caused by secondary consolidation maintained KO
condition, two types of tests namely Test-A and
Test-B have been performed respectively. Methods
and loading procedures for tests could be summa-
rized as follows:
The Test-A is monotonic cyclic CKo test with ag-
ing stage, and loading stage is adopted in virginal
load-aging-unload-reload cycle.
On the other hand, the Test-B is CKoUC test with
undrained shear after CKo. 0 Ext. Disp. Transducer. @ Ext. load cell.
The depth of samples used for Test-A is 6.00- @ Servo motor controller. @ Inner load cell.
6.XOm(No.M3), and that used for Test-B is 4.00- @ Capes sensor. @ Pore water gauge.
4.80m(No.M4). 0 Inner cell. @ Float.
@ Cell pressure sensor
2.3 Apparatus & Test Condition Fig.2 Automatic control KO consolidation appa-
ratus.
Figure 2 shows double cell triaxial apparatus used in
CKOtest and CKoUC test. This system consists of cell
pressure, back pressure control devices, an axial load
control device, furthermore, a data acquisition, a re-
cording system of the axial load, axial displacement,
volume change, pore pressure of specimen and one
set of automatic-control KO consolidation software.
Volume changes, caused by both filter paper placed
around the surface of the specimen to reduce con-
solidation time and inner cell water evaporation,
could be corrected automatically to suit C& consoli-
dation test.
Figure 3 illustrates that the apparatus has a capa-
bility of controlling consolidation on one-dimensional
condition for a long time according to the relation of
axial strain (EJ and volumetric strain (E,) calculated
from volume change. As shown in figure 3, (EJ is in
good agreement with (E").
To avoid producing excess pore water pressure in
Fig.3 Volumetric vs axial strain from K,-,
specimens, load and unload processes are carried out
consolidation and aging of a Kobe marine clay
at constant speed of 0.147 (kPdmin.) based on the
Stress Control Method during KO consolidation
loading and aging, at the same time, lateral strain of
the specimen is constantly kept within h0.02%.
Therefore higher test accuracy is assured. During
both KO consolidation and undrained triaxial com-
pression process, a back pressure of 98(kPa) is ap-
plied to the specimen interior, and the axial strain
rate of undrained triaxial compression was fixed at
O.Ol%/min..

3 EXPERIMENTAL RESULT
3.1 KOValue in the Normally Consolidated Region
Figure 4 shows the relations of &INC value and plas-
ticity index Ip, which includes both the recent results
and previous works on cohesive soils. Fig. 4 Relationship between hNC value on nor-
mally consolidated clays and plasticity index I,

90
 For Japanese cohesive soils, the research results normalized by the end time (tE) of primary consoli-
show that, KoNCseems to be independent of plasticity dation.
index Ip, and is in range of 0.40-O.SO(S.Nishie & Although the numbers of specimens used for this
L.Wang 1997,1998,1999), this result is in line with kind of test are not so many, the results show that
the result of Tsuchida( 1991). q,, increases linear with the increase of secondary
consolidation time on logarithm scale, which seems
3.2 Effect of Stress History oil KOValue similar to that of Mitachi & Fujiwara(l987) and Na-
kase & Kamei( 1986).
Figure 5 shows the relations of KOvalue, axial com- Figure 6-C and figure 6-D present typical relation
pression stress and void ratio e for Test-A. of void ratio and elapsed time for sample (M4-1)
The result implies that a) KO value changes and Test-B and give a definition of to, CC and C, . From
shows a different hysteresis loop at different stages
of virginal loading, unloading and reloading. b) KO
value is recoverable based on the judgement that KO
value is the same whether in the end of reloading or
in the end of virgin loading. Especially, KO during
unloading shows a larger value than that during vir-
gin loading at the same axial stress level. According
t o judgement of KO value of load-unload cycle, the
normal consolidation characteristics were lost. Fur-
thermore, the void ratio e decreased with an increas-
ing of KO aging time, and it also shows a same value
both at the start of unloading and at the end of re-
loading.

3.3 Change of KOValue dirring Secondary Fig.5-A The path of Kr, cycle consolidation
Consolidation using stress control method
Figure 6 presents the time-independent property of
KOvalue of sample (M4-1) for Test-B, the relation
between KO value and elapsed time being constant
except for dispersion caused by lateral strain fluctua-
tion.
As a result, if the lateral strain is controlled more
rigorously, the dispersion of KOQoCvalue during sec-
ondary consolidation could also be reduced further.
Furthermore, it is also illustrated that the gradual de-
crease of KO value is not attributed to the character-
istics of the cohesive soils (S.Nishie & L.Wang
1999), but is caused by experiment apparatus.
3.4 Efective Stress Path Obtained by CKOUCTest
Figure 7 shows the effective stress path of Test-B Fig.5-B Examplc of coeficicnt of consolida-
obtained from the CKoUC test. The path of specimen tion at test(&) based on KOcyclc consolidation
M4-4 just at the end of primary consolidation pre-
sents a contractive tendency to closing on critical
state in undrained shearing.
But, the path of specimen M4-1, which is carried
out into secondary consolidation, shows a sharp in-
crease of deviator stress at the start of shear. There-
fore, it presents a tendency of moving to critical state
line.

3.5 Increase in Maxirnirrn Deviator Stress at Shear

due to Secondary Consolidation
As a result of Test-B, relations between maximum
deviator stress (qmax)at shear and total consolidation
time were plotted with logarithm scale in figure 8, Fig.5-C Examplc of void ratio of consolidation
the horizontal axis used as a consolidation time was at rest(&) based on & cycle consolidation

91
 Fig. 6-A Relationship between lateral
strain and elapsed time
Fig. 6-B Relationship between Coefficient
of earth pressure at rest(&) and elapsed time
Fig. 6-C Relationship of void ratio e and
IogP
these figures, a good data would be get based on
precisely test, whole tests of Test-B got the plasticity
index and secondary compression index in the range
of Cc=0.76-1 .02 and C,=O.O4-0.06 which used for
Eq.( 1) or Eq.(2) latter.
.6 Factors A#ecting Undrained Shear Strength
This report has been prepared to illustrate the prob-
92
Fig. 6-D Relationship between void ratio e
and elapsed time
Fig. 7 Comparison of stress paths based
on undrained shear test from CK, consoli-
dation on normally consolidated Kobe
marine clay
Fig. 8 Effect of normalized consolidation ti-
me T(t,/to)on maximum deviator stress at c&
undrainedshear test
lem in the prediction of the time-dependent
undrained shea; strength. From the present investi-
gation, the relation between undrained shear strength
I
and consolidation time based on the result of figure
8, in which the strength is in proportion to logarithm
of consolidation time, a prediction method, which is
similar to that made by Yasuhara & Ue(1983), is
cited based on following some assumptions.
(1)The relation of e-logp of cohesive soils could be
fitted in bilinear line when no chemical cementation
action happens during Ko consolidation, (2) if void
ratio is the same, the undrained shear strength on
normally consolidated (NC) state is equivalent to that
on quasi-overconsolidated (QOC) state, (3)
undrained shear strength of cohesive soils which is
on normally consolidated(NC) state is linear to the
effective vertical stress. The details would be report-
ed in another opportunity later.
A consolidation yield stress(o,’(t;)) judged by ap-
pearance of time t; on secondary consolidated state
could be induced by Eq.(l), which is similar to that
induced by Mesri (1979), based on the assumption
of 1
1) the consolidation yield stress at the time ti is equal
to that point which shows same void ratio on
normally consolidated state without considering
swelling index.
2) the relation of e-logp of assumption( 1) is valid.
I \c,
Where to is the end time of primary consolidation,
Cc is the compression index and C, is the coefficient
of secondary consolidation for cohesive soils, oy’(t;)
is the consolidation yield stress at the end of primary
consolidation.
Based on the assumptions of (2) and (3), a ratio of
q(tJ to q(to) could be shown as Eq(2):
Fig. 9 Effect of normalized consolidation time T(t,/to)
on normalized maximum deviator stress at CK, undrained
shear test
93
Where q(t;) is an undrained shear strength of cohe-
sive soils that is in quasi-overconsolidated state at
time t;, q(to) is an undrained shear strength of cohe-
sive soils which is in normally consolidated state at
time to.
Figure 9 is a result of comparing the value nor-
malized by q(to) shown in figure 8 and the estimation
shown in Eq.(2). Moreover, the results based on
consolidated-undrained shear tests, which were a lit-
tle different from condition on consolidation step,
were plotted in figure 9 for reference. The experi-
mental value shows good agreement with that of es-
timation. Therefore, the increase of undrained shear
strength shown on a proportion ratio of logarithm
time in figure 8 could be explained by the decrease of
void ratio due to secondary consolidation.
4 CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions could be derived from the
discussions above
(1) KONCvalue of cohesive soils is almost in the
range of 0.40-0.50, and independents of plasticity in-
dex.
(2) KO value varies based on changing the condi-
tion of virginal loading, unloading and reloading, and
is also affected by different stress paths.
(3) KOvoc value on secondary consolidated state, in
which the consolidation time is within 20000 minutes
for this kind of marine clay, is almost constant, and it
seems to correspond to KOscvalue in the case of Ko-
be marine clay.
(4) During undrained shearing, the effective stress
path on normally consolidated state is clearly differ-
ent from that on a secondary consolidated state.
(5) On state of secondary consolidation, the peak
strength of undrained shear is proportion to loga-
rithmic consolidation time at a constant ratio. It
could be explained that the increase of undrained
shear strength is caused by the decrease of void ratio.
The results were based on a limit kind of laborato-
ry tests on few specimens. Further tests have been
planed to be carried out by using undisturbed sam-
ples and remold specimens.
5 REFERENCE
Akai, K. & Sano. I. 1981. State path during KO-deformationof
soil under delayed consolidation. Journal of Geotechnical
Engineering, JSCE, No.3 16. pp. 167-170. ( in Japanese ).
Bjerrum,L. 1967. Engineering geology of Norwegian normally
consolidated marine clays as related to settlements of
buildings, Geotechnique. Vol. 17. pp.83-1 18.
Hanzawa, H. 1983. Undrained strength characteristics of nor-
mally consolidated aged clay. Soils and Foundations,
V01.23. No.3, pp.39-49.
JGS T525- 1996. “Method for &I Consolidated-Undrained Tri-
axial Compression Test on Soils with Pore Water Pressure
Measurement”.
Kamei, T., Oagawa, S. & Tanaka, N. 1987. The variation in
undrained shear characteristics during consolidation proc-
ess, Soils and Foundations, Vo1.27, No.3, pp.91-98.
Ladd ,C.C. & Foott,R. 1974. New design procedure for stabil-
ity of soft clays, JGED, ASCE, Vol. 100, No. GT7, pp.763-
786.
Mesri,G. & Y.K.,Coi 1979. Excess pore water pressure during
consolidation, Proc. 7Ih Asia Reg. Conf: SMFE,
Vol.l,pp. 151-154.
Mitachi, T. & Kitago,S. 1976. Change in undrained shear
strength characteristics of saturated reinolded clay due to
swelling, Soils and Foundations, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp.45-58.
Mitachi, T. & Fujiwara, Y. 1987. Undrained shear behavior of
clays undergoing long-term anisotropic consolidation,
Soils and Foundations, Vo1.27, No.4, pp.45-61.
Nishie, S. & Wang, L. 1998. & Triaxial Consolidation Test of
Normal Consolidation Clay on Conditions of Constant
Rate of Strain and Stress, Journal of Japanese Geotechni-
cal Society,No. 234,pp.473-474.
Nishie, S. & Wang, L. 1999. KO Consolidation Behavior of
Undisturbed Quasi Overconsolidated Marine Clays, Jour-
nal of Japanese Geotechnical Society.
Oda, Y. & Mitachi, T. 1992. Triaxial &-consolidation test on
saturated clay, Journal of Geotechnical Engineering,
JSCE, No.448/III-19, pp.45-52. ( in Japanese ).
Wang, L. & Nishie, S. 1997. The Deforniation Behavior of
Saturated Clay on Condition of Cyclic loading Triaxial KO-
consolidation Test, Journal q"Japanese Geotechnical So-
ciety,No. 175,pp.351-352.
Tsuchida, T. & Kikuchi, Y. 1991. consolidation of undis-
turbed clays by mean of triaxial cell, Soils and Founda-
tions, Vo1.3 1, No.3, pp. 127-137.
Yasuhara, K. & Ue,S. 1983. Increase in undrained shear
strength due to secondary compression, Soils and Founda-
tions, Vo1.23, No.3, pp.50-64.

94
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineeringin Practice,Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Deterrnination of consolidation parameters for clay sludge by centrifuge

M. Nishimura, M. Katagiri, M.Terashi & K. Saitoh

Nikken Sekkei Nakuse Geotechnical Institute, Kawasaki, Japan

ABSTRACT: To predict the settlement of reclaimed land by dredged clay, the consolidation parameters cov-
ering a wide stress range are necessary. A determination method of consolidation parameters from small to
middle stress range for clay sediments is proposed by means of centrifuge self-weight consolidation coupled
with back analyses. The applicability and the accuracy of the method are confirmed as far as the centrifuge
test is carried out until the end of primary consolidation (EOP). To further reduce the experiment time, an al-
ternate procedure in which the centrifuge run is terminated before the EOP is proposed and found promising.

1 INTRODUCTION test by centrifuge, the excess pore water pressure in

A reclaimed land by pump-dredged clay is usually in
the unconsolidated condition when the hydraulic
filling is completed. As the water content of fresh
sediment by pump-dredged clay is around 200 to
300 % in the case of high plastic clays, it is neces-
sary to obtain the consolidation parameters under a
wide stress range form extremely low stress to the
ordinary stress level.
Yamauchi et al. (1990) carried out the multi-
sedimentation test (MST) at 1 G laboratory floor,
and back-analyzed test data to estimate the consoli-
dation parameters in the extremely small stress level.
In the method, the compressibility was determined
based on the water content distribution of clay sedi-
ment after the primary consolidation. The experi-
ment takes quite a long time because the end of pri-
mary consolidation (EOP) is detected by the
appearance of the secondary consolidation process;
i.e., after the appearance of substantially linear por-
tion on measured settlement and logarithmic time
relation.
Mikasa et al. (1965) has, much earlier, carried out
the pioneering work of self-weight consolidation test
by centrifuge. They estimated the consolidation
parameters by back-analyzing the test results by
their famous consolidation theory. They also detect-
ed the EOP by the measured time settlement behav-
ior.
In this study, two methods of estimating the con-
solidation parameters by means of centrifuge are
proposed and their applicability is discussed. In one
method the consolidation parameters are also deter-
mined at the EOP. In the self-weight consolidation
clay sediment can be measured with high accuracy.
As the EOP can be detected earlier by the dissipation
of excess pore water pressure, the experiment time
can be reduced. Further time reduction may be pos-
sible in the other method in which the parameters are
determined during consolidation by fully utilizing
the information on time - excess pore pressure, time
- settlement and the water content distribution of un-
consolidated clay sediment at the end of test.
2 DETERMINATION OF PARAMETERS ON
FULLY CONSOLIDATED CLAY SEDIMENT
The consolidation of clay layer is governed by two
parameters; compressibili ty and rate of consolida-
tion. If one parameter were known beforehand, the
other would be easily back-analyzed. In this paper,
“CONAN” based on a generalized consolidation
theory (Imai, 1995) is used for the back analysis.
The details of this numerical method are described
in Katagiri et al. (2000).
The method for determining parameters on fully
consolidated clay sediment is described in this sec-
tion, in which compressibility is determined by the
water content distribution directly on the fully con-
solidated clay sample. Another parameter on the rate
of consolidation is obtained by back analysis of the
test results.
2.1 Multi-sedimentation test, MST
In the MST proposed by Yamauchi et al. (1990),
new clay-seawater slurry with predetermined thick-
ness is instantaneously poured on the top surface of

95
 Table 1 Comparison of test conditions among MST, Method I and Method II
Centrifuge test (30G, Ip=23.9
Points
Thickness of clay Initial about 20 cm About 8 cm
sediment Final about 16 cm 6.06 cm 1 6.56 cm
Range of effective stress level 0.015-0.3 kPa 0.1 10 kPa
Experirmnt term about 2 months About 1 day j 300 minutes
Settlement 0.5 mm 0.2 mm
Accuracy Pore water pressure -
0.1 kPa
Thickness of slice for 0.8 cm thick 0.3 cm thick
measurement of water con tent (20 slices) (20 slices)

clay sediment already formed in the cylinder. This

procedure is repeated until the clay sediment reaches
to a planned thickness. The EOP is detected on the
log t - settlement chart. The clay sediment con-
firmed to be in the secondary consolidation is sam-
pled and tested. From the measured water content
distribution, the compressibility parameter is deter-
mined. Permeability parameter will then be estimat-
ed by the back analysis of the measured time settle-
ment behavior.
The ordinary test conditions of MST are summa-
rized in Table 1. As already mentioned, this method
takes a long time. The range of stress level depends
on planned thickness of clay sediment. Therefore,
the experiment time becomes longer and amount of
material larger, if consolidation parameters in a
wider (higher) stress range are required.

2.2 Method-I: Determination by centrifuge at the

end of primary consolidation
In a self-weight consolidation test under N-G centri-
fugal acceleration, all the stresses including pore
water pressure becomes N times larger than the
equivalent test at 1 G floor. As it helps improving
the accuracy of the measured pore water pressure,
the end of primary consolidation (EOP) is detected
easily by the dissipation of excess pore water pres-
sure on the undrained boundary much earlier than
the judgment by settlement - log t relation. Hence
the test can be terminated much earlier.
Figure 1 indicates a procedure of the determina-
tion of consolidation parameters at the EOP using
centrifuge, which is the same as MST except for the
detection of EOP by pore pressure. The distribution
of effective overburden stress, p and the void ratio Figure 1 Determination method of consolidation
(or specific volume, ,f) along with the depth is cal- Parameters for fully consolidated clay sediments
culated from the water content distribution and the
compressibility of the clay is determined. The coef- 2.3 Centrifuge test for the Method-I
ficient of consolidation, c, and effective stress, p re- To confirm the applicability of the method, a centri-
lation can be determined by trial and error to fit the fuge self-weight consolidation test was performed
measured data. Because the stress level produced in with measurement of pore water pressure.
centrifuge is high, the consolidation parameters in a
wider stress range can be estimated. The merits of
the method are summarized as Method I in Table 1.

96
(1) Test material
Physical properties of the tested material are shown
in Table 2. This material is a low plasticity clay.

(2) Experimental apparatus

The experimental apparatus is simply a rectangular
container as shown in Figure 2(a). A laser transducer
(LT) and pore water pressure transducers (PPT) are
equipped to the container to measure the settlement
of surface and the excess pore water pressures at
three different elevations (Figure 2(b)) in clay sedi-
ment during self-weight consolidation, respectively.
The accuracy of measurement for LT and PPT are Figure 3 Height of sediment - time
0.2 mm and 0.1 kN/m2, respectively.

(3) Test procedures

The soil sample was prepared as a clay-seawater
mixture with 110 % of water content. To make full
saturation, the sample was mixed in a vacuum mixer
under about -80 kPa of pressure. The sample was
then carefully poured into the container to 8 cm high
so as to produce a homogeneous and saturated layer
by use of a special spreader. The seawater of 12 cm
thick in this particular setup was poured on the clay
sediment to submerge the tip of LT. This is neces-
sary to measure the surface settlement by the LT
with high accuracy. The detailed procedure and the Figure 4 Excess pore water pressure change at
correction of measurement by the LT are written in
djfferential elevations
Itoh et al. (1998).
A centrifugal acceleration of 30 G was applied.
The centrifuge was stopped when the excess pore 2.4 Comparison of measurement and back analyses
water pressure near the undrained boundary was
fully dissipated. Continuous samples of clay sedi- (1)Self-weight consolidation settlement
ment were taken at three locations near the center of The measured heights of sediment during the self-
container. weight consolidation are plotted against time in Fig-
ure 3. As the compressibility relation was calculated
from the measured water content distribution, back
analyses were carried out according to the pocedure
in Figure 1. The best-fit simulation in this case is al-
so shown in Figure 3 together with the estimated
consolidation parameters.

(2)Excess pore pressures at difjrerent elevations

Excess pore water pressures measured at different
elevations are plotted in Figure 4. The initial excess
pore water pressure measured is larger for the deeper
position of PPT because of the difference of total
overburden pressure. With the progress of consoli-
dation, each excess pore water pressure dissipates
gradually depending on each length of drainage
path. The time when the excess pore water pressure
reaches zero is the faster for the shallower position
of PPT because of shorter drainage path. The excess
pore water pressure on the undrained boundary at
Figure 2 Self-weight consofidation test
the bottom of clay sediment dissipated almost com-
pletely at 1500 minutes from the start of experiment.

97
 Table 2 Physical properties of material tested
Density of soil particles ( 0 J : 2.661 g/cm3
Liquid limit (wL) : 51.9 %
Plastic limit (w,) : 28.0%
Plasticity Index ( I p ) : 23.9
Numerical solutions on excess pore pressures are
also shown in Figure 4 by solid curves. This solution
is the same solution already shown in Figure 3 for
time-settlement. As each PPT was fixed to the con-
tainer (Figure 2(a)), the measured position relative to
clay sediment changes during consolidation. Each
solution is reflecting this continuous shift of corre-
sponding PPT relative to clay sediment. The nu-
merical solution obtained to best-fit the time-
settlement relation also gave good agreement with
measured excess pore water pressures except for the
initial consolidation stage. The reason for disagree-
ment in the earlier consolidation stage is thought that
the sediment was not fully saturated.
(3)Excess pore pressure isochrones and change of
specific volume during consolidation
Figure 5 shows the excess pore water pressure con-
tours at various times during consolidation. The ver-
tical axis is the height normalized by thickness of
sediment at each time stage, and the horizontal axis
is a stress normalized by the total effective overbur-
den stress at the bottom. The position of each PPT
relative to the clay sediment changes with the pro-
gress of consolidation as mentioned earlier. The so-
lution by solid curves agrees with the measured data
except for the earlier consolidation stage.
Figure 6 shows the calculated relation between
specific volume f and total pressure p’+u, at each
consolidation stage. The log f - logp relation at the
EOP when U, = 0 results in the compressibility rela-
tion obtained previously in 2.2(1) based on the water
Figure 5 lsochrones for self-weight consolidation
Figure 6 logf-logp’+u relations
content distribution. The f-value at p = 0.01 kPa is
the critical void ratio at the top surface of clay sedi-
ment by definition. At the early consolidated stage,
U, = p ’ , the f -p’+u, relation is located above that at
the final stage because the f-value is dependent on
the effective stress. With the progress of consolida-
tion, the f -p’+u, relation moves downwards. These
results mean that the log f -1ogp relation determined
by the measured water content distribution may have
some error if the measurement was done on uncon-
solidated clay sediment. In other words, it is impor-
tant to detect the EOP accurately.
( 4 )Evaluation of proposed method
The applicability of the Method-I of which the
procedure was shown in Figure 1, is verified by the
fairly good agreement between measured data and
the solution as described above. In this method,
moreover, the EOP can be detected accurately and
earlier than the MST. The benefit of the method is
summarized as Method-I in Table 1.
3 METHOD-11: ESTIMATION OF
CONSOLIDATION PARAMETERS ON
UNCONSOLIDATED CLAY SEDIMENTS
3.1 Outline of Method-11
Although the Method-I, the determination at the
EOP in centrifuge is far beneficial than MST, it took
1,500 min (25 hours) even for the low plasticity
clay. The time required is dependent on the thick-
ness (length of drainage path) of the sediment.
However about 8 cm seems to be minimum if one
considers the instrumentations. It is anticipated that
the centrifuge self-weight consolidation test may
take 2 or 3 days to dissipate excess pore pressure for
high plasticity clay sediment.
In this section, the possibility of another estima-
tion (Method-11) of consolidation parameters for un-
consolidated clay sediment is investigated to save
the centrifuge time.
The points of this method are that a couple of log
f - l o g p relations are assumed at the beginning and
that the back-analyses are repeated until the numeri-
cal solution fits not only with settlement but with
excess pore pressure and with the water content dis-
tribution at the end of the test. Then finally a set of
consolidation parameters is estimated from the best-
fit solution. This procedure is a kind of observational
approach.
The proposed procedure of Method-I1 is as fol-
lows;
1) Centrifuge test procedure is the same as the
Method-I, except that the centrifuge run is termi-
nated at an arbitrary time before the EOP.
2) By measuring the water content distribution at the
end of the test, specific volume f and effective
overburden pressure p are calculated and plotted on
Figure 7(i). As the excess pore water pressure still
remains in clay sediment, plotted logf- logp rela-
tion should locate above the real compressibility
relation and should bend at higher stress as already
explained in Figure 6.
3) Critical void ratio at p = 0.01 kPa by definition is
determined by the extrapolation of plotted data. A
couple of log f - log p relations such as the lines a,
b, and c are assumed on the condition that they
pass the same critical void ratio point and that they
locate below the measured data (Figure 7 (i)).
Figure 7 Estimation method of consolidation
parameters for unconsolidated clay sediments
99
4) By back analyses of the measured time - height
relation, a couple of best-fit solutions conespond-
ing to the assumed compressibility lines will be
obtained as shown in Figure 7(ii). Different
parameters on the permeability can be derived as
shown in Figure 7 (i).
5 ) Finally by comparing the measured excess pore
water pressure at various elevations with the corre-
sponding solutions (Figure 7(iii)) and by compar-
ing measured specific volume at the end of test
with numerical solution, the most appropriate
combination of parameters will be estimated.
3.2 Trial centrifige test for Method II
According to the procedure proposed above, a cen-
trifuge test and back analyses are carried out. The
centrifuge test procedure is the same as that de-
scribed in 2.3. But the centrifuge run is terminated at
300 minutes, when the excess pore water pressure of
about 4 kPa still remained at the undrained bound-
ary.
The log f - log p relations obtained from the
water content distribution are plotted by open circles
in Figure 8. By the extrapolation of these data, the
critical void ratio at p = 0.01 kPa is determined.
Three cases of compressibility parameter expressed
by solid lines are assumed as shown in Figure 8.
After trial and error, the suitable log c, - log p
relation for each log f - l o g p relation is determined
by fitting the time - height of sediment curve. Figure
9 shows the measured data and numerical solutions.
Three combinations of the consolidation parameters
estimated are shown in Table 3.
Three numerical solutions of the change of excess
pore water pressure are compared with measured
ones as shown in Figure 10. The similar comparison
is done on the water content distribution at 300 min;
i.e., at the end of the centrifuge test in Figure 11. It
is concluded that case b seems to be the most
suitable combination of consolidation parameters
started from three assumptions on the compressibil-
ity.
So far the proposed Method-I1 is quite promising
as an alternate quick estimation method of consoli-
dation parameters. However, the accuracy of esti-
mation by this method naturally depends on the con-
solidation time. The authors are planning to carry
out a series of experiment by changing soil type and
consolidation time to confirm the practical applica-
bility of the method.
Table 3 Consolidation parameters assumed
 4 CONCLUDING REMARKS
In order to determine the consolidation parameters
of extremely soft clay sludge efficiently and accu-
rately, two alternate approaches by means of centri-
fuge were studied. The conclusions are obtained as
follows:
(I) A determination method etho hod-1~ of consoli-
dation parameters by centrifuge self-weight con-
solidation test with simultaneous measurements
of settlement and excess pore water pressure was
proposed. The applicabiljty and accuracy of the
Figure 8 Measured data and log f-log p’ relations
prediction was confirmed. In comparison with
assumed MST test, the proposed method is time saving,
covers wider stress range and accurate.
(2) An estimation method (Method-11) of consoli-
dation parameters for unconsolidated clay sedi-
ments was also pro~osedand found quite prom-
ising. The experiment time is much shorter in the
method. However, its accuracy depends on the
time. It is necessary that its applicabili~yfor many
other materials and the minimum fitting period
should be investigated.

REFERENCES
Figure 9 Height of sediment - time
Imai, G., 1995. Analytical examinations of the founda-
tions to formulate consolidation phenomena with in-
herent time-dependence. Proc. of IS-Hiroshima ’95,
2:891-935.
Itoh, H., Katagiri, M., Saitoh K. & Terashi, M., 1998.
Self-weight consolidation behavior of fluid clay,
Proc. of Centrifige ’98 (IS-Tokyo’98), 181-184.
Katagiri, M., Terashi, M., Henmi, K. & Fukuda, K.,
2000. Change of consolidation characteristics of clay
from dredging to reclamation, Proc. of IS-Yokohama
2000. (submitted).
Mikasa, M., Takada, N. & Yoshimoto, Y., 1965. Self-
weight consolidation test by centrifuge (first report),
Proc. of 20th annual meeting of JSCE, 111-25 (in
Figure 10 Dissipation of excess pore water pressure J ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ) .
Yamauchi, H., Imai, G,& Yam, IS.,1990. Effect of the
coefficient of consolidation on the sedimentation-
consolidation analysis for a very soft clay (in Japa-
nese), Proc. of 25th a ~ ~ u m al ~ of J ~ ~ ~t ~ ~F
359-362.

Figure 11 Comparison of water content distribution

at the end of test

100
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, lS5N 90 5809 151 I

Consolidation inverse analysis using pore water pressure measurement

S. Nishimura & H. Fujii

Okayama University,Japan
K. Shimada
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology,Japan

ABSTRACT: The consolidation inverse analysis is carried out in this study by using not only settlement mea-
surement but also pore pressure measurement. A stochastic nonlinear consolidation model (SNCM) is applied to
the one-dimensional analysis. The SNCM represents the non-linearity and spatial variability of the coefficient
of volume compressibility and the coefficient of permeability at the same time. The method is applied to a model
test result, and the effect of pore pressure measurement on the prediction of consolidation behavior is verified.
Furthermore, a two-dimensional consolidation inverse analysis is performed by using triaxial anisotropic con-
solidation test results.

1 INTRODUCTION scribes the one-dimensional spatial distribution for a

A prediction of consolidation behavior is developed
based on the in-situ displacement and pore water pres-
sure measurement of a soft ground in this research. In
general, the exact prediction of the deformational be-
havior of a soft ground is difficult by using laboratory
consolidation test results only. Therefore, an in-situ
observation is carried out. Then, the inverse analysis
is done to identify effectively of in-situ parameters
and prediction of future deformation based on the pa-
rameters.
The coefficient of volume compressibility mV,and
the coefficient of permeability k are identified for one-
dimensional consolidation in this paper. These param-
eters have great variability, and modeling of statisti-
cal characteristics is often necessary for consolida-
tion analysis. Furthermore, the consolidation param-
eters are not constant throughout the consolidation pro-
cess, and the non-linearity is an important factor of
soil behavior. In this study, the conshidation inverse
analysis is carried out, considering spatial variability
and non-linearity of these consolidation parameters. A
stochastic nonlinear consolidation model (SNCM) is
proposed here, in which both factors, spatial vari-
ability and non-linearity are considered simulta-
neously.
In the past works concerning observational settle-
ment prediction of soft ground, the pore water pres-
sure measurement have been seldom used, while in
this study, the effect of pore water pressure measure-
ments is highlighted.
In this study, initially, the SNcM is formulated on
the basis of laboratory standard consolidation test
results of the undisturbed soil samples. The SNCM de-
vertical direction and the non-linearity of ml,and k si-
multaneously. Secondly, a inverse analysis method
based on the SNCM is introduced. In the proposed
method, the standard consolidation test result is con-
sidered as a prior information, and the settlement and
the pore pressure measurement are used as observa-
tion data. The term of prior information is exactly
defined in Bayesian Statistics. However, it is noted
that the prior information used in this study is differ-
ent from Bayesian concept. To confirm the validity,
the proposed method is applied to the model test re-
sults here.
Finally, a two-dimensional consolidation inverse
analysis is carried out. The identification algorithm is
modified for a multi-dimensionalanalysis. In this case,
a linear elastic model is used. The effect of the pore
water pressure measurement on the prediction of con-
solidation behavior is verified clearly.
2 STATISTICAL MODEL OF CONSOLIDATION
PARAMETERS
Figure 1 shows the standard consolidation test results
of undisturbed soil samples from the alluvial clay de-
posit which exists at a depth of 0.0 - 12 m, in the polder
land of Okayama. They are spatial distributions for
vertical direction of the coefficients of volume com-
pressibility ml,.A hard crust layer exists at a depth of
0.0 - 0.6 m, and is statistically modeled separately from
the underlying alluvial clay layer. Since the marine
clay deposit has great lateral correlation, the statisti-
cal modeling of the consolidation parameters is con-
ducted one-dimensionally in this study.

101

Fig. 1. Vertical distribution of coefficient of volume compressibility my.
The distributions of mVchange with the consolidation
pressures. The figures correspond to the loaded con-
solidation pressures P = 0.0 kPa, and 98 kPa. The
loaded consolidation pressure is the increment from
the initial effective overburden pressure, and it is de-
fined by Equation (1). The pressure P = 0.0 kPa means
the initial overburden stress state of the ground.
P=P-Po (1)
in which p is the consolidation pressure in the con-
solidation test, or the vertical effective stress in the
ground, and p o is the initial effective stress in the
ground.
A representative expression of statistical models of
m yand k is given by Equation (2), namely,
V ( Z , P )= ~ ( z , P ) + ~ ( z , P ) g z , P )
in which w(Z,P) is either of MV(Z,P)= log,,my(Z,P)
and K(Z,P) = log,,k(Z,P), 2 and P signify the depth
and consolidation pressure, respectively, and t,v is the
function of Zand P. p(2,P) is the mean function, o(Z,P)
is the standard deviation function, and {(Z,P)is N(0,l)
type normal random function. Mean function p(Z,P)
is defined as a high order regression function of Z given
by Equation (3).
L least one settlement observation point, i.e., the base
f i ( Z , P ) = Cq(P).z'
i=O
in which A; (i=1,2,..., L) are regression constants. Ran-
dom function c(Z,P)has correlation characteristic for
the depth Z and the loaded consolidation pressure P.
The cross-correlationfunction between the parameters
Vand W is
rw(AZ,e,q)
= Bwexp(-AZ/Iz).Cov(<,P,)
in which V and W are either of MVand K , B, is the
coefficient of correlation between parameters V and
W. If Vequals W, B , is equal to 1.0, and rvw is the
auto-correlation function. A2 is the distance between
two points along vertical axis 2, Piand Pj are two
differentstates of effective stress or consolidation pres-
sure, Cov(P,,Pj) is the covariance between {(2,P,) and
Fig.2. Realized non-linearity of m,,at a depth
of 7.8m.
(Consolidation pressure includes initial stress
at the depth.)
((2,Pi). The coefficients of regression A; (i=1,2,..., L),
standard deviation o(Z,P) and correlation distance lZ
are all determined by minimizing Akaike's informa-
tion criterion , AZC (Akaike, 1974). The AZC is de-
fined for each stress state and parameter.
The coefficient of permeability k is modeled simi-
larly to that shown in Figurel. However, the descrip-
tion is omitted here because of lack of space. The
detail of the statistical modeling is shown in Nishimura,
et. al. (1999).
In Figurel, o(2,P) is constant along the Z-axis, i.e.
it is assumed for simplicity that o(Z,P) = o(P).
In Figure 2, the nonlinear characteristic of m,,is
shown. It corresponds to the depth 7.8m. In the
figure, the marks signify the five realizations of the
Monte Carlo simulation. The mean and standard de-
(2)
viation are also given. The realizations show the rea-
sonable nonlinear characteristics.
3 INVERSE ANALYSIS METHOD
The multilayer system of Figure 3 is introduced into
the inverse analysis method. It is not a finite element
mesh but a description of the base parameters. Each
layer has a pair of base parameters, m, and ko, and at
(3)
parameters, ml,, and kol ( I = 1,2,...) are identified inde-
pendently at each layer. The values of m,, and k, (I
= 1,2,...) correspond to the depth 2,. The rates, R,,,,(Z,P)
= my(Z,P)/ml,and R,(Z,P) = k(Z,P)/k,, work as prior
information for the non-linearity and the spatial vari-
ability of the consolidation parameters, ml, and k .
The Christian type finite element method is used as
a consolidation analysis method, and the nonlinear
(4) least square method is used as a inverse analysis
method. The squared residuals of displacement and
pore water pressure J defined as follows is minimized,
in which U,! and are calculated and observed dis-
102
placements at the time stepj and nodal point i, U,! and
@'are calculated and observed pore water pressures at
the time step j and element i, NT is number of time
steps, NP is number of the nodal points corresponding
to the displacement observation points, and NE is num-
ber of the element corresponding to the pore water 1=1 m
pressure observation points. ~ Settlement
observation
In the finite element analysis, the values of m,(Z,P) point
and k(Z,P) are assigned to each finite element. In the Fig.3. Description of multilayer system.
process to minimize J, the base parameters, m,, and
kol (1 = 1,2,...) are identified to keep the rates, Rm,(Z,P)
and R,(Z,P) constant. 1
The identification algorithm is given in Figure 4. Evaluation of the initial J.
Initially, the control parameter A is determined on
the basis of the deterministic model, i.e., the mean
model of parameters. The random parameter 5 is set at
0.0 in this case. Since the minimization of J is impos-
sible only by the second term of Equation (3,the
second term works only as a penalty function. The
value of A to be small enough for effectiveperformance
of the pore water pressure measurement, and also make
stable minimization of J possible is adopted here.
Secondly, the Monte Carlo simulation is conducted
Yes 4 No

on the basis of the statistical model Equation (2), and Determination of h.

the spatially variable and nonlinear coefficient of vol-
ume compressibility, m,(Z,P) and the coefficient of -
permeability k(2,P) are generated as random numbers. Making random numbers for m V and k.
The rates, Rmv(Z,P)and R,(Z,P) are consistent through-
out one Monte Carlo trial. The Monte Carlo simula-
tion is repeated MZ times, which means MZ model pat-
terns of {(Z,P)are tried. Furthermore, cases, in which
the standard deviation in Equation (2) is set at Is the minimum J obtained? 1No-1 method
Monte Carlo
2 x o(Z,P), 3 x o(Z,P) are tested. These additional tests
are necessary to overcome the difference of the con- Yes 4
solidation mechanism between the standard consoli- pGGx-1
dation tests and the in-situ consolidation. As a result, Stochastic

I KI=3*MI4
analysis
the inverse analysis is repeated 3 x MZ times. Finally, No
the optimum model and base parameters are deter- 1
mined to minimize the next J2 value in 3 xMZ pat- 1Yes
terns. I i I
Determination of mfl,k , and \(ZP) for
2.

Fig.4. Identification algorithm for one-dimensional analysis.

4 VERIFICATION OF INVERSE ANALYSIS were prepared under various pre-consolidation pres-

METHOD BY MODEL TESTS sures to add artificial variability to the initial water
content w for the statistical model. The pre-consolida-
4.1 Experiment material tion pressure was set to 44.1 - 78.4 kPa and the range
of the water content w is within 54 - 60 %.
In this study, the kaolin clay is used for theoretical
consideration of the consolidation model. The basic 4.3 Model tests for inverse analysis
characteristics of kaolin clay are shown in Table I .
The model tests were performed to make the time -
4.2 Standard consolidation test
Table 1. Specific characteristics of kaolin clay.
A standard consolidation test was conducted to con- Specific Liquid Plastic Plasticity Clay Silt
struct the statistical model. The specimen size is 6.0 gravity limit limit Index I, Content Content
cm in diameter and 2.0 cm in height. The specimens G, wL(%IO) Wp(%o) (%) (%)
2.63 58.2 37.4 20.8 42 58

103
settlement and time - pore water pressure curves for
the inverse analysis. The specimen size is 6.0 cm in
diameter and 2.0 cm in height which is same as that
of the standard consolidation test specimen. The
drained water is expelled from the upper side of the
sample. At the lower side, the pore water pressure is
measured. The specimens were prepared under the pre-
consolidation pressure, 49 kPa. Initially, the speci-
mens were consolidated at 39.2 kPa to make the ini-
tial stress state after setting them into the testing appa-
ratus. After primary consolidation, the specimens
were in a lightly over-consolidated state. Then, the load
was increased to 156.8 kPa. The settlement and the
pore pressure were measured for the 117.6 kPa load
increment. The load was increased for 20 sec at a
constant rate.
4.4Statistical model of kaolin clay
The statistical model of kaolin clay is based on the
Equation (2). The sample size is small, therefore, the
model is assumed to be homogeneous spatially. In
this case, the covariance function of the statistical
model is simplified into Equation (7). Furthermore, it
is assumed in this study that B , equals 0.0 when V is
not W, which means the two random variables 5s of
M vand K are independent of each other.
rw(<,<) = B,,COV(fyJ (7)
The consolidation test result and the statistical val-
ues, mean and o-limits are shown in Figure 5. The Fig.5. Results of standard consolidation test
volume compressibility mV has great variability in the and statistical values of consolidation parameters.
over-consolidated region and small variability in the
P,(x 19.6kPa)
normally-consolidatedregion, while the coefficient of
permeability k has great variability in the whole re- -0
0 1.ooo
gion. The covariance matrixes are given in Figure 6. 1
0.776 1.ooO 0.921 0.819 0.637 0.594 0.535 0.455
The discrete loaded consolidation pressure is given by 2
0.740 0.921 1.000 0.890 0.758 0.721 0.667 0.592
Equation (8). 0.621
3 0.819 0.890 1.000 0.899 0.876 0.836 0.773
4
0.419 0.637 0.758 0.899 1.000 0.928 0.909 0.869
= M ( i - 1) (i = 1,2,..-,8) (8) h

8 5 0.385
z
0.594 0.721 0.876 0.928 1.000 0.926 0.900
in which AP = 19.6 kPa. Vertical effective stress of the 2 6 0.340 0.535 0.667 0.836 0.909 0.926 1.000 0.924
test sample p is given by Equation (I), in which po= ; 7 0.281
-
v
39.2 kPa in this case. 4'

4.5 Result of inverse analysis in model test (a) Cov(Pl,P,) matrix of M,,. (dp= 19.6 kPa)

The analytical model is shown in Figure 7. The mea- P,(x19.6kPa)

sured and predicted time - settlement and pore water -0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
pressure relationships are given in Figure 8. Accord- 0 , 1.000 0.855 0.714 0.471 0.300 0.222 0.137 0.052
ing to the figures, the future settlement is predicted 1 0.855 1.000 0.858 0.650 0.519 0.445 0.356 0.260
accurately with an identification period longer than 0.9 2 0.714 0.858 1.000 0.867 0.793 0.733 0.650 0.552
rnin by using the proposed method, while the future 3 0.471 0.650 0.867 1,000 0.929 0.892 0.827 0.742
pore water pressure is a little overestimated with the - 4 0.300 0.519 0.793 0.929 1.000 0.920 0.878 0.813
identification periods of 0.9 and 3.0 min. Adopted A $ 5 0.222 0.445 0.733 0.892 0.920 1.000 0.919 0.879
value is 1000 in this case. 5 6 0.137 0.356 0.650 0.827 0.878 0.919 1.OOO 0.920
The results of the linear analysis are also given in
Figures 8(c) and (d) for comparison with the nonlin-
$7
- 0.052 0.260 0.552 0.742 0.813 0.879
-
0.920 1.ooO

ear analysis. The linear analysis predicts future con- (b) Cov(P,,P,) matrix of K. (A?'= 19.6 @a)
solidation behavior well. According to Figures 8(a) and Fig.6. Correlation matrixes of consolidation parameters for
(c), however, the nonlinear analysis gives more accu- kaolin clay.

104

F i g 7 . Analytical model and finite elements for model test
rate identification and prediction.
The analysis , in which only settlement measure-
ment is considered as observation data, is also per-
formed in Figures 8(c) and (d). According to the fig-
ures, future settlement is underestimated. It is clear
in this study that the pore water pressure measurement
is very effective for the prediction of the future con-
solidation behavior.
5 TWO-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
5.1 Identification algorithm
An identification algorithm is modified to the multi-
dimensional case here, and it is given in Figure 9. In
Fig.8 Result of one-dimensional inverse analysis
L: linear analysis. NL: nonlinear analysis based on SNCM. -min: identification period from the start of measurement.
S : only settlement measurement is used. S&P: settlement and pore water pressure measurement are used.
105
this case, the deterministic analysis is done. The role
of 52 is more important in the multi-dimensional case
than one-dimensional case. The effective Young’s
modulus E’, Poisson’s ratio v’ and the coefficient of
permeability k are identified.
5.2 Experimental condition and analysis model
The material property is the same as that shown in the
section 4.1. An anisotropic consolidation test was per-
formed, in which the axial and lateral forces were ap-
plied independently.The material was pre-consolidated
at 49 kPa, and then the specimen was cut into a size
5cm in diameter and lOcm in height. After it was set
into the triaxial cell, an isotropic consolidation pres-
sure of 29.4 kPa was applied. After this first stage
consolidation, 98 kPa of isotropic pressure was added,
and an additional axial pressure was increased to
19.6 kPa for 1 min, and then the applied load was
sustained to be constant. The axial displacement, the
average lateral displacement and the pore water pres-
sure at the bottom of the specimen were measured.
The model of the axi-symmetric analysis is shown in
Figure 10. Drained water is expelled from the top
surface of the specimen.
5.3 Analysis results
The analysis results are shown in the Figure 1 1 . The
identification is done in the period from 1 min till 30
min. The calculated consolidation behavior after 30
 Assignment of the initial values of Young's modulus E',
Poisson's ratio v', permeability k and h
Yes
N0
Yes 1
Determination of E', v', k, h
Fig.9. Identification algorithm for two-dimensional analysis.
min is the pure prediction. The time - displacement
curves and time - pore water pressure curve are shown
in Figures 11 (a) and (b), respectively. According to
the figure, the displacement and pore water pressure
are predicted well. However, the calculation overesti-
mates the lateral displacement. The adopted value of
A is 100000 in this case.
If the pore water pressure measurement is not con-
sidered, the minimization of ./ is unstable, and the iden-
tification is impossible. This fact proves the impor-
tance of the pore pressure measurement for the iden-
tification.
6 CONCLUSIONS
1. A stochastic nonlinear consolidation model
(SNCM) is described in this paper. Thorough the use
of this model, the non-linearity and spatial variability
of the coefficient of volume compressibility m,, and
the coefficient of permeability k are considered si-
multaneously.
2. The SNCM was applied to the inverse analysis
of consolidation. The test results are considered as
prior information in the proposed method. The method
to use measured pore water pressure for parameter
Fig. 11. Result of two-dimensional inverse analysis.
106
Fig. 10. Model of analysis for triaxial test.
identification was also described in this study.
3. The proposed inverse analysis method was ap-
plied to the kaolin model test to confirm the validity.
Concluding remarks of the analysis are as follows.
1) Pore pressure observation is effective as additional
information to the settlement observation data to pre-
dict future consolidation behavior.
2) The inverse analysis method based on the SNCM
gives more accurate identification and prediction re-
sults of the consolidation behavior than the linear
analysis.
4. A multi-dimensional inverse analysis method was
applied to a triaxial anisotropic consolidation test re-
sult. It is clear that the pore water pressure measure-
ment is very effective for accurate consolidation pre-
diction.
REFERENCES
Akaike, H. 1974. A new look at the statistical model
identification, IEEE Trms. of Automatic Con-
trol, AC-19(6): 716-723.
Nishimura, S., K. Shimada & H. Fujii 1999. Sto-
chastic nonlinear consolidation model and its
application to back analysis of soft ground,
Application of statistics and probability. Pwc. of
ICASP8: 445-452.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Vane shear tests for an unsaturated silty soil in the laboratory

T. Nishimura
Ashikagu Institute of Technology,Japan

ABSTRACT: In situ vane tests are frequently used by geotechnical engineers during site investigation to de-
termine the undrained shear strength of soft soils. In this study, vane shear tests were conducted for an un-
saturated silty soil in the laboratory. Matric suction was applied to the slurried silty soil using a pressure plate
apparatus. At matric suction equilibrium condition, vane shear test was conducted on the soil specimen to
measure the vane shear strength of the unsaturated silty soil. Matric suction is one of two effective stress
variables controlling the behavior of unsaturated soil. Vane shear strengths obtained from the vane tests were
found to increase with matric suction. This study shows that the relationship between vane shear strength of
an unsaturated silty soil and matric suction is non-linear.

1 INTRODUCTION forms the center of the triangle.

Unsaturated soil regions are generally located near
ground surface. It is essential that geotechnical en-
gineers consider the behavior of the soil near the sur-
face. The theories and formulations for saturated
soil behavior do not accuracy and directly to the un-
saturated portions of the soil profile. Geotechnical
engineers require unsaturated soil property functions
in order to determine the behavior of the unsaturated
soil. Unsaturated soil property functions would in-
clude the coefficient of permeability functions, water
storage functions, shear strength functions and
volume change functions.
Direct measurements are possible to determine
unsaturated soil property functions. Conventional
unsaturated soil triaxial compression apparatus and
modified direct shear apparatus are used to deter-
mine the relationship between soil suction and shear
strength. Direct measurement in the laboratory for
unsaturated soil property can be costly and time-
consuming. Unsaturated soil test equipment should
desirably have the following futures: portability, easy
adaptation to varying soil properties, simple and
economical to operate and the test results should be
compatible with present design methods and theories.
Burland (1996) introduced the concept of the soil
mechanics triangle in order to highlight the four dis-
tinctive aspects of soil mechanics. The four distinc-
tive aspects of soil mechanics are the ground profile,
soil behavior, modeling and empiricism. Ground
profile, soil behavior and modeling may be depicted
as forming the apexes of a triangle. Empiricism
This study focuses on shear strength of an unsatu-
rated silty soil obtained from vane tests. The vane
shear test has been extensively used by engineers to
obtain a measurement of the in situ undrained shear
strength of soft clay. The vane test gives only an
empirical measure of shear strength, which is often
used for engineering design. The vane test has been
established as a useful practical field measurement
device. Early experiments with vane test showed
that it is economical, easy to perform, and gave good
assessment of the shear strength when compared
with back-calculated values from actual landslides.
1.1 Purpose of this study
In this study, vane shear tests were conducted for an
unsaturated silty soil in the laboratory. The vane ap-
paratus consists of a triaxial base and the torque
measuring instrument. The vane in this study has a
height of 20 mm and a diameter of 20 mm. The va-
ne has standard rectangular blades. Matric suction
was applied to the silty soil specimen in the triaxial
cell using a pressure plate set-up. Matric suction ap-
plied ranges from 11 kPa to 270 kPa. The change in
torque with vane rotation was observed. This study
shows the relationship between vane shear strength
of an unsaturated silty soil and matric suction. The
failure envelope (i.e., vane strength versus matric
suction) of an unsaturated silty soil obtained from
the vane tests was found to be non-linear. This paper
emphasizes that vane shear test could be used to
measure the vane shear strength for an unsaturated
silty soil.

107
1.2 Review of vane tests
The vane shear apparatus was introduced in Sweden
and Germany during 1928 and 1929. The Swedish
Geotechnical Institute began to systematically study
the reliability and effectiveness the vane shear with a
series of theoretical study and practical tests in 1947.
Since then, the vane shear test has been frequently
used and studied worldwide. Skempton (1 948)
showed that the vane shear failure surface in soil had
a larger diameter than the vane diameter. Cadling
and Odenstad (1 950) suggested the following rela-
tionship between vane shear strength and torque:
s 6 T
=--
'I 77rD'
where S , = undrained vane shear strength, T =
torque, D = vane diameter (the ratio of vane height
to vane diameter is 2.0).
Cadling and Odenstad (1950) showed that the va-
ne diameter has no effect on the results, when the
ratio of the height to a diameter, H I D , is constant.
Flaate (1966) suggested that the following assump-
tions for calculating the undrained vane shear
strength: (1) The soil is completely undrained (i.e.,
no consolidation takes place during insertion of the
vane and shearing), (2) No disturbance is caused by
insertion of the vane, (3) The remolded zone around
the vane is small, (4) There is no progressive failure,
and (5) Isotropic strength conditions exist inside the
soil mass. In addition, the shear strength is assumed
to be fully mobilized along the circumference of the
vane shear. The formulation for the undrained vane
shear strength by Flaate (1 966) is presented in Equa-
tion (2).
,y =--8 T
U 9xD3
where S,, = undrained vane shear strength, T=
torque, and D = vane diameter.
Northwood and Sangrey (1 97 1) showed that the
smaller vanes give greater scatter in the results than
the larger vanes. Aiman, Poplin and Ahmad (1975)
observed there is a thin sheared zone surrounding the
failure surface from the core slice radiographs. Sil-
vestri, Aubertin and Chapuis (1993) carried out vane
tests for a sensitive clay deposit of Eastern Canada
by using vanes of various configurations. Rectan-
gular, nilcen, rhomboidal, triangular and elliptic va-
ne blades were used to measure the undrained shear
strength of the sensitive clay. The assumption of
isotropy for the evaluation of the undrained shear
strength indicates that a uniform shear stress dis-
tribution gives a better fit to the observed response
than a triangular distribution. For both rectangular
and nilcon vane blades, it is considered that both
shear stress distributions are equally valid. Law,
Bozozuk and Eden (1977) observed that the vane
108
strength of clays under fills was essentially the same
before and after appreciable compression. They
stated that the vane strength is dependent on the
horizontal stresses.
Law (1 979) conducted vane test using a triaxial-
vane apparatus with controlled drainage. A soil with
a known stress history was used in order to provide a
better understanding of the relationship between
vane shear strength and vertical or horizontal
stresses. A triaxial-vane apparatus was constructed
to study the effect of various consolidation pressures
on the vane strength of a soft marine Leda clay in
Ottawa, Canada. The triaxial vane apparatus is con-
sist of a triaxial cell and a laboratory vane shear ap-
paratus. The test results show that the vane strength
is relatively insensitive to a change in vertical con-
solidation pressure under a constant horizontal con-
solidation pressure. Vane strength of a soft marine
clay subjected to consolidation pressure increases
steadily with increase in the all-around or the hori-
zontal consolidation pressure.
Kenny and Landva (1965) developed the vane-
triaxial apparatus as a laboratory research tool. The
apparatus consist of a standard triaxial compression
cell, which is modified to allow a vane to be pushed
up from the cell base into the soil sample. Kenney
and Landva (1 965) suggested the torque is related to
the two shear stresses, r,, , rh , as follows:
1 1
Torque = -nhd2r, +--ndd3a~,,
2 2
where Torque= the measured torque on the vane,
h = the height of the assumed cylindrical zone
around the vane, d = the diameter of the assumed
cylindrical zone around the vane, a = a factor de-
pendent on the shear stress distribution across the
ends of the vane.
1.3 Review of shear strength qf.unsaturated soils
The fundamental theories for unsaturated soil be-
havior have become widely accepted in the geotech-
nical field. The shear strength of unsaturated soils
has been formulated in terms of two independent
stress state variables. Fredlund, Morgenstern and
Widger (1978) suggested the equation for the shear
strength of unsaturated soils as follows:
r = c' + (a- u o ) .tan$'+(u, -U,,). tanb"
(4)
where r = the shear stress on the failure plane at
failure, c ' = the intercept of the "extended" Mohr-
Coulomb failure envelope on the shear stress axis
where the net normal stress and the matric suction
are equal to zero, (a - U,)= is the net normal stress,
4'= the angle of internal friction with respect to the
net normal stress, (U, -U, ) = the matric suction,
4" = the angle of indicating rate of increase in shear
strength relative to the matric suction.
The equation suggested by Fredlund, Morgenstern Table 1. Physical properties of the soil for
and Widger (1978) is based on the form of an ex- the test program.
tended Mohr-Coulomb envelope, which can be used
to evaluate the contribution of matric suction to the Specific gravity 2.65
shear strength. The shear strength of unsaturated Plasticitv Index non plastic
soils is commonly be determined in the laboratory Maximum of soil particles 0.1mm
using a modified triaxial cell (Ho and Fredlund
1982, Gan and Fredlund 1988 and Escario 1980).
Gan and Fredlund (1996) studied the saturated and
IClay (%) 8
unsaturated shear strength behavior of two saprolitic
soils using a modified direct shear tests and a modi-
fied triaxial tests. Results show that the relationship
between shear strength and matric suction takes a
non-linear form. The extent of the increase in the
shear strength with matric suction was found to be
related to the soil-water characteristic curve for the
soil. 0100and Fredlund (1996) performed direct
shear tests for two unsaturated soils under either a
constant net normal stress and varying matric suction
or a constant matric suction and varying net normal
stress. The results show the non-linearity of the
shear strength envelope with respect to matric suc-
tion. Vanapalli, Fredlund, Pufahl and Clifton (1996)
emphasize that the soil-water characteristic curve is
closely related to the shear strength of unsaturated
soil with respect to matric suction. Recently the
mathematical modeling of unsaturated soil using
soil-water characteristic curve is frequently used
prediction model. Several proposed numerical mod-
els show good correlation with the non-linear char-
acter of unsaturated soil property.

2 TEST PROCEDURES

The silty soil used in this test program is non-plastic

(Table 1). Figure 1 shows the grain size distribution
for the silty soil. The silty soil was slurried and
placed into a steel mould on the triaxial base plate.
The steel mould has a diameter of 60 mm and a
height of 150 mm. Matric suction is applied to slur-
ried silty soil using the pressure plate technique
(Hilf, 1956). A ceramic disk is installed into the pe-
destal on triaxial base plate. The ceramic disk has
an air entry value of 500 kPa. The gravimetric water
of the silty soil was allowed to drain under the ap-
plied air and water pressures. Matric suction equi-
librium was obtained in the soil when water ceased
to flow. At matric suction equilibrium condition,
vane shear test was conducted on the unsaturated Figure 2. Illustration of vane apparatus.
silty soil specimen.
With the vane apparatus used in this test program, The apparatus was mounted and fastened on the
it is possible to perform vane tests with different size, triaxial base plate on three legs.
shape of vane and at various rate of rotation. A The vane blade can be inserted into the silty soil
standard rectangular vane used in this test program specimen in a steel mould by pushing down. With
has a height of 20 mm and a diameter of 20 mm. the existing vane apparatus it is not possible to
The vane apparatus consists of a power unit for measure total stresses and pore pressures acting ac-
turning the vane blade and a gauge for measuring ross the shear zone. A rate of rotation of seven de-
torque. Figure 2 shows illustration of vane apparatus. grees a minute was used in the tests.

109
 Figure 6. Relationship between vane
Figure 4. Relationship between angle shear strength and matric suction.
of rotation and vane shear stress.
Table 2. Summary of vane shear tests.
3 TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
3.1 Test results
The torque due to turning the vane blade was meas-
1 I 1
Test No.
Matric
su;i;n Water
content ?40
1 Vane shear
strength kPa

v-1 11 28.6 2.3

ured using a torque measuring instrument. Vane v-2 16 25.6 20.4
shear stress was calculated from the measured torque v-3 18 24.0 24.4
value using a equation suggested by Cadling and
v-4 63 9.5 37.5
Odenstand (1950). Figures 3 and 4 show the rela-
v-5 97 7.1 46.5
tionship between vane shear stress and angle of vane
rotation for an unsaturated silty soil at various matric V-6 270 4.1 3.4
suctions. Shear stress due to rotation of vane blade
increases with angle of rotation. When angle of ro-
tation is near zero, the relationship between vane decreases with the angle of rotation. The relation-
shear stress and angle of rotation is linear. ship between vane shear stress and angle of rotation
With increasing of angle of rotation, the rate of was non-linear. Vane shear stress reaches peak
increase in vane shear stress with angle of rotation when the angle of rotation was almost thirty degrees.

110
After vane shear stress had peaked, the vane shear
stress decreases with increasing angle of vane rota-
tion. A cylindrical surface was observed at failure in
vane shear test for an unsaturated silty soil, with the
exception of silty soil applied matric suction of 270
kPa (Test N0.V-6). Large disturbances due to inser-
tion of vane blade were observed in the case of the
test at a matric suction of270 kPa (Test N0.V-6).
3.2 Discussions
The unsaturated soils have a non-linear failure en-
velope with respect to matric suction. Unsaturated
soil properties are closely related to the relationship
between the amount of water in soils and soil suc-
tion. Vanapalli, Fredlund, Pufahl and Clifton (1996)
emphasize that the soil-water characteristic curve is
closely related to the shear strength of unsaturated
soil with respect to matric suction.
The soil-water characteristic curve for a silty soil
sample was measured using a pressure plate appara-
tus, glass desiccator containing saturated salt solu-
tions (i.e., vapor equilibrium technique) and relative
humidity technique. Measured soil-water character-
istic curve during desaturation is shown in Fig. 5 .
The soil-water characteristic curve was obtained
over a wide range of suctions.
The desaturation stages defined along the desorp-
tion branch of a soil-water characteristic curve can
be classified; namely, the boundary effect stage, the
transition stage (i.e., with primary and secondary
transition portions) and the residual stage of desatu-
ration (Vanapalli, Fredlund, Pufahl and Clifton
1996). In the boundary effect stage all soil pores are
filled with water. The soil behavior in the boundary
effect stage can be explained using saturated soil
mechanics. The soil behavior is similar to saturated
soil behavior till suction reaches the air entry value.
When suction is larger than the air-entry value, the
soil starts to desaturate in the transition stage. Air
enters in to the soil pores. As suction proceed to in-
crease, eventually large increases in suction leads to
a relatively small changes in water content in the
residual stage of unsaturation. The peak value of
vane shear stresses in the vane shear stress versus the
angle of vane rotation curve is defined as the vane
shear strength in this study. The test results are
summarized in Table 2. Figure 6 shows the relation-
ship between vane shear strength and matric suction.
Vane shear strength of an unsaturated silty soil in-
creases with matric suction. Vane shear strength in-
creases linearly with matric suction till matric suc-
tion reaches to 18 kPa. As matric suction of 18 kPa
is similar to the air entry value of the silty soil
specimen, a silty soil specimen will remain in the
boundary effect stage of the soil-water characteristic
curve. When matric suction applied to the silty soil
specimen is larger than the air-entry value, the rate
of increase of vane shear strength with matric suc-
tion decreases. The relationship between vane shear
111
strength and matric suction is non-linear. Vane
shear strength at a matric suction of 270 kPa (Test
N0.V-6) drop drastically. In the soil specimen at a
matric suction of 270 kPa (Test N0.V-6), large dis-
turbances due to the insertion of vane blade was ob-
served. At a matric suction of 270 kPa, the soil spe-
cimen was at the residual state of unsaturation. The
soil is dry in the residual state of unsaturation.
4 CONCLUSIONS
The vane test was performed for an unsaturated silty
soil in the laboratory. Matric suction applied to the
slurried silty soil using a pressure plate apparatus.
Matric suction applied ranged from 11 kPa to 270
kPa. Matric suction in the soil pores reaches equilib-
rium when water ceased to flow from the soil. The
torque due to turning the vane blade was measured.
Vane shear stress is calculated using an equation
suggested by Cadling and Odenstand (1950). When
the angle of vane rotation was near zero, vane shear
stress increases linearly. After vane shear stress has
reached a peak, vane shear stress reduces. Vane
shear strength increases linearly with matric suction
till matric suction is at the air entry value of a silty
soil. After matric suction exceeded the air-entry
value, the rate of increase in vane shear strength with
matric suction decreases. The relationship between
vane shear strength and matric suction is non-linear.
It was observed that there was large disturbances due
to the insertion of vane blade in the unsaturated silty
soil at the residual state of unsaturation (i.e., enough
dry soil).
REFERENCES
Arman, A., Poplin, J.K. & Ahmad, N. 1975. Study
of the vane shear. Proceedings of the Conference
on In Situ Measurement of Soil Properties. Spe-
cialtji Conference of’ [he Geotechnical Engineer-
ing. Division. ASCE. North Carolina State Uni-
versity. June: Vol. 1. 93-120.
Burland, J.B. 1996. Closing session. Proceedings of
the First International Conference on Unsaturat-
ed Soils. Paris. France. September: Vo1.3. 1561-
1569.
Cadling, L. & Odenstad, S. 1950. The vane borer.
Proceedings of Swedish Geotechnicul Institute:
No.2. Stockholm.
Escario, V. 1980. Suction controlled penetration and
shear tests. Proceedings of the 4‘” International
Conference on Expansive Soils, Denver. Ameri-
can Society of Civil Engineers: Vol. 2, 78 1-797.
Flaate, K. 1966. Factors influencing the results of
vane tests. Canadian Geotechnical Journal: Vo1.3.
NO.]. 18-31.
Fredlund, D.G., Morgenstern, N.R. & Widger, R.A.
1978. The shear strength of unsaturated soils.
Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 15, 3 13-
321.
Fredlund, D.G. 1989. Bringing unsaturated soil
mechanics into engineering practice. Proceedings
of the Second International Conference on UN-
SA TURA TED SOILS. Beijing. China. August:
V01.2. 1-36.
Gan, J.K-M. & Fredlund, D.G. 1988. Multistage di-
rect shear testing of unsaturated soils. Geotechni-
cal Testing Journal. ASTM. Vol. I 1, 132-13 8.
Can, J.K-M. & Fredlund, D.G. 1996. Shear strength
characteristics of two saprolitic soils. Canadian
Geotechnical Journal: Vol. 33, 595-609.
Hift, J.W. 1956. An investigation of pore pressure in
compacted cohesive soils. United States Depart-
ment of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. Den-
ver. CO. Technical Memorandum. 654.
Ho, D.Y.F. and Fredlund, D.G. 1982. Multi-stage tri-
axial tests for unsaturated soils, Geotechnical
Testing Journal, ASTM: Vol. 5, 18-25.
Kenney, T.C. & Landva, A. 1965. Vane-triaxial ap-
paratus. Proceedings of the Sixth International
Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering. Montreal. Canada: Vol. 1. Division
1-2. 269-272.
Law, K.T., Bozozuk, M. & Eden, W.J. 1977. Meas-
ured strengths under fills on sensitive clay. Pro-
ceedings of 9”’ International Confirence on Soil
Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Tokyo,
Japan: Vol.1, 187-192.
Law. K.T. 1979. Triaxial-vane tests on a soft marine
clay. Canadian Geotechnical Journal: Vol. 16. 1 1-
18.
Mahar, L.J. & O’Neill, M.W. 1983. Geotechnical
characterization of desiccated clay. Journal of
Geotechnical Engineering: Vol. 109. No. 1. 56-7 1.
Northwood, R.P. & Sangrey, D.A. 1971. The vane
test in organic soil. Canadian Geotechnical Jour-
nal: Vo1.8. No. 1. 69-76.
Skempton, A.W. 1948. Vane tests in the Alluvial
Plain of the River Forth near Grangernouth. Geo-
technique: Vol. 1. No.2. 1 1 1-124.
Silvestri, V., Aubertion, M. & Chapuis, R.P. 1993. A
study of undrained shear strength using various
vanes. Geotechnical Testing .Journal. GTJODJ:
Vol. 16. No.2. 228-237.
0100,S.Y. & Fredlund, D.G. 1996. A method for
determination of + n for statically compacted soils.
Canadian Geotechnical Journal: Vol. 33, 272-
280.
Vanapalli, S.K., Fredlund, D.G., Pufahl, D.E. &
Clifton, A.W. 1996. Model for the prediction of
shear strength with respect to soil suction. Cuna-
dian Geotechnical Journal: Vol. 33,379-392.

112
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 63 2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

‘Sensitivity ratio’ and ‘sampling disturbance’ of natural soils in terms

of degradation of soil structure
T. Noda, M. Nakano, A.Asaoka & K. Mizuno
Nagoya Uiiiversity,Japan

ABSTRACT: “Sensitivity ratio” and “sampling disturbance” of saturated clayey soils are numerically simu-
lated using super-subloading surface Cam-clay model. This elasto-plastic constitutive model describes the de-
gradation processes both from an overconsolidated state to a normally consolidated state and from a structured
state to a destructured state retaining the essentials of the original Cam-clay. The computational results show a
clear drop both in preconsolidation pressure and in the undrained shear strength due to the degradation of
structure that should occur as plastic shear deformation proceeds during sampling procedure. The higher the
degree of initial structure, the higher the sensitivity. Both a preconsolidation pressure drop and a shear
strength reduction can be quantitatively estimated to the degree of loss of soil structure due to sampling dis-
turbance.

1 INTRODUCTION 1963, Okumura 1974) are numerically simulated

A soil sample when taken without disturbance from
a natural saturated clay deposit exhibits higher
undrained strength than a fully remolded soil sample
keeping the same water content. The reason for whi-
ch is considered to be that the strength of a naturally
deposited soil is affected not only by void ratio but
also by degree or the state of structure of soil skele-
ton. A disturbed soil sample is the soil whose struc-
ture is partially destroyed by sampling procedure.
Sampling methods and sampling devices have been
improved so far so that they may give the least dis-
turbance to the soil samples (e.g., Okumura 1998).
In this study firstly sensitivity ratio, which is the
strength ratio of structured to remolded soils is ex-
amined for soils with different grades of structure
employing the original Cam-clay model with super-
loading yield surface concept (Asaoka et al. 2000).
This elasto-plastic constitutive model, together with
Hashiguchi( 1989)’s subloading yield surface con-
cept, describes the degradation processes both from
an overconsolidated state to a normally consolidated
state and from a structured state to a destructured
state. The superloading yield surface can represent
the softening of soil skeleton with plastic volume
compression under considerably low stress ratio that
should be a typical characteristic of highly structured
soils.
Secondly, in the present study, the effects of sam-
pling disturbance on the strength reduction and pre-
consolidation pressure drop (e.g., h d d & Lambe
through a soil water coupled computation, in which
the decay of soil structure proceeds with on going
plastic deformation due to sampling disturbance.
2 SUPERLOADING YIELD SURFACE CAM-
CLAY MODEL
2.1 A typical aspect of structured soils
Structured soils such as naturaJly deepsited clay,
loose sand etc. always seem bulky compared
with destructured soils: when stresses are the same,
the void ratio of the structured soil is always larger
than the destructured soil. In other words, for the
same void ratio, the structured soil can sustain larger
stresses than a remolded soil. Leroueil (1996)
showed an example of this kind through a series of
standard 24-h oedometer tests. This aspect means
that structured soils which are at normally consoli-
dated state, always take their state variables outside
the “Roscoe surface” of the original Cam-clay, i.e.,
in the “impossible state” for destructured soils.
Based on the facts mentioned above, a superload-
ing yield surface is newly introduced to the original
Cam-clay in order to place the state of structured soil
above the “Roscoe surface”, in which destructured
soils are assumed to follow the original Cam-clay.
The superloading yield surface gradually reaches the
Cam-clay yield surface as plastic deformation pro-
ceeds. Details on the evolution law of this kind are
given next.

113
Figure 1. Superloading surface and Cam-clay surface
2.2 Cam-clay, superloading and subloading yield
surfaces
A superloading yield surface is assumed to exist in
the impossible states for the original Cam-clay, i.e.,
outside the "Roscoe surface" (see Figure 1). This su-
perloading yield surface is similar in shape to the
original Cam-clay yield surface with the origin of
the "q-p' space" as the similarity center (see Figure
1). In the figure, T' is the effective Cauchy stress
tensor the tensile components of which are defined
as positive, p ' = -1/3(trT') is the mean e f f e c
tive stress and q =,//2s.sis the deviator stress,
while S = T' + p'l and I is an unit tensor. The simi-
larity ratio of the original Cam-clay yield surface to
the superloading yield surface in terms of stresses is
denoted by R" ( 0 < R" 2 l ) , see also Figure 1. This
ratio describes the degree of structure of the soil.
Structured soil, initially on the superloading yield
surface, becomes overconsolidated soil when un-
loading occurs. The soil in such an overconsolidated
state, when reloading occurs exhibits elasto-plastic
behavior that should again satisfy the normality rule
associated with the subloading yield surface (Hashi-
guchi 1978, 1989; Asaoka et al. 1997). The
subloading yield surface is again assumed to be
geometrically similar to the superloading yield sur-
face. The similarity ratio of the subloading yield sur-
face to the superloading yield surface in terms of
stresses is denoted by R ( 0 < R 2 l ) , see Figure 2.
The reciprocal of this R is the overconsolidation ra-
tio.
Most of natural soils are generally considered to
be in a structured overconsolidated state. Then the
current stress state of a structured overconsolidated
soil should always be on the subloading yield sur-
face. Since the similarity center of the three yield
surfaces is the origin of q-p' space, the similarity ra-
tios, R* and R are represented as follows:
114
Figure 2. Cam-clay model with super-subloading yield surface.
in which the current stress parameters are denoted by
q and p', while , j ' , and q*, p'* are the corre-
sponding projected stress parameters on the super-
loading and Cam-clay yield surfaces, respectively as
shown in Figure 2. From the above relationships and
original Cam-clay yield surface (Roscoe et al. 1963,
Asaoka et al. 1997), the superloading yield surface
can be written as follow:
d P
f ( P M + JtrD d z + M D l n R * - M D l n R (2)
where f is shape of the yield surface, D" denotes
plastic components of stretching D , M is the critical
state parameter of the original Cam-clay and D=( A" -
E)/M/(l+eo) is the dilatancy parameter, while A"
and E are the compression and swelling indexes re-
spectively. J in the yield function is expressed as J =
detF = (l+e)/ (l+eo), where F is the deformation
gradient tensor and 1+e and l+eo are the specific
volume at current (time t ) and reference (time t=O)
state, respectively. Thep'o" in Eq.(2) is the mean ef-
fective stress on the Cam-clay yield surface that cor-
responds to the initial mean effective stress proof the
soil in the reference state (see Figures 1 and 2).
2.3 Loading condition, softening and hardening
Plastic behavior of soil is assumed to follow the as-
sociated flow rule,
(3)
in which A denotes the plastic multiplier. Based on
the theory of unconventional plasticity, Prager's con-
sistency condition, which is the material time de-
rivative of Eq.(2), and "evolution laws" (Hashiguchi
1987) for both R and R* should determine the size of
subsequent yield surface. In the present paper, evo-
lution laws of R and R" are, for simplicity, given as:

respectively in which D: = D p - (trD")I/3. 11

denotes the Euclidean norm. in" in Eq.(4) and m in
Eq.(5) are called the degradation parameter of soil
structure and overconsolidated state, respectively.
Eq.(4) implies that soil structure decays due to on-
going deviator plastic deformation, while Eq.(5) that
overconsolidated state comes back to a normally
consolidated state(Hashiguchi 1987).
As a result one can get the plastic multiplier h
as:

Eq.(6) shows that the plastic multiplier A (> 0) has

the same form as that for original Cam-clay except
the term M, instead of M . That indicates there exists
three cases for loading:

- af
- - T ' =. 0 (perfect plastic) when q = M,p' (7)
aT'
af
-.T'> 0 (hardening) when q < M,p'
aT'
--af T ' < 0 (softening) when q > M,p'
(9)
aT'
Thus, the M , is the slope of the critical state line in q
- p f space that gives the watershed of the stress do-
main for hardening and softening.
Furthermore, the parameter M, for structured and
overconsolidated soil varies with the evolution of
both R" and R due to ongoing plastic deformation,
while the classical critical state parameter M is con-
stant throughout. The increase of R*, i.e. the degra-
dation of soil structure means increasing M, and the
increase of R, i.e. the degradation of overconsolidat-
ed state means decreasing M,.
2.4 Softening due to plastic compression
Concerning plastic volumetric change of the soil,
since the shape of any yield surface is similar to the
original Cam-clay, the critical state line, q=Mp', in q
- p ' space, retaining its original conception, gives the
watershed of plastic volumetric change domain for
plastic compression and expansion.
Therefore, when structured normally consolidated
soil (R = 1) is considered under loading, since M , <
M, then the soil should exhibit softening with plastic
volume compression if its stress state lies within M ,
p ' < q < Mp', see Figure 3. Based on the traditional
conception of the original Cam-clay, this behavior of
soil cannot be expected. This should occur naturally
due to the degradation of soil structure. However,
when structured and overconsolidated soil is the
case, since M, is a variable with ongoing plastic de-
formation, softening is not necessarily associated
with plastic expansion and hardening, not always as-
sociated with plastic compression. (see details in
Asaoka et al. 2000)
3 "SENSITIVITY RATIO" OF SOILS
3.1 Undrained shear behavior of structured soils
Sensitivity ratio, denoted by S, ; the strength ratio of
structured soils to remolded soils, is numerically in-
vestigated in this section. To make the examples
simple, plane strain undrained shear behavior is ex-
amined. The uniform simple shear deformation is
illustrated in Figure 4. The movement of material
points under constant volume condition is expressed
by;
x1 =x,+ ( Y t ) X ? , X ? =xz,x3 =x3 (10)

115
Figure 5. Typical behavior of structured soils.(Normally consolidated soils, Ro=l.0)
Figure 6. Typical behavior of structured soils.(Overconsolidated soils, Ro=0.67)
Figure 7. Behavior of “highly structured soils”.(S, =10 , 100)
in which (XI, X?, X1)‘ is the position vector of the
material point at reference state in Cartesian system,
while (xl,x2,~ 3 is that
) ~ at current state. The 7 in
Eq.(lO) is a positive constant and the time t is an in-
creasing variable from zero. The deformation field
of Eq.(lO) yields stretching and rotation, by which
stress response of the soil is computed through the
constitutive equation. Tabulated in Table1 are the
elasto-plastic soil parameters together with the initial
conditions of the soil under isotropic stress condi-
tions.
Undrained shear behavior of norrnally consolidat-
ed soils (the initial value of R, Xo=l.O) with same
void ratios and different initial values of R’(= R’o)
is illustrated in Figure 5. Similarly, the undrained
116
shear behavior of overconsolidated soils (R0=0.67)is
shown in Figure 6. In those figures soil structure de-
gradation is also indicated in terms of R* for highly
structured soil of R*o= 0.25. As shown in the figures,
even for a normally consolidated soil, if the soil is in
structured state, it exhibits a peak in its stress-strain
curve, and also softening below q=Mp‘ line which is
the critical state line of the non-structured original
Cam-clay.
These figures also show the well-known fact that
the higher the degree of structure (i.e. small R*), the
higher the peak value, and the same is true for the
soil stiffness. As €or the shear strain at peak, also
found is the well-known fact that the higher the peak
value, the smaller the shear strain value. The behav-
ior in Figures 5-6 is very similar to typical behavior
of structured soils(e.g., Yashima et a1.1999).
Table 1. Material constants and initial conditions
Compression index X O.lS1
Swelling index F? 0.040
Critical state constant M 1.35
Specific volume at p‘”=l(kPa) N 3.01
Poisson’s ratio v 0.3
Degradation parameter of structure 112‘ 0.8
Degradation parameter of overconsolidation state 172 10.0
Initial value of it(, 1.7
Table 2. Material constants and initial conditions
Compression index h” 0.131
Swelling index i\: 0.07545
Critical state constant M 1.53
Specific volume at p’o=l(kPa) N 2.57
Poisson’s ratio ’J 0.3
Degradation parameter of structure in* 0.8
Degradation parameter of overconsolidation state ‘?I 1.0
Coefficent of permeability k (cm/sec) 7.8 x 10-’
Specific gravity G, 2.6
Initial value of R 4 (Ro’) 0.025
Initial overconsolidation ratio 1/Ro 1.2
According to Figure 5 , one could get S, as 2.3 for
the structured soil with Ro=1.0 and X*o=0.25.
In Figure 7, the undrained shear behavior of
highly structured soils is illustrated in which Sr=10
and 100 are examined. In the computation, confined
pressures on three soils are assumed to be 98,1647
and 16785 kPa so that the soils have the same speci-
fic volume.
4 SAMPLING “DISTURBANCE” OF SOILS
4.1 Sarnpling procedure
The typical effects of sampling disturbance are ob-
served in the decay of “consolidation yield stress”
and in the undrained shear strength reduction. The
disturbance mainly comes from (1) release of in-situ
stresses and (2) mechanical operations, which occur
during penetration of sampler, removal of a soil
sample from the sampler, transportation causing vi-
bration and safekeeping of soil sample, repeated ap-
plied load at trimming, etc.
To observe the decay behavior clearly with sam-
pling procedure, here, the triaxial soil specimen is
modeled as a single finite element for soil-water
coupled simulation (Asaoka et al. 1994). The
boundary conditions for deformation and seepage are
illustrated in Figure 8. The material constants and
initial condition of structured soil are shown in Ta-
ble2. The sampled soil, for simplicity, is assumed to
be in an isotropic stress state and at 148.4 kPa corre-
sponding to the depth of ground of about 20m.
4.2 Decay of “preconsolidation stress ” of soil
Here, sampling procedure and 1-dimensional tests
are simulated as the following (1)-(4) steps:
( I ) Isotropic release of initial stress
The initial stress due to overburden is removed up to
148 kPa allowing top seepage boundary drainage.
The specimen exhibits elastic unloading due to
swelling, which naturally leads small volume expan-
sion to a certain extent.
(2) Undrained cyclic shear for giving “sampling
disturbance”
The top boundary is now changed to be imperme-
117
able. Vertical displacement under constant confined
pressure is first applied up to that the height of spe-
cimen becomes equal to 1cm. Next the top boundary
is changed to constant stress boundary and the com-
pression by lateral displacement is applied until the
radius of the sample becomes to 1cm. A series of
this cyclic procedure is repeated about 3 times.
(3) Drained compression up to initial stress state
The top boundary is again changed to be permeable.
The effective stress state is changed monotonously
up to the initial in-situ state i.e. initial overburden
stress at 20m depth by vertical and radial displace-
ment control. Void ratio of the disturbed sample is
consequently, less than that of undisturbed sample.
(4) 1-dimensional compression tests
As a final step, radial displacement is restrained and
vertical load is applied at a rate of 3.0 X lO-’kPa/sec.
The computational results are shown in Figures
9(a)-(c) comparing with I-D compression test for an
“undisturbed soil” under same in-situ stress at 20m
depth. Furthermore, Casagrande(1967)’s method is
used to get “preconsolidation stress” for disturbed
and undisturbed soils. The preconsolidation stresses
of the undisturbed and disturbed soil are 875 kPa
and 805 kPa, respectively. As a consequence due to
degradation of soil structure, the difference of “ap-
parent” normally consolidation line and decay of
“apparent” preconsolidation stress can be observed.
4.3 Undrained peak strength reduction
Undrained shear tests are simulated along the fol-
lowing ( 5 ) and (6) steps just after the finish of the
former (1) and (2) steps:
( 5 ) Isotropic consolidation with drainage
At 3‘d radial compression in the step (2), the radial
compression is finished at almost q=O. After that, the
top is set to permeable boundary and a small iso-
tropic consolidation pressure is applied so that the
soil sample is compressed to reach the same specific
volume as that of in-situ undisturbed sample. This
step means that undrained shear strength is to be
compared between disturbed and undisturbed sam-
ples under almost the same specific volume.
Figure 8. Finite element mesh and boundary conditions.
(6) Undrained shear tests
In this step, the top boundary is again set to be im-
permeable and the vertical displacement is applied
under constant confined pressure.
The computational results are given in Figures
lO(a)-(c). The peak strength reduction can be clearly
observed in a disturbed sample, which should be due
to degradation of soil structure during sampling and
testing procedures.
5 CONCLUSION
The effects of “sampling disturbance” in terms of a
preconsolidation pressure drop and a shear strength
reduction were attributed to the degradation of
structure of in-situ soil skeleton. In order to describe
the decay of the soil structure quantitatively, the su-
per-subloading yield surface Cam-clay model is
newly introduced. Numerical results show that the
empirical topics on “Sensitivity ratio” and “Sam-
pling disturbance” are still the topics within the
framework of the elasto-plastic computational soil
mechanics.
REFERENCE
Asaoka, A., Nakano, M. & Noda, T. 1994. Soil-water coupled
behaviour of saturated clay near/at critical state, Soils d
Foundations. 34(1): 91-106.
118
Asaoka, A., Nakano, M. & Noda, T. 1997. Soil-water coupled
behaviour of heavily overconsolidated clay near/at critical
state, Soils B Foundations. 37(1): 13-28.
Asaoka, A., Nakano, M. & Noda, T. 2000. Superloading yield
surface concept for highly structured soil behavior, Soils cC
Foundations. to appear.
Casagrande, A. 1967. The determination of the pre-
consolidation load and its practical significance, John Wiley
&Sons, 111c.l72-73.
Okumura, T. 1974. Research on clay disturbance and im-
provement of sampling procedure, Dr. Eng. thesis, Kyoto
Universify (in Japanease).
Okumura, T. 1998. Recent sampling techniques, Tsuchi to
Kiso, JGS. 46(5): 3-5.
Hashiguchi, K. 1978. Plastic constitutive equations of granular
materials, Proc. of US-Japari Seminar on Continuum Mech.
and Stat. Appr. in the Mech. of Granular. Muterials(Cowin,
S.C. and Satake, M. eds.), Sendai, JSSMFE. :331-329.
Hashiguchi, K. 1989. Subloading surface model in unconven-
tional plasticity, Inter.. Jour. of Solids & Structiires. 25:
91 7-945.
Ladd, C. C. & Lambe, T. W. 1963. The strength of undisturbed
clay determined from undrained tests, STP-36 1, ASTM.
Leroueil, S. 1996. Compressibility of clays: fundamental and
practical aspects, Journal of Geotechnical Engirieering,
ASCE. 122(7): 534-543.
Roscoe, K. H., Schofield, A. N. & Thurairajah, A. 1963.
Yielding of clays in state wetter than critical, Geotcchnique.
13: 211-240.
Yashima, A., Shigematsu, H. & Nagaya, J. 1999.
Microstructure and geotechnical properties of Pleistocene
clay, Proc. of the 11th Asian Reg. Cotif: on Soil Mech. and
Geotecli. Eng. Korea, 1: 7-10.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Mechanism of aging effect of alluvial marine clays with wide range

of plasticity

N.Noriyasu
Chuden Engineering Consultunts Compuny Limited, Yumuguchi, Jupun
M. Hyodo
Depurtment of Civil Engineering, Yumuguchi University, Ube,Japan
N.Miura
Department of Civil Engineering, Sugu UniversiQ, Japan

ABSTRACT: This research aims at detail investigating the aging effect of alluvial marine clays with a wide
range of plasticity in Setonaikai Inland Sea. At first, a new evaluation procedure based on log f-log p relation-
ship is presented so that it is made possible to grasp precisely the compressibility of these marine clays with
wide range of plasticity, and then the study on emerging mechanism of aging effect on full amount of effect
as well as on compressibility were conducted.

1 INTRODUCTION range of plasticity. Therefore it is important to clari-

Plasticity of alluvial marine clays deposited in
coastal region of Japan is widely scattered. Aging ef-
fect that have an affect not only on consolidation but
also on strength of the clay ground are greatly dif-
ferent with the varying degree of plasticity. As to
these aging effect, basic unsolved problems exist
with respect to the influential degree and the influ-
ential qualities owing to cementation as well as de-
layed compression of clay. Until now, research
works have been carried out on re-consolidation of
clays at high temperature, which is a kind of dupli-
cation procedure of aged clay.
However to assess a precondition for the research,
investigations have not been carried out adequately
o n actual state of aging effect of alluvial marine
clays and also the unified interpretation on emerging
mechanism of the aging effect has not been done es-
pecially on the condition of the clay having wide
fy the emerging mechanism of aging effect with
wide range of clay's plasticity and also to take into
account appropriately the aging effect for the design
of soft ground as well as construction works.
In this paper, authors present study on emerging
mechanism of the aging effect of alluvial marine
clays in Setonaikai Inland Sea of Japan.
2 GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF CLAY OF
INVESTIGATED REGION
Alluvial marine clays of Yanai bay and Hiroshima
bay are investigated. These geotechnical properties
are shown in Fig.2-1 and Fig.2-2 respectively.
In Yanai bay region, the seabed elevation is from
1.0m to 4.0m below the sea cardinal datum level,
under which deposited the seabed alluvial marine
clay for a depth of 15m to 18m and its plasticity in-
dices i.e. I, mainly vary from 25 to 64, with the av-

Fig.2-1 Geotechnical properties of Yanai bay clay with lower and medium plasticity

119
Fig.2-2 Geotechnical properties of Hiroshima-bay clay with medium and higher plasticity

Fig.3-4 Cc*4,7/Cc*9,4- log 6 relationship based on log

- log I, relationship based on e-log
Fig.3-2 Cc4.7/CF,,,
p relationship
erage value of 49. On the other hand, in Hiroshima
bay region the seabed elevation is from 10.0m to
15.0m below the sea cardinal datum level, under
which deposited the seabed alluvial marine clay for
a depth of 12m to 16m and its plasticity (I,) mainly
vary from 40 to 105 having the average value of 84.
Plasticity indices are scattered within a definite
range respectively, and it is found that the plasticity
scattering range of two regions differs with a partial
duplication.
f-log p relationship
3 NEW EVALUATION PROCEDURE BASED
ON LOG F-LOG P RELATIONSHIP
3.1 The fitndainental properties of e-log p
relationship and log f - log p relationship
The e-log p relationship have been conventionally
utilized as a basic method of evaluating consolida-
tion properties of the soft ground. In this paper, on
account of the fact that the aging effect is required to
be precisely evaluated with relationship between e
(or f=l+e) and p especially on condition of wide
range of clay’s plasticity, it is necessary to investi-

120
gate the fundamental properties of e-log p relation-
ship.
A system of e-log p relationships for clay’s wide
range of plasticity is shown in Fig.3-1. It is pointed
out that cementation of clays results in compression
indices i.e. C, to increase at the nearby consolidation
yield stress i.e. pc. This cementation effect is inferred
to decrease with increase of consolidation pressure.
In order to get rid of this effect, it is necessary to in-
vestigate the properties of C, at the highest mean
consolidation pressure and the next to highest mean
consolidation pressure that are inferred to be nearly
missing of aging effect. The relationship between
the ratio Cc,,/Cc,, and log I, is shown in Fig.3-2,
where Cc, 7 , Cc, ,are Cc at mean consolidation pres-
sure 4.7 X IO’pa, 9.4X lO’pa respectively as shown in
Fig.3-1. The ratio Cc,,/Cc,, increases as shown in
Fig.3-2 with direct proportion to log I,, where
Cc, ,/Cell, means non-linearity in plasticity range of
e-log p relationship under condition that pressure is
several times larger than pc. This fact means that its
non-linearity is controlled with I, as follows. In the
range of I, higher than the range from 20 to 30,
plasticity range of e-log p show concave shaped re-
lationships whose non-linearity degree is propor-
tionate to magnitude of log I,. In the range of I, from
20 to 30, the plasticity range of e-log p show linear
relationships. And in the range of I, lower than the
range from 20 to 30, the plasticity range of e-log p
show convex shaped relationships. These character-
istics of non-linearity are an accompanied by the e-
log p relationship.
While a system of log f-log p relationship for the
wide range of clay’s plasticity is shown Fig.3-3, and
the relationship between the ratio Cc*, ,/CcAIl4and
log I, is shown in Fig.3-4, where C C ~ , Cc*,, ~ , are
consolidation indices based on log f-log p relation-
ship and are the same values as Cc,,, Cc,, respec-
tively and hereinafter these will be called logarith-
mic consolidation indices. As shown in Fig.3-4 the
ratio CcA,,/CC“,~based on log f-log p relationship is
approximately 1.0 for the wide range of 1, that larger
than the range from 20 to 30.
Therefore the above mentioned facts prove that the Fig.3-7 An explanatory C*, - f, C,* - pJp, relation-
affects of compressibility influenced by aging effect ship based on log f-log p relationship
could be precisely grasped through the use of log f-
log p relationship rather than e-log p relationship es-
pecially for the clay with wide range of plasticity. 3.2 New evaluation procedure based on log f-log p
Here, for the range of I, lower than 30, the plasticity relationship
range obtained from e-log p relationship and log f-
log p relationship show convex shaped non-linearity. C,-e and C,-p,,/p, relationships and C,”-f (=l+e) and
These soils have the intermediate properties between C,’:-p,Jp, relationships are shown in Fig.3-5 and
clay and sand and are essentially distinguished from Fig.3-6 respectively for the clay with wide range of
clays. In this paper, detail study on aging effect of plasticity. These two relationships are transfigured
these soils are excluded. from e-log p relationship and log f-log p relationship
respectively. P, is mean consolidation pressure and
is normalized with pc that is determined by Ca-
sagrande’s procedure, because pc are almost consis-

121
tent with p," that are determined by the log f-log p
relationship. These two relationships are equivalent
to e-log p relationship and log f-log p relationship
respectively. From these figures, it is clearly grasped
that the compression indices (C,) and logarithmic
compression indices (C,") depend not only on initial
void ratio e, (or initial volume ratio f,) that are
closely related with plasticity I, (see Fig.3-8) but al-
so on consolidation pressure. And on account of the
fact that consolidation pressure are normalized with
pc it is possible to evaluate compressibility of clay
with elastic range as well as plasticity range in the
same light.
In e-log p relationship as shown in Fig.3-5, all of C,
have their peak values at the values of pJpc 1.5 and
3.0 and they decrease greatly without showing con-
stant value except for initial void ratio less than 1.2.
These are clearly accompaniment properties of the e-
log p relationship as described in 3-1. Generally
there is a linearity assumption of plasticity range for
e-log p relationship upon calculation of the settle-
ment of the soft ground as well as on construction of
constitutive equation. This assumption is not neces-
sarily certain for e-log p relationship.
Here fundamental properties of log f-log p relation-
ship are described in explanatory Fig.3-7 as follows.
In log f-log p relationship as shown in Fig.3-7, there
are three compressibility types over a range of plas-
ticity. Namely accompanied with increase of con-
solidation pressure (i.e. pdp,), I type : C," shows
minimum curvature and then gently increase,
type : C,* shows peak value and then shows constant
value, m type : C," shows peak value and then de-
crease. At maximum value of the usual order of con-
solidation pressure, there are tendencies that C,"
converge to some definite value corresponding to
plasticity indices.
From the log f-log p relationship as shown in Fig.3-
7, the following values are picked up to investigate
compressibility properties in detail.
Cc"U : C," at minimum curvature with the range of
pmlarger than p, in C,"- pJpc relationship as
shown in Fig.3-7.
C,",, li,,3, : C," at final (maximum) pressure (6.3X 10'
pa or 12.5 X 10' pa) of consolidation test.
C,*:D : C," at minimum curvature with the range of
c, p,2: less
:"/c than pc in (2,"- p,/p, relationship.
r,nnl : the value of designating three com-
Cc*U/Cc*al final into three types, namely 1 type, ty-
pe and mtype which have in terms of values less
than 1.0, almost equal to 1.0 and larger than 1.0 re-
spectively.
Relationship between C," and Ip and relationship
between f and Ip are shown in Fig.3-8, where C,*U,
C,",, final are designated as C," and f, (i.e. initial
volume ratio), f cc*u and fa, are designated as f.
In the range of I, larger than 30, Cc*31 final-Iprelation-
ship is almost linear and C,"U are distributed un-
evenly around Cc*alfinal. While in the range of I,
larger than 30, f,-I, relationship and fa, cc.u -1p rela-
tionship show almost linearity running parallel to
each other, and fa, rinnl-Ip relationship shows almost
linearity. Especially the evidence of clear linear re-
lationship between not only C,":,, fin;il and I, but also
between fa,f i n a l and I, respectively show that in C,"-f
relationship, as shown in Fig.3-6, there are definite
converged C," value corresponding to I, at final
consolidation pressure of normal pressure range alt-
hough compressibility types adjacent to pc are dif-
ferent. These evidence also shows that there are ul-
timate standard compression curve pointed out by
Tsuchida, It is emphasized that these converged val-
ues are certainly designated in log f-log p relation-
ship but these values are not certainly designated in
e-log p relationship. Furthermore a linearity as-
sumption of plasticity range is certain for log f-log p
relationship.
n

pressibility types as well as degree of non-

linearity adjacent to p,.
Conventionally maximum consolidation indices ad-
jacent to p,, C,,,, based on e-log p relationship, has
been utilized for investigation of consolidation.
C,"U based on log f-log p relationship is designated
clearly at minimum curvature in not only I type but
also m
and types and is inferred to the value rep-
resenting compressibility of plasticity range in the
same way as a conventional one. Compressibility
types of plasticity range are classified with Fig.3-8 C," - Ip, f - Ip relationship based on log f-log
p relationship
122

From the f,-I, relationship, as shown in Fig.3-8, in
the range of I, less than 30, f, decrease extremely
getting out of straight linear relationship, therefore
there are a lower limit of I, that is nearly 30. It shall
upkeep the straight linear relationship.
123
4 EMERGING MECHANISM OF AGING
EFFECT OF CLAY WITH WIDE RANGE OF
PLASTICITY
4.1 An outline offull amount of aging effect,
compressibility and strength-strain properties
Relationships of I,, e,, effective overburden pressure
p,, consolidation yield pressure p,, p,-p,, C,*U, C,,,,
Rc=C,”U/C,,,, flnn,, unconfined compressive
strength and its failure strain to corresponding ele-
vation of cardinal datum are shown in Fig.2-1 and
Fig.2-2.
As for pc-povalues, they are inferred to full amount
of aging effect and art: larger with lower and medi-
um range of plasticity of clay at Yanai bay as shown
in Fig.2-1, while pc-povalues are smaller with medi-
um and higher range of plasticity of clay at Hiroshi-
ma bay in Fig.2-2. At both regions pc-p, values don’t
become larger but are of almost constant value with
increase of effective overburden pressure.
As for compressibility properties I type i.e. Rc<l.O
emerged not only in lower range of I, less than from
30 to 40 as shown in Fig.2-1 but also at lower over-
burden pressure less than 0.2 x10’pa as shown in
Fig2-2. type i.e. Rc almost equal to 1.0 emerged
at relatively lower pressure in the lower and medium
range of I, as shown in Fig 2-1 as well as at the pres-
sure from 0.2X 10’ to 0.5 X 105pa in the higher range
of I, as shown in Fig.2-2. type i.e. R o l . 0
emerged at the pressure larger than 0.1 X 105or 0.2X
10’ pa in the range of I, from 40 to 70 as shown in
Fig.3-8 too, and the values of Rc have a tendency to
increase accompanied with increase of effective
overburden pressure as shown in Fig.2-1.
As for unconfined compressive strength and its fail-
ure strain, the strength with the lower and medium
range of I, that is shown in Fig.2-1 are twice times
larger than that with the higher range of I, that is
shown in Fig.2-2. While failure strains with the low-
er and medium range of I, are generally as half times
smaller than that with the higher range of I,.
As shown in Fig.2-2, aging effect of the ground with
the higher range of I, is smaller and it is found that
the ground is ultra soft when observed from the
strength and strain properties.
4.2 Emerging niechanisnz of aging effect with wide
range of plasticity
Relationships of pc-pI,,Rc=C,”U/C,.,, f,na, and p, cor-
responding to I, are shown in Fig.4-1. As shown in
Fig.4-1 p,-po, Rc are greatly affected by Ip.
With an aim to investigate the dependence of pc-po
as well as Rc on p,, grouping (p,,Ip) datum with
close values as shown in p,-I, relationship of Fig.4-
1, average value (p,-p,, Rc, po, I,) at each groups are
plotted showing relationship between p,-p, and I, as
well as relationship between Rc and I, and contour
lines are roughly drafted using solid lines.
Consequently in Fig.4-1 full amount of aging effect
p,-po didn't necessarily increase with the increase of
effective overburden pressure although scarce its in-
crease with increase of p,. This fact is consistence
with the fact that p,-p, didn't increase with depth di-
rection as mentioned in Fig.2-1,2-2 in para.4.1.
While Rc has tendency to increase with p,, as
roughly shown in Fig.4-1 though it is not necessarily
easy to draw certain contour line of p, because of its
uneven distribution.
The relationships between C,*U/C,.,, and f,,, 1,
and f,, as well as the relationships between p,-po and
f,, I, and f, are shown in Fig.4-2. In the range of I,
larger than 30, f, is in linear relationship with I,,
therefore the differences of not only pc-p, but also
Rc with the degree of plasticity are inferred to have
close relationship with f,. For f, of natural deposited
clays represents some agents of soil arrangement,
soil structure, soil density, void distribution, cations
on clay materials and so on.
The influence of aging effect with plasticity I, on not
only pc-p, but also Rc are grasped from Fig.4-1,
Fig.4-2.
As shown in Fig.4-1, in the medium range of I, from
40 to 70, namely the range off, from 3.2 to 4.0, full
amount of aging effect pc-po became larger with al-
most in proportion to reduction of I, on account of
proceeding with delayed consolidation as well as
cementation. In the same range of I,, compressibility
of type mostly emerged with fairly large Rc (see
Fig3-8), although compressibility of 1 type
emerged at p, less than about 0.1 X 105pa. Judging
from Rc, it is usually inferred that cementation
causes Rc increase, cementation effect became
larger with the increase of effective overburden
pressure p,. However, the dependence of pc-p, on p,
can't be necessarily confirmed in the relationship
between p,-po and I,. In this ground its strength
comparatively became larger accompanied by less
failure strain.
In the high range of I, from 70 to 100, namely the
range off, from 4.0 to 4.8, aging effect p,-p, became
smaller and compressibility of I type emerged at p,
less than 0.2X 105pa and accompanied with increase
of po, compressibility of type emerged. Rc be-
came larger with the increase of effective overbur-
den pressure too. Although compressibility types are
I and , namely R c S 1, there is inferred to be
weak cementation effect because of the less degree
of failure strains as shown in Fig.2-2 than the failure
strains of remolded clay.
In the lower I, less than 40, namely f , less than 3.2,
pc-pohas extremely large values. However these val-
ues of p, have vague problem as to its calculation
because its e-log p relationships show an extremely
convex shape. While Rc became smaller and in the
I, less than 20, compressibility of I type mostly
emerged.
124
5 CONCLUSION
The authors investigate aging effect and its emerging
mechanism of clays with wide range of plasticity.
The following main points can be concluded.
1) Non-linearity in plasticity range of e-log p rela-
tionship at higher pressure range is controlled by I,.
While the plasticity range of log f-log p shows linear
relationship regardless of the value of I, in the range
of I, larger than 30. Therefore compressibility effect
affected by aging effect could be precisely grasped
through the use of log f-log p relationship.
2) In the C,*-f, C,*-p,,,/p, relationships based on log
f-log p, three compressibility types are clearly classi-
fied with Rc=C,*U/C,*,, that shows degree of
non-linearity at nearby p,. At final consolidation
pressure of normal range, definite converged Cc'i'
values exist corresponding to 1,only on log f-log p
relationship even though compressibility types at
nearby p, are different.
3) Not only full amount of aging effect p,-p, but also
compressibility types Rc at nearby pc are greatly af-
fected with I,. Rc are intensely affected by pc,but pc-
pClare not necessarily affected by po.
4) With the range of I, larger than 30 p,-p, became
larger with reduction of I,. P,-p, and Rc as well be-
came comparatively larger especially in the medium
range of I, from 40 to 70 because the delayed con-
solidation and cementation are in progress. In the
range of I, from 70 to 100, Rc values are less than
nearly 1.0 and that pc-p, became smaller, then ultra
soft ground emerged.
5 ) The difference of these aging effect has a close
relationship with initial volume ratio f,, the values of
which are in linear relationship with I,. For it is to be
inferred that f, represents some agents of soil ar-
rangement, soil structure, soil density and void dis-
tribution.
Using the above mentioned procedures, the unified
interpretation of emerging mechanism of aging ef-
fect with wide range of plasticity is possible.
REFERENCES
- Bjerrum L. (1967) :Engineering geology of Nor-
wegian normally-consolidated marine clays as
related to settlements of buildings, geotechnique
- Tsuchida T., Kobayashi M., Mizukami J. & Ta-
naka M. (1989) : Duplication of aged clay by
consolidating clay slurry at higlz tenzprerature,
Report of the port and harbour reseurclz institute
- Tsuchida T. & Gomyo M. (1995) : Unified nzodeI
of e-log p relationship with the consolidation of
the effect of initial void ratio, Proc. of 30th IS-
Hiroshima '95, pp.379-384
- Yoshida, Y., Noriyasu, N., Hyodo M., Miura N.&
Miake K. (1995) :On the aging effect of the clay
ground, Proc. of 30th annual meeting of
JSSMFE, pp. 455-458
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) CC2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15I 1

Deformation and strength characteristics of clay obtained by direct shear

apparatus equipped with bender elements

TOgino & H.Oikawa

Fuculty of Engineeriiig mid Resource Science, Akitu University, Jupun
T. Mitachi
Gruclucite School of EiiRineering, Hokkuick:,University, Supporo, Jupcm

ABSTRACT: Shear modulus G of clayey soil at small strain level is discussed in this paper. The authors devel-
oped a new direct shear apparatus which is equipped with loadcells at inside wall o f the shear box and a pair o f
bender elements (BE) at the top and bottom plates so that mean effective stress U', and shear modulus G can
be evaluated during consolidation and shear processes of consolidated constant volume direct shear test. Based
o n a series of test results, the relationships among void ratio c, mean effective consolidation stress CT,,' and
shear modulus G are compared with the relationships among e, CT,' and Young's modulus E measured by cyclic
iriaxial loading. A simple equation is proposed based on the observed relationships and it is also shown that the
change of G in and alter secondary consolidation is due t o the combined effects of development or deteriora-
tion of soil structure and change of void ratio. Strong dependency of shear modulus G measured by B E during
constant volume direct shear test on the effective mean stress (T,' is also found and the relationship between
shear strength and shear modulus G is discussed.

1 INTRODUCTION two 2- CO m po n c n t 1o adc e 11s which arc ins t a1I e d inside

Though soil materials are distinguished in those plas-
tic bchavior, i t is known that they bchavc elastically
in micro strain range 10 ' or less. For the purpose of
predicting soil deformation in this range, elastic shear
modulus G is essential design parameter. On the ath-
er hand, the value of G is influenced by stress o r
strain level and, especially in 'igcd soil, by secondary
consolidation and cementation o f particles. I t is
t h c re 10 re n cccssar y to i nv cst i ga t e t h c i r c 1fe c t s on t h c
deformation characteristics in order to make appro-
priate cvaluation o f G value.
From a point of view mentioned above, deforma-
tion and strength characteristics arc invcstigatcd in
this paper based on the results of consolidated con-
slant volume test on clayey soil using newly designed
direct shear apparatus equipped with ;i pair of bender
clcmcnts.
2 TEST APPARATUS A N D EXPERlh4l:NT
of the lower shear box in order to measure the lateral
pressure q,and the frictional forece between the spe-
cimen and inside wall of the shear box.
2.2 Bender Element System
In this paper, G is evaluated by bender clement test
(BET) in which the arrival time of shear wave from
one BE to another is measured. Fig.1 shows the BE
system composed o f a pair o f BE that makcs o r rc-
ccivcs shear waves, a function generator that makcs
rectangular pulse of which frequency is lOOHz, and a
oscilloscope that evaluates the arrival time o f shear
wave. G is c:ilculatcd by using the following equation
c;=p ' V
t s
where p, is wet density of the soil and V, is shear
~ a v velocity
e estimated by thc arrival time and the
tip-to-tip distance of BE. G values calculated from
Eq.(l) are represented as G,,:, in the rest of this pa-
per.

2.1 Diwct Sheur Appuruius 2.3 Sample and Testing Merhod.5

A direct shear apparatus equipped with bcndcr ele-
ment (BE) system, discussed in the following section,
is used. Fig.1 shows the detail o f the shear box. A
pair of BE ;ire fixed vertically at the top and bottom
plates. T h e shear box has been dcsigncd for reclan-
gular specimen(h0 X 60mm) and is equipped with
Test specimens are made by reconstituting powdered
clay at about twice as high water content as liquid
limit and consolidated in a preconsolidation cell at
cr,,=150 kPa for 10 days. The physical properties of
the sample arc as follows; p,=2.78 g/cm', LL=55%,
Ip=26 and clay content is 99%.

125

Specimens have square area of 60mm X 60mm and
height of 40mm. Consolidated constant volume di-
rect shear tests are performed as following processes;
loading o r reloading in order to obtain prescribed
strcss history, evaluation o f G by BET at the end o f
each loading o r reloading stage, and shearing at the
shear rate O.lmm/min until shear displacement
reaches to 7mm. In some cases, G is also evaluated
during shear. As for the determination of arrival time
o f the shear wave, frequency of input shear wave and
its lorm, some investigations have been made (Vig-
126
giani et a1.(1995) and Jovicic et a1.(1996)). In this
paper, the rectangular wave of which frequency is
10OHz is used as input wave and the arrival time is
determined by the peaks of the input and output
wave.
3 EFFECTS O F STRESS HISTORY A N D
STRESS SYSTEM O N G VALUE
3.1 The relationship among void ratio, conlining
pressure and G
According to Hardin (1978), G value of soils sub-
jected to isotropic consolidation may be expressed as
where f(e) is void ratio function, p' is mean effective
stress, pCIis reference stress, O C R is overconsolida-
tinn ratio and S, n, k arc exponents, respectively. On
the othcr hand Jamiolkowski ct al. (1994) proposed
Eq.(3):
where S,.,,is ;i material constant rcllccting the current
soil structure, or is reference stress, U,.' is vertical cl-
fcctivc stress, q1'is horizontal effective stress and n,.,
n,, are exponents, respectively. Note t h a t Eqs.(2) and
(3) arc functions o f void ratio and confining pressure.
Based o n the result o f BET and in-situ seismic cone
test for several kinds o f clays, Shibuya et al. (1997)
proposed the void ratio function as following equa-
tion:
Fig.2 shows the effects of stress history on the
de f o rm a t ion pa ra m c t c rs ob t a i n c d by pr c sc n t a u t h o r s'
direct shear (DS) apparatus o r triaxial compression
(TC) apparatus (Kawaguchi et al. (1999)). (T,,,' i n the
result of DS has been estimated by q1'mcasurcd by
loadcells installed inside the lower shear box. Fig.3
shows the relationships bctwccn CT,' and G,<,!-,. from
BET and bctwccn U,,,' and E from undraincd cyclic
triaxial tcst. BET can be regarded as a tcst pcrlormcd
in undraincd condition because strain caused by BET
is so small to change the volume 0 1 specimen. Pois-
son's ratio v is therefore considered to be 0.5 on both
tests. Fig.4 shows the relationships bctwccn void r;i-
tio c and G,,,?, o r E corresponding to Figs.3 and 4.
Although thcsc relationships are slightly curved in
overconsolidated state, especially in Figs.3 and 4,
they are assumed to be straight lines in both over and
normally consolidated state. Since these relationships
can be considered as projections of each plane of
e-lnc~,,'-lnG,, space, G is given by Eqs.(S) and (6)
as functions of U',
in normally consolidated state:
A lationship is linear and has slope of 0.238 and an in-
in over consolidated state:
where h and 11are inclinations of the fitting line of
observed data (solid line) in Figs.3 and 5, r and A are
the values of e corresponding to o,'=lkPa and G
=1MPa in normally consolidated state and K and 5
are inclinations in overconsolidated in Figs.3 and 5.
3.2 The Relutionship between G und E
In comparing the value of G and E, it is necessary to
consider the magnitude of 0', or e because, as men-
tioned earlier, they are effected by both of these val-
ues. From the comparison of G and E values for the
same value of 0,' in Fig.3 or e in Fig.4 in normally
consolidated state, it seems that E/GB,,. is not varied
with 0,' or e because of their parallel relationships.
But the value of E/GB, in Fig.3 (=2.2) is not the
same as that in Fig.4 (=3.0). It is due to the dis-
agreement of the e-lno,' relation in Fig.2, caused by
the difference of initial void ratio or stress condition
of consolidation, that is isotropic or anisotropic.
GB, normalized by f(e) is plotted against o\,'oh'in
logarithmic scale in Fig.5. It can be seen that the re-
tercept of 25.2. It implies that G from BET is given
by Eq.(7) for any value of o,,',U,' and e.
G = 25.2. (1+ e)-2.4 . (av'.ah (7)
Broken lines shown in Figs.4 and 5 are calculated
from o,,',oh'and e of TC by Eq.(7). It can be seen
that this is a little smaller than GB,T(s~lid line). This
can directly be compared with E corresponding to
each other because the disagreement of e and om'in
Fig.2 is removed and then the value of E/G is calcu-
lated to be about 2.4
According to the theory of elasticity, the relation-
ship between E and G of elastic body can be given as
following equation:
where v is Poisson's ratio. In case of undrained con-
dition, Eq.(8) gives
E
G=-
3
G given by Eq.(9) is also shown in Figs.4 and 5 in
dot-dashed line. It can be seen from the comparison
of this line and the broken one in Figs. 4 and 5 that G
from BET is 20% larger than that given by Eq.(9)
even if the disagreement of c and U,' in Fig.2 is re-
moved.

4 EFFECT O F SECONDARY CONSOLIDATION

ON DEFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS

Figs.7 and 8 show the result of consolidation test in

which q ' is kept to be 200 kPa for 2 weeks, the
former shows the change of e and the latter shows
that of G,, against elapsed time. The time of end of
primary consolidation t,, is 270 min in Fig.6 (A) and
coefficient of secondary consolidation C,,,=0.002 is
obtained by the slope after ,,t (A-B). It can be seen
from Fig.7 that G,, increases exponentially with
time in about 15% at point B. Note that thc change
of G,,,,. from A to B is relatively larger than that of
L.

Fig.8(a) shows e-lntr,' relationship in secondary

Fig.5 The relationship of In(G,,,/f(e))
consolidation (A-B) and during loading alter that (B-
D) and Fig,8(b) shows e-lnG,,frr relationship corrc-
sponding to Fig.8(a). It can bc seen that G,, , in-
creases with decrease of e in secondary consolidation
(A-B) and after that it decreases along B to C in spite
of decrease of e, and finally turns to increase again
and gradually comes close to the relationship of nor-
mally consolidated state (C-D).
G,,, calculated by Eq.(7) is also shown in Figs.8
and 9(b) (points marked by 0) . This calculation re-
vs 1n(av'*oh')

127
markably differs from observed data. The increase of
G., between the points A and B is almost the same
trend as the relationship in overconsolidated state.
This is too large to be caused by slight change of e
only. Furthermore the behavior between B and C
cannot be explained by Eq.(7). So it is obvious that
these behaviors are caused by another factor, and
may be explained by the development of soil struc-
ture due to thixotropy or cementation, which grows
with time, and its deterioration by additional external
force. In case that the effect of soil structure is negli-
gible, the behavior of G, may become the same as
the calculation by Eq.(7) and then the increase of
G, (A-B') is smaller than normally consolidated
state because U,,' does not change, and after that it
become larger as 0,'increases (B'-D'). The deviation
between the observation and calculation can be re-
garded as the difference of soil structure, which may
develop in secondary consolidation and deteriorate
by reloading aftcr that. Similar results are shown by
Leroueil (1995) and Shibuya et al. (1999).
5 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SHEAR
MODULUS AND SHEAR STRENGTH
5.1 Rehavior of,G
,, during shear
As mentioned above, a,' and e have so strong influ-
ence on G,, that it is important to consider the
change of them during shear as well as consolida-
tion. As the change of void ratio is restricted to be
zero because of constant volume condition in this
increase or decrease during shear. The
test series, q,,'
change of q,,'during shear is estimated as follows;
total stress controlled during shear to establish con-
stant volume condition is regarded to be equal to ef-
fective strcss because excess pore pressure does not
occur, and U,' (=c7;,) can be known from cr,, ohand t
for supposing stress condition near the slip surface to
be as shown in Fig.9.
Fig.lO(a) shows the behavior of G,, during
shear. Symbols are common to Figs.11 and 12. The
solid line in Fig.lO(a) shows average behavior of
normally consolidated state (Fig.3). It seems that this
relationship shows straight form in logarithmic scale
and it is almost the same as that of normally consoli-
dated state. This relationship has been normalized by
G,,, or U,' before shear (Go or CT,,') in Fig.lO(b).

G,,,, increases in OCR=l and decreases in OCR=cY
with q,'. It is seen from these figures that G,,, I dur-
ing shear is also depends strongly on U,,,'.
The relationship betwecn T and G,,, , is shown in
Fig.11, wherc the lines shown in this figure arc the
rclationship given by Eq.(12), mentioncd later. It
scems that G,,, I at peak shear stress increases with
the increase of T,,,,, and its relationship is hardly ef-
fccted by OCR.
5.2 T%er-elutionship helween shew strength and
G, 7
The symbols @ and El shown in Fig.ll stand for
the relationship between G,,,-, before shear (Go) and
shear strength. This can also be regardcd as the rela-
tionship betwecn the tangent of the shear stress-
strain curve at shear strain 2 10-5 and its peak
strcngth. Mitachi et al. (1976) proposed the rclatjon-
129
ship between the rate of undrained strength change
and OCR* . Eq.(lO) is given by application of the
proposed relationship to the result of direct shear
test:
wherc A is constant, NC and OC stand for normal
consolidation and overconsolidation and OCR" is
given by following equation:
Eq.(12) is given by combining Eqs.(6), (10) and (11).
where, A is given by Eq.(13) on the basis of critical
state theory.
A=1-!!
h
Therefore Eq.(12) is rcarrangcd to Eq.(14).
Eqs.(l2) and (14) can be applied to normal consoli-
dation in case of OCR=l. Eq.(14) stands for the re-
lationship of above symbols ( @ and @ ) shown in
Fig. 11. Combining the equation given by putting
OCR=l into Eq.(14) and that for any other OCR
values, Eq.(lS) is obtained.
The lines shown in Fig.11 are the calculation
given by Eq.(12). It can be seen from Eq.(12) that G
increases exponcntially against T , , , ~and these lines
pass through the origin of the coordinates, and from
Eq.(15) it can be seen that they arc similar to each
other. Calculated lines well explain the tendency of
the test results.
6 CONCLUSION
On the basis of the bender element test through :I
series of consolidated constant volume direct shear
test on a reconstituted clayey soil, the following con-
clusions are obtained:
1) G,, at the end of primary consolidation is ex-
pressed as functions of 0,’ (Eqs.(S) and (6)).
2) The behavior o f G,,, is completely similar to that
of E obtained by cyclic triaxial loading.
3) G,, in secondary consolidation increases with
decrease of e and the inclination on the relation-
ship of e vs InG,, is close to that in over consoli-
dated state. The behavior after that is explained by
combined effect of the deterioration of soil struc-
ture which developed in secondary consolidation
and the change of e and om’.
4) The behavior o f G,, under constant volume shear
depends strongly o n CT,’ and the relationship of
1nGrjEIvs lnq,,’ is close t o that in normally con-
solidated state.
5) T,,, increases cxponentially against GBETbefore
shear. Based on the test results, Eqs.(l4) and (15)
has been proposed.

REFERENCES
Jamiolkowski, M., Lancellotta, It., a i d IN l’resti, D.C.F., 1994.
liemarks of the stiffness at small strains of six Italiau clays.
Pre-fuilure Defortiiutioii of Geoniuterials, Bulkenia, Vo1.2,
pp.817-836.
Viggiani, G. , Atkinson, J. I I., 1995. Iuterprctation of beudcr
element tests. (;&otechtiique,Vo1.45, No.1, pp.149- 154.
Jovicic, V., Coop. M. It. aud Simic, M., 1996. Objective critc-
r i a for determiniug G,,, from bender element tests. (;Go-
techtiique, V01.46, No.2, pp.357-362.
Shibuya S., IIwang S. C., Mitachi T., 1997. Elastic shear
modulus of soft clays from shear wave velocity. GGotech-
tiique, Vo1.47, No.?, pp.593-601.
Leroueil S . , 1995. Could it be that clays have u o unique way of
behaviug during cousolidatiou?. Coniyressioti a i d Cori-
solitiurioti of Cluyry Soils, Bulkettiu, pp.1039- 1048.
Mitachi T. aud Ki1ag.o S., 1976. Ctia~igein undrained s h c w
s t r e n s h characteristics of saturated remolded clay due to
sweIliIig. Soils u t i d FoL{tiduIioti.s,Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 45-58.
Shibuya S., Mitachi T., Ogiuo T., Kawaguchi T., 1999. Me-
tastabilization of clay due to drained creep. ?‘he Japaucse
geotechuical society, V01.47, No.7, pp.21-24, 1999.
IIardiu, B. O., 1978. The ~latureof stress-strain behaviour for
soi Is. St atc -of-t he - art - repo rt . 1’rocerthg.s of U syeciu 1
coilfereiice oil etirfhquuke etigitierriiig m i d soil tiytiutiiics,
pp.3 -90.
Kawaguchi, T., Mitachi, T., Shibuya, S . , 1999. Quantifying
modulus of deformation of reconstituted clays at small
strains. Jou rt i N 1 of G eolrchri icu 1 Erigiti eer iiig, .KC& No.
638, pp. 179-191.

130
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Effects of heating on promotion of peat consolidation

Hiroshi Oikawa & Toshihiro Ogino

Departnzent of Civil Engineering, Akitu Universig, Japan
Masaru Igarashi
Dia Consultunt Compuny Limited, Jupun

ABSTRACT: Eftects of heating on promotion of peat consolidation are presented based on a variable-
temperature oedometer test on peat in which peat under creep is rapidly heated and allowed to be settled
for a certain period of time a n d then lilter cooled down to the former iemperature Soil temperature was
controlled by immersing the consolidation cell in a water bath. Vertical stress was maintained constant
throughout the course of heating and cooling From the test results it was confirmed that the rate of
settlement of 1)eilt in the range of secondary compression was increased dr icaIly by heating Effect of‘
heating on scttlcmc~ntpromotion is incredibly larger for pcat than for clay Time - settlement response during
heating philse could be approximated by a hyperbolic curve Af’ter cooling the specimen, resettlement
followed by small rebound was obsc.rvet1 The rate of resettlement however was so small that the long term
cornpression tentltlncy of peat could be reduced upon cooling

1 INTRODUCTION on one-dimensional consolidation behavior of peat

A new technique, called the “thermal
precompression method”, has been proposed on the
basis of‘ laboratory experiments by Edil (YL Fox
(1994) for improvement of peat soils in situ. They
observed in their laboratory experiments on
Middleton peat, Wisconsin, USA, that the rate of
secondary compression of peat was increased
drastically by heating, and the long term
compression tendency of peat was greatly reduced
by cooling the specimen to room temperature.
Promotion of settlement by heating and
clirnination o f long term compression tendency by
cooling is expected to solve the main disadvantages
in “prcloading method” that has been widely used
for improvement of peat soils in situ.
However, disagreement exists in the literature
concerning the effects of temperature on the rate o f
settlement for inorganic soils. Gray (1936), Towhata
et al. (1993) and Ue ct al. (1996) among others have
presented papers that support the effects o f
temperature on the rate of secondary compression.
On the other hand, Mesri (1973) reported that testing
tcmperature did not inlluencc the coefficient o f
secondary compression of clays and silts.
So far as the present authors know, no work
except the one by Edil & Fox (1994) has been down
concerning the effects of temperature o n
consolidation behavior o f peat soils. The objective
of this study is to coniirm the effects of temperature
from Akita.
2 EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION
The peal used in this study was obtained from a site
near the city of Akita, Akita prefecture, Japan. The
peat has a natural water content ranging from 509%
to 577%, specific gravity of solids from 1.84 to 1.92
and ignition loss from 50.3% to 51.9%.
In order to avoid the natural variability in peat
and to get the reproducibility of specimens in each
test, the peat was kneaded with a large quantity of
distilled water and then consolidated one-
dimensionally in a large vessel under a vertical
stress of 19.6 kPa for two days. Standard-size
specimens (diameter = 60 mm, height = 20 mm) for
variable-temperature oedometer test were cut from
this pre-consolidated samples.
Variablc-temperature ocdometer test, in which
specimen in the range of secondary compression is
rapidly heated for a certain period o f t i m e and then
later cooled down to the formcr temperature, was
carried out o n Akita peat. Vertical stress that was
applied using a dead load was maintained constanl
t h r o u g h o u t the c o u r s c of h e a t i n g a n d c o o l i n g .
Immersing both consolidation cell and heater in a
water bath controlled specimen temperatures durins
the test. T h e heater can maintain a temperature
within a range o f 21°C. Cooling was achieved by

131
Figure 2 Expansion of ring by heating

rapidly replacing the existing hot water by cool

water.
Figure 1 shows the time required for elevating
temperature of specimen to a specified temperature.
As shown in the figure, the specimen temperature
could be elevated within about 40 minutes for a
temperature change from 20 to maximum
temperature change in the present tests. The impact
o f consolidation ring expansion due to temperature
change was investigated and shown in Figure 2.
Expansion of 0.12 m m shown in Figure 2 for the
maximum lemperature change from 20 to 80°C
corresponded to 0.6% strain of initial specimen
height of20 mm and could be neglected.

3 TEST RESULTS

132
 rapidly heated from 20°C to 40, 60 and 80"C,
respectively, while temperature of one specimen
remained constant at 20°C. After allowing two days
of settlement under these temperatures, each
specimen was cooled down to former temperature of
20°C and settlement behavior was further observed
for one week.
As can be seen in Figure 3, the rate of settlement
in the range of secondary compression is increased
drastically by heating, and the higher the raising
temperature, the faster the rate of settlement.
Furthermore, visually & -log t curves after cooling
seems to not have a slope, implying that the long
term compression tendency of Akita peat can be
arrested upon cooling. Similar effects of temperature
change on consolidation behavior of Akita peat
could be seen in the tests under different vertical Figure 7 & -log t curves after cooling
stress levels.

3.2 Qiiuntitative efect of heuting on settlement

promotion
Amounts of increase in strain and decrease in void
ratio by heating are summarized in Figures J and 5.
respectively. Although the data show a little scatter.
both amounts seem to be proportional to the
magnitude of temperature change and seem t o be
independent oi'vertical stress levels.
Here, a contradiction occurs between Figures 4
and 5, if both of figures are true. That is, if the
amount of decrease in void ratio by heating is
independent of stress level, the amount of increase in
strain must be affected by stress level. Because, in
the equation of E = de/(l+e,,), e,, is influenced by
stress level. Leaving this contradiction, however,
following relations werc obtaincd from these figures,
a s a quantitative effect of heating on settlement
promotion of Akita peat.
Figurc 6 Hyperbolic approximat inn
d e / d T = 0.03 (lioCj (2)
According to the figure presented by Edil & Fox
(1994). reduction in void ratio from about 4.25 to
about 2.5 for the temperature change from 14 to
60°C can be read for Middleton peat. Calculation of
these values gives d e / d T value of 0.038, implying
the validity o f 0.03 for Akita peat. On thc other
hand. Ue et al. (1996) obtaincd the values ot' d e ' d
T, 0.00086for A i a k e clay and 0.00077 for kaolin
clay. Shimizu et al. (1997) also obtained the value o f
O.OOOS3 ior Fujinomori clay. Thus. the values o i d
e/ d T of peat. 0.03 for Akita peat and 0.038 h r
Middleton peat, arc incredibly largcr than those l o r
inorganic soils, implying that the effect of heating o n
settlement promotion is incredibly largcr for peat
than for clay.
3.3 Time-settlemenl r-elulion during hruling phuse
Ue et al. (1996) observed in the tests on A i a k e clay
and kaolin clay that after the time when specimen
temperature became constant, the rate of settlement,
d E / d log t , became to coincide with that (it'
unheated sample. Towhata et al. (1993) also
observed the same phenomenon on "MC clay"
which has a similar mineral content as kaolin.
However, as can be seen in Figure 3, the settlement
curve of Akita peat after heating dose not seem to
become parallel to that of unheated sample. The
same trend can be seen for Middleton peat. So, it is
interesting to know how proceeds the settlement of
peat by heating.
Some attempts werc made to approximate the E -
log t curves after heating. In conclusion, hyperbolic
curve approximation expressed by the following
equation give relatively a good result, as
demonstrated in Figure 6.

133

(3)
where & ,, is the strain at time t, when heating starts,
and CY and ,8 are constants.
Eq. (3) suggests a terminal value of settlement
under a given temperature increment. In Eq. (3), if t
+ 00, final strain E U,t is given by:
The & values is now under a study and will be
discussed in the near future.
3.4 Srttlement beliuvror-u]ies ~ o o l l i i g
As shown in Figure 3, & -log t curves alter cooling
seems to not have a slope, implying that the long
term compression tendency of M i i a peat can be
completely arrested upon cooling. Edil & Fox
(1994) also observed in their test o n Middleton peat
that over the nine weeks &er cooling, virtually no
additional settlement o r rebound occurred. They
recognize, however, that creep rate dose not
completely cease upon cooling.
Figure 7 is the enlargement of & -log t curves
after cooling shown in Figure 3. In this figure,
elapsed time is measured from the start of cooling,
and strain is newly calculated as a percentage of the
change in thickness of specimen to the thickness just
before the start of cooling. As can be seen in the
figure, small rebound occurs upon cooling and a
tendency to re-settle can be seen after a certain
period of time. Moreover, it seems that the amount
of rebound tends to decrease with increase in
magnitude o f temperature change. Similar behavior
was observed in the tests under different vertical
stress levels. Thus, settlement behavior after cooling
is somewhat complex and further study is needed.
However. as can he seen in Figure 7, the amount of
rebound is small and the rate of' resettlement is also
very small compared with that of unheated sample,
implying that the long term compression tendency o f
Akita peat, similarly to Middleton peat, can be
virtually arrested upon cooling.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Vari a b 1e - t e mpe ra t u r e o c do me t er test , in which
specimen in the range of secondary compression is
rapidly heated and then later cooled back, was
carried out to observe the effect of temperature on
the consolidation behavior a f Akita peat. From this
t est fo 1low in g c o nc lu sio n s we r e o b t ai ned .
1.The rate of settlement o f M i t a peat in the range
of secondary compression was increased drastically
by heating, and the higher the raising temperature,
the faster the rate of settlement.
134
2. As a quantitative effect of heating o n settlement
promotion of Akita peat, the following relations
were obtained:
d E / A T = 0.53 (%/OC)
d e / d T = 0.03 (1/"C)
3. Time - settlement response during heating
phase could be approximated by a hyperbolic curve.
4. After cooling the specimen, resettlement
followed by small rebound was observed.
5. The rate of resettlement, however, was so small
that the long term compression tendency of peat
could be reduced upon cooling.
REFERENCES
Edil, T. B. and Fox, P. J. 1994. Field test of thermal
precompression. Proceedings of Settlement '94,
Geotechnical Special Puhlicution No.40, ASCE,
V01.2, 1274-1286.
Gray, H. 1936. Progress report on the consolidation
of fine-grained soils. Proceedings o j 1''
ICSMFE, vo1.2,13a-i41.
Shimizu, S. and Kobe, S. 1997. Quantitative
estimation of the effect of heating on
acceleration of secondary compression of clay.
Proceedings of 52th Annual Meeting oj .JSCE,
326-327. (in Japanese)
Towhata, I., Kuntiwattanaku, P., Seko, I. and Ohishi,
K. 1993. Volume change of clays induced by
heating as observed in consolidation tests. Soils
and Foundations, JSSMFE, Vo1.33, No.4, 170-
183.
Ue, S., Fujiwara, H. and Katsumura, M. 1996.
Consolidation behavior of clay subjected to
temperature effects at secondary compression
term. .Journal oj' Geotechnicul Engineering,
.JSCE, NoS54/III-37, 47-55. (in Japanese)
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

Classification and strength properties of coral gravelly soils - Case studies

of the port and coastal ground in Okinawa Islands

M.Oyadomari
Port Planning Division; Okinawa General Bureau, Japan
H.Uehara
Uehara Geotechnicul Engineering Research Institute, Okinawa, Japan

ABSTRACT This paper presents the proposal of classification system and the strength properties of coral
gravelly soils. In the occasion of classifying, the coefficient of permeability of soils is examined. As the result
of the proposed classification system, the contents of coarse grain for four ports in Okinawa are different from
the general one at 50% in mainland Japan as the border between cohesive soil and intermediate soil. As for
the strength properties of coral gravelly soils, the unconfined compression strength is focused. It was found
that the unconfined compression strength must be dependent on the effective overburden pressure with soils’
activities.

1 INTRODUCTION

Okinawa Prefecture consists of about forty inhabited

islands and is far from Tokyo, being more than
1,600 km to the south-west. The islands of Okinawa
extend 1,000 km from east to west, and 400 km
from north to south (Fig. 1). Okinawa is located in a
semi-tropical area and is surrounded by a coral reef.
Although a coral reef serves as a breakwater
against the strong waves from typhoons, parts of this
coral reef have been destroyed and scattered as the
result of typhoons. The scattered coral debris has
piled up on the seabed and has made the so-called
“coral gravelly soils” (Photo. 1). These soils have
much variation in grain size distribution and
geotechnical properties, and for a long time the
classification and strength evaluation of them have
been difficult.
According to r Technical Standard and
Explanation for the Design of Port Facilities J (Port
Standard ; hereafter), in the occasion of calculation
for the earth pressure and circular failure, a soil is
distinguished between cohesive soil and sandy soil
by the content of coarse grain at 50 YOor 80 %.
When a soil of its content of coarse grain at less than
50 %, it is treated as cohesive soil. When at more
than 80 %, it is treated as sandy soil. When in the
range of 50 to 80 %, it is regarded as intermediate
soil. In addition to Port Standard, [Manual of
Investigation and Design for Coral Gravelly Soils] Figure 1 Location of Okinawa Island.
(Manual ; hereafter) is applied now in Okinawa.

135
Figure 2. Relationship between content of coarse
grain and coefficient of permeability.
This Manual explains the way of treating these soils
by observing the content of fine fraction additionally.
According to the Manual, when a soil of its content
of fine fraction at more than 40 %, it is regarded as
cohesive soil. When at less than 20 9’0,it is regarded
as sandy soil. When in the range of 20 to 40 %, it is
regarded as intermediate soil. However, it is pointed
out that these classification systems contain some
problems for the coral gravelly soils (Oyadomari et
al. 1999).
The investigation and research were carried out in
order to approach to these problems by focusing the
coefficient of permeability of soils. After proposing
the classification system, the strength properties are
examined under the proposal. In this investigation
and research, four ports of Nakagusuku, Naha,
Hirara, and Ihsigaki are chosen as the major ports in
Okinawa.
All the analyses were carried out by referring the
most data to the database of the Ministry of
Transportation.
2 CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM OF CORAL
GRAVELLY SOILS
In the occasion of classifying ground or soil,
regarding the coefficient of permeability of soil is
effective. There is a proper example investigated by
Asaoka et a1 (1989) that is to be referred to. They
simulated amount of settlement and bearing capacity
in case of a modeled embankment. According to
their result of simulation, amount of settlement and
bearing capacity are obtained with being drastic
difference in the range of k=10-4cm/sec to
k=l O-’cm/sec as the coefficient of permeability.
Therefore, this result suggests that the soils of
coefficient of permeability at less than 10-7cm/sec
136
Figure 3 . Relationship between plasticity index
and coefficient permeability.
can be regarded as cohesive soil under the
consideration of complete undrained condition for
the soil. Soils with the coefficient of permeability
from 104cm/sec to 10-7cm/sec can be treated as
intermediate soil.
Under the results described above, the coefficient
of permeability of coral gravelly soils is focused
next.
2.1 Coeflcient of permeability of the coral gravelly
soils
The obtained coefficients of permeability of coral
gravelly soils at four ports in Okinawa are shown in
Figures 2-3. In Figure 2, k15 is the coefficient of
permeability obtained from the variable head
permeability test for the soils of Naha Port. Figure 2
shows the relationship between the content of coarse
grain (GS; gravel plus sand) and the coefficient of
permeability (k). It is almost clear that the more
coarse grain contains, the bigger the coefficient of
permeability becomes. This trend is well known
property of cohesive soil. Most values of the
coefficient of permeability are k<l X 10-6cm/sec.
Figure 4. Relationship between content of coarse
grain and plasticity index.
 seems to be proper that a soil of its coefficient of
consolidation less than 1 X 10-’cm2/min is regarded
as cohesive soil. Therefore, from Figure 5, the
cohesive soil for coral gravelly soils seems to
require the plasticity index more than 20%.

2.2 Proposal of classijkation system

The classification system for the coral gravelly soils
could be proposed as below from observing Figures
4-5.
(1)Nakagusuku: A soil including coarse grain (GS)
less than 40% could be regarded as cohesive soil,
and a soil of including coarse grain in the range
of 40 to 80% could be regarded as intermediate
soil.
(2)Naha: A soil including coarse grain less than 60%
could be regarded as cohesive soil, and a soil
including coarse grain in the range of 60 to 80%
could be regarded as intermediate soil.
(3)Hirara: A soil including coarse grain less than
60% and with plasticity index (Ip) more than
20% could be regarded as cohesive soil, and a
soil including coarse grain in the range of 60 to
80% could be regarded as intermediate soil.
(4)Ishigaki: A soil including coarse grain less than
80% and with plasticity index more than 20%
Figure 6. Grain size distribution of proposed could be regarded as cohesive soil, and a soil
classification system. including coarse grain even though less than 80%
without any plasticity index should be regarded
as intermediate soil.
Figure 3 shows the relationship between the
(5)Common condition: A soil including coarse grain
plasticity index (Ip) and the coefficient of
more than 80% could be regarded as sandy soil.
permeability. It is almost clear that the more the
The proposed classification system of coral
plasticity index of soil increases, the smaller the
gravelly soils above is shown in Figure 6. In this
coefficient of permeability becomes. This trend is
figure, the three circles of “B” and “C” are the
well known property of cohesive soil as well. In the
points of contents of coarse grain described above
Figure 3, many samples of the plasticity of index at
and the circle of “A” is the same one for the soil in
Ip=O (non-plastic) can be seen and the coefficients
mainland Japan due to Port Standard.
of permeability of these are more than 1 X
10-6cm/sec. Therefore, it seems to be almost
adequate that the coefficient of permeability of
cohesive soil is less than 1 X 10-6cm/sec. The
relationship between content of coarse grain and
plasticity index under the condition of the
coefficient of permeability within the limits of k<l
X 10-6cm/secis shown in Figure 4. This figure is
useful for distinguishing a soil between cohesive soil
and sandy soil by using content of coarse grain, but
many samples of plasticity index at Ip=O
(non-plastic) can be seen in this figure as well.
Besides, the relationship between the content of
coarse grain and the plasticity index within the
limits of the coefficient of consolidation (C,) less Figure 7. Relationship between clay content
than 1 X 10-’cm2/minis shown in Figure 5. Here, it and plasticity index (mainland Japan).

137

Figure 9. Activity and ratio of two gradients of qu
and (T v' in Table 1.
3. STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF CORAL
GRAVELLY SOILS
3.1 Activities ofports chosenfor comparison
In order to know the strength properties of coral
gravelly soils, it is necessary to compare these with
soils of mainland Japan.
Generally, a cohesive soil in mainland Japan
contains much clay and a few variable clay minerals.
This property can be seen in the relationship
between the clay content and the plasticity index. In
order to compare with each other, three ports in
mainland Japan are chosen for its activities (A) with
being adequate variation. Figure 7 shows activities
of three ports chosen in mainland Japan. In this
figure, activities of soils are considered as the
gradient of each linear equation, but under the
condition of replacement about the definition of
activity from the clay content with the grain size less
than 5 p m instead of 2 L!, m.
In Figure 7, activities are decreasing gradually
from Hiroshima, Nagoya, and to Kouchi. Being
based on the same definition, activities of soils of
four ports in Okinawa are shown in Figure 8. These
activities are not so much different from one of
Nagoya's except for one of Ishigaki. Only four
samples in Ishigaki are shown in this figure,
therefore, the activity for Ishigaki in this figure
seems to be difficult to believe.
3.2 Unconfined compression strength with activities
In order to observe the strength property, the
unconfined compression strength is focused. The
linear equations with its correlation coefficient for
the unconfined compression strength (qu) and the
effective overburden pressure ( o "') in depth are
shown in Table 1. Activities from Figures 7-8 are
included in this table, and the gradient of the
unconfined compression strength divided by one of
the effective overburden pressure is shown as the
value of qu/(T "' in this table as well. These results
are also shown in Figure 9. This figure shows very
good correlation between the activities and the
values of qu/(T v' described above of three ports in
mainland Japan. It also seems that the effective
overburden pressure could be contributing to
increase the unconfined compression strength with
activities increasing.
On the other hand, the values of qu/ CT "' for
Nakagusuku, Naha and Hirara in Figure 9 are clearly
lower than one of Nagoya despite activities of these
ports are almost the same. In Figure 9, the value of
qu/(T "' for Ishigaki is remarkable because almost the
lowest activity differs from others of Okinawa.
3.3 Unconfined compression strength with the
plasticity index
For the typical example of the relationship between
the unconfined compression strength and the
effective overburden pressure in depth, the case of
Hirara is shown in Figure 10. In this figure, it seems
better to distinguish between the upper layer and the
lower one at the depth of 15m. Therefore, two linear
equations of the unconfined compression strength in
depth are described in this figure. In the previous
Table 1, the value of qu/CT "' for Hirara is described
about the upper layer in Figure 10.
Many samples of the plasticity index at Ip=O
(non-plastic) are included in Figure 10. Therefore,
samples are distinguished between A-Group with
the plasticity index more than 20Y0and B-Group
with the plasticity index less than 20%. The
plasticity index of Ip=20% is based on the
classification system proposed before. Figure 11
shows the relationship between the unconfined
compression strength and the effective overburden
pressure for A-Group. This figure shows that the
effective overburden pressure must be contributing
to increase the unconfined compression strength. On
the other hand, Figure 12 for B-Group shows that
the effective overburden pressure seems to be
contributing almost nothing to the unconfined
compression strength. Figure 13 also shows the
unconfined compression strength in depth, but for
the A-Group with plasticity index more than 20%.
When Figure 13 is compared with Figure 10, the
gradient of the equation for the unconfined
compression strength in Figure 13 is found smaller
than two gradients of upper layer and lower layer in
Figure 10.
Two kinds of calcareous mineral, calcite and
aragonite are found on the seabed in the area of
Hirara Port, and it is well known that these
calcareous minerals mainly exist around the coastal
area in Okinawa Islands. It is reported that the
cementation can contribute to increase the shear
strength (Fukue 1995). Therefore, when the results
described as above are considered under the
cementation, particularly the upper layer of Hirara in
Figure 10 might be slightly influenced by the
cementation effect.
3.4 UnconJned compression strength influenced by
coral gravels
Figure 14 shows the relationship between the values
of qu/CT v' that the unconfined compression strength
is divided by the effective overburden pressure and
the values of Dmax/D95that the maximum grain size
is divided by the grain size of 95% in grain size
distribution curve in Nakagusuku. This figure shows
that the more the value of Dmax/D95becomes, the
less the value of qu/ cr "' becomes. It also seems that
there is the phenomenon of just the coral gravels on
a role for increasing the unconfined compression
strength instead of the effective overburden pressure.
Under the consideration of this phenomenon, the
comparatively lower value of qu/ cr v' for
Nakagusuku shown in Figure 9 can be understood
well. Figure 12. Unconfined compression strength and
effective overburden pressure (B-Group).
Table 1. Linear equations of unconfined compression strength
and effective overburden pressure with activity

Hirara 0.84 0.3492+5.94 (?=0.174) 0.7912 (?=0.935) 0.44

Ishigaki 0.31 0.4352 (?=0.212) 0.9202 (r2=0.890) 0.47 ,

139
 Fukue, M., Nakamura, T. & Kato, Y. 1999.
Cementation of soils due to calcium carbonate.
Soils and foundation, Japanese Geotechnical
Society, 39(6): 55-64. Dec, 1999.
Oyadomari, M., Chibana, H., Furukawa, K. &
Ogawa, T. 1999. Static and dynamic properties
of coral gravelly ground. Proc. of Symposium
on geotechnical problems of crushable ground,
121- 126. May, 1999.

Figure 14. unconfined compression strength

influenced by coral gravels

4 CONCLUSONS
The conclusions of the present studies are as
follows.
(1) The classification system of coral gravelly soils
could be properly proposed from the coefficient
of permeability of soils with the different
contents of coarse grain less than 40% for
Nakagusuku as cohesive soil. A soil is also
regarded as a cohesive soil, when the content less
than 60% for Naha and Hirara, and less than 80%
for lshigaki. Besides, the cohesive soil in Hirara
and Ishigaki requires the plasticity index more
than 20%.
(2) The unconfined compression strength might be
dependent on the effective overburden pressure
with the variation of soils’ activities.
(3) The coral gravelly soils might be contributing to
increase the unconfined compression strength.

REFERENCES

Asaoka, A., Ishihara, S. & Matsuo, M. 1989. Effects

of coefficient of permeability influencing to
partially drained behavior for clayey ground.
The 24th Presentation of geotechnical research.

140
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Correlations among liquidity index, undrained shear strength and fall cone
penetration of fine-grained soils

S.Shimobe
Junior College, Nihoiz University, Funabashi, Japan

ABSTRACT: This paper first describes the extended use of fall cone (British Standards cone penetrometer) to
determine simultaneously the liquid and plastic limits of soils, following the procedure proposed by the author
(Shimobe & Miyamori 1996). Next to substantiate the water content - strength relationship of soils, the
undisturbed and remoulded undrained shear strengths for various soils have been determined each with the
laboratory vane and fall cone tests over a wider water content range. Using the liquidity index obtained from
such fall cone tests, a simple model introducing the effect of sensitivity can be established to define the
liquidity index - cone penetration relations for undisturbed and remoulded soils. The relationships between the
undrained strength and liquidity index of these soils with the contours of sensitivity also are suggested and the
undrained strength - cone penetration correlation derived by Hansbo (1957) is re-examined.

1 INTRODUCTION simultaneous determination of liquid and plastic

The Casagrande methods for the determination of
liquid limit W I and plastic limit wpof soils have been
generally used, but it is often pointed out that the
testing principles have several defects. The liquid
limit test using the percussion device is a so-called
dynamic shear test and has the fundamental problem
unsuitable to its definition. These limit values also
are greatly influenced by the degree of skill of
testing operators, especially in plastic limit.
Since the consistency limits obtained by index
tests can be represented as water contents associated
with shear strength characteristics of a remoulded
soil, it is reasonable to use a fall cone (cone
penetrometer) test, which measures the penetration
resistance more simply and directly according to
engineering properties of a given soil. The fall cone
test has already been used as the recommended
method for determining the liquid limit of soils in
several countries (e.g. Sweden, Norway, UK, France,
the Former USSR, the People's Republic of China,
Canada, and New Zealand etc.), although the test
procedures involving the specifications of cone are
not yet unified internationally. If both the liquid and
plastic limit values can be determined by the same
fall cone method (i.e. the same shear strength test),
this method will become a more effective and
powerful index test.
This paper presents the extended use of fall cone
test by British Standards (BS 1377:1990) for the
limits of s o h . The correlations among liquidity
index, undrained shear strength and cone penetration
of undisturbed and remoulded fine-grained soils
introducing the sensitivity also are proposed. The
experimental data are shown to illustrate and support
the validity of these proposals.
2 TESTING APPARATUS, MATERIALS AND
PROCEDURE
2.1 Fall cone apparatus
The fall cone apparatuses mounting an automatic
electromagnet type's or a manual cone release and
locking device were newly manufactured for this
study. These apparatuses with operational ease can
be equipped with the multifarious cones (with
different apex angle and mass) according to testing
purposes. Various types of soil sainple containers
also were prepared to examine their effects on liquid
limit values. From several preliminary tests of two
cones (60" 60g and 30" 80g cones) on sample
containers, it was found that in case of the
cylindrical cup, 60mm diameter by 40mm depth was
a suitable size, 60mm diameter for the semi-
spherical cup. Then, the difference between the
cylindrical and semi-spherical cups on liquid limit
values was not completely seen. In this study,
hereafter the 30" cone and the cylindrical cup were
used.

141
2.2 Soils used
The items of 59 fine-grained soils tested are 44
natural soils involving several organic and volcanic
soils sampled from various locations in Japan, and
15 artificial soils such as a kaolin, some bentonites,
clays for ceramics and mixed soils with different
proportions of kaolin and Toyoura sand.
2.3 Procedure
The experiments were performed based on both the
procedures proposed by Wroth & Wood (1 978) and
the author (Shimobe & Miyamori 1996). The former
was carried out using the two 30” cones with
different mass 80 and 240g, following the cone
penetrometer method given in BS 1377 (Shimobe &
Minegishi 1996). The penetration values range from
15 to 25mm. The latter was conducted with a 30”
80g cone only over a wide range of penetration
values from about 2 to 30mm. Hereafter, the author
would abbreviate the former “Wroth & Wood’s
method” and the latter “extended BS method”. All
the results of these fall cone tests are the penetration
depth after 5s corresponding to a given water
content. The Casagrande liquid limit and plastic
limit tests by Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS A
1205- 1990: abbreviated “JIS method”) also were
performed to compare with data obtained from these
fall cone tests.
The undrained shear strengths of about 20 typical
soils in both undisturbed and remoulded states also
have been determined by a laboratory vane test, to
compare with those evaluated from the fall cone
tests. The vane testing device is an automatic
electrical torquemeter type with blades having a
height/diameter ratio of 1 (i.e. H=D=l6mm). The
moulds for vane tests were 72-100mm diameter by
64-100nim height and the rate of vane rotation was
6” /min.
3 TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3 .I Water content versus cone penetration
Wroth & Wood (1978) showed the following
relationships to obtain the plasticity index I, and
hence the plastic limit ww by a series of 30” fall
cone tests with two different cone masses ml (80g)
and m2 (240g):
where A is the vertical separation in water content
w on the linear plots of w vs. logarithm of the
penetration depth d for the two cones, WLC is the
142
liquid limit obtained by fall cone test (i.e. the water
content at dl 1.=20mmof 30” 80g cone in BS 1377).
On the other hand, the author suggested that a
model of power form well explains the fall cone test
data over a wide range of penetration values for fine-
grained soils (Shimobe & Miyamori 1996, Shimobe
& Minegishi 1996, Shimobe 1998). This proposed
model is basically the same form as the model by
Yudhbir & Shukla (199 1), which is as follows:
w = Codp (3)
where CO and 0 are the experimental constants
dependent on soil types. Both of these constants can
be approximately related to the ratio of plastic limit
to liquid limit by the JIS method W,/WI(Shimobe &
Miyamori 1996). Equation 3 represents a linear
relationship in the plane of log(w) vs. log(d). The
cone liquid and plastic limits in this extended BS
method can be defined from Equation 3 as the water
contents corresponding to the same penetration
depths of dlI=20mm and d1~.=2mmas the Wroth &
Wood’s method and Harison’s (1988) suggestion,
respectively. The results of such fall cone tests on
several typical soils are presented in Figure 1. It can
be seen from this figure that the slopes and intercepts
of these straight lines are unique on each soil,
independent almost of testing operators and
apparatus types. Therefore, the extended BS method
gives more consistent and reliable results on the
water content - cone penetration behaviour of fine-
grained soils.
3.2 Comparison with Casagrande methods
As mentioned above, the fall cone based consistency
limits by the Wroth & Wood’s method are calculated
using Equations 1 and 2. These limits by the
extended BS method are determined from Equation
3, hence this method allows the simultaneous
determination of consistency limits of soils from a
series of tests using a single cone.
The comparisons between the liquid and plastic
limits obtained from the Wroth & Wood’s and
extended BS methods and those for 59 various soils
tested by the JIS (Casagrande) methods are given in
Figures 2-4. As seen in Figures 2 and 3, it was found
that for soils with wI <150%, the cone liquid limit
values determined by both the Wroth & Wood’s and
extended BS methods agree closely with those
obtained from the JIS method, within the relative
difference -t 10% exclusive of some soils. Then, the
two different cone procedures present almost similar
liquid limit values. For soils with W L>150% such as
bentonites, organic and volcanic soils, both these
cone methods do not correspond with the standard
percussion method. An average trend for overall wI c
- W I correlation deviates more from the 45” line as
the liquid limits increase, and much higher liquid
limits detected with the JIS method were
ascertained, as in the previous research results (e.g.
Littleton & Farmilo 1977, Wasti & Bezirci 1986).
Concerning the plastic limit values (w, < 150%), as
shown in Figure 4, the correspondence of these fall
cone testings with ‘the standard thread rolling method
shows some scatters (about I :20% relative
difference) and is not good in comparison with the
case of liquid limits. Especially, the Wroth &
Wood’s method gives unreasonable results (I, > WLC)
for the soils such as bentonites and kaolin - sand

Figure 3. Comparison of liquid limit values for all

samples.

Figure 1 . Relationship between cone penetration d

and water content w (extended BS method).

Figure 4. Comparison of plastic limit values.

mixtures. The plastic limits of organic and volcanic

soils with extremely high plasticity by the JIS
method indicate a poor reproducibility, or also the
part of these organic soils is classified as non-plastic
materials. Therefore, the author’s extended BS
method with superior reproducibility is an effective
index testing procedure in practice, compared with
the Wroth & Wood’s and JIS methods, as the
simultaneous determination of consistency limits of
various soils.
Figure 2. Comparison of liquid ‘limit values (WI
<200%).

143
Figure 5. Relations between cone penetration d and liquidity index ILCof soils.

Figure 6. Relations between undrained strength cuand liquidity index I I Cof soils.

3.3 Liquidity index - cone penetration relutionship I I C= { (d / 20)'""- (0.1)030)/ { 1 - (O.I)O'O} (5)
The liquidity index ILC obtained from the
For undisturbed soils, introducing Equation 6 of
consistency limits determined using the extended BS
sensitivity St - 11.ccorrelation (e.g. Wood 1990) and
method can be written as:
Equation 7 of Hansbo's proposal (Hansbo 1957) and
by combining those with Equation 5 , the following
IlC= (w - w,) / (WlC - w,) (4) ILC- d relationship for 30" 80g cone can be derived
(see Eq.8).
where WIG= C,(20)" and w W =C,,(2)". Then, from
Equations 3 and 4, the author showed the following
expression with an average value of 0=0.30 for 11.c
of remoulded soils (Shimobe & Miyamori 1996,
cU or C u r = kW I d2 (7)
Shimobe & Minegishi 1996, Shimobe 1998).

144
d = (8 / exp [In (0.556 / (ILC+ 0.501 (1 - ILC)) ) strengths at liquid and plastic limits (i.e. at 11.c = 1
I 0. I 5 + a11.cI )o.5 (8) and ILC= 0) of remoulded soils have about 2kPa and
200kPa, respectively. In this connection, the
where a (=O-3) and k (=1.0 for 30" cone) are measured undrained strengths at liquid limit values
constants. cuand C u r are the undrained shear strengths of remoulded soils indicated the same range of about
of the soil in undisturbed and remoulded states 1.2-2.5kPa as the previous research results and
respectively and W is the weight of the cone (i.e. agreed well with the predicted value.
W=0.78N). In order to verify Equations 5 and 8, the
I ~ -c d relationships of various soils based on the 3.5 Undrained strength - cone penetration
measured values from the extended BS method and relationship
these predicted curves were plotted on a semi- Figure 7 shows the relationship between cone
logarithmic graph in Figure 5. Moreover, in this penetration d and vane undrained shear strength cu
figure, the 60" 60g cone data published by some (cur) for a variety of undisturbed and remoulded soils,
researchers (Locat & Beausejour 1987, Morin & in log-log plot. In this figure, involving the
Dawe 1987, Locat & Demers 1988) also are converted data of 60" 60g cone into 30" 80g
converted into those of 30" 80g, based on the mentioned above, the Hansbo's proposal of Equation
author's internal data and the relation of d;o= 2ds0 7 (solid line) also is drawn together. As the result,
proposed by Leroueil & Bihan (1996), and plotted the undrained shear strength - cone penetration
together for comparison. The constants a=O and a=l- relations of soils seem to have almost unique trend
3 imply remoulded soils (solid line) and undisturbed irrespective of soil types, degree of sensitivity,
soils (dotted lines or contours of sensitivity termed testing apparatus specifications and operators,
"equi-St lines"), respectively. although those indicate more or less scatters in range
It can be seen from Figure 5 that the proposed of penetration smaller than 5mm. The Hansbo's
liquidity index - cone penetration relationship for proposed formula overestimates the undrained shear
remoulded soils is a single unique curve independent strength in smaller penetration ranges. Incidentally,
almost of soil types, testing apparatus specifications according to the statistical analyses of cu - d
and operators. The bilinear idealisation for I I C- d relations, the following extremely good regression
relationship with the intersection of 1 1 ~ 0 . 7 and
7 equation (dotted line) was obtained on data points of
d=l4inm suggested by Harison (1988) is an 226 exclusive of the additional data.
approximation of this proposed model which
becomes 11.~=0.80 at d=l4mm. For undisturbed soils, cu= 224.468 I d' "' ( r = -0.964) (9)
this model with equi-S, lines almost explains the
average trend of measured values. Namely, as the where r is the coefficient of correlation.
cone penetration is smaller and the liquidity index is
higher, the sensitivity becomes greater. Therefore,
Equations 8 and 5 could roughly evaluate the
liquidity index and sensitivity from the cone
penetrations of undisturbed and remoulded fine-
grained soils for engineering purposes.
3.4 Liquidity index - undrained strength relationship
Since the fall cone based consistency limits are
determined by the same shear strength test in
remoulded state, utilising systematically these
results, the essential correlations between index and
engineering properties of soils would become more
reliable. The relationships between undrained shear
strength cu(cur)and liquidity index I I Cof undisturbed
and remoulded soils considering the sensitivity can
be easily obtained through Equations 6-8. In Figure
6, these calculated relationships with equi-St lines
are shown together with the measured vane strengths
of about 20 typical soils and other additional data
mentioned above, in semi-log plot. From this figure,
the validity of the predicted model for liquidity
index - undrained strength relationships of soils was Figure 7. Relations between cone penetration d and
approximately ensured by comparing with the undrained strength cuof soils.
actually measured data. The predicted undrained

145
4 CONCLUSIONS Shimobe, S. & T. Miyamori 1996. Determination of
liquid and plastic limits of soils by fall cone test
The determination of the liquid and plastic limits of and its applications. Proc. of the 3Ist Japan
soils using the two different 30" fall cone tests National Conference on Geotechnical
(Wroth & Wood's and extended BS methods) and Engineering. 1: 533-534 (in Japanese).
their engineering applications have been described. Shimobe, S. 1998. Consistency limits of problematic
From the results of present study, the following soils by extended BS fall cone method. Proc. of
conclusions were drawn: the International Symposium on Problematic Soils
1. The extended BS method explains well the test (IS-Tohoku '98). 1: 629-632.
results over a wide range of cone penetrations. From Wasti, Y. & M.H. Bezirci 1986. Determination of the
the superior reproducibility, this inethod is an consistency limits of soils by the fall cone test.
effective index test procedure in practice, as the Canadian Geotechnical Journal. 23 (2): 241-246.
simultaneous determination of consistency limits of Wood, D.M. 1990. Soil behaviour and critical state
various soils. soil mechanics. Cambridge: Cambridge University
2. A simple model is proposed to evaluate the Press.
correlations among cone penetration, liquidity index Wroth, C.P. & D.M. Wood 1978. The correlation of
and undrained shear strength of undisturbed and index properties with some basic engineering
remoulded soils, in which the sensitivity is properties of soils. Canadian Geotechnical
introduced. This model almost explains the average Journal. 15 (2): 137-145.
trend of measured values. Yudhbir & R. Shukla 1991. Water content - cone
penetration behaviour of fine grained soils. Proc.
REFERENCES of the International Conference on Geotechnical
Engineering for Coastal Development (Geo-
BS 1377 1990. Methods of testing of soils for civil Coast '9I). 1: 141-146 (see also Figs.2-4).
engineeriug purposes, part 2. London: British
Standards Institution.
Hansbo, S. 1957. A new approach to the
determination of the shear strength of clay by the
fall-cone test. Proc. Swedish Geotechnical
Institute. 14: 5-47.
Harison, J.A. 1988. Using the BS cone penetrometer
for the determination of the plastic limit of soils.
Geotechnique. 38 (3): 433-438 (see also Fig.4).
JIS A 1205 1990. Test method for liquid limit and
plastic limit of soils. Tokyo: Japanese Standards
Association.
Leroueil, S . & J.P. Le Bihan 1996. Liquid limits and
fall cones. Canadian Geotechnical Journal. 33
(4): 793-798.
Littleton, I. & M. Farmilo 1977. Some observations
on liquid limit values with reference to penetration
and Casagrande tests. Ground Engineering. 10
(5): 39-40 (see also Fig.3).
Locat, J. & N.Beausejour 1987. Correlations entre
des prorietes mecaniques dynamiques et statiques
de sols argileux intacts et traites a la chaux.
Canadian Geotechnical Journal. 24: 327-334.
Locat, J. & D. Demers 1988. Viscosity, yield stress,
remoulded strength, and liquidity index
relationships for sensitive clays. Canadian
Ceotechnical Journal. 25: 799-806.
Morin, P & C.R. Dawe 1987. Geotechnical
properties of two deep-sea marine soils from the
Labrador Sea. Canadian Geotechnical Journal.
24: 536-548.
Shimobe, S. & K. Minegishi 1996. Determination of
liquid and plastic limits of soils by fall cone test.
Proc. of the 4th International Conference on Civil
Engineering: 4 14-425.

146
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

A study on influences of diatom microfossils on soil behaviour

D.R.Shiwakoti, H.Tanaka, M.Tanaka & 0.Mishima

Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuka,Japan

ABSTRACT: In numerous localities across the glove, diatom microfossils constitute a significant proportion
of natural geo-materials within the sub-surface depth-range of engineering interest. This paper examines the
basic geotechnical behaviour of diatomite and diatomite-kaolin mixture using diatomite samples crushed at 0,
1, 3, 6.6 and 10 MPa pressures. Results indicate that owing to its highly porous and crushable structure, inclu-
sion of diatom skeletons substantially alters the geotechnical characteristics of a soil.

1 INTRODUCTION

Soil strata in many parts of the world inherit diatom

microfossils in varying proportions. In Japan, abun-
dance of such micro-structural organisms have been
reported by various researchers. As an example, Ta-
naka & Locat (1 999) have reported the plenty of dia-
tom microfossils in Osaka Bay clay. They have con-
cluded that the presence of such diatom microfossils
can impart significant impact on index properties as
well as mechanical properties of a soil. Figure 1
shows a typical example of diatom skeleton found at
a depth of as large as 383.7 m in Osaka Bay clay.
Shiwakoti et al. (1999) have reported that such fos-
silized remains of diatoms can have various degrees
of influences on established behaviour of a soil.
The degree of influence depends not only upon the
extent, state and type of diatom skeletons present in
a soil deposit, but also on the depth of its location Figure 1 Microphotograph of diatom skeletons found
beneath the ground. Depending upon the depth of a in Osaka Bay clay at a depth of 383.7 m
deposit, diatom skeletons experience varying degrees
of overburden pressure, resulting in various degrees
of crushing. As an example, application of crushing In this research, in an attempt to answer the above
pressure of 10 MPa to the Hachirogata soil of Akita questions, a study of diatomaceous soil has been
prefecture, which is rich in diatom skeletons, caused done as follows. Naturally deposited diatomite (D)
a change in its liquid limit from 244% to 180%, and was subjected to various degrees of crushing pres-
reduced its plasticity index from 177 to 124. Such an sures and the resulting crushed diatomite (CD) was
enormous change in index property as a result of mixed with kaolin (K) in varying proportions. Un-
crushing implies that presence of a given crushed diatomite, crushed diatomite, and kaolin
type/quantity of diatom skeletons on a soil may im- mixed with uncrushed & crushed diatomite were
part different characteristics, depending upon the subjected to index tests, radiographic tests, shear
depth of its deposition. strength tests and consolidation tests. The results
Therefore, questions arise as to how does the de- have been analyzed to investigate the influences of
gree of abundance of diatom skeletons influence the the microfossils on soil behaviour.
geotechnical behaviour of a soil deposit, and how Scope of this research could be extended to study
does the depth factor alter behaviour of a diatoma- the impact of diatomite on behaviour of naturally
ceous soil. deposited soil.

147

Figure 3. Grain size distribution of kaolin, uncrushed
diatomite & crushed diatomite
2 EXPERIMENTAL WORKS
2.1 Sample preparation and investigation method
Diatomite used in this study was recovered from Hi-
ruzenbara of the Okayama prefecture. It is believed
to be a lacustrine deposit, which has a depositional
geological history of about fifty thousand years. It
should be kept in mind that although the diatomite
extracted from this site is very rich in diatom skele-
tons, the extracted samples are not pure diatoms, but
contain significant proportions of other earth materi-
als, besides diatom skeletons. Such impurities in the
diatomite sample could be as high as 20-30%.
Three series of samples were prepared to perform
various tests with the diatomite samples in combina-
tion with kaolin mixture. The three series of samples
prepared are as follows:
a. In the first series, diatomite was subjected to
various crushing pressures of 0, 1, 3, 6.6 and 10
148
MPa. In this way, crushed diatomite (CD) sam-
ples were prepared.
b. In the second series, uncrushed diatomite (D)
was mixed with kaolin (K) in proportions of
100% kaolin (4K:OD), 75% kaolin (3K: lD), 50%
kaolin (2K:2D), 25% kaolin (IK:3D) and 0%
kaolin (OK:4D).
c. In the third series, diatomite samples crushed at 0,
1, 3, 6.6 & 10 MPa were mixed with kaolin in
the proportion of 75% kaolin: 25% diatomite
(3K: 1CD).
The samples thus prepared have been subjected to
various laboratory investigations such as index tests,
radiography, constant volume direct shear tests and
consolidation tests.
2.2 Crushing of diatomite
Diatomite samples were subjected to crushing pres-
sures of 1.0, 3.0, 6.6 and 10.0 MPa. For this, the
samples were put into greased steel cylindrical
chambers and subsequently subjected to specified
level of hydraulic pressure, in increments. Owing to
its high degree of permeability and compressibility,
expulsion of water as well as the compression of di-
atomite within the first few minutes of load applica-
tion was vigorous. Crushing pressure was applied for
the duration sufficient enough to dissipate all the ex-
cess pore pressure developed.
2.3 Oedometer tests
Standard oedometer tests were performed, maintain-
ing the load increment ratio of unity in each case.
Values at the end of 24 hour, have been taken to
evaluate compressibility characteristics of the sam-
ples.
2.4 Constant volume direct shear tests
Constant volume direct shear tests were performed
using Mikasa type constant volume direct shear ap-
paratus (Mikasa, 1960) at various normal pressures.
In the apparatus used, nominal diameter of specimen
is 60 mm and its thickness is 20 mm. To maintain
the constant volume condition during shearing, rela-
tive movement in vertical direction between the up-
per and the lower shear box can be fixed by locking
the piston. Load cell attached at the bottom of the
shear box measures the vertical pressure acting on
soil specimen. Any change in vertical pressure dur-
ing shearing corresponds to the excess pore water
pressure of undrained triaxial shear test.
Specimen was consolidated for sufficient time du-
ration to achieve the completion of primary consoli-
dation, before subjecting it to shearing. Shearing of
specimen was performed at the displacement rate of
0.25 d m i n u t e .
Figure 4. Microphotographs of crushed diatomite

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

3.1 Eflect of crushing on behaviour of diatornite
Relationship between the moisture content and the
crushing pressure of diatomite, subjected to various
crushing pressures, is shown in Figure 2. Application
of crushing pressure resulted in continuous decrease
of its moisture content, the effect being larger at
early phase of pressure increment. The natural mois-
ture content of the diatomite was 249%, which re-
duced to 94.5% when subjected to the crushing pres-
sure of 10 MPa.
The degree of recoverability of water holding ca-
pacity upon reconstitution of the crushed sample is
also examined in Figure 2, which shows that its
original water holding capacity is permanently re-
duced due to the crushing of diatom skeletons. When
subjected to 10 MPa crushing pressure and reconsti- Figure 5. Strength envelopes of crushed diatomite
tuted, for example, the original water retention ca-
pacity of the diatomite sample got reduced by more The effects of crushing pressure application on di-
than fifty percent. This permanent decrease in water atomite can be visually realized by observing the nii-
holding capacity is primarily due to the crushing of crophotographs of diatomite specimens subjected to
diatom skeletons, the contribution from the particle various crushing pressures (Fig. 4). Scale of each
re-arrangement being only minor. As shown by the picture has been kept uniform to facilitate the com-
grain size distribution curves in Figure 3, application parison. It is clear that diatom skeletons crumble into
of crushing pressure results in breakage of large pieces of smaller sizes under the influence of crush-
sized particles. Even after the application of crushing ing pressure. Degree of crushing is larger at early
pressure of as large as 10 MPa, resulting grain-size phase of crushing pressure increment. The crushing
spectra remained mostly along the silt-size range. It of diatom skeleton causes reduction in inherent
may also be noted that, even after its crushing, grain skeletal pores, which results in permanent decrease
size of the diatomite is significantly larger than that of its water holding capacity. Influence of skele-
of the kaolin. talhntra-skeletal pores in water holding capacity, and

149
Attergberg limits of diatomaceous soils have already
been studied (Shiwakoti et al. 1998).
Crushing of diatomite not only reduces its water
bearing capacity, but also imparts significant impact
on its shear strength, internal friction angle and
compressibility characteristics.
Influences of crushing pressure on effective inter-
nal frictional angle and on undrained shear
strength have been investigated using constant vol-
ume direct shear test. For this, each of the diatomite
samples crushed at 0, 1,0 3.0, 6.6 & 10.0 MPa, was
reconstituted and subsequently pre-consolidated at
various normal pressures (0.1-0.7 MPa). Then, at the
end of the pre-shear consolidation, specimens were
sheared at the constant volume condition. Figure 5
summarizes the consequence of crushing pressure
application on maximum undrained shear strength
( z-~,,) of the diatomite specimens. Clearly, the crush-
ing pressure application causes a reduction in zmu.r.
For example, for the diatomite crushed at 10 MPa, a
reduction in z,,, of up to 38% occurred when
sheared after consolidating it at 0.1 MPa pressure.
The rate of reduction in z,,,,decreased
, subsequently
at larger normal pressures, the corresponding reduc-
tion being about 13Y0 at normal consolidation pres-
sure of 0.7 MPa. Also, it may be noted that the
maximum value of z,,,,:, is not obtained for uncrushed
diatomite, but for the one crushed at 1 .O MPa.
Figs. 6-7 examine the influence of crushing pres-
sure on effective internal frictional angle and
compressibility (C,) of crushed diatomite samples
(Ok4CD). It may be noted that the major drop in C,
as well as occurred before crushing pressure
reached 3.0 MPa. This is because, the diatomite de-
posit in the field was subjected to a past maximum
pressure of less than 3.0 MPa. Application of crush-
ing pressure to 10 MPa caused a decrease in of di-
atomite by about 12%. C, decreased by about 30%
when crushed to 3.0 MPa, and decreased by more
than 35% when crushed at pressure of 10 MPa.
As we have seen above, the gradual breakage of
diatom microfossil skeletons at increased pressure is
responsible for the change in geotechnical behaviour
of a soil. The crushing action reduces the particle
size of diatom skeletons as well as of other earth ma-
terials into finer fomi. These fine particles, resulting
from the crushing, serve as weak fillers and form
slippery medium surrounding diatom skeletons dur-
ing shearing, thereby reducing the shear strength as
well as Q’ of the diatomite.
Practical implication of this result is that, if a
ground rich in diatom skeletons is subjected to a
load, which exceeds its past maximum pressure, a
sudden and large settlement of the ground as well as
a reduction in its shear strength can be anticipated.
Therefore, pre-loading technique could serve as
very effective treatment tool, before subjecting such
ground to loads of permanent nature. Figure 8. Influence on C, of kaolin-diatomite mix-
ture with variation in diatomite content

150
Figure 9. Shear strength of diatomite mixed with
kaolin in various proportions
Figure 10. Compressibility characteristics of crushed
diatomite and its mixture with kaolin
3.2 Uncrushed diatomite-kaolin mixture
Figure 8 shows the consolidation characteristics of
uncrushed diatomite- kaolin mixture. Addition of
50% of diatomite in kaolin (2K:2D) causes an in-
crease in compressibility of the mixture by about
54%. It should be remembered that in naturally de-
posited state, the degree of compression could be
even larger, because the compressibility of undis-
turbed diatomite could be significantly larger than
that of the reconstituted one.
Similarly, Figure 9 reveals that T,~,, of the mixture
increases immensely with the increase in percentage
of diatomite. Adding 25% of diatomite increases the
undrained shear strength of the mixture by about
30%, at shearing initial normal pressure of 0.15 MPa.
151
Figure 11. Effect of diatomite crushing and kaolin
mixing on $,
For the mixture of proportion 1:l (2K:2D), the in-
crease in T,~,,exceeds 83% at the same initial shear-
ing normal pressure.
Once again, it should be remembered that the di-
atomite used in this study was not pure, therefore,
the actual percentage of diatom skeletons present in
the tested specimens could be significantly lower
than that of the pure diatomite. Thus, in natural
ground, presence of even a smaller fraction of dia-
tom skeletons could impart similar or even larger
degree of influences on shear strength and consolida-
tion characteristics of a naturally deposited soil.
3.3 Crushed diatomite-kaolin mixture
Figures 10-1 1 show the compressibility and fric-
tional characteristics of the crushed diatomite mixed
with kaolin (3K:lCD). Also included in the figure
are the corresponding data for the crushed diatomite
(0K :4C D) .
Figure 10 reveals that the decrease in C, for
3K: 1CD is significantly lower than that for OK:4CD.
(Due different batch of samples used, the C, data for
3K: 1CD at zero crushing pressure could not be com-
pared directly, although, the data obtained from an-
other batch has been included). Clearly, the rate of
decrease in C, of 3K: 1CD is significantly lower than
that of OK:4D, indicating that the kaolin particles
played effective role in filling the voids in diatomite
and thereby helped reduce the compressibility of dia-
tomaceous soil. This result has important practical
implications.
Figure 1 1 shows the application of 10.0 MPa pres-
sure caused a decrease in of 3K: 1CD by about 7%,
Q7
against the value of about 12% for OK:4CD. Also
there is a considerable reduction in z,,,,due to the
crushing. Although not shown here, the extent of re-
duction in, ,z for the mixture of 3K: 1CD was also
found to be lower compared to that of OK:4CD.

4 CONCLUSIONS
Study of diatomaceous soil has been done by
crushing the naturally deposited diatomite to various
degrees and mixing the resulting crushed diatomite
with kaolin in varying proportions. Uncrushed di-
atomite, crushed diatomite, and kaolin mixed with
uncrushed & crushed diatomite were subjected to in-
dex tests, radiographic tests, shear strength tests and
consolidation tests. The results have been analyzed
based on the investigation data from above test re-
sults.
The present research has lead to the following
conclusions.
1. Crushing of diatomite breaks diatom skele-
tons and permanently reduces its inherent wa-
ter bearing capacity.
2. Crushing of diatomite also causes a signifi-
cant reduction in compressibility, undrained
shear strength and $' of diatomite and of dia-
tomaceous soil.
3. Inclusion of even a small fraction of diatomite
in kaolin causes an enormous increase in C,,
,z, & $' of the mixture.
4. For a given consistency of diatomite-kaolin
mixture, influences on C,, z,] & $' are lower
for crushed diatomite, compared to that of the
uncrushed diatomite.
Further research works are underway to quantify the
influence of diatomite on soil behaviour.

REFERENCES

Mikasa, M. 1960. Direct shear devices newly devel-

oped. Proc. 15Ih JSCE annual con& pp. 45-48 (in
Japanese).
Shiwakoti, D. R., Tanaka, H., Locat J. & Goulet C.
1999. Influence of microfossils on the behaviour
of cohesive soil, Pmc. of I I"' ARC, ISSMGE, Vol.
1, pp. 23-26, Seoul, Korea.
Shiwakoti, D. R., Tanaka, H. & Mishima, 0. 1998.
Some peculiar characteristics of diatomite-kaolin
mixture. Proc. of 33'" annual con$ of Japan Geo-
technnical Society, pp. 42 1-422, Japan.
Tanaka H. & Locat, J. 1999. A microstructural in-
vestigation of Osaka Bay Clay: the impact of mi-
crofossils on its mechanical behaviour, Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 36, pp. 493-508.

152
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15I 1

Applicability of the 45mm sampler for soft marine clay deposits

T. Shogaki, N.Sakakibara & S.Yano

Department of Civil Engineering, National Defense Academy, Yokosuka, Japan
K.Watanabe & T. Sudo
Koa Kuihatsu Company Limited, Japan

ABSTRACT: A new small diameter sampler, 45 mm in inner diameter, with a two-chambered hydraulic pis-
ton was developed by Shogaki, 1997, and its applicability was examined through unconfined compression
tests (UCT) and standard oedometer tests (SOT) for samples having unconfined compressive strength (q,)
from 50 kPa to 820 kPa obtained from both the 45 mm sampler and the 75 mm sampler normally employed in
Japan. In this paper, the applicability of the 45mm sampler is investigated through the UCT and SOT for soft
marine clay deposits in Ariake and Hachirougata, Japan. The quality of samples obtained from the 45 mm
sampler is higher than those of the 75mm sampler for these soft clays.

1 INTRODUCTION In this paper, applicability of the 45 mm sampler

A new small diameter sampler with a two-
chambered hydraulic piston was developed by Sho-
gaki, 1997, and its applicability was examined
through unconfined compression tests (UCT) and
standard oedometer tests (SOT) for samples ob-
tained from holocene (q,% 100 kPa) and pleistocene
(quL7400-7O0kPa) clay deposits in Mito, Sakura and
Nagoya Japan (Shogaki, 1997, Shogaki & Shira-
kawa, 1998; Shogaki, et a1 1998)
In an engineering sense, there is no difference in
shear strength and deformation characteristics be-
tween the S (or Small size) specimen (15mm in di-
ameter (d ) and 35mm in height (h ) ) and the 0 (or
Ordinary size) specimen (35mm d and 80mm h ) ,
which are examined for soils having plasticity in-
dexes (Ip)from 17 % to 150 % and an unconfined
compressive strength (q,) from 20 kPa to 1000 kPa
and eighteen different sites (Shogaki, 1991, Shogaki
et a1 1993, Shogaki et a1 1999) Ten S specimens can
be taken from a sample, 75 mm d and 50 mm h, with
the 75 mm sampler normally used in Japan in accor-
dance with Japanese geotechnical standard (JGS
122 1- 1995) For the ten specimens, the stress-strain
curves of specimens very closely located to the sam-
pling tube wall are similar to those of specimens lo-
cated in the central site of the plane of the sampling
tube (Shogaki et al, 1995) This fact suggests the
possibility of the development of a practical, small
diameter sampler The new 45 mm sampler (Sho-
gaki, 1997) was developed from this information
and determined by him to be better than the 75 mm
sampler from an economic and efficiency stand-
point
153
to Ariake and Hachirougata soft clay deposits having
qu+10 kPa to 80 kPa is investigated through uncon-
fined compression tests for samples obtained from
both 45 mm and 75 mm samplers. The quality of
samples obtained from the 45 mm sampler is higher
than that of the 75 mm sampler for holocene clay
deposits in Ariake and Hachirougata, Japan.
2 SOIL SAMPLES AND TEST PROCEDURES
The undisturbed soil samples used in this study were
obtained from holocene clay deposits located on the
holocene plain in Ariake and Hachirougata, Japan.
The test results from the 75mm sampler were of-
fered by the Geotechnical Survey Laboratory of the
Port and Harbor Research Institute (Tanaka et a1
1992, 1996). However, the soil sampling of Ariake
clay was performed by the same engineer for both
samplers. It can be assumed that this engineer’s
sampling methods had no effect on sample quality
but he has never used the 45 mm sampler.
The index, strength and consolidation pro erties
for the samples obtained from the 45mm samprer are
summarized in Table 1 . To examine the effect of the
location of the specimen on a plane with the sam-
pling tube, four S specimens from the 45mm sample
were taken. Fig.l shows the locations of the speci-
mens on a plane with the 45mm sampler tube.
The portable unconfined compression apparatus
for measuring the suction (S) and y, values is shown
in Fig.2 (Shogaki and Maruyama, 1998). This
equipment has a height of about 20 cm and a weight
of about 8 kg. The load is applied by the linear head
and is transmitted through an A.C. or D.C. motor.
Therefore, since the equipment is portable, it is
practical for field use. The unconfined compression
test was performed on S specimens at a strain rate of
1 %/min, after the specimen suction was measured
using a ceramic disc plate.
The value of q, was determined to be the maxi-
mum stress corresponding to axial strain ( EE of less,, II ))

than 15 %. The secant modulus (Ej,))is given by

(qJ2)l , in which II si, is the strain at the value of
qJ2.
The SOT were performed using a load increment
ratio of unity and the duration of loading for each
load increment was one day, using the 30 mm in
diameter and 10 mm in height (or d30 specimen). In
an engineering sense, there is no difference in con-
solidation characteristics between the d30 and the
d60 (60 mm in diameter and 20 mm in height)
specimens, which are examined for soils of I,,% 20-
80 and quk 40 -660 kPa (Shogaki and Kawata,
1998). The values of the compression index (C,) and Figure 2 Portable unconfined compression apparatus
the preconsolidation pressure ( o were determined
I)
I),
,)
)

from the e-logo-',. curve. Mikasa's method was used

to identify the (J(J on the 24-hour e-log (J(J curve.
Ir,
Ir, II vv
3 EFFECT OF S A W L E R TYPES ON
This method has been employed in Japan as the Ja- STRENGTH AND CONSOLIDATION
panese industrial standard for determining one- PROPERTIES
dimensional consolidation properties of soils (JIS A The results of the UCT and SOT for all of the spe-
1217-1990). It was shown by Shogaki et al, 2000 cimens tested from the 45 mm and 75 mm samplers
that there is no difference in the[-',,values between are shown in Fig.3 for Ariake clay. E and H in the
the Mikasa method and Casagrande's method, 1936. remarks shown in Fig.3 mean the extension rod and
hydraulic type samplers respectively. The natural
Table 1 Index. strength and consolidation properties (451iim water contents (wn) at the same depths are similar to
sampler) the samples obtained from both samplers. It can be
judged that the index properties of samples obtained
Samp1e 1, CO Q'KJ
Q'KJ Y" cc of,, from different types of samplers are therefore almost
?I") @) (ml) w, similar. The ratios of the mean values of q,, Es,, o p'
I K-3 63 3.3 39 25 1.0 33
1.0 33
and C,of the 75 mm sampler to those of the 45 mm
Ariakc K-5 54 32 46 33 15 49
sampler are plotted against the depth (2) in Fig.4 for
K-7 49 29 52 48 14 63
S2 101 43 50 4 25 311 Ariake clay. The ratios R(qJ of the mean values of
S4 110 45 55 38 31 52 qu for the hydraulic and extension rod type samplers
Hachirougata are about 0.7 and 0.9 respectively, and the ratios
R(cr ,,'I of the mean value of cr for the hydraulic
type sampler are in the range of 0.6 to 0.9 as shown
in Fig.4. The qu and 0-II,,'' values obtained from the 45
mm sampler are namely, 10 % to 40 % greater than
those of the 75 mm sampler, and the quality of sam-
ples obtained from the 45 mm sampler is therefore
5mm
higher than those of the 75 mm sampler. Tanaka and
Tanaka (1999) compered to the sample quality ob-
tained from the Shelby, NGI54, ELEl00, Laval,
Sherbrooke and 75 mm samplers through the UCT
for the same site of Ariake. They reported that the
qu values of samples obtained from the Sherbrooke
sampler are about 15% higher than those of the 75
Figure 1 Location of specimens through a plaiic 111 the sain- mm sampler. The results, as shown in Fig.4, mean
pling hibe that the 45 mm sampler can take samples of equal
quality to the Sherbrooke samplers.

154
155
 Figures 5 and 6 also show the results of UCT for
Hachirougata clay. The R(4J values increase with
increasing depth and are in the range of 0.6 to 0.8 for
the hydraulic type sampler and in the range of 0.7 to
1 . 1 for the extension rod type sampler as shown in
Fig.6. It can be judged from Figs. 5 and 6 that the
quality of samples obtained from the 45 mm sampler
is also higher than those of the 75 mm sampler for
Hachirougata clay. The E,,, values obtained from the
45 mm sampler are about 10 YOgreater than those of
the 75 inm sampler for Ariake and Hachirougata
clays as shown in Figs. 4 and 6. For the soft clays
with q u k10-60 kPa in the depths of less than z = -
15m, the q, values obtained from the extension rod
type sampler are about 10 %O greater than those of
the hydraulic type sampler and the quality of sam-
ples obtained from the extension rod type sampler
are therefore higher than those of the hydraulic type
sampler as shown in Figs.4 and 6.
It can be judged from this study and other studies
(Shogaki, 1997; Shogaki & Shirakawa, 1998; Sho-
gaki, et al 1998), that the quality of samples obtained
from the 45 mm sampler is similar to and/or better
than that of the 75 mm sampler for soils having a
range in /,,%28--110 and qu%10-820 kPa. The 45
mm sampler is not influenced by the varying skill
levels of engineers involved in the task since this
sampler is a hydraulic piston type sampler.
4 CONCLUSIONS
The conclusions obtained in this study are summa-
rized as follows
1 The qU and o values obtained from the 45
mm sampler are 10 % to 40 YOgreater than those of
the 75 mm sampler and the quality of samples ob-
tained from the 45 mm sampler is therefore higher
than those of the 75 mm sampler for Ariake and Ha-
chirougata clays
2 The /<,,,valuesobtained from the 45 mm sam-
pler are about 10 %O greater than those of the 75 mm
sampler for Ariake and Hachirougata clays
3 For the soft clays with qu%10-60 kPa in the
depths of less than z = -15m, the q, values obtained
from the extension rod type sampler are about 10 %
greater than those of the hydraulic type sampler and
the quality of samples obtained from the extension
rod type sample are therefore higher than those of
the hydraulic type sampler
4 The 45 mm sampler is better than the 75 mm
sampler from the economic point of view and the ef-
ficiency of sampling and sample quality is not influ-
enced by varying skill levels of engineers involved
in the task
156
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors gratefdly acknowledue the test results
from the 75 mm sampler obtainedgy the Geotechni-
cal Survey Laboratory of the Port and Harbor Re-
search Institute which made this present study possi-
ble.
REFERENCES
Japanese Geotechiiical Soclet\ 1998 Method for obtaiiiing un-
disturbed soil samples using A thin-nalled tube saiiipler
nith f i w d piston (JGS 1221-1995) rapanew Geotechnical
Societv Starictarcli for Soil Saniplitig 1-8
Lacasse.S and T Berre 1988 Triaual testing methods for soils
AdLanced t n a u a l testing of soil and rock 1S7 \ I .1TP
977 261-289
Shogaki. T 1991 Strength properties of cla) b\ poriable un-
confined compression apparatus I’roc Itit C’onf On
Geoteectiical Engineering for (’oa5tal Developnietit 85-
88 Yokohama
S1iogaki.T. Watanabe,K & T Sudo1i.T 1993 Effects of w e
arid shape of specimen on undrained shear strength of
pleistocciie c l a . I’roc Itit S’yt7ipo~iiini oti Geotechnrcal
Eng ofIfarcfSoils-aSoji R o d s 803-807 Athens
S1iogaki.T. Mor0.H & K Kogure 1995 Statistical properties
of soil data n ithin thin-walled samplers Proc 5th Ziit Of-
shore aticl Polar ktig Conf406-4 1? Hague
S1iogaki.T 1997 A small diameter sampler u i t h a trio cham-
bered hjdraulic piston and the qualitc of its samples Pro-
ceeclitig~ of the Fourteenth Ititernatiotial Cotifireiice oii
Soit \Iediaiiicr atid ~outiclatiot~ Eiigitieerii7g 20 1-
204 Hamburg
Shogaki. T & S Kanata 1998 Effect of specimen sire on con-
solidation parameters in standard oedometer tests for pleis-
tocene cla! deposits I’roceedil7g of the 53th \‘ntiotial Cbn-
firetice oti ./SCE 392-?93(in Japanese)
S1iogaki.T & Y Maru~aiiia 1998 Estliiiation of rti-rrtu
undrained shear strength using disturbed samples U itlun
thin-n alled samplers Proceeclingi of the Firit Iiitertiational
C‘on$eretice 011 Site Uiaracterization 41 9-424 Atlanta
Shogaki T &S Shirakana 1998 Applicabilit) of the 15iiun
sampler nith a t n o chambered hjdraulic piston on cla? de-
posits I+oceeditigs of the First Ititernational nfiretice
oti Site C‘hara~terizati on 42 5 -4 30 Atlanta
S1iogaki.T . Shirakaii a.S & Nakaiiiura 1998 Applicabilit! of
tlie small laiiieter sampler n i t h a t u o chmibered h) draulic
pistons for hard soils I-’roceeclinpc ofthe 2nd Int Cotif oti
Hard ,Soilr Soft Rod,\ 315-320 Napoli
S1iogaki.T .R Sakanioto & S Kanata 2000 Human errors con-
ceriuiig precoiisolidatioii pressure bi Casagrande‘s inethod
and their correction 7~iichi-to-Liw Vol 48 No 2 9-12(in
Japanese)
S1iogaki.T Sakaiiioto R & T Sudo 1999 Effect of specimen
s i x on unconfincd coiiiprcssn e strength properties of iiatu-
ral deposits 51th \btiotinl ( ’ o t i f of J,
(in Japanese)
Tanaka.H & M Taiiaka 1999 The current positioii of Japanese
sampling inethod in the 11 orld U ide stmdard 11tl7 Swiipo-
vuni 0 1 7 Geoteditiical Engineering 223-232(in Japanese)
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineeringin Practice, Nakase L? Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 1

Undrained shear strength for natural clay deposits by shear tests

T. Shogaki, S. Shirakawa & N.Sakakibara

Departnient of Civil Engineering, National Defense Academy, Yokosuku, Jupun

ABSTRACT Accurate laboratory studies of undrained shear strength concerning undisturbed natural clay
deposits are few The undrained shear strengths for undisturbed natural clay deposits were examined through
unconfined compression tests, direct shear tests, simple shear tests and triaxial tests The estimation of in-srtrr
undrained shear strength using disturbed samples within thin-walled samplers from in-sitrr sampling was also
examined using a method proposed by Shogaki and Maruyama, 1998 and so was the relationship between the
zri-sitir undrained shear strength and the undrained shear strength obtained from each test

1 INTRODUCTION culty of preparing specimens having similar index

The undrained shear strength is the most important
design parameter for short term stability problems of
clay foundations The commonly used tests for field
testing of undrained shear strength are the vane
shear and cone penetration tests et al, while laborato-
ry tests consist of unconfined compression, direct
shear and triaxial compression tests et a1 However,
the unconfined compressive strength (q,,) is widely
used in Japan for stability analysis of clay founda-
tions under undrained conditions This is mainly be-
cause the average value of qJ2 well describes the
undrained shear strength on the failure surface of the
overall collapsed area (Nakase, 1967, Matsuo and
Asaoka, 1976, Shogaki et a1 1997), and in addition
to this, the testing procedures are simple and
economical in an engineering sense Also, there
have been many advances in pre-construction design
and many achievements in case history studies of
investigation of soils for failures in Japan It is well
known that the ql,value changes due to the degree of
technical skill applied from the Foint of in-sitri sam-
pling to laboratory testing (Matsuo and Shogaki,
1984, 1988,Shogaki and Matsuo, 1985)
The types of short term stability analyses using
the undrained shear strength obtained from direct
shear test and/or triaxial compression and extension
tests, taking into consideration the effect of sample
disturbance on the qi, value, had been proposed by
Ladd and Foott, 1974, Hanzawa, 1997, Tsuchida,
1990, et a1 However, accurate laboratory studies of
undrained shear strength concerning undisturbed
natural clay deposits are few because of the diffi-
properties and quality required for each test
In this paper, the undrained shear strengths for
undisturbed natural clay deposits were examined
through unconfined compression tests (UCT), direct
shear tests (DST), simple shear tests(DSST) and tri-
axial compression (CK,,UC) and extension(CK,,UE)
tests with K,,-consolidation The estimation of in-.sz/ir
undrained shear strength using disturbed samples
within thin walled samplers from in-sitii sampling
was also examined using the method proposed by
Shogaki and Maruyama, 1998 and so was the rela-
tionship between the in-srtu undrained shear
strengths and the undrained shear strengths obtained
from each test
2 SOIL SAMPLES AND TEST PROCEDURES
The undisturbed soil samples used in this study were
obtained from holocene marine clays located offsho-
re at Ariake, Hachirogata, Kumamoto, Mito, Iwaku-
ni and Nagoya in Japan Field sampling was per-
formed with a fixed piston sampler having an inner
diameter of 75 mm (JGS1221-1995) to enhance
the quality of the samples. For the Japanese soft
clays, this sampler gives a quality similar to that
sampled by the Lava1 type sampler (Tanaka et al.,
1995).
The index properties of these soils are shown in
Table 1. The plasticity index (I,) and qi, are from 23
to 110 and from 24 kPa to538 kPa respectively, whi-
ch is very wide. The testing conditions for these
soils are shown in Table 2.

157
 Sample hake €Iachirougata Iiumamoto Mito Iivvakuni Nagoya
W, (96) 103-149 132-178 83-105 42-61 78-82 :33-,55
I, 49-68 84- 110 46-57 33 s9 2:3-49
q,, (kPa) 24-41 35-41 70-99 189 97 468-538
U (kPa) 40-6G :3 ,?) - 47 1:36-188 212 182 810-960
U ;o (kPa) 39-52 3 0 - 67 87-143 163 1:30 :355-4:’38

Test Consohclation i (%/rmn) Shear condmon c,, Specimen size(mm)

UCT 1 undrmed 9J2 dl5 h35
cI<;Uc CIG, at fJ{n 1, 005 undrmcd q,>L,Q dl5, h35
CI<,uE CI<, at (J:~) 0 05 undrmed q,,I2 613 h35
DST 3t-method 0B(m~~/rmn) constant volume ,?, , , : d30 h10
DSST ~‘3t-niethod 0 2(mdnm) tnnstant volume I,, dN h20

2.1 Jiicot!fined con?pressiontest (UC 71 2 3 Dirvct shear test (DS1;)

UCT was performed according to the Japanese In-
dustrial Standard for unconfined compression test of
soils (JIS A 1216-1993), using S (small) specimen
15 mm in diameter and 35 mm in height In an en-
gineering sense, there is no difference in shear
strength characteristics between the S specimen and
the 0 (Ordinary) specimen (35 mm diameter and 80
mm height), which were examined for soils of Zp k
17-98 and q,, k 35-1000 @a (Shogaki, 1991, Sho-
gaki et al , 1993) Ten S specimens from the 75 mm
diameter sample were taken. For these spacimens,
the stress-strain curves very closely located to the
sampling tube wall were similar to those of speci-
mens located in the central site of the plane of the
sampling tube (Shogaki et a1 1995) The portable
unconfined compression apparatus (Shogaki and
Maruyama, 1998) for measuring the suction and
the q,, value was used The unconfined compression
test was performed on S specimens at a strain rate of
1 %/min, after the suction of the specimen was
measured using a ceramic disc plate
2 2 KOcoii.solIdated-i(iidr.airied tr.iaxial conp.e.s.sioii
(C’K,7l( ‘Ia i d K, coiisolidated-inidi.~~irie~
trictxinl
exfemioii (CKJJE) tests
CK,,UC and CK,,UE tests were performed according
to the Standards of the Japanese Geotechnical Soci-
ety (JGS) for K,, consolidated-undrained triaxial
compression (JGS 0525-1996) tests on soils with
pore water pressure measurement The undrained
shear strength from CK,,UC and CK,,UE tests were
measured with precision triaxial apparatus (Shogaki
et a1 , 1999) using S specimens The specimens were
sheared at a strain rate of 0 005 %/min, 0 2 %/min
and 1 0 %/min after K, consolidation at a strain rate
of 0 005 %/min In the case of CK,,UE, the effective
axial stress ( LT decreased under constant lateral
pressure ( LT The undrained shear strength from
DST were performed according to the standard for
consolidated constant volume direct box shear test
on soils (JGS 0560-1997) To examine the effect of
specimen size on the strength properties, two sizes
of specimens, one 60 mm in diameter and 20 mm in
height (d60 specimen ordinary size specimen) and
the other 30 mm in diameter and 10 mm in height
(d30 specimen) were taken from samples 75 mm in
diameter and 50 mm in height
The direct box shear test apparatus was an im-
provement on the apparatus developed by Pradhan
and Fujitani, 1993 for the d30 and d60 specimens
The specimens were sheared under constant volume
condition at 0 2 mm/min shear displacement speed
after the end of primary consolidation as defined by
the 3t-method (JGS 0560-1997) The undrained
shear strength from DST refers to the maximum val-
ue of shear stress examined
2 4 Statidnr.d oedonie ter. test
The oedometer tests were performed using a load in-
crement ratio of unity and the duration of loading for
each load increment was one day, using the d30
specimen In an engineering sense, there is no dif-
ference in consolidation characteristics between the
d30 and d60 specimens, which were examined for
soils of I,, k 20-80 and q,, % 40-660 kPa (Shogaki
and Kawata, 1998) The values of the preconsolida-
tion pressure ( LT ’ p ) and the compression index (C,)
were determined from the void ratio ( e ) to consoli-
dation pressure ( curves corresponding to 24
hour compression Mikasa’s method was used to
identify the a ’ p value on the 24 hour e-log LT
curve. This method has been employed in Japan as
the Japanese Industrial Standard for determing one-
dimensional consolidation properties of soils (JIS A
1217-1990). It was shown by Shogaki et a1 , 2000
that there is no difference in the o values between
lP

CK,,UC and CK,,UE refers to half of the principal the Mikasa method and Casagrande’s method, 1936.
stress difference

158
3 UNDRAINED SHEAR STRENGTH
OBTATNED FROM UNCONFTNED
COMPRESSION TEST
The results of UCT for various points from the cut-
ting edge of the sampling tube (D,$)to the end are
shown in Fig.1. To discuss the variation of index
properties within the sampling tube, the water con-
tent (w,,)of the specimens for other tests besides
UCT are also plotted in Fig.1. The w,,values are in
the range of 85 % to 95 % and the mean value is
about 90 %, independent of D,,. Therefore, it can be
judged from Fig.1 that the soils within the sampling
tube have similar index properties in an engineering
sense. The strain at failure ( t ,.) has a small value of
2 '?40in the range of D,\ % 100-400 mm. The t val- ,,.
ues of D,+ 0-1 00 mm and D,s k 650-850 mm are
larger than those of D,, % 100-400 mm. This may
be caused by sample disturbance from the penetra-
tion of the sampling tube and the extrusion of soil
samples. Therefore, the small values of q,, and se-
cant modulus (Ejo)of D , % 0-100 mm and D,,
650-850 mm are caused by the sample disturbance.
From the above discussion, the soil samples D,,
100-650 mm were used for comparison of the
undrained shear strength obtained from each test.
t-. it-.
Figure 1 Results of unconfined compressive strength (Kuina-
inoto cla! )
4 ESTIMATING IN-SITN UNDRAINED SHEAR
STRENGTH
In the method for estimating iri-sitzi undrained shear
strength, two parameters were considered. They
were the ratio of effective pressure to the maximum
value of suction (SO)as Eq (1) and the ratio (R(q,,))
of q,, of other sample to that of the high quality sam-
ple within the tube (q,,(n,d,,),
in which CJ ' p s is the effective stress of the perfect
sample subjected to the complete release of total
stress and is determined as
where p is the effective overburden pressure, KOthe
coefficient of earth pressure at rest, and A,. the pore
pressure coefficient at q,,. The ratio of the effective
pressure of a perfect sample to suction is equal to
one. The R(q,,)of the sheared samples are plotted
against the ratio of effective pressure of Eq.( 1). The
R(q,,) of the perfect sample for a ratio of effective
pressure of one can be extrapolated using plots. For
practical use, as mentioned in Shogaki and Maru-
yama, 1998, the mean consolidation pressure ('pn,j
instead of 0 'p.s can be used as
in which
%
%
5 UNDRAINED STRENGTH FROM SHEAR
TESTS
1 The ratios (Rc,,)of the c,, values to the q,,f1,/2values
are plotted against D,, in Fig.2. As described in
Fig.], the soil samples D,k 100-650 mm have
similar index properties and qualities for sample
disturbance. The Rc,, value of UCT is 0.75 as the
mean value of plots in this region. The c,, values
from CK,,UC tests consolidated under the cr value
increased with increasing 2. values.
The Rc,, values of the UCT, DST, CK,,UC at j.
=1 .O%/min and cl,(,,to ql,f1,/2are 0.75, 0.70, 0.85 and
1.05, respectively, as shown in Fig. 2 where is c,,
under in-sifu preconsolidation pressure (Shogaki,
1996) obtained from CK,,UC. The mean value of the
Rc,, value from the CK,,UC and CK,,UEtests under i
= 0.05 %/min is 0.6.
The relationship between the ratio (Rc,,)of c,,(~, to
q1,,/2 for each sample and Zl, is shown in Fig.3. For
the plots in the range of IJ>%30- 1 10 as shown in
Fig.3, the Rc,, values are around 1.0 and the mean
value (RZ,,)of Rc,, for plots is 1 .O. This supports the
validity of the p,, ,S,,method.
Figures.4 and 5 show the relationship between
Rc,, and pn,,S,, obtained from UCT, DST and DSST
respectively. The pnr/Sc,increases with sample distur-
bance since the S,, decreases with sample distur-
bance. In Figs.4 and 5 , the Rc,,values obtained from
159
UCT DST and DSST decrease with increasing and DSST, when the consolidation was finished by
P,l& the 3t-method, pore water pressure was not dissipat-
The relationships between Rc,,and p,, S,,obtained ed completely (Shirakawa, et a1 1998) Therefore, it
from all tests are shown in Fig 6 In Fig 6, the mean can be assumed from the comparison for UCT that
value (Rc,,) of Rc,, obtained from UCT, DST and the chance of strength recovery is small, concerning
DSST is about 0 8 in the range of p,, & less than 3 the DST and DSST The consolidation time and the
However, the Rc,, values decrease lineally with in- void ratio at the end of consolidation have a strong
creasing p,, Soin the range of pnr S,, greater than 3
These tendencies are independent of UCT, DST and
DSST On the other hand, the Rc,, from CK,,UC is
independent of p,, ,S,! and becomes 0 9 as the mean
value of plots as shown in Fig6 The reasons that
the c,, values from CK,,UC are independent ofp,, /S(,
or sample disturbance are as follows The develop-
ment of pore water pressure in a specimen is very
little because the specimen size is small and the
strain rate (=0 005 %/min) under consolidation is
very small When the specimen consolidation was
completed, the specimen pore water pressure was
almost dissipated and the undrained strength was
therefore recovered with increasing effective stress
The end of consolidation for the specimens of
DST and DSST was performed using the 31-method
according to JGS 0560-1997 Concerning the DST

160
influence on the strength properties obtained from
DST (Shirakawa, et a1 1998)
Hanzawa et a1 1997 have recommended the c,,
obtained from DST rather than the g,, for the design
parameter since the q,, is strongly influenced by
sample disturbance However, Hanzawa et a1 1997,
presented three papers at a conference in which they
used four kinds of consolidation time 10 min, the
3t-method, the root i-method and the log t-method
They found that the consolidation times were
changed, based on soil types andlor load conditions
Therefore, the DST is a testing method demanding a
high level of knowledge based on abundant experi-
ence
The Rc,, , using cl,(,,from CK,,UC obtained from
the in-srtzr preconsolidation pressure ( 0 which
is mentioned by Shogaki 1996, is 1 0 and this value
is independent ofp,, S,, In the range of 3 <I),,S, <
4 5 , the Rc,, from DST is similar to the mean values
from CK,,UC and CK,UE This fact coincides with
that of other researchers (i g Hanzawa et a1 1997)
However, in the range of 4 5 < p,, /S,l < 4 8, the
mean values from CK,,UC and CK,,UE are smaller
than that of q1,,/2 The Rc,, obtained from the mean
value of c,, from CK,UC and CK,,UE is 0 6 in the
range of 2 5 <p,, S,, < 4 8
6 EVALUATION OF SHEAR TESTS
From the results of the previous chapter, the evalua-
tions of shear tests and gl,m are summarized in Table
3. Concerning the UCT, DST and DSST, evaluating
Table 3 Evaluation of shear tests and q,,,,,
Test 1 Relationship for q,,,,,
* p,,/S,<3 : about 80%
UCT pJ,S,>3 : decreased lineall!
I\ ith increasing p,,/,Yo
p,,/,T0<3 aboLit 80%
D ST
*p,,,lSo>3 : decreased lineall!
DSST
increasing p,,/,YO
CK,UC
* ‘ -
p,,)S’, . 2 5 4 8
wider (I‘,<,. about 90‘%
( 1‘%/iiiiii)
wider (I : about 100%
Meaii ~ a l u c
of CK,UC &
CKoUE
l
I
- p,JY, .. 2 5 - 4 8 : about 60%
(0 05%/inin) I
UCT * It self
( P,J&
the effects of sample disturbance is generally very
dificult The CK,UC and CK,UE are disadvanta-
geous from economical and practical points of view
since their procedures are very complicated and test
are time-consuming, if the d30 or S specimens are
adopted
On the other hand, the g,,(],estimated from Soand
g,, is similar to cl,(,)obtained from CK,UC The
is better in practical use since the UCT procedure is
simple and the So can be measured in a few min-
utes
Concerning the UCT, DST and DSST, if the So
and c,, for a specimen can be measured, the cl,(,,can
be estimated from the line of mean value for the re-
lationship between lic, and p,,,/So for these tests
IP(,,), Concrete procedures are as follows For example, if
the p,JSo for a specimen is 4 5 , the Rc,, can be read
as 0 5 from the line of mean value for the relation-
ship between Kc,, and p,,JS, on the UCT as shown in
Fig 6 The Rc,, equaling 0 5 means that the
undrained strength obtained from the UCT is 50%
smaller than that of m-.srir/ undrained strength
Therefore, the cj,,(,, (=2cl,(,,) can be estimated from
the measured q,, value times 2, which is a reciprocal
of0 5
7 CONCLUSIONS
AND QLr,,,
The main conclusions obtained in this study are
summarized as follows:
1. The iri-sriri strengths obtained from the p,,, S,,
I E\duation of test
* Testing procedure . simple
* Econoinical poiiit of \ iev excellent
Effect of sample disturbance . difficult
* -
p,JS0 1.3 4 5 : similar to mean \ aluc of CKoUC and CK,UE
* Effect of consolidation tiiiic on : and (4’ : great
->Judgement of the end of consolidatioii : difficult
I\ it11
--,E\alution of r and o : difficult
lllli
- Testing time : 1-51iour/cl30speciiiien
* Effect of saiiiplc disturbance difficult
* Testing procedure : coiiip1c.i
* Economical poiiit of \ ieu : iiiferior
* Testing time : 1- 4 da! /S specimen
* Practical use : poor
Testing procedure : coiiipleu
* Economical point of \WII : inferior
* Testing time : 1- 4 da! /S specimen
I * Practical use : DOOI
* Siiuilar strengh v ith that of CK,UC
* Testing nine / procedure simple
* Practical use : excllent
161
method are similar to that of CK,UC This supports
the validity of the p,, /S,, method The p,,/S, method
is a simple and easy one for practical engineering
usage
2 The mean value of the ratio (Rc,,)of the In-srtu
strength obtained from the p,, S , method to that of
UCT, DST and DSST is about 0 8 in the range of p,,
S,, less than 3 However, the Rc,, decreases lineally
with increasing y,, S,, in the range of p m S,, greater
than 3 These tendencies are independent of the dif-
ference in UCT, DST and DSST On the other hand,
the Re,,from CK,,UC is independent of p,, S,, and is
09
3 The Rc,, from UCT, DST, CK,UC at i =
1 %/min and in-situ y,, value to in-sitzr c,, value were
0 75, 0 70, 0 85 and 1 0 respectively The mean val-
ue of the Re,, from the CK,,UC and CK,,UE tests un-
der 2- = 0 05 %/min was 0 6
4 In the range of 4 5 < p n , S,,< 4 8, the mean val-
ues from CK,,UC and CK,,UE are smaller than that
of ylIm/2 The Re,, obtained from the mean value of
CK,,UC and CK,,UE is 0 6 in the range of 2 5 < p ,
s,, 48
5 If the y,, and& for a specimen can be measured,
the rii-srtri undrained strength can be estimated from
the relationship between Re,, and pnJ.Su
REFERENCES
Casagrande.A 1936 The detennination of the preconsolidatlon
load and its practical sigiiificancc I’roceeclrngc of the
I ctlnternatroiial C‘onference on So11 \fechanrcc and k-01117-
datro17 ,5ngrneerrng Vol 1 60-64
H,in/ma.H 1997 Procedures to deteimine the shear strength
of cla! for short terni stabilit\ m&is Proc 11th Svnrpotr-
r i m on Geotedintcal ,5ngrneerrng 89-94 Japaii Tok3 o (in
Japanese)
Japanese Geotcchnical Standards 1995 Method for obtaining
undisturbed soil samples using tlun-n alled tube sampler
v i t h fixed piston -JG8S 1221-1993, Standards of Japaiiese
Geotcchnml Soclet! for Soil Samplmg 1-7
Japanese Geotechnical Standards 1996 Method for KOconsoli-
date-undraincd tnaxial coiiiprcsslon test on soils n ith pore
nater pressure iiieasurenient .JGS 0523-1996 349-358
Japiiiesc Gcotechnical Standards 1997 Method for consolldat-
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0560-1997 462-465
Japanese Standard Association 1990 Test method for one-
dimensional consolidatloll properties of soils ./IS, 1 I21 7-
1990 1-13
JdpaIicse Standard Association 1993 Method for iinconfined
coinpression test 011 soils JIS 1 1216-IY93 1-1 1
L2idd.C C and Fo0tt.R 1974 Nev design procedure for stabil-
it! of soft c l a s . Proceedngc of i,S’Cb , Vol 100
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NO GT7 763-786
Matsuo M and Asa0ka.A 1976 A statical stud! on a comen-
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clet] of Soil \ fechniirc $ m7cl I~outJatroii hgrneer-
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Matsu0.M and Sh0gda.T 1984 Anal) ses of sc\ era1 factors in-
fluencing q!,-\ aluc. Donreutc Ldrtron ofSor1.r arid Foctnda-
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Matsuo,M. and Sh0gaki.T 1988.Effects of plasticity and dis-
turbance on statistical properties of undrained shear
strength. Soils ai7dFoimdation.s ,Vo1.28.No.2:14-24.
Nakasc.A 1967.The Q ,,=Oanalysis of stabilih and unconfined
compression strength. Soils and Foundations. Vo1.7.
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Hnvd Soil.y -Sc!ft Rocks: 803- 807. Athens.
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Soil.? aiitIE~~~~1nclation.s.
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Sh0gaki.T. and Kawata.S 1998. Effect of specimen size on
consolidation parameters in standard oedoineter tests for
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S1iogaki.T. and Maruyan1a.Y 1998. Estimation of in-.sitcl
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41 9-424.
Shogaki.T..Maruyama.Y. and Slurakava. S 1999. A precision
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Tran.sportationInfr.a.stractlire:1 151-1 157. Balkema
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Tsuc1iida.T.1990. Study on determination of undrained strength
of clayey ground by niean of triasial tests. Technical 17oteof
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Tanaka.M..Tanaka. H . .Yokoyama. Y. &k Sumki. K 19 5 5 .Qtiality
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 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Stress-displacementcharacteristics of natural clay deposits investigated

by directed shear test

K. Suzuki, T. Fukasawa, H. Hirabayashi, H.Asada & R. Kamata

Technical Research Iiistitute, TOA Corporation, Yohvhuma,Japan

ABSTRACT: Since development of the recompression method to understand the strength-displacement be-
havior of natural clay deposits, extensive direct shear tests with Mikasa’s apparatus have been carried out on
clays found in Japan, Southeast Asia and some Western countries. On the other hand, the distribution pattern
of the in-situ shear strength with the effective overburden stress, rf/o’,,owas brought into light as related to the
aging effect that the clay has been subjected to. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to present the findings in
rdo’,,, obtained up to the present. In addition, discussion is extended to differentiate the strength-displacement
behaviors of natural clay deposits both in pre-failure and post-failure stages, being significantly different from
clays in the remolded condition.

1 INTRODUCTION
Bjerrum (1973) and Hanzawa (1977) proposed the
recompression method, later so named by Jamilkow-
ski et a1 (1985), to determine the appropriate shear
strength of natural clay deposits with the triaxial test,
where the specimen is KO-consolidated at the effec-
tive overburden stress, G ’ and
~ ~then is sheared. Di-
rect shear strength, qid,was proved to be the average
shear strength in the compression and the extension
(Hanzawa 1989). Therefore, ex-
states, T,.(~) and q(ej
tensive direct shear tests, DST, have been done on
natural clay deposits with the recompression (RC)
method, because of various advantages of DST as
explained here:
Figure 1. Profile of shear strength with depth
1) qiP,from DST can directly be used in practice
without correction for strength anisotropy be-
cause ‘f(dj = (Tf(c) + Tf(e))/z
3 ) In the RC method. undisturbed sample is firstly
reconsolidated for 5 to 10 minutes and then is
sheared under constant volume condition at a
displacement rate of 0.25mm/min. which is
much faster than the triaxial test.
Because of these significant advantages of the
DST. it is possible to collect extensive data and to
evaluate the fundamental properties of natural clay
deposits such as strength-distribution patterns, and
pre-failure and post-failure behaviors as related to
aging effects. Natural clays during their lifetime
Figure 2. Schematic expression of stress-displacement curves
must have been subjected to these aging effects, as
obtained from DST.
schematically shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

163
2 DISTRIBUTION PATTERN OF THE SHEAR
STRENGTH IN-SITU
Clay in-situ has been subjected to various compli-
cated aging effects since sedimentation and pos-
sesses an additional structure as already demonstrat-
ed by Bjerrum (1967). Because of this additional
structure, -cr of natural clay is always greater than tn
in the normally consolidated state as also shown in
Fig. 1. Hanzawa and Tanaka 1992, based on exten-
sive DST with the RC method, strongly suggested
that chemical bonding and secondary compression
are two major aging effects, and zf of natural clay is
t
l Pattern I
Effective overburden stress, c?\,~
Figure 3. Patterns of in-situ shear strength with depth.
Figure 4. Variation of shear strength with effective overburden stress for four marine clays.
164
given by Eq. (1) when related to the G’,,and zn/CT’,
ratio as also presented in Fig. 3.
Pattern I: rf = zfo + (ril/ o f v
jx olvo (1.1)
Pattern 11: zf = k x (rn/oIv) x o‘lvo (1.2)
where tfo= shear strength at the ground surface (i.e.,
=
G’,~ 0), t,/ CT,,= shear strength increment ratio in
the normally consolidated state and k = an index to
present the degree of secondary compression, being
equivalent to overconsolidation ratio, OCR ( 2 1 .O)
As already strongly suggested by Hanzawa and
Adachi (1983), pattern 1 in which chemical bonding
is the main aging effect, is predominant until C T ’ , ~
reaches a certain value; and pattern 11, where secon-
dary compression replaces the chemical bonded
structure. In other word, the case in which chemical
bonded structure has first taken place with secondary
compression occurring thereafter, is the most
probable case. Actual measurements for world fa-
mous 4 marine clays, Ariake, Bothkennar, Cham-
plain and Drammen clays reported by Dam, et a1
(1999), support this possibility as presented in Fig. 4.
The value of k, which is equivalent to OCR, was
also suggested to be the function of the sedimentary
time (= age of the clay) and the thickness of the clay
rather than plasticity index, Ip. Fig. 5 shows that k
values of Asian marine clays by DST plotted versus
Ip, elapsed time since sedimentation time, and thick-
ness of the clays (Hanzawa, 1995).
k = F( Age, Thickness)
 Figure 5. k value representing secondary compression plotted versus (a) plasticity index, (b) elapsed time, and (c) thickness

3 STRENGTH-DISPLACEMENT BEHAVIOR

Fig. 6 compares the shear stress-displacement, r-D

curves of an intermediately cemented Canadian clay
with OCR = 2.1 to 2.8 obtained by the RC method
and those man-made overconsolidated clay with
OCR = 2 to 5. The differences in r-D curves are
quite clear and demonstrate that z-D of natural clay
can never be evaluated by that of man-made clay. In
this section of the paper, stress-displacement char-
acteristics of natural clay deposits both in pre-failure
and post-failure stages obtained from DST are pre-
sented and discussed.
3.1 Pre-Failure Behavior 0 1 2 3 4 5
Miki et al. (1994) demonstrated that apparent shear Displacement, D (mm)
modulus, G5qap)given by Eq. (3) is approximately Figure 6 . Difference between undisturbed and remolded clay
the same as G,, from the direct simple shear test. in stress-displacement relation.
Therefore, G,O(ap)from the DST have been used to
evaluate the deformation of earth structures, as de-
monstrated by Tsuji (2000).

where z,(,,/2 = half of peak direct shear strength from

the RC method, D,, = displacement at z = r,,,/2 and
H, = initial height of the specimen before start of
shear.
The values of G50(ap) are therefore functions of
q(,) and D(,,). Since displacement at failure, D, de-
pends both on clay properties like I, and structure,
which could be evaluated by rf(,)/rn(,) ratio, Dam et
al. (1999) recommended to express DjO(ap) values in
Figure 7. Normalized CsO(ap,
plotted versus I,
normalized form as shown in Fig. 7, in which GjO(ap)
of Ariake, Bothkennar, Champlain and Drammen
clays, are normalized with I, and T,(,). SSP = S , / S 2and = - r l , / ~ l / r und
l , j , l= A I / A z (4)
3.2 Post-Fuilure Behuvior where SSP = strain softening parameter, S, = maxi-
Brittleness or strain softening should be used in mum slope after peak, Sz= slope at large displace-
characterizing the behavior of the clay after failure ment, A, = triangle area from zf(,) to T,.(~)and A2 = tri-
where destruction of the structure is progressed. angle area from D, to (D, + 1.5mm) of remolded
Dam, et al. (1997) proposed three parameters to pre- sample with OCR = 1 .O.
sent the brittleness of natural clay properties, slope Values of SSP calculated by Eq. (4) already re-
ratio, S,/S2, strength ratio, T , ~ ~ , / T , , and
~ ~ , area ratio, ported by Dam et al. (1997) are again presented in
A,/A2 as given by Eq. (4) as also schematically Fig. 9. Each value shows relatively good agreement
shown in Fig. 8. with each aging effect that the clays have been sub-
jected to.

165
 Pattern 11: r f = k x ( r n / d V ) xofvo

2) Pattern I is predominant until that CT’,,,

reaches a
certain value, while pattern I1 replaces the main
aging effect after exceeding a certain value.
3) Chemical bonding structure should be predomi-
nant in the pattern I region, while secondary
compressed one be in the pattern I1 region.
4) Stress-displacement behavior of natural clay de-
Figure 8. Definition of post-failure parameters posits both in pre-failure and post-failure stages
must be determined by the recompression meth-
od on the specimen prepared from undisturbed
samples.

REFERENCES

Bjerrum, L. 1967. Engineering geology of Norwegian normally

consolidated clay as related to settlement of buildings. 7Ih
Rankine Lecture, Geotechnique. Vol. 17: 83-1 18.
Bjerrum, L. 1973. Problems of soil mechanics and construction
on soft clays and structurally unstable soils (collapsible, ex-
pansive and others). General report for the 8Ih ICSMFE,
MOSCOW: 1 1 1-159
Dam, T. K. L., Yamane, N, Hanzawa, H. and Porbaha, A.
1997. Evaluation of progressive failure potential of natural
clay deposit. Proceedings of Deformation and Progressive
Failzrre in Geomechanics. IS-Nagoya 1997: 199-204.
Dam, T. K. L., Yamane, N, Hanzawa, H. 1999. Direct shear
test results on four soft marine clays. Characterization of
soft marine clay, Balkema: 229-240.
Hanzawa, H. 1977. Geotechnical properties of normally con-
solidated Fao clay, Iraq. Soils and Foundations 17 (4): 1 - 15.
Hanzawa, H. and Adachi, K. 1983. Overconsolidation of allu-
vial clays. Soils and Foundations 23 (4): 106- I 18.
Hanzawa, H. 1989. Evaluation of design parameters for soft
clays as related to geological stress history. Soils and
Fozmdations 29 (2): 99-1 1 1.
Hanzawa, H. 1995. In-situ shear strength of marine clay related
to aging effect. European Conference on Soil Mechan-
ics and Foundation Engineering, 1, Copenhagen: 141-146.
Jamilkowski, M., Ladd, C. C., Germain, J. T. and Lancellotta,
R. 1985. New development in field and laboratory testing
of soils, Proceedings of 1 l I h ICSMFE 1 : 57-1 53.
Tsuji, K. 2000. Mechanism of direct shear test on marine clay
under constant volume condition, and its application to
cvaluating failure and deformation of soft ground. Doctor
Thesis, Tokyo Institute of Technology (in Japanese).
Figure 9. Three post-failure parameters plotted versus OCR
for four marine clays around the world

4 CONCLUSIONS

Large number of direct shear tests have been carried

out on natural clay deposits with the recompression
method using Mikasa’s apparatus. From the study,
the following conclusions were obtained.

1) The distribution patterns of the shear strength of

natural clay deposits, zf are fundamentally classi-
fied into the two:

166
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15I I

Relationships between vane strength and water content of very soft clays
Y.Tanaka & G.Imai
Yokohama National Universi& Japan
M. Katagiri
Nikken Sekkei Nukuse Geotechnical Institute, Kawasaki, Japan

ABSTRACT: The land reclaimed by use of pump-dredged clays is initially in unconsolidated state and very
weak. Shear strength characteristics of such very soft clays have been studied by the vane shear tests for clays
with different plasticity. Model grounds were prepared in both the 1 G and 10 G acceleration fields to grasp a
relationship between shear strength and water content in a wide range of effective stress acting after consoli-
dation. As a result, the unique relationships among vane shear strength and normalized water content w/wlor
were confirmed to exist Cnespective of ihe difference in the plastiky.

INTRODUCTION clay layers had been used, and the characteristics re-
ported by them were limited in a narrow range of ef-
fresh land reclaimed by pump-dredged clays is in fective stress.
an unconsolidated state and subsequently consoli- In this study, shear strengths of various very soft
dates due to its own weight. Its shallow part will clays with different plasticity were examined by us-
keep its weakness for a long time even if its top sur- ing a vane shear test, and they were related to water
face may become a crust by desiccation. contents of the clays. To consider the effect of con-
For construction of structures on such weak solidation degree, self-weight consolidation process
ground, extra-fill over the ground is required to en- was reproduced in preparation of clayey sediments.
sure the trafficability of heavy working cars at first. Using the model ground consolidated at 10 G
And information about magnitude of shear strength acceleration field by centrifuge, shear strength
and its depth profile in the reclaimed land is essen- variation in a wide stress range was also
tial to design the extra-fill. Depth profile of shear investigated. Moreover, the effect of vane shape on
strength, however, could not be measured in too shear strength of weak soft clay was discussed.
weak clayey ground freshly reclaimed; only depth
profile of water content can be determined by dis-
turbed sampling. For above reason, a study on the re- 2 TEST MATERIAL
lationship between shear strength and water content
for artificial sediments, which are made of dredged Physical properties of four kinds of cohesive soils
soils in the laboratory, has been needed. are shown in Table 1. The Ip value of Clay A is three
On shear strength properties of ultra weak clays, times Of that Of ‘lay D.
several studies in laboratory have been reported.
Inoue et al. (1990) and Tan et al. (1991) investigated Table 1. Physical properties of clays
shear strengths of slurry clays by using a method of Clay p,(g/crn’) wL(%) wp(%) Z, Fc(<5pm)(%)
thin plate penetration, and compared the strengths in ClayA 2.674 112.1 38.1 74.0 62.0
terms of the difference in soil plasticity. But they Clay B 2.653 102.0 39.4 62.6 51.8
tested only on the soils just after mixing; effects of ClayC 2.662 82.2 31.5 50.7 41.0
overburden stress was not considered in their stud- Clay D 2.692 52.8 28.2 24.6 27.8
ies.
Zreik et al. (1997, 1998) investigated shear
strengths of sediments prepared in laboratory by us- 3 TEST PROCEDURE
ing the Automated Fall Cone Device. Tang and Tsu-
chida (1999) investigated shear strengths of sedi- Figure 1 shows the test procedure. At first, clay
ments by vane shear test. Both the studies focused sediment was prepared and consolidated in the 1 G
on the effects of aging. However, in their studies thin field. Next, self-weight consolidation was carried out

167
at 10 G field by the centrifuge. After the self-weight
consolidation, vane shear tests were done at various
depths in the sediment in the 1 G field. At same
time, samples were drawn from several depths of the
sediment to evaluate depth profile of water contents.
In the preparation of the model ground, a method
of multi-sedimentation was used (Yamauchi et al.,
1990) in order to make macroscopically uniform
sediment with little effect of particle segregation. In
the method of multi-sedimentation, clay slurry with
high initial water content ( W O= 2000 Yo)was poured
into the seawater above the sediment previously
formed in the acrylic cylinder with 20 cm in diame-
ter, and was left for a while for sedimentation. After
the 8th pouring of slurry, the model ground thus
formed was left in the 1 G field until the end of the
primary consolidation. Two sets of the model
grounds on each kind of the clay shown in Table 1
were prepared.
After the end of the primary consolidation at 1 G,
one of the two model grounds was placed on the
geotechnical centrifuge, and it was consolidated by
the self-weight in 10 G field. During the self-weight
consolidation in centrifuge, surface settlements of
the model ground were measured by using laser
transducers (Itoh et al. 1998). Centrifugal flights
were reluctantly terminated before the end of pri-
mary consolidation for several model grounds.
Another model ground of the one set was left in
the 1 G field until the start of vane shear test.
The vane shear tests were carried out in the 1 G
field for all model grounds. The shape of the vane
blade was 4 cm in diameter, 2 cm in height and 0.5
mm thick. The effect of vane shape on shear strength
is discussed in Chapter 6. The vane blade was in-
serted into the model ground by the penetration unit,
and was rotated at the rate of 12 "/min. The torque
was measured by a 20 N capacity load cell installed
at 2.5 cm away from the axis of the shaft. Measure-
ment of the torque was done at several depths in the
model ground to obtain a depth profile of shear
strength.
Depth profiles of water contents were also meas-
ured in all model grounds. By using a miniature tube
sampler with 5 cm in diameter a top-to-bottom sam-
ple was drawn from the model ground. The water
content values on depth were measured by dividing
the sample into 20 pieces.
4 BEHAVIOUR D U m G SELF-WEIGHT
CONSOLIDATION
4.1 Settlement behavior in I Gfield
Figure 2 shows settlement curves during self-weight
consolidation test in the 1 G field. Elapsed time in
the figure was measured from the time when settling
of the 8th pouring of slurry was finished and the
model ground was formed. Arrows in the figure
168
show 3t time at the settlements. The 3t time is de-
fined as the time for the intersection point of a set-
tlement curve and the line parallel to the steepest
part of the settlement curve and apart from it by 2t
along the log t axis. Since each settlement curve
passed over this 3t time, it was confirmed that the
primary consolidation was terminated in each model
ground.
4.2 Settlement behavior at 10 G
Figure 3 shows settlement curves of the model
grounds during self-weight consolidation at 10 G. It
is clear that Clay A and C did not reach 3t time.
Therefore, it is not clear whether excess pore water
pressure was dissipated perfectly in the model
ground. In order to correlate the measured water con-
tents, w,with correct values of effective stress, 0: in
the model ground at the end of centrifugal flight, it is
necessary to estimate 0' values in those model
grounds. This estimation was executed by using a
back analysis based on a computer program,
CONAN, proposed by Imai (1995). The back analy-
ses were executed by modifying soil constants, and
the best fitting settlement curves were obtained as
shown in Figure 3. The values of U shown in the
figure mean the consolidation degree at the end of
centrifuge testing; U is defined by the ratio of the
settlement of the model ground. Since the calculated
curves simulate the measurements with a good
agreement, the calculated effective stress distribu-
tion in the model ground was judged to be correct
for relating it with the measured water content dis-
tribution in the model ground.
5 CONDITION OF THE SEDIMENTS
5.1 Water content distribution
Figure 4 shows water content distribution in the
model grounds prepared in the 1 G field. The values
of water content are higher for the sediment of
higher plasticity. Except for the sediment A, the ef-
fect of particle sorting by segregation is found in
each layer corresponding to 8 times poring of the
slurry. The zigzag profiles shown in the sediments
B, C and D evidently proves the occurrence of the
particle segregation.
In order to draw an averaged line, smoothing of
the measured distribution was made by the method
of least squares using the function of w = a.zb, where
w is water content, z is depth, and a and b are con-
stants. Since the smoothed lines shown in Figure 4
are located at the middle area among the measured
points, it can be considered that this way of smooth-
ing is suitable.
Figure 1. Apparatus of vane shear test and testing procedure
oi

'8 160 260 360 460 560 660

Water content (%)
Figure 4. Water content profile in 1 G field

Figure 2 . Change in sediment thickness in 1 Ci field

Figure 5. Water content profile of the model ground A ( I 0 G)

Figure 3. Settlement curve in self-weight consolidation at 1 OG

5.2 Comparison of measured and back analyzed
water content distributions
Figure 5 shows the measured water content distribu-
tions of the sediment A consolidated at 10 G, and
back analyzed ones at U = 70 and 91 %. The equiva-
lent depth shown in the figure means the depth mul-
tiplied by the ratio 10 of the centrifugal acceleration
10 G to the gravity 1 G. Compared between meas-
urement and back analyses, the measured distribu-
tion is fairly agreeable with the back analyzed distri-
bution at U = 70 %. Therefore, U value of the
sediment A consolidated at 10 G was determined as
70%. In the same way, that of the sediment C was
determined as 84 %.

169
5.3 Compression curves of the sediments
Using the smoothed distributions of water content,
the relationship between effective stress, a,‘ , and
volume ratio,J; was calculated for the sediment D,
which is shown in Figure 6 together with untreated
logf- log 0,’ relationships. In the figure, a,‘values
in the centrifugal flights are converted to the values
in the 1 G field.
Scattering of the measured points are wide, but
the smoothed log f - log 0,’ relationships for 1 G
and 10 G appear to be unique and continuous.
Therefore, a water content value and an effective
stress value at certain depth in the model ground are
Figure 6 . Relationship between volume ratio and effective stress
defined as the values at one point on the smoothed of the model ground D.
logf- log 0,’ curves in this paper.

6 RESULTS OF VANE SHEAR TESTS

6.1 DeJnition of vane shear strength
In Figure 7, the relationships between the vane resis-
tance and rotation angle during the tests on the sedi-
ments C is shown. In the figure, shape of vane blade
with diameter to height ratio ( D (cm)/H (cm) = 4/2)
was used. It is recognized that the value of peak re-
sistance increases with depth. The rotation angle at
the peak resistance in case of 10 G is larger than that
in 1 G case. Its reason might come from the stress re-
lease after the end of 10 G centrifuge loading.
The peak resistance of the vane during testing Figure 7 . Variation of vane resistance during testing.
was used to define the vane shear strength, z,.
I I
6.2 Effect of vane shape on shear strength
The shape of vane blade used in this study is differ-
ent from the conventional one usually used in the
field. Its reasons are as follows.
-0 ~166%
(1) The maximum torque in vane testing for very --c)--wo =200%
soft clays is extremely small. In order to measure
the torque with high accuracy, it is necessary to a,
use an appropriate vane shape corresponding to
the magnitude of shear strength of the clays.
(2) The change in water content with depth becomes
larger in the sediments consolidated by centri-
“0 1 2 3
fuge, so that probable difference of shear
Ratio of diameter to height, DIH
strengths will become larger at the top and bottom
of the vane blade. From this reason, it is prefer- Figure 8. Effect of vane shape on vane shear strength.
able to use a vane blade as short height as possi-
ble. 6.3 Relationships between vane shear strength and
By use of three different shapes of the vane, with water content
diameter to height ratios ( D (cm)/H (cm) = 412, 4/4,
2/4), the vane shear tests were done by use of clay C. Figure 9 shows the relationships between vane shear
Three sediments were prepared from different water strength, z, and water content, w, of all model
content slurries (WO = 135, 166, 200 %). It can be grounds. From the result shown in Figure 9, the fol-
seen in Figure 8 that the shape effect is not signifi- lowing important findings can be seen.
cant by and large. Thus, the vane shape with 4 cm in (1) The z, - w relationship is continuous between the
width and 2 cm in height was decided to use in this results of 1G and those of 10 G.
study. (2) The continuous relationships of clays are differ-
ent from each other.

170
(3) The difference is described in (2) must be re-
sulted from the difference in soil plasticitv.
6.4 Relationships between vane shear strength and
effective overburden stress
Figures 10 and 11 show the relationships between z,
and effective overburden stress (0.’) at the mid-
height of the rotating vane. The a,‘at 10 G means
the effective overburden stress under the self-weight
in the centrifugal gravity.
It can be seen that z, increases in proportion to
a,’in all the cases, and furthermore the averaged
slope correlating z, and a.’ -
is about 0.4 0.5; this
is as Same as that Of consoli- Figure 10. Vane shear strength versus effective overburden stress
dated clays.
When our eyes are focused on the results of 1 Ci,
however, the values of are approximately 0.7
- 0.8. Results of the tests by Gomyo et al. (1990)
-5
and Tsuchida et al. (1995) also demonstrated the
same tendency. But its clear explanation or interpre-
tation has not been given.

7 DISCUSSIONS

In order to examine the effect of the difference in

soil plasticity on z, - w relationships, normalization
of current water content was tried by the use of two 3
thinking ways. One is the use of the normalized wa- Effective overburden stress, a‘ (kPa)
ter content ( w l w ~ )and
, another is the use of liquidity ~i~~~~ I I . Vane shear strength versus effective stress (d
index, IL. Results of the two ways are compared <0,3kpa)
with each other, and further with existing studies
data available.

7.1 Applicability of w / w ~and IL

The relationships between z, and w are summarized
in Figures 12 and 13, in which are plotted the data
available from the other publications as well as the
data from the present study. It can be seen that there
are two groups A and B. Its reason will be described
in the next section 7.2.

Figure 12. Vane shear strength versus wIwL

It should be emphasized that the results plotted in

Figure 9. Relationships between vane shear strength and water
terms of W / W L (Figure 12) are almost the same as
those plotted in terms of IL (Figure 13). This means
that it cannot be judged which one of the normaliza-
tion methods should be used. However, it should be
noted here that z, - w relationships can be expressed
only by unique curve when w is normalized by W / W L
or IL.
Moreover, it should be added that zv - w relation-
ships are unique regardless of the U value of the
model ground at the end of centrifugal flight.

171

Figure 13. Vane shear strength versus IL
7.2 Comparison with the existing studies
The existing data available are also plotted in Fig-
ures 12 and 13. These results can be divided into two
groups. The points plotted in the group A zone were
obtained for clays just after remolding (Inoue et al.
1990, Tan et al., 1991 and Tsuchida et al., 1999).
The points plotted in the group B zone were ob-
tained for clay sediments consolidated for long time
after remolding (Tsuchida et al., 1995 and Zreik et
al., 1997).
Regarding the existence of different zones A and
B, two reasons can be described by Tang and Tsu-
chida (1999) and Zreik et al. (1998); one is an effect
of cementation during self-weight consolidation, and
another is the development of soil structure by sedi-
mentation and consolidation. They showed these
reasons clearly from their experiments.
On the results of vane shear tests in this study, the
zv - W / W L relationships and G, - IL relationships are in
good agreement with Group B. Since the vane shear
tests in this study were carried out to the clay sedi-
ments after self-weight consolidation, it is accepted
that the results in this study were located in the
Group B. Furthermore, regardless of U of sediments
at the end of consolidation, it is important point that
these test results belong to the group B. However, it
is difficult to clarify the cause of above mention
from only these test results.
8 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
A test series on vane shear strength and water con-
tent in very soft clays consolidated by self-weight at
1 G and 10 G has been done. Main conclusions ob-
tained are as follows.
The effect of vane shape and its size on 2, is
quite small, and it is recommended to use a spe-
cial shape ( D (cm)lH (cm)= 4/2) to obtain shear
strengths of very soft clays in laboratory.
Shear strength obtained by the vane test can be
172
uniquely correlated to the WIWL or IL, irrespective
of the difference in soil plasticity and the degree
of consolidation of the sediments.
(3) Based on the finding (2), the prediction of
strength distribution in a reclaimed land might be
done by using the information only about water
content variation with depth in the land.
REFERENCES
Gomyo, M., Yanai, E and Otsuki, T. 1990. Sedimentation
properties on seabed of Tokyo Bay. Proc. of 37th annual
Meeting of the Coastal Engineering JSCE, 848-849 (in
Japanese).
Inoue, T., Tan, T. S. and Lee S. L. 1990. An investigation of
shear strength of slurry clay. Soils and Foundations, 30(4):
1-10.
Imai, G. 1995. Analytical examination of the foundation to
formulate consolidation phenomena with inherent time de-
pendence. Proc. of International Symposium on Conzpres-
sion and Consolidation of Clayey Soils, 2: 891-935.
Itoh, H., Katagiri, M., Saitoh, K. and Terashi, M. 1998. Self-
weight consolidation behavior of fluid clay. Proc. of the In-
ternational Conference on Centrijiuge 98, 1 8 1- 184.
Tan, T. S., Goh, T. C., Karunaratne, G. P., Inoue, T. and Lee,
S. L. 1991. Yield stress measurement by a penetration
method. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 28: 5 17-522.
Tang. Y . X. and Tsuchida, T. 1999. The development of shear
strength for sedimentary soft clay with respect to aging ef-
fect. Soils and Foundations, 39(6): 13-24.
Tsuchida, T. Suka, T., Harada, M. and Adachi, K. 1995. Study
on mechanism of strength mobilization of seabed. Proc. of
30th annual Meeting of the JGS: 639-640 (in Japanese).
Tsuchida, T., Hong, Z., Watabe, Y . and Ogawa, F. 1999. Rela-
tionship of undrained shear strength versus normalized wa-
ter content for remolded clayey soils. Proc. of 34th annual
Meeting of JGS: 543-544 (in Japanese).
Yamauchi, H., Imai, G., Watanabe, K. and Ogata, K. Sedimen-
tation-consolidation analyses of pump-dredged cohesive
soils. Proc. of International Conference on Geotechnical
Engineeringfor Coastal Development, 1: 129-134
Zreik, D. A., Germaine, J. T. and Ladd, C. C. 1997. Undrained
strength of ultra-weak cohesive soils: relationship between
water content and effective stress. Soils and Foundations,
37(3): 117-128.
Zreik, D. A., Germaine, J. T. and Ladd, C. C. 1998. Effect of
aging and stress history on the undrained strength of ultra-
weak cohesive soils. Soils and Foundations, 38(4): 3 1-39.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Evaluating ageing effects of undrained shear strength of soft clays

M.Ternrna, S.Shibuya & T Mitachi

Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University,Supporo, Jupun

ABSTRACT: In natural sedimentary clay, the action of ageing over geological time-span results in increasing
not only shear modulus at very small strains, G, but also undrained shear strength, cfi,at large strains. This pa-
per describes case histories in which the ageing effects on both G and c, in Ariake and Bangkok clays were
manifested by performing a series of triaxial compression test with the measurement of small-strain stiffness,
and by comparing the results to in-situ seismic survey. The degree of ageing at different depths was evaluated
in each site by having the profile of Metastability Index, MI(G), with depth. Applicability of MILK (Metasta-
bility Index coupled with Laboratory &-test) method for estimating cN "in the ground" (Shibuya et al. 2000)
was also examined with the results of triaxial compression test on natural as well as reconstituted samples.
The c,-profile with depth in aged natural sedimentary clay ground is discussed in link with the site-specific
MI(G)-profile with depth.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 METASTABILITY INDEX AND MILK

Natural clay deposits have been subjected to con-
tinuous action of ageing involved with sustained
drained creep. This phenomenon is termed "structu-
ration", which gradually modifies the properties to
be stiffer and stronger with time when compared to
the behavior of non-aged clay. On the other hand,
"destructuration" is normally seen, for example, at
clay sampling involved with mechanical disturbance
to the in-situ fabrics and structure, and at quickly re-
consolidating the natural sample to the domain far
beyond the equilibrium state "in the ground".
In practice, the "aged-structure" of natural sedi-
mentary clay may be manifested by means of Me-
tastability Index, MI, originally proposed by
Mitchell (1993). Shibuya (2000) has developed a
similar concept by examining G between a natural
and its reconstituted samples. In normally consoli-
dated aged clay (Bjerrum. 1973), MI(G) of natural
sample may be conveniently defined as the differ-
ence in density as compared to the density of recon-
stituted sample at the G-value in common. In princi-
ple, the natural sample of a given clay is considered
more structured as the non-dimensional measure,
MI(G), increases in value.
This paper describes case histories in which the
ageing effects on both G and c, "in the ground" were
examined in triaxial tests using high-quality samples
of Ariake clay in Japan and Bangkok clay in Thai-
land. An interlink between cfl and G through MI(G)
is in depth discussed.
METHOD
Shear modulus from in-situ seismic survey with the
measurement of shear wave velocity, V,, refers to
Gf = p, *Vy2
where pr denotes bulk density of subsoil. In a similar
way, shear modulus from laboratory tests at shear
strains equivalent to Gf; i.e., 0.0001-0.001% is de-
noted as G,,,,,. Note that Gf is free of any distur-
bance, whereas G,?,, comprises the effects of sample
disturbance.
Mikasa (1964) has stated that the effective stress
of unbounded saturated clays is determined by soil
type, water content, w, and the aged-structure. The
premise is assumed applicable to the mechanical
properties such as G. Thus, for a given soil;
o'=Fl (w,aged - structure)
(2)
G aged
= F2(w, structure)
-
(3)
In the case of normally consolidated reconstituted
clay, the effective stress as well as G is each a mo-
notonous and smooth function of w , so the current
water content of the non-aged clay is expressed as;

173
Figure 1. Metastability index, MI(Gf)IL'in the ground' and the measurement using laboratory sample, MI(GNIal)IL
Equations 2-5 imply that the difference of w be-
tween natural (aged) sample and reconstituted (non-
aged) sample is solely attributed to the effects of
aged-structure. The metastabilty index is based on
this idea. The metastabilty index, MZ(G)'L, accounts
for the difference of liquidity index ZL between natu-
ral (aged) and reconstituted (non-aged) sample at a
given G, and it is defined by
Figure 1 shows the migration of the state of natu-
ral clay during sampling and testing in the labora-
tory. Note that ZL instead of w is employed so as to
cope with the situation that the intrinsic properties
such as W L , w P and ps show subtle difference be-
tween natural and reconstituted samples. The a*-a*
and /3*-/3* lines stand for the relations between IL
and a', and between Z12 and G,,,, of reconstituted
clay as subjected to normal compression. The point
"I" denotes the in-situ state of natural sedimentary
clay that has never been subjected to geological
overconsolidation. The in-situ state of natural sedi-
mentary clay is normally located above these lines.
When sampling, the state of natural clay sample
moves to point "R" without changing water content.
On the other hand, alternation in water content inevi-
tably occurs when the sample is recompressed to in-
situ stress state, which is denoted using the capital
"L". As described in detail by Shibuya et a1 (2000),
MILK (Metastability Index coupled with Laboratory
&-test) method accounts for inevitable alternation in
water content on c,, of laboratory samples. It should
be stressed that careful testing on a series of high-
quality natural samples subjected to recompression
remains the absolute necessity in the application of
MILK-method.
3 TESTSITES
Figure 2 shows the profile of some physical and me-
chanical properties with depth in Bangkok. The site
at Nong Ngu Hao (NNH) is located 15 km East from
1 74
central Bangkok. The weathered crust existed from
the surface down to 2 m depth. The soft clay ex-
tended below the crust to the depth of 15.5 m. In this
soft marine clay layer, the plastic limit showed little
variation with depth, whereas the liquid limit ranged
from 100 to 120%. The liquidity index was close to
unity till 7 m depth, but below 7m, it gradually de-
creased to 0.5 at 13.8 m. The piezo-metric pressure
measured by piezocone and on-site piezometer was
lower than the hydrostatic pressure below 6m due to
excessive pumping in the aquifer: This unusual pro-
file of pore water pressure with depth is commonly
encountered in Bangkok area at least over the last
decade. On-going ground subsidence is a highlight
of it, implying that recent consolidation has been
successively taking place over the lower part in the
soft clay. In the light of this recent consolidation his-
tory, the upper part above 6-7 m depth alone may be
regarded as normally consolidated aged clay,
whereas the lower part of soft clay layer refers to
normally consolidated young clay. The OCR value
from constant rate of strain oedometer test (i.e., CRS
test) ranged between 1.0 and 1.7 in the soft clay
layer. The OCR value below 6 m was close to unity
possibility due to recent reconsolidation (Shibuya et
al. 1998).
Figure 3 shows the profile of physical and me-
chanical properties with depth at Ariake. The soil
profile consisted of 12m thick marine clay over non-
marine clay deposit (Shimoyama et al. 1994). The
plastic limit showed little variation with depth, and
the natural water content decreased from 160% near
the surface to 55% at 19m depth. The liquidity index
was more than unity above 15m depth, and it
reached close to unity below 15m depth. The OCR
values from CRS test and from 24hrs oedometer test
using incremental loading (i.e., ZL test) are also pre-
sented. Like Bangkok, Ariake clay may be catego-
rized into normally consolidated aged-clay over the
entire depths investigated (Shibuya et al. 2000).
4 TESTS PERFORMED
(7)
Laboratory tests were carried out to obtain the p*-@*
For the determinations of metastability index and c,,
line (see Fig.l), the metastaility index and the c,-
the undrained triaxial tests were carried out. The
value. The clay was mixed with distilled water at
each specimen was consolidated under the in-situ ef-
water content twice the liquid limit, and de-aired for
fective vertical stress in the K,condition. At the end
24hrs. The slurry prepared was then poured into an
of consolidation stage, the undrained cyclic shear
8cm-diameter cylinder, and it was one-
test was carried out in order to obtain Emox.The
dimensionally consolidated under vertical stress of
specimen was then subjected to undrained shear in
about 15OkPa. For the p*-@* line determination,
compression with axial strain rate of 0.2 %/min.
undrained triaxial test and oedometer test using
bender elements (Shibuya et al. 1997) were carried
out by using the reconsitututed samples of Ariake 5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
and Bangkok clay, respectively. In bender element
oedometer test, the sample was consolidated under 5.1 Profiles of MI(G)ILwith depth
10.6, 22.2, 40.5, 78.1, 157.3 and 315 kPa in steps
It should be noted that G,,,, in triaxial test using
under the KOcondition. At the end of each consoli-
samples recompressed under the in-situ stress was
dation stage, shear wave velocity, V,, generated by a
smaller than Gj from seismic cone test in Ariake and
bender element was measured. In triaxial test, the
Bangkok (see Figs. 2, 3). Figure 4 shows the result
specimen was consolidated under 23.5, 38.4, 52.8,
of triaxial tests on five natural samples of Bangkok
73.9,98.7, 123.2 and 148.3 kPa in steps under the KO
clay, together with the result of a reconstituted sam-
condition. At the end of each consolidation stage,
ple. Note that the p*-p* line was obtained from the
undrained cyclic loading was applied by using the
bender oedometer test on the same reconstituted
cyclic strain amplitude of 0.005% with a frequency
sample. The results of natural samples showed that
of 0.2Hz. The elastic shear modulus was estimated
the difference of 1, between triaxial samples and the
based on the E,, value as

175
P*-P* line at the same G decreased with depth. In
the same figure, the relation of IL-log Gj showed a
trend that Gf upto 6.5m below ground level de-
creased with depth, whereas it increased with depth
below the depth. The trend may be due to the effect
of overconsolidation in the upper layer. The profiles
of MI(Gf) and MI(Gnlux)with depth are shown in
Figure 5. Note that MI(Glltux)decreased with depth,
suggesting propagation of destructuration from the
bottom of soft clay. As it is stated earlier, MI(Gf)
was larger than MI(Gnla.J throughout the clay layer.
Figure 6 shows the result of triaxial tests on six
natural samples, together with the comparable result
using a reconstituted sample of Ariake clay. Con-
trary to Bangkok clay, MI(Gf) tends to increase with
depth (Fig.7). The variation of MI(Gf) with depth
would imply that the degree of metastabilization
(=structuration) is more dominant with depth due
possibly to the effect of secondary compression.
5.2 Undrained shear strength c,
Figures 8 and 10 show undrained effective stress
paths normalized by in-situ effective overburden
pressure for Bangkok and Ariake, respectively. As
compared to reconstituted sample, the paths of natu-
ral samples exhibited steeper response. In Bangkok,
the normalized response was softer in stress path and
weaker in strength with depth. Such a trend cannot
be seen in tests on Ariake clay.
5.3 Application of MILK-method
The c, value in triaxial test refers to a half of devia-
tor stress at peak. Undrained shear strength normal-
ized by using in-situ effective overburden pressure,
c,,/d,, is plotted against MI(GNlCIs) for each sample
(Figs.9, 11). It is observed in common with Ariake
and Bangkok clays that the normalized strength ratio
increased with metastability index. In Bangkok clay,
the MI(Gnlus)value of reconstituted sample in triaxial

, ,
'1 I ' I

13.7 ,/)
I I I I I I I

1.5 -
\

1-
Reconstituted -

- x : seismic cone test

0:triaxial test
- v: oedometer test 0.5 -
01 I ) ' I 1 ' I I I IPT I
4 6 810 20 40 60
Quasi-elastic shear moduli, Gf and G,,, (MPa)
Figure 4. Relationship between Z1. and thequasi-elastic shear
moduli, Gf and G,n, in Bangkok

0 1 1 1 1 ~ 1 1 , l [ I I

- \x--.
- - -- - --
A
.x-. -
E
U \ x
3.x;
5 10: 0 \ 8 'x---.x
B \ x=::--
-9c-------
-
-
\ _ _ _ _ _- -_- --= * 0-

x : seismic cone test

O VX -

,
-
o : triaxial test 20 T
~ I I I I I I I
o : triaxial test I I I I I I
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Metastability indices, MZ(Gf ) I L and MZ(G,,, )'I-

Figure 5. Profiles of MZ(G/)ILand MZ(Gmm)lLwith depth in

Bangkok

176
test differed a little from MI(GnIuJfrom the bender
oedometer test (see Fig. 4), resulting in MI(Gn1uJof
0.12 for reconstituted sample. A linear approxima-
tion was applied to the relationship between c J d Y
and MZ(G,llux).Note that the result of sample at 5.3m
depth in Bangkok was excluded for the fitting, since
the OCR value was comparatively larger than the
other samples (see Fig.2). Similarly, in Ariake clay,
the data at 12.2 m and 13.7m was excluded for the
fitting. The fitted relationship may be expressed by
In Bangkok clay;
= 0.33+0.9*[MI(G,,,)-0.121
(8)
In Ariake clay;
= 0.37 +0.47*MI(G,,,,) (9)
177
where the subscripts of 'natural' and 'rc' mean the
properties relating to a series of natural samples and
the reconstituted sample, respectively. According to
MILK-method, the c,-value "in the ground" is esti-
mated by replacing MI(Gl,lux)lL with MI(G/)IL in
Eqs.8, 9. The profile of the estimated c, with depth
is shown in Figuresl2, 13, in which the comparable
measurements of c, from CKJJ triaxial compression
test, constant volume direct shear box (DSB) test and
the field vane test are also shown for comparison. In
both Ariake and Bangkok, the estimated c,-profile
"in the ground" by MILK method is larger than the
result of triaxial compression test.
An interlink between MI(G,Trm)and c, is consid-
ered based on the results shown in Figures 5 and 7.
In Ariake clay, MZ(G,llux)increases with depth. In
Bangkok clay, the variational pattern of MI(G,,,,,J
with depth is clearly different from Ariake, for
which MI(G,,,,,) decreases with depth. As stated ear-
lier, the different patterns may be attributed to the
difference in ageing effects with depth.
For a better understanding of it, the effects o f
ageing on undrained shear strength are patternized
into two cases (Figs.14, 15). In two cases where
IWI(G,)'~ increases linearly with depth and decreases
linearly with depth, c,/d,, increases linearly with
depth and c,ld, decreases linearly with depth, re-
spectively. The former (see Fig.14) refers to normal
natural clay ground including Ariake where the age- 1~~
ing effects are more significant with depth. On the
other hand, the latter (see Fig.15) corresponds to the
case in Bangkok, where the ageing effects are re-
versed with depth.
20
6 CONCLUSIONS d, MI(G)" c,,ld,. c,
Figure 14. Variation pattern of undrained shear strength with
~~~i~~ effects on quasi-elastic shear modulus at depth in Ariake type
small strains, G, and undrained shear strength, c,,
were examined in normally consolidated aged clay
in Ariake and Bangkok. In such a natural sedimen-
tary clay ground, Metastability Index, MI(G)IL, in-
creases gradually with depth since the degree of
structuration due to secondary compression is more
dominant with depth. In Bangkok clay, the trend was
reversed due to propagation of recent reconsolida- 2 10-
tion from the bottom of soft clay involved with some 8
destructuration. The results of triaxial compression

d, MI(G)" c,,I~, c,

Figure 15. Variation pattern of undrained shear strength with

depth in Bangkok type

test with measurement of stiffness at small-strains

manifested the correlation between MI(G)IL and
c,ld,, for which the c,ld,, value of clay samples
each recompressed under the in-situ geostatic
stresses increased liearly with MI(G)". Based on the
correlation, the profile of c,ld, with depth was pat-
ternized with respect to the characteristic profile of
MI(G)IL with depth. Application of MILK-method
for estimating c, "in the ground" was also attempted
in both Ariake and Bangkok.

7 REFERENCES
Bjerrum, L. (1973): Problems of soil mechanics and construc-
tion on soft clays and structurally unstable soils (collapsi-
ble, expansive and others;. Proc. of 8th ICSMFE, Vo1.3,
pp.111-159.
Mitchell, J.K. (1993): Fundamentals of soil behavior. Second
Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Mikasa, M. (1964): A classification chart for engineering prop-
erties of soils, Tsuchi-to-kiso, JGS, V01.12, No.4, pp.17-24
(in Japanese).
Shibuya, S., Hwang, S.C. & Mitachi, T. (1997): Elastic shear
modulus of soft clays from shear wave velocity measure-
ment, Geotechnique, Vo1.47, No.3, pp.593-601.

178
Shibuya, S., Hanh, L.T., Wilailak, K., Lohani, T.N., Tanaka, H.
& Harnouche, K. (1998): Characterizing stiffness and
strength of soft Bangkok clay from in-situ and laboratory
tests, Geotechnical Site Characterization (Robertson, P.K.
and Mayne, P. W. edns), Balkerna, V01.2, pp.1361-1366.
Shibuya, S. (2000): Assessing structure of aged natural sedi-
mentary clays. Soils and Foundations, (in print).
Shimoyama, S., Matsurnoto, N., Takernura, K., Iwao, Y., Mi-
ura, N.& Tohno, I. (1994): Quaternary geology of the low-
land along the north coast of Ariake bay. Earth and Planet,
Research report of the Faculty of Scieme, Kyushu Univer-
sity. 18-2, pp.103-129.

179
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 1

In-situ structure of Bangkok clay as measured in bender element test

N.Theramas t
Department of Civil Engineering, Nagoya University, Japan (Formerly: Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok,
Thailand)
S. Shibuya
Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan (Formerly: Asian Institute of Technology,
Bangkok, Thailand)
Y. Ichikawa
Department of Geotechnical and Environnzeiztal Engineering, Nagoya University, Japan

ABSTRACT: Characterization of in-situ structure of sedimentary soil for the case study of Bangkok clay is
addressed in this paper. A framework is proposed to enhance fundamental understanding of soil structuration
and destructuration of natural sedimentary clay due to continuous geological formation and due to recent con-
solidation. The concept of 3D state boundary of non-aged reconstituted clay is described, providing a key
frame of reference for assessing structure of aged natural clay. The structural measure termed as metastability
index (Shibuya 1999) and the non-dimensional soil constant Svll (Jamiolkowski et al. 1994) are successfully
used to quantify the soil structuration-destructuration. The paper concludes with an effect of recent reconsoli-
dation on current structure of Bangkok clay.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

1.1 Soil structure
Natural soil commonly poses structure, which has
been formed during continuous action of aging over
geological time. In addition, it shows evidence of
aging effect on the behavior when subjected to con-
solidation and shearing. In dealing with natural
sedimentary clay, we should therefore scrutinize in
development of soil aging and the coexistent soil
structure. The term “soil structure”, for instance, is
referred to the difference in mechanical behavior of
natural sample as compared to its non-aged fully de-
structed (reconstituted) one.
1.2 The use of G,,,, in soil aging
The time-dependent response of clay due to aging
can be highlighted by substantial increase of yield
stress (o;,). However the yield stress shows strong
rate-dependency, which in turn suffers to describe
the aged soil structure. The shear modulus at very
small strain level (G,,,), in sharp contrast, is a stable
property against variations of such as rate of stress-
ing or straining, type of loading, loading frequency,
etc (e.g. Tatsuoka & Shibuya 1992). In addition,
soils become stiffer as they age, for which the G,,,,
value of clays exhibits continuous increase with time
during drained creep. The use of G,,l,,, rather than
a;, hence seems to be per se suitable to show evi-
dence of structuration-destructuration of natural clay
since it is well correlated to soil aging and reciprocal
development of soil structure (Shibuya 1999).
2.1 Outline of Bangkok clay
So-called Bangkok clay stands for the uppermost
marine clay, which found in the lower deltaic area of
Bangkok plain. According to ESCAP (1986), depo-
sition of the Bangkok clay is believed to set off ap-
proximately 4000 years ago and it has exposed
above the sea about 2700 years ago. Site investiga-
tion has been performed at Sutthisan site, which lo-
cated close to the central city of Bangkok. At the test
site, the uppermost brownish-gray weathered crust
extends down to 4 m depth. The dark-gray soft
Bangkok clay stretches from 4 m to 15 m. The 5 m
thick light-brown stiff clay layer locates underneath
the soft clay, overlying the dense sand layer. Ground
water level, as measured in November 1997, was
found 1 m below the ground surface. In recent years,
due to the glut drawing of subsurface water, a non-
hydraulic distribution of water pressure is observed
(Theramast 1998, Shibuya et al. 1999b).
2.2 Characterization of quasi-elastic shear modulus
The use of bender element (BE) technique (Shirley
& Hampton 1977, Dyvik & Madhsus 1985) is one of
the reliable practices currently used in small strain
(estimated to be less than 10-’) shear modulus de-
termination (e.g. Jamiolkowaski et al. 1994, Vig-
giani & Atkinson 1995, Jovicic et al. 1996, Shibuya
et al. 1997). In this paper, laboratory investigation of
G,,, has been performed in a special consolidometer
device equipped with a couple of bender elements as

181
shown in Figure 1. A series of bender element test
has been carried out for some depths of Bangkok
clay (Theramast 1998). A pair of comparative natu-
ral and reconstituted specimen at a single depth was
prepared so as to avoid variations with depth of
heterogeneous properties. Reconstituted clay using
flakes of natural samples from 5 to 10 m depths has
been prepared under one-dimensional compression
to the prescribed o;,of 98.1 kPa from soil slurry
with initial water content of twice liquid limit. An
attempt has been made to minimize drained creep ef-
fects throughout testing. In-situ value of Gf by per-
forming seismic cone test (SCPT) at an identical test
site jointly with the result manifested from the spe-
cially developed triaxial equipment (Tenma 1998,
Yamamoto 1999) were utilized in order to ascertain-
ing reliability of measurement obtained from BE test
as shown in Figure 2 together with some relevant
soil properties.

182
3 IDENTIFICATION OF SOIL
STRUCTURATION- DESTRUCTURATION
3.1 State boundary curve of non-aged reconstituted
clay in (a:,,e , G,,,,) space
It is prevalently accepted, according to the frame-
work of critical state soil mechanics, that uniqueness
of the normal compression (NC) state provides the
existence of state boundary (SB) in (e, a:,)space.
Recently, Shibuya (1999) has suggested the possible
extension of the state boundary concept of non-aged
reconstituted clay to the 3D space, taking an account
of three state variables (i.e. a:, e and Cmax). Sup-
porting evidence for the existence of 3D state
boundary is presented in Figure 3, in which one-
dimensional compression-swelling test of reconsti-
tuted Bangkok clay was examined in term of rela-
tionship between e-a: and between e-Gmax.
183
The NC line in the corresponding e-logo:, rela-
tionship (i.e. the line a-a in Figure 3a) and e-
lOgGm,.~relationship (i.e. the line 6-p in Figure 3b)
existed to validate the application of 3D state
boundary curve. Note that the relationship of both e-
logo:, and e-logG,,,, at NC state is assumed to be
expressed by straight line. On overcompression
(OC), the states move to the left of the SB curve by
exhibit also linear relationships (i.e. line a*-a*and
p*$* in Figures 3a, b, respectively).
3.2 Behavior of natural clay outside SB curve
The idea of which is derived from the results of
short-term aging in laboratory test. As clay under-
takes the sustained drained creep, the state of (e, a:,)
moves down below its SB curve, on the contrary, the
pertinent state (e, G,,,) steps away to the right of its
lower bound SB curve. The states then approach
back to rejoin their SB curves upon subsequent load-
ing (for details, refer to Shibuya 1999). This feature
presumably attributed to the basis of sustained struc-
turation-destructuration, guiding a properly choice
for identification of the current structure of aged
natural sedimentary clay. An instance by using a pair
of natural and reconstituted Bangkok clay samples is
schematically revealed in Figure 4. On recompres-
) , G,,
sion to a ~ , ( i n . 3 i t uthe value of natural clay pro-
gressively increases against d,accompanied by con-
tinuous decrease in void ratio. Beyond the onset of
apparent yield stress o;,,,,tendency is clear for the
states (e, a:,)and (e, G,,) of natural clay sample to
link up with the relevant SB curves, implying con-
tinuous destructuration during virgin compression.
4 QUANTIFYING CURRENT STRUCTURE OF
NATURAL SOIL
4.1 Classification of current soil structure
Shibuya (1999) has stated that the current structure
of natural sedimentary clay can be accounted for by
turning into two different features, which shall be re-
ferred to hereafter as “on-depositional” and “post-
depositional” effects on the current soil structure.
The former is a characteristic soil structure that
arises at deposition, involved with parallel amount
of surrounded water in voids. Whereas the latter is,
by terminology, regarded to the post-depositional
aged structure dominated by secondary compression
and/or the growth of interparticle bonding. Current
clay structure is thus considered as a consequence of
combined effects of both on-depositional and post-
depositional formations. It should be cited, for the
sake of subsequent discussion, that characteristic of
water content (w)with respect to a’,,as subjected to
one-dimensional compression for a given clay is not
unique but varies over the low stress scale depend-
ing on the initial w at deposition (Mikasa 1964).
 4.2 Metastability (structure-permitted) index
The effective stress of unbonded saturated clay can
be determined by the soil type, water content and the
aged structure (Mikasa 1964). Besides, in view of
the fact that the effective stress as well as G,, of
non-aged clay prepared at specific water content on
deposition is a monotonously smooth function of
water content. The current water content of the non-
aged clay can be then formulated by:

The easiest way to visualize current structure of

natural clay may a fortiori attainable by judging its
behavior against those of the fully destructed sam-
ple, which is consistent to the state close to the dens-
est possible packing of particles at the relevant
effective stress (Mitchell 1993). However, as
previously mentioned, identification of soil structure
is more responsive and suitable competence in term
of G,,,, rather than a;. Moreover, taking a soil ele-
ment based comparison into play may confront with
a problem in laboratory of simulating in-situ clay
sedimentation in term of water content at deposition.
On the other hand, the use of liquidity index (ZI,)ap-
pears to be more receptive since it is generally ac-
cepted that the deposition with ZI,equal to four cor-
responds closely to the instance of marine clay
sedimentation in source ground (e.g. Tsuchida &
Gymyo 1995). Likewise, the prevailing practice
worldwide for preparing the reconstituted clay sam-
ple in the laboratory refers to the corresponding con-
dition with ZI,about two (Burland 1990). The use of
ZI,,like relative density for sand, may also be helpful
in comparing the degree of soil structure of clays
from various origins (Shibuya et al. 1999b).
In the light of the above comments, Shibuya
(1999) has recently proposed the metastability
(structure-permitted) index, which is the outcome of
the governing on-depositional and post-depositional
structural-permitted regions as expressed below:

The metastability index, MZ(G)e is a structural

measure of soil applicable to samples from the same
origin which exhibit the intrinsic properties in com-
mon, whilst the measure MI(G)II,is inherently more
versatile. The performance of MZ(Gmax)~~ in evaluat-
ing concurrent structuration-destructuration is dem-
onstrated in Figure 5 , in which MZ(GmQx)l~ is in-
spected with respect to & In Figure 5b, MZ(G,,,)II,
continuously decreases as o:,becomes more intense
on virgin compression, signifying progressively soil
destructuration due to stressing .

184
 1.4, I I I I I I l l 1 I I I I I l l
mospheric pressure, is frequently employed (e.g.
Hardin & Black 1968, Ni 1987, Shibuya et al. 1997).
The relationship between G,,,,,lf(e) and a;,a’h,
with the benefit of appropriate f(e), is rather inde-
pendent of OCR (e.g. Tatsuoka & Shibuya 1992,
L-y Jamiolkowski 1994, Shibuya et al. 1997). In spite of
X this, the use of f ( e ) gives a favorable characteristic
5 0.8
c(
only if the series of reconstituted clay in state of
.-h
c
(a;,,G,,,,) exhibit in similar shape. This feature
2 0.6
U-
gives an idea of dissolution of on-depositional struc-
2 ture effect on G,,,, resulting in a single S12hvalue
0.4 applicable to the non-aged reconstituted sample in
hand. From the results of regression analysis applied
to database of in-situ seismic survey at nine different
0.2 site worldwide together with the results of laboratory
bender element test on reconstituted clay from eight
different origin in Japan, Shibuya et al. (1997) pro-
posed the void ratio function as f ( e ) = (l+e)-2.4,
which already well proven, later, by Shibuya et al.
(1999b) that by making use of this void ratio func-
tion in cooperation with reference pressure of 98.1
kPa, both of S,,), and n value inhabit over a narrow
range against variations of soil compressibility and
plastic limit. The variation of Gnlaxlf(e)with the
stress system of (a:,alh)for the non-aged reconsti-
tuted sample for each specific clay is, as a result,

:
unique and generally serve as the lower bound
against which the aged structure alone can be sin-
gled out. Therefore, any deviation of ,& compared
to S1,/, of the non-aged reconstituted samples is sim-
ply attributed to post-depositional aged structure. An
example is shown in Figure 6, in which the results of
BE tests on Bangkok clay is examined in term of the
soil structure constant &h. Note that the exponent n
is more or less constant at around 0.3 whilst the val-
0 100 200 300 400 SO0 600 ues of S,,/,reflecting soil structure vary with depth.
Vertical Effective Stress (kPa) , a,,

Figure 5. A demonstration of metastability index for assessing I1111111 I1111111 I1111111 I1111111 1 1 1 1

structuration-destructuration in one-dimensional compression.

-.

4.3 The soil structure constant S,/,

The non-dimensional soil constant S,,/, proposed by
Jamiolkowski et al. (1994) together with the use of
void ratio function f ( e ) is capable in respect for ex-
pressing concurrent soil structuration. The general-
ized relation applicable to soil undergoing anisot-
ropic stress state can be expressed as:
Natural sample
Depth 5.5 m : n = 0.32 &,= 2200
where S,,/, is the material constant which depends on Depth 8.5 m : tz = 0.31 S,,/,= 2630
Depth 12.5 m : tz = 0.31 S,,, = 2250
nature of soil. Previous works (Ni 1987, Viggiani & 0 Depth 17.5 m : tz = 0.31 S,h= 3180
Atkinson 1995) suggest that the effects of two prin-
cipal stresses, a;,and o f , on G,, are more or less 1oo
equal to each other, implying nv= nh=n in Equation loo 10’ 102 , 103 104 1oS 106
a,,ail (kPa2)
5. Note that the S,I, value depends primarily on the
choice of reference pressure a,. The reference pres- Figure 6. Variation of G,,,,,lf(e) with respect to stress system
sure of the value 98.1 kPa, which equal to the at- (a{,o;,)
in order to clarify the S,,,,
value of Bangkok clay.

185

Figure 7. Soil structure index MI(G),!. profile of Bangkok clay.
5 IN-SITU STRUCTURE OF BANGKOK CLAY
In general, for marine deposit, the element of clay
had been subjected to in-situ creep effects, which
must have been more intense as it goes deeper. As a
consequence, the degree of structuration should be
more pronounced with depth. The experimental and
field investigations of Bangkok clay, on the other
hand, show the event of growth structure with depth
up to 6.5 m below the ground surface. In contrast,
propensity is clear below the depth 6.5 m to show
progressively decrease in soil structure, as repre-
sented by the index MZ(G),L in Figure 7. It should be
noted that due to a limited number of the Sl+,value,
variation of S,,/, with depth is not so clear in this
sense. This outlandish occurrence, but commonly
encountered in Bangkok area, reflects soil destructu-
ration which is conceivably owing to the undergoing
reconsolidation in the lower part of Bangkok clay as
a consequence of recent piezometric drawdown.
6 CONCLUSIONS
The effort has been established upon development of
procedure capable to assess the in-situ structure of
natural sedimentary clay, herein, for the case of
Bangkok clay. The metastability index MZ(G),L is
succesfully utilized to enlighten soil structuration-
destructuration of Bangkok clay in a systematic
manner based on the concept of 3D state boundary
of the fully destructed clay. The Sl,1,value is also ca-
pable to express concurrent clay structure. As a re-
sult of the induced reconsolidation in the lower part,
Bangkok clay has experienced the decreasing soil
structuration with depth. The clay has thus drawn
back toward the normal compression state, which
186
according to Bjerrum (1973), can be categorized as
normally consolidated young clay, whereas the up-
per part as normally consolidated aged clay.
REFERENCES
Bjerrum, L. (1973). Problems of soil mechanics and construc-
tion on soft clays and structurallyunstable soils (collapsible,
expansive and others). Proc. of 8'" ICSMFE 3: 111-159.
Burland, J.B. 1990. On the compressibility and shear strength
of natural clays. Geotechriique 40(3): 329-378.
Dyvik, R . & Madshus, C. 1985. Laboratory measurements of
G,,, using bender elements. Proc. of ASCE Convention,
Detroit: 186-196
ESCAP Secretariat report 1986. Geological information for
planning in Bangkok, Thailand. Geology and urban devel-
opment; Atlas of urbati geology 1: 24-60.
Hardin, B.O. & Black, W.L. 1968. Vibration modulus of nor-
mally consolidated clay. I. Soil Mech. Fdris Div. ASCE
95(SM6): 1531- 1537.
Jamiolkowski, M., Lancellotta, R. & Lo Presti, D.C.F 1994.
Remarks on the stiffness at small strains of six Italian clays.
Shibuya, S., Mitachi, T. & Miura, S. (edns), Pre-failure de-
formation of geomaterials 2: 817-836.
Jovicic, V., Coop, M.R. & Simic, M. 1996. Objective criteria
for determining G,,, from bender elements. Geotechtiique
46(2): 357-362.
Mikasa, M. 1964. A classification chart for engineering proper-
ties of soils. Tsuclii-to-Kiso,JGS 42(4): 15-20.
Mitchell, J.K. 1993. Fundamental of soil behavior, Second Edi-
tion. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Ni, S.H. 1987. Dynamic properties of sand under triaxial stress
states from resonant columnitorsional shear tests. P k D .
Thesis, University of Texas, Austin.
Shibuya, S., Hwang, S.C. & Mitachi, T. 1997. Elastic Shear
Moduius of soft clays from shear wave velocity measure-
ment. Geotecliique 47(3): 593-601.
Shibuya, S. 1999. Assessing structure of aged natural sedimen-
tary clays. Soils arid Foundations (accepted).
Shibuya, S., Mitachi, T. & Hwang, S.C. 1999a. Case studies
into in-situ structure of natural sedimentary clays. Soils arid
foundations (accepted).
Shibuya, S., Mitachi, T., Tanaka, H., Kawaguchi, T. & Lee, I-
M. 1999b. Measurement and application of quasi-elastic
properties in geotechnical site characterization, Theme lec-
ture for plenary discussion session 1. Hong et la (edn).
Proc. of 11"' ARC on SMGE 2. Seoul, Balkema (in print).
Shirley, D.J. & Hampton, L. 1977. Shear wave measurement
on laboratory sediments. Journal of Acoustical Society of
America 63(2): 607-613.
Tatsuoka, F. & Shibuya, S. 1992. Deformation characteristics
of soils and rocks from field and laboratory tests. Proc. of
9"'ARC on SMFE 2: 101-170.
Tenma, M. 1998. Stiffness of Bangkok clay over a wide strairi
range using a newly developed triaxial apparatus. M. Eng.
Thesis, Asian Institute of Technology.
Theramast, N. 1998. Characterization of pseudo-elastic shear
modulus and shear strength of Bangkok clay. M. Eng. The-
sis, Asian Institute of Technology.
Tsuchida, T. & Gymyo, M. 1995. Unified model of e-logp rela-
tionship with the consideration of the effect of initial void
ratio. Yoshikuni, H. & Kusakabe, 0. (edns), Compression
and consolidation of clayey soils 1: 379-384.
Viggiani, G. & Atkinson, J.H. 1995. Stiffness of fine-grained
soil at very small strain. Geotechriique 45(2): 249-265.
Yamamoto, N.1999. Itivestigation of stress-strain characteris-
tics of soft Bangkok clay using a fully automated triaxial
apparatus. M. Eng. Thesis, Asian Institute of Technology.
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice,Nakase & Tsuchida [eds) 0 2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Evaluation methods of structure of aged marine deposits

TTsuchida
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuka, Japan

ABSTRACT: The concept of standard compression curve of clays is proposed, which consists of ultimate standard
compression curve, USC, and the standard compression curve from an initial void ratio, SCC. Both curves are deter-
mined mainly by the liquid limit and the void ratio at the very beginning stage of consolidation. The uniqueness of USC
was examined by the analysis of consolidation data of 18 marine clays including Japan, South East Asia and Europe.
Assuming that void ratio of marine clay when the consolidation starts seem to be 1.5-2.0 times of the liquid limit, cl , a
unique relationship between the specific volume index I,,, , which is defined as log(e+l)llog (el.+l), and the effective
overburden pressure, is presented for marine deposits. The in-situ I,,, - effective overburden stress relation can be a
simple and practical tool for evaluating the structure of clays due to the aging effect.

1 INTRODUCTION tionship (Butterfield, 1979). This curve is named

It is recognized that the mechanical properties of
natural marine clays are different from remolded and
reconstituted soils in the laboratory. This difference
is due to the structure that is formed in the clay dur-
ing the depositional and post-depositional process of
marine ground. So far, although the effect of the
structure has been examined experimentally, a
method to quantitatively evaluate the degree of the
structure is not known. In this study the standard
compression curves (SCC) for marine clays are
shown. Using the concept of (SCC), degree of struc-
ture of marine grounds can be easily evaluated.
2 STANDARD COMPRESSION CURVES OF
MARINE CLAYS
The author has proposed the concept of the standard
compression curve, which can explain the different
types of clays considering the effect of the initial
void ratio, the sample disturbance and the originally
formed structures (Tsuchida, 1995,1999).
The fundamental assumption of the standard
compression curve is the existence of Ultimate
Standard Compression Curve (USC). USC is de-
scribed as follows:
a) When clay is consolidated one-dimensionally
from slurry with large initial void ratio, it shows
an e-logp curve on which the logarithm of spe-
cific volume f (=l+e) and log p has linear rela-
U1timate Standard Compression Curve, USC, and
it can be determined mainly by the liquid limit of
clay.
b) In case that natural sedimentary clay has a struc-
ture due to aging, the void ratio eo can be larger
than the value given by USC. When the natural
clay sample is remolded or disturbed and is con-
solidated in the laboratory, its void ratio becomes
smaller than the value given by USC,
c) By consolidating clay samples with the pressure
much larger than the preconsolidation pressure,
the structure due to aging is gradually broken and
the effects of the remolding and the sample dis-
turbance also disappear, and finally the c-log p
relation converges into the USC.
Figure 1 illustrates the USC concept in the log j’ -
log 13 system, respectively and the USC can be de-
scribed by the following equation;
l n f = -C (log p - 1 ) + lnfro (1)
where,fis specific volume and equal to the void ra-
tio e plus 1, flo is the specific volume when p = 1 0
kPa on the standard curve. C is a gradient of USC,
given by the compression index C, and e as follows:
C=C,/(1 + e ) (2)
To study the validity of this concept, the linearity
of In f’ - log p relationship, which is observed when
consolidation pressure is much larger than consoli

187
dation yield stress, is verified with a number of con-
solidation test data for 18 marine deposits as listed
Table 1, including Japan, Thailand, Singapore, In-
donesia Norway and United Kingdom.
The C-wL relation and the flo-wL relation of 18
marine clays are shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3, re-
spectively. As shown in Figs., both C and fro are cor-
related with the liquid limits of these marine depos-
its fairly well. The regression analyses of the data of
18 marine clays gave the following equations:

C = 0.0027 W L + 0.1 (3)

Table 1 List of Data of Consolidation Tests

Clay Numher of Data Liquid limit W,("/U)

1. Haneda,Japan 270 31.1 - 125.0
2. Yokohama Port, Japan 67 54.7 - 129.9
3. Kasumigaura,Japan 51 66.9 - 205.0
4. Sakata Port, Japan 14 63.1 - 102.8
5. Osaka Bay Holocene, Japan 56 48.8 - 117.7
6. Osaka Bay Pleistocene, Japan 58 40.4 - 338.0
7. Hachirogata, Japan 12 94,6 - 225.6
8. Kuwana, Japan 16 50.3 - 92.1
9. Maizuru, Japan 27 33.0 - 91.6
1O.Kinkai Bay Japan 17 53.5 - 112.9
11.Tamano, Japan 7 52.0 - 92.5
12.Izum0, Japan 12 61.6 - 138.0
13.Ariake, Japan 38 54.5 - 137.4
14.Banjarmasiq Indonesia 27 76.8 - 137.4
1S.Singapore 19 50.5 - 82.3
lb.Bankok, Thailand 10 45.8 - 99.6
17.Drammen, Norway 14 31.6 - 55.2
18.Bothkenar, United Kingdom 10 55.2 - 76.9 USC is the e-p relationship, where the e-p curves
converge ultimately with the increase of consolida-
tion pressure. The c-log p curve is affected by the
factors, such as, the initial void ratio, sample distur-
bance and the structure of soil that was formed dur-
ing the sedimentation. It is considered that with the
increase of the consolidation pressure, the effects of
these factors will disappear, and the USC is the e-p
relation of clay without the effects of the initial void
ratios, disturbances or naturally formed structures.
In most of clay samples, the e-logp curves con-
verge into the USC, when the consolidation pressure
increases tc as much as 3-4 times larger than pc.
When the consolidation pressure is small, the effect
of the initial void ratio is dominated and e-log p
curve locates below USC. The Standard Compres-
sion Curve from an initial void ratio SCC is the e-
log p relationship, which starts from an initial void
ratio eO,and with the increase of the consolidation
pressure, it converges into the USC.
Let us consider the effective stress change when
the clay is remolded thoroughly with an initial void
ratio eo and is consolidated one-dimensionally. In
Figure 1 Concept of Ultimate Standard Compression Figure 4, point A and B show the effective stress
Curve, USC condition of clay of eo at the normally consolidated
condition on USC, and the perfectly remolded con- fined as follows:
dition, respectively. When the effective consolida-
tion pressure at the point A is pn , the undrained
strength at point A is given as pn ( ~ , , / p )where
~~~,
( ~ , / pis) strength
~ ~ ~ increment ratio on USC, and the where, A(ln f )O is the difference of specific volume
undrained strength at point B after remolding sUB,is from USC at the initial condition and A(1nf) is that
given with the sensitivity s, as follows: after the consolidation starts. When the consolida-
tion starts, Y,- is equal tol, and Y ~ = Owhen the e-logp
relationship finally coincides with the USC by the
reconsolidation. Using the experimental data pre-
It is considered that the remolding is an ultimate sented by Okumura, the relation between r,- and the
condition of the sample disturbance, while the small reconsolidation ratio Rc is shown in Figure 6, the
amount of the effective stress, depending on the void following equation is obtained:
ratio, exists after the remolding (Okumura,1974).
When the strength increment ratio in perfectly re-
molded condition is given as (S,/P)REM, the effective
stress at point B, p B , is determined as follows:

According to Mikasa (1988), the value of (s,,/p)REM

ranges from 0.8 to 1.2 for some marine clays.
The comprehensive study on sample disturbance
by Okumura (1974) showed that the effect of the
sample disturbance on e-log p relationship could be
described by a disturbance ratio R, which is defined
as the ratio of the in-situ effective stress to that of
the disturbed or remolded condition. In this case, R
is given by:

As typical values of Japanese marine clay are s, =

30, (s,/p)usc = 0.30 and (s,,/”)REM = 1.0 , the distur-
bance ratio R is almost equal to 100. According to
Okumura (1974), when the disturbed sample is con-
solidated one-dimensionally, the void ratio at each
consolidation pressure becomes smaller than that of
the sample without the disturbance. The void ratio
difference due to the disturbance is determined by
the reconsolidation ratio Rc, which is defined by the
following equation:

where, p is the consolidation pressure and pi is the

initial effective stress after the sample is disturbed
and the consolidation starts. As piis equal to pfj in
Figure 4, the Eq.(8) can be written as:

Figure 5 is the e-log p curve, when the remolded

or disturbed clay is consolidated again. The differ-
ence of specific volume f from the USC at the same
effective consolidation stress is gradually reduced
with the increase of consolidation pressure and Re.
Here the reduction ratio of specific volume rh is de-

189
Y 0.16 ( Rc -
=I 2.5) 2 (Rc 5 2.5)
(11)
r f = 0.0 (Rc > 2.5)

Eq.(ll) means that, when the sample is remolded

at an initial void ratio and then is reconsolidated, the
e-logp curve returns to the USC as Rc is larger than
2.5, i.e. the consolidation pressure is larger than R 2.5
times the pB. Using Eqs.(l),(7) and (ll), the effec-
tive stresspB andpA can be obtained as follows:

Using the Eqs.(3),(4),(11),( 12) and(l3), the Standard

Compression Curve(SCC), which starts from the ini-
tial void ratio eo,can be written as follows:

l n f = Influ- C (logp-1)-h(p) (14)

Comparing Eq.(14) with Eq.(l), the effect of the ini-

tial void is given as the function h(p), which is the
difference from USC. In Figure 7(a) and (b) are
shown the calculated standard compression curves
of different initial void ratios as eo=1.0eL,1.5eL,2.0eL
and 4.0eL (e,, is void ratio at liquid limit) for the
conditions of typical Japanese marine clays as fol-
lows:
(.~,,/'?)U,yc = 0.30, ( S , / ~ ) ~ < E M= 1.O, S, = 30
wL=50%(el,=l3.5) and wL=lOO% (e,=2.70)
As shown in Figures 7, the f-log p curves calculated
by Eq.(14) agree well with the experiments for the
various initial void ratios.
3 NORMALIZED COMPRESSION CURVES
Using the standard compression curves, we can ob-
tain the void ratio-effective overburden stress rela-
tionship for seabed. In order to interpret the natural
void ratio at the seabed, we have to know the value
of the initial void ratios when the consolidation
starts in the marine environment. Gomyo et. a1
(1985) studied the interaction between the wave and
the bottom mud layer by the experiments. According
to their study, when the water content is small, the
mud layer has enough strength to be a rigid bottom
making no significant interaction between wave and
bottom material. As the water content of mud be-
comes larger and the shear strength reduces, the in-
teraction between wave and mud increases, and the
interaction shows the peak value when the water
contents rangesl.5-2.0 times the liquid limit. It
means that the shear strength of mud at the void ra-
tios of 1.5-2.0eLwill be a boundary whether the mud
is stable against waves or not.
In Figure 8, the natural water contents of sea floor
at Tokyo Bay, Hiroshima Bay, Matsushima Bay, and
Biwa Lake, which are normalized by the liquid limit,
are shown with the depth. As shown in Figure 8,
most of marine clays near the sea floor have the wa-
ter contents of 1.5 to 2.0 times of the liquid limits. It
can be assumed that the initial void ratios eo at the
very beginning of consolidation of seabed is consid-
ered to be 1.5-2.0 eL .
The standardf-logp curves SCC, in which the ini-
tial void ratio are 1.5e1, and 2.0eL for eL=1.35, 2.16
and 3.24 (wL= 50%, 80% and 120%, respectively)
are shown in Figure 8, where, the normalizing pa-
rameter ISYL defined by the following equation, is

190
Figure 8 Normalized water content of soil samples
at sea floor ( Depth = 0 - 80cm )

newly introduced;
In f
I,, = ~

W L

where fL is a specific volume at liquid limit and I,, is

called specific volume index. As shown in Figure 9,
for either eo=1.5eLor for eo = 2.0eL, the Zs,-log.,p re-
lations of the different liquid limits becomes almost
same line, respectively, when we accept k 0 . 1 dif-
ference of I,,,. And, the differences become smaller
as the pressure increases. Accordingly, it can be said
that the normalization with the specific volume in-
dex Is,, is successful.

4 EVALUATION OF STRUCTURE BASED ON

l,s!,,-OVERBURDENSTRESS R E W I O N

Figure 10 is the relationship between the specific

volume ratio Is,,and the in-situ effective overburden
stress CJ v o ’ at Holocene seabed in Tokyo Bay, Hi-
roshima Bay, Biwa Lake and Matsushima Bay, the
largest depth of which is 20m. In Figure 10, the av-
erage lines of standard compression curves (SCC) at
eo=1.5eLand e0=2.0el, in Figure 9 are indicated for
the comparison. As shown in Figure 10, the Z,,-log
0 relationship of natural seabed are plotted
around the two SCC lines. This means that the void
ratios of Holocene seabed can be explained mainly
by the compression characteristics of clay and the
self-weight consolidation, and that no significant ef-
fect on the void ratio are seen by the aging during
the sedimentation.
For the purpose of the large-scale reclamation for
Kansai International Airport, series of undisturbed
samplings and soil tests of clay up to 400m depths
were carried out at the site in Osaka Bay, where the
Holocene and Pleistocene deposits continue more
than 500 m and the over-consolidation ratio of clay
ranges from 1.2 to 1.5. The in-situ specific volume

191

Figure12 e-logp curve of Osaka Bay Pleistocene
Clay
index ISvo and the effective overburden stress are
plotted in Figure 11. As shown in Figure 11, the val-
ues of I,,oof Osaka Bay Pleistocene Clay are much
larger than those determined by SCC (eo=1.5el,) or
SCC (eo=2.0eL),which means that the clays in these
area have larger void ratios or higher structures due
to the cementation effects during the sedimentation
process.
Here the average line of SCC(eo=1.5eL) and
SCC(eo=2.0eL)is named SCC-marine as the repre-
sentative I,,,-log p relationship of marine deposits.
The effect of the structure can be evaluated as the
difference in I\" from SCC-marine. In Figure 11, the
difference in I,,,, of Osaka Bay Pleistocene Clay
ranges from 0.10 to 0.20. The difference AI,,,, is
given by the following equation:
(16)
where iscc, Vscc is the specific volume determined
by SCC-marine and the volume of soil when the soil
is on SCC-marine, respectively. Eq.( 16) can be writ-
ten as;
where E ,is natural volumetric strain to the volume
of soil on SCC-marine. Taking the mean of AI,,,
and the water content w L as 0.15 and 8096, respec-
tively in Figure 11, E , is calculated as follows:
E ,, = 0.15 In (2.7OX 0.8+1) = 0.17
This means that, due to the aging effects during
the sedimentation process, the volume of Osaka
Pleistocene Clay layer are getting 17 % larger than
those determined only by the one-dimensional con-
192
solidation of the self-weight. Figure 12 is a typical e-
l o g p curve of Osaka Bay Pleistocene Clay obtained
by constant rate strain consolidation test. The ex-
tremely large compressibility is observed when the
consolidation pressure gets larger than the consoli-
dation yield stressp,, which seems to be due to the
destruction of the structure.
5 CONCLUSION
Unified model of e-logp relationship of clays was
proposed, which consists of ultimate standard com-
pression curve USC and the standard e-logp curves
from an initial void ratio SCC. Both curves are de-
termined mainly by the liquid limit and the void ra-
tio at the very beginning of consolidation. The
uniqueness of USC was examined by the analysis of
consolidation data of 18 marine clays including Ja-
pan and South East Asia and Europe. Considering
the effects of waves and currents, the initial void ra-
tio of marine deposits seems to be 1.5-2.0 times of
liquid limit. By using the proposed model, the inter-
pretation on the natural void ratios of seabed is
given. The unique relationship between the specific vol-
ume index I,,,, which is defined as log(e+l)/log ( e ~ + l ) ,
and the effective overburden pressure is presented for ma-
rine deposits. The in-situ I,, - effective overburden
stress relation can be a simple and practical tool for
evaluating the structure of clays due to the aging ef-
fect.
REFERENCES
Burland, J.,B.(1990) :On the Cornpressibility and Shear
strength of Natural Clays, Geotechnique, Vo1.40, No.3,
pp.329-387.
Butterfield, R.(1979):A natural compression law for soils,
Geotechnique,Vol.29,No.4,pp.469-480.
Gomyo, M., Yauchi, E., Sakai,K., Ohtsuki,T. and Itosu
(1?85): On the effect of the mud properties on the in-
teraction between wave and the mud, 33rd Meeting of
Coastal Engineering, JSCE, pp.322-326 (in Japanese).
Mikasa, M.(1988):Liquid limit test by cyclic consolida-
tion, 23"' Annual Conference of J.S.M.F.E.,pp.267-268.
(in Japanese)
Okuniura, T.(1974):Studies on the disturbance of clay
soils and the improvement of their sampling techniques,
Technical Note of PHRI,No.l93. (in Japanese).
Skempton, A.W.(1944) : Note on the Compressibility of
Clays, Q. J. Geological Society. V01.100, pp.119-135.
Tsuchida, T.(1991) :A New Concept of e-log p Relation
ship for Clays, Proc. of 9th Asian Regional Conference
on S.M.F.E., Bangkok, Vol.1, pp.87-90.
Tsuchida, T. (1994):A unified concept of e-log p relation-
ship, Proc. of 13th Conference of I.S.S.M.F.E., New
Delhi, Vol.1 ,pp.71-74.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Consolidation of marine clays in compulsive electric current field

T.Tsuchida & Z. Hong

Port and Hurhour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuku, Japan
T Kondo
Ofjce of Wuter Management in Central Divisioiz, Bureau of Waterworks, Yokohama,Jupun
M. Hashimoto & N.Yoshiizumi
Geotechn ical Engineering La bomtory, Ka \vasuki Geology Conzpany Lirriited, Tokyo, Jupun

ABSTRACT: The consolidation of clays occurs when the driving forces for pore water flow exceed the
forces holding pore water. Hence, the consolidation of clays should take place by reducing the forces holding
pore water. In this study, both the alternating electric field and the direct electric field were imposed on ma-
rine clays in an attempt to disturb the electrical ion distributions of clays, consequently reducing the forces
holding pore water. For direct electric field, the direction of electric potential gradient was perpendicular to
the direction of the water drainage. A series of consolidation tests under electric current fields were performed
on marine clays for investigating the effect in consolidation using compulsive current fields.

1. INTRODUCTION have illustrated that imposing the electrical distur-

Consolidation is a mixed phenomenon of the defor-
mation of soil skeleton and the pore water flow in
clay. Yong and Warkentin (1966, 1975) have exten-
sively studied the relationship between soil behavior
and its physico-chemical properties. They pointed
out the importance of the forces tending to hold wa-
ter in soils and the clay-water interaction to under-
stand the water flow in soil. They also shed light on
the role of diffuse ion layers and interparticle forces
to explain the interaction between clay particles and
clay fabric units. According to Yong and Warkentin,
driving forces for pore water flow must exceed the
forces tending to hold water to the soil particles be-
fore liquid transfer can occur. The latter forces arise
mainly from the hydrogen bonding and the attractive
forces among distributed ions in clay-water struc-
ture.
In the consolidation of clay, the driving forces
required for water flow are usually given as the
pressure gradient created by the external load. Elec-
tric potential gradient and thermal gradient may also
act as the energy source for pore water flow in soils.
In such cases, consolidation takes place by enhanc-
ing the driving forces for pore water flow. On the
other hand, reducing the forces holding pore water
seems to be another way in accelerating the con-
solidation of clays. One of the main forces holding
pore water is electric force among distributed ions in
the clay-water structure. Kondo and Tsuchida (1938)
bance to clays will reduce the forces holding pore
water.
This study aims at investigating the effect of elec-
tric field on accelerating consolidation of marine
clays through reducing the holding forces using
compulsive electric current fields. Both the alternat-
ing electric current (AC) and the direct electric cur-
rent (DC) are used. It should be pointed out that
when direct electric current is used, the direction of
electric potential gradient is perpendicular to the di-
rection of water drainage for removing the driving
forces for pore water caused by electric potential
gradient. This is different from that in Elec-
tro-osmosis method.
2. CONSOLIDATION TEST EQUIPMENT
2.1 Alternation electric current equipment
Fig. 1 shows the consolidometer with electrodes for
alternating electric current. The size of clay speci-
men of this apparatus is identical to the consoli-
dometer specified by JIS A 1217. To impose electric
current, the reservoir and the confining ring were
made of acrylic resin and the upper and the lower
porous metal plates were used for electrodes. The
cooling water was circulated through the reservoir.
The temperature change in the clay sample was
measured by a thermocouple.

193

Fig. 1. Alternating electric current consolidometer.
2.2 Direct electric current equipment
Fig. 2 shows the consolidometer with electrodes for
direct electric current field. This apparatus consists
of two cylinders, loading plate, bottom plate and
electrodes, The inner cylinder is the consolidation
ring with the diameter of 89.2mm and the height of
125mm. The inner cylinder is also used as the nega-
tive electrode. The outer cylinder outside the con-
solidometer is a nonconductor (made of acrylic
resin). The loading plate is made of a nonconductor
material and connected together with the upper po-
rous stone. At the center of loading plate, a hole is
provided for inserting the carbon electrode pole. The
bottom plate is also a nonconductor, which is con-
nected together with the lower porous stone.
The characteristic of this equipment is that the
drainage direction of pore water is vertical while the
direction of the electric potential gradient is hori-
zontal. Since the direction of electric potential gra-
Fig. 2. Direct electric current consolidometer.
194
dient direction is perpendicular to the direction of
water drainage, the driving force due to the electric
potential gradient can be removed.
3. TESTING PROCEDURE AND RESULTS
3.1 Test procedure
The sample was consolidated under a loading pres-
sure in the same way as that in conventional con-
solidation tests. At the end of consolidation under
external loading, the electric current with a certain
voltage was imposed on the samples. Then, the set-
tlement, the current density and the temperature of
the water in the consolidometer were measured.
Electric potential gradient E, is obtained as fol-
lows.
AC: E,=E/H (V/cm) ...... (1)
DC: Eg=E/r (V/cm) ...... (2)
where E is the voltage and H is the height of the
sample in AC consolidometer. The r is the radius of
the inner cylinder in DC consolidometer. The cur-
rent density I, is obtained as follows.
AC: Id=I/A (mA/cm2) ...... (3)
where I is the current andA is the section area of the
sample in AC consolidometer.
...... (4)
where S represents the section area of consolidation
ring in DC consolidometer. The mean current inten-
sity is two times the Id,7lit2.
3.2 Test results fionz alternating electric field
A 50 Hz AC electric current field was imposed on
the undisturbed Amagasaki clay under three differ-
ent voltages of 15, 20 and 25 V respectively. The
sample height was 14 min. Corresponding electric
potential gradients were 10.7, 14.3 and 17.9 V/cm
respectively. Basic physical properties and consoli-
dation parameters of the Amagasaki clay are shown
in Table 1. The in-situ overburden pressure of the
Amagasaki clay was 35kPa. Before imposing elec-
tric field, the samples were consolidated up to
160kPa. Then the alternating electric current load
was applied through a pair of fixed electrodes, con-
sisting of the upper and the lower porous metal
plates.
 Time ( r n i n )

- 401,

-i)- Settlement
I I - Current Density

Fig. 3. Test results from alternating electric current.

Table 1. Basic properties of Amagasaki clay. tion. Upon switching on the electric current, the vol-
ume of the sample slightly increases initially and
then starts to decrease to the original volume. No
Natural water content (%) 102.9
Liquid limit 106.5 settlement can be observed during the period of
electric load application. After switching off the
Plastic limit (%) 33.8
electric current, settlement occurs and increases
Yield consolidation pressure (kPa) 47.0
Compression index 1.40 slowly.
On the other hand, in the cases of the higher elec-
tric potential gradients of 14.3 V/cm and 17.9 V/cm
at which the maximum current densities I,,,,,,, are
Table 2. Basic properties of Yokohama clay. 313 mA/cm’ and 424 mA/cm2 respectively, the
samples swells initially and turns to clear consolida-
tion settlement. The swelling volume and the rate of
Density of soil particles (glcm’) 2.674 subsequent consolidation settlement in the case of
Liquid limit, W L (%> 110.5 the highest Eg=17.9 V/cm are larger than those for
Plastic limit, wp (%I 40.3 the E, =14.3 V/cm. However, the finial settlement
Initial water content (5%) justified to 3 X W L for Eg =17.9 V/cm is only slightly larger than that
Compression index 0.85 for E, =14.3 V/cm.
Sand (%> 9.0 From Fig. 3, it can also be seen that the settlement
Silt (%) 40.0 rate decreases gradually with time. When the set-
Clay (%) 5 1.o tlement becomes almost stable, the electric current
was switched off. At that time, slight swelling were
found for both the latter two samples.
Table 3. Initial states of samples for Tests 1 to 4.
3.3 Test results fiom direct electric field
Initial water Diameter Initial height
content (5%) (cm) (cm) The consolidation tests under direct electric current
field were performed on reconstituted Yokohama
Test 1 134.1 8.9 11.60 clays. The basic physical properties and consolida-
Test 2 143.6 8.9 11.05 tion parameters of reconstituted Yokohama clays are
Test 3 141.3 8.9 11.23 shown in Table 2.
Test 4 137.2 8.9 11.30 For investigating the reappearance of the consoli-
dation behavior under direct electric field, three
samples of reconstituted Yokohama clays were pre-
pared under the same conditions. Three samples
Fig. 3 shows the relationships of current density were consolidated under a load of lOkPa, then the
against time t and settlement against time. For direct electric load with Eg=8.7V/cm was applied on
Eg=10.7V/cm, the maximum current density Idmax is the three samples for 60 minutes. These tests are
136 rnA/cm’ and the current density remains nearly designated Test 1 through Test 3, respectively. The
constant during the period of electric load applica- initial states for the three samples (Tests 1 to 3) are

195
shown in Table 3. Fig. 4 shows the relationships of
settlement versus time, current density versus time
and temperature versus time for Test 1 through 3
respectively. It can be seen that the behaviors for the
three samples are almost same. Hence, the reap-
pearance for the tests under direct electric field is
good.
To further investigate the effect of consolidation
stress on the consolidation behavior under direct
electric current field, 3 steps tests with different ap-
plying stresses of 10, 20 and 40kPa respectively
were performed on the reconstituted Yokohama clay,
designated Test 4. The initial state of the sample is
shown in Table 3 with those of Tests 1 through 3. St
the end of consolidation under the applied external
stress, the direct electric current with Eg=8.7Vlcm
was imposed on the sample for 120 minutes. The
settlement, current density and temperature during
each step were measured. When the settlement be-
came stable, next step with larger applied stress was
carried out. The relationships of settlement against
time for both the applied consolidation stress and
electric load are shown in Fig. 5. The dotted line
represents the settlement caused by applying con-
solidation stress. The solid line represents the set-
tlement due to direct electric current field.
Figures 6(a) through 8(a) show the relationships
of settlement versus time t , mean current density
versus time and temperature versus time for the
three steps with different consolidation stresses of
lOkPa, 20kPa and 40kPa, respectively. The rela-
tionships between settlement and logarithm of time
for the three steps are shown in Figs. 6(b) through
8(b), respectively.
From Figures 6(a) through 8(a), it can be seen that
the mean current density reaches the maximum of
about 100mA/cm' after the current is switched on,
then decreases suddenly and remains almost stable
at about 6mA/cm2. This is a characteristic of direct Fig. 4. Reappearance of consolidation test for direct
electric field. Just after switching on the direct elec- electric current field.
tric current, the samples swell initially and then turn
to settlement with the sudden decrease in current
_-____---___
Settlement by external load
density.
From Figs. 6(b) through 8(b), it can be seen that
n
500 - Settlement by electric load
just after switching off the direct electric current,
swelling phenomenon is not observed and the set- --.
tlement develops continually with the same rate for
1500
Test 4
about 100 minutes. Then, the development of the
settlement stops suddenly. In addition, it can be seen
that the settlement due to direct electric field under
the largest applied consolidation stresses of 40kPa is
much larger than those of the other two lower values 3500
1 Step 1(p=lOkPa) 1 Step 2 (p=20kPa) 1 Step 3 (p=4OkPa)
" " ' I ' 1
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000
of consolidation stresses.
Time (min)
Fig. 5. Relationship between settlement and time
for Test 4.

196
4. CONCLUSIONS
A series of consolidation tests under both the alter-
nating electric current field and the direct electric
current field were performed on undisturbed and re-
constituted marine clays. The main conclusions are
obtained and summarized as follows.
1) Both the alternating electric current field and the
direct electric current field can be used effec-
tively in accelerating the consolidation for both
197
undisturbed and reconstituted marine clays.
2) For DC field, the direction of electric potential
gradient was designed to be perpendicular to the
direction of water drainage of clays. Hence, it is
considered that the consolidation settlement due
to electric current field was caused by reducing
the forces holding pore water in clays.
3) For both the AC and the DC fields, the samples
of marine clays swelled initially at the point of
 switching on the electric current, which then
started to consolidation settlement with time un-
der electric loads.
4) For AC field, the rate of settlement due to elec-
tric load decreased with time and the settlement
became stable state gradually. It seems that when
the electric potential gradient was less than a
critical value, no settlement occurred under the
alternating electric current load.
5 ) For DC field, the settlement increased with time
when the electric load was imposed. After
switching off the current, the settlement contin-
ued at the same rate ( ~ e / ~ l o gfor
t ) some period
time. Then, the settlement stopped suddenly.
6) For DC field, the effect of electric load on con-
solidation settlement of clays increased with in-
creasing applied consolidation stress, which was
used for consolidating the samples before im-
posing the electric current load.

REFERENCES

- Yong, R.N.& Warkentin, B.P. (1966). Soil proper-

ties and behavior, Elsevier Scientific Publishing
Cornpan y.
- Yong, R.N.& Warkentin, B.P. (1975). Soil proper-
ties and behavior, Elsevier Scientific Publishing
COm p an y .
- Kondo, T. & Tsuchida, T. (1988). Experimental
study on consolidation of marine clays in alternating
electric current field. Soils and Foundations, Vol. 28,
NO. 4: 38-46.

198
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Nature of the Mekong Delta soft clay and its consolidation phenomenon

Le Ba Vinh & Goro Imai

Department of Civil Engineering, Yokohuma Natioiial University,Japaiz
Nguyen Van Tho
Department of Civil Engineering, Hochinzinh City University of Technology,Vietnam

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a research into theory and experiments of the special characteristics of soft
saturated clay in the Mekong Delta. The oedometer test results have shown the similarity between the change
in pore water pressure and water content during the consolidation process of soft clay. From that results and
based on a relationship between the water content and compactness of soft clay, the investigation of
consolidation phenomenon has been done. Also, the prediction of consolidation settlement that takes place in
both primary consolidation and secondary compression has been proposed.

1 INTRODUCTION these particles is the greatest; 4) the tl@ness of this

particle is the smallest 10 - 50 A. These four
In the Mekong Delta of Vietnam (Figure l), the characteristics increase the viscosity causing evident
infrastructure construction is taking place at high creep phenomenon of clay in the Mekong Delta.
speed. The engineers had to face the fact of very
thick and soft ground that resulted in many
constructions collapse. Therefore, it is necessary to
clearly know about the nature of soft ground in the
Mekong Delta. There was not so much experience in
the nature and consolidation phenomenon of the
Mekong Delta soft ground. This paper aims to
present these two problems.

2 RESEARCH ON NATURE OF SOFT

SATURATED-CLAY IN THE MEKONG DELTA

Based on data obtained from the previous

experiment (Khanh et al. 1995) as it will be
presented below, the major characteristics of soft
ground are as followed:
1. Young Holocene sediment of 5,000 to 12,000
years ago was formed in static conditions of shelf of
South China Sea. The area of the soft clay is greater
than 100,000 km2.
2. The mineralogical composition of soft clay
includes a great content of secondary mineral of
Montmorillonite A1203.4Si02.nH20. In general, the
Montmorillonite content is greater than 45%. This
Montmorillonite clay has the following
characteristics: 1) total surface area in this clay is the
largest: 800m2/gram; 2) the outside activity of Figure 1. Mekong Delta and soft clay deposit areas
Montmorillonite particle is high: 1.5 7.2; 3) thus of Southeast Asia (Brand and Premchitt 1989).
the outside power of static electrical attraction of

199
3. The chemical characteristics of water in this soft
clay are complicated pH = 2.5 - 5.0; the
precipitation of N a ~ C 0 3 and sulphate have
considerable contents. In general, the sulphate
content is greater than 400/millionth. Also, water has
acid chloride property. This characteristic causes fast
and strong swelling and increasing deformation for
this kind of soft clay.
4. The basic physico-mechanical characteristics
of soft clay in the Mekong Delta are as followed:
-
Water content w = (70 SO)%
-
Unit weight y = (1 5 16) kN/m3
-
Void ratio e = (1.6 2.0)
-
Angle of shear resistance (p = (4’ 6’)
-
Cohesion c = ( 5 6) kN/m2
-
Modulus of deformation E, = 500 700 kN/m2
In this paper, consolidation phenomenon of the
Mekong Delta soft clay are described based on a
special relationship between water content and
compactness peculiar to the Mekong Delta soft clay
during consolidation process. Therefore, parameters
such as coefficient of permeability, coefficient of
consolidation are not directly used in this paper.
The investigation, from sampling work at
construction site to testing work in laboratory, has
been carefully done with the help of good
equipments to ensure the reliable data. The drilling
work has been done by using a machine named
ACKER from USA. During the process of soil
sampling, the thin-wall samplers have been used to
minimize the disturbance effect. The grain size
distribution tests have been done by using an
apparatus defined by Specific Gravity ASTM 770.
Also, oedometer test has been used to investigate the
consolidation phenomenon of soft clay. In order to
obtain strength properties of the clays showing the
largess of cohesion and shear resistance angle as
Figure 2. System of Oedometer and measuring apparatuses.
200
mentioned above, we have done the direct shear tests
in the unconsolidated and undrained condition.
Therefore, the values as mentioned above are $,,
and cuu.
3 EXPERIMENTS ON CONSOLIDATION
PHENOMENON OF THE MEKONG DELTA
SOFT CLAY
An oedometer system including measuring
apparatuses used in the tests is shown in Figure 2.
An oedometer of Terzaghi’s type is the one made by
SOILTEST Co., USA. Apparatuses for measuring
pore water pressure include a manometer and a
MDD 0-2 type electric gauge, which was used to
check results obtained from the manometer. Typical
results of the oedometer tests are presented in Figure
3 and 4. In conditions of Vietnam, the determination
of water content in laboratory as well as at site is
simpler and more exact than the determination of
pore pressure because the equipments for pore water
pressure measurement are easy to be damaged by
tropical climate. For example, an unusual behavior
can be found in Figure 3 and 4 that the decrease in
water content comes to its end in early several hours
while the degree of dissipation in excess pore
pressure would be still not large at the ends of each
loading step. Therefore, investigation of
consolidation phenomenon of Mekong Delta soft
clays in this paper is mainly based on the
relationship between the changes in water content
and compactness during the consolidation process.
The term “compactness” is here used to present a
concept in which the increase in the values of C, 4 as
well as Yt during consolidation is included.
 p = U/CT (%)

.66

Elapsed time (hours)

Figure 3. Change of pore water pressure with time at various steps of loading (Khanh et al. 1995).

m
$, w = f(t)
I, = 38.6, CT = total stress

0 0 kN/m2, I,= 0,62

=400 kN/m2, 1,=-0,36
6)
0
- I - - - -
;Fi 2 0 . - 28 O h

3 100
12 24 36 48
Elapsed time (hours)
Figure 4. Change of water content with time at various steps of loading (Khanh et al. 1995).

CT(KN/m2) 50
p=u/CT (%) 61 76 89 100 90 76 68 58 49 32
t (hour) 0.25 0.33 0.5 0.66 2.25 4.16 5.83 7.16 9.83 13.83

KN/m2)
CT( 100
p=u/CT (%) 33 49 64 75 69 59 50 42 37 29
t (hour) 0.25 0.83 1.0 1.66 3.33 5.16 7.16 8.92 11.0 13.0

KN/m2)
CT( 200
p=u/CT (%) 20 36 49 59 51 46 39 32 26 22
t (hour) 0.6 1.16 1.5 2.33 3.83 5.75 7.5 9.5 11.5 13.5

cr(KN/m2) 400
p=u/CT (%) 13 22 33 40 36 31 29 23 20 17
t (hour) 0.75 1.25 1.83 3.0 4.66 6.16 7.83 9.66 11.5 13.5

CT (kN/m2) 50 100
w(%) 76 70 62 60 58 56 56 51 46 45 44 44
t(hour) 0 0.5 1.5 4.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 12.5 14.0 15.5 18.0 24.0

CT (kN/m2) 200 400

w(%) 39 38 37 36 36 36 34 30 29 28 28 28 28
t(hour) 25.3 27.0 29.0 33.0 35.0 36.0 37.0 38.0 41.0 42.0 44.0 46.0 48.0

20 I
4 CONSOLIDATION BEHAVIORS OF SOFT
SATURATED CLAY IN THE MEKONG DELTA
From the results of investigation (Khanh et al. 1995),
we can draw some basic principles about
consolidation phenomenon of soft saturated clay in
the Mekong Delta as followed:
1. Samples should be taken from an objective
construction site to create a consolidation model for
investigation and calculation. The model is
constructed on the assumption that the consolidation
process of the soil ground is similar to that of the
experimental sample taken from the construction site
for the same conditions about initial water content,
drainage condition and loading pressure. This
similitude is related especially to the change in water
content caused by load applying.
2. In similar conditions, the consolidation time, t H
and tl,, of two layers with the thickness H and h
required to reach the Same state in a water content- Figure 5. Relationship between consolidation
compactness relation must be related to each other Parmeter, n, and plasticity index, Ip, at various
as follows (Maslov 1961): states of soil (Khanh et al. 1995).

Table 3. Consolidation parameter, n

(1)
n
where n = consolidation parameter of soil. If the Ip I L = ~ .1~=0.88 1~=0.62 I~=0.37 I~=0.12
Terzaghi’ s theory can be completely applied to
Mekong Delta clay, n should be equal to 2. 27.7 2.00 1.83 1.54 1.24 0.56
When predicting settlement time of the ground 21.0 2.00 1.80 1.36 0.68 0.00
due to construction, we cannot determine the value 16.0 2.00 1.72 1.18 0.30 0.00
of n by the use of equation (l), because we couldn’t 6.5 2.00 1.64 0.94 0.00 0.00
get its field data. Therefore, the following equation
is here proposed to determine n-value in laboratory
by the oedometer test. 3. Consolidation processes of the soft saturated
Mekong Delta clay due to construction load are
divided into two stages: the primary consolidation
stage due to the drainage of free water and the
secondary compression stage due to creep of linked
water with normal stress, CJ. The total settlement,
S(t), of the consolidation process is expressed as
follows:
where, tl and t2 are the required times for the same
degree of consolidation of two soil specimens
having different height, hl and h2, respectively.
Experimental results on the consolidation where Sw(t,) = settlement due to the primary
parameter of Mekong Delta clay are shown in figure consclidation, S,(t,) = settlement due to the
5. This parameter depends on the plasticity index, Ip, secondary compression.
and liquidity index, IL, of soil. For a given clay, the The creep phenomenon of clay is considered to
consolidation parameter varies from the 2 at IL = happen being resulted from one of the following two
1.00 (w = WL) down to lower values with the reasons, sometimes simultaneously:
progress of the consolidation process. For example, a. Creep due to normal stress, CJ: this deformation
for the clay of I p = 27.7, in the natural condition IL = phenomenon is caused by the rearrangement of
1.0, the n-value was initially equal to 2. With linked water molecules so as to increase their
progress of consolidation IL-value changed to 0.88, density around clay mineral particles. The derivative
0.62, 0.37 and 0.12, and n-value correspondingly expression of this creep deformation is expressed as
decreased to 1.83, 1.54, 1.24, and 0.56 respectively. follows:

202
 b. Creep due to shear stress, z: This deformation
is caused by the movement of solid particles over
another within the viscous film made by linked
water under the action of shear stress.
4. Settlement by the primary consolidation.
Settlement S,(t,) can be determined as follows
(figure 6):
Figure 6. Compression of soil element in the primary
consolidation stage.
(5)

40. 103
where D, = the thickness of an area where the
primary consolidation occurs; E, = vertical strain in
.s 30.103
the primary consolidation stage; t, = time of the
E
-8
+
m

.3
20.10~~ primary consolidation stage; E, (t ,
dS
)= W.
d2
$ 10.16~ From the oedometer test, we get (figure 7):

E,(t,) = $.(tw)rl (6)

4 8 12 16 20 tw
From the equations (5), (6), and combining those
Elapsed time (hours) (Lareal et al. 1989), the basic equation to calculate
Figure 7. Change of vertical strain, E, (t,), with time,
t,, in primary consolidation stage (Khanh et al. 1995).

Time, t, Water content Vertical strain

(hour) Wt (”/.I E\V(tW)
0.0 50.5 0
I 2.0 I 49.5 I 12.10~10-~
t 3.5 48.9 18.60 x 10-’
%/////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 6.5 48.4 24.55 x 10”
Figure 8. Compression of soil element in the 10.0 47.9 30.15 x 10”
secondary compression stage. I 21.5 I 47.3 I 36.90 x 10‘3

Time Creep deformation Vertical strain

t,(day) Ah,,(h), (mm) E,,(t,)
1.5 0.00093 0.62
3.O 0.00270 0.89
t
4.0 0.00500 1.25
4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40
Elapsed time (days) 6.0 0.00900 1.50
8.0 0.0 1400 1.75
Figure 9. Change of vertical strain E,,(t,) in 11.0 0.01320 2.12
secondary compression stage (Khanh et al. 1995). 17.5 0.04462 2.55
22.3 0.06244 2.80
0 = q&q (4) 26.0 0.07980 3.07
where q = viscousity coefficient of clay, and k, = 30.0 0.09240 3.08
rate of strain by creep settlement due to normal 34.0 0.10500 3.09
stress. 38.5 0.1 1930 3.10

203
settlement by the primary consolidation can be set 1. Physico-mechanical characteristics of the
up as follow: Mekong Delta soft clay presented in this paper can
be used as a typical data in designing constructions
m D," on soft ground of the Mekong Delta.
S, (t \+,)= -L@(t, )'i dz (7) 2. The consolidation parameter, n, that depends
I 0 uex on the plasticity index and liquidity index should be
used in predicting the consolidation time of soft
where m = number of areas where the primary ground in the Mekong Delta. Its value can be
determined by the usual oedometer testing on soil
consolidation occurs (Lareal et al. 1989); U, and ceX specimens by using equation (2).
are compressive stresses at the depth z in the 3. The consolidation settlement that takes place in
ground and in the laboratory, respectively; (D and the primary consolidation stage and secondary
rl are coefficients of primary consolidation compression stage can be adequately predicted by
determined by experiments, respectively; using the relationships between vertical strain and
Therefore, in order to calculate S,(t,), it is time in the primary consolidation stage and also in
necessary to get rl-value from the oedometer test. the secondary compression stage, which can be
determined by equations (6) and (9).
5. Settlement by the secondary compression.

Settlement s d h ) be as follOWs ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The author would like to

(figure 8): thank Prof. Kazuo Tani for his helpful comments on
this paper.

(8)
REFERENCES

where Ha = the thickness of an area where the
secondary compression occurs; E,, = vertical strain in
the secondary compression stage; t, = time of the
dS
secondary compression stage; E, (t,)= 2.
dz
From the oedometer test, we get (figure 9):
c,,(t,,) = R.(t,)Q (9)
where R and r2 = parameters.
From the equations (4), (8) and (9), and
combining those (Lareal et al. 1989), the basic
equation to calculate settlement due to the secondary
compression can be set up as follow:
H:, 4
S,(t,,)= fLdt,dz (10)
o o q
where q = viscousity coefficient of clay and
q = f(&,).
Therefore, in order to calculate S,(t,,), it is necessary
to relate q-value to strain rate, k,, , from the
oedometer test.
Brand, E. W. & Premchitt, J. 1989. Comparison of
the predicted and observed performance of Muar
test embankment on Malaysian Clays. Proc.
Symp. on trial embankments on Malaysian
Marine clays, Kuala Lumpur, Vol. 2: Ul-1/8
Khanh, L.B., Ly T.V. & Vinh, L.B. 1995. An
investigation on soft clayey ground in the
Mekong Delta. Hochiminh City University of
Technology (HUT).
Lareal, P., Nguyen Thanh Long & Le Ba Luong
1989. Remblais routiers sur sols compressibles
dans les conditions du Vietnam: 24-169, Paris,
France.
Maslov, N.N. 1961. Sur le problem de la resistance
au cisaillement des sols argileux plastiques a
consolidation incomplete. Proc. 5'h Int. Conf. on
Soil Mechanics and Foundation Eng., Paris, 17-
22 July, 1961: 243-248.

5 SUMMARY
Results of the research on nature of the Mekong
Delta soft clay and its consolidation phenomenon
can be summarized as follows:

204
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 7

Undrained shear strength of Pleistocene clay in Osaka Bay and its effect
on the stability.of a large scale seawall structure
Y.Watabe & TTsuchida
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuku, Japan
K. Adachi
Department of Civil Engineering, Shibauru Institute of Technolog3 Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT: In the present study, the Recompression method proposed by Bjerrum (1973) is examined for
Pleistocene clay in Osaka Bay in order to evaluate the profile of its undrained shear strength. It is found that
the strength increment ratio ( S ~ / ( J ’ ~ Oranges
) between 0.28 and 0.33 depending on the difference in definition
of the extension strength. ( s U / d v ~is) 0.33 when the extension strength is defined as a peak strength or a
strength at axial strain of 15 %, while (sU/o7,o)is 0.28 when the extension strength is defined as a strength at
the same strain equivalent to the compression peak. To study the effects of shear strength obtained by the dif-
ferent definitions to the practice, stability analyses were carried out for a designed cross section of the seawall
structure of the Kansai International Airport.

1 INTRODUCTION the overburden pressure on the clay deposit by 40 %

This paper describes a case study evaluating the
shear strength of Pleistocene clay in the Osaka Bay.
In most coastal regions of Japan, the Pleistocene clay
layer is beneath a Pleistocene sand or gravel layer,
which lies under a 10 to 30 m thick Holocene soft
clay deposit. Because the Pleistocene clay is con-
solidated under the larger overburden pressure, addi-
tional strength has been developed by so-called ag-
ing effect. In most construction projects in the past,
the Pleistocene layers have been considered as stable
layers supporting superstructures. In recent years,
however, the size of structures in coastal regions has
been increasing, and more construction works are
being carried out in deeper sea areas. Thus, the
evaluation of engineering characteristics of the Pleis-
tocene clay layer has become an important issue for
design and construction in coastal areas.
A typical example is the Kansai International Air-
port construction project, which was constructed on
an artificial island in the Osaka Bay, 5 km off the
Senshu area southwest of the Osaka City as shown in
Figure 1. The airport was inaugurated in September
1994 when the first phase construction was com-
pleted. Since the airport is currently operated with
only one runway, the second phase construction for
an additional runway parallel to the existing one was
started in summer 1999. The reclaimed area in the
second phase has an average water depth of 19.5 m,
in contrast to 18.0 m in the first phase. The average
thickness of the Holocene clay layer at the new site
is 24 m (18 m in the first phase), which will increase
due to reclamation compared to the first phase.
In the first phase construction, the shear strength
was not evaluated in detail because the stability
analysis of the seawall structures indicated that the
safety factors against deep seated slip circles passing
through the Pleistocene clay layer were much larger
than the required design safety factor of 1.3. Mean-
while the consolidation characteristics of the Pleisto-
cene clay layer was extensively studied. In the sec-
ond phase construction, as the slip circle giving the
minimum safety factor possibly passes through the
Pleistocene clay layer, the shear strength of the Pleis-
tocene clay layer could greatly affect the stability of
seawall structures.
In the present study, a series of triaxial tests was
carried out using undisturbed samples taken for the
second phase construction. The shear strength of the
Pleistocene clay layer were also investigated. In ad-
dition, the stability of the seawall structure planned
for the second phase construction was analyzed
based on the results of laboratory tests, and the effect
of the Pleistocene clay layer strength on the stability
of the seawall structure was studied.
2 DETERMINATION OF SHEAR STRENGTH
In the Japanese construction practice, the undrained
shear strength of clay layer is usually determined as
the half of the unconfined compression strength qu of
undisturbed clay samples. The reason for using un-
confined compression test is not only its simplicity

205
and cost effectiveness but also its reliability which
has been proved by several case studies of actual
failures in coastal areas (Nakase, 1967). For the
samples taken from large depth, however, the effect
of the disturbance on qu becomes much larger due to
the fissures in the samples caused by the release of
high confining stresses at the depth. Figure 2 shows
the variation of unconfined compression strength qu
and the failure strain Ef with the depth for the sam-
ples obtained at bore hole 56-9 in the first phase of
construction work in Kansai International Airport.
The large scatter in the shear strength implies that
the qu is not reliable for evaluating the undrained
strength in the large depth.
The Recompression method is aimed to reduce the
effect of disturbance, in which the shear test is con-
ducted after a specimen sampled is consolidated un-
der the in situ effective stress conditions in triaxial
cell (Bjerrum, 1973). In this method, a specimen
from undisturbed sample is first fully consolidated
0 Ko(syVoat the same ef-
anisotropically with ( ~ ' ~and
fective stresses as those in the field, and then it is
subjected to shear under undrained condition. Han-
zawa et al. (1980) and Hanzawa (1982) applied the
shear strength obtained from the Recompression
method for the stability analyses of several practical
Figure 1 (a)Location of Kansai International Airport and
(b)the point of borehole in the present study
Figure 2 Unconfined compression test results conducted for the first
phase construction (a)unconfined compression strength and (b)strain
at failure
206
projects and reported excellent agreements between
the analyses and the field behaviors.
In the present study, the Recompression method
was used for the Osaka Bay Pleistocene clay which
is considered to have a unique structure due to the
aging effects such as the secondary consolidation
and the cementation. It must be noted that, although
the shear strain rate of 0.01 %/min is widely recom-
mended, the rate of 0.1 %/min was adopted for a se-
ries of test to complete a number of tests within a
limited time, and no correction on the shear strain
rate was carried out. Moreover, when the KO-
consolidation were carried out for each sample up to
the effective overburden stress d V o , the &-values
would be scattered. Thus, anisotropic consolidation
was carried out up to the overburden stress with the
constant value to recover the same stress condi-
tion as the in situ stresses.
3 PLEISTOCENE CLAY IN OSAKA BAY
Undisturbed samples used in this study were ob-
tained from the Osaka bay in 1995 during the in situ
investigation for the second phase construction. The
boring point in this study is shown in Figure 1. The
borings carried out as deep as 400 m indicated that
the depth of water at this point was 19.2 m and the
thickness of Holocene soft clay was 25 m. The sam-
pling method and the characteristics of the soils col-
lected from the Osaka bay were reported by Kanda et
al. (1991).
Figure 3 shows the consistency profiles including
liquid limit (wL),plastic limit (wp) and natural water
content (wn).In natural ground, clay and sand layers
have been deposited alternately, however, only the
clay layers are concerned, because the shear strength
of the clay is significant for the stability analysis.
Figure 3 Water content and consistency pro-
file.
4 TEST PROCEDURE
Generally, as long as soil is normally consolidated in
one-dimensional condition, & value is almost con-
stant, but if a stress history of overconsolidation is
applied to the soil, & value will be changed. In
natural soils, the clay is often in the quasi-overcon-
solidation state because of the aging effects such as
secondary consolidation and chemical processes
with cementation. The & is possibly influenced by
these factors, however, it has not been cleared yet
how much & is influenced by these factors.
In this study, & value under normally consolida-
tion was determined by a & consolidation test in
which an undisturbed specimen was consolidated up
to more than twice of the consolidation yield stress
in triaxial cell, and it was assumed that the & value
Axial strain, E
Figure 4 A typical stress-strain curve of normally con-
solidated clay
is to be the same as that of normally consolidated
condition. In the present study, & = 0.5 was ob-
tained. Test procedure of the &-consolidation by
triaxial tests was described in detail by Tsuchida and
Kikuchi (1991).
The specimen was trimmed 35 mm in diameter
and 80-90 mm in height. Anisotropic consolidation
was carried out by increasing the stresses linearly up
to 0'1 = O',O and 0'3 = &- d V o in 720 min and this
condition was maintained until the excess pore pres-
sure was completely dissipated. After that, the
specimen was sheared in undrained condition for
compression (CAUC) or extension (CAUE) with the
axial strain rate of 0.1 %/min.
In the Bjerrum's method (Bjerrum, 1973), the
undrained shear strength is defined as the average of
compression strength and the extension strength.
The problem is how to determine the extension
strength. One definition of the extension strength is
the maximum strength within the 15 % axial strain.
A typical stress-strain relationship for a typical Japa-
nese Holocene clay observed in CAUC and CAUE
tests under the overburden effective stress is shown
in Figure 4. The point 0' means the initial anisot-
ropic stress condition in the ground. A peak strength
appeared at a small strain in the compression side,
while the peak strength in the extension side is usu-
ally mobilized with the larger strain or no peak
strength, even though the axial strain reaches 15 %.
When the extension strength is defined as the maxi-
mum strength within the 15 % axial strain (defini-
tion A), the axial strain at the peak extension
strength is much larger than that of the compression
strength. In this definition, when the compression
strength reaches a peak value, the extension strength

2.0 2.0 Comp. Ext.

1.5 1.5

-
P
1.0
2
Q

-
ln
-4
v)

c
0.5 $
c
0.5

2m 2
m
5 0.0 5 0.0
U U
-.g -
N
m
E -0.5 E -0.5
z
0 0
z

-1.0 -1.o

-1.5 -1.5
0 3 6 9 1 2 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Axial strain, E (%) Normalized effective mean stress,
(o',+2o'd/(3P'o)
Figure 5 (a)Stress-strain curves and (b)effective stress paths of the Recorn- Figure 6 Specimens dried in the oven
pression specimens of different elevations normalized by the mean consolida- after the test, (a) Holocene clay and
tion stresses, where the seabed is -19.2 rn (b) Pleistocene clay
Figure 7 Shear strength profiles with depth, (a)the extension strength is de- .
termined with definition A, and (b)the extension strength is determined with I
definition B
is still very small, and when the extension strength
reaches a peak value or a strength at axial strain of
15 %, the compression strength have reduced very
much. In addition to the above definition, the exten-
sion shear strength is also defined as the strength at
the strain when the peak strength is mobilized in the
compression test (definition B). The reason for the
latter definition is that the average strength for the
stability analysis resulted from the compression and
extension tests should be considered at almost the
same strain level. The extension strengths obtained
by the two definitions will be used for the determina-
tion of the shear strength, and the influences on the
result of the stability analysis will be discussed.
5 TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Figure 5 shows (a) stress-strain curves and (b) effec-
tive stress paths of the recompressed specimens of
different depths. As indicated in the figure, the sam-
ples from the larger depth seem to show more brittle
behaviors especially in the extension loading. The
differences of the shearing behaviors as discussed
above are related to the modes of the failure. Figure
6 shows the specimens after the tests (a) Holocene
clay from shallow depth, and (b) Pleistocene clay
from large depth. The aged Pleistocene clay fails
with a clearly defined slip surface for compression
and with a clear slip surface or a necking for exten-
sion, however, the young Holocene clay collapses
without clear local failure. Therefore, it can be said
that characteristics of shearing behavior of a clay
changes from ductile to brittle by developing struc-
ture due to aging effects.
Profiles of shear strength su determined by CAUC
and CAUE tests with depth are shown in Figure 7(a)
and Figure 7(b). The extension shear strength was
208
Figure 8 Strain at failure with depth
determined by the maximum strength within the
15 % axial strain (definition A, Figure 7(a)), and the
strength at the axial strain when the compression
strength showed the peak (definition B, Figure 7(b)),
respectively. In the figure, the shear strength of the
Modified Bjerrum’s method s u ( ~ . ~is. )the mean of
the compression strength su(c) and the extension
strength s u ( ~ )The
. strength increases linearly with
depth, and this means that, although the geological
evidences of the periodical sea level changes are ob-
served, the ground has not experienced major tec-
tonic movements after the deposit.
The strength of Recompression method normal-
ized by the in situ overburden stress Su(M.B.)/dvO,
where d V o is calculated by summing the effective
unit weight of clay as = 6.9 kN/m3 were 0.33 with
the definition A of extension strength (Figure 7(a)),
and 0.28 with the definition B (Figure 7(b)). The
shear strength of Recompression method changed
about 15 % due to the definition of extension
strength. The extension strength mobilized in prac-
tice seems to be between these two values.
Figure 8 shows the profiles of strain at failure with
definition A for the recompressed specimens. Strains
at the failure of compression tests EfC ranges from 2
to 6 % for the Holocene clays, while in Pleistocene
clays, most of them are as small as 1 %. Strains at
failurz of extension tests E ~ Eare more than 15 % in
Holocene clays, while in Pleistocene clays the strains
-
decrease with depth are about 3 4 % for the depths
lower than -100 m .
6 EFFECT OF SHEAR STRENGTH ON THE
STABILITY OF SEAWALL STRUCTURE
6.1 Conditions of Stability Analysis
A stability analysis was carried out for a typical sea-
 Table 1. Parameters for stability analysis
Layers Soil type Unit weight (kN/m3) Strength parameters
1 Reclaimed sand 19.6 4 = 30’
2 Concrete structure 21.6 very large
3 Sand 19.6 4 = 30’
4 Sand 19.6 4 = 30’
5 Sand 19.6 4 = 30’
6 Holocene clay not improved 16.9 s, = 1.52 (kN/m’)
7 Holocene clay improved by sand drain 16.9 s, = 49 + 1 . 5 (kN/m’)
~
8,9 Holocene clay improved by sand drain 16.9 S, = 118 (kN/m’)
10 Pleistocene sand 19.6 4=39
11 Pleistocene clay 16.9 Undrained strength in this study
z is the depth from the initial seabed (at elevation of -19.2 m)

erage of compression and the maximum extension

strengths based on definition A, and 0.28 for the av-
erage strength based on the definition B strength.
Considering these test results, the strength increase
O varied from 0.21 to 0.36 and the slip
ratio S ~ / C T ~ , is
Lu -60 -
PkGlOCene CW -1 11
circle analysis was carried out to understand the ef-
-Bo
fect of strength on the safety factor. If the strength
ratios 0.33 and 0.28 are converted to the strength in-
crease ratio with depth As,/Az, these will be 2.3
kPa/m and 1.9 kPa/m, respectively. And the calcu-
lated range corresponds to 1.5 2.5 kPa/m in As,/Az. -
6.2 Results of analysis and discussions
1.4
Figure 10 shows the calculated variations of the bot-
tom depth of slip circle and safety factor Fs with
strength increase ratio s,/d,~. In this figure, FS
1.3
reaches a constant value at about 1.29, where S~,/CT’,O
8
v,
is larger than 0.31, because the critical slip circle is
within the Holocene clay layer, and does not pass
1.2 4
-4%

0
-7
through the Pleistocene deposit layer. When
9 i s less than 0.31, Fs is smaller than 1.27, where Fs
1.I increases lineally with s,/o~,o. In these cases, the
critical slip circles reach the Pleistocene clay deposit.
This implies that the Pleistocene clay deposit gov-
I I I
I 1.0 erns the stability, if S ~ / C Tis’ ~less
~ than 0.31.
0.20 0.24 0.28 0.32 0.36 The Pleistocene sand layer exists between the
Strength increase ratio, s J d m Holocene clay layer and the Pleistocene clay layer.
Since the shear strength of the sand layer is larger
Figure 10 Calculated relationship between safety factor
than clay layer of both sides, the bottom depth of
and strength increase ratio of Pleistocene clay with varia-
critical slip circle varies discontinuously at S~,/CT~,Oof
tion of the depth of slip circle

wall structure of the Kansai International Airport in

20
the second phase construction. The assumed cross
section is shown in Figure 9. The safety factor for -
E
0

the base slide was calculated by the slip circle analy- y 20

0

sis with modified Fellenius method. Table 1 shows -40

/
Pklsfocere sand\
,
the summary of material properties used in the sta-
bility analysis.
The layer number 11 represents the Pleistocene
clay stratum in which the undrained shear strength
-100 ‘
-150 .100 60 0 50 100 150
Horizontal distance (rn)
increases with the depth according to the triaxial test
results obtained in this study. As shown in Figures 7, Figure 11 Critical slip circle with different strength defi-
the strength increase ratio S,/CT~,O is 0.33 for the av- nitions

209
between 0.30 and 0.31 and its depth moves in the
Pleistocene clay to the Holocene clay at this point.
Figure 11 shows the critical slip circles giving the
minimum safety factor in the stability analysis. The
slc(A)corresponds to the average strength with the ex-
tension strength of definition A. In this case, the cir-
cle passes only in the Holocene clay and does not
reach the Pleistocene clay. The s u ( ~corresponds
) to
the average strength with the extension strength of
definition B, in which the extension strength equiva-
lent to the same strain level as compression. In this
case, the slip circle pass through the Pleistocene
clay.
As discussed above, the shear strength for design
depends on the definition of the strength under dif-
ferent loading conditions. In this study, the stability
of a typical seawall structure of the second phase of
the Kansai International Airport is analyzed by using
the shear strengths determined by different methods.
Depending on the definition of the shear strength,
the critical slip circle is in the Holocene clay layer or
it passes through the Pleistocene clay. The results of
the stability analysis with different strength defini-
tions have shown that these seawall structures have
adequate safety factors, i.e., larger than 1.20, how-
ever the margin for the safety is not so much. When
a slip takes place along a circle passing through the
Pleistocene clay during the construction of the sea-
wall, the influenced area of the failure will be quite
large and possibly give serious damages to the con-
struction project. Consequently, the accurate estima-
tion of the shear strength and the construction con-
trol including the field observations will be
important.
7 CONCLUSIONS
The undrained shear strengths and deformation char-
acteristics of the Pleistocene clay in Osaka Bay were
studied by the Recompression method with triaxial
test. The conclusions derived from this study are as
follows.
1)The profile of shear strength of Kansai Pleisto-
cene clay tends to increase linearly with depth,
implying that a particular stress history has not
been involved. This fact indicates that Pleistocene
clay under the Kansai International Airport has
deposited continuously without major tectonic
movements.
2) When the undrained shear strength for design is
defined as the average of compression and exten-
sion strengths, the strength increase ratio s L t / 0 7 vNakase,
depends on the definition of the extension
strength. For the Pleistocene clay, the S ~ / G ’ ~ isO
0.33 if the extension strength is defined as a peak
strength or a strength at axial strain of 15 % (defi-
nition A), while the su/dVo is 0.28 if the extension
strength is defined as a strength at the same strain
210
equivalent to the compression peak strength (defi-
nition B).
3) The value of undrained shear strength depends on
the test method and the definition of the extension
strength. By using the shear strengths obtained by
different definitions, the stability analysis was car-
ried out for the designed cross section of the sea-
wall structure of the Kansai International Airport
based on the mild slope shore protection of the
first stage. The bottom point of slip circle changes
discontinuously and jumps from the Holocene
clay to the Pleistocene clay, because Pleistocene
sand layer, which has strong shear strength, exists
between the Holocene clay layer and the Pleisto-
cene clay layer.
4) The critical slip circle either is in the Holocene
clay layer or passes through the Pleistocene clay
layer, depending on the difference in definitions
of the extension shear strength. Although the
safety factors obtained were larger than 1.20, the
margin of the safety were not so much. It is con-
sidered that the appropriate estimation of the
shear strength of Pleistocene clays and construc-
tion control with field observations will be neces-
sary to complete the projects safely.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge Ms. Y. KO-
sugi & Mr. Y. Tashiro, the former students of Shi-
baura Institute of Technology, for their assistance on
this study.
REFERENCES
Bjerrum, L. (1973) Problems of soil mechanics and
construction on soft clays and structurally unstable
soils. State of the Art Report, Proc. of the 8th
ICSMFE, 111-159.
Hanzawa, H. (1982) Undrained strength characteris-
tics of alluvial marine clays and their application
to short term stability problems. Thesis of Dr.
Eng. University of Tokyo.
Hanzawa, H., Matsuda, E., Suzuki, K. & T. Kishida
(1980) Stability analysis and field behaviour of
earth fills on an alluvial marine clay. Soils and
Foundations, 20(4), 1-14.
Kanda, K., Suzuki, S. & Yamagata, N.(1991) Off-
shore soil investigation at the Kansai International
Airport. Proc. of GEO-COAST ’91,33-38.
~ A. (1967) The Cp = 0 analysis of stability and
unconfined compression strength. Soils and
Foundations, 7(2), 33-45.
Tsuchida, T. & Kikuchi, Y. (1991) KO-consolidation
of undisturbed clays by means of triaxial cell.
Soils and Foundations, 31(3), 127-137.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Electro-osmosis properties of Singapore marine clay

Bo Myint Win
SPECS Corzsultarzts Pte. Limited, Singapore
V Choa
Nanyang Technological Universiy, Singapore
X. Q.Zeng
Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company Limited, Singapore

ABSTRACT: In order to be able to design the electro-osmosis scheme, two major properties of clay such as
electro-osmosis permeability and coefficient of consolidation are required to be known. These properties
could also be measured in the laboratory by running the electro-osmosis consolidation test. This type of test
could be carried out with the help of modified triaxial apparatus in which soil sample could be applied an
electric current and also measured the volumetric change of soil accurately. It was found that electro-
osmosis permeability of Singapore marine clay is ranging between 1 to 5 x 10-9m/v-s whereas electro-
osmosis coefficient of consolidation varied between 1 and 2.81 m2/yr for tests under six (6) and twelve (12)
volts electric potential gradient respectively. Electro-osmosis coefficient of consolidation is increasing with
voltage applied. Physical and compressibility properties changes were noted after the electro-osmosis proc-
ess. This paper described the test apparatus, procedures and discussed on the results from the electro-
osmosis tests, carried out on Singapore Marine Clay.

1 INTRODUCTION erties of others clays such as Ontario clay,

Consolidation of soft clay has been a major problem
in geotechnical engineering. The long duration re-
quired for consolidation settlement of low perme-
able soft clay deters the development of infrastruc-
ture on such foundation. Therefore acceleration of
consolidation process became necessary and hy-
draulic modification is one of the most popular
methods among the practicing engineers. However
hydraulic modification required to introduce hy-
draulicsradient either in a form of increase pore
pressure in the soil by placing additional load or re-
ducing pore pressure in the soil by means of vac-
uum pressure. Both methods required additional
materials such as fill material or sealing geo-
membrane. Another form of consolidating soil to
improve drainage is Electro-osmosis consolidation
and which was first initiated by Casagrande in
(1937) and followed by Bjerrum et a1 (1 967), Fetzer
(1 967), and Wade (1976). In order to be able to de-
sign the electro-osmosis scheme properly, two ma-
jor parameters such as electro-osmosis coefficient
of consolidation and electro-osmosis permeability
are required to be known. Only that suitable spacing
and apply voltage could be selected to achieve the
required strength of the soil. Electro-osmosis prop-
Gloucestor clay and wallacebury clay (Shang & Ho
1998), Leda clay (Lo et a1 1991) and Bangkok clay
(Nayar 1997 and Dinoy 1999) were reported by oth-
ers. In this study Electro-osmosis consolidation
tests were also carried out in the laboratory and find
out the electro-osmosis properties of Singapore Ma-
rine Clay. This paper discussed the test apparatus,
testing procedures and test results from the electro-
osmosis consolidation tests on Singapore Marine
Clay.
2 DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS
The apparatus is modified from the standard triaxial
cell. The cell pressure could be given on the speci-
men as like normal triaxial isotropic consolidation
test. The cell could be put onto the anisotropic
Lever loading frame instead of triaxial frame. The
vertical static load could be applied on the specimen
through the loading hanger and load could be
maintained during the test. Two wire lines were in-
stalled to connect one to the anode at the top and
another to the cathode at the bottom. Those could
be connected to the power source, positive and
negative respectively.

21 1
 Table 1 Physical, Compressibility and Consolidation proper-
-
ties of tested sample.
Test No. 1 Test No. 2
Depth (m) 20-20.85 20-20.85
y (kN/m3) 16.3 16.1
LL (%) 71 71
PL (YO) 28 28
PI (%) 43 43
w (?A) 55.74 56.2
e0 1.51 1.55
cc 0.77 0.77
cr 0.15 0.15
P’c (KPa) 150 150

The prepared sample was placed on the bottom

Figure 1. Modified triaxial equipment used for electro-osmosis
consolidation.
* a- Soil Sample, b- “0” ring, c- Rubber Membrane, d- Cop-
per Porous Disc, e- LVDT, f & g- Pore Pressure Transducers,
h- Cell Pressure Line, i & j- Electric Wire Lines, k- Drainage
Line. 1- Non-conductive base pedestal.
cathode conductive porous disc which was con-
nected to the negative power supply and also sit on
the base pedestal. Rubber membrane was installed
on the sample with the help of sleeve stretcher. The
anode porous conductive plate which attached to
the top cap was placed on top of sample and neces-
sary “0” rings were put to seal the sample. Tests
were carried out with three stages such as isotropic,
anisotropic and electro-osmosis consolidation
stages.

The special non-conductive base pedestal was used
for testing in which one pressure source line, two
pore pressure transducer inlets and two drainage
outlets were included. Drainages were from the
bottom through the conductive porous copper discs
which act as cathode and anode. The drainage lines
were connected to the volume changer and volume
of water drained out could be roughly measured.
Accurate volume change of sample could be meas-
ured from increase in volume of water in the triaxial
cell which was also connected to the volume
changer. However, during isotropic and anisotropic
consolidation process drainages were from both top
and bottom and during the electro-osmosis process
drainage was only from bottom cathode and top an-
ode was closed. Vertical displacement could be
measured with the help of the LVDT installed on
the piston rod. The details of apparatus are shown in
Fig. 1. The apparatus is similar to the cell B used by
Shang and Ho (1 998).
3 PREPARATION OF SAMPLE AND TESTING
PROCEDURE
Samples extruded from the undisturbed sample was
put on to the soil lathe and trimmed with wire saw
to the diameter of 70 mm and height of 140 mm.
3.I Isotropic consolidation stages
After saturation of sample, the isotropic all round
static pressure (200 kPa) was applied to the sample.
The applied net pressure was set about preconsoli-
dation pressure (P’c) of the sample to make the soil
to the virgin condition. The applied net pressure in
this case is 150 kPa. The volume changes in iso-
tropic consolidation stage were measured by water
collected at volume changer. Tests were carried out
until 98 % degree of consolidation with 150 kPa
was achieved. The criterion was graphically deter-
mined by Taylor’s (1948) method.
3.2 Anisotropic consolidation
After soil specimen has reached the 98% consoli-
dation, the small magnitude of vertical stress (30
kPa) was applied to the sample in order to be able
to collect the vertical displacement during the elec-
tro-osmosis consolidation stage. Void ratio changes
in this stage was also measured with the help of
volume change unit.
3.3 Electro-osmosis consolidation stage
The next step after anisotropic consolidation was
electro-osmosis consolidation stage. In which stage,
positive and negative charges were applied to the
anode and cathode respectively. The cathode was

212
Table 2 . Tests Data
Isotropic Stage Anisotropic stage Electro-osmosis Stage
Test Back Pres- Cell Pressure Net Pressure Back Pressure Cell Pressure Vetrical Deviator Stress Potential different
No. sure(KPa) (KPa) (KPa) (KPa) (KPa) Pressure (KPa) (Volt)
--. ~K_P_al-__ - .--. ___----
1 50 200 150 50 200 30 30 6
2 50 200 150 50 200 30 30 12

connected to the drainage and the anode was at the

undrained face. Pore pressure were measured at
both cathode (drained face) and anode (undrained
face). Applied voltages for Is' and 2nd tests dis-
cussed in this paper were six (6) and twelve (12)
volts respectively. Voltage applied were monitored
through out the tests with direct current power sup-
ply system equipped with voltmeter and ampmeter.

4 TESTRESULTS

In Order to be to understand the Figure 2. Void ratio versus time through out the consolidation
and effective stress gain of soil after electro- process.
osmosis consolidation, one step electric potential
gradients were applied to the soil samples between
top and bottom of the specimen. The physical and
compressibility parameters of tested sample are
shown in the Table 1. The applied pressures and
current in the various stages on the two tests for
discussion are shown in the Table 2.
Void ratio changes with elapsed time were cal-
culated base on volume change data in all stages
and shown in the Fig. 2. It was found that soil
specimens change to more or less same void ratio
after two stages of hydraulic consolidation in both
tests. The void ratio at the end of hydraulic consoli-
dation are 1.4 and 1.39 for test No. 1 and 2 respec-
tively.
Figure 3a. Comparison of Volumetric Strain during Eiectro-
In the electro-osmosis tests, soil were given to the osmosis stage.
electric potential different of 6 volts and 12 volts
for test 1 and test 2 respectively.
It was noted that void ratio of test No. 1 with 6
volts reduced to 0.8 whereas test No.2 with 12 volts
reduced to 0.76 (Fig. 4). If compared with one di-
mensional consolidation curve from oedometer test
carried out on the pre-electro-osmosis treatment
soil, these void ratios are equivalent to void ratio at
1180 kPa and 1440 kPa effective stress for test 1
and 2 respectively (Fig. 6).
Since magnitude of void ratio changes due to elec-
tro-osmosis process were significant, the differen-
tiation was made on total volume strain. It was
found that percentage of volumetric strain contrib- Figure 3b. Comparison of Volumetric Strain during
uted from lateral deformation was significant. Electro-osmosis stage.

213
 5 ELECTRO-OSMOSIS PERMEABILITY AND
COEFFICIENT OF CONSOLIDATION

Electro-osmosis Permeability could be calculated

from the following equation (1) described by :
Shang (1997) .

Where: K, = electro-osmosis permeability in m2/v-s;

q, = rate of water flow during electro-osmosis in
Figure 4. Void ratio versus Time in electro-osmosis m3/s;
consolidation tests. E = electric potential different in volt;
F = area of drained face in m2.

Table 4. Comparison of physical properties of soil.

Therefore electro-osmosis permeability at various
Parameter Before Electro-osmosis After Electro-osmosis
Near Near time steps could be worked out using volume
Anode Cathode change in other words volume of water drained out
y (kN/m3) 16.10-16.30 18.64 18.25 from the sample and applied electric potential dif-
W ("h) 55.74-56.20 29.8 33.2 ference. (Fig. 5.) It can be seen in the figure that
LL (To) 71 63 83 electro-osmosis permeability of Singapore Marine
PL (To) 28 28 30 Clay is in a range of 1 to 5 x 10'9 m/v-s. These val-
PI (%) 43 35 53 ues are similar to the same order of values which
e 1.51-1.55 0.807 0.895
reported by others (Shang and Ho 1998). One in-
* Results are from test No. 1 teresting thing is electro-osmosis permeability is not
constant during the process. After significant vol-
Table 5 ComDarison of comDressibilitv oarameter. ume change has occurred, electro-osmosis perme-
Parameter Before Electro- After Electro-osmosis ability dramatically reduced with time. This finding
osmosis is consistant with electro-osmosis permeability re-
Test I * Test 2* duction due to electro chemical reaction by Acar et
cc 0.77 0.22 0.17 a1 (1996) and Shang (1996). This could be due to
c, 0.15 0.09 0.09 changes of electro-osmosis characteristic of soil es-
P'c (kPa) 180 400 500 pecially increase in soil resistance between two
m, (m2/MN) 0.522 0.074 0.053 electrodes.
Cv** (m2/Yr.) 0.44 1.26 2.34 Electro-osmosis Permeabilities versus times and
K, (m/s) 2 . 1 4 ~IO-'' 2 . 9 10-l'
~ 3 . 8 10'"
~ soil resistances are shown in Fig. 5 and it shows
* Reported data from top sample which is closed to anode. that permeability reduction ratio at later stage is
** By Tayior's method much higher than that of earlier stage since soil re-
sistant increment is more pronounce in later stage.
'Therefore, in electro-osmosis process soil deformed Coefficient of Electro-osmosis consolidation C,,
in three dimensional way and volumetric strain were worked out from tests 1 and 2 using both Ca-
contributed from lateral deformation was found to sagrande and Taylor (1948) methods based on
be greater than that from vertical deformation (Fig. change in void ratio due to volumetrics strain. The
3). Hence any parameter interpreted from vertical coefficient of electro-osmosis consolidation is much
displacement alone may underestimate the values higher than coefficient of consolidation from static
and could be misleading the effectiveness of elec- one dimensional consolidation. More over the C,, is
tro-osmosis process. increasing with applied potential gradient (Table 3).

Table 3 Comparison of Coefficient of Consolidation

Coefficient of Consolidation (C, in m2/yr) Electro-osmosis Coefficient of Consolidation (Cvein m2/yr)
Test No. Casaarande Method Tavlor Method Casaarande Method Tavlor Method
1 0.37 0.44 1.04 I .29
2 0.37 0.44 2.35 2.81

214
Table 6 Estimated effective stress gained from electro- curves after electro-osmosis are much flatter than
osmosis. those of before electro-osmosis. In addition to that
Test Kh K, Potent'l A6' 6 '
Estd. Msd.
No. diff. p'c P'c
the higher preconsolidation pressure was achieved
(m/s) (rn2h.s) Volt KPa KPa
KPa KPa for test applied higher voltage. One interesting thing
1 8 . 3 5 ~ 1 0 - '3.55x10-'
~ 6 250 150
-400 317- is compressibility of soil has change and its C, were
400 reduced to 0.22 and 0.17 for test 1 and 2 respec-
2 8.35~10-'O 4 . 0 0 ~ 1 0 -12
~ 564 150 -714 400- tively. The achieved preconsolidation pressure were
500 counter checked with theoretically estimated effec-
tive stress gain using following equation. (Esrig
Table 7. Variation of Compressibility Parameter with distance 1968)
from anode. III_I-._III__x_II.___ -____---
Ke
Test 1 Test 2
Gj'=- ~ e = o -- (yw)(V(x)) (2)
Parameter Near 120 mm Near 60 mm 120 mm
Anode fr. Anode Anode fr. Anode fr. Anode
~~-~~
Kh
Where: A6' = effective stress gained;
cc 0.22 0.33 0.17 0.27 0.26 Kh = Permeability of natural clay;
cr 0.09 0.12 0.09 0.12 0.1 1 yw = density of water;
P'c(KPa) 400 317 500 432 400 V(x)= electric potential at distance (x)from the
Cathode.

This finding is contradiction with low coefficient of
electro-osmosis consolidation for Ontario clay in
Canada reported by Shang and Ho (1998). Their
reported coefficient of electro-osmosis consolida-
tion seemed to have been worked out from vertical
strain only. In reality due to the high CVe the con-
solidation process become faster and improvement
of soil could be accelerated.
6 SOIL PROPERTIES AFTER ELECTRO-
OSMOSIS
It can be seen in the Table 6 that the actual
achieved effective stress gain based on graphical
method are lower than estimated effective stress
gain using measured electro-osmosis permeability
and natural clay permeability. Estimated effective
stress gain is subject to uncertainty in ratio of per-
meabilities (Ke/Kh). On the other hand lower meas-
ured P', could be due to uncertainties in Casagrande
graphical method. These points need further study.

Physical, and consolidation tests were carried out

on the sample after treated with electro-osmosis. It
was found that the physical properties of sample
were changed most probably due to the physio-
chemical changes of soil caused by electro-osmosis
process (Table 4 & 5). This finding is consistant
with physical-chemical changes after electro-
osmosis process by Mitchell (1993) and Shang et a1
(1996). Void ratios of samples were more or less Figure 5. Variation of Electro-osmosis permeability and Soil
same with void ratios worked out from the volumet- resistance with time.
ric changes due to electro-osmosis process. How-
ever preconsolidation pressure using graphical
method was much lower than effective stress of
1180 & 1440 KPa at same void ratio resulted from
static one dimensional consolidation (Table 6).
Consolidation test were carried out on the three post
treated samples, one from the top, others from the
middle and bottom portion. It was found that the
portion closer to the anode increased higher precon-
solidation pressure than away from the anode (Ta-
ble 7). Fig. 6 shows oedometer tests e-log P' curves
from sample not subject to electro-osmosis and af-
Figure 6. Void ratio versus pressure from oedometer tests
ter electro-osmosis. It can be seen that e log P' carried out before and after electro-osmosis.

215
7 CONCLUSIONS
Electro-osmosis consolidation caused the soil to be
deformed in three-dimensional way such as verti-
cal displacement and lateral displacement. Volume
change caused by lateral deformation is higher than
that caused by vertical deformation. Therefore
electro-osmosis consolidation properties should be
interpreted from total volume change inclusive of
vertical and lateral strain. Parameter interpreted
based on vertical strain alone would underestimate
the values and could mislead the effectiveness of
electro-osmosis process. Significant void ratio
changes was occurred due to electro-osmosis con-
solidation of Singapore marine Clay. However pre-
consolidation pressure achieved was much lower
than equivalent preconsolidation pressure at re-
spective void ratio caused by hydraulic consolida-
tion. Electro-osmosis permeability of Singapore
Marine Clay is found to range between 1 to 5 x 10e9
d v - s and reducing with time. The electro-osmosis
coefficients of consolidation of Singapore Marine
Clay are 1 and 2.81 m2/yr for 6 and 12 volts applied
voltage respectively. Electro-osmosis coefficient of
consolidation is found to be increasing with applied
voltage. Some physical and compressibility proper-
ties changes after electro-osmosis were noted.
8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Authors would like to thank Mr. Ador Y.
Franco for his help and Computer graphical works.
9 REFERENCES
Acar, Y. B. & Alshawabkeh, A. N. 1996.
Electrokinetic remediation. I: pilot scale tests
with lead-spiked kaolinite. Journal of Geotechni-
cal Engineering, ASCE. 122: (3), 175-185.
Bjerrum, L., Moum, J., and Eide, 0. 1967.
Application of electro-osmosis to a foundation
problem in a Norwegian quick clay. Geotech-
nique, 17: 214-235.
Casagrande, L. 1937. Method of hardening soils.
U.S. Patent N o 2 : 44-66.
Dinoy, A. Jr. 1999. Electro-osmosis Consolidation
of Reconstituted Soft Bangkok Clay with Prefab-
ricated Vertical Drains, AIT Thesis No. GE 98-5.
Bangkok, Thailand.
216
Esrig, M. I. 1968. Pore Pressure, Consolidation and
Electronics, Journal of the Soil Mechanics and
Foundation Division, ASCE, Vol. 94, No.
(SM4) : 899-92 1.
Fetzer, C. A. 1967. Electro-osmosis stabilization of
West Branch Dam. ASCE Journal of the Soil Me-
chanics and Foundations Division, Vol. 93 No.
(SM4) : 85-106.
Lo, K. L., Inculet, I. I. & Ho, K. S. 1991. Electro-
osmostic strengthening of soft sensitive clays.
Canadian Geotechnical journal, Vol. 28 : 62-73
Mitchell, J. K. 1993. Fundamentals of Soil behavior
Second Edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Nayar, A. 1997. Electro-osmosis Stabilization of
Soft Bangkok Clays with and without Prefabri-
cated Vertical Drains, AIT Thesis No. GE, 96-18,
Bangkok, Thailand.
Shang, J. Q. 1996. On Factors Influencing
Electro- Osmotic Consolidation, Geotechnical En-
gineering Journal, Vol. 27. No. 2 : 23 - 36.
Shang, J. Q. 1997. On Electro-osmotic
Permeability and Zeta Potential of Natural Clays.
International Conference on Ground Improve-
ment Techniques, Macau : 509-5 16.
Shang, J. Q. & Ho, K. S. 1998. Electro-osmotic
Consolidation Behavior of two Ontario Clays.
Geotechnical Engineering Journal. ISSN
0046-5828, Vol. 29 : 181- 193.
Taylor, D. W. 1948. Fundamentals of Soils
Mechanics. John Wiley & Sons, New York : 700.
Wade, M. H. 1976. Slope stability by Electro-
osmosis. Proceedings, 29Ih Canadian Geotechni-
cal Conference, Vancouver, Section 10, : 44 - 66.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

I3ack analysis for determination of sedimentation and consolidation

properties

T-Yamagarni,J.-C. Jiang & K.Ueno

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tokushima,Japan
s.Sakai
Hanshin Consultants Company Limited, Osaka, Japan

ABSTRACT: A back analysis method is presented to determine the sedimentation and consolidation proper-
ties (i.e. void ratio e - effective stress o'relationship and void ratio e - permeability k relationship) of very
soft soils which are required for solving joint sedimentation and consolidation equations. The back analysis is
based on measured layer thickness or surface settlement-time response of the clay-water system from a simple
settling test in a small scale tube. The parameters obtained from back analysis are used to predict settlement
of centrifuge model grounds consisting of marine clay. The good agreement between the results predicted
from the back analysis and centrifuge models indicates that the proposed method can provide a useful tool to
identify the e- o'and e-k relationships and to simulate the behavior of very soft soils in actual reclaimed
ground with dredged materials.

1 INTRODUCTION eral, coarse grains contained in dredged materials

Self-weight consolidation problems including a hin-
dered settling effect may be analyzed using a joint
sedimentation and self-weight consolidation equa-
tion (Pane & Schiffman, 1985; Sakai and Yama-
gami, 1995). The constitutive relationships, i.e. void
ratio (e)-effective stress ( U ' ) and void ratio (e)-
permeability ( k ) relationships are necessary for so-
lution of this equation. In particular, the consolitia-
tion properties corresponding to a very low effective
stress range are required in sedimentation and self-
weight consolidation analysis. For this purpose, sev-
eral testing methods have been developed in the
past; however there are some shortcomings in each
method (e.g., Tan, et al. 1988). Therefore the present
authors (Yamagami & Sakai 1995) proposed an ef-
fective back analysis method to determine e- o ' and
e-k relationships. This method is based on the meas-
ured layer thickness or surface settlement-time re-
sponse of the clay water system. The authors (Ya-
magami & Sakai 1996) also proposed an experi-
mental method for the back analysis.
The purpose of the present paper is to investigate
the validity of the authors' back analysis method
based on small scale settling tube tests in the labo-
ratory through a comparison with the results of cen-
trifugal models. Here, the settling tube tests were
carried out using natural bay mud and test data was
back analyzed. Two types of materials were used for
the settling tube tests; one is mud with coarse grains
and the other is mud without coarse grains. In gen-
segregate at sedimentation and consolidation proc-
esses during dredged reclaiming. This phenomenon
appears in particular in the area around the outlet of
the hose to pump dilute soil-water mixtures. How-
ever such segregation does not occur in areas far
from the outlet of the pumping hose. Thus, it is ne-
cessary to consider two conditions for dredged, re-
claimed land in order to examine the applicability of
the back analysis method. Therefore the above-
mentioned two types of materials were used in set-
tling tube tests.
2 THE CONSTITUTIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Until now e-log o ' and e-log k linear relationships or
e- o ' and e-k exponential relationships have often
been used in the self-weight consolidation analysis.
Shodja and Feldkamp (1 993) employed unique
forms as a (e)=a*ea/(I +e) and k (e)=k*eV( 1+e) to
express the compressibility and the permeability, re-
spectively. Tan, et al.( 1988) used special exponential
functions to represent their test results. In the present
study we assume that the void ratio - effective stress
and void ratio - permeability relationships are ex-
pressed with the following power functions (Yama-
gami & Sakai, 1996):
e-k relationships
e = A,s . k ' s for settling ( e > e,,, )
(1)
e = A,. .kB' for consolidation(e Ie,?,) (2)

217
e- (7 relationships
e =C , otD1, for low stress range(e 2 e b ) (3)
e = C , .orD,
for high stress range(e 5 “ b ) (4)
(5)
where B.9 A,., Bc, C,, D,, C,, D,, ell1 and eh are
45.2
material parameters which can be determined by
back analysis.
The e - k relationships are referred to Kobayashi
et al.(l990)’s paper. Their study shows that the rela-
tionships between log e and log k in both the sedi-
mentation and consolidation stages become linear,
but these two relationships do not coincide with each
other, and the permeability changes abruptly across
the soil formation void ratio e,,,. Thus we adopted the
double power functions: one for the settling stage
and the other for the self-weight consolidation stage.
The e- o relationships are referred to Imai’s
finding (1981). His study shows that the compres-
sion curve for the natural bay mud is not uniquely
determined and is dependent on the initial void ratio
eo, especially at low effective stress levels, although
this curve may approach a unique curve as effective
stress increases. Therefore we adopted the two dif-
ferent power curves: one for low stress range and the
other for high stress range, and they intersect at
some void ratio eh.
3 BACK ANALYSIS PROCEDURE
The total number of parameters to be back analyzed
is nine: A,s and B, in Eq.(l), A,. and B,. in Eq.(2), D ,
in Eq.(3), C, and D, in Eq.(4), and eh and e,l, . C , in
Eq.(3) is calculated from Eq.(5) using the parameters
C,, D,, D, and e h . These nine parameters are back
analyzed using the following procedure (Yamagami
& Sakai, 1996); first a settling tube test involving
only consolidation is conducted and then another test
which encompasses both sedimentation and consoli-
dation is performed. The former test is carried out in
order to obtain experimental data for the wide stress
range. The experimental data for hindered settling
zone and low stress range are obtained from the lat-
ter test. The parameters A,., B,., C,, D,, D,and e h are
determined from the former test result. On the other
hand, the parameters A,s, B,, D , , e h and ell,are identi-
fied using both the latter test result and the parame-
ters A , , B,., C, and D, just back analyzed. In the
back analysis of the latter test, the two parameters
D , and eb are identified again, because these para-
meters are dependent on the initial state.
The back analysis is based on the minimization of
the following objective function:
U= $(so,,, ; i = 1 ... n (6 )
L= 1
218
where Soh,,is a measured layer thickness or surface
settlement at time i, Seal,, is a calculated layer thick-
ness or surface settlement at the same time i, and n is
the total number of sampling points. With an appro-
priate set of initial values of the parameters, the
minimization of Eq.(6) is made by using an optimi-
zation technique. During the optimization process,
we must solve partial differential equations govern-
ing hindered settling and self-weight consolidation.
A finite difference solution based on Douglas-Jones’
predictor-corrector method was thus applied to solve
these equations (Sakai & Yamagami, 1995).
4 SETLLING TUBE TESTS
4.1 Measuring system and materials
The measuring system used consists of a circular ac-
rylic settling column with lOOcm height and lOcm
inside diameter. The bottom of settling column is
closed with an aluminum bottom cap to maintain no
drainage condition. A measure is placed on the wall
of the column to observe the layer thickness or sur-
face settlement of the clay-water system.
Mud and seawater were sampled from the coast
of Naruto in the east of Tokushima prefecture, Ja-
pan. The mud obtained from the sea bed comprised
about 32.9% of clay and 48.0% of silt between 5 and
75 ,U m and 19.1% of sand. The sampled, original
mud and mud passing through a 7 5 p m sieve were
used in the experiments. Hereafter, the former is
called mud B and the latter mud A . Their physical
properties are listed in Table 1.
In order to investigate segregation of coarse parti-
cles in the sedimentation and consolidation proc-
esses, self-weight consolidation tests with three dif-
ferent initial water contents (wo= 250%, 500% and
1000%) were carried out for both mud A and mud B,
respectively. After the self-weight consolidation
process had finished the sediment was divided into
several equal layers in thickness, and grain size
analyses were performed for each divided layer.
Their grain size distribution curves are shown in
Figs. 1 and 2, in which H,, and H,, indicate the height
of the upper and lower interfaces of each divided
layer from the bottom of the sediment, respectively.
It can be seen from Figs. 1 and 2 that the segre-
gation of mud B occurs at each initial water content.
However, no segregation was observed from the re-
sults of mud A at w0=250% and 500%. For the case
of wo=lOOOYO,only a very slight change of the grain
Table 1 Physical properties of materials tested
Material I Specific I Plastic I Grain size distribution
gravity index (weight Yo)
(TO) - 5 p m 5-75pm 7 5 p m -
mudA 2.704 40.1 40.7 59.3 0.0
mud B 2.745 22.5 32.9 48.0 19.1
Fig. 1 Particle size distribution curves for Mud A
(H, & H,: height of lower & upper interfaces of each divided layer from the sediment bottom, respectively)
size distribution appears. Therefore, we may con-
sider that the segregation is negligible for mud A .
4.2 Test procedure
As mentioned in section 3, the results of two types
of settling tube tests are needed to back analyze the
nine parameters: one corresponding to the low stress
range, and the other the high stress range. The fol-
lowing test procedure is carried out to obtain these
experimental data.
The test at low stresses is as follows. First, a mud
and sea water sample of known initial water content
is poured into the settling column and then the mud
slurry is re-mixed to obtain a uniform initial state.
Then; the layer thickness or surface settlement
measurement begins.
On the other hand, the settling tube test at high
219
Fig.2 Particle size distribution curves for Mud B
stresses is made using a surcharge load. Here, the
surcharge loading technique utilizing lead shot and
sand (Yamagami & Sakai, 1996) is adopted. The test
procedure for the high stress region is as follows.
First, the mud slurry is consolidated with only self-
weight up to some consolidation degree, and then
the sand is spread over the mud slurry specimen,
followed by the shot loading on the sand layer.
4.3 Test program
Four cases of the settling tube tests were conducted
whose test conditions are listed in Table 2. Mud A
was used in tests A I and A2 and mud B in tests BI
and B2. Note that tests A2 and B2 were done for low
stress ranges, but tests AI and BI were performed
for a wide stress range. All the tests for low stress
ranges encompassed both sedimentation and consoli-
dation. Test B2 was made under a stage filling con-
dition with a filling rate of 2Ocdday and the mud
slurry was filled in nine stages. The initial slurry
height in tests A l , A2 and BI were 90.0cm where
tests A1 and B l were made using a surcharge load of
20.2kP0. The surcharge load was placed on the slurry
specimen immediately after ten days had passed. In
test A l , the stress level due to the surcharge loads is
equivalent to that of a clay layer of 10m height
without loading, and in test BI it is equivalent to a
clay layer of 8m height. The measured layer thick-
ness variations with time are shown in Figs.3 to 5.
Fig.3 Variations in layer thickness for tests A I and A2
During this self-weight consolidation stage, although
the hindered settling phenomenon did not occur, the
corresponding stress level was still very low. There-
fore, the back analysis must be performed on condi-
tion that the e- 0 ' relationship inevitably involves a
part in which the relationship is dependent on the
initial state. Thus, the parameters A,., Bc, C,, D,,D,.
and eh were back analyzed. Next, the results for tests
A2 and B2 were back analyzed. In these analyses,
the parameters A,, By, D,*, ell and e,,, were identified
on the basis of both the test results and the parame-
ters A,., B,., C, and D,just obtained.
Back-analyzed results of the parameters are listed
in Table 3. The back-analyzed constitutive relation-
ships on log-log scales are shown in Figs.6 and 7 in
which the solid lines indicate the results from tests
A1 and B l , and the doted lines from tests A2 and B2,
respectively. The layer thickness variations calculat-
ed from the back-analyzed parameters are illustrated
in Figs.3 to 5 with solid lines. They agree well with
the experimental results.
It is shown in Fig.6 that the e- 0 ' relationships of
mud A are strongly dependent on the initial states in
low stress range. For mud B, the similar tendency
can also be found in Fig.7 though it is not so con-
spicuous.

e-k relationships i
9
2 l ....*. .I..*-*
**....--
o

0.?l001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100

Coefficient of permeability, k(m/d)
Fig.4 Variations in layer thickness for test B l I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I l l l l l t l l I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 t 1 1 l 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 , 1 1 1 1

0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100

Effective stress, U ' (kPa)

Fig.6 Constitutive relationships for mud A

e-k relationships 1

Fig.5 Variations in layer thickness for test B2 10 100

Coefficient of permeability, k(m/d)
I I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I llllllll I l l t l t t t l I l l t l l l l l I l l l l d
5 BACK ANALYSIS RESULTS 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 I00
Effective stress, IJ ' (kPa)
All the settling tube test results were back analyzed. Fig.7 Constitutive relationships for mud B
The experimental data for tests A1 and B l were
solved first. In both tests, the consolidation occurred
with self-weight only until the shot was added.

220

Fig.8 Time - settlement curves for test ACI
Fig.9 Time - settlement curves for test AC2
Fig. 10 Time - settlement curves for test AC3
6 VERIFICATION OF THE BACK ANALYSIS
6.1 Cases without particle segregation
Three cases (ACI-AC3) of centrifuge model con-
solidation tests were carried out using mud A. Test
conditions are listed in Table 4. In addition, effective
Table 3 Back analyzed parameters
D? I 8 . 9 10”
OL
I result I I 2.546
Unit; effective stress:(kN/m’) , permeability:(m/day)
stress ranges covered in ACI and AC3 are almost the
same as those in the settling tube tests A l and A2,
but the effective stress level used in test AC2 is al-
most twice as large as that of the settling tube test.
Tests ACI and AC2 were done only for self-
weight consolidation, and test AC3 encompassed
both sedimentation and consolidation. Therefore, the
time-settlement curves of tests ACI and AC2 were
transformed into the prototype behavior based on the
Takada et al’s similarity law (1986). For test AC3,
the test results were transformed into the prototype
based on the Miyake et al’s similarity law (1988)
which was obtained experimentally.
In the centrifuge tests, the acceleration time of the
machine was 101 seconds in test ACI, 138 seconds
in test AC2 and 103 seconds in test AC3 respec-
tively. These acceleration times were equated into an
equivalent time at the desired acceleration level
based on the scaling law (Stone et al. 1994).
Time-settlement curves of the prototype are
shown in Figs. 8 to 10 with the time-settlement cur-
ves predicted from the back analyzed parameters. In
each case, the predicted settlement is a little greater
than the test result, while the settlement rates for
both are almost the same. From these results, it may
be said that the back analyzed constitutive relation-
ships for cases without particle segregation are ap-
plicable to problems in a practical scale.
Here we must point out an important advantage
of the proposed approach, referring the results given
in Figs. 8 to 10. The results themselves are not so
poor in accuracy as mentioned above, however
much more accurate predictions by using what we
call the observational procedure may be obtained if
desired. To explain this, let’s take the result shown
in Fig8 as an example. In Fig.8, if we perform the
Test Initial Initial Initial Filling type Filling Surcharge
water void slurry rate & load
conten ratio height times
20.2
I I
~
I 0.48
22 1

Test Initial Initial Initial Initial Centrifugal
water void height height of acceleration
content ratio of model prototype
(%) (cm) (m) (i-4
ACl 250 6.65 18.0 9.00 50
AC2 250 6.65 18.0 18.00 100
AC3 750 19.94 19.5 9.75 50
back analysis based on the centrifuge settlement data
up to, say, an elapsed time of about 100 days, and
perform the prediction with the obtained parameters,
then we would surely attain a much more accurate
result compared with the one in Fig.8. In this way,
the proposed method can be easily applied at any
stage of construction sequence in which observa-
tional settlement data are available, thereby enabling
us to revise the preceding design. We have consid-
ered this fact to be an advantage of the proposed
method over other existing ones.
6.2 Cases with particle segregation
Centrifugal test verification has not been conducted
for the back-analyzed parameters of mud B because
of its intense particle segregation. In a centrifugal
test for a very soft soil containing coarse grains,
particle segregation seems to take place more in-
tensely than in the gravitational (lg) acceleration
field. It is thus not desirable to investigate the valid-
ity of the back-analyzed parameters for mud B in a
centrifugal acceleration field. It may be said, how-
ever, even for cases in which intense particle segre-
gation may occur, the proposed approach accompa-
nied with the observational procedure can be used to
predict the future behavior by repeating the back
analysis properly. That is, we can obtain as much
accurate prediction as desired based on the observa-
tional procedure. In this case, we should consider
that the back-analyzed parameters are no longer real
material parameters; they should be regarded merely
as design parameters fitting in with actual ground
behavior.
7 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Samples of bay mud with and without coarse grains
were used to verify the back analysis method for
determining the e- 0 ' and e-k relationships and for
predicting the sedimentation and consolidation be-
havior of very soft soils. The back analysis was
based on small scale settling tube tests, and the
parameters obtained could accurately reproduce each
case of the settling tube tests, Centrifuge model con-
solidation tests for mud samples without coarse
grains (i.e. with no particle segregation) have been
carried out, and close agreement has been obtained
between centrifugal test results and predictions using
the back-analyzed parameters.
222
An attractive feature of the proposed method is its
ease of application in practical problems; this ap-
proach requires only the surface settling-time re-
sponse of the clay-water mixture under considera-
tion. It is, thus, quite easy to combine the proposed
method with the observational procedure to acquire
as much accurate prediction as desired.
REFERENCES
Imai, G. 198 1. Experimental studies on sedimentation me-
chanism and sediment formation of clay materials: Soils
and Foundations, 21 (1) : 7-20.
Kobayashi, M., Yamakawa, T. & Ogawa, F. 1990. Settling
and consolidation analysis of very soft clay. Technical
Note of Port and Harbour Res. Inst., Min. of Trans., Ja-
pan, N0.680, 1-2 1 (in Japanese).
Miyake, M., Akamoto, H. & Aboshi, H. 1988. Filling and
quiescent consolidation including sedimentation of
dredged marine clays: Centrifuge '88, Rotterdam : Bal-
kema. 163-170.
Pane, V. & Schiffman, R.L. 1985. A note on sedimentation
and consolidation, Geotechnique, 35 (1) : 69-72.
Sakai, S. & Yamagami, T. 1995. A finite difference solution
to self-weight consolidation equations ming a pre-
dicter-correcter method: Proc. Inter. Symp. on Compres-
sion and Consolidation of Clayey Soils (IS-Hiroshima'
95), Rotterdam : Balkema, 783-788.
Shodja, H.M. & Feldkamp, J.R. 1993. Numerical analysis of
sedimentation and consolidation by the moving finite
element method: Inter. J. for Numer. and Analyt. Meth.
in Geome., 17 : 753-769.
Stone, K.J.L., Randolph, M.F. & Sales, A.A. 1994. Evalua-
tion of consolidation behavior of mine tailings, J. of
Geotech. Engrg., A X E , 120 (3) : 473-490.
Takada, N. & Mikasa, M. 1986. Determination of consoli-
dation parameters by selfweight consolidation test in
centrifuge, Consolidation of Soils: Testing and Evalua-
tion, ASTM STP 892, American Society for Testing and
Materials, Philadelphia : 548-566.
Tan, S.-A., Tan, T.-S., Ting, L.C., Yong, K.-Y ., Karunaratne,
G.-P. & Lee$.-L. 1988. Determination of consolidation
properties for very soft clay, Geotechnical testing Jour-
nal, 11 (4) : 233-240.
Yamagami, T. & Sakai, S. 1995. Back analysis of self-
weight consolidation problems, Proc. Inter. Symp. on
Coin. and Con. of Clayey Soils (IS-Hiroshimat95), Rot-
terdam : Balkema, 603-608.
Yamagami, T. & Sakai, S. 1996. Back analysis of sedimen-
tation and self-weight consolidation properties, Proc. 2nd
Inter. Con$ on Soft Soil Engineering, Nanjing, China, 1 :
276-281.
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

An inter-link between stiffness at small strains and strength at large strains

of soft Bangkok clay
N.Yamamoto
TokyoInstitute of Technology,Japan (Fornzerly: Asian Institute of Technology,AIT)
M.Temma & S.Shibuya
Graduate School of Hokkuido Universio, Sapporo, Japan (Formerly AIT)

ABSTRACT: A laboratory investigation was performed in an attempt to examine a missing link between the
small-strain stiffness and the undrained shear strength associated with strains of the orders of 0.001% and 1%,
respectively. In a series of undrained triaxial compressiodextension tests on soft Bangkok clay, the profile of
quasi-elastic Young's modulus, E-, as well as undrained shear strength, cu, with depth was manifested by
reconsolidating the natural samples under &-conditions to in-situ effective overburden pressure, CT (i.e.
recompression method). In another series of tests, the samples were comparatively reconsolidated to the ef-
fective vertical stress twice of ~ ' , , ( i ~ - ~ i(i.e.
, ~ ~ ) SHANSEP method of reconsolidation). The results showed that
the SHANSEP method of reconsolidation brought about the C,/O',, value being much less than that from re-
compression method, bearing in mind that the former value was very close to that of the fully reconstituted
sample. Conversely, the E,, value was not responsive to the different reconsolidation methods by which the
small-strain stiffness was not directly related to the behaviour at large strains. The applicability of MILK-
method (i.e. metastability index coupled with laboratory &-test) recently proposed by Shibuya et al. (1999a)
was also in depth examined in this case study.

1 INTRODUCTION in-situ seismic survey, Gf The idea was based on the

In modem soil mechanics, it is believed that natural
sedimentary soil inherently possesses a micro-
andor macro-structure comprising a fabric andor an
interparticle bonding. The soil structure is normally
susceptible against any kinds of disturbance. As a
result, the shear strength in laboratory test is, for ex-
ample, grossly influenced by the effects of sample
disturbance, which is in turn the bottleneck in under-
standirgproperly the results of laboratory tests.
Burland (1990) attempted to evaluate the effects
of sample disturbance by using "intrinsic" properties
relevant to the behaviour of reconstituted sample. He
concluded that the intrinsic properties provide a
frame of reference for assessing the in-situ state of a
natural clay and the influence of structure on its in-
sitc properties. As following this concept, Shibuya
(1999) has recently proposed a measure termed me-
tastability index, MZ(G), that incorporates two prop-
erties of quasi-elastic shear modulus, G-, defined
at strains of about 0.0001% and liquidity index, IL.
By using this measure, the aged clay-structure can
be quantified so that structuration as well as de-
structuration of natural clays may be expressed in a
unified manner.
Shibuya et al. (1999a) also correlated the
undrained shear strength, cu, to shear modulus from
concept that cu in the laboratory suffers inevitably
from the effects of sample disturbance, whereas Gf is
virtually free of any disturbance. Note that the water
content of high-quality sample during recompression
to the in-situ stress involves with some reduction
due to the development of plastic andor creep
strains. They suggested the application of MILK-
method to obtaining the profile of c,, "in the ground"
with depth.
2 SITE INVESTIGATION
The samples of soft Bangkok clay were retrieved at
Sutthisan Station site along the North-line of Bang-
kok Metro, which is currently under construction.
Note that two types of samplers; i.e. fixed piston
thin-wall sampler and conventional push-in Shelby
tube sampler, were employed (refer to Shibuya et al.
(1999b)).
Figure 1 shows the depth-profiles of in-situ water
content, Atterberg limits, unit weight, void ratio, li-
quidity index, density of soil particles, over-
consolidation ratio (OCR) and compressiodswell
indices from oedometer test. Except for the upper
few meters subjected to seasonal fluctuation of
ground water level, the profiles of natural water

223
 Figure 1 . Profiles of soil properties with depth at Sutthisan station site in Bangkok.

Table 1. Summary of physical properties and triaxial shearing data of test samples.
Test Symbol Depth ps WL c,, E,,,, MI(Gm,)"

CI 1 4 5.6 2.76 83.8 57.8 55.2 55.2 26.9 19.6 0.474

CI2 A 9.6 2.75 68.4 46.6 88.4 88.4 34.9 31.8 0.161
cr3 e 13.6 2.73 87.4 62.9 132.2 131.2 43.8 32.8 0.066
CN 1 0 3.9 2.63 63.5 39.6 42.8 107.0 33.7 26.8 0.528
CN2 A 7.8 2.74 64.8 43.7 69.6 139.2 40.2 23.4 0.165
CN3 0 12.6 2.74 86.0 61.8 113.9 284.8 77.2 61.2 0.024
E11 0 3.8 2.63 62.6 38.3 41.9 41.9 13.4 18.7 0.498
E12 A 7.9 2.74 65.9 44.5 70.8 70.8 13.5 21.7 0.394
E13 0 11.8 2.72 96.7 69.6 105.5 105.5 27.8 27.7 0.100
CR C] 6.5-7.0 2.74 63.3 39.5 - 200.0 56.4 71.3 0.036
ER CI 6.5-7.0 2.74 63.3 39.5 - 200.0 51.3 70.8 0.016

content, w,,and void ratio, e;,,-silushow gradual de-
crease with depth. The piezometric pressure in the
clay layers measured by piezocone test showed some
drawdown at depths below 7m because of pumping
in the aquifer underneath. It should be mentioned
that the pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure at
depth of 20m. The characteristic pore pressure dis-
tribution is of great importance when interpreting the
stiffness as well as strength of the clay layers, for
which ageing effects are anticipated to diminish in
soils deeper than 7m due to recent consolidation that
has been taking place over the last few decades.
Note that the OCR value also shows a decrease with
depth for a range from 1.1 to 1.7 down. The recent
drawdown of piezometric pressure by deep pumping
also affects the value OCR of the soils.
3 LABORATORY TEST PERFORMED
A series of undrained monotonic loading triaxial
tests involved with the measurement of small-strain
stiffness was carried out by using natural samples of
soft Bangkok clay. The quasi-elastic Young's
modulus, Emer,was measured in a fully automated
triaxial apparatus, which has been developed at
Hokkaido University and donated to Asian Institute
of Technology by the Government of Japan (Shibuya
& Mitachi 1997). Different types of tests performed
were; i) three CKUC tests on undisturbed samples
recompressed to in-situ stress conditions (i.e. CI
tests), ii) three CKUC tests on undisturbed sample
consolidation to a stress level beyond the in-situ ef-
fective overburden stress (i.e. CN tests), iii) three
CKUE tests on undisturbed samples recompressed to
in-situ conditions (i.e. E1 tests), and iv) both of
CKUC and CKUE tests on reconstituted samples in
normally consolidated (NC) state (i.e. CR and ER
tests, respectively). Each sample was consolidated to
the prescribed stress by maintaining the stress ratio
of 0.7 against back pressure of 200kPa. Note that the
principal stress ratio of 0.7 corresponds roughly to
the condition of zero lateral strain (Shibuya & Tam-
rakar 1999). When the consolidation curve reached
at 3t-line7 the sample was subjected to undrained
shear with a strain rate of O.OS%/min until the axial
strain reached to 15%.
The test results are summarized in Table 1, in
which the symbols match those shown in the figures
hereafter. The reconstituted samples of tests CR and
ER were prepared with the vertical consolidation
stress of 100kPa by using the clay flakes of samples
at 6.5-7.0m depth.

224
 Figure 2. Effective stress pathes of triaxial test.
The effective stress paths, together with those
normalized by consolidation stress, a',,,are shown
in Figures 2 and 3, respectively. Note that the slope
of critical state line, M, was found to be unique for
the tested samples when subjected to shearing in
compression and in extension, respectively. As for
C I tests with low OCR values, the effective stress
paths show the characteristic shape for the overcon-
solidated clay. This is probably due to the effect of
soil structure formed during ageing process. The CN
tests, however, do not show distinct peaks, implying
that the micro-structure may be considerably de-
stroyed due to the consolidation beyond in-situ
stresses.
4 DESCRIPTION OF CLAY
METASTABILIZATION
The variation of ZL against o',, and G are illustrated
in Figure 4,in which the lines of a*-a* and p*-p*
refer to the behaviour of normally consolidated re-
constituted sample. These lines can be reference
states against which the in-situ 'structure' may be
quantified (Shibuya 1999). As for high-quality sam-
pling in saturated clay ground, the sampling brings
about little alternation in water content (i.e. line of
I+R). However, the water content definitely reduces
during recompression due to plastic deformation and
drained creep (i.e. line of R-3L). Accordingly, it is
225
Figure 3. Effective stress pathes of triaxial test normalized by
consolidation stress.
not feasible to reproduce in-situ w,*at O')v(j,z-sjtu) in the
laboratory. On the other hand, The measurement of
G,, at O',(jn-sjru) may be influenced by sample dis-
turbance. When the soil sample is grossly disturbed
involved with destructuration, the G,, is much less
than Gf (0).In contrast, when densification or re-
structuration (or metastabilization) takes place in the
laboratory, the G, value is higher than G f ( 0 ) .
Shibuya et al. (1999a) suggested that metastability
index, MZ(G)ILmay be defined as the difference in ZL
at equivalent G value between a natural sample re-
sult and the reconstituted sample. Since the shear
modulus from in-situ seismic survey, Gj, is free of
sample disturbance, it may be preferable to use GJ in
evaluating MZ(Gf)IL.
5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Figures 5 and 6 show the consolidation curves in
plots of ZI~versus a',,and of 1, versus G. Note that
the G,, value of undrained triaxial tests was esti-
mated based on the assumption of isotropic-elastic
properties with GIm=EIW/3. The MZ(G,,)lL and
MI(Gf)" profiles with depth obtained are shown in
Figure 7. Note that the MZ(GIW)ILand MZ(Gf)ILshow
gradual decrease with depth from 7m depth down-
ward. It should be mentioned that the MI(GJ)" trend
line agrees well with the decrease of piezo-metric
pore pressure distribution with depth (see Figure 1).
 Figure 4. Mechanism of sample disturbance and measurement process
of metastability indices, MI(Gf)lLand MI(Gmar)IL
Figure 5. Consolidation curves represented
by liquidity index, IL.
That is to say that the decrease in MI(G)ILwith depth
may reflect some destructuration induced by the
contemporary re-consolidation.
Figure 8 shows the variation of undrained shear
strength ratio c J d , against laboratory metastability
index, MI(G,lla)'L. It can be seen that the shear
strength ratio of all test series exhibits linear rela-
tionship with MZ(G,)Ku)'L.Moreover, the slope of CI-
tests with a=l (i.e. recompression method. d,,-ad,
j,l.s,ll,) shows a larger slope compared to that of CN-
tests with m2 (i.e. SHANSEP method of reconsoli-
aaiion). Note also that the c,ld,, value of CN-tests is
similar to that of reconstituted sample, implying
considerable destructuration of initial soil fabric as
natural samples were reconsolidated to the stress
level beyond in-situ stresses. It should be empha-
sized that the undrained shear strength "in the
ground" cannot be evaluated by using SHANSEP
method of reconsolidation in the laboratory.
The relationship between strength ratio and me-
tastability index may be approximated in the fol-
lowing:
226
(Shibuya et al. 1999a).
Figure 6. Relationship between I , and the
quasi-elastic shear moduli, G, and Gmm.
where the subscripts of 'natural' and 'RC' mean the
properties relating to a series of the natural samples,
and to the reconstituted sample, respectively. This
equation may successfully estimate the undrained
shear strength "in the ground" when the m-value is
related to the results of laboratory tests on high-
quality natural samples. This estimation procedure
has been proposed by Shibuya et al. (1999a) for pre-
dicting cu of natural sedimentary clays termed MILK
(Metastability Index coupled with Laboratory KO
test) method.
Since the result of reconstituted sample is a refer-
ence point, the values of [ c , J c r ' , ] ~ ~the
, fitting con-
stant, rn, and the offset value, MI(G,,urx)'LRCshould be
substituted into various values, depending on the
type of tests performed. Therefore, Equation 1 of
both triaxial compression and extension test series
on soft Bangkok clay, CI-tests and EI-tests, can be
expressed in the following;
 It is very interesting to note that the m-value of
0.13 from extension tests is much lower than the
value of 0.51 from compression tests. In addition,
the m-value of extension tests was very close to that
of compression tests using samples reconsolidated
by SHANSEP method. These would mean that the
ageing effect involved with creep strain in the verti-
cal direction significantly increased the E,, value in
the vertical direction as well as undrained strength in
compression. However, the effect was insignificant
in undrained strength in extension. The ageing effect
under ID consolidation may be solely mono- Figure 8. Relationship between undrained
directionally (i.e. vertically) effective. shear strength ratio, c l / d V c and laboratory
The cI4value "in the ground" is estimated by re- metastability index, Ml(Gm,)'L.
placing h4Z(G,,tar)rL with MI(Gj)". in Equations 2 and
3. This is because Gj values obtained from in-situ
seismic survey correspond to the conditions of in-
situ subsoil. The profile of the estimated c, with
depth is shown in Figure 9, in which the comparable
measurements of-c,, from the CKU triaxial test, con-
stant volume DSB test, the field vane shear test and
unconfined compression test are also shown for
comparison. Note that the predicted c, in CKUC is
larger in strength than other test results for depths 6-
1Om. In general, the strength in the ground preserved
the soil fabric is expected to increase with depth.
However, it is constant or somewhat reduced in soft
Bangkok clay. It may be due to the destructuration
of soil fabric associated with recent consolidation by
water pumping.

Figure 9. Profile of undrained shear strengths with

depth including the predicted result by MILK-method.

It may be surmised that the MILK method may be

applicable to evaluating the undrained strength "in
the ground" with the results of laboratory tests on
high-quali ty samples recompressed to dv(;n-.y;t
Moreover, MILK method may be capable of ac-
counting for the effects of alternation in water con-
tent on the undrained strength of laboratory sample.
Careful testing on a series of high-class natural sam-
ples still remains the absolute necessity for measur-
ing c,, "in the ground".
Figure 7. Profile of MI(Gf)lL and MlfGl,,~x)lL
with Depth.

227
6 CONCLUSION REMARKS Shibuya, S., Mitachi, T. & Hwang, S.C. 1999a. Case study into
in-situ structure of natural sedimentary clays. Soils and
An inter-link between the stiffness at small strains Foundations (in press).
and undrained strength at large strains was investi- Shibuya, S . , Mitachi, T., Tanaka, H., Kawaguchi, T. & Lee,
gated in undrained triaxial compressiodextension I.M. 1999b. Measurement and application of quasi-elastic
tests. The followings may be concluded; properties in geotechnical site characterization. Proc. of
l)In soft Bangkok clal layer, the profiles of I]"' ARC on SMGE Theme Lecture for Discussion Session
MI(G,,,)IL and MI(Gf) with depth show clearly I Seoul V01.2 (in press).
some reduction in ageing effect due to pie- Yamamoto, N. 1999. An investigation of stress-strain charac-
zometric drawdown by deep pumping. The results teristics of sofi Bangkok clay using a fully automated tri-
suggest that the profile of the in-situ structure axial apparatus. M. Eng. Thesis Asian Institute of Tech-
could be characterized by using the metastability nology Bangkok Thailand.
index.
2) The results showed that the SHANSEP method of
reconsolidation brought about the cu/o;c value
being much less than the c,/o',, value from recom-
pression method. It can be said that the SHAN-
SEP method is incapable of obtaining c, in the
ground.
3)The application of MILK method is capable of
not only evaluating the undrained strength "in the
ground" but also accounting for the effect of al-
ternation in water content of high-quality samples
recompressed to in-situ state of stersses.
4) The ageing effect of horizontal ground may be
mono-directional, resulting in increases of both
small-strain stiffness in the vertical direction and
the undrained strength in compression.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The authors are indebted

to Mr. T. Kawaguchi, Hakodate National College of
Technology, for his help in performing triaxial tests
at AIT.

REFERENCES

Barland, J.B. 1990. On the compressibility and shear strength

of natural clays. Thirtieth Rankine lecture, Geotechnique
V01.40 NO.3: 329-378.
Ladd, C.C. & Foott, R. 1974. New designing procedures for
stability of soft clays. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Div. ASCE Vol. 100 No.GT7: 763-768.
Mitchell, J.K. 1976. Fundamentals of soil behavior. New York
John Wiley and Sons Inc.
Shibuya, S. & Mitachi, T. 1997. Development of a fully digit-
ized triaxial apparatus for testing solid and soft rocks.
Geotechnical Engineering Vo1.28 No.2: 183-207.
Shibuya, S., Hanh, L.T., Wilailak, K., Lohani, T.N., Tanaka, H.
& Hamouche, K. 1998. Characterizing stiffness and
strength of soft Bangkok clay from in-situ and laboratory
tests. Geotechnical Site Characterization V01.2 Rotterdam
Balkema: 1361-1366.
Shibuya, S. & Tamrakar, S.B. 1999. In-situ and laboratory in-
vestigations into engineering properties of Bangkok clay.
Characterization of so$ marine clays Rotterdam Balkema:
107-132.
Shibuya, S. 1999. Assessing structure of aged natural sedi-
mentary clays. Soils and Foundations (in press).

228
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15I 1

Rate effect on cyclic shear strength of clays of varying plasticity

Y.Yamamot0
TechnicalResearch Institute, Mitsui Construction Company Limited, Nugareyuma, Japan
M. Hyodo
Department of Civil Engineering, Yumaguchi UniversiQ, Ube,Japan
T. Fujii
Fukken CompanyLimited, Hiroshima, Japan

ABSTRACT: We summarized the results of cyclic tests performed on clays by varying loading frequencies
and attempted to quantify the relation between cyclic strength and plasticity index in the various loading fre-
quencies. As a result, it became possible to correct the cyclic strength of clay in an arbitrary loading frequency
by utilizing a simple method.

1 INTRODUCTION Gd/2G’c for various frequencies among the undrained

It is known that clay shows a remarkable dependence
on frequencies (rates) in its shear behavior. All cy-
clic external forces, such as an earthquake motion,
waves and traffic load having a problem of shear
stress, are the forces having different loading fre-
quencies. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate from
the viewpoint of the effect of the loading rate in or-
der to study undrained cyclic shear characteristics of
clay. Also this problem will be important to consider
the difference and relationship between the loading
frequency of several seconds to several tens of sec-
onds normally used for element tests in laboratories
and the loading frequency in cyclic forces such as an
earthquake and so on.
The dependence of clay on the loading rate has
been studied. However, many issues are left without
clarification. For example, the relation between the
plasticity index and the loading rate, which is a char-
acteristic representing a physical property of clay
most directly, is not yet to be examined and dis-
cussed sufficiently.
Therefore, in this paper we summarize the exist-
ing cyclic shear test results of clays by varying the
loading frequencies, study the relationship between
the dependence of the cyclic shear strength of clay
on the loading frequency and the plasticity index,
and try to quantify these data.
2 RELATION BETWEEN CYCLIC STRENGTH
AND LOADING FREQUENCY
Figures l(a) and (b) show the number of cycles N
required to achieve a double amplitude of axial
strain &0,1=5% for a given cyclic shear stress ratio
cyclic triaxial test results of the Itsukaichi clay
( 1 ~ 7 2 . 8 )and the Arakawa silt (Ip”17.8) both of
which were isotropic normally consolidated (Yama-
moto & Hyodo1997; Yamamoto 1998). It is found
that the higher the frequency becomes, the higher the
cyclic shear strength curve is located, and namely,
the higher the cyclic shear strength becomes.
Moreover, the strength curves for each frequency, at
this time, shift parallel to each other. Figures 2(a)
and (b) show the relation between the cyclic shear
stress ratio at N=20 cycles on the Itsukaichi clay
(Ip=72.8> taking the specified strain as parameters
and the frequency in logarithmic scale (Yamamoto
& Hyodo1997). Figures 3(aj and (b) show the rela-
tion between the cyclic stress ratio in regards to
specifying an isotropic normally consolidated spe-
cimen and an anisotropic normally consolidated spe-
cimen at ~0~~=2?40 and cp=2% respectively and the
frequency for various numbers of cycles (Yamamoto
& Hyodo1997). These figures show that the cyclic
stress ratio increase to the frequency is almost con-
stant regardless of the magnitude of the specified
strain or the number of cycles.
Figures 4(a) and (b) show the summary of the re-
lation between the stress ratio obtained by normal-
izing the cyclic shear stress ratio o d / 2 0 ’ ~ at N=20 cy-
cles with the cyclic shear stress ratio (od/2o’,)f=o
at.pO.1 Hz and the frequency for the consolidation
condition for each specimen of the Itsukaichi clay
and the Arakawa silt (Yamamoto 1998) . Regarding
the anisotropic normally consolidated Itsukaichi clay
(OCR=l, 0,/20’,=0.3), the variation of the cyclic
strength by the frequency is larger than that of the
other consolidated conditions. However, generally
speaking, effects of overconsolidation and initial
shear stress ratio on the increase trend of cyclic

229
(b) Anisotropic normally consolidation
Figure 2 Relation between cyclic strength and frequency for
specified strain (Itsukaichi clay, N=20 cycles)
(b) Arakawa silt (N=20 cycles, ~ = 5 % )
Figure 4. Comparison of the effect of frequency on cyclic
strength with consolidation condition

230

Figure 5. Calculation method for rate effect factor (Arakawa
silt, 1,)=17.8)
strength of clay in proportion to the loading frequen-
cy is small.
3 RATE EFFECT ON RELATION BETWEEN
CYCLIC STRENGTH AND PLASTICITY
INDEX
3.1 Rate effict.fnctor
Here we assume that the linear relation between the
cyclic shear strength of clay and the logarithm of the
frequency can be obtained. Therefore, we decided to
perform regression on the results obtained by nor-
malizing the relation between the cyclic shear stress
ratio ( ~ d / 2 0 ’ ~ for
) j each frequency in the case where
p O . 1 Hz using the following formula as shown in
Figure 5 :
where p is defined, the slope of the line in the figure,
as the rate effect factor inherent to clay on the load-
ing frequency because it represents an increase rate
of strength ratio caused by the increase of the load-
ing frequency. Moreover, .fa represents an arbitrary
loading frequency. Since the cyclic strength is de-
fined using strain and number of cycles in the nor-
mally specified range, it is recognized from the fig-
ure that the rate effect factor p has no significant
difference regardless of the magnitude of these fac-
tors. Hereafter, we continue the investigation as-
suming that the factor can be deemed as equal, irre-
spective of the magnitude of the strain and the
number oF cycles specified.
Table 1 shows the summary of the rate effect
factors p obtained from Eq.(l) using the cyclic
strength in various loading frequencies defined at
N=10 cycles and a strain amplitude of 5% and the
data relating to the cyclic tests and spamples. Since
the test results of Procter & Kaffaf (1984) do not
contain the test at p O . 1 Hz, the cyclic strength at
.f-O.l Hz was extrapolated based on the test results
of the frequency used. Among the existing results,
231
the results of Ohneda et al. (1984) were obtained
from the undrained cyclic simple shear tests, and all
the other results were obtained from the undrained
cyclic triaxial tests. The tests were generally con-
ducted in the loading frequency range o f p l .O-0.01
Hz.
The relation between the rate effect factor p and
the plasticity index I p is shown in Figure 6. The fig-
ure indicates that a peak of p appears around Ip=20,
the effect level of the frequency on the cyclic
strength becomes small with p=O at N.P. in the case
where the plasticity index is lower than 20. The ef-
fect level of the frequency on the cyclic strength is
almost constant as for the clay of Ip=30 or more. A
tenfold increase of the loading frequency results in
an increase in strength of approximately 10%.
These results show that the tenfold increase of the
loading frequency results in a 20 to 30% increase of
the cyclic strength around Ip=20 and is, therefore,
the range of the plasticity index most strongly affect-
ed by the loading rate. However, in the region of low
plasticity index, soil in various conditions different
in properties such as activity of fine-grained soil,
mineral composition, sand content, and further sand
skeleton density exists. Incidentally, the Kawasaki
clay II , the Arakawa clay, and the Arakawa silt of
Ip<30 are clay having a small content of sand and a
dominant content of low activity silt, and M2 and
M10 are specimens of clay of Ip=30 artificially
mixed with the Toyoura sand, having a dominant
content of sand. All other specimens have a domi-
nant content of sand. Therefore, from the viewpoint
of the properties of specimens, it is possible to say
that the clay having a dominant content of clay ap-
proximately shows p=O.l and in case of a dominant
content of silt it takes larger values.
By these reasons the envelopes were divided into
the upper and the lower as shown in Figure 6. Here,
the lower envelope in Ip<30 is not clear due to the
insufficient quantity of data. However since the
standard plasticity index at which the possibility of
liquefaction exists is pointed out to be 1,615 (AIJ
1988), it is considered that, taking I,,=15 as a border
line, the property of sandy soil is strengthened to re-
duce the rate effect under this plasticity index and
that the condition of a dominant content of clay ex-
ists over this plasticity index. Thus, we assumed that
the rate effect factor shows an almost constant value
of p=O.l.
Therefore, we considered that, as for the clay of
Ip<30, the specimens showing various rate effects
exist in the region surrounded by the upper and low-
er envelopes and in case of 1,230 the rate effect
factor takes a constant value of approximately p=O. 1
regardless to the individual specimens.
Table I . Data of existing cyclic tests for clay and rate effect factor p
Sample I P f (Hz) fi Test Symbol Reference
Kawasaki clay I 50.3 1.O, 0.25,O. I , 0.025,O.Ol 0. I23 Cyclic simple shear 0 Ohneda et al ( I 984)
Kawasaki clay II 25.9 0.5, 0.1 0.252 Cyclic simple shear 0 Ohneda et a1 (1984)
Kinkai clay 69.5 1.0, 0.1 0.078 Cyclic simple shear 0 Ohneda et a1 (1984)
Arakawa clay 24.0 1.o, 0.1 0.250 Cyclic triaxial c] Matsuo et al (1 985)
Derwent clay 26.0 1.0, 0.2, 0.05, 11120 0.13 1 Cyclic triaxial A Procter & Kaffaf (1 984)
M2 2.0 1.0, 0.1, 0.01 0.035 Cyclic triaxial 0 Yuzawa et a1 (1996)
M10 9.9 1.0, 0.1, 0.01 0.1 1 1 Cyclic triaxial 0 Yuzawa et al (1996)
Ariake clay 66.5 0.1, 0.02, 0.01 0.071 Cyclic triaxial @ Hyodo et al(1994)
Arakawa silt 17.8 1.0, 0.1, 0.02 0.185 Cyclic triaxial Yamamoto (1 998)
Itsukaichi clay 72.8 1.0, 0.1, 0.01 0.1 17 Cyclic triaxial Yamamoto (1998)

fied. The following formula was obtained by modi-

fying our proposed estimated formula for isotropic
normally consolidated clays (Hyodo et al. 1999) to
apply to the case off-0.01 Hz and E D A = ~ % (our pre-
viously proposed estimated formula for isotropic
normally consolidated clays was applied to the case
ofN=20 c y c l e s , ~ 0 . 0 2Hz and EDA=~O%).

(0, 01H2 = 0.00071,, + 0.2275

/ 20'c)f=0

where, 1 2 2 5 , Eg~=5%,N=20 cycles.

Figure 6. Relation between rate effect factor and plasticity in-
dex for normally consolidated clay
3.2 Quantification of the cyclic slrength
We studied the effect of the loading frequencies on
the relation between the cyclic shear stress ratio
~ d / 2 0 'for
~ a double amplitude of axial strain
~g/1=5%at the number of cycles N=20 and the plas-
ticity index Ip and tried to quantify the effect as
shown in Figures 7(a) and (b). The figure was crest-
ed by plotting the data of Yuzawa et al. (1996),
Hyodo et al. (1994) and Yamamoto (1998) with the
test results summarized in Figure 6. The other test
data was not used for this summary because the cy-
clic stress ratio was defined as the value normalized
by unclear static strength. The figure also shows the
results of cyclic triaxial tests for undisturbed and
remoulded marine clays of varying plasticity index
from N.P. to Ip=81.9 at jCr=0.02 Hz (Hyodo et al.
1999) where we obtained a large amount of data re-
garding the relation between the cyclic strength and
the plasticity index of the clay. All test results are of
isotropic normally consolidated specimens.
We decided to study the relation between the cy-
clic strength and the plasticity index of the clay this
time using our proposed formula (Hyodo et al. 1999)
that takes the initial shear stress ratio and the over-
consolidation ratio as parameters.
Firstly, the relation between the cyclic strength
and plasticity index based on the test results of
pO.01 Hz shown in Figures 7(a) and (b) is quanti-
Here, although the relation of Eq.(2) corresponds
almost satisfactorily to the data of our tests (Hyodo
et al. 1994, Yamamoto 1998), the dashed line in
Figure 7 (11~25)greatly differs from the test results
by Yuzawa et al. (1996). This is because the low
plasticity specimens of generally called intermediate
soil consist of those having various mixing ratios of
sand and fine-grained fractions and inactive single
silt depending heavily on the initial density of the
sand skeleton have various values of the cyclic
strength as mentioned above. Since the purpose of
this study is to evaluate the effect of the loading fre-
quencies on the relation between the cyclic strength
and plasticity index, we divided the region by the
border line of Ip =25 in order to envelope the data of
Yuzawa et al. (1 996) only obtained as the results of
low plasticity test performed by varying the frequen-
cy in the region of low plasticity index, and allowed
the relation between the cyclic strength and plasticity
index at.fi0.01 Hz to be linear.
Figure 7(a) shows the calculation results of the
relation between the cyclic strength and plasticity in-
dex at.fa=O.1 Hz and I .O Hz obtained by substituting
the rate effect factor p given by the upper envelope
of Figure 6 for the relation between the cyclic
strength and plasticity index at .fl-O.Ol Hz thus de-
fined into Eq.(3) corrected Eq.(l). Eq.(3) was con-
ducted so that the cyclic strength at the desired fre-
quency can be used as the reference value. Similarly,
Figure 7(b) shows the results of conversion using p
given by the lower envelope. The relation between
the cyclic strength and plasticity index atf,=O.I Hz

232
 and 1 .O Hz is shown by solid lines as the conversion dominant frequency higher than the frequency taken
results. as the standard. Therefore, we consider that it is cur-
rently appropriate to apply a method for converting
the cyclic strength to the external force, correspond-
ing to the dominant frequency, to be assumed using
the relation temporarily given by the lower envelope
of Figure 6 as the rate effect factor in order to take
the cyclic strength into evaluation considering the
dependence of clay on the loading frequencies at a
where and fr represent an arbitrary loading fre- level of practical engineering.
quency and a reference loading frequency respec- When estimating the cyclic strength of clay from
tively in the case where.f,=0.01 Hz. the plasticity index and so on, to consider the effect
The solid line in Figure 7(a) naturally envelopes of the loading rate apart from the direct conversion
the test data obtained by varying the frequency almo- to the frequency of the cyclic external force assum-
st sufficiently and provides good correspondence as ing the test results, we need a formula representing
fitting. However, since the results of f-0.1 Hz and the relation between the cyclic strength of clay as a
1.0 Hz show the trend of strength decrease around standard value and the plasticity index. Several pro-
Ip=25, they contain a problem from the viewpoint of posals (Hyodo et al. 1999, Ishihara & Yasuda 1980)
general knowledge (Hyodo et al. 1999, Ishihara et al. have been presented about this. According to our
1980, Matsuo 1985, Ohneda et al. 1984) that the cy- proposed method (Hyodo et al. 1999), the cyclic
clic strength of clay increases in proportion to the strength of clay in cases where the soil is subjected
plasticity index and considering the practical use. not only to the normally consolidation but to the
The application results of Figure 7(b) show good quasi-overconsolidation, the overconsolidation and
correspondence of the test data and the conversion the initial shear stress can be estimated from the re-
results represented by solid lines, excluding the re- sults of the liquid-plastic limit test (plasticity index)
sults of the Arakawa silt at Ip=17.8 but including the and the consolidation test (yielding stress and over-
case of the plasticity index lower than this and the consolidation ratio), generally conducted as investi-
case higher than this. Moreover, we found the trend gation and examination of the ground. Furthermore,
that the higher the plasticity index becomes, the as shown above, we consider that the trend of the
higher the strength increases and simultaneously, the cyclic strength increase for the loading rate of clay is
higher the loading frequency rises, the larger the
strength increases. If the dependence of clay on the
rate results from the viscosity, it is generally consid-
ered that the larger the increase of the plasticity in-
dex becomes, the higher the viscosity rises. There-
fore, we believe this trend represents the general
phenomenon of clay.
From this we consider that it is appropriate to
evaluate the rate effect factor as p=O.1 concerning
clay of at least Ip=30 and more. On the other hand,
concerning clay having the plasticity lower than this,
the problem is complicated by various potential con-
ditions and we feel it is necessary to continuously
study the mechanism of the substantial phenomenon
concerning the rate dependence.
Considering that the evaluation of the soil, taking
the cyclic strength of clay into account, is currently
required for practical engineering. The test results
shown here clarify that the effect of the loading fre-
quency must be taken into consideration prior to the
application. The examination results of conversion
using the lower envelope of the rate effect factor
shown in Figure 7(b) may evaluate the strength
around Ip=20 to be slightly lower than the actual
value. However, since the relation between the cy-
clic strength and the plasticity index a t p 0 . 0 1 Hz is
used as a standard, the evaluation inclines to a safe (b) Calculation results using lower envelope of Figure 6
side as a result if we assume an earthquake (a level Figure 7 . Quantification of relation between cyclic strength and plas-
of 1-2 Hz) and waves (at a level of 0.1 Hz) having ticity index

233
not so much affected by the strain and the number of Ishihara, K. & Yasuda, S. 1980. Cyclic strength of undisturbed
cycles specifying the cyclic strength or by the differ- cohesive soils of western Tokyo. Proc. Int. Synlp. on Soils
under Cyclic and Transienl Loading: 57-66.
ence of the overconsolidation ratio and the initial Matsuo, O., Karasawa, Y. and Koga, Y. 1985. The results and
shear stress ratio. Moreover, the effect of the loading some considerations for cyclic strength characteristics of
frequency exists almost in the same level regardless clay. The 20"' Japan National Conference on Soil Mechan-
to these factors from the viewpoint of practical use. ics and Foundation Engineering: 645-648 (in Japanese).
Therefore, if we apply the relation of the rate effect Ohneda, H., Umehara, Y. and Higuchi, Y. 1984. Cyclic
factor shown here to the cyclic strength of clay esti- strength properties of normally consolidated clays under
mated from our proposed method (Hyodo et al. simple shear conditions. Report of the Port and Harbour
Research Institiite, Vo1.23,No.4: 71 -94 (in Japanese).
1999), we can conveniently correct the cyclic Procter, D.C. & Khaffaf, J.H. 1984. Cyclic triaxial tests on re-
strength of clay in the arbitrary overconsolidation moulded clays. .Joiirnal of Geotechnical Engineering,
and the initial shear stress ratio corresponding to the ASCE, Vol. 110, N0.10: 1431-1445.
loading rate of the relevant external force. Yamamoto, Y. & Hyodo, M. 1997. Effects of frequency on
undrained cyclic shear strength of normally consolidate clay
sub'ected to initial static shear stress. Proceedings of the
32'' Japan National Conference on Geotechnical Engi-
4 CONCLUSIONS neering: 8 17-8 18 (in Japanese).
Yamamoto, Y. 1998. Evaluation of seismic behavior of clay
1. The effect of the loading frequency on the cy- and sand grounds. Doctoral thesis to Yamaguchi university
clic strength exists almost in the same level. Moreo- (in Japanese).
ver, the strength shows the trend of monotonous in- Yuzawa, K., Eda, E., Kanda, M., Kuwano, J. and Takemura, J.
1996. Effect of frequency on liquefaction strength of inter-
crease for the logarithm of the loading frequency, mediate soil. Proceedings of the 51"' Annual Conference of
regardless of the over-consolidation ratio and the the Japan Society of Civil Engineers: 166-167 (in Japa-
initial shear stress ratio even if we use any standard nese).
strain or number of cycles to define the failure
strength.
2. The relation between the rate effect factor p
and the plasticity index 1, was obtained by summa-
rizing the results of the existing cyclic tests with
various frequencies. This relation shows there is a
trend that the effect of the frequency on the cyclic
strength decreases at p=O in N.P. in cases where the
plasticity is lower than the approximate peak value
of Ip=20. Also in cases where clay has the plasticity
index higher than Ip=30, the effect of the frequency
on the cyclic strength exists almost in the same level,
and a ten-times increase of the loading frequency re-
sulted in an increase in strength of approximately
10%.
3. The effect of the loading frequency on the rela-
tion between the cyclic strength and the plasticity in-
dex of clay was quantified. The estimated results and
the test results generally showed good correspon-
dence. This result clarified that the cyclic strength of
clay can be corrected for an arbitrary loading fre-
quency.

REFERENCES

Architectural Institute of Japan. 1988. Recommendations for

design of building foundations. Gihodo: 163-169 (in Japa-
nese).
Hyodo, M., Sugiyama, M., Yamamoto, Y. and Kawata, Y.
1993. Evaluation of pore pressure and strain of normally
consolidated and over-consolidated clay subjected to cyclic
shear stress. Proc. Japanese Society of Civil Engineers, No.
487/111-26: 79-88 (in Japanese).
Hyodo, M., Hyde, A. F. L., Yamamoto, Y. and Fujii, T. 1999.
Cyclic shear strength of undisturbed and remoulded marine
clays. Soils and Fozmdations, Yol.39, N0.2: pp.45-58.

234
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida [eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15I 1

Correlations in soft ground engineering

Yudhbir
Wudiu Institute of Himuluyan Geology,Dehru Dun, India

ABSTRACT : Some empirical correlations commonly used for determination of undrained shear strength and
compression index of soft soils have been examined in the context of the criteria set forth by Wroth (1984).
Correlations based on physical, behavioural and theoretical considerations have been shown to be more
suitable and have been recommended for use. Limitations of the empirical correlations, when used outside the
immediate context in which they were established, have been highlighted.

1 INTRODUCTION In this presentation some correlations to estimate

In-Situ tests are generally favoured over laboratory
tests and are recommended for site characterization,
evaluation of design parameters, control of
construction as per design stipulations, and
monitoring of ground improvement interventions.
In the 24th Rankine lecture the late Peter Wroth
(1984) set out the purposes of in-situ testing and its
advantages over laboratory testing. However,
Wroth also emphasized that, "the interpretation of
data obtained from in-situ tests is both incomplete
and imprecise". He further pointed out that the
situation, with regard to the limitations in all
experimental work in terms of accuracy and
reliability, is worst in the field than in the laboratory.
Wroth has warned that "any interpretation of any in-
situ test is open to question", and has made a strong
plea to correlate the "interpreted results with the
results of all data, whether from the field or the
laboratory, and to draw on all available experience".
He went on to set out the criteria for any
successful relationship that can be used with
confidence outside the immediate context in which it
was established. The correlation, according to
Wroth, should ideally be :
i) "based on physical appreciation of why the
properties can be expected to be correlated,
ii) set against a background of theory, however
idealised this may be, and
iii) expressed in terms of dimensionless
variables so that advantage can be taken of the
scaling laws of continuum mechanics".
undrained shear strength and compressibility
characteristics of soft saturated cohesive soils-
young and aged - will be reviewed in the context
of the criteria enunciated by Wroth.
2 UNDRAINED SHEAR STRENGTH
Field vane test is generally employed to estimate
undrained shear strength, su=1/2 ( ~ 1 - 0 3 ) -01 and
~3 being major and minor principal stresses
respectively- of soft saturated cohesive soils.
Historically Skempton - Bjerrum correlation
between s,/p' and plasticity index, Ip, is widely used
for soft marine clays and this correlation has
attracted considerable attention following the
introduction of correction factors by Bjerrum (1972),
to adjust field vane values for aging, anisotropy and
rate of shearing. Fig.1 shows the initial proposal by
Skempton (1957), the Skempton - Bjerrum
correlation (See Bjerrum and Simons, 1960) and the
relationship as given by Mesri (see Terzaghi et al,
1996) which considered all the data given by
Bjerrum (1972, 1973) and contrasted with
subsequent data for embankment failures reported in
literature (data points in Fig.1 are those given by
Bjerrum and Simons, 1960 in their Fig.7). Mesri
gives su/ G ~ 'vs Ip where optis the effective
precompression stress due to aging of soft young
clays; for young clays oP'=pI which is the effective
overburden stress at depth where suis determined.

235
 Figure 1 Correlation between S,/P' and plasticity index I,.
Skempton's linear relationship was subsequently
extrapolated, (See Leonards, 1962), upto Ip = 1.2
which would give s,/p' = 0.554, much greater than
that suggested by the s,/p' vs Ip correlation obtained
from triaxial compression test. Bjerrum and Simons
(1 960), using
s,/p'=( 1-sin$',,+Arsin$',,) sin$',, /{ 1+(2& 1)sin$'tc>
(1)
with Af =1.0 and vs Ip relationship--+',,
$Itc
decreasing with increasing Ip (of the type shown in
Fig.2; for a more updated version see Terzaghi et al.
1996) - predicted a range of s,/p' values with a 5"
variation on each side of the mean value
$Itc
(crosshatched area in Fig. 1). Incidentally almost
similar trend is predicted by Wroth (1984) (as shown
in Fig.1) based on Critical State model using the
relationship.
s,/p' = (0.5743) { 3 sin $'tc/(3-sin$'tc)}
(2)
Where subscript tc stands for triaxial compression
test condition. In fact, the value of su/p' = 0.554 at
Ip = 1.2, obtained from extrapolated Skempton's
linear relationship is even greater than 0.48
suggested by the su/p' vs Ip correlation for "special
clays"-thixotropic and experiencing dilatancy
during undrained shearing-iven by Osterman
(1959) and reproduced by Lambe and Whitman
(1969). For "special clays" the suggested correlation
236
gives s,/p' values of: 0.65 at Ip = 0.1 ; 0.59 at
Ip=0.4, 0.56 at Ip = 0.6, which are much greater
than those given by the cross-hatched area in Fig. 1.
Bjerrum and Simons (1960) expressed concern
regarding appreciable discrepancy observed between
field values of su (around Skempton - Bjerrum
correlation in Fig.1) and those predicted in
crosshatched area for soils with low plasticity (Ip <
0.4). However, it was Wroth who in his Rankine
lecture examined the whole issue of such
correlations and commented on Skempton's
empirical correlation. Wroth (1984) interpreted field
vane test as a direct shear test (with vertical
orientation of specimen), and assuming that normal
effective stress on vertical failure plane in
cylindrical slip surface, d h 0 , remains constant
during shear; suggested the following relationship
s,/p' = (1-sin$lPs) sin $Ips
(3)
where $Ips is under plane strain condition and may be
taken as, (9/8) obtained from triaxial
$Itc
compression test. In the range of 17"< $Ips< 40",
equation (3) predicts increase in s,/p' with $Ips upto
$Ips = 25"- 26" after which slight decrease is
obtained upto $Ips = 40".
Skempton's correlation predicts increase in s,/p' upto
Ip = 0.4 (after which a lesser rate of increase is
suggested by the experimental data for soft soils
upto Ip = 1.0), and equation (3) predicts increase in
s,/p' with $Ips upto $Ips = 25" - 26". These two
 Figure 2 Correlation 4' and plasticity index I,
correlations are similar on the basis of physical
reasoning since the angle of shearing resistance and
plasticity index both depend on similar factors such
as, shape, size, packing, mineral composition and
formational and deposition history of clay particles.
However, for s,/p' to increase with both Ip and Cp'
upto some stage, it would be required that Cp' should
show increase with Ip upto that stage (Ip = 0.4 and
$Ips = 25"- 26" ($Itc = 22" - 23")) which, at first
sight, would be contradictory to the generally held
notion that for soft soils Cp' decreases with Ip
following trends of the type shown in Fig.2 (upper
curve). However, a review of effective stress path
patterns exhibited by low plasticity soils suggests
that collapse of meta-stable structure of undisturbed
low Ip soils at (01-03) mm takes place at much lower
value of Cp' (called mobilized angle of shearing
resistance, @'mob) compared to ultimate Cp'
corresponding to ( GI'/O;) condition which is
used in the Cp' vs Ip relationship shown by the upper
curve in Fig.2. This has been observed and
recognised quite early (see Whitman, 1960 and
Lambe and Whitman, 1969) and is now widely
recognised in the collapse surface approach to the
study of liquefaction. Lambe and Whitman (1969)
suggest Cp' vs Ip relationship (see lower curve in
Fig.2) which should be applicable to the stage
corresponding to which undrained shear strength is
defined. The 6' values back-calculated using
equation (3) for sdp' values at different Ip values
correlated in Fig. 1 (Skempton-Bjerrum type
correlation upto Ip = 0.4) are also shown in Fig.2
($ItC is obtained from $ ps = (9/8) relationship).
$Itc
The agreement with Lambe and Whitman's data
(using equation (1)) is quite satisfactory. If 4' vs Ip
237
relationship shown as A-B-C in Fig.2 is taken as
valid for undrained shear behaviour of soft clays,
then prediction of sdp' using equation (3) provides a
very reasonable assessment of a correlation between
sdp' and Ip which is in good agreement with the
Skempton-Bjerrum line or Mesri's line (Fig. l),
keeping in mind the normally encountered range of
scatter normally observed in experimental data. It
would be useful to observe that a correlation based
on physical, behavioural and theoretical
considerations, would bring out the limitations of
theoretical considerations of extrapolation of
empirical correlations, such as one due to Skempton,
in the range of Ip values much higher than those for
which the initial relationship was proposed. Wroth
(1984) makes this point in respect of interpretation
of direct simple shear test data as shown in Fig.3.
Incidentally deviation of test data from theoretical
correlations, especially for high Ip clays, as shown
in Figs. 1 and 3, may have something to do with
special characteristics of some of these clays. For
example, presence of diatoms, with their special
textural characteristics in clays of volcanic origin
(Mexico City clay and some Japanese clays) is
known to contribute to much higher Cp', s, values for
the same Ip value. Very high void ratio and high
compressibility of these clays is also known to be
influenced by the presence of diatoms. In any case,
the behaviour of such "special clays'' and those
suggested by Osterman (1 959) needs to be examined
in more detail.
For inorganic sedimentary soft clays, it is
suggested that a correlation of the type given by
equation (3) may be used to predict undrained shear
strength as obtained from field vane test. This
predicted value should be adjusted for
precompression effect due to aging by using the
relationship
(4)
where R is the over consolidation ratio due to aging.
Equation (4) is also based on Critical State model
(see Wroth, 1984). Skempton's well known linear
relationship (see Fig.1) may also be used but only
upto Ip = 0.4 and of course should be suitably
adjusted for precompression effect by using either
Bjerrumls correction factor or equation (4).
3 COMPRESSIBILITY OF SOFT CLAYS
Compressibility of soil is generally expressed by
compression index, C,, evaluated from consolidation
test. For natural clays C, is not constant and
decreases with increasing effective stress. In situ
clays have been subjected to aging and the value of
C,, after destruction of structure developed by aging,
is much higher than the value of C, for young clays
with comparable physical properties.
C, value has been correlated with water content
corresponding to liquid limit, WL in situ water
content, w, or in-situ void ratio, e,. Here again such
correlations have been historically recommended in
textbooks and tend to be used for all types of soft
clays for estimation of value of C,. However, it is
well known that most of these correlations predict C,
values which are much less than the actual value of
structured and/or cemented clays at effective stress
level greater than precompression stress when
destruction of structure or break down of
Figure 3 Direct simple shear test data correlation.
238
cementation bonds takes place. Rather than
reviewing various correlations available in literature,
it is intended to examine the nature of such
correlations within the context of criteria set by
Wroth (1 984).
C, value for remoulded cohesive soil depends
on activity of clay particles (<2p ) and the amount of
clay fraction present. These factors are also known
to influence liquid limit value and the in-situ void
ratio at a given effective stress. The relationships
between C, and liquid limit or in-situ void ratio are
thus consistent on the basis of physical reasoning.
In-situ soils subjected to aging and cementation,
however, possess structure which when destroyed
due to loading in excess of a critical stress (called
precompression stress) results in increased
compression under drained conditions.
Based on effective stress response of remoulded
and undisturbed soils at normal consolidation and
failure states, Yudhbir (I 973) suggested a
correlation between liquidity index, IL, ratio of
compression index values in remoulded (C,,) and
undisturbed (C,,) states and sensitivity, st, (= Suu/Sur)
as
(5)
where suu and Sur represent undisturbed and
remoulded state respectively. Based on an idealized
IL vs surrelationship between liquid and plastic limit
states, the Ccr - for remoulded state - can be
Figure 4 Correlation between C, and eo
 shown to be related to plasticity index as
C,, =G Ip/2 (6)
where G is specific'gravity of soil. The experimental
data of C, for remoulded soils can also be best fitted
by empirical relationship of the form
C,, = 0.09 eo (1 + eo)
(7)
Assuming plastic limit water content equal to
0 . 4 2 (see
~ ~ Yudhbir, 1973), the value of C,, can be
related to IL through equation (6), which when used
in equation ( 5 ) leads to a correlation between C,, and
eo.
Fig.4 shows range of C,, vs eo relationships for
undisturbed cohesive soils of different nature -
varying from inorganic, uncemented, low sensitivity
sedimentary clays (data by Lambe and Whitman,
1969) to cemented, structured sedimentary clays like
the Champlain clays (see Leroueil et al., 1990 for
Champlain and French clays data). Data for south
east Asian marine clays is from Cox (1970) and that
for some Japanese clays is from Suzuki and Asada
(1993). Also superposed on these data is the
relationship between C,, and eo for different values
of sensitivity.
While it is possible to express C,, in the form
C,, = a eo (1 + eo) (8)
to fit the experimental data for low to high activity,
low sensitivity (1 -4) aged sedimentary cohesive
soils (data by Lambe and Whitman, French clays
and south east Asian clays as shown in Fig.4) with
a varying from 0.90 (lower limit of Lambe and
Whitman data, also represents remoulded state) to
0.167 for south east Asian marine clays; for clays
like the Japanese clays (presence of diatoms
contributing to high void ratio and structure) and
Champlain clays (cemented with cementation bonds)
where there is wide spread of data, correlation of the
type suggested in equation ( 5 ) should be preferred
on the basis of criteria set forth by Wroth (1984).
4 SUMMARY
Some empirical correlations commonly used for
determination of undrained shear strength and
compression index of soft soils have been examined
in the context of criteria put forth by Wrath (1984).
Correlations based on theoretical models (even
though idealised) have been shown to be
suitable. Such preferred correlations have also
pointed out limitations of empirical correlations
239
especially where they have been extrapolated
beyond the range of soils for which they were
initially suggested. It is hoped that this limited
exercise would help to identify correlations, which
are rational and be for general use
to estimate the order of magnitude of appropriate
parameters for soft ground.
REFERENCES
Bjerrum, L. and N.E. Simons 1960. Comparison of
shear strength characteristics of normally
consolidated clays Proc. ASCE Research Conf
On Shear Strength of Cohesive Soils. Colorado.
pp. 7 11-726.
Bjerrum, L. 1972. Embankments on soft ground.
ASCE Conf On Performance of Earth and
Earth Supported Structures, Purdue Univ., 2, pp.
1-54.
Bjerrum, L. 1973. Problems of soil mechanics and
construction on soft ground. Proc. 8 ICSMFE,
MOSCOW, 3, pp. 111-159.
Cox, J.B. 1970. Shear strength characteristics of the
Recent marine clays in south east Asia. J.
Southeast Asian Society of Soil Engineering.
V01.1, No.1, 1-28.
Lambe, T.W. and R.V. Whitman 1969. Soil
Mechanics. John Wiley and Sons Inc. N.Y.
Leonards, G.A. 1962. Engineering properties of
soils. In Foundation Engineering (ed.
Leonards), McGraw Hill Book Company Inc.
New York, 210.
Leroueil, S. et.al 1990. Embankments on So$ Clays.
Ellis Wordwood, N.Y., 141.
Osterman, J. 1959. Notes on the shearing resistance
of soft clays. Acta Polytechnica Scandinavica,
No.263.
Skempton, A.W. 1957. Discussion on the planning
and design of new Hong Kong airport. Proc.
Instn. Civ. Engrs. 7, 306.
Suzuki, K. and T.Asada 1993. Change of
compressibility for aged clays through loading.
Geotechn. Engg. Bull. V01.2, pp. 167-176.
Terzaghi, K. et al. 1996. Soil Mechanics in
Engineering Practice, 3rd edition. John Wiley
and Sons., Inc.
Whitman, R.V. 1960. Some considerations and data
regarding the shear strength of clays. Proc.
ASCE Research Con$ On Shear Strength of
Cohesive Soils. Colorado, pp. 581-614.
Wroth, C.P. 1984. The interpretation of in-situ tests.
Geotechnique 34(4), pp. 449-89.
Yudhbir 1973. Field compressibility of soft ensitive
normally consolidated clays. Geotechnical
Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 3 1-40.
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
2 Prediction and performance of earth structures on soft ground
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 1

Insidious settlement of super-reclaimed offshore seabed

K.Akai
Geo-ResearchInstitute, Osaka, Japan

ABSTRACT: Based on the settlement and pore pressure dissipation data of KIA seabed since 1987, the
mechanism of the unexpected compression occurring in deep soil deposits is investigated from some
geomechanical viewpoints. The reason why the rate of settlement of M A island is beyond anticipated value
after the fall of 1994 when the airport operation commenced can be attributed to destructuring of the deep
Pleistocene clays as they transfer the state of deformation into the normally consolidated state from the genuine
quasi-overconsolidated one under delayed consolidation. The conventional estimation assuming hyperbolic time
curve gives the ultimate settlement which is nearly at the upper limit of the anticipated range, sf=6.0m-7.0m.

1 INTRODUCTION
The Kansai International Airport (KIA) island, a
large reclamation project (51lha) 5km offshore in
Osaka Bay began in January, 1987 and was
completed in December, 199 1, followed by
construction of the airport facilities which included
the 3.5km-long runway, the control tower and the
passenger terminal building (PTB), etc. The airport
which began operation in September, 1994, was a
challenging civil engineering project in view of its
size, its concept as a marine airport and the severe
geotechnical conditions (Akai 1992).

2 GROUND CONDITION OF OFFSHORE

SEABED IN OSAIL4 BAY

The typical bore-hole log at KIA site is illustrated in

Figure 1. It shows a series of clay layers to a depth
of about 200m. The subsoil immediately below the
seabed surface of the airport island, in which the
water depth is about 18m at average, consists of a
thick and soft alluvial clay layer called Mu13. This
layer was to be improved so as to ensure the stability
of seawalls and embankments during construction,
and to minimize the residual or differential settlement
which would occur after completion of the airport.
The surface elevation of the airport island was
specified to be not lower than +4.0m above
seawater level, 50 years after the opening of the
airport. The depth and volume of the reclamation
soil were determined by considering the settlement of Figure 1 Soil profiles and index properties of seabed
the seabed subsoil. The total amount of settlement in soils in Osaka Bay.
these subsoil was estimated to be approximately
11.5m for 50 years. Accordingly, soil reclamation
of about 33m in depth and about 180 million cubic
meters in volume was required to form the island.

243
 The overburden stress due to the load of reclaimed
soil was expected to be as much as 5OOkPa which
exceeds the maximum past pressure at the depth of
about 16Om (refer to Figure l), where the
Pleistocene deposits are also expected to consolidate.
In the settlement analysis for these deposits, the
identification of drainage layers was rather complex
because of the existence of many alternating clay and
relatively thin sand or gravel layers. It was
confirmed that the settlement of alluvial clay layer
( M a l 3 ) just beneath the mudline reached about 6m
and stopped consolidation by about 1.5 years after
full surcharge. This relatively short period of time
for consolidation can be accredited to acceleration by
the sand drain technique. Therefore, it is believed
that the settlement occurring still today is due to the
cornprcssion of Pleistocene deposits, Ma12 - M a 7 ,
to the depth of about 160m from the mudline.

3 ANOMALY OF COMPRESSIVE BEHAVIORS

OF QUASI-OVERCONSOLIDATED SOIL

3.1 Deformation hehuviol- of aged clay under

loudirzg

The deformation behavior after loading a soil under

delayed consolidation is of great interest, because the
amount of settlement caused in young Pleistocene
clay is in the spotlight when analyzing the behavior
of offshore seabed.
According to geological research for the seabed in
Osaka Bay in central Japan, it was clear that the
Upper Pleistocene Clays, Mu12 and Mull, could
be classified as young aged clays due to delayed
consolidation as indicated by their small over-
consolidation ratio (OCR) (refer to Figure 1) (Akai
et al. 1995). In the figure, the increase in the
effective overburden pressure with depth from the
mudline is described, together with the maximum
past pressure, p c , determined by the oedometer test.
From this figure, it is found that the liquidity index,
IL, of Pleistocene deposits is small in the order of
the duration of sedimentation ages and that OCR
increases gradually with depth, reaching the value of
OCR-1.4 at about 16Om under the mudline.
Figure 2(a) is a schematic diagram showing
consolidation behavior of a quasi-overconsolidated
clay, subject to vertical loading under the condition
of one-dimensional compression and (b) shows the
corresponding effective stress path (Akai et u1.
1993). Mere, a concept of stress overshooting is
proposed which can be observed when this type of
soil is loaded in the field after aging and cementation.
The proposal is summarized as follows. When the
stress at point B in Figure 26) on the virgin
compression line is suitable to cause cementation
between soil particles, a clay aged up to point D
shows a locking behavior with stress overshooting
until reaching point E. Thenceforward, an abrupt
destructuring of chemical bonds by cementation
causes a large strain to point G. A noticeable over-
Figure 2 Schematic diagram illustrating deformation
behavior of aged clay.
shooting can be seen when the loading is directly
applied to an in-situ soil which is under delayed
consolidation at point D. However, soil sampling
from the field fades the memory of delayed
consolidation. Therefore, the consolidation curve
obtained in the laboratory becomes moderate to that
of an overconsolidated soil.
In Figure 2(b) the process of delayed consolidation
is shown by the effective stress path, BD, along
which occurs an increase in KO-value. Loading the
clay shows a locking behavior, DE, and the effective
stress path rises up roughly keepingp = const (Akai
gL San0 1981a). The chemical bond established
during delayed consolidation is destructured at point
E and, at the same time, there occurs a sudden
vertical strain and excess pore pressure, ud . Thus,
EFiF2 is the effective stress path just after
destructuring of bonds due to loading. The point F2
is situated on the Ko"-line which shows a larger KO-
value than that in the normally consolidated state.
The effective stress path due to subsequent loading is
on the new normally consolidated line F2G, and
point G corresponds to the end of primary
consolidation (EOP).
In conclusion, quasi-overconsolidated clays like
the Upper Pleistocene Clays, Ma12 and Mall,
essentially behave in a similar way as the normally
consolidated clay, M d 3 , under loading beyond 'the

244
 quasi-maximum past pressure' (point E in Figures
2(a) and (b)) where there occurs an abrupt
compressive deformation. This can be deduced
more or less to another Pleistocene deposit in the
seabed of Osaka Bay because of their small OCR
value.
3.2 Recovery of the rate of secondary
cornpression
With regard to secondary compression of clay,
several investigations have been performed both
theoretically and experimentally, mainly from the
viewpoint of such soil properties as rheological
characteristics. Using the concept of delayed
consolidation proposed by Bjerrum (Bjerrum 1972),
it is possible to treat the behavior quantitatively.
Also, useful interpretations can be given for
settlement calculation and design of structures.
The explanation of delayed consolidation is clear in
Figure 3 in which time parameters after
sedimentation of soil are indicated. These parameters
mean that the soil has a corresponding rate of
secondary compression, E,, , where the state
path under an effective overburden pressure,
po, intersects the time parameter. Thus, if we
take a quasi-overconsolidated soil (D) of 104years
after sedimentation, for instance, and then a loading
Ap is performed to move till point E, it is considered
that the rate of secondary compression would
increase to a larger rate when the soil was at point
C which corresponds to the rate of 102years. This is
a removal of geological history of 104years and a
recovery of the rate of secondary compression by
loading as well. Provided the stress increase reaches
'the quasi-maximum past pressure', yc", at F, a
remarkable primary consolidation would occur,
followed by a secondary Compression of which rate
is as high as that of the past sedimentation time (B)
(Akai & San0 1981b).
The result of various consolidation tests for Osaka
Upper Pleistocene Clay (Ma12)indicates an abrupt
increase in the rate of secondary compression at
pc", as shown in Table 1. These characteristics are
in accordance with the concept of time- and stress-
coinpressibility interrelationship ever proposed by
Mesri & Godlewski (Mesri & Godlewski 1977).
4 DISCORD BETWEEN SETTLEMENT
ESTIMATION AND MEASURED DATA
4.1Settlement analysis
Among a set of settlement records measured at
various benchmarks on KIA island, the record at
Table 1 Ratc of secondary compression of Osaka Upper Pleistocene Clay, Ma12.
al(x102 kN/m?) I 0.4 0.8 1.6
C,(%) (0.17 0.12 0.24
No.2-1 is selected here because the loading condition
at this area is relatively simple and definite. This
measuring station, which is located at the western
side of PTB, started operating on April 4, 1990
which corresponds to 904 days after the installation
of sand drain into the alluvial clay layer of the seabed
on Oct. 14, 1987. Referring to the data at other
measuring stations where the settlement records are
obtained from just after sand drain installation, it was
estimated that the preceding compression of
Pleistocene deposits at No.2-1 before measurement
is 1.30m. It goes without saying that the settlement
of alluvial clay layer, Mu13, has been finished by
means of sand drain, thus, the record here obtained
is the summation of compression in the Pleistocene
clay layers (Dtc, Ma12-Ma7) of which total
thickness is 101m. The solid line in Figure 4 is the
measured settlement-time curve at this station where
the time origin is set at the end of full surcharge
(March of 1990).
The analytical consolidation curve (dashed line) of
Pleistocene deposits as a total, which is calculated
from the laboratory consolidation test results with the
thickness of each layer is also drawn in Figure 4.
This total settlement-time curve has a long straight
portion at the middle section, since it is a
composition of individual settlement-time curves
possessing different values of the coefficient of
consolidation, cv, and the thickness of soil layer,
211. This curve is based on the assumption that the
loading of the island is applied suddenly at the time
of full surcharge. Namely, the initial part of the
curve does not express the actual loading situation.
Figure 3 Explanation of delayed consolidation.
3.2 6.4 12.8 25.6
0.41 4.9 6.9 3.1
 :I
Elapsed time after full surcharge(Mar. 1990)

30 100 300 1000 3000 10000(davs)

,E-.
v

ir 4

5
--_
6 Station No.2-I K1A-c
(Scpt.4,1994) --- 5 .84m
6.Soin

Figure 4 Settlement-time curve of Pleistocene deposits for a benchmark (at the front of PTB) on I<IA island.

Figure 6 Relationship between the degree of consoli-

dation, U, and the time factor, T,, assum-
ing hyperbolic time curve.

Therefore, comparison with measured data is limited

Figure 5 (a) Depth profile of excess pore pressures
and (b) variations of compression in
Pleistocene clays.
to the time after the beginning of 1991; i.e., 275
days after the time origin of the figure.
The rneasured amount of compression in this area
on Sept. 4, 1994, the date of cominencement of KIA
operation, is 4.46m, whereas the analytical result
gives 4.50111. The accordance of both values is quite
satisfactory. Looking at the process of the two
curves up until this date, it is clear that the measured
values are smaller than those of analysis, starting
after the latter half of 1991. However, the situation is
reversed from the end of 1994 onwards; namely, the
measured data surpass the analytical ones. This
means that the rate of settlement after the beginning of
1993 is greater than predicted. Actual annual
settlement at this localion was 43cm in 1992, 49cm in
1993, 43cm in 1994, 40cm in 1995, 37cm in 1996,
33cm in 1997 and 30cm in 1998. Thus the rate of
greatest settlement of KIA island at the measuring
station No.2-1 was 49cm per year in 1993.

246
4.2 Belzuviol- of excess pore pressure
Next, the focus of observation is placed on the
settlement behavior of Pleistocene deposits in the
KIA seabed in relation to the dissipation process of
porewater pressure for the seabed of KIA. The
process is nothing but the increase in effective stress
in the clay layers.
Figure 5(a) shows how the depth profile of excess
pore pressures in the Pleistocene clays is changing
with time in a three-dimensional form. It may be
noted that the horizontal axes are not in scale and
data points are equally distributed along the axis. The
data presented are those obtained after April of 1992
at which time a full fill load was already in place at
the measuring bore hole, No.4, at the middle third
from the south end of the runway. It is clear from the
figure that the excess pore pressures in the
Pleistocene clays at depths between 40m to 145m
dissipate approximately in two blocks. The sand
layers at the top of Mu12 and at the bottom of Mu7
seem to be freely draining, but between these depths
there is only one sand layer (just below M u l l )
showing some effect of drainage. There still remain
significant excess pore pressures in the clays as well
as in the sands between Mu12 and Mu 7 layers. Thus
the early assurription of multiple free drainage
boundaries is not valid and several of the sand layers
have only a limited drainage capacity.
The compression of soil as expressed in vertical
strains along the same bore hole (No.4) is also
shown in Figure 5(b) for the same time period as
given in Figure 5(a). The figure however clearly
shows that the compression of clays is taking place
gradually with time in roughly two blocks, and the
compression of upper Mu12 and Mu11 is larger
whilst that of Mu10 to Mu7 layers is smaller.
Therefore, there seems to be some agreement
between the excess pore pressure and the local
compression measurements, and the effectiveness of
drainage capacities of those sand layers located
between Mu10 and Mu7 seems to be limited. The
compression of Mu10 to M u 7 is small in terms of
the vertical strain of each layer, ranging from 1.5 to
0.2%,but they are increasing nearly at a constant
rate. On the other hand, the compressive strain of
Mu12 and M u l l varies from 9 to 2.5% and the
strain rates are decreasing with time. The pore
pressure data show that effective stress states of
Mu12 and Mu1 1 are now normally consolidated
state while those of Mu10 to Mu7 are in transient
state from the overconsolidated to the normally
consolidated one (Akai & Tanaka 1999).
The reason why the rate of settlement of KIA
island in the fall of 1994 is beyond anticipated value
can be attributed to destructuring of these deep
Pleistocene deposits as they transfer their state of
deformation into the normally consolidated state
(refer to Figure 2). The analytical curve in Figure 4
is based on conventional theory of consolidation,
estimating the final amount of settlement at the
measuring station to be sf=5.84m; i.e., the residual
settlement after commencement of the airport
247
operation is 5.84-4.50=1.34m. Considering the fact
that most of the compression of Mu9 and Doc.5
appears after 1993, it is reasonable to estimate the
residual settlement to be about 2m-2.5m, instead of
about 1.34m. Thus the final amount of compression
in the Pleistocene deposits at station No.2-1 would
be sf=6.0m-7.0m (the average value of the modified
cstimate 6.50m is indicated in Figure 4) (Akai 1996).
1..3 Es t iin u t ion assuming hyperbolic t i i?i e
curve
'rhe relationship between the settlement, s, and the
lime, t , assuming hyperbolic time curve is as
l€ollows:
ywhere U and b denote constant parameters.
By normalizing Eq.(l), one obtains the
I relationship between the degree of consolidation, U,
and the time factor, T v , as follows:
Checking the slope of Tv/U - Tv line by referring
Figure 6, it is known that the parameter b=l which
corresponds to U=l is established only when Tv= C O .
For the ordinary range of time factor, Tv =0.2-0.95,
that is, for U=0.5-0.9, the slope becomes 0.8-0.9
(i.e., 0.85 in average). On the other hand, there
exists a linear correlation between TVIU-Tv for
Tv>0.5 according to the standard Terzaghi's U-Tv
curve. Therefore, it is concluded that the ultimate
degree of consolidation calculated from the slope of
TvIU-TV line results in Ufx1.15. This means that
the estimation assuming hyperbolic time curve gives
an over-evaluation of settlement as much as about
15%, compared with the Terzaghi's solution for
primary consolidation. Such a result might be
encouraging to settlement estimation including
secondary compression, as it is said that the amount
of secondary compression is usually as high as 10-
15% of total settlement, with some exceptions
observed in the high organic clay such as the peat.
After calculating the settlement data (1990-1998) of
KIA measured at the station No.2-1 shown in Figure
4 using the hyperbolic curve, one obtains the
parameters in Eq.(l) as u=148.5(day/m) and b=
0.176(m-l). In this plotting, the origin of time is set
in March of 1990 when the reclamation load reached
the full surcharge (the preceding settlement, Si =
1.3111). As 1/b=5.68m, then the ultimate settlement
of this site is estimated as sf=l.3+5.68=6.98m. This
value is nearly at the upper limit of the prescribed
range, sf=6.0m-7.0m.
5 CONCLUSION NOMENCLATURES

The update record of settlement occurring in the
super-reclaimed offshore seabed accompanied with
construction of the artificial island of Kansai
International Airport in Osaka Bay, Japan is
indicated and analyzed in the present paper. The back
analysis of the performance of KIA project shows
that there involves an insidious settlement amounting
about 5m, at the present, in a series of Pleistocene
deposits as thick as over a hundred meters. The final
amount of compression in this deposits would be .sf=
6.0m-7.0m. The reason why the rate of settlement
of KIA island is beyond anticipated value after the
fall of 1994 when the airport operation commenced
can be attributed to destructuring of the deep
Pleistocene clays as they transfer the state of
deformation into the normally consolidated state
from the genuine quasi-overconsolidated one under
delayed consolidation. The conventional estimation
assuming hyperbolic time curve gives the ultimate
settlement which is nearly at the upper limit of the
prescribed range.
REFERENCES
U = parameter in Eqs.(l) and (2);
b = parameter in Eqs.(l) and (2);
Ca = de / d log,,,t = coefficient of secondary
compression;
e = void ratio;
KO= coefficient of earth pressure at rest;
K,F = K,,-value for normally consolidated state;
K,; = K,,-value for quasi-overconsolidated state;
p = mean effective principal stress;
p , = effective overburden pressure;
p , = maximum past pressure;
p , = quasi-maximum past pressure;
Ap = increment of loading;
q = principal stress difference;
s = settlement;
s, = preceding settlement;
s, = ultimate settlement;
t = time;
T, = time factor;
U , = excess pore water pressure due to ambient

Akai, K. 1992. Soil improvement performance pressure change;

in off-shore reclamation - Kansai Internation- U( = excess pore water pressure due to consolidation
al Airport project, Proc. Intern. Symp. on pressure change;
Soil Improvement and Pile Foundation (Nan- cl(, = excess pore water pressure due to destructuring
jing), 1: 1-13. of soil structure;
Akai, K. 1996. Back analysis of the perform-
ance of Kansai International Airport, Proc. U = degree of consolidation;
2nd Intern. Symp. on Soft Soil Engineering U, = final value of degree of consolidation (=l);
(Nanjing), 1: 49-63. z = depth;
Akai, K. and I. Sano 1981a. KO-deformation E(, = rate of secondary compression;
behavior of soil under delayed consolidation y = unit weight of soil;
(in Japanese), Annuals, DPRI, Kyoto Univ.,
CJ,, = effective horizontal stress;
24-B2: 73-82.
Akai, K. and I. San0 1981b. On the deformation CJ, = effective vertical stress.
behavior of soil under delayed consolidation,
Memo. Faculty of Engrg., Kyoto Univ., 43-
2:161-172.
Akai, K. and Y . Tanaka 1999. Settlement be-
haviour of an offshore airport KIA, Proc.
12th European Conf. SMGE (Amsterdam), 2:
1041- 1046.
Akai, K. et ul. 1993. Anomaly of compressive
behaviour of stiff clays in seabed, Proc.
Intern. Symp. on Hard Soil - Soft Rocks
(Athens), 1: 343-350.
Akai, K. et al. 1995.Geotechnical and geologi-
cal studies on seabed in Osaka Bay, Proc.
11th European Conf. SMFE (Copenhagen),
8: 1-6.
Bjerrum,L. 1972.Enbankments on soft ground,
Proc. ASCE Specialty Conf.on Performance
of Earth and Earth-Supported Structures
(West Lafayette), 2: 1-54.
Mesri, G. and P.M. Godlewski 1977. Time-
and stress-compressibility interrelationship,
Proc. ASCE, 103, GT 5: 417-430.

248
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase 6: Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

Field verification of suction pile installation in sand

S. Bang & Y.Cho

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology,USA
S.Kanorski & R.Taylor
Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, USA

ABSTRACT: A series of laboratory model tests on suction pile installation in sand have been conducted to
calibrate the analytical solution. The analytical solution includes the concept of the mobilized effective soil
friction angle ratio to describe the reduction in soil strength and in interface friction between the pile and the
soil. The variation of the mobilized effective soil friction angle ratio is normalized and expressed as a function
of a non-dimensional term which includes all pertinent parameters affecting the suction pile installation. To
verifl the analytical solution, three 1.5 meter diameter suction piles were installed off the coast of Pacific
Ocean by the US Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center in 1999. During installation, the relationships
between the applied suction pressure and the resulting pile penetration were measured. The measurements
were compared with the predictions from the analytical solution.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 ANALYTICAL SOLUTION

The US Navy is currently conducting a technical fea-
sibility study of constructing Mobile Offshore Bases
(MOBS). This is expected to be a self-propelled,
floating military base with a runway on top and other
supporting facilities below such as the living quarters,
material storage areas, docking facilities for transport
ships, etc. The proposed dimensions of the MOB are
approximately 1,500 meters by 150 meters. It is in-
tended to be a fonvard-deployed, self-contained
military base floating in deep waters.
The South Dakota School of Mines and Technol-
ogy is participating in this MOB feasibility study to
provide an adequate mooring technique for this very
large floating structure. MOB is expected to be con-
trolled by dynamic positioning. However, during
storage, repair, or lay-up periods, or for hybrid
mooring, conventional mooring techniques may be
needed. Suction piles are currently being investi-
gated analytically and experimentally to provide the
necessary mooring capacity. Figure I shows a sche-
matic diagram of typical suction piles.
This paper describes the details of the field verifi-
cation of the analytical solution simulating the suc-
tion pile installation procedure in sand. The analyti-
cal solution has been developed based on small-scale
laboratory model tests. Described below are the suc-
tion pile installation procedure, test results, and field
verification of the analytical solution.
The analytical solution should be capable of estimat-
ing the correct suction pressure that can safely pene-
trate the pile into the sandy seafloor without creating
any soil instability at a given pile penetration depth.
The correct suction pressure value should therefore
be provided in a range. The lower bound value corre-
sponds to the suction pressure inside the pile that can
barely overcome the pile bearing capacity to allow
the pile to penetrate into the soil. The upper bound
suction pressure is the one that initiates the state of
soil boiling, at which time the soil becomes unstable
and starts to flow into the pile. Eventually the pile
inside will be filled with sand and therefore the pile
installation becomes incomplete.
To penetrate a suction pile into the seafloor suc-
cessfully, the soil resistance must be overcome. The
resistance of the pile is the pile bearing capacity cor-
responding to the state of the pile penetration. The
resulting pile penetration depth at given applied suc-
tion pressure can therefore be determined from the
equilibrium. The equilibrium requires that the bearing
capacity of the pile be equal to the external load in-
cluding the weight of the pile, the applied surcharge,
and the suction pressure. When suction pressure with
the resulting total external load exceeding the pile
bearing capacity is applied, the pile starts to pene-
trate until it reaches a depth where the pile bearing
capacity equals the external load. As the suction
pressure increases again, the external load also in-
creases and the pile starts to penetrate into the soil

249

Figure 1. Schematics of Suction Piles
until the next equilibrium is reached. This procedure
will be repeated until the pile installation is com-
pleted or the pile does not penetrate any further. It is
noted that during the installation process the suction
pressure should not exceed the critical pressure that
may induce the boiling of the sand inside the pile.
The analytical solution should consider the effect
of water flow from the outside soil surface through
the tip of the pile to the inside soil surface of the pile
resulting from the pressure difference caused by the
applied suction pressure. The lateral flow of the wa-
ter at the tip of the pile and the upward flow inside
the pile obviously loosen the sand inside the pile,
which in turn reduces the strength of the sand. The
density of the sand outside the pile, however, may in-
crease slightly due to the downward flow of water.
For the purpose of developing a simpler ailalytical
solution, these increase and decreases in soil densities
inside and outside the pile are not separated. Instead,
a single value of the soil friction angle that represents
the average behavior of the entire sand is used. The
selection of this representative soil friction angle is
briefly described below.
To simulate this average change in soil friction
angle, the concept of the “mobilized effective soil
friction angle ratio” has been introduced (Bang et al.
1999). The mobilized effective soil friction angle ra-
tio is the ratio between the mobilized friction coeffi-
cient and the available friction coefficient of the soil.
The mobilized friction coefficient is the required soil
friction coefficient so that the pile-soil system is in a
balancing state having the factor of safety of 1.0.
The available friction coefficient is the maximum ef-
fective friction value of the soil. It is defined as
where
250
@, = mobilized effective soil friction angle neces-
sary for the equilibrium between the external
force and the pile bearing capacity
6 = fidly available effective soil friction angle
The variation of a has been determined from the
results of laboratory tests by matching the calculated
pile penetration with the observed pile penetration at
given conditions.
The pile bearing capacity can be determined from
the pile tip bearing capacity and the fhctional capac-
ity. Depending upon the pile diameter to length ratio,
the soil inside the pile may behave either as a unit
with the pile or independent to the pile. The total
bearing capacity of the former case will be the sum of
the tip bearing capacity based on the gross cross-
sectional area of the tip and the fictional capacity
developed outside the pile minus the buoyant weight
of the soil inside the pile. The latter case, however,
should consider the tip bearing capacity based on the
net cross-sectional area of the tip and the fhctional
capacity developed both inside and outside the pile.
Therefore, the total pile bearing capacity, Q, can be
expressed as the smaller of these two cases, i.e.,
(2 = minimum [ Q I , Q2] - Wpile
where
01= e o u t s i d e + & s i d e + o n e t , tip
02 = Ooutside + o g r o s s , tip - K n s i d e soil
&&de = frictional capacity between the outside
surface of the pile and the soil
&ide = frictional capacity between the inside sur-
face of the pile and the soil
Qne<tip = tip bearing capacity of the net cross-
sectional area of the pile
Qgross,tip = tip bearing capacity of the gross cross-
sectional area of the pile
Winside soil = effective weight of the soil plug inside
the pile
Wpile= buoyant weight of the pile
Details of the estimation of the soil side frictional
and tip bearing capacities is beyond the scope of this
paper. They are well described in references (Caquot
1953, De Beer 1970, Hansen 1970, Prandtl 1921,
Reissner 1924, and Vesic 1973).
The magnitude of the suction pressure to be ap-
plied inside the pile should be limited so that the hy-
draulic gradient remains less than the critical gradient
that induces the sand boiling. However, to prevent
the soil boiling at the beginning of the pile installation
a certain amount of initial penetration depth is re-
quired before any suction pressure is applied.
Incorporating the soil and pile behaviors described
above, an analytical solution was developed to simu-
late the suction pile installation process. The analyti-
cal solution was then modified to calibrate the mobi-
lized effective soil friction angle ratio a. It calculates
the value of a that directly relates the measured pile
penetration depth with the applied suction pressure
under given conditions.
3 CALIBRATION
To simulate the pile installation procedure and to
calibrate the mobilized effective soil friction angle
ratio, eighteen different series of laboratory model
tests were conducted with sand having a friction an-
gle of 30 degrees and a total unit weight of 18.85
kN/m3 (Bang et al. 1999). The test series utilized
different surcharge weights, initial pile penetration
depths, and pile diameters. Each series consisted of
3 to 5 nearly identical tests to minimize potential er-
rors.
The experimental results have been used to cali-
brate the mobilized effective soil friction angle ratio
a. The value of a was determined for each data
point of the pile penetration vs. suction pressure re-
lationship by matching the predicted pile penetration
with that measured from the model test. Approxi-
mately 500 data points were analyzed and corre-
sponding a values were obtained
The calibrated values of a are expressed as a hnc-
tion of a non-dimensional term that includes all perti-
nent parameters associated with the suction pile in-
stallation in order for it to be used for the analysis of
suction pile installation in the field. The non-
dimensional parameter is expressed as
X=-- pt D suction pile was determined by GPS and later with
'b Dp D p - max
where
X = normalized equivalent external pressure in-
cluding pile aspect ratio
Yb = buoyant unit weight of the soil
D, = penetration depth
DPmas = maximum penetration depth
pt = equivalent external pressure (sum of suction
pressure and surcharge)
This non-dimensional external pressure allowed
the variation of a to be expressed by a single curve
as shown in Figure 2. This variation of a includes all
pertinent parameters associated with the suction pile
installation.
The solid line in Figure 2 indicates the variation of
a obtained from a regression analysis. This descrip-
25 1
Figure 2. Results of Nonlinear Regression
tion of a is included in the analytical solution for the
installation of suction piles in the field.
4 FIELD VERIFICATION
In January 1999, the US Naval Facilities Engineering
Service Center (NFESC) installed two medium size
suction piles off the coast of Port Heuneme, Califor-
nia. A third pile was installed in March 1999. This
was part of its cable burial study program, where the
suction piles would be used as cable anchoring de-
vices. The suction piles were designed based on the
analytical solution that was developed using the small
scale laboratory model test results as explained in
previous sections.
The field tests were conducted in 12.5-meter deep
water. The suction piles were made of structural
steel, having dimensions of 2.3 meters in length, 1.5
meters in diameter, and 0.64 centimeters in thickness.
The buoyant weight of the pile was 5,338 N and the
buoyant weight of the superstructures was estimated
to be approximately 445 N. Precise location of each
drop marker buoys.
The suction pressure inside the pile was applied
through a Venturi pump attached at the top of the
pile. The magnitude of suction pressure inside the
pile was controlled by the amount of the water (sup-
plied by a 2 m3 per minute capacity water pump)
flowing through the Venturi pump. Along the side of
the suction pile, two rows of vent holes with each
row having three vent holes at 120 degrees apart
were installed. The purpose of installing vent holes
was to remove the soil slurry inside the pile without
additional soil flow from outside the pile, in case soil
boiling occurs, by opening the vent holes while the
Venturi pump is running.
When suction piles were lowered to the seafloor,
initial penetration of approximately 15.3 cm was no-
ticed. Very small magnitude of suction pressure was
then applied. The suction pressure was then gradu-
ally increased until movement of suction pile started.
As soon as the pile movement was detected, the suc-
tion pressure was maintained constant until the pile
movement completely stopped for at least several
minutes. The suction pressure was then raised again
until the pile moved again. This process was re-
peated until the pile completely penetrated the sea-
floor. All tests were successfhlly conducted without
any sand boiling and therefore the vent holes were
never used. During the installation of suction piles,
the applied suction pressure and resulting pile pene-
tration were measured in order to verify the relation-
ship between the mobilized effective soil friction an-
gle ratio and the non-dimensional parameter
developed based on small scale laboratory tests. The
pile penetration was measured manually by the
NFESC divers. A total of six divers were employed.
They worked in pairs for no more than a specified
time period. Entire suction pile installation was
video-taped for future reference.
The seafloor consisted of sandy soil with the buoy-
ant unit weight of 9.43 kN/m3. Four Expandable
Doppler Penetrometer (XDP) tests were conducted
to determine the in-situ soil friction angle variation
with depth. The US Navy’s XDP probe is 8.9 cm in
diameter and about 91 cm long when two spacers are
included. Its forward half is solid steel, with a 8.9
cm in diameter hemisphereical nose. Each spacer,
made of solid steel, adds 20 cm to the probe length
and about 98 N to the probe weight. To achieve
useful penetration into stronger soils, it can be fitted
with a “nanvhal” stinger nose which is a solid steel
rod 2.5 cm in diameter by 61 cm long, with its own
hemispherical nose. The XDP has been proven very
useful in expeditiously obtaining measurements of
rapid soil shear strength in water depths of 15 to
1,200 meters. Details of the XDP system can be
found in reference (Bowman 1995). Figure 3 shows
pictures of Model PX-020 XDP Penetrometer probe
components.
Figure 3. Model PX-020 XDP Penetrometer Probe
252
Figure 4. Friction Angle Variation of the Soil with Depth
The XDP is normally employed with its kll-
diameter nose, and the nanvhal nose is used for a
second drop to obtain deeper penetrations when en-
countering stronger soils. If data from a nanvhal
nosed XDP could be interpreted meaningfhlly for
weaker soils, operations could be simplified by rou-
tinely using the nanvhal nose irrespective of bottom
material type. The XDP system works by being
dropped to impact and penetrate the seafloor, while
emitting a constant-frequency acoustic signal at 60
kHz. A commercially available hydrophone senses
the acoustic signal emitted by the probe. The system
receiver-processor then converts the hydrophone
signal to frequency, plots frequency deviation (from
60 kIFz) vs. time and records the data. The US
Navy’s XDP system has been correlated with other
conventional soil strength measurements. It is found
to be a robust, reliable system when operated in a
retrieved, repeated-drop mode (True 1988).
Results of XDP tests indicated that the soil friction
angle varied from approximately 30.0 to 36.5 de-
grees with depth. After removing unrealistic data
from XDP tests 1 and 2, the variations of the soil
friction angle with depth from all four tests are plot-
ted in Figure 4. As can be seen from the figure, the
soil friction angle near the surface is the lowest. It
increases with depth and eventually approaches an
ultimate value. The estimated ultimate value is ap-
proximately 36.5 degrees. Using the nonlinear re-
gression technique, the variation of the soil fiction
angle can be expressed by the following power hnc-
tion.
@ =32.51 + 3.99 (1 - e3-12.09d)1.437
in degrees (4)
 Table 1. Summary of Analysis
Test Maximum Pene- Suction Pressure Pile Penetration Non-dimensional Mobilized Effective Friction
I.D. tration Depth (m) Wm2> (m> Term (x> Angle Ratio (a)
Test- 1 2.29 33,884.1 2.29 1.1464 0,888
Test-2 2.29’ 67,768.2 2.29 2.1946 1.065
Test-3 1.83 13,793.1 0.15 9.8396 1.007
17,241.4 0.25 7.1038 1.016
20,689.7 0.53 3.9542 1.015
24,137.9 0.76 3.1679 1.015
31,034.5 0.79 3.8399 1.048
37,93 1.o 1.68 2.1672 0.999
44,827.6 1.83 2.3200 1.018

slightly greater than 1.0, indicating either that the

conventional bearing capacity theory is not perfect
or that the average effective soil hction angle was
increased due to the water flow. However, the
difference between the a values obtained from the
filed tests and the prediction based on the small
scale laboratory tests is very small.

5 CONCLUSIONS

An analytical solution capable of estimating the

Figure 5. Variation of Mobilized Effective Friction Angle
Ratio
where
q!~= soil hction angle at a given depth, d
d = depth from the seafloor in R
Field tests 1 and 2 only produced one data point
each as shown in Figure 5. They correspond to the
end of the installation, i.e., when the pile was com-
pletely penetrated into the seafloor. This was
mainly because of the driver’s inexperience in suc-
tion pile installation. The drivers eventually be-
came very familiar with the operation and as a re-
sult they could manage to record seven data points
on suction pressure vs. penetration for the third
pile.
Using the computer software developed for the
calibration of a, nine field measurements of pile
penetration vs. suction pressure were analyzed to
obtain the values of a. The results of the analysis
are summarized in Table 1 and plotted in Figure 5 .
The solid line in the figure indicates the variation of
the mobilized effective soil friction angle ratio ( a )
as a hnction of the non-dimensional term.
As can be seen from the figure, the values of a
obtained from the field tests are located slightly
above the prediction. Some of the a values are
correct suction pressure range that can safely
penetrate a suction pile into the sandy seafloor
without creating any soil instability during installa-
tion is briefly described. The change in sandy soil
strength characteristic under suction pressure ap-
plied within the pile is described by the mobilized
effective soil friction angle ratio (a).
Field test results on three medium size suction
pile installation in sand have been used to verifL the
description of the mobilized effective soil friction
angle ratio developed based on the results from
small-scale laboratory tests. Results show that the
verification is excellent, indicating that the devel-
oped relationship between the mobilized effective
soil fbction angle ratio and the non-dimensional pa-
rameter may be used for larger suction pile installa-
tion. However, it is essential to conduct additional
field tests and/or centrihge model tests to extend
the verification effort to suction piles with much
larger dimensions.
6 ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
The authors are gratehl to the technical and finan-
cial supports provided by the US Office of Naval
Research and the Naval Facilities Engineering
Service Center. The work has been supported by
the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Re-
search, grant number NO00 14-97-1-0887. The
content of this paper does not necessarily reflect
the position or the policy of the US Government.

253
REFERENCES

Bang, S., Y. Cho, T. Preber, and J. Thomason

1999. Model Testing and Calibration of Suction
Pile Installation in Sand, Proceedings of I f h
ARC, International Society for Soil Mechanics
and Foundation Egineering, Vol. I, pp. 253-
256, Seoul, Korea.
Bowman, L., et a1 1995. Evaluation of Dropped
Versus Static Cone Penetrometers at a Calcare-
ous Cohesive Site, Proceedings of the Oceans
95 MTSIIEEE.
Caquot, A., & Kerisel, J. 1953. Sur le terme de
surface dans le calcul des fondations en milieu
pulverulent, Proceedings, 7hird International
Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering, Vol. I, pp. 336-337, Zurich.
De Beer, F. E. 1970. Experimental Determination
of the Shape Factors and Bearing Capacity
Factors of Sand, Geotechnique, Vol. 20, No. 4,
pp. 387-41 1.
True, D., 1988. Doppler Penetrometer Perform-
ance in Shallow Water with Full and Reduced
Diameter Noses, Proceedings of the Oceans 98
MTS Conference, Baltimore.
Hansen, J. B. 1970. A Revised and Expended For-
mula for Bearing Capacity, Danish Geotechrucal
Institute, Bulletin 28, Copenhagen.
Prandtl, L. 1921. Uber die Eindringungsfestigkeit
(Harte) plastischer Baustoffe und die Festigkeit
von Schneiden, Zeitschrgt fur angewandte
Mathematik undMechnik, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 15-
20.
Reissner, H. 1924. Zum Erddruckproblem, Pro-
ceedings, First International Congress of Ap-
plied Mechanics, pp. 295-3 11, Delft.
Vesic, A. S. 1973. Analysis of Ultimate Loads of
Shallow Foundations, Journal of the Soil Me-
chanics and Foundutions Division, American
Society of Civil Engneers, Vol. 99, No. SMI,
pp 45-73

254
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Mechanism of penetration and soil compaction effect of jacked pile

W.Chen, J.Y,Shi & W.B.Zhao
Research Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Hohai University,Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

ABSTRACT: In this paper, both the mechanism of pile-soil interaction and soil compaction effect during pile
jacking are discussed, in which the radial pressure and lateral friction along pile shaft are taken into considera-
tion. Based on the traditional plane-strain Cavity Expansion Method (CEM), spatial axisymmetrical closed-
form solutions for soil displacement and initial excess pore pressure generated in saturated clay during pile
jacking are presented It is shown by the theoretical solutions that soil displacement and excess pore pressure
vary not only in the horizontal but also in the vertical direction, which can not be expressed by plane-strain so-
lutions Centrihgal model tests and field measurements are conducted, and show a good agreement with the
results of theoretical calculations based on the present spatial analytical method. The method suggested thus
provides a more rational approach in the evaluation of soil compaction effect caused by pile jacking, it may be
applied in the analysis of pile driving and cone penetration.

1 INTRODUCTION

Jacked pile is widely used in coastal areas. Like

driven pile, jacked pile also causes soil to move out-
wards and upwards, thus exerts an adverse effect on
the environment, especially for buildings The initial
excess pore water pressure produced by pile jacking
will influence the build-up of the pile capacity. Re-
search was conducted on the study of soil move-
ments and excess pore water pressure generated
during pile jacking (Randolph & Carter 1979, Baligh
1986) Five kinds of methods have been developed
for the analysis of soil compaction effect for pile
jacking, they are bearing capacity theory; cavity ex-
pansion method (CEM), strain-path method; finite
element method and calibration box model test (Yu
1998) Among the above methods, CEM is the most
widely accepted. In the analysis of CEM, a cylindri-
cal cavity of initial radius I?, expanded by a uniformly
distributed internal pressure (Vesic, 1972) If the
pressure is increased, a cylindrical zone around the
cavity will pass into the state of plastic equilibrium.
This plastic zone will expand until the pressure
reaches an ultimate value p,, At this moment the
cavity will have a radius, R,, , and the plastic zone
around the cavity will extend to a radius Rp (Fig.1).
Beyond that radius, the mass of soil remains in a
state of elastic equilibrium. To obtainp, and Rp is of
engineering interests.
Fig, 1 Expansion of cavity
In the traditional CEM, not only is it assumed that
the internal pressure remains constant along the pile
length, but the shaft friction at the pile-soil interface
is neglected, thus, the problem is simplified as a one-
dimensional plane strain one. As a result, the closed-
form solutions for soil movements and initial excess
pore water pressures keep constant in the vertical di-
rection (Butterfield and Banerjee 1970, Carter 1979)
It is revealed by a large number of field measure-
ments recently that, both the internal pressure and the
shaft friction change in the vertical direction along
the pile length(Cooke 1979, Lehane 1993). It is also
shown by the measurements of PLS (Piezo-Lateral
Stress Cell) and CPT (Cone Penetration Test) during
pile penetration that the excess pore pressure gener-
ated by pile jacking increases in the vertical direction
(Huntsman and Mitchell 1986, Azzouz and Morrison

255
1988, Massod 1993). These phenomena, however, 2.2 The solution of the radial displacement in the
can not be explained by the traditional CEM solu- elastic zone
tions. To solve this problem, a more rational ap-
proach, the spatial analysis based on CEM, is deve- To obtain the solutions that satisfy the equations of
loped in this paper. equilibrium, y is neglected in the first instance.
Choosing ly = A . z 2 In r + B . z In Y as the stress
function, and solutions of stresses are
2 SPATIAL SOLUTION FOR PILE JACKrNG
(5)
2 1 Hoimdary conditions of stresses
According to the results of direct shear tests and field
measurements, the shaft friction increases linearly
with the increase of lateral pressure acting on the pile
shaft Because the soil adjacent to the pile shaft is in =o (7)
a passive state of equilibrium, it can be assumed that
the lateral pressure p r and shaft friction zn can be
expressed as follows (Kulhawy 1984, Chen 1999).
(1) The Solution of the radial displacement is
1 a2y/ =-. 1 - 2Az B

and p L ,T~ are lateral pressure and shaft fric-

{ I , , ,r,,
U =-.-
2G drdz 2G [ r '
71 (9)
in which A and B are constants. Since the weight of
tion at the pile top and tip respectively (Fig 2). Cl the soil is not taken into consideration in the above
and 9':are the effective cohesion and friction angle analysis, initial earth pressure q should be added to
the expressions of 0,. ,og and oz.
at the pile-soil interface respectively, while Kp is the
coefficient of the passive earth pressure
2.3 The solution of the radial displacement in the
Except for areas located in the vicinity of the tip
plastic zone
and top of the pile, in the cylindrical coordinate de-
fined in Fig 2, the differential equations of spatial axi- Pile penetration in saturated clay is viewed as a proc-
symmetrical equilibrium can be used to simulate the ess of undrained shear, so the internal friction angle
quasi-static state of soi! during the pile penetration p = 0. The Mohr-Coulomb yielding criteria trans-
?Of ?TIT O l -otj- o forms into
-+-+-- (3)
al. h I' or- og= 2c (10)
in which c is the cohesion of the soil in the undrained
(4)
shear. The equations of equilibrium become
in which o Iis the radial stress; oois the hoop stress;
0 : is the vertical stress; r f , is the shear stress; y is the
unite weight of the soil

Because the value of o2increases in the vertical

direction, and decreases with the increase of the ra-
dial distance from the pile axis, it can be assumed
that

i c!
o z =1 + - .y*z
in which D is a constant. The radial stress or can be
derived from Eq.1, Eq.13 and Eq.14
) In-o : +- P I E ( ' , z + p (13)
The radial stress at the interface of the elastic and
Fig.2 Pressure and friction at the pile shaft plastic zone (r=Rp)is

256
 To determine the radius of the plastic zone, Rp ,
and the radial displacement at that radius, l i p , a rela-
tionship stating that the change of the volume of the
cavity is equal to the change of volume of the elastic
zone plus the change of volume of the plastic zone is
used, this relationship can be written as follows
f-x(z<;- li;)dz = s: [ER; - X ( R , - lip)’
+ x(R5 - Rb). Aldz (15)
in which the meaning of the variants is shown in
Fig.1, A is the average volumetric strain, and for
saturated clay, A w 0 . Neglecting the higher powers
of up as well as RI2, Eq 17 becomes
At the interface of the elastic and plastic zone, the
expressions of the stress and the displacement should
satisfy Eq.7 and Eq. 1 1. Combining Eq.7 with Eq. 11,
the expression for U,, can be obtained
Inserting Eq.19 into Eq.18 and considering the
initial earth pressure q results
In the elastic zone, considering the initial earth
pressure 9,
or- y = -(OH - 4 ) (19)
Mohr-Coulomb yielding criteria is assumed in the
plastic zone
oj- D o = 2c
At the interface of the elastic and plastic zone
=q+c (21)
Combining Eq.23, Eq.16 with Eq.20, the follow-
r=
ing equation can be obtained
2(1 + I ) ) . c
in which I , = f / 2 ( 1 + 11). c . By inserting Eq.24 into
Eq.16, the following expression for O, is derived
Combining Eq.25 with Eq.22, the radial displace-
ment at the interface of elastic and plastic zone
U , , can be expressed as
+ P O -9 I.
I<, (24)
lntroducing stress boundary conditions Eq 1 and
Eq 2 into Eq 26, and considering q = K,, . o,:~,
, then
257
+ (2c - K,
I
. y‘ . tgqi . R,,). In - . R,
RP
(25)
Eq.27 is the expression of the radial displacement
at the interface between the elastic and plastic zone
during pile penetration (Chen 1999).
2.4 The solution of the initial excess pore pressure
in the elastic zone
The initial excess pore water pressure Ail can be al-
ways expressed as a fknction of the octahedral nor-
mal stress change Aooc,and octahedral shearing
stress change Aroct in the following form (Henkel
1959)
AI=~ ,D . Ao,, + a . AT^, (26)
where a and ,D are Henkel pore-pressure parame-
ters. The stresses in the elastic zone are expressed in
Eq.7 through Eq. 10, thus
for saturated clay, ,D = 1 , Then Eq.28 changes into
AU = 0 . 8 1 7 . ~ . c . ( R ~ ~ / ~ ) ’ (29)
By inserting Eq.24into Eq.3 1, the following form
for initial excess pore pressure can be obtained
R’
Au = 0 . 8 1 7 a G + ( 3 0)
r”
in which Y is the radial distance away from the pile
axis, Rpis the radius of the plastic zone, Zi,,is the pile
radius, G equals d m , and a is Henkel
pore-pressure parameter.
It can be seen from Eq.32 that the excess pore
pressure in the elastic zone changes only with I’, and
is irrelevant to the depth z. The reason is that the
elastic zone is comparatively far away from the pile,
the change in the vertical direction is insignificant
While for the plastic zone adjacent to the pile, the re-
sult is quite different
2 5 The solution of the initial excess pore pressine
a1 the intetface of elastic andplastic zone
At the interface of the elastic and plastic zone, Eq 21
and Eq 22 should be satisfied simultaneously Thus
0, =q+c (21)
According to Eq 15, at the interface of elastic and
plastic zone, the radial displacement is expressed as
 Introducing the stress boundary conditions Eq.2
into Eq.41, Air can be expressed as

+-.P L - P,,z + p , , = q + c
L
in which c is the undrained shear strength of soil,
Combining Eq. 15 with Eq.33
R,lis the radius of pile, R,is the radius of plastic
zone, K , is the coefficient of passive earth pressure,
In Eq.28, considering Eq.34, octahedral stress Cl and p i are the effective cohesion and friction
change can be computed from angle at the pile-soil interface respectively,
1 a,. = 0.707.(3A,. - l), and A,. is the value of the
Aoo,, = ;(Ao, + A o ( j + A o z )
3 Skempton pore pressure parameter at failure.
It is shown in Eq.42 that the initial excess pore
pressure Air not only changes in the horizontal direc-
tion, but also varies in the vertical direction. This
tendency, however, can not be reflected in the plane-
stain solution.
It should be pointed out that, Eq.42 is effective in
(34) calculating Azi in the plastic zone while it is different
from the solution for the elastic zone expressed in
in which J 2 is the second deviator stress inviable. Eq.32. In fact, in the elastic zone, the value of AI4 is
Considering Drucker-Prager yielding criteria comparatively small; the result obtained from Eq.32
' 6
.f = -a,, I, i- - K,,
=0 (35) is closed to that derived from Eq.42. For conven-
ience, Eq.42 can be also applied in the elastic zone to
where a,, and K,, are parameters that can be ex- keep the continuity at the interface of the elastic and
pressed by c ,p of the Mohr-Coulomb yielding crite- plastic zone, and it will introduce an insignificant er-
ria in the following form ror.
2 sin 9
ff,, =
&(3 + sin p)
3 CENTRIFUGAL MODEL TEST
Is,,= 6 ~COS. 9
f i ( 3 + sin p) 3 1 Proceedings of niodel test
Combining Eq 35 through Eq 37 with Eq 28, con-
sidering that for saturated clay, /3 = 1 , then The size of the calibration box is
41 5cn1x 23cn7 x 30cm The model scale adopted is
AJ/=/~.A~,,+cz I 1 = 20
To analyze the soil compaction effect of jacked
pile of different sizes, three kinds of diameters,
I1 = 20n7n1,30n?m and 50mm are tested at the de-
vised model scale, they can simulate piles of practical
in which a,. is the value of a -parameter at failure. diameters D = 400n1/71, 600mm and 1 OOOnini , re-
a,, , K,,are the material parameters in Drucker- spectively
Two types of ground soil are used in the tests, i e
PI-ager yielding criteria. For saturated clay, silty clay and clay The physical and mechanical
O<p < 30". It can be obtained from Eq.40 and property indexes can be obtained after the ground
Eq.41 that: soil is consolidated in the calibration box The
O<a<0.17, parameters are listed in table 1
0.86~ < K < 1 15c
The expression of Eq.40 can be simplified by Table 1. Phvsical and mechanical indexes of tlie soil
a(,= 0,K,, = 1 .Oc , which for p = 0 will introduce an Soil lY XUI IP e
insignificant error. In this way, the following expres- sc* 33.2% 19.5 kNin-' 14.2 0.85
Clay 31.1% 19.4 kNm-3 17.8 0.80
sion for initial excess pore pressure can be obtained
1 & Soil A, E., C' 40'
Ai/=,.AT,+---.a, .K,,
3 3 SC" 0.71 3.61 MPa 5 kPa 25"
Clay 0.62 3.43 MPa 15 kPa 28"
(* 'SC' in the table is substitute for 'Silty Clay'.)

258
 Six tests are conducted, three for silty clay and E=2.6MPu, pr=25",p: = 2 2 " , y ' = 9 . 7 k N l m 3 ,
three for clay test No 1 silty clay, the diameter of
the pile is D = 30nim. test No 2 silty clay, K = tg' (45 '' + '/2) = 2.46 ,Y,~,, = 19.5kN / nz3,
11 = 50mn?, test No 3 silty clay, D = 20mn?, test c = 15kPu, K(,=l-sinpr= 0 . 5 8 , c = 8 . 3 . Ac-
No 4 clay, D = 3 O m m , test No 5 clay, L) = 50mm,
test No 6 clay, D = 2 0 n m cording to table 2, a,=7.3, a2= 0.03, p = 2 . 6 5 ,
The pile is jacked in flight into the soil at a rate of Then Eq.43 changes into
2 5minIs to simulate the penetrating velocity of the 21,. = [(0.043 + 0.001~z)-O.O871nr] (42)
practical jacking The length of the pile jacked in the Radial displacements at depths 2.0m, 2.4m and
soil is 25cm Soil displacements and initial excess 3.0m are computed using Eq.44. Theoretical solu-
pore pressures are measured immediately after pile tions and experimental measurements are listed in ta-
jacking ble 3.

3 2 Aiinlysrs of 11, arid Air of centrrfiigal niodel

test., Table 3. The results of uVin test No. 1 (mm)
r= I= r= I = I =
z( Ill)
It is shown by the results of the centrifugal inodel 0.5In 0.9m 1.1111 l.5m 1.91~
tests that the radial displacement 11, is continuous in 2,0 Theor. 105 54 37 10 0
the elastic and plastic zones and it decreases with the Experi. 92 43 28 6 2
2,4 Theor. 106 55 37 10 0
increase of I' However, it is revealed by Eq 26 that Experi. 91 58 30 13 3
the expression of i i , at the interface of the elastic and 3,0 Theor. 106 55 38 11 0
plastic zone is different from that of Eq 11 in the Exoeri. 110 18 14 17 3
elastic zone, This will certainly result in a discontinu-
ity To avoid such a discrepancy, it can be assumed It can be seen from the table that the results ofu,
that the expression of 11, in both the plastic and elastic are in good agreement. In the zone adjacent to the
zones have the same form as that of Eq 27 By intro- pile shaft, for instance, r=0.5m in the above case, the
ducing amending coeficient a, ,a 2 ,p , and assuming difference may be significant, it is so because this re-
that there exists an initial earth pressure gion is in a plastic state; while in the zone that is far
q = (1 iXi,). 0,',,,/3, Eq 27 transforms into away from the pile shaft, for example, r=1.5m and
r=1.9m in this case, the difference is trivial. Thus the
calculation can provide substantial accuracy in the
elastic zone, which is very important in the prediction
of horizontal soil movement during pile jacking.
+p (2c - K,, R,,). 1n
y gq;,
I +] /%
. A,, (4 1) The agreement of the theoretical calculation and
experimental measurement is also shown in the ana-
in which a , , a3 and ,!I'
are coefficients that are re- lysis of test No.4 (Chen 1999). From the above
analysis, it is shown that the theoretical solutions de-
lated to the soil property and the pile diameter, and
they can be determined by centrifugal model tests. By rived from Eq.43 agree well with the experimental
analyzing the results of test No 2, No.3 and No.5, observation. Since parameters a, ,a2and fl can be
No 6, a,, a? and y for some occasions are listed in determined from tests or field measurements, Eq.43
table 2 is a practical form in the prediction of the radial dis-
placements of soil during pile jacking. If more tests
are carried out, more detailed information about a , ,
Tablc 2 Tlic \aluc for ainciidiiig factor a, ,a , ,P a , and can be obtained.
so11 a1 a2 P According to Eq.42 and the soil property indexes
listed in tablel, the theoretical solution for initial ex-
sc.H=12'%. cess pore pressure at depth z = 2.5mcan be ex-
7 0-7 s 0 02-0 01 2 1-2 7
J J , =S-9 pressed as
Cla! li =29%
6 2-6 s 0 10-0 12 18-15)
I,. =7-s
2.5 20 8
= 18 11n-+-+9.8 (43 1
The effectiveness of Eq 45 and a, ,a , and p can r I'
be examined by test No I and No 4 Take Test No I Theoretical solutions of A u at radius r=0.6m,
for example The soil is silty clay, lit,= 0 3/77 , the 1.2m and 2 l m can be derived from Eq.47. The com-
property indexes of the soil can be obtained from ta- parison of theoretical solutions to the experimental
ble 1 measurements is shown in Fig.3.

259

Fig.3 Test No. 1. distribution of initial excess
cxcess pore pressure at depth 2.5m
It can be Seen from the spatial analysis of the
above tests that, the value of the initial excess pore
pressure AI, and the radial displacement U , calculat-
ed fi-om the equations put forward in this paper are in
good agreement with those measured in the experi-
ment It is also shown by the spatial solutions that at
a certain depth, both AIIand 11, decreases logarithmi-
cally with the increase of the radial distance from the
pile axis, while at a certain horizontal radius, Air and
I / , may increase linearly in the vertical direction
However, it is impossible for hl and U , to increase
infinitely with depth, after reaching a maximum value
in the vicinity of the pile tip, hi will decrease until it
disappears at a certain depth below the pile tip This
phenomenon has been observed in field measuring
The reason lies in the fact that, the shape of the pile
tip is a cone, and soil is pushed outwards both in the
horizontal and vertical directions, accompanying with
a reversion of principal stresses at the pile-soil inter-
face around the pile tip The stress boundary condi-
tions shown in Eq 1 and Eq 2 are no longer satisfied,
thus resulting in a disharmony at this location HOW-
ever, it does not mean that the spatial solution put
forward in this paper is incorrect For most areas ex-
cept for those around the pile top and tip, the stress
boundary conditions are satisfied, and the solution is
Quite reasonable For the areas around the pile tip,
t'he discrepancy can be relieved by introducing the
amending factors.
4 CONCLUSIONS
By considering the change of internal pressure and
shaft friction in the vertical direction, spatial CEM
solutions for the radial displacement i i , and the initial
excess pore pressure Ail generated during pile jack-
ing are derived in this paper In comparison to the
solutions obtained under the plane strain assumption,
the spatial solutions can reflect the varying rule of zi,
and AI/ both in the horizontal and vertical directions
Centrifugal model tests in simulation of pile jacking
are conducted Based on the measurements of the
model tests, amending coefficients are introduced in
260
order to make the calculating of U , more rational and
more convenient. The spatial solutions are used to
analyze the results of centrifugal model tests, and the
values of the theoretical prediction correspond well
with those of the experimental measurements in most
areas along the pile length. It is also revealed that in
the upper part of the pile above the pile tip, the theo-
retical solutions are quite reasonable, while in the vi-
cinity of the pile tip, both expressions of z ~ , and
Aluneed to be refined. This problem, however, can
be solved by considering the reversion of the princi-
pal stresses in the vicinity of the pile tip. The results
of this paper can also be applied in such fields as the
analysis of pile driving, cone penetration and analo-
gous situations. The method presented in this paper
is convenient for practical prediction to engineers.
REFERENCES
Azzouz. A.S. & Morrison, M. J. 198s. Field measurements on
pile in two clay deposits. J. Geotech. Engrg. A.X.C.E.,
114(1): 104-121
Baligh, M.M. 1986. Undrained deep penetration, I : shear
stresses. Geotechnique, 36(4):471-4S5
Butterfield, R. & Banerjee, P.K. 1970. The effects of pore
water pressure on the ultimate bearing capacity of driven
piles. Proc. 2nd South East Asian Regional ConJ on Soil
Mech. and Found. Engrg.. Singapore:385-3 94
Carter, J.P. 1979. Stress and pore presure changes in clay
during and after the expansion of a cylindrical cavity. Int.
Jour. hhrn. andAnaly. Methods in Geomech., 31217-229
Chen, W. 1999. Pile jacked in saturated clay: mechanism of
penetration and soil compaction effect. hiE. ti7e.ri.r. Hohai
Univ., Nanjing, China.
Cooke, R.W. 1979, Jacked piles in London clay: a study of
load transfer and settlement under working conditions.
Geotechnique. 29(2):113-147
Heilkel, D.J. 1959. The relationships between the strength,
pore-pressure and volume change characters of saturated
clays. Geotechnique. 9(3): 119-135
Huiitsinan, S.R. & Mitcliell, J.K. 1986. Lateral stress nieas-
urement during cone penetration. In S.P. Clemence (ed.),
Use of in situ Tests in Geotech. Engrg., A.S.C.E., 617-
634. New York: N.Y.
Kulhawy, F H 1984. Liniiting tip and side resistance fact or
fallacy'? In Meyer,J.R. (ed.), Analysis and rlesign of pile
foimda[ions. A.S.C.E.. 80-98 New York: N.Y.
Lehane B.M. 1993, Mechanisms of shaft friction in sand from
instmmented pile tests. J. Geotech. Engrg. A.S. c'.E.
119(1): 19-35
Masood, T. & Mitchell. J.K. 1993. Estimation of in situ lateral
stresses in soils by cone-penetration test. J. Geotech.
Engrg.. .4.SC.E.. 119(8): 1624-1639
Randolph, M.F., Carter. J.P. & Wroth, C.P. 1979. Driven piles
in clay-the effects of installation and subsequent consoli-
dation. Geotechnique. 29(4):36 1-393
Vesic, A.S. 1972. Expansion of cavity in illfinite soil iiiass,
Jour. >SoilMech. Found. Div., ,4.JS.C.E.,
98(3):265-289
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)0 2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

A rational procedure for comparing measured and calculated values

in geotechnics

C. Cherubini
Istituto di GeologiaApplicata e Geotecnica, Politecnico di Bari, Italy
T.L.L.0rr
Trinity College, Universityof Dublin, Ireland

ABSTRACT: The evaluation of any geotechnical problem (bearing capacity, settlement, etc.) is strongly
affected by the presence of a number of uncertainties which may be grouped into the following separate
categories: uncertainties connected with the variability of the mechanical properties of soil due to the limited
number of samples tested and the natural variability of materials involved, uncertainties connected with the
calculation method used, and uncertainties connected with the unavoidable differences between the design
dimensions and properties. It has been shown that the reliability of calculation models may be assessed using
the synthetic probabilistic approach which is based essentially on comparison between in situ measurements
and calculations. Measured values Qmas can be compared with calculated values Qo1, using a factor, called
If a sufficiently large number of measurements is available,
the "bias factor" defined as the ratio of QcalJQmeas.
the bias factor values obtained using a particular calculation method can be processed to evaluate the
"accuracy" and "precision", by calculating a central tendency and a variability statistical parameter
espectively from the bias factor values. Two comprehensive statistical parameters, the RI and RD Indexes,
which are based on the central tendency and the variability, are shown to be useh1 for assessing the accuracy
and precision of a particular calculation method. Using the calculated and measured bearing capacities of
driven piles in NC clays, the accuracy and precision of the most frequently used pile driving formulae are
assessed by means of these parameters.

1 INTRODUCTION The second group of uncertainties can be

I n geotechnical engineering the evaluation of
bearing capacity and settlement is affected by a
series of uncertainties which may be grouped into:
- Uncertainties connected with the variability of the
mechanical properties of soils to be investigated.
This category includes uncertainties due to the
limited number of samples to be tested and the
natural variability of the materials involved.
- Uncertainties connected with the calculation
method used.
- Uncertainties connected with the unavoidable
differences between the design dimensions and
properties of structures in contact with soil and the
actual values.
The fwst group of uncertainties can be minimized
by means of adequate sampling and testing and by
the use of probabilistic design methods based on
knowledge of the variability of the mechanical
properties of soils. The third group of uncertainties
can be controlled by good construction methods and
good supervision.
managed by comparing calculated and measured
values of particular geotechnical quantities.
Unfortunately, at the moment such comparisons are
only possible for a limited number of cases as it is
difficult to find references in the literature to cases
with suitable data. In this paper some fundamental
concepts and definitions that are useful for
comparing calculated and measured values are
highlighted. To clarify the procedure, an illustrative
example, based on data for the bearing capacity of
driven pipe piles in cohesive soils (Ramey and
Johnson, 1979), is presented.
2 COMPARISON BETWEEN MEASURED AND
CALCULATEDVALUES
Having available a set of n calculated values (Qol,)
and the corresponding measured values (Qmeas).the
so-called "bias factor", K can be evaluated as:

261
 If a significant number of values is available, the
set of K values acquires the characteristics of a
random variable extracted fiom a population of all
the possible values of that factor. Clearly, if different
calculation methods are available, different sets of K
values can be calculated for a specific set of Qcalc
values. In this case. in order to determine which
calculation method best fits the measured values, it
is necessary, by analysing the different data sets, to
evaluate some suitable statistical parameters for use
in the comparison. This is the synthetic probabilistic
approach (Cherubini and Greco, 1997).
The "accuracy" of a calculation method can be
associated with the central tendency of the set of Figure 1. Contours of RI and RD plotted with
data. Hence the mean or the trimean of the data can respect to accuracy (mean value K) and precision
be used to provide an indicator of the accuracy. The (standard deviation K).
"precision" of a calculation method can be evaluated
by means of a measure of the dispersion of the An overall index that may be calculated to assess
examined set of data. Hence the standard deviation the accuracy and precision of a calculation method,
(SD) or the interquartile range, IQR can be used which takes into account the mean and the standard
successfully to indicate the precision (Velleman and deviation of K, is the so-called Ranking Index
Hoaglin 1981. Kotzias et al. 1990). The use of the (Briaud and Tucker 1988):
coefficient of variation, CV previously proposed by
Cherubini et al. (1995a and 1995b) to evaluate the
precision, should not be used because the CV is a
function of both the standard deviation and the mean
and hence the mean is considered twice.
A krther definition concerns the comparison where:
between more and less "conservative" methods.
p indicates the mean value
Whether one method is more conservative than
s indicates the standard deviation
another is assessed by comparing the frequency of
in is the Neperian (natural) logarithm.
the ratios Qcaf < 1 and Qca/ > I . The first A new index proposed by the authors for
Q I1lca\ Q meas assessing the accuracy and precision of a calculation
ratio is relevant for bearing capacity situations, i.e. method is the Ranking Distance, RD. As shown in
Qcalc < QI1ICa\, while the second ratio is relevant for the plot of central value (mean) of K versus scatter
settlement situations, i.e. Qcalc > Qmeas. (standard deviation) of K in Figure 1, the Ranking
It is possible, using the K values, to define a scale Distance is the distance of the point representing a
of conservatism or safety. For example a particular calculation method from the optimum
conservative method of calculating the bearing point characterized by the mean value K = 1 and
capacity could be defined as one having between 60 scatter SD = 0. This index can be determined fiom
and 80% of the values of K < 1, a very conservative the modulus of the vector connecting the two points:
method one having between 80 and 100% of K < 1,
while a method could be considered to be "neutral"
when between 40 and 60% of K < 1 and
unconservative or unsafe when less than 40% of K <
1.
Tan and Duncan (1991) and Berardi and
Lancellotta (1 994) use the term "reliable" when The RD index enables a method to be evaluated
evaluating calculated values. The Authors consider with regard to both accuracy and precision. Low RD
this term to be inappropriate because it could cause values correspond to calculation methods that have
conhsion with respect to more complex evaluations both high accuracy and high precision while high
of the "reliability" of a geotechnical structure based RD values correspond to calculation methods that
on probabilistic analyses. are either highly inaccurate or highly imprecise, or
both.

262
 Since the RD value is the distance of the point
representing a particular calculation method from
the optimum point on a graph of SD versus mean K,
contours of equal RD value plot as semicircles
around the optimum point, as shown in Figure 1.
However, due to the fact that the RI value is the sum
of the logarithm of the mean and SD of K, the
contours of equal RI for mean K values less than 1
plot as approximately diagonal lines orientated at
about 48" to the horizontal axis for RI = 0.25 to
about 54" for RI = 1.25 as shown by the RI contours
in Figure 1. Thus while the RI and RD values both
enable a method to be evaluated with regard to
accuracy and precision, the advantage of the RD
value compared with the RI value is that, being
equal to the distance from the optimum point, it is
simply represented graphically and also it gives
equal weighting to the accuracy and the precision.
The RI value, however, being based on a logarithmic
rather than a linear scale, gives a less favourable
rating to calculation methods that are equally
accurate and precise than does the RD value.
However, for methods that are very accurate, it gives
more weighting to the accuracy than the precision
compared with the RD index, while for methods that
are very precise, it gives more weighting to the
precision than to the accuracy. The comparison
between the RI and RD values is shown by the
contours of RI = 0.25, 0.50, 0.75,1.00 and 1.25 and
the contours of RD = 0.50 and 0.75 in Figure 1.
The difference in the RD and RI values is
demonstrated by examining the RD and RI values
for a number of calculation methods with different
accuracies and precisions. A highly accurate but
imprecise method, with mean K = 1.0 and SD =
0.50, has RD = 0.5 and RI = 0.59 (Point 1 in Figure
1). A highly precise but inaccurate method, with
mean K = 0.5 and SD = 0.0, has RD = 0.50 and RI =
0.69 (Point 2). The method having the same RD
value of 0.50 as the equally accurate and precise
method represented by Point 1 is found to be one
with mean K = 0.65 and SD = 0.35 (Point 3), while
the equally accurate and precise method having the
same RI value of 0.59 as the method represented by
Point I is found to be one with mean K = 0.77 and
SD = 0.23 (Point 4), i.e. the method represented by
the RI value has a higher accuracy and precision and
so is closer to the optimum point than the method
represented by the RD value.
Using the RI value, the highly accurate (mean K
= 1.0) but imprecise method that has the same RI
rating as the equally accurate and precise method
represented by Point 3 is found to be the method
represented by Point 5 with SD = 0.80. This is very
different from the method represented by Point 1
263
with SD = 0.5 using the RD index. Similarly the
highly precise (SD = 0) but inaccurate method that
has the same RI value as the equally accurate and
precise method represented by Point 3 is found to be
the method represented by Point 6 with mean K =
0.34, which is very different from the method
represented by Point 2 with mean K = 0.50 using the
RD index.
These comparisons show that, when comparing
two methods using the RD and RI values, the RD
index gives a more favourable rating than the RI
value to those methods that have equal accuracy and
precision while the RI value gives a more favourable
rating than the RD index to those methods that are
either very accurate or very precise. A consequence
of this is that, for methods with similar levels of
precision and high levels of accuracy, more weight
is given to the accuracy and less to the precision
when calculating the RI value than when calculating
the RD value. This implies that the RI index can be
misleading and may be unsafe and therefore the
Authors consider that the RD index is a more
rational and better parameter for comparing
calculation methods.
The direction of the RI3 vector, which can be
expressed by the angle the RD vector makes with the
horizontal axis indicates the relation between the
accuracy and the precision of a particular method.
The region which has its centre at the optimum point
in Figure 2 may be divided into the three zones
indicated by the different types of shading. The zone
represented by the 60' segment, with the vertical line
through the mean K value of 1 as its axis.
corresponds to values representing methods that are
more accurate than precise, the zones within the two
30' segments above the horizontal axis correspond
to values that are more precise than accurate, while
the segments between 30' and 60' above the
horizontal axis correspond to values representing
methods that have similar accuracy and precision.
3 THE PROCEDURE FOR COMPARISON
On the basis of the concepts and parameters
explained in the preceding section, the Authors
propose the following 5-stage procedure for
comparing two or more calculation methods with
respect to measured values. When n sets of data
values are available for m calculation methods:
1) Calculate the n Qca,JQIneasratios for the m
methods .
2) Calculate the statistical parameters of interest for
each of the m sets each of n data and plot the results
(histograms, box plots to identify outliers, mean
and/or trimean, standard deviation and/or
interquartile range).

Figure 2. Results for five pile driving methods
plotted with respect to the mean and standard
deviation of K and zones with different degrees of
accuracy and precision.
3) Plot the results on a mean-standard deviation
graph or a trimean-interquartile range graph..
4) Calculate the values of the RI and RD indexes.
5) Compare the results obtained using the different
calculation methods.
After updating the calculated results by means of
a Bayesian procedure (Cortellazzo and Mazzucato,
1998), using experience of the methods, return to
stage 3 and then calculate improved values of the
indexes.
4 EXAMPLE
The data selected for an example to demonstrate the
use of the Ranking Distance are those data relating
to the bearing capacity of steel pipe piles in cohesive
soils published by Ramey and Johnson (1979). The
measured bearing capacity values (in tons) are
presented in Table 1 together with the ratios between
the calculated values using the EN, MEN, Hiley,
Gates and Danish methods and the measured values.
The values of Naperian logarithm (In) for these
ratios are also given in Table 1.
The following results are reported in Table 2 for
each method:
- mean and standard deviation of K
- trimean and interquartile range of K
- mean and standard deviation of InK
- value of RI
- value of RD
- value of percent of K < 1.
264
Table 1. Measured pile bearing capacities and ratios
between calculated and measured values
MEN I I-IILEY I GATES I DANISIH I
118
, I , I I
1311 0.2708 0.926 4 0 7 7 0.514 -0665
1 1
0.5
1
-0693
1 1
1.115 0 1 0 9
MEN HILEY GATES DANISH
EN
The results in Table 2 demonstrate that:
- On the basis of the K values, the MEN, Hiley and
Gates methods are very conservative, as the
percentage of K values < 1 is greater than 80%,
while the EN and Danish methods are neutral, as
percentage of K values < 1 lies between 40% and
60%.
- The EN and Danish methods are characterized by
good accuracy, as demonstrated by the favourable
mean values of K (> 0.85) and InK (< - 0.3), and
also by the favourable trimean values of K (> 0.83).
- Regarding precision, the differences between all
the methods considered are small based on the
standard deviation values of InK, which range from
0.522 (most precise) for the Hiley method to 0.604
(least precise) for the EN method, but are larger, and
hence more significant, based on the standard
deviations of K, which range from 0.255 for the
Gates method to 0.476 for the EN method. The least
precise method, based on the Interquartile range,
however. is the Danish method with an IQR value of
0.755.
 Plotting the mean and standard deviation values
in Table 2 on Figure 2, it is can be seen that, from
the position of these values with respect to the zones
relating accuracy and precision, the EN and Danish
methods are more accurate than precise, whereas the
other three methods are similar with regard to
accuracy and precision.
When the methods are assessed on the basis of
the RD index, the Danish method is clearly the best,
with the lowest RD value of 0.412, followed by the
MEN method with a value of 0.465 and the EN
method with a value of 0.476. However, if the RI
value is used, the EN is found to be the best, with a
value of 0.780, followed by the Danish method with
a value of 0.861. The reason why the EN method is
best based on the RI value while the Danish method
is best based on the RD index is because, as noted
above, due to the logarithmic scale and the way the
accuracy and precision are combined. For methods
with similar levels of precision and high levels of
accuracy, more weight is given to the accuracy and
less to the precision when calculating the RI value
than when calculating the RD value. In the Authors’
view, the RD index, which gives equal weight to the
accuracy and the precision, is a better parameter for
comparing calculation methods.
5 CONCLUSIONS
A rational procedure, based on the use of both
conventional statistical parameters and a new
parameter called the Ranking Distance, has been
proposed for comparing calculated and measured
values in geotechnics. This parameter has been
shown to be better than the Ranking Index. An
example involving published data for the bearing
capacity of driven piles in normally consolidated
clays has been chosen to demonstrate the use of this
procedure. From the results obtained it is concluded
that, on the basis of this published data, the EN and
Danish methods, and to a lesser extent the MEN
method, seem to be accurate and sufficiently precise
calculation methods for determining the bearing
capacity of driven piles in normally consolidated
clays. However, the best method based on the
Ranking Distance, which takes account of both the
accuracy and the precision, is the Danish method.
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Berardi B., Lancellotta R. (1 994). Prediction of
settlements of footings on sand: accuracy and
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deformations of foundations and embankments.
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Cherubini C., Cucchiararo L., Orr T.L.L. (1995a).
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Cortellazzo G., Mazzucato A. (1998). Safety factors
with the use of pile driving formulae. Rivista
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Kotzias P.C., Stamatopoulos A.C., Kountouris P.J.
(1990). Exploratory graphics and geotechnical
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Li K.S., Lee I.K., Lo S.C.R. (1993). Limit state
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Ramey G.E., Johnson R.C. (1979). Relative
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Tan C.K., Duncan J.M. (1991). Settlement of
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This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds)0 2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Case study of a failed embankment with consideration of progressive failure

VChoa
Nanyang Technological University,Singapore
H. Hanzawa
Technical Research Institute, TOA Corporation, Yokohama,Japan

ABSTRACT: This paper presents failure investigation and inverse analysis of an embankment on a clay de-
posit that failed along a large-scale slip plane of over l OOm while a reclamation work was in progress in Sin-
gapore. From the evidences obtained from the field it was confirmed that the slip plane was different from
circular shape. The failure, which can not be explained by the analysis based on the peak shear strength, can
be characterized by two factors: 1) the clay at the site indicates higher brittle behavior than most clays in the
country, and 2) the project site has a natural slope in front of it. Detailed stability analyses were carried out
using the peak and residual strengths determined by recompression method using direct shear test. The result
of analyses suggested that a small circular failure with peak mobilized shear strength was initially developed,
and then quickly the slip plane progressed all the way through the slope in a chain reaction where residual
strength was mobilized.

1 INTRODUCTION as schematically shown in Fig. 1 . A big project start-

Massive reclamation projects have been progressed
to facilitate development of the existing island in
Singapore. Some of them are COnstructed on coral
sand islands which are commonly located on slopes,
ed in 1995 and completed in 1999 is also shown in
Fig. 1.
In order to make an early working base along
the coral sand island, higher dike was temporarily
constructed at the initial stage of the project, During
construction, a large scale slip suddenly took place.
A construction inspector, who was working on the
top of the dike, was witnessed throwing into the sea
just in a few seconds.
On the other hand, an extensive series of direct
shear test, DST using Mikasa’s apparatus (Mikasa,
1960) was carried out in the investigation stage of
the project to evaluate shear strength characteristics
of the clay through recompression method
(Jamilokowski et al, 1985). The results of DST indi-
cated that the clay at the project site was much more
brittle than the clays commonly found in the region.
In this paper the shear strength characteristics of
the clay at the project site are interpreted, and then
the detailed stability analyses considering the stress-
deformation characteristics are presented.

2 SHEAR STRENGTH CHARACTERISTICS OF

THE MARINE CLAY
Fig. 2 presents the relationship between the peak di-
rect shear strength, Su(d)P and effective overburden
stress, CY’~,, from recompression method. The sam-
Fig. 1. Location and topography of the project site.
ples were taken from the nearest borehole at the slip
plane.

267
 Hanzawa and Tanaka ( I 992) reported from com-
prehensive study of clays found in South East Asia
and Japan that Eq. (1 ) can be used in upper part of
the clay deposits:
where SU,,,= shear strength in-situ, S,,,,,,~= S,,!,, at
ground surface, = strength increment ratio In
normally consolidated state.
S,JO’\ = 0.28 was obtained from DST for the soft
marine clay at the site using samples brought to
normally consolidated state. Applying Eq.( 1) and
S,,,,/G’\= 0.28, the relationship between Sulr,,and din
can be expressed by Eq. (2) as indicated in Fig. 2.
S2,,,,)= 10 + 0.280’,., (kPa)
Fig. 2. Shear strength obtained from DST
Fig. 3. Stress-displacement curves obtained from DST
Fig. 3 shows stress-displacement curves obtained
from DST for the samples obtained above the as-
sumed slip plane. Remarkable reduction in stress
after the peak is observed in the curves for the sam-
ples taken from under -5m. On the other hand, re-
duction is negligible for upper two samples. It can
be concluded from the Figure that the soft marine
clay in the site is highly brittle and strain softening is
significant from the depth of -4m to -12m.
Fig. 4 presents the ratio of residual (S,,,,) and
peak (S,,,,) shear strengths versus depth. Shear stress
at 1.5mm after displacement of failure, D, is consid-
ered as residual strength (Dam et al. 1997), except
residual strength for the upper two samples being
determined at the maximum displacement in the test.
The average value of the strength ratio for the clay
from the depth of -4m down to -12m is 0.68.
3 ACTUALPLANE
(2) Fig. 5 illustrates the cross section of the slipped por-
tion before and after the failure occurred. The Figure
also shows the point resistance, qr from cone pene-
tration test (CPT) measured near the failed section
along with the drilling log obtained after the failure
at the center of the slipped zone.
4 STABILITY ANALYSIS WITH
CONSIDERATION OF PROGRESSIVE
FAILURE
Minimum factor of safety, FS,,,,,,for circular slip
from Eq. ( 3 ) , using peak shear strength,
plane, S,(mnb)
was calculated as follows:.
“~(nroh) “,{(d)[P] PR (3)
where pR = a correction factor for strain rate effect.
Analyses were conducted with the change of lR =
0.8, 0.9 and 1 .O, and the same circular arc was found
from the analysis to give FS,,,, for each value of pR.
The results are shown in Fig. 6. Although the Figure
shows that the FS,,,,,,of the embankment is close to
1.0, the size and shape of the arc slip plane is very
much different from the actual failure as compared
in Fig. 5. It is confirmed for this case study that
analysis based on S,,,,,,can not be adequate to explain
the actual behavior of the ground.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Depth (m)
Fig. 4. S,,,,IS,,,, obtained from DST versus depth
268
Fig. 5. Embankment before and after the failure.
Fig. 6. FS,,, for circular slip with peak shear strength
In order to realize the actual failure, the following
hypothesis on the mechanism of failure consists of
two stages is introduced. This hypothesis has con-
siderations for the brittle stress-displacement be-
havior of the clay and the topographic condition ,
i.e., existence of a natural slope in front of the em-
bankment.
1 ) First stage: Failure was initiated under the em-
bankment along the small circular slip plane
with FS,,,,,,close to 1 .O. Shear strength mobilized
along the failure plane, Su(nloh) should be Su,plfor
the first stage.
2) Second stage: Due to chain reaction and topog-
raphic condition, the failure plane progressed
rapidly through the mass of the clay deposit es-
pecially to the direction from under the em-
bankment to the natural slope in front of it, and
the S,,(,,,,,,,)should be somewhere between Sulpl
and SUlR1for the second stage.
Fig. 7. Circular and bi-linear slip planes used in the stability analysis to calculate FS,,,,,,
269
According to the above hypothesis, the failure
plane should have started from the back of the em-
bankment (land side) and tangent to the circular arc
which gives FS,,,,,,.FS,,,,, for the first stage was al-
ready presented in Fig. 6. Regarding these factors,
non-circular plane shown in Fig. 7 was introduced.1t
should be pointed out that the analysis of the non-
circular failure plane was carried out using the peak
shear strength for the upper most 2m of the marine
clay, since the reduction in stress after the peak was
negligible.
Fig. 8 shows the result of further analyses using
non-circular plane performed using Eqs. (4) and ( 5 ) .
The values of FSnli,,from both average and residual
strengths ranges from 0.85 to 1.2, while peak
strength gives FS,,,, greater than 1.17. The result of
the analyses in the Figure verifies the hypothesis
presented above.
(4)
5 CONCLUSIONS
A large non-circular slip took place for a temporary
embankment at the beginning of a reclamation proj-
ect, which was constructed on coral sand islands lo-
cated on slopes. Stability analysis was carried out
using the peak and residual direct shear strength SUlp,
and SulR,determined by the recompression method.
Fig. 8. Variation of Fs,,, for non-circular slip with pR using
different shear strength values

The result strongly suggested the mechanism of fail-

ure explained in the second stages as follows:

1. First stage: Failure was initiated under the em-

bankment along the small circular slip plane
with FS,,,,,,close to 1.0, and shear strength mo-
bilized Su[nlob]at this stage should be SUlpl.
2. Second stage: Due to chain reaction and topog-
raphic condition of the site, the failure plane
was progressed rapidly through the mass of the
clay deposit especially to the direction from un-
der the embankment to the natural slope in front
of it, and the Su,nlobl should be somewhat be-
tween SU,,,, And SUlR1in this stage.

It should also be pointed out that appropriate

evaluation of the shear strength of the clay on the
slope will be also an important subject. For this pur-
pose, such a simple investigation method like cone
penetration test on the slope is strongly hoped to be
done in routine work.

REFERENCES
Dam, T. K. L., Yamane, N., Hanzawa, H. and Por-
baha, A. 1997. Evaluation of progressive failure
of natural clay deposits. Proceedings of Interna-
tional S tnposium on deformation and
sive faizre in geomechanics. Elsevier
199-204.
~ I ? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hanzawa, H. and Tanaka, H. 1992. Normalized
undrained strength of clay in the normally con-
solidated state and in the field. Soils und Fozin-
d~tion.732 (1): 132-148.
Jamilkowski, M., Ladd, C. C., Germain, J. T. and
Lancellotta, R. 1985. New development in fielcJ
and laboratory testing of soils, Proceedings of 11
IC,'LTMFE 1 57-153.
Mikasa, M. 1960, Direct shear device newly devel-
oped. Proceedings of 15"' JSCE annual confer-
ence: 45-48 (in Japanese).

270
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15I I

On-line earthquake response tests on embankments based on clay foundation

T. Fujii - Fukken Company Limited, Hiroshima, Japan

M. Hyodo - Department of Civil Engineering, Yanzaguchi Universiv, Ube,Japan
S.Kusakabe - TechnicalResearch Institute, Okuniura Company Limited, Tsukuba, Japan
Y.Ymarnoto - TechnicalResearch Institute, Mitsui Construction Company Limited, Chiba, Japan

ABSTRACT: The present research aims at evaluating the displacement and grasping failure mechanism of em-
bankment on a saturated clay foundation caused by earthquake. From the results of dynamic centrifbgal
model tests carried out in the past, three zones can be recognized in the the failure mechanism of clay founda-
tion around embankment. The research in this paper is focussed on the zone that is contributing greatly to the
failure of embankment, and one dimensional on-line earthquake response tests were conducted for this zone
interconnecting the seismic response analysis with the element tests under the boundary condition of failure
pattern. The suitability of the assumed failure pattern is confirmed by comparing the response values of the on-
line earthquake response tests with those of the centrifbgal model tests. Moreover on-line earthquake response
tests were conducted using numerous input wave patterns and attempts were made to determine the cumula-
tive horizontal deformation of the embankment toe.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 CLASSIFICATION OF FAILURE PATTERN

The embankment structures constructed on soft allu-
vial foundation have suffered heavy damages during
Kushiro-oki Earthquake( 1993), Hokkaido-Nanseioki
Earthquake (1 993) and Hyogoken-Nanbu Eartquake
(1 995). Taking these experiences as opportunities,
numerous research works have been carried out with
regard to embankment constructed on sand founda-
tion. The results obtained from these research works
have been utilized in some design guidelines and
design procedures. On the other hand, the research
works on embankments constructed on clay founda-
tion are rather few and the present state of the art is
that their design procedures are almost unchanged
and similar to the conventional one. However, the
embankments on clay foundation have suffered dam-
ages to some extent by those large earthquakes de-
scribed above. Consequently it is highly desirable to
establish in the near fbture the design procedures for
the embankments on clay foundation as much as tho-
se for the embankments on sand.
The present research aims at conducting studies
on failure mechanism of embankments constructed
on soft clay foundation taking the past dynamic cen-
trifkgal model tests as the hypothesis. In that, at-
tempts were made to conduct on-line one dimension-
al earthquake response tests that interconnect the
direct shear soil tests with seismic response analysis
by the use of computer with a view to enhance pre-
cise studies of all failure mechanism of foundation
upon which embankment structures lay.
As to the model test on embankments with clay
foundation, the Public Works Research Institute of
the Ministry of Construction, has once conducted a
test under the centrifbgal forces of 50g (Tamoto et
al., 1997). In that test, an embankment with a height
of 2 m was constructed on a soft clay ground made
up of 5m thick soft alluvial clay under a l g field con-
dition. And 4 stages of excitations of the order of
100ga1, 200ga1, 300gal and 400gal were applied.
Fig. 1 shows the displacement condition before and
after the final excitation. From this figure it is learnt
that the behavior of foundation during earthquake is
different due to the relative position of foundation
with embankment; they are free zone, zone directly
under the embankment and zone around the em-
bankment toe. First of all, at the free zone of founda-
tion (Zone I), the residual displacement is hardly ob-
served after applying excitation and the zone is in a
sound state.
In contrast to this, at the zone directly under the
embankment (Zone 111), the residual deformations in
both the vertical and horizontal directions were built
up. On the other hand, a large residual horizontal
displacement occurs with increasing toward the free
zone along the line from top of slope to toe of slope
(Zone 11). And the pattern of this deformation due to
displacement is a circular shape as shown in Fig. I
Failure pattern, expected to be formed at each
zone, element condition, effective stress path and
stress-strain relationship all are shown in Fig.2.

27 1
 Original shape
Crd-ck
_. /
........................... \ c
............... ,
Deformed shape
: I
I /
/
/
/
/

.: /'
:-6.
Fig, 1 Result of dynamic centrifugal model tests

......
,_.."
...... Ii
Zone I II m
Position Horizontal ground Under toe of slope Under embankment 1
Failure model Cyclic shear failurc Sliding failure Shake down 1
I 0 vl

i
Condition o L
' ddJ+ T X Zd
e1ement (3 h2

Id

I
Developing ' t h e s t r a i n )eveloping the residual
amplitude ;train
Fig.2 Classification of failure modes

272
 From the model tests' deformation pattern shown
in Fig.2, it is learnt that among all the zones have Numerical m o d eCanlrol and mcarurmicni
l e

been classified above, Zone 11, having the highest

Layer i
residual displacement, seems to be contributing to I+I
- , On-line tseting Accg
I
FI-P
: 4 T I /I+----+ 1 .
the failure of embankment. Moreover, the authors
(Hyodo et al. 1999) pointed out from the results of
numerous laboratory tests that the clayey ground is
prone to cyclic shear failure mainly because of a high
initial shear stress of the foundation around the Base

structure. Consequently, Zone I1 was given a hll at- Fig.3 Conceptual flow for on-line testing
tention and also subjected to earthquake response
tests to study the failure mechanism of the founda-
tion around the embankment structure.

3 SUMMARY OF ON-LINE EARTHQUhKE

RESPONSE TEST

In on-line earthquake response tests, a computer-run

seismic response analysis and pseudo-dynamic load-
ing test to estimate the restoration force of materials
are combined by computer on-line data processing
system. According to this method, a seismic response
analysis was made possible to enable us to evaluate
the real behavior of soil without relying on compli-
cated structural equations of soil. Kusakabe et a1 Fig.4 On-line testing model
(1999) developed an on-line testing system of 6-
degrees-of-freedom using a 6 series hollow torsional
shear apparatus and studied the earthquake behavior Here in this study, the total on-line tests for a
of the horizontal saturated sand deposits. Moreover multi-layered subsoil shall lead not only to a compli-
the group conducted tests by developing a simplified cated test procedure but also to an increased cost of
simple shear apparatus that makes the manipulation the system. Hence, in the tests conducted in this re-
easier (Kusakabe et al., 1999). search, the shear stresses were determined for only
These tests did aim at investigating one- the layer element section where a large deformation
dimensional behavior of horizontal ground. However was expected, and for other layers, a substructure
the present research scrutinized the two dimensional method was applied by obtaining the shear stresses
behavior of the embankment and the foundation by through the use of a numerical model.
carrying out on-line tests. The general concept of
on-line earthquake response tests when applied to
the subsoils is shown in Fig.3. First of all, the layers 4 TESTPARAMETERS
under analysis was transformed into a lumped-mass The test section subjected to the analysis is the same
model, and an earthquake motion was input from its section that has been used in the dynamic centrihgal
base. And the equation of motion of the lumped mass model tests conducted by the Public Works Research
model was solved by a computer and the response Institute of the Ministry of Construction. The pattern
displacements were determined. Afterward the shear of the section and the soil layer classification are
strain forces that were equivalent to the predeter- shown in Fig. 4. Here in this study, the analysis was
mined displacements were applied to the soil speci- carried out by dividing the section under scrutiny
men. And using the automatically measured shear into four layers S1 - S4 as shown in Fig.4.
stresses, the next step's response displacement was
In the tests, the layer that was highly expected to
computed. This process of computation was repeat-
undergo a large deformation during applying excita-
ed continuously during the period of repeated earth-
tion is the upper clay layer that is close to the em-
quake motion. This means that the nonlinear shear
bankment as is obvious from the deformation pattern
stresses of the soil that changes with the change of
shown in Fig.1. Therefore this upper clay layer (S2)
time was directly determined from the specimen of
was taken as an on-line layer and the other layers
the element tests and these were inter-related with
namely the embankment layer (SI), lower clay layer
the response analysis on a line of computer. Thus this
(S3) and sand layer (S4) were brought under test as
method simulates the behavior of the foundation
non-linear elastic elements. And the section subjected
during earthquake.
to close analysis was a two-dimensional one. The

273

tests on this section were conducted by transforming
the section into one dimensional element type model
as shown in Fig.4. The initial shear stress was gener-
ated on and around the toe of the slope due to the
dead weight of the embankment. Taking that fact
into consideration, a static slip circle analysis was
conducted to find out the average shear stresses
acting at around the toe of the slope, and with these
stresses applied in advance at the test specimen un-
der drained condition, on-line tests were carried out.
274
Fig.5 Input acceleration and responding acceleration
The specimen that was used for testing was an
Arakawa clay (Gs:2.622, wn:51%, I,: 17, C,/p':0.52)
that was remolded by a pre-consolidation pressure of
o',=SOWPa and it was the same clay test sample that
was used dynamic centrifkgal model tests. The other
testing and analyzing parameters were set up based
on the results, obtained from centrihgal model tests.
Moreover the input acceleration waveforms were of
three types, namely vibrational-type wave, shock-
type wave and sinusoidal wave. These acceleration
waveforms were used in centrifbgal model tests. And
the earthquake forces were applied from the lower
edge of sand layer.
5 BEHAWOR OF CLAY UNDER VARIOUS
WAVE PATTERNS
The input wave patterns and the response accelerat-
ed wave patterns at each element point that were
obtained when on-line response tests were conducted
under the maximum acceleration degree of amax
=200Gal are shown in Fig. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) for
the vibrational-type wave, the shock-type wave and
the sinusoidal wave respectively. From this figure, it
is confirmed that the wave period is lengthened at the
upper clay layer for any type of wave pattern. When
each response values are investigated, all wave pat-
terns tend to amplifL at the embankment section
(S l), but they were not amplified nor damped at sand
layer (S4) and clay layers (S2, S3).
 This tendency coincides with the results of accel-
eration degree that were obtained from the dynamic
centrihgal tests. Fig.6 shows effective stresses paths
for acceleration waveform patterns those are similar
to that used in Fig.5, and Fig.7 shows the relation-
ship between shear stress and shear strain. The Criti-
cal State Line (CSL), obtained from static tests, is al-
so shown in Fig.6. From these figures, it is learnt that
as a result of cyclic shear stresses, the effective stress
path has gone up to the vicinity of the critical state
line for all types of accelerated waveform pattern.
And it is also confirmed that the residual shear strain
tends to be largely seen in the direction where the
initial shear stresses are acting. This tendency coin-
cides with the result of occurrence of a large shear
deformation at around the toe of the embankment in
the dynamic centrifbgal tests. This suggested indi-
rectly the fact that an injurious deformation took
place during earthquake at around the structure
where initial shear stresses are acting even if it was
lying on a clay foundation.
6 COMPARISON OF DEFORMATION
QUANTITY
Fig.8 shows the result of comparison of the on-line
layer's horizontal displacement that was obtained
Fig.6 Effective stress paths
Fig.7 Stress-strain relations
275
from the on-line earthquake response tests, conduct-
ed in the present research, and the result of l g grav-
ity conversion of the toe-of-slope's horizontal dis-
placement after excitation in the dynamic centrifbgal
model tests. From this figure, it is learnt that the on-
line earthquake response tests produced an over-
estimated result larger than that obtained by the dy-
namic centrifbgal model tests. As to the difference of
residual deformation due to the difference of wave-
forms pattern, the qualitative approach was quite
successfbl. The following two factors were consid-
ered to be the reasons why the residual deformation
quantity of the on-line earthquake response tests
differed from that of the dynamic centrifbgal model
tests. One factor is that the dynamic centrifbgal
model tests were conducted under a high
frequency excitation of 60 Hz as the latter is under
the centrifbgal field of 50g and the other factor is
that the strain velocity input to the test specimen was
rather slow due to the limited capacity of the test ap-
paratus, used in the on-line earthquake response
tests.
7 CONCLUSION
1. The acceleration waveforms pattern, obtained in
the on-line earthquake response tests, were com-
paratively in conformity with those, obtained from
the dynamic centrifugal model tests.
2. A large shear deformation that was observed
around the slope toe of the embankment in the dy-
namic centrihgal model tests was also confirmed by
the results from th-e on-line earthquake response
tests. This fact suggested indirectly that an injurious
deformation took place during earthquake even in
the case of clay foundation.
3. The deformation that occurred in the on-line
earthquake response tests was observed to be higher
when compared with the result, obtained from the
dynamic centrihgal model tests. Thus it was possible
to grasp qualitatively the difference of deformation
due to the difference of waveform pattern.
From the foregoing results, it is to be concluded
that the method, stated in this research, is considered
to be an efficient tool to predict the during-
earthquake behavior of the embankment on a soft
clay foundation.
Fig.8 Comparison between results of on-line tests
and results of measured centrihgal model tests of
toe-of slope’s horizontal displacement
276
REFERENCES
Tamoto, S., Matsuo, 0. & Shimazu, T 1997.
Dynamic centrifugal model tests for embankment
on clay ground (part2), Proc. of 32th Japanese
National Soil Mechanics Research Meeting,
JSSMFE: 1021- 1022(in Japanese).
Hyodo, M., Hyde, A.F.L., Yamamoto, Y. &
Fujii, T 1999. Cyclic shear strength of undis-
turbed and remoulded marine clays, Soils and
Foundations, 39(2): 45-58.
Kusakabe, S., Morio, S. & Arimoto, K 1990.
Liquefaction phenomenon of sand layers by using
on-line computer test control method, Soils and
Foundations, 30(3): 174-184.
Kusakabe, S., Morio, S., Okabayashi, T., Fujii T.
& Hyodo, M 1999. Development of a simplified
simple shear apparatus and its application to
various liquefaction tests, Journal of Geotechni-
cal Engineering, JSCE, 6 17(III-46): 299-304(in
Japanese).
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

A numerical model for consolidation based on microscopic consideration

S. Fukuhara
Graduate School of Science and Engineering,Kagoshima University,Japan
H. Shikata
Local Governmentof Sasebo-Ci& (FormerlyGraduate School of Science and Engineering,Kagoshima University,
Japan)
R. Kitamura
Department of Ocean Civil Engineering,Kagoshima Universig,Japan

ABSTRACT: A numerical model for one-dimensional consolidation is proposed based on some microscopic
consideration in particle size. In the proposed model, the volume change in pore water due to the dissipation
of excess pore water pressure is calculated as the primary consolidation behavior by the numerical model for
voids. The numerical experiment is carried out to investigate the one dimensional consolidation behavior by
the numerical model. On the other hand the one dimensional consolidation test on volcanic ash clay is carried
out by the separate type’s oedometer testing apparatus, which is manufactured in our laboratory. The distribu-
tion of excess pore water pressure in the specimen and its change with time are investigated. The test results
are used to examine the validity of proposed model by comparing the numerical results with those of oedome-
ter test.

1 INTRODUCTION by a part of pipe and other impermeable part as

Kitamura et al. (1998) proposed a numerical model
for the seepage behavior of unsaturated & saturated
soil based on the mechanical and probabilistic con-
sideration in particle size. Here it is called Kitamura’s
model for Seepage. The unsaturated and saturatccl
permeability coefficient can be calculated by Kita-
rnura’s model. The primary consolidation behavior is
considered to be the volume change due to the dissi-
pation of excess pore water pressure, i.e., the com-
pression behavior due to the drain of pore water
caused by the distribution of excess pore water pres-
sure.
In this paper an attempt is made to apply Kita-
mura’s model to analyze the primary consolidation
behavior of saturated soil.
shown in Fig. l(b). The diameter D and inclination
angle of pipe 8, and the height DH of element are
the model parameters which can express the condi-
tion of element as shown in Fig. l(a).
In Kitamura’s model the diameter D and inclina-
tion angle of pipe 6 ‘ are regarded as random vari-
ables, and the probability density functions of D and
8 are used to estimate the unsaturated-saturated
permeability characteristics.
Then the void ratio and permeability coefficient
are derived as follows.

2 NUMERICAL SIMULATION
2.1 Kitarnurn s Model for Seepage
Soil is generally a multi-phased material which is
composed of soil particle (solid phase), pore water
(liquid phase) and pore air (gas phase). The soil
structure and the void distribution in soil are random
and difficult to be estimated quantitatively because
the shape and size of soil particle are irregular. Con-
sequently the soil structure and the distribution of
voids in soil are random. Then the probabilistic con-
sideration should be introduced to estimate them in
soil. Fig. l(a) shows an element in which a few soil Fig. 1 Modeling of soil element
particles are included. This condition can be modeled

277
where D=m corresponds to the saturated condition
for permeability coefficient.

Yamaguchi et aL(1992, 1993) carried out the ex-

periment to investigate the void distribution of clay
and obtained the result that the void distribution may
be expressed by two logarithmic normal distributions.
Referring to this result, the following equation is Fig.2 Probability density function of Pc( 6’)
used as the probability density function of p d ( D ) .

where pd@): probability density function for

macro-pore,
pdz(D): probability density function for
micro-pore,
R mean value of p.d.f. for macro-pore,
/i 2: mean value of p.d.f. for micro-pore.
y 1: standard deviation of p.d.f. for
macro-pore,
y 2: standard deviation of p.d.f. for
micro-pore.

Fig. 3 Change in excess pore water pressure with

time

Vni
Pc( 8)is assumed to be a shape of pentagonal as
shown in Fig. 2. Then the probability density functi-
i
(m+lPayer
on can be expressed by the following equation. m-la yer
I
r r

“m-1 (m-1)-layer

Fig. 4 Flow of pore water through adjacent layers

Where a=l for - ~ J 2 6 5 SO,
a=-I for 0 5 B 5 ~ 1 2 ,
[c : height of Pc( 0 ) at @ = 2 ~ 1 2 .
The height DH of element in Fig. 1 is assumed to be
same as Dlo (diameter finer than 10 %) obtained
from the grain size distribution curve.
2.2 Modeling of otie dimensional Consolidation
Figure 3(a) shows the excess pore water pressure
head just after the load increment A p is applied to
the specimen which is equilibrium under the load of
p. The height of pressure head is same for each layer
of the specimen. Figure 3(b) shows the excess pore
water pressure head after a while. The pore water is
drained from the top layer and thc pore water pres-
sure head is distributed in the specimen.
Figure 4 shows any three adjacent layers in Fig.
3(b). The volume of pore water flowed from the m-
th layer to the (mt1)-th layer in the time increment
At is calculated by using Darcy’s law as follows.
V,,,, = k, i, S At (7)
Where Vmw:Volume of pore water flowed from the
m-th layer to the (m+l)-th layer in the time
increment At,
k,: permeability coefficient of the m-th layer,
i,: hydraulic gradient of tile ni-th layer,
S: cross section area of specimen,
A t : time increment.
The volume change of the m-th layer due to thc
drainage of pore water is expressed by the following
equation.
Where A Vmw:Volume change of the m-th layer in
time increment At.
The change in pore water pressure during the time
increment A t is assumed to be expressed by the fol-
lowing equation.
(9)
where ( AP,),: change in pore water pressure from
time ‘j’to time ‘(j+l)’,
( A Vmw),:change in volume of the m-th layer
from time ‘j’to time ‘(j+l)’,
(Kne),:volume of void in the ni-th layer at
time ‘j’,
( AP):total stress increment.
Using Eq.(9), the pore water pressure at time ‘j’ is
obtained by the following equation.
(10)
3 CONSOLIDATION TEST BY SEPARATE
TYPE-OEDOMETER
3.1 Apparatus
Figure 5 shows the separate type-oedometer testing
apparatus. This apparatus was made by our labora-
tory, referring to that developed in the Yokohama
National University (Imai and Tang, 1992). The
separate type-oedometer testing apparatus is com-
posed of three consolidation cells inter-connected
with each other. In each cell a standard oedometer
consolidation ring is set. The size of each specimen
is G cm in diameter and 1 cm in height, i.e., the height
of total specimen is 3 cm with single drainage. Three
consolidation cells are named No.1, 2 and 3 as
shown in Fig.5, where the upper end of No.1 cell is
the drained boundary. Axial load is applied by sup-
plying air pressure to the cell. The volume of pore
water drained from the specimen is measured by an
electric balance installed in a pressure chamber. The
axial compression of each specimen is measured by a
non-touched laser displacement device. The pore
water pressure in each specimen is measured by the
pressure transducer which is set under the pedestal of
each cell. The data obtained by the consolidation test
are automatically acquired and processed by a per-
sonal computer. Furthermore, the test procedure is
controlled by the personal computer.
279
Fig. 5 Separate type-oedometer testing apparatus
Fig. 6 Grain size distribution curve of volcanic clay
3.2 Material and Test Procedure
The material used is a volcanic clay which was sam-
pled at Harihara, Izumi-City Kagoshima Prefecture.
The physical quantities are listed in Table 1 and the
grain size distribution curve is shown in Fig.6
The material sampled as several blocks was ini-
tially soaked in water to be the water content of
about 200 %. Then the slurry is poured into the pre-
consolidated cell, de-aired and consolidated to get
the self-su orted specimen under the pressure of
P
19.6 kN/m . The self-supported specimens are set in
three consolidation cells and one-dimensional con-
solidation test is started. The back pressure of 98
kN/m2 was applied to ensure saturation of specimens.
Loading stage is same as that of standard oedometer
test, i.e., load increment ratio ApIp=l, the time of
one loading stage is 24 hours and the loading pro-
ceeds to the 4th stage of 314 kN/m2.
3.3 Test Results
Figure 7 shows the relation between the axial strain
and elapsed time obtained by the loading stage of
157 kN/m2. Consolidation initiates at the drained
side cell of No.1, followed by the intermediate cell of
No.2 and the undrained side cell of No.3. The final
axial strain is largest at the drained side of No.1 cell,
which proves the distribution of excess pore water
pressure in the specimen for the standard oedometer
test.

Fig. 7 Relation between axial strain and elapsed t h e
(157 kN/m2)
Fig. 8 Relation between excess pore water pressurc
rate and elapsed time (157 kN/m2)
Model for voids
Fig. 9 Flow chart of the calculation procedure
Figure 8 shows the relation between the excess
pore water pressure rate and elapsed t h e . The dis-
sipation rate of excess pore water pressure is the lar-
280
gest at No.1 cell, which is followed by No.2 and
No.3, and the dissipation time is also the shortest at
No.1 cell.
Table 1 Physical quantities of volcanic clay
1 Density of soil particle Ps(g/cm3) [ 2.76 I
Table 2 Values of model parameters and experi
mental condition
4 NUMERICAL SIMURATION
Figure 9 is the flow chart of the calculation proce-
dure in the numerical simulation. The values of
model parameters and condition for simulation are
listed in Table 2. The height of element in Fig.l(b) is
same as Dlo obtained from Fig.6. The variances in
Eqs. (4)and ( 5 ) are obtained by the assumption that
the coefficient of variation are same as that of grain
size distribution. The mean value 2 in Eq.(5) for
micro-pore is assumed to be 1/100 of that in Eq.(4)
for macro-pore. The mean value 12 in Eq.(5) is re-
versely obtained so that the initial void ratio for
simulation is same as that of the specimen for sepa-
rate type-oedometer test.
According to the proposed model the numerical
simulation can be carried out by using the grain size
distribution curve and several physical quantities for
pore water.
Figure 10 shows the relation between axial strain
and elapsed time obtained by numerical simulation
and consolidation test. Figure 11shows the change in
the distribution of excess pore water pressure with
time obtained by numerical simulation and consoli-
dation test. It is found out from Figs. 10 and 11 that
the proposed numerical simulation method can fol-
low the one dimensional conso~idation be-
havior of clay qualitatively.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to

Prof. Imai and the later Associate Prof. Pradhan for
their valuable advice and support concerning the
making of separate type-oedometer testing appara-
tus.

001 01 1 10 100 1000 REFERENCES

Elapsed Time (min )
Imai, G. & Tang, X.Y. 1992. A constitutive equation of
Fig. 10 Relation between axial strain and elapsed one-dimensional consolidation derived from inter-
time obtained by numerical experiment and consoli- coiuiected tests. Soils and Foundations, 32(2):83-96.
dation test Kitamura, R., Fukuhara, S., Uemura, K. & Seyarna, M.
1998. A numerical model for seepage through unsatu-
1
rated soil. Soils and Foundations, 38(4): 261-265.
Loadlng Stage 7 s 45 156 9 1 kNim
Elapsed Time (sec )
Yaniaguchi, H., Hashizume, Y. & Ikenaga, H. 1992.
-=-O -@-XI -A-U -v-300 --+-600 - --lEM) Change in pore size distribution of peat in shear proc-
-X-3600 -+-7200 ---216W - I -66400(37570) esses. Soils and Foundations, 32(4): 1-16.
Yamaguchi, H. and Ikenaga, H. 1993. Utilization of mer-
cury intrusion porosimetry apparatus for evaluation of
soil structure. Tsuchi-to-Kiso, 41(4): 15-20 ( in Japa-
nese).

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.6 1.0

U/AP
Fig. 11 Change in the distribution of excess pore
water pressure with time obtained by numerical
simulation and consolidation test

5 CONCLUSIONS

The consolidation test on a volcanic clay was carricd

out by the separate type-oedometer testing appara-
tus. The numerical simulation was also carried out
based on Kitamura’s model for seepage. The pro-
posed numerical simulation method can simulate the
primary one dimensional consolidation behavior of
clay qualitatively.
This research work may bc regarded as thc first
step to establish a consolidation theory based on the
discontinuous mechanics. In the proposed niodcl the
unsaturated condition can casily be taken account of,
which means the model is promising to bc developed
for the synthetic soil mechanics.

281
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 157 1

Soil nailed structure in soft clay

Lang Gao, Kang-He Xie & Hong-Wei Ying
Department of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University,Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China

ABSTRACT: Soil nailed structure has been proved to be a type of economical and effective excavation support
system and played an important role in geotechnical engineering. But it is mostly used in such type of soil as sand,
silt and stiff clay and seldom used in soft clay, especially in saturated mucky clay. In this paper, two soil nailed
structures recently constructed in soft clay in China are introduced. A new method so-called Secondary Grouting is
applied in one of the projects firstly. The result of the field pull-out test indicates that the new technique can increase
the lateral resistance of bars efficiently. The horizontal displacements are measured during construction. It has been
shown that the critical factors affecting the horizontal displacement and stability of the structure are the design pa-
rameters, the excavation sequence, the excavation depth and the construction time. It is important to set the steel bar
in time after excavation to decrease the horizontal displacement. Finally, the conclusion is drawn that soil nailed
structure can be used in soft clay.

1 INTRODUCTION provides actual information relating to the stability of

Soil nailed structure is a relatively new type of retaining
structure, which has been well developed in the last two
decades and used widely in many countries (Shen et a1
1981, Bruce and Jewel1 1983, Gassler 1990, Milligan
and Tei 1998). In China, the first soil nailed structure
was constructed in 1982 in the slope project of Liu
Wang Coal Mine in Shanxi province. Since then, soil
nailed structure has been widely applied in many
provinces and cities of China, such as Beijing,
Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hangzhou, and produced
good results not only in service but also in economy
(Chen and Cui 1997, Gao 1998, Wang and Gao 1999,
Li et a1 1999). But up to now, the use of soil nailed
structure is almost limited in such type of soil as sand,
silt and stiff clay, and seldom used in soft clay, espe-
cially in saturated mucky clay because of the low
strength of the soil. It has been argued for many years
by geotechnical engineers that if soil nailed structure
can be applied in soft clay.
Recently, two soil nailed structures were constructed in
soft clay in two coastal cities of China. In one of the
projects, a new technique so-called Secondary Grouting
is applied firstly in China. The advantage of the new
technique, according to the results from field pull-out
test, is to increase the lateral resistance efficiently. As
one of the important features of soil nailed structure, it
is convenient to adjust design parameters during exca-
vation to make design more rational and to safeguard
the stability of construction. Field monitoring that
the structure is thus necessary. In both of the two cases,
field measurements of the horizontal displacements of
the soil nailed structures were carried out. To ensure the
measurement faster and correct, the software JKJC (Xie
et al, 1997) was used in field data processing. All above
are introduced and discussed in this paper.
2 THE CASE IN SHANGHAI
The construction site is located in Minhang district in
Shanghai. The excavation site can be divided into three
areas according to three separate excavation depth (i.e.
4.lm, 5.2m and 7.lm respectively). Steel bars are in-
serted along the boundaries of excavation. The
parameters of physical and mechanical properties of
soils are listed in Table 1. The typical section of the soil
nailed structure is shown in Figure 1. The ground water
level is 0.65-1.30m to the ground surface. Well point
drainage is adopted during excavation to reduce water
pressure. The forepoling bolts are set to avoid deep
slipping. The external and internal stability of this soil
nailed structure is calculated, which indicates that both
of them can meet the need. The horizontal displacement
of the soil nailed structure and the surface settlement
are measured during excavation. The main measure-
ment results in the area of 7.Im excavation depth are
listed in Table 2. From the table, we can see that:
1. The maximum horizontal displacement at the ground
surface is 18.4 mm, which is only about 0.26% of the

283
depth of excavation. At the bottom of the excavation,

f
the relevant horizontal displacement is 1 1.1 mm. These otcrete
3
show that the soil nailed structure is safe and the sup- -
port system of excavation is effective.
2. When two soil layers were excavated but the second 110-
-
row of steel bars were not installed yet, the maximum ....
0

lateral displacements were 5.26 mm at the ground sur-

face and 4.79 mm at the depth of 2.2 m. This shows that
the displacements are greater than those expected. 3

Therefore, the design parameters were adjusted and

some measures were taken to safeguard the soil nailed
structure. The steel bar was lengthened to 13 m (the
original one is 11 m in length) and installed as soon as
possible. The forepoling bolts were inserted ahead of
previous schedule. The final results indicate that these
measures are effective.
3. The horizontal displacement is not only affected by
parameters of support system but also affected by the
sequence of excavation, the excavation depth of each
stage and the time of installing the steel bars. The sta- Figure 1. The typical section of soil nailing in Shanghai
bility of each construction stage is very important to
soil nailed structure because it is the most dangerous
when soil is excavated to a certain depth but bars are
not inserted yet at each stage. Consequently, it is neces-
-0.50111
' 1000 1720

sary to calculate stability at every stage to ensure safety

and special attention should be paid to the excavation
sequence and the stage excavation depth.

3 THE CASE IN HANGZHOU

The site is located in the Xiacheng district in Hangzhou.

The depth of excavation is 4.3 meters. The parameters
of physical and mechanical properties of soils are listed
in Table 3. The ground water table is 1 meter to the
-4.80111
natural ground. The surcharge is 20 kPa. The typical 4
-
section of excavation support system is illustrated in
Figure 2. Groundwater control systems are installed
behind the soil nail/shotcrete wall to decrease the Figure 2. The typical section of soil nailing in Hangzhou
groundwater level during construction. In order to in-
crease the lateral resistance between the grouting and
soil, a new method so-called Secondary Grouting is
used in this project firstly. This method can be de-
scribed as follows:
a. Drilling hole
b. Grouting and cleaning the hole(exchanging the slur-
ry for the grout )
c. Blocking the hole and performing the secondary
grouting.
T i check the effectiveness of the new technique, the
field pull-out test was carried out. The test results indi-
cate that the lateral resistance of bars using this method
increased 20% or more.
During construction, nine inclinometer guide tubes
are installed to measure the horizontal displacement
and referred to as I1 to I9 respectively. The measured Figure 3. The horizontal displacement from I3 (3/15/99-4/16/99)
data via inclinometer is processed and plot into diagram
immediately by the software JKJC installed in note-
book computer (Xie et al, 1997). The observed results
from guide tube I3 are illustrated in Figure 3 to Figure 6.

284
Figure 4. The horizontal displacement from I3 (4/16/99-5/02/99) Figure 5. The horizontal displacement from 13 (5/02/99-5/14/99)

Average thickness Unit weight Friction angle Cohesion

Soil name
(m) y( kN/m3) ("1 (kPa)
Plain fill 1.01 20.0 15.5 16.0
Silty clay 1.12 18.9 10.7 11.5
Mucky silty clay 0.75 18.0 10.3 10.0
Silty sand 0.25 19.3 25.0 5.0
Muckyclay ~ 0.55 18.0 13.0 10.0
Sandy silt 1.95 19.2 22.1 6.8
Mucky silt 5.80 11.2 9.4 8.4

Table 2 Measured horizontal displacement

Measured horizontal displacement in
uepth of excavation Finial horizontal displacement after
each construction stage before installing
(m) completing construction (mm)
steel bars (mm)
0 5.26 18.4
1.1 3.55 13.5
2.2 4.79 -

3.3 0.62 12.5

4.4 0.38 12.3
5.5 1.9 -
6.6 1.8 __
7.1 0.3 11.1

Average thickness Unit weight Friction angle Cohesion Lateral resistance

Soil type
(m) y( kN/m3) ("1 (@a) (Wa)
Phin fill 17 18 5 15 0 150 41)
Alluvial soil 0.5 17.0 5.0 5.0 15
Silty clay 1.7 19.5 14.3 10.5 60
Sandy silt 1.5 19.3 25.0 15.0 60

From these figures, it can be seen:
1.The horizontal displacement increases gradually
during construction and the maximum displacement is
39.lmm, which is 0.91% of the excavation depth. The
ratio is greater than the one of the case in Shanghai. The
most important reason is that the total constructiontime
of the case in Hangzhou is 89 days, while the one in
Shanghai is only 24days. The longer construction time
result in greater displacement because of the creep of
soft clay.
2. The maximum horizontal displacement occurs near
the excavation bottom during construction. Accord-
ingly, if some measures can be used to control the dis-
placement at the bottom, the maximum horizontal dis-
placement of the whole support system will be de-
creased. For instance, the forepoling bolt is just an effi-
cient method, which has been used in the case in
Shanghai.
4 CONCLUSION
The following conclusions may be drawn fi-om the
study:
1. As a type of economical and effective excavation
support system, Soil nailed structure has been used
widely in sand, silt and stiff clay. The two projects in-
troduced demonstrate that soil nailed structure can also
be used in soft clay.
2. It is very important to measure the displacement,
adjust the design parameters, adjust excavation se-
quence and the excavation depth of each construction
stage during construction. Soil nailed structure makes
these possible and simple.
3. A new method so-called Secondary Grouting is
applied firstly in China which can increase the lateral
resistance of bars efficiently.
4. The horizontal displacement is not only affected by
parameters of support system but also affected by the
sequence of excavation, the depth of each excavation
stage and the time of installing the steel bars. The
shorter the time of construction, the smaller the dis-
placement will be.
5. The stability at construction stage is very important
to soil nailed structure. At each construction stage, it is
the most dangerous when the soil is excavated to a cer-
tain depth but steel bars are not inserted yet. Thus, it is
necessary to calculate stability at each stage to ensure
safety. Special attention should be paid to the excava-
tion sequence and the stage excavation depth.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The financial support from the National Nature Science
Foundation of China (No.59738160) is gratefully ac-
knowledged.
Figure 6. The horizontal displacement fi-om 13 (5/14/99-6/11/99)
286
REFERENCES
Bruce, D. A. and Jewell, R. A. 1983. Soil nailing: application and
practise-part 1. Ground Engineering.
Chen, Z. Y. and Cui, J. H. 1997. Application of Soil Nailing in
Foundation Excavation. Beijing: Chinese Building Industry
Publishing House (in Chinese).
Gao, L. 1998. Behavior analysis of Soil Nailed Structure in Deep
Excavation. MS Thesis, Dept. of Civil Eng., Zhejiang University,
Hangzhou, China. (in Chinese)
Gassler, G. 1990. In-situ techniques of reinforced soil. In MCGOW,
A. K., Yeo, C. and Andrawes, K. Z. (eds), Perjbrmance of rein-
forced soil structures:185-196. London: Thomas Telford House.
Li, Y . L., Li, L. and Zeng, X. M. 1999. Stability analysis and per-
formance control of shortcrete-bolting-mesh support of founda-
tion pit of a building in Shanghai. Chinese J of Geotech. Eng.
21(1):77-81 (in Chinese).
Milligan, G. W. E. and Tei, K. 1998. The pull-out resistance model
soil nails. Soils and Foundations. 38(2):179-190.
Shen, C. K., Bang, S., Romstad, K. M., et al 1981. Field measure-
ments of an earth support system. J. Geotech. Engineering Divi-
sion, ASCE, 107(12):1625-1 642.
Wang, Z. Q. and Gao, G. L. 1999. Application of soil layer anchor
bars in soft ground deep foundation pit supporting. Comtruciii;;:
Technology,28(9): 41-42 (in Chinese).
Xie, K. H., Li, Q. L. and YU, Z. H. 1997. Application of object-
oriented programming technique and software JKJC in deep ex-
cavation monitoring. Proc. China-Japan Joint Symposium on
Recent Development of Theory and Practice in Geotechnology:
339-344, Shanghai.
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5609 151 1

Case studies on six earth structures constructed on soft clay deposits

H. Hanzawa, T. Kishida, T Fukasawa & K. Suzuki

Technical Research Institute, TOA Corporation, Yokohama,Japan

ABSTRACT: This paper presents the case studies of six earth structures constructed on soft clay deposits in
which three of them were failed. Stability analyses were carried out using shear strength obtained from vari-
ous laboratory and field tests. The results of stability analyses demonstrate that recompression method gives
superior results describing the actual behavior of the structures in the filed.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 OUTLINE OF CASE HISTORIES

Six structures were constructed on soft clay deposits
under minimum possible safety. Because of a small
difference between designed and constructed struc-
tures, some structures failed immediately after the
completion. On the other hand, the structures were
designed with the mobilized shear strength such as
recompression method, RC method, unconfined
compression test, UCT, field vane test, FVT and
other methods. RC method with &-consolidated tri-
axial comapression and extension tests, &TCT and
& E T were performed in the first three, while di-
rect shear test, DST was applied in other three cases.
This paper presents and compares factors of
safety calculated by various mobilized shear
strength, Su(mob)with actual behaviors of structures.
Locations of the projects described in this paper are
shown in Fig. 1. A summary of each project is de-
scribed here:
1) Fao Steel Jetty, Iraq (1976): Fao Steel Jetty was
constructed at the river mouth of the Arab
River. Severe stability problem took place im-
mediately after commencement of construction
when the minimum factor of safety, FS,;, was
evaluated by unconfined compression strength,
Su(ncr).A special property of Fao clay was
brought to light through field and laboratory in-
vestigations carried out parallel to construction.
RC method with both &TCT and GTET, to
determine shear strength in-situ, S,, was devel-
oped through the investigation in this project.
2) Al-Zubair Embankment, Iraq (1978): Five em-
bankments for preloading were rapidly con-
structed on Ai-Zubair clay. In order to shorten

Figure 1. Locations of each project site.

287
 the preloading time, embankment was designed
with FS,,,,,,= 1.05 using the Su(,llo,,)
determined by
S,,,.from RC method (with K,TCT and K,TET).
Because of a slight difference between designed
and constructed embankments, one embank-
ment failed immediately after construction and
two others were probably on the verge of fail-
ure.
Daikokucho Dike, Yokohama, Japan (1981): A
temporary dike for reclaimed land was con-
structed on a high-plastic marine clay. Immedi-
ately after completion, it failed and sunk into
the sea. RC method (with K,TCT) was carried
out together with UCT and FVT in order to in-
vestigate strength properties and the cause of
the failure. Strength anisotropy was studied
with K,TCT and K,TET using samples in nor-
mally consolidated state, and was applied for
determining Su(moh) from RC method. Cone
penetration test, CPT was as well conducted to
detect the failure plane under the sunken em-
ban kment.
Banjarmasin Revetment, Kalimantan, Indonesia
(1 989): The revetment was initially designed to
be constructed under multi-loading with support
of soil improvement by vertical drain because
of inadequate Su(moh) from UCT. Immediately
after the contract, Su(mnh) was newly determined
by RC method (with DST) and FS,,,,,,= 1.06 was
obtained without multi-loading. The revetment
was then constructed in one stage.
Kameda Embankment, Niigata, Japan (1 993):
An expressway embankment was constructed
on peaty subsoil with multi-loading. When the
height of embankment was rapidly increased
from 4.5m to 6.3m in three days, a large defor-
mation took place together with tension crack
and heave. Su(nloh)were determined by RC
method (with DST)., UCT and FVT.
Vungtau Revetment, Mekong Delta, Vietnam
(1996): Vungtau revetment is a fisher port con-
structed in Mekong delta. About 2m reclama-
tion is made behind the revetment, while exca-
vation reaching 5m in maximum in front of it.
FS,,,,,, values from Su~l,c-i-~and vane shear
strength, Su4v) were 0.41 and 2.85, respectively,
Project K,TCT K,,TET DST FVT UCT
Fao 0 0 0 0
Khor AI-Zubair 0 0 0 01 Highly aged
Daikokucho 0 0 0 0
Banjarmasin 0 0 0 01 ' High plastic
Kameda 0 0 0 0 2 j Peat
Vungtau 0 0 0 03
288
at the commencement of construction. In order
to evaluate more accurate FS,,,,,,value, portable
CPT was carried out parallel to the construc-
tion. Its point resistance was related to S,~(nl,,h)
from RC method using clay samples from a dif-
ferent location. The revetment was then con-
structed with FSl,,,,>=1.25 and safely com-
pleted.
Case studies of projects 1 to 3 were described in
detail by Hanzawa (1983), project 4 by Subagio
( 1 991 ), project 5 by Hanzawa, et al ( 1 994), and fi-
nally project 6 by Hanzawa (1 998).
3 CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF EACH
CLAY
Details of engineering properties of clays encoun-
tered were already described in the papers referred
above. Their characteristics are briefly summarized
in this section.
Fao clay, with plasticity index, I, = 10-30, is
characterized by indicating significant differen-
ce in consolidation yield stress, CT',when sub-
jected to different stress increment ratio in
oedometer test. Noticing this feature, a practical
technique to RC method was developed.
AI-Zubair clay with I, = 30-35 found about
60km west of Fao has been subjected to compli-
cated aging effect such as desiccation (surface
5m), cementation (5m-7.5 m) and secondary
compression (beneath 7m).
Daikoku-cho clay with I, = 40-60 is a typical
marine clay found in Tokyo Bay, but contains
relatively large shells and sand seams.
Banjarmasin clay with I, = 40-1 10 is divided
into the upper and the lower clay bounded by
the desiccated clay formed when the sea level
was lowered about 10,000 years ago.
Kameda cohesive soils consist of peat with w, =
100-300% and sandy clay with wN = 50-
70%.
Vungtau clay is divided into the upper (I, = 20
-40) and the lower (I, = 20).
CPT I Clay feature Time of investigation
' Low plastic During construction
Design stage
0 1 Contains sand and shell After failure
After contract
After contract
Low to moderate plastic Design stage and after
I contract
 Field and laboratory tests carried out in each
project are summarized in Table 1 together with
features of each clay and the time of investigation.
It should be noted that RC method was entirely
adopted to determine Sll,of clays in all the projects.
In this method, clear S,,,-such as Sus,)(compression),
SuIld) (direct shear) and S,,,,,, (extension) are obtained
from K,TCT, DST and K,TET. In the first three
projects from 1976 to1981, KOTCT and KOTET,
which require complicated and high quality tech-
niques, were used. After finding that Sutld) compen-
sates strength anisotropy (Hanzawa et al. 1992),
DST developed by Mikasa (1 960) replaced the posi-
tion of laboratory test since then. Correlations
among various shear strengths and S,, from RC
method are presented in Fig. 2.
4 DETERMINATION OF Sll(moh) FOR STABILITY
ANALYSIS
The shear strength for stability analysis, SlI(,,,,,h) is
given by Eq. (1).
Figure 2. Correlations among various strengths and S,,fobtained froin RC method
289
where S,,, = shear strength in-situ measured by any
method, p = a combined correction factor for
strength anisotropy, strain rate and so on; a = a cor-
rection factor for the change of shear strength during
construction (a>=l.O for loading and a4.0 for
unloading); and p = a correction factor for progres-
sive failure (p = 1 .O for usual cases).
S,,I,, and Su(,lCT) have long time been used as
Su(n,oh)
based on local empirical approach with an as-
sumption of p x a x @ = 1 .O. When &) or SulId) is
used as S,, in Eq. (l), Su(moh) must be corrected with
pAand pR for S,,,,, and pR for SUS,,) as given by Eq.
(2).
Lyri(nrob)= sr!f (c) PA PR P (2.1 )
(2.2)
where pA = a correction factor for strength anisot-
ropy; and pR = a correction factor for strain rate ef-
fect.
 Project Location Behavior
Figure 3. Change in shear strength during loading or unloading
Based on the investigation of strain rate effect,
Hanazawa (1989) proposed to use a constant pR
value (= 0.85) irrespective of I, of the clay when
displacement rate in DST is 0.25mm/min. On the
other hand, a was evaluated with strength increment
ratio in normally consolidated state, Sun/dYand with
shear strength reduction ratio, SII(SLIIl,
as schemati-
cally shown in Fig. 3. The values of S u n / d v and
S,,(S,,,,were determined by K,,TCT for three projects
(1976- 1981) and DST for other three projects
(1 989- 1996). The value of p was assumed to be 1 .O
in all the cases.
5 RESULTS OF STABILITY ANALYSIS
Stability analyses were carried out with the modified
Fellenious method using peak shear strength, SUll,,,
with consideration on the change of shear strength
during construction. This means that S,,, was cor-
rected for a. The values of FS,,, obtained from vari-
ous Su(mob) including corrected Su,lv,(Bjerrum 1972)
and SHANSEP method (Ladd and Foott 1974) are
summarized in Table 2 together with the behavior of
each structure.
FS,,,, values close to 1.0 for failed structures de-
monstrate the highest validity of the Su(,,,,,h) deter-
mined from RC method when compared with S,~(,,,,h)
from any other methods. In addition, it should also
be pointed out that failure planes from the analysis
showed good agreement with the actual ones as re-
ported in the referred papers.
SUwv, SUnv,p qJ2 / Recompression method SHANSEP cc
1.23
6 CONCLUSIONS
Among the case studies with various shear strengths,
recompression (RC) method always gives proper
shear strength as demonstrated in Table 2. Since the
technique for performing DST is much easier, takes
much less time and more cost-effective than triaxial
test, therefore, RC method with DST is most re-
commendable for practical purposes.
REFERENCES
Bjermm, L. 1972. Embankment on soft clay. ASCE Special
conference, Performance of Earth and Earth-structures. Vol.
2. Lafayette: 1-54.
Hanzawa, H. 1983. Three case studies for short term stability
of soft clay deposits. Soils atid Foiiiidantions 23 (2): 140-
154.
Hanzawa, H. 1989. Evaluation of design parameters for soft
clays as related to geological stress history. Soils atid
Foinidations 29 (2):99-1 1 1.
Hanzawa, H. and Tanaka, H. 1992. Normalized undrained
shear strength of clay in the normally consolidated state and
in the field. Soils aiidFotcr?dafions32 (1 ): 132-148.
Hanzawa, H., Kishida, T., Fukasawa, T. and Asada, H. 1994. A
case study of the application of direct shear and cone pene-
tration tests to soil investigation, design and quality control
for peaty soils. Soils and Fnimdatiori 34 (4): 13-22.
Hanzawa, H. 1998, Application of cone penetration test for
construction work (case studies in Southeast Asia). Pro-
ceediiigs qf "Workshop OH the evalimfion of growid with
coiie penetratioki test: 67-77 (in Japanese).
Ladd, C. C. and Foott, R. 1974. New design procedure for sta-
bility of soft clay. A Y E 100 (GT7): 763-786.
Mikasa, M. 1960. Direct shear device newly developed. Pro-
ceedings of 151h./.YE awiical conference: 45-48 (in Japa-
nese).
Subagio, H. 1991. Evaluation of engineering properties of
Banjarmasin clay, Indonesia. Pi*oceeditgqf Geo-Co'orrst '91.
Yokohama: 93-98.
290
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

A field test on a new chemical grouting method to improve the liquefaction

resistance of sandy layers beneath the existing structures
K. Hayashi, R.Yoshikawa & N.Hayashi
Penta-Ocean Construction Company Limited, Tochigi,Japan
K. Zen
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Kyushu, Fukuoka, Japan
H-Yamazaki
Port and Harbor Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuka,Japan

ABSTRACT: Authors have developed a new chemical grouting method to increase the liquefaction resistance of sandy
layers beneath the existing structures. The results of the experiments carried out to date indicate that this approach could
prove extremely effective. On the basis of the laboratory tests, a field test was performed on the beach of Niigata city to
investigate the permeability and the strength increment by improvement. The diameter of each improved area became
about 4m long by %hours injection.
This paper describes the results of the grouting tests at the site, together with the dynamic characteristics of the improved
soils sampled after the grouting. The method was found to be very useful to improve the liquefaction resistance beneath the
existing structures.

1 INTRODUCTION
After the 1995 Hyogoken Nanbu (Great Hanshin ) earth-
quake, design criteria for earthquake-proof structures were
revised to improve and increase the resistance. The criteria
are to be applied to the existing structures as well as the
newly constructed ones. The problem is how to improve
the foundation layers susceptible to liquefaction beneath the
existing structures without any demolition of them.
One possible solution to this problem would be chemi-
cal grouting directly beneath a structure, as shown in Fig-
ure 1. The chemical grouting method has been commonly
used for the temporary construction, in which relatively high
strength of improved soils is demanded, consequently lead-
ing to higher costs. To prevent liquefaction, however, not
so high strength is required but the durability of the im-
proved strength is requested. Also the cost reduction from
that of the conventional grouting method is needed because
the grouting area in practical use is veIy large.
Since 1994, authors have developed a new chemical
grouting method to increase the liquefaction resistance of
sandy layers beneath the existing structures. In 1996, Iabo-
ratory tests involving the injection of chemical grout into a
large soil stratum resulted in the formation of cylindrical
structures of improved ground with a diameter of 2.6 meters.
This confirmed that the method would be highly effective
as a countermeasure against liquefaction. On the basis of
these results, field tests involving chemical grouting were
recently carried out in Niigata City. The tests clarified the
application and penetration characteristics of the new chemi-
cals. Excavations carried out after the injection process con-
firmed that solidification had occurred. This paper contains
an outline of the field tests, a report on solidification char-
acteristics. Through a series of tests, it is found that the new
chemical grouting method is highly effective to increase
the liquefaction resistance of sandy layers. Table 1 shows
the differences between the conventional and new method.
2 DESCRIPTION OF TESTS
2.1 Outline of Tests
The tests were carried out from October 1996 in Niigata.
The aim of this tests was to verify the effects of an injec-
tion of the new grout, and to assess the environmental irn-
pact.
Test items are as follows;
(1)Injection volume of acid silica sol(amount: 9.6m3)
(2) Low-speed grouting of colloidal silica
(amount: 9.6m3)
(3) High-speed grouting of colloidal silica
(amount: 28.8m3)
(4)Soundings to confirm effects
(5)Excavation survey to check penetration area
A plan of the test area is shown in Figure 2, and a cross-
section of the site in Figure 3. The aim of the tests was to
gather data on the following two aspects of thc application.

291
 spersed with clay layers containing some silted sand at
depths of 6 .- 11 meters. Apart from these layers, the in-
Conventioal Method New Method
Cement or jection area consisted mainly of fine sand with a fine par-
Grout Colloidal Silica ticle content ratio (Fc) of 5% or lower.
Water Glass
Application of The physical characteristics of these soil layers are
Localized Large
Grouting shown in Table 2. The relative densities were estimated on
Penetration about Diameter about Diameter the basis of N values obtained with the standard penetra-
Area of 100cm of 400cm
tion tests. The coefficient of permeability was determined
about~200- 1,000Wa about 50- l0OkPa by reproducing the samples with in-site relative density in
u ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ d
the laboratory and then conducting permeability test. The
I Durable Temporary Permanent results were one order of magnitude smaller than those es-
timated from mean particle sizes of sand.

(1) Wide-area injection from a single pouring point
(diameter of improved area: 4m)
(2)High-speed implementation using rapid injection
(20 literslminute)
As shown in Figure 2, the aim of the test was to create a
spherical improved soil with a volume of 33.5 m-?through
injection from a single pouring point. The chemical grout
was injected through tubes in three locations to create five
improved soil. The total volume of improved soil by the
chemical grouting was I67m3.
2.2 Ground Conditions
Figure 3 shows the fine particle content ratio (Fc) and mean
particle sizes (D5J in the area around the pouring point.
The ground in the test area consisted of sandy soil inter-
Fig 1 Chemical grouting to prevent
liquefaction beneath the existing structure
Fig 2 Plan of test area
2.3 Test Cases
Injection was carried out under three sets of conditions us-
ing three injection bores. The results, including the quality
of improved soil, were then compared. In the field test, the
weights of grout 52.8 tons were injected from 5 pouring
points. The volume of improved sand was 32m3 at each
pouring point. The quantity of chemical grout and the vol-
ume of stabilized ground were the same in Case 1 and Case
2, while in Case 3, three sets of injections were carried out
in a vertical direction. The test results for each case are
shown in Table 3. Each item is explained below.
(1) Types of Chemical Grout
The chemical grout used for this tests were colloidal silica
and acid silica sol, which were called the permanent grout.
The permeability and durability of them had been ascer-
tained through laboratory and field tests. In 1997 at
Kagoshima, the durability of stabilized sand by acid silica
sol was estimated by core boring samples, which was in-
jected 16 years ago. The unconfined compressive strength
of these core samples indicated almost the same strength as
of 16 years ago.
Both are single-solution chemicals and the viscosity of
-
these grouts is about 2 Mpa s(=cps) at 20" C. The com-
position of the chemical grout was approximately the same
as for those tests. The target strength of improved soil was
80kPa (after curing for seven days), which is considered to
be enough for a sufficient strength , countermeasure against
liquefaction.
(2) Injection Speed
Chemical grouting is normally injected at speeds of 8 12 -
liters per minute. It is known that a lower injection speed
generally produces an even spherical shape. However, the
injection of 9.6 rn3 of chemical grout at thc rate used for
conventional methods (10 litedminute) would take 16
hours. If the injection period is too long, it becomes ex-
tremely difficult to control the gel time of the grout, and the
gelation of grout will occur during the injection. Moreover,

292
 Case

2
,Depth

GL(m)
-3- -4
-7- -8

Grout
~ e n s i t yof
soil Particle
p S(s/cm3)

--

Asid Silica Sol

Colloidal Silica
2.674
2.736

-1
~
Table 2 Phvsical urouerties of soil

Injection
Volume

_-.
m3

9.6

9.6
Maximam
Density
p dma(dcm3

1.77 1
1.741

1.758

Objective
S*n&(qu)
P a
80

80
' 4
Minimum
Density
d ~ n a ( ~ ~ ~ ~ )
1.366
1.313

1.328

Improved hjection
Volume
m3

33.5

33.5
Rate
l/min

20

10
Pressure
9 . 4 0 ~1 0 4

4.80x 1o

Injection

Precedent to
-~

Preliminary
Washing of
Ground Wate

-
none

Grouting Speed 50 100% of

Injection Volume
3 Colloidal Silica 28.8 80 100.5 20
______________

because the volume of improved ground is large, the flow
rate at the penetration boundary is likely to be slow. To al-
low for factors such as these, the injection rate for Case l
and Case 3 was set at 20 liters per minute. The time re-
quired for the injection of the chemical grout in each loca-
tion was, therefore, 9.6 ml/ 20 liters = 480 minutes = 8
hours. The injection period can thus be completed in about
half the time required for conventional methods.
(3) Injection Pressure
Because a uniform injection speed was used in the tests,
the injection pressure was varied from time to time.
Injection pressure was measured with the passage of time.
(4) Preliminary Washing
In Case 2 and Case 3, in which colloidal silica was used,
solidification time was substantially influenced by the salt
content of the pore water in the ground. For this reason,
specific amounts of piped water were injected into the
ground prior to the injection of the grout to remove the salt
from the ground. The amount of water injected during the
preliminary washing process was varied in each case, and
the effects of this variation was also studied.
2.4 Application Procedures
The equipment used at each stage of the tests was different.
Injections were carried out according to the flowchart shown
in Figure 4.

293
2.5 Equipment
(1) Injection Plant
The injection plant was the same as the system normally
used for water glass injection procedures. At 5.5m x 15m,
the plant was relatively small for use in a soil improvement
method. The same plant was used for colloidal silica and
acid silica sol. As the gel-time for both substances is long
(8 hours), a stirring tank with a capacity of approximately
150 liters was used to provide for continuous injection us-
ing a one-shot batching method.
To make up for the dilution phenomena at the penetra-
tion boundary, the concentration of the grout was progres-
sively adjusted.
(2) Injection Pump
Because of the low pH (1.5 -2.0) of acid silica sol, a spe-
cial acid-resistant pump was used. The maximum capacity
of the pump was around 40 liters per minute, which was
double the maximum injection rate.
(3) Injection Plant
Injection was carried out using the double-packer method
via PVC injection hoses with an inside diameter of 5cm.
Since the tests were implemented with an injection pres-
sure of 5OOkPa or less and at relatively high speeds, a
strainer-type injection plant with a large ground contact area
was used. A cross-sectional diagram of the injection plant
is shown in Figure 5.
With conventional injection methods, the ground contact
length of the strainer is around 1Ocm. As is apparent from
Figure 5, however, the ground contact length in this case
was 4 2 . 5 ~ ~ 1 .
Ca~el-3
1 chemical grout used was colloidal silica, strength was lower
Chemical Grouting
I+ Casel-3
Fig 4 Frow diagram o f test
294
3 TEST RESULTS
3.1 Injection Situation
Injection speed and pressure were measured during the
washing process and the injection process. Figure 6 shows
the relationship between injection speed and injection pres-
sure, using Case 3 as an example. As shown in the graph, it
was possible to inject consistently at the required rate of 20
literdmin. During the washing process using municipal
piped water, the injection pressure remained constant at
around 200kPa from the outset. When the chemical grout
was injected, however, the injection pressure rose gradu-
ally and reached 260kPa after eight hours. A similar trend
was observed in the other cases: Because the viscosity of
the chemical grout was approximately double that of water,
the injection pressure increased in proportion to the perme-
ation distance. The highest injection pressure was 450kPa
(Case 3, GL-7.5m). Ground level was measured from time
to time during the injection process and no rise in surface
level due to injection pressure was detected.
Injection pressure was determined from the original pres-
sure inside the pump. For this reason, the figures include
pressure loss within the injection tubes.
3.2 Results of Post-Injection Surveys
(1) Unconfined Compressive Strength Distribution in Im-
proved Area
One month after the completion of the injection process,
ground strength measurements were taken using a cone
bearing test. In addition, samples were taken using a triple
tube sampler.
Strength distribution in the samples taken from the im-
proved area are shown in Figure 7. The average unconfined
compressive strength (4,) shown in the graph refers to the
samples taken. The range over which q,, exceeds 25kPa is
assumed to represent the permeation range of the chemical
grout. The average of y, was calculated within this range.
In Case 1 , the chemical grout used was acid silica sol.
Throughout the permeation area, q, was in excess of 200kPa,
which is a high level of strength for a situation in which the
aim is to prevent liquefaction. In Cases 2 and 3, where the
overall when compared with the results of the mixture tests
carried out in the laboratory. With an average q, of around
SOkPa, the improved strength was low in Case 2 and in the
middle range of Case 3. However, the average q,, in the up-
per and lower ranges of Case 3 was above the target level
of 80kPa.
(2)Liquefaction Resistance of Stabilized Sand
The improved area created by filling the pores with
silica grout were subjected to cyclic triaxial tests.
 Fig 5 Strainer-type grouting plant

Fig 6 Grouting speed and grouting pressure (Case3,GL-3.5)

Fig 7 Distribution diagram of unconfined compressive strength

295

Fig 8 Relationship Between Re20 and Repetitions
Fig 9 Relationship Between Re20 and
Unconfined Compressive Strength
296
In contrast to the unimproved ground, there was no
sudden increase of axial strain to rising pore water
pressure ratios (the liquefaction phenomenon). The
liquefaction is defined to occurred when the double
amplitude of axial strain reached 5% under cyclic
loading in subsequent cyclic traixal tests. Some of the
samples obtained using the triple fined compression tests
and cyclic traxial tests. To decrease the damage of
sampling, all samples were tube sampler ( $ 100mm)
were subjected to unconshaved to p 50mm. As shown in
Figure 2, the samples tested were those taken at Point R
in Case 3. The results of cyclic triaxial tests on
undrained soil at various depths are shown in Figure 8.
The results of cyclic testing of untreated soil samples
from near the base point are also shown for reference
purposes. The cyclic traixial tests yielded a B value
of 95% or higher. The effective consolidation
pressure ( o C ’ ) was determined by calculating the
effective overburden pressure CT and then applying the
formula CT c’ =(1+2*Ko)/3* o , assuming that &=OS.
As is apparent from Figure 8, the results for the improved
ground show considerable variation, as was the case with
the unconfined compressive test results.
However, liquefaction resistance in stabilized soil in
which the double amplitude of axial strain (DA) reached
5 % was significantly enhanced when compared with the
unimproved soil. This shows that the chemical grouting can
substantially reduce liquefaction in the location where the
process is applied.
Figure 9 shows the relationship between the unconfined
compressive strength (q,) and the liquefaction resistance (Re
20) of the stabilized sand by colloidal silica, which is the
force ratio at which liquefaction is reached after 20 load
cycles. The graph also shows the relationship between typi-
cal q,, and Re 20 values for cementation soil. There is mod-
erate variation in the case of stabilized sand by colloidal
silica. In the case of cementation soil, however, Re 20 tends
to increase as q,,rises. Under the conditions for these tests,
the liquefaction resistance (Re 20) expected for a given
unconfined compressive strength (q,,) is twice as high as
the cementation soil. This shows that colloidal silica pro-
vides a greater strengthening effect.
(3) Confirmation of Shape of Solidification through Exca-
vation
Excavations were carried out for Case 2 and Case 3 at 50
days after injection to measure the extent and form of the
improved ground. Photo 1 shows an excavation in progress
at GL-2.5m. The side of the improved area after excavation
is shown in Photo 2. No consolidation was observed to oc-
cur above the groundwater level, since solvent-type chemi-
cal grout were used, and it was concluded on this basis that
consolidation would not occur above this level. In both cases,
the solidified ground was in the form of a cylinder with a
-
diameter of 4.5 5.0m around the pouring point.

4. CONCLUSIONS

The field tests resulted in the following conclusions;

(1)By using solvent-type chemical grout, it is possible to
create a spherical improved soil with a diameter of at
least 4m in sandy ground.
(2)Where the permeation distance is around 2m, an injec-
tion rate of 20 litedminute is possible. While the shape
of the improved soil was not observed to vary according
to the rate of injection, the average strength of the stabi-
lized sand was greater at 20 liters/min than at 10 liters/
min.
(3)Liquefaction resistance (Re20) is greater in Stabilized
soil than in normal soil, and it's value was around 0.5 --
1.o.
(4)At the same unconfined compressive strength (q,,),-iiq-
uefaction strength (Re20) of stabilized sand by colloidal
silica would be twice as high as in improved soil using a
cement, and that shows the chemical grouting by colloi-
dal silica would be more suitable for a liquefaction pre-
vention method.

REFERENCES
Hayashi,K.,Miyoshi,T.,Yoneya,H.,Zen,K.,&
Yamazaki,H.,
Y 1996. Fundamental tests on stabilized sand using acid silica
sol, Proc. of IS-TOKY0'96 : 695-700.
Yonekura,R. & Miwa,M., Y 1993. Fundamental Properties of So-
dium Silicate Based Grout, Eleventh Southeast Geotechnical
Conference: 4-8.
Zen$., Y 1994. Remedical Measures for Reclaimed Land by
Premixing Method, Tsuti to Kiso, 433(2):34.

297
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Case history of the reclamation at Island City in Fukuoka

K. Henmi
Port and Harbor Bureau, Fukuoku City Japan
M. Katagiri & M.Terashi
Nikken Sekkei Nakuse Geotechnical Institute, Kawasaki, Japan
K. Fukuda
Coastal Development Institute of Technology,Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT: To predict the settlement behavior of reclaimed land by dredged materials, the soil investiga-
tion, monitoring of settlement and numerical simulation were performed as the reclamation progressed. Accu-
racy of the prediction has been improved gradually with the progress of reclamation. The practical use of ob-
servation method for these reclamation works was confirmed.

1 INTRODUCTION

The mountain area covers more than 70 per cent of

all the territory of Japan and the plain area is limited.
Due to these geographical features of Japan, big citi-
es and major ports have located and developed along
the flat coastline. Cities and ports are therefore very
closely connected each other.
Fukuoka City having Hakata Port has been play-
ing an important terminal base to the Asian Conti-
nent for more than 2,000 years and has brought
about such a cultural climate that has enhanced the
interchange of persons, commodities and informa-
tion. Hakata Port has been growing as an important
international trading port and now it is directly con-
necting to 59 ports in the world. Similarly, Fukuoka
City has been developed steadily as a commercial
city, and now has a population of 1,320 thousand.
For the further development of Fukuoka City, a
sea reclamation with 400 hectare has been planned
in the eastern part of Hakata Bay as shown in Figure Figure 1 Location of Mand City Project
1. The reclaimed land will be used as residential ar-
eas and industrial space. The objective of the former
is the creation of comfortable urban life space to
solve the problem of population increase. That of the
latter is to provide a terminal base for the new terti-
ary industries which enhance the revitalization of in-
dustrial structure. This is the Island City Project.
The materials for the reclamation will be as large
as 28 million cubic meters; a part of which has al-
ready been and the rest will mostly be provided by
the dredging of navigation channels and anchorage
areas in the Hakata Bay. The dredging has been un-
dertaken to improve harbor and channels so as to
cope with larger-sized ships in recent years.
Figure 2 shows an aerial photograph of the con-
struction site taken from the east in Nov. 1998. A Figure 2 Aerial photograph of project site
dredging work for the port is also seen in the center
of this photograph.
299

Figure 3 Flow of reclamation by dredged materials
Figure 4 Location of City No.1 area and measure-
ment position of settlement o f seabed
Figure 5 Outline o f observation method
2 PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH
RECLAMATION BY DREDGED MATERIALS
A sea-reclamation by use of dredged materials usu-
ally progresses with time as shown in Figure 3.
When the dredged materials are poured into the
pond surrounded by containment dikes, suspended
soil particles settle loosely with the water content
from 200 to 300 %. While the pouring continues, the
surface elevation of dredged soil layer increases.
The land thus created is in the unconsolidated con-
dition and subsequently consolidates largely due to
its own weight in long term. To create a reliable
foundation ground at a specified elevation for the
structures to be built, the placement of extra-fill over
the dredged clay layer is necessary. The extra-fill al-
so causes additional large consolidation settlement.
300
When the existing seabed is a thick soft clay layer,
the weight of reclaimed materials and extra-fill gen-
erates the consolidation settlement of seabed as well
in the long term. If theJerm of construction is lim-
ited, it becomes necessary to accelerate the consoli-
dation by vertical drainage.
There are three major problems critical in this
process. One is the capacity of pond. As the dredg-
ing is going on simultaneously, the capacity of pond
has to be consistent with the planned total amount of
the dredged materials. The others are the estimations
of the amount of extra-fill and residual settlement,
both of which influence the cost of reclamation. The
key to solve these problems is the accurate predic-
tion of the time dependent change of elevation of the
dredged clay layer that increases initially and de-
creases later in the long term.
As such a big reclamation project takes several
years until completion, the construction program
often changes with time and the prediction should be
updated with the progress of the project. In this pa-
per, the history of predictions and modifications of
the time dependent settlement of reclaimed layer
during reclamation and the effectiveness of observa-
tion method is described. The settlement of seabed
underlying the reclaimed layer and the flatness of
reclaimed land by pump-dredged materials are also
mentioned.
3 RECLAMATION PLAN IN CITY NO.l AREA
The Island City project site consists of six ponds as
shown in Figure 4. Described in this paper is the
City No.1 area that is about 1,100 m x 600 m in
plan, and was scheduled to be reclaimed by two
types of dredged materials up to DL +6.5m. A
wharf and a container handling yard behind it should
be brought into operation until April 2004. To keep
the construction schedule, the accurate prediction of
time-elevation relation of the reclaimed land became
necessary. The observation method as shown in Fig-
ure 5 was employed to improve the accuracy of pre-
diction. The observation method is a procedure of
repeating the prediction in stages by new parameters
modified through the back analyses of the preceding
measurements of real behavior.
Figure 6 shows the soil profile before the recla-
mation at the A-A section in Figure 4. An average
depth of the existing seabed is DL-3.5 m, and the
seabed is alluvial clay layer of 8 m thick.
The original reclamation program (plan) and the
actual record of reclamation (practice) were com-
pared in Figure 7. The main reclamation term was
18 months since August 1997. Before the main rec-
lamation, grab-dredged materials of about 800,000
m3 in plan (1,000,000 m3 in practice) had been
poured for 4 years before August 1997. The main
reclamation process was divided into two stages. The
pump-dredged materials of about 1,800,000 m3 were
first poured for 6 months in plan (5 months in prac-
tice). After a little intermission, the grab-dredged
materials of about 1,800,000 m3 in plan (1,600,000
m3 in practice) were followed for 7 months in plan
(6 months in practice). Total volume of poured ma-
terials in practice was almost the same as that in
plan, although the rate and volume of reclamation in
each stage was changed.

4 HISTORY OF PREDICTION, OBSERVATION

AND MODIFICATION OF PARAMETERS

4.1 Consolidationanalysis used

For the consolidation analysis, CONAN proposed by
Imai (1995) is used. The detailed procedure of nu-
merical analysis is described in the companion paper
by Katagiri et al. (2000). By the method, it is easy to
calculate the consolidation of the layer increasing its
thickness with time, such as a reclamation process.
The consolidation parameters for the method are re-
lationships of specific volume f and coefficient of
consolidation c, with consolidation pressure p .

4.2 Consolidationparameters
As the pump-dredged materials are hydraulically
transported through the pipe and poured into the
pond with a lot of seawater, their water contents in
the sediment are very high. The water contents of
grab-dredged materials transported by another verge
to the pond, on the other hand, are not so high. Be-
cause the consolidation parameters of clay-seawater
mixture in the ordinary stress level depend largely
on the initial water content (Katagiri and Imai,
1994), the parameters of reclaimed layer created by
pump-dredged materials may be different from those
by grab-dredged ones. Therefore, it is necessary to
determine the consolidation parameters of both ma-
terials.
Figure 8 shows the consolidation parameters de-
termined on a sample taken from the borrow area.
The physical properties of the sample were as fol-
lows; p, = 2.668 g/cm3, wL = 71 %, Ip = 45. To de-
termine the consolidation parameters over a wide
stress range, the multi-sedimentation test (MST)
proposed by Yamauchi et al. (1990) and ordinary
consolidation tests (OCT) were carried out on the
specimens simulating the pump- and grab-dredged
materials. Based on the experience, the pump-
dredged material was prepared as the clay-seawater
mixture with the water content of 2,000 %, and the
grab-dredged material was prepared with water
content of 200 %. As shown in the figure, the com-
pressibility is larger and the permeability is smaller
for pump-dredged materials. Hereafter, the parame-
ters are referred to “initial relations”.

301

Modifications of the consolidation parameters in
the observation procedure were done in such a way
that the inclination of the log f - log P is changed
with a fixed point atp = l,ooo kPa, and that the log
C, - log p relation is shifted parallel to the initial
ones on the process of finding best-fit solution with
the measurement.
302
Figure 9 Prediction and modification histories of
time-elevation relation during reclamation
4.3 Prediction and modification histories of
consolidation behavior of reclaimed land
Figure 9 shows the history of predictions of the ele-
vation in a couple of stages together with the meas-
ured data.
At the planning stage (Figure 9(a)), the prediction
was carried out by the Ip-method proposed by Shin-
sha et al. (1990). It is the simple method in which
only two soil parameters, average water content and
plasticity index of the material at the.borrow site, are
necessary. Although the practical use of the method
has been confirmed through back analyses of case
histories, it cannot reflect the difference in the initial
water content of dredged materials. It will provide a
rough estimation of the elevation changing with time
but will neither provide any information on the dis-
tribution of water content or that of the excess water
pressure.
The first and preliminary prediction by CONAN
was performed before the reclamation (Figure 9(b))
using the consolidation parameters of pump- and
grab-dredged materials already shown in Figure 8.
The reclamation history used for the calculation is
that for the plan in Figure 7. The prediction indicates
that the elevation at the end of first stage by pump-
dredged materials far exceeds the planned maximum
allowable elevation of DL +6.5 m. As the consoli-
dation parameters are obtained based on only one
sample, and the specimens were prepared only by
changing their initial water content, it is uncertain
that those parameters are the representative ones.
Figure 9(c) shows the results of the first modifi-
cation before the reclamation. The same logf- logp
relations in both the pump- and grab-dredged mate-
rials were applied (Figure 8(a)). Based on the expe-
rience at new =takyushu airport (Sate et al., ~ O O O ) ,
two set of the log c, - l o g p relations were assumed
for the pumpdredged materials; one is twice and the
other is three times as large as that of the original c,-
values shown in Figure 8(b). The log c, - logp rela-
tion for the grab dredged materials was assumed five
times as large as that of the original ones. This modi-
fication was based on the back analysis of the
preceding area in the Island City reclaimed by grab-
dredged material. Modified predictions fall between
two previous predictions as shown in Figure 9(c).
Higher the assumed c,, the lower is the predicted
elevation.
303
Two peak elevations predicted at the end of first
stage reclamation are lower than DL +6.5 m. Alt-
hough the peak elevations at the end of second stage
reclamation were predicted still higher than DLt6.5
m, the reclamation has been started.
Figure 9(d) shows the measured elevation of the
reclaimed land monitored during the first stage rec-
lamation. As already shown in Figure 7, the first
stage reclamation was conducted at a rate faster than
the original plan. Together with the back analysis of
the first stage reclamation, the second modification
of the prediction was carried out at the end of first
stage. The monitored elevation change during the
first stage reclamation by pump-dredged materials is
lower than those calculated in Figure 9(c).
In the improved prediction (second modification),
the recorded history of the reclamation process was
used for the first stage and that of the plan was used
for the second stage reclamation process. In order to
fit the prediction to the measured data in the first
stage, the compressibility of the pump-dredged ma-
terials was reduced and the permeability was in-
creased. Two sets of the consolidation parameters
were assumed in the 2nd modification. One was a
set of reduced compressibility, 80 % of the initial
and the log c, - l o g p twice as large as the initialial
c,-values. The other set was 90 % compressibility
and three times large c,-values. The same consolida-
tion parameters as those for the first modification
were used for the grab-dredged materials. By these
modifications, the peak elevation at the end of the
second stage is predicted lower than the DL+6.5m as
shown in Figure 9(d) and the reclamation continued.
All the measured elevations during first and the
second stages were plotted in the Figure 9(e). The
monitored elevation and time relation falls within
the range of the second modification, although the
rate of the reclamation was increased again from the
original plan.
The latest back analysis was carried out after the
second stage using all the measured data of the ele-
vation and the actual record of reclamation history
shown in Figure 7 by solid triangles. Several sets of
the consolidation parameters were selected, and after
trails the most suitable result expressed as a bold line
with solid circles in Figure 9(e) was determined. The
estimated parameters were as follows. For the pump-
dredged materials the compressibility parameter was
80 % of the initial slope, the log c, - l o g p relation
was twice of the initial c,-values. For the grab-
dredged materials the compressibility was the initial
one, and the log c, - logp relation was twice as large
as the initial c,-values.
4.4 Verification by water content distribution
Figure 9 focused on the time and elevation
change. The prediction as well as the back analysis
must fit not only with the elevation of the dredged
clay layer but also with the water content distribu-
tion in the layer. Because the latter becomes the ini-
tial condition for the prediction of further consolida-
tion settlement under the extra-fill.
Actually the verification of the back analysis
based on the water content distribution were con-
ducted twice during the reclamation. Figure 10 com-
pares the calculated and measured water content
distribution as of February 1999, two months after
the reclamation. The measured and predicted water
content distributions share the same tendency of de-
creasing with depth. The predicted relation drawn as
a solid curve in this figure changes at the position
between layers by grab-dredged and pump-dredged
materials, because the different compressibility are
used. The prediction is in the center of the scattering
range of measured data. Considering the inhomoge-
neity of the dredged layer caused by the grain size
sorting during sedimentation, the combination of
consolidation parameters obtained by the back ana-
lysis is confirmed to be acceptable.
4.5 Settlement behavior of seabed underlying
reclaimed layer
Figure 11 shows the settlement of the seabed meas-
ured by means of hydraulic settlement transducers
located at the positions shown in Figure 4. The two
curves in the same figure are those predicted by Ter-
zaghi’s equation with c, = 40 cm2/day under two dif-
ferent assumptions on the boundary conditions
(bottom drainage, top and bottom drainage).
Measurements were clearly responding to the first
and second stage reclamation. In the first stage,
measured settlement data are on the prediction by
double drainage. Practically no settlement is record-
ed in its subsequent rest term. And the settlement of
seabed during the second stage reclamation takes
average of two predictions by single and double
drainage. The asterisk in the figure is the settlement
of the seabed directly measured by the borings after
the reclamation. Thus the complicated time-
settlement relation measured are thought to be a real
behavior.
In the earlier discussion of the prediction of the
elevation of dredged clay layer, single drainage so-
lution was incorporated with the CONAN solution.
From Figure 11, however, the measured settlements
are only 30 cm larger than the single drainage solu-
tion. This means that the maximum possible error
caused by the prediction of seabed settlement was as
small as 3% (= 0.3/10) as the thickness of the re-
claimed layer reached as large as 10 m.
4.6 Surface Flatness of reclaimed land
Throughout the previous discussions, the huge City
No. 1 area was considered to be reclaimed by uni-
form materials and to consolidate one dimensionally.
304
Figure 12 shows the distribution of the surface
elevation measured after the first stage reclamation.
Although pump-dredged materials like a liquid are
poured into a huge reclaimed area, the soil particles
were not homogeneously piled up. High elevation
region is the location around the outlet of the trans-
porting pipe, and is composed of the material with
high sand fraction. Low elevation region, on the oth-
er hand, is far away from the outlet and is composed
of the material with high clay fraction. This uneven
surface elevation together with the inhomogeneity
already found in the water content distribution
would become major source of differential settle-
ment in the later stage of construction.
5 CONCLUDING REMARKS
To predict the settlement behavior of the reclaimed
land by dredged materials, the soil investigation,
monitoring and repetitive numerical simulations by
CONAN were performed as the reclamation pro-
gressed.
Although the initial prediction using the consoli-
dation parameters obtained from a material sampled
from the borrow area is largely different from the
measured value, the repetitive numerical simulations
give practically useful prediction not only of the
change of elevation but of the water content dis-
tribution if the appropriate parameters are deter-
mined. The appropriate parameters were determined
through the observation of the real behavior and the
back analyses. The prediction was improved gradu-
ally with the progress of reclamation.
The reclamation was completed successfully, the
site is about to be improved with plastic board
drains. The water content distribution and the degree
of consolidation calculated by CONAN were used as
important information for the initial condition of the
further settlement analysis under the extra-fill load-
ing.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors thank Prof. H. Ochiai of Kyushu Uni-
versity and Prof. G. Imai of Yokohama National
University for their valuable advice to this project.
REFERENCES
Imai, G., 1995. Analytical examinations of the founda-
tions to formulate consolidation phenomena with in-
herent time-dependence. Proc. of IS-Hiroshima ‘95, 2:
89 1-935.
Katagiri, M. & Imai, G., 1994. A new in-laboratory
method to make homogeneous clayey samples and
their mechanical properties, Soils and Foundations,
34(2): 87-93.
Katagiri, M., Terashi, M., Henmi, K. & Fukuda, K.,
2000. Change of consolidation characteristics of clay
due to dredging and reclamation, Proc. of IS-
Yokohama 2000 (submitted).
Sato, K., Ishinuki, K., Katagiri, M., Terashi, M. & Kita-
zawa, S., 2000. Reclamation control of pump-dredged
clay by CONAN, Proc. of IS-Yokohama 2000 (sub-
mitted).
Shinsha, H., Chiba, T., Suzuki, Y. & Yamaguchi, R.,
1990. Development of the volume change prediction
system for the pump-dredged clayey soils (in Japa-
nese), Annual report of the engineering research in-
stitute, Penta-Ocean Construction, 19: 17-28.
Yamauchi, H., Imai, G. & Yano, K., 1990. Effect of the
coefficient of consolidation on the sedimentation-
consolidation analysis for a very soft clayey soil (in
Japanese), Proc. of 2ShAnnual meeting of JSSMFE:
359-362.

305
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase L? Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Change of consolidation characteristics of clay from dredging to reclamation

M. Katagiri & M.Terashi

Nikken Sekkei Nakuse Geotechnical Institute, Kawasaki, Japan
K. Henmi
Port and Harbour Bureau, Fukuoku City,Japan
K. Fukuda
Coustal Development Institute of Technologj Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT: In dredging and reclamation works, the seabed clays are dredged, transported and poured into a
pond. In these processes, the clays are disturbed, their water contents increase largely, the grain size sorting is
generated in the pond, and the consolidation parameters change. It is therefore difficult but important to de-
termine the appropriate consolidation parameters. In this paper, the best-fit parameters back-analyzed are
compared with those parameters of the specimens from the borrow site and reclaimed land. Changes of
parameters are found to be influenced by the difference in the dredging procedure and original soil properties.

1 INTRODUCTION However, in the planning stage that is before the

Dredging of clays are usually conducted by pump-
or grab dredger. Dredged clays are then transported
to a disposal pond for sea-reclamation either by a
pipeline or by a barge. The structure of the clay that
has originally been developed at the seabed is dis-
turbed in the dredging and transporting processes.
Figure 1 illustrates the flow from dredging to recla-
mation. The degree of disturbance depends on the
ways of dredging and transporting.
In the pump-dredged clays, the original soil
structure is completely destroyed and the water
content measured in the pipeline often exceeds
1,000 %. When poured into a pond, soil particles are
initially suspending in the water and gradually set-
tles to the sea bottom. Soil particles then create a
sediment by re-constituting a new soil structure. The
characteristics of reconstituted structure may be dif-
ferent from those of the original structure in the sea-
bed at borrow area.
The grab-dredged and barge-transported clays are
also anticipated to experience disturbance to their
structure but with much smaller degree.
In addition to the disturbance, grain size sorting in
the settlement process may influence the character-
istics of pump-dredged clays. When pump-dredged
clays are poured into the water, coarser particles are
piled up near the outlet of the pipeline, whereas the
finer ones are suspending in the water and transport-
ed far from the outlet until they settle down. Alt-
hough the outlet is moved periodically during the
reclamation, the deposit thus formed is not uniform.
In the design of sea-reclamation, large volume
change of dredged clays is one of the critical issues.
reclamation, the determination of the consolidation
parameters of the reclaimed clays is difficult because
of the reasons mentioned so far.
In the paper, Fukuoka Island City project is taken
as a case record for the examination of the change of
consolidation characteristics from dredging to rec-
lamation. This is the first step of accumulating data
for establishing a procedure to determine the appro-
priate consolidation parameters. As it is impossible
to determine the spatial distribution of soil parame-
ters beforehand, the reclamation process is assumed
as one-dimensional consolidation by a homogeneous
material. The best-fit consolidation parameters back-
analyzed for the pump- and grab-dredged clay layers
are compared with those of samples taken from the
borrow area and the completed reclaimed land.
2 CONSOLIDATION THEORY AND
ANALYSIS METHOD
The process from settlement to self-weight consoli-
dation of soil particles is explained in Figure 2 (Ya-
mauchi et al., 1990). Settlement means the condition
in which single particles or flocs fall down in the
water. Sedimentation means the phenomenon that
sinking particles or flocs settle at the top of the
other, and self-weight consolidation is the process
where the sediment consolidates due to its own
weight.
When the soil particles in a dilute ciay-seawater
mixture settle in a cylinder the particles first become
cohered and form flocs, which then fall in the form
of zone settling as shown in Figure 2 (Imai, 1980).

307

Subsequently, the particles that have settled become
a part of sediments (t = tl). From the viewpoint of
the development of effective stress there must exist a
boundary between the particles still settling and tho-
se that have already became sediment, and the
boundary moves upward with time. This boundary is
here called as the ‘depositional surface’. With the
progress of sedimentation the top surface of the
group of settling particles always sinks, while the
depositional surface rises. After the depositional sur-
face reaches to the top surface of sediment, all the
sediment is in the self-weight consolidation (t = tz).
To perform a numerical analysis simulating the
accumulation of sediment, a model shown by a step-
like line in Figure 3 (Yamauchi et al., 1990) is used.
A new uniform sediment with predetermined thick-
ness is instantaneously piled on the top surface of
the sediment already formed, and just after the piling
of this sediment is considered as a consolidation
layer.
2.1 Consolidation theory used
The general one-dimensional consolidation equation
can be expressed as follows;
Mass conservation:
_av_ _
- -ae
- (1)
az at
Darcy’s law and balance of momentum neglecting
acceleration:
k 1 ae
v = -(-x-+ y’)
y, l+e az
Constitutive equation of soil skeleton:
f(a’,e,l.) = 0 (3)
Where, e, e: void ratio and rate of void ratio, 0’:ef-
fective stress, k: coefficient of permeability, v: exit
water velocity relative to soil skeleton, y7: sub-
merged unit weight of soil, yw: unit weight of water,
z:reduced coordinate.
To simplify the constitutive equation, Eq. (4)that
does not take viscosity into account has been used in
this paper.
f(a’,e) = 0 (4)
The k is determined uniformly according to e as
followings :
k =k(e) (5)
A numerical calculation that satisfies Eqs. (l), (2),
(4)and ( 5 ) can be carried out.
The most general one-dimensional consolidation
theory considering no creep effect was proposed by
Mikasa (1963) and Gibson (1967). Both the theories
are expressed by complicated partial differential
equations of the second order obtained from com-
bining Eqs. (l), (2) and (4). In this paper, however,
the coupling method “CONA”’ proposed by lmai
(1995) is used. In this method, Eqs. (l), (2), (4)and
(5) expressed by a single differential equation are
coupled whenever the occasion demands.
2.2 Boundary condition of self-weight consolidation
To analyze the consolidation of new fresh sediment
piled on the top of existing sediment, the determina-
tion of the boundary conditions of the fresh sediment
becomes important. In this paper, the boundary con-
dition at the top of the fresh sedimentation is fixed at
9.8 Pa as proposed by Yamauchi et al. (1990).
 3 COMPARISON BETWEEN NUMERICAL
AND MEASURED RESULTS
The reclamation of the City No.1 area at Island City
project in Fukuoka, Japan is selected for the case
study to investigate the change of consolidation pa-
rameters. The conditions of City No.1 area are;
about 600 m x 1,100 m in plan, DL-3.5 m in depth
of sea, and DL+6.5 m in planned elevation at the end
of reclamation. The main reclamation took place in
18 months since August 1997. About 1,800,000 m3
of pump-dredged clays were poured first for 5
months. After 7 months of intermission, about
1,600,000 m3 of grab-dredged clays were brought
into the pond for 6 months. Details of the project are
described in the companion paper by Henmi et al.
(2000).

3.1 Consolidation parameters used and result of

back analysis
The initial and best-fit consolidation parameters for
the pump- and grab-dredged clays are shown in Fig-
ure 4.
The initial relations for the pump- and grab-
dredged clays were determined by the multi-
sedimentation test proposed by Yamauchi et al.
(1990) at smaller stress level, and by the ordinary
oedometer test at higher stress level. The parameters
in the intermediate stress level were obtained by in-
terpolation to cover the wide stress range. Only one
sample was available for the determination of initial
parameters, however, the sample was not too far
from the representative sample of the borrow area
(see 3.3). Based on the experience, the specimens
were prepared from the sample as the clay-seawater
mixtures having water contents of 2,000 and 200 %
for pump- and grab-dredged clays, respectively.
Figure 5 shows the comparison between best-fit
analyzed and measured results. In Figure 5(a), solid
squares represent the maximum and minimum ele-
vations out of about 200 measurements by means of
sonic prospecting. Open circles show the range of
elevations measured by leveling at three to six loca-
tions. Figure 5(b) shows the water contents distribu-
tions with elevation measured at three locations on
February 1999, two months after the reclamation.
Back analyses of the reclamation through the
modification of the initial consolidation parameters
were conducted to find the best-fit solution for the
time-elevation relation and water content distribu-
tion (Henmi et al., 2000). For the compressibility,
the inclination of logf- logp relation, SL (as shown
in Figure 4(a)) was changed by fixing a point at p =
1,000 kPa on the initial relation. The permeability
was changed by shifting the log c, - logp relation in
parallel to the initial one. The best-fit solution thus
obtained is confirmed to fit not only with the eleva-
tion of the reclaimed land (Figure 5(a)) but also with

309
the water content distribution in the dredged layer
(Figure 5(b)). The parameters used in the best-fit
solution (best-fit parameters) represent the overall
consolidation characteristics of dredged clay layer
that really is far from uniform.

3.2 Comparison with consolidation parameters of

samples in reclaimed land
Soon after the reclamation was completed, undis-
turbed soil samples were taken from the reclaimed
layers and oedometer tests at ordinary stress level
have been conducted to investigate the relation of
best-fit parameters and actual variation of parame-
ters in the reconstituted clays.
Figure 6 shows the consolidation parameters of
the pump-dredged clay layer. The best-fit and initial
parameters are also shown in the same figures. The
inclination of the best-fit log f - log p relation in
Figure 6(a) corresponds to the average, and the best-
fit log c, - l o g p relation in Figure 6(b) is located in
the upper boundary of measured data in the normally
consolidated condition.
Figure 7 shows the consolidation parameters of
the grab-dredged clay layer. The best-fit logf- logp
relation falls in the middle of measured relations.
The best-fit log c, - l o g p relation seems to be con-
sistent with the measured relations.
It is interesting to compare the consolidation
parameters between pump-dredged clays and grab-
dredged ones. As the consolidation characteristics
highly depend on the physical properties of clay, the
relations between soil property and consolidation
parameters are necessary. Figure 8 is a plasticity
chart on which the properties of samples are plotted.
Open squares correspond to the pump-dredged clays
and solid rhombuses to the grab-dredged clays. The
liquid limit in both the clays are between 60 and
100 96.Due to the grain size sorting, a part of the re-
claimed layer is composed of extremely fine parti-
cles and contrary to this, another extreme becomes a
sand heap. Those extremes are not reflected in the
figure.
Figure 9(a) shows the relationship between w,
and SL, the inclination of log f - log p. At around
100 % of w, the SL-values of the pump- and grab-
dredged clays take almost the same magnitude. The
SL of each clay decreases with decreasing w,. As w, Figure 7 Consolidation characteristics of grab-
decreases, the difference of SL between two clays dredged clay layer
becomes larger. At about 60 % of wL, the SL of the
grab-dredged clay is a half of the pump-dredged one. c,-value at 56 kPa is selected for comparison be-
The solid and broken lines in Figure 9(a) are the cause the stress level is in the normally consolidated
best-fit parameters of the grab- and pump-dredged condition. The measured c,-values at 56 kPa are
clays respectively. The best-fit parameter of each independent on w,,when it exceeds 65 % and are not
clay is located within the range of variation and it influenced by the dredging method. Below 65 % of
takes the average of corresponding clay. w,, the c,-value increases with decrease of w,. The
Figure 9(b) shows the relation between c, and w,. best-fit and initial relations are also shown in the

310
same figure. The best-fit c,-value of grab-dredged
clay expressed by a solid line is consistent with the
measured data, while that for the pump-dredged clay
layer by a broken line is higher than the measured
ones.
As far as the compressibility is concerned, the
best-fit parameter is consistent with the actual varia-
tion of the reclaimed clays. There found an incon-
sistency in the coefficient of consolidation. One pos-
sible reason for the latter is that the one-dimensional
behavior of overall reclaimed clay layer may not be
the same as the integration of the behaviors of small
parts because of two- or three-dimensional behavior
caused by spatial inhomogeneity of reclaimed land.

3.3 Comparison with consolidation parameters of

original clay samples
In the design stage of sea-walls for the reclamation,
a number of undisturbed samples had been taken
from the seabed clay layer and tested by oedometer.
The seabed clay at the sea-wall site is the same layer
with those dredged for later reclamation. Figure 10
shows the plasticity chart for these samples. Physical
properties of original clays themselves had wide
variation. Solid circle in the figure corresponds to
the clay sample tested to determine the initial
parameters in the previous section 3.1 and it locates
in the middle third of the actual wide variety of
original clays.
Figure 11 shows the relationship between con-
solidation parameters and wV In order to compare
with c,-values in the normally consolidated condi-
tion, most of the c,-values are taken at 56 kPa of
consolidation pressure. For the samples taken at the
deep part, the values at 222 kPa in the normally con-
solidated condition are plotted by open triangles in
Figure ll(b). The parameters, SL and c, in the origi-
nal seabed clays had variation and those magnitudes
depend on the wL. As the best-fit parameters are de-
pendent on the dredging method, it is still difficult to
determine the best parameters beforehand even if
such information on the original parameters is at
hand. It is confirmed at least, however, the best-fit
parameters are within the variation range of the
original parameters. The initial approximation of the
best SL may be the average of original, and the best
c, may be the lower boundary for the grab-dredged
but higher for the pump-dredged clays.
The discussion in this section applies to the
parameters at ordinary to higher stress level- One Figure 10 Plasticity c h a r t on samples from s e a b e d
should not forget that the parameters at extremely
low stress level is also required for the analysis and
they should be obtained by means of special tests CHANGE OF CoNSoLIDAT1oN
such as the multi-sedimentation tests (Yamauchi et PARAMETERS
al., 1990) or by centrifuge test (Nishimura et al.,
2000). Apart from the numerical simulation by CONAN,
the actual change of parameters during dredging and
reclamation processes is discussed in this chapter.

31 1

Figure 12 Comparison with consolidation charac-
teristics o f seabed and reclaimed land
samples
To examine the change Of parame-
k r s from borrow area to dredged layers, Figures
and 11 are superposed into Figure l2 which shows
the relationships between consolidation parameters
and wP The SL-values of the clay with about 100 9%
of wL is approximately 0.15 in all cases. As the w,-
312
value decreases, the SL-value decreases in each case,
as described earlier. The w, - SL relation of the
clays from the original clay layer is located between
the relations of pump- and grab-dredged clays. This
means that the inclination of the logf- logp relation
of the pump-dredged clay layer increases, and that of
the grab-dredged clay layer decreases. Especially,
for the clays with lower w,-values the change is re-
markable.
In the relationship between wL and c,-value in the
normally consolidated state, on the other hand, the
relation of the seabed samples is located above those
of both the reclaimed layers. The c,-value of the
seabed clays increases gradually with decrease of
w,, while those of the reclaimed clays indicates a
constant value in the range of w , between 65 and
100 %.
5 CONCLUDING REMARKS
To predict the consolidation settlement of reclama-
tion by dredged clays, determination of appropriate
consolidation parameters for the reclaimed layers is
necessary.
Back analysis by means of one-dimensional con-
solidation analysis, CONAN gave quite a reasonable
simulation of the actual case record. However the
best-fit parameters covering wide stress range are
different from the parameters determined on a sam-
ple taken from the borrow area. The degree of dif-
ference is dependent on the dredging method.
Compared with consolidation parameters of the
samples taken from the reclaimed land, the best-fit
l o g f - l o g p relations in both the grab- and pump-
dredged clays are consistent with those measured for
the reclaimed clays. The best-fit log c, - l o g p rela-
tions in both the cases are larger than those obtained
from the samples in reclaimed land.
Compared with the parameters of samples from
the original clay layer, the best-fit parameters are
within the range of the scattering measured data.
Still imperfect but some insight was obtained for the
determination of the parameters based on the data
from original clay.
The overall trend of the change in the consolida-
tion parameters from dredging to reclamation was
grasped based on a case record.
The accumulation of similar case record will be
necessary for further improvement in the determina-
tion of appropriate consolidation parameters.
REFERENCES
Gibson, R.E., England, G.L. & Hussey, M.J.L., 1967.
The theory of one dimensional consolidation of satu-
rated clays; I Finite non-linear consolidation of thin
homogeneous layers, Geotechnique, 17: 261-273.
Henmi, K., Kataniri, M., Terashi, M. & Fukuda. K..
2000. Case history of the reclamation at Island City in
 Fukuoka, Proc. of IS-Yokohama 2000. (submitted).
Imai, G., 1980. Settling behavior of clay suspension.
Soils and Foundations, 24(2): 61-70.
Imai, G., 1995. Analytical examinations of the founda-
tions to formulate consolidation phenomena with in-
herent time-dependence.Proc. of IS-Hiroshima ‘95,2:
891-935.
Mikasa, M., 1963. The consolidation of soft clay -A new
consolidation theory and its application-, Kajima
Shuppan-kai (in Japanese).
Nishimura, M., Katagiri, M., Terashi, M. & Saitoh, K.,
2000. A Determination method of consolidation
parameters for clay sludge by centrifuge. Proc. of IS-
Yokohama 2000. (submitted).
Yamauchi, H., Imai, G. & Yono, K., 1990. Effect of the
coefficient of consolidation on the sedimentation con-
solidation analysis for a very soft clayey soil (in Japa-
nese), Proc. of 25IhAnnual meeting of JSSMFE, 359-
362.

313
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Limit analysis of sheet pile type retaining walls

S. Kobayashi
Kyoto Universio,Japan

ABSTRACT : Stability problem of a sheet pile - ground system is investigated in this papw. Both upper
bound and lower bound analyses are done for this problem, although limit equilibrium met hod is usuallj
used in practical ciigiiieering design. From the thcoretical point, limit equilibrium method is ambiguous
in comparison with limit analysis. For better knowledge of the properties of solutions, the author shows
results of both upper bound and lower bound analyses and adds some comments of these solutions.

1 INTRODUCTION bound solution varies according to the strength ra-

tio of reclaimed and supporting layers. However,
Limit design becomes popular among civil engi- a location assumed here may be a good approxi-
neers through recent developments of design pro- mation for many practical situations. I,et S 1x a11
cedures. In geotechnical engineering, it semis very angular velocity of a sheet pile, velocity of a sheet
natural to adopt this design concept, because al- pile at each points are as
most all behaviours of soil masses are belielred to
be plastic. However, the author feels that there
are soriie misunderstanding of limit state designs
t 1 y = -Sy, (y= 0. (1)

in geotechnical problems. $’or example, limit equi- Considering compatibility of velocities along OH.
li brium method is comnionly used in design proce- one of kinematically admissible velocities of soil
dures, and sorrietimes it is thought to Ine same as mass can be expressed as
limit analysis. It may be a certain ltind of approx- 21, = O(tanci.s-y),
imate solutions. But there is no theoretical back-
ground. For complete understanding of limit de-
sign concept, limit analysis is inevitable. For de-
tailed explanat ion of limit theorem, see refererices
(Salenson, 1977, Shibata 67 Sekiguchi, 1995). Plastic strain rates for area OAB are

Limit analpis is done for a stability problem of a
self-standing vertical retaining wall. A sheet pile of
which yielding moment is My installed vertically to
a certain depth. A reclaimed land behind a sheet
pile is filled with 4 = 0, c = CO rigid perfectly plastic
material. A supporting layer beneath a reclaimed
land is q5 = 0, c = c1 material. Friction between a
sheet pile and a reclaimed land is assumed t o be
negligible.
2.1 Stabi1if.v analjwis based on upper I~onnd
met lioti
Assurned failure riiecha~iismis shown i n Fif. 1. A
plastic hinge occurs at a foot of a sheet pile aiid
its reclaimed soils are deformed with plastic shear-
ing. A location of a plastic hinge for the best upper
where i:, <I’ are plastic voluiiietric strain rate aiid
plas tjic (enginecri ng ) shear strain rate, rcqnec t i vel y.
Due to the co-axiality of plastic strain rates and
stresses. Mohr’s circles of plastic strain rates and
st,resses for area OAB are shown i n Fig. 2. Mean
principal strcss off,shown in Fig. 2 is Iiot deter-
ministic. Ilowever, it is no influence on plastic dis-
sipation energy rate.
Internal plastic dissipation eiiergy rate for t Iic
assumed mechanism can be divided into t hrec
part\. For plastic shcared are OAR. internal plastic
dissipation energy rate is given as 1 4 f t Z 7 L l . A ~ , i \ ~

315
 H

Figure 1: Assumed failure mechanism for upper bound analysis

Figure 2: Mohr’s stress circle and plastic strain rate circle for area OAB

H
Sheet pile
8 ~1 )L,

C
J I

I 0
Figure 3: Assumed stress field for a lower bound analysis

Along OB where a sheet pile and soil mass contact

t o each other, it is negligible becausc friction there
lil.’*,t,sp = nf,@ b5)
is assumed to be zero. A t a plast,ic hirige occurring On the other hand, since external plastic work
in a sheet pile, it is calculated as rate is only done by self weight of soil mass, it is
expressed as

316
 0 Shear stress components gTy= ryzarc zero.

lrlt””” JH
( - p g ) d ( tan’ Q . x - tan a . y)dyclx pyLl 5 ‘2cl (area a ) ,
y=xtancr

pg( L + L 2 ) L 2c1 (area c ) ,

According tjo upper bound theorem, by equating
internal plastic dissipation energy rate with exter- pg( H + L1 + I,’) 5 2cl (area d ) ,
nal plastic work rate, the following equation can
be derived, pgN 5 2 q (areas both e & f ) . (9)
Equilibria of forces and moments acting 011 a sheet
pile are then investigated.
Fo - 2 C l L1 + 2C11,’ = U,

where parameter 13 = tan CY governs failure mecha- 1

nisms. MO + CIL? - 2ClL’(L, t 34 = 0, (10)
2
By minimising height of a sheet pile N about where Fo and A40 are horizontal force and monients
parameter 0= tan a , the optimum mechanism /j = acting at a foot of a sheet pile expressed as
1, i.e., a = n / 4 can be obtained from aH/t2/3 = 0.
Thus, non-dimensional limit height of a sheet
pile h = H / l can be evaluated in a closecl forin
equation.
1
-h3 - 11’ -r ~ i= 0,
6 Since external forces are acting as shown in Fig. 3 ,
bending moment distribution in a sheet pile is in
P)are reprtsenia-
where 1 = c o / ( p g ) . 771 = iWy/(co. the following form,
tive length aiid non-dimensional bending strength
of a sheet, pile, respectively. Ad = MO + Fo .,7 - c12’ +H ( 2 {
- L , ) 2c1( 2 - L, ,
This is a result of upper bound analysis. (12)
where function H ( z - L , ) is Heavkide’s step func-
2.2 Stability ana1.ysis based on lower hound tion defined as
met h o ci
Lower bound analysis is done for an assumed stress
H(2 - L,) = {
1 for ( 2 2 L , )
0 for ( 2 < L l )
(13)
field shown in Fig. 3. It is necessary to show that Thus, a location zrn where the maxiinum bending
the assumed stress field satisfies equilibrium of moment occurs can be calculated as
stresses (or forces) and doesn’t violate the yield
conditions. Mohr’s stress circles for each parts of
soil masses in Fig.3 are shown in Fig. 4. For the
simplicity of the analysis, the principal axes are as-
sumed t o be coincide with vertical and horizontal = 0,
directions and to satisfy the following conditions
giver1 as inequalities (9) for no violation of yield
conditions. This stress field is very conservativ(2,
because only a few areas are in fully plastic state
and the others are within a yield surface. These Because it is requested that .U7,?is lo\vei. tliaii a
stress fields arc: obviously satisfying equatioiis of yield moment bly,a following inequalit!- should be
+
equilibria c ~ pb, ~ =~ 0,, under
~ the assumptions as satisfied.
follows;
0 Vertical normal stress component oYycoin-
My 2 AfTn = nl(:,,) = .U, + FOL
__
4Cl
(15)
cides with overburden self-weight, i.e. only a
linear function of y. Noting that this inequality is only a function of
length Lo, 1he maximum length of Lo call be ob-
0 Horizontal normal stress component ozs is tained as
constant iIi the x-direction.

317

where rn is non-cliineiisio~ialbending strength of a
sheet pile defined previously as 772 = M g / ( c 0 . 1 2 ) ,
and k is a ratio of a supporting layer and a re-
claimed land defined as k = c1/co. As upper part
of reclaimed land is self-standing (see Figs. 3 Rr 4),
non-dimensional critical height of a sheet pile 17 is
expressed as
Other lengths L1 arid 1,2 are directly ohtained by
Eq. (11) as
It should be noted that lengths Lo, L1 and L2 ob-
tained by eys. (16) and (18) must satisfy inequali-
ties (9) for the sake of statically admissible stress
fields. Inequalities (9) can be summarised to one
inequality in a non-dimensional form,
L L L2
'fO+L+-<.Sk,
... 1 1 I -
where a sheet pile hight H is deleted by virtue of
Eq. (16).
According to the discussion above, lower bound
solution can be ohtained as follows;
0 For a certain set of strength parameters k and
m.where k is a strength ratio of rcclaimed and
supporting layers, and m is a non-dimensional
bending moment strength of a sheet pile, re-
spec t ivcl y.
0 Find a maximum non-dimensional height, of a
sheet pile h.
0 Length Lo is first calculated by Eq. (16).
Then, lengths L1 and L 2 are calculated by
Eqs. (18).
0 If inequality (19) holds true, obtained values
are surely one of lower solutions. Elsc. there
is no feasible solution.
Calculated results are presented and discussed i n
the following section.
3 DISCUSSION AND ITS APPLICATION FOR
DESIGN PROCEDURE
At first, for investigation of ranges where exact so-
lutions exist, both results of upper bound analysis
Eq. (8) and results of lower bound analysis Eqs.
(17) and (19) are shown in Fig. 5 .
For upper bound analysis, it should be remem-
bered that a location of a plastic hinge is fixed a t
the boundary of a reclaimed and supporting lay-
ers. This assnmption may give a good estimation,
but it cannot be guaranteed that results presented
here are the best ones.
For lower bound analysis, solutions are depend-
ing on the parameter k which is a strength ratio
of two layers. For smaller k cases, feasible solu-
tions cannot find for bigger m cases, which imply
that a bending strength of a sheet pile is high.
This is interpreted as follows. Let us assume that
sheet piles with a high strength are used for weak
ground condition cases. Even though a horizontal
load due to a reclaimed land is transmitted to a
supporting layer via sheet piles, a supportiug layer
cannot afford t o carry it and fails.
For stronger moment strength cases, the results
of this study show fairly well because differences
of both lower and upper solutions become smaller.
This is very importhnt information which tells
where the exact solutions exist. A narrow zone
( 19) surrounded by two lines is the area of the exact
solutions. It can be concluded that this method is
expecting and gives sufficient information for prac-
tical designing process. Errors are within 20% for
cases of over n z = 30 Ly doing a very siiiiplv anal-
y si s presented here.
It should be noticed that from upper bound
analysis, they are overestimated especially for
smaller moment strength m cases, however. Prcvi-
ous studies of a stability problem of non-supportcd
vertically cut slope that is coincident to m = 0 case
show that best known upper bound solution of crit-
ical height is only h = 3.83 for a circular slip mode
(Shield, 1954), which is only about 60% of a solu-
tion of this study. We must recognise here agairi
that velocity boundary conditions along a sheet
pile are given as a linear distribution with depth in
this study, which is totally different conditions for
non-supported vertical cut cases. t\round m = 0
cases in this study, boundary coiiditioris along a
sheet pile arc rather imaginary; although a sheet
pile has a very weak yield bending strength, but
velocity distribution is kept linear due to a sheet
piles. This constraint has strong effects on the so-
111t ion.
318
 Figure 4: Mohr’s stress circles for each parts shown in Fig. 3
Figure 6: Relation between yielding moment of a
sheet pile 772, soil strength ratio k and installation
depth of a sheet pile d for the assumed stress field
For practical interest, it is also important to cs-
timate an installation depth of a sheet pile. Ac-
cording t o this lower bound solution, an installa-
tion depth should be a t least summation of two
+
lengths L1 Lz. Non-dimensional form of a min-
319
imum installation depth of a sheet pile cl is then
defined as
L1
d=-+-.
L2
(20)
1 1
A non-dimensional minimum installation depth of
a sheet pile d can be estimated by Eq. (18) for a
set of parameters ( m , k ) which satisfies Ey. (19).
Relation between yielding bending moment of a
sheet pile 7 n , soil strength ratio k and miriiInuni
installation depth of a sheet pilc cl is shown in Fig.
6. According to Fig. 6, main stability factors of
these structures seem to be both yielding moment
of a sheet pile and soil strength ratio. This implies
that we cannot expect more reinforcement effects
by just installing sheet piles a t much more deep
levels than a certain suitable level shown in Fig. 6.
It may be interpreted that as failure of a sheet pile
bending is dominant for this situation, deeper part
of a sheet pile does nothing for the stability of these
types of structures. If we expect more siipporting
forces from a supporting layer, we sliould use shed
piles with much more strength to transmit a hori-
zontal load of a reclaimed land to deeper areas of
a supporting layer. It should be noticed again that
nothing will be expected by just installing sheet
piles deeper than the levels shown here and there
exists suitable combinations of moment strength 772
and soil strength ratio k . It is recommended that
rational choice of a sheet pile should b~ done with
considering both Figs. 6 and 5.
From lower bound solutions, there exists suit-
able combinations of moment strength ni and soil
strength ratio k . It is recommended that rational
choice of a sheet pile should be done with consid-
ering both Figs. 6 and 5.
The analyses in this study are very simple, how-
ever the results give important information of the
solutions from both theoretical and practical in-
terests. If more precise analysis will be in necd.
more general \.elocity fields including a circular slip
mode arid the location of a plastic hinge should
be investigated for upper bound analysis. More
general stress fields including effects of self weight
should be checked for lower bound analysis, be-
cause stress fields considered here are on very con-
servative and safe sides. If more general boundary
value problems will be considered, limit analysis
presented here can be extended directly to numeri-
cal analysis by spacial discretization which is called
rigid plastic finite element analysis (Tamura et al.,
1984, Kobayashi, 1999).
4 CONCLUSIONS
hilain conclusioiis obtained in this study arc as fol-
lows,
REFERENCES
SalenSon, J. (1977) “Applications of the Theory of
Plasticity in Soil Mechanics.’’ John Wiley & Sons.
Shibata, T. SL H. Sekiguchi. (1995) “Bearing capacity
of ground,” Kajima Press (in Japanese).
Shield, R. T. (1954) “Plastic potential theory and the
Prandtl bearing capacity solution,” J. Appl. Mech.,
21 (2), 193-194.
Tamura, T., S. Kobayashi & T. Sumi. (1984) ‘‘Limit
analysis of soil structure by rigid finite element
method,” Soils and Foundations, 24 ( l ) , 34-42.
Kobayashi, S. (1999) “Bearing capacity & stability
problems, ” in “Background of soil mechanics,” Part
B, Chapter 2, Pre-summer school textbook. T ( ’
(Applied mechanics and niatliematics in geotcschni-
cal engineering), JSG (in Japanese).

e Both upper ancl lower bound of critical heights

of a sheet pile are investigated for various
ranges of sheet pile strength n2 and soil
strength ratio k . The results give important
information of the solutions from both theo-
retical and practical interests.

e From lower bound solutions, there exists suit-

able combinations of moment strength rn and
soil strength ratio I;. There are suitable instal-
lation depths of sheet piles for this type of a
structure. It is important information for bct-
ter effects of reinforcement. The results seem
to be sufficiently good for practical engineer-
ing.

e The following points of the results should be

noticed, however. From upper hound solu-
tions, very simple velocity fields are consid-
ered. Although the results seem to be good
enough for sufficiently strong sheet pile cases.
the results are somewhat overestimated for
less strong sheet pile cases. From lower bound
solutions, the results may be conservative and
on the safe side because soil mitsses are not al-
ways in fully plastic range and holding some
rooms for better solutions.

e The analyses presented in this study are very

simple. However, It will give good information
of solutions for both theoretical and practical
points of view. if more precise analysis will
be in need, limit analysis presented here can
be extended to more general boundary d u e
problems. For example, rigid plastic finite el-
ement method is one of them. In this sense,
liniit analysis is applicable and expecting.

320
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Seismic retrofit design for liquefaction-induced ground displacement

mitigation
M. Kondoh
Yokohama City,Japan
I. Tawara
Port and Harbor Bureau, Yokohaina City,Japan

ABSTRACT: The authors have proposed the additional reinforcing structure which uses steel sheet piles with
wedge shape heads for existing caisson type quay walls (Kondoh et al., 1998). An idea of the design is to
utilize effect of the geometry brought by shape of the wedge. These reinforcing structures compact its sur-
rounding ground due to placing the shape of the wedge. The effectiveness of this additional reinforcing
structure was verified by the dynamic analysis through the site investigation after construction and the verifi-
cation analysis, it is confirmed that the new seismic retrofit design is epoch-making to reduce their damage
after the earthquake. This paper mainly presents the mechanism of seismic retrofit design and the results of
the site investigation in field.

1 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS prevents damages by liquefaction-induced large

It is still fresh in our memories that quay walls of
Kobe Harbor were greatly damaged by the 1995
Hyogoken-Nambu Earthquake. The major cause of
this damage was liquefaction-induced large ground
displacement. As an anti-liquefaction countermea-
sure, the method has been used to prevent liquefac-
tion of the ground by its improvement. However,
conventional design like a ground improvement is
too cxpensive to construct in a wide area. This has
led the necessity of new consideration for estimation
and determination of liquefaction. This has also led
the necessity of a cheaper and more compact earth-
quake-proof design with new reinforcement to pro-
tect existing quay walls from liquefaction that is ap-
plicable to these walls.
This paper introduces the seismic retrofit design
using steel sheet pile with wedge shape head that
ground displacement.
2 OUTLINE OF SEISMIC RETROFIT DESIGN
Figure 1 shows an outline of the seismic retrofit
design using steel sheet pile with wedge shape head.
It is a cross-sectional view of the example where
steel sheet piles are used to front quay walls located
4.5m below sea level. These quay walls are con-
structed 12m below sea level by reclamation. Sands
were used their reclamation, while rubbles were
used to the mound and the backfill behind caisson.
The stratum includes soft alluvial clay, which is off-
shored piled 40m deep under the reclamation layer.
About 60m below sea level, there is a distribution of
Kazusa group of based rocks which is a seismic
bedrock for engineering. There is a worry about the
occurrence of liquefaction on the reclaimed soil lay-
ers.

Figure 1. Cross section of seismic retrofit d e s i p using steel sheet pile with wedge shape head

321
 The seismic retrofit design uses steel sheet piles
with reverse-triangle wedge shape heads of 4.0m
(width of the top of the wedge shape head) x 4.0m
(height) x 6.2m (depth). These steel sheet piles are
used in parallel with the perpendicular line of quay
walls, with a distance of 8m from the center of these
steel sheet piles. The surrounding ground was com-
pacted by pushing wedge shape heads into a desir-
able depth with a vibrator, thus increasing the resis-
tance to liquefaction. In this case, we can design
using IV-type 15m-steel sheet piles to make up the
quay wall.

3 METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION
The method of construction of the seismic retrofit
design is shown in Figure 2. First, wedge shape
heads are pushed into the ground with a vibration-
hammer to compact its surrounding ground. Then,
steel sheet piles are constructed along their central
grooves. Finally, wedge heads and steel sheet piles
are combined.

4 MECHANISM OF SEISMIC RETROFIT

DESIGN
Figure 3 shows a conceptual view of flow force and
resistance force acting on these conventional steel
sheet pile wall method and steel sheet pile with
wedge shape heads in case of liquefaction-induced
large ground displacement. Conventional methods
with steel sheet piles use a design technique to allow
the subgrade reaction from the sea and sheet pile
bending resistance to resist the flow force from the
land. The seismic retrofit design provides the sub-
grade reaction and sheet pile bending resistance
from the sea with resistance to the flow force from
the land. It is expected that the subgrade reaction
should reach its peak at the sea bottom where the
heads of a steel sheet come. However, the subgrade
reaction in the horizontal direction of the ground is
not satisfactory at the sea bottom. This calls for the
use of steel sheet piles with a larger bending resis-
tance.
The mechanism of the seismic retrofit design can
be divided into two major parts. One is compaction
of the surrounding ground where wedge shape heads
are placed. This compaction increases thc resistance
to liquefaction of the ground around wedge shape
heads, providing a dircct effect to prevent liquefac-
tion. The other lies in a geometrical brought by the
wedge shape. In general the subgrade reaction is
greater in the horizontal direction than in the vertical
direction. This decreases necessary section perfor- Figure 3 . Conceptual view of flow force and Resistance force
mance of steel sheet piles from the viewpoint of de-
sign, shortening the length of the sheet pile. This 5 SITE INVESTIGATION IN FIELD
seismic retrofit design is featured by increasing the
resistance to liquefaction and the subgrade reaction, Before and after the construction of the seismic ret-
which causes a smaller ground displacement. rofit design witch wedge shape heads were pushcd

322
 into the ground with a vibration-hammer to compact
its surrounding ground, in-situ test using the stan-
dard penetration test (the following, SPT) was car-
ried out in such arrangement as shown in Figure 4.
Problematic soil in the field is the part of hydraulic
fills that was constructed by dredging. The fills are
mainly consisted of fine sand with shell fragments
and interbedded with clayey-silt thin layer of 5-
15cm in thickness about 3m in depth. And also be-
fore the construction, N-values of SPT in the fills are
less than 10 blows that show relatively loose sandy
soils. These fills develop from the bed of the sea to
about 6m in depth above sand mat layer underlying
normal marine clay to 40m in depth. N-values of
SPT after the construction are shown in Figure 5. It
is clear that N-values are increased over 20 blows
near the bottom of wedge shape head. N-values
show a tendency to increase as closer to wedge
I
Existing quay wall
Steel sheet pile with
I design is proposed in this paper, in which the ground
F i g r e 4. Arrangement of execution of site investigation
Figire 5. Results of site investigation in field
323
shape head. It was found through site investigation
in field that the surrounding ground close to wedge
shape head is compacted.
6 VERIFICATION OF PROPOSED NEW
SEISMIC RETROFIT DESIGN
The effect of the additional reinforcing structure was
verified by the dynamic analysis with effective stress
response called "FLIP')".
The detailed conditions for analysis are referred
references (for example: Kondoh et al., 1998).
Figure 6 shows the view of computed residual de-
formations occurred around the quay wall at 20 sec-
onds of shaking. With the no-countermeasure model,
the horizontal displacement of the top of the caisson
is 196cm toward the sea and the vertical displace-
ment is 56cm toward the settlement. With the seis
mic retrofit model, the horizontal displacement is
48cm to the sea and the vertical displacement is
17cm toward the settlement, which means a great
decrease in deformation and a desirable result of the
seismic retrofit design. As shown in Figure 7, the
time history of the horizontal displacements of the
top of the caisson. The horizontal displacement
starts at about 4 seconds when the input acceleration
of both models reaches its peak. This displacement
goes toward the sea at one time, while it is pushed
back to the land at another time. In this way, it gocs
toward the sea gradually, and reaches its peak after
shaking.
7 CONCLUSIONS
To reinforce existing quay walls, the seismic retrofit
characteristics and structural features are used, with
 sirable method with respect to cost.
It was found through site investigation in field
that the surrounding ground where wedge shape
head is compacted. N-values of SPT show a tenden-
cy to increase as closer to wedge shape head.
The effect of the seismic retrofit design was veri-
fied by the dynamic analysis with effective stress re-
sponse. This finite element method revealed that the
seismic retrofit design has the most desirable effect
to reduce the deformation of quay walls after the
earthquake.

8 REFERENCES

1. Iai,S. Kameoka,T., “ Finite element analysis of

earthquake induced damage to anchored sheet
pile quay walls ” ,Soil and Foundations Vo1.33 ,
No.1 , pp71-91 , March 1993.
2. TowhataJ. Ishihara,K., “ Modeling soil behavior
under principal stress axes rotation ” , Proc. 5Ih
International conference on numerical method in
geomechanics, Nagoya , Japan , pp523-530 ,
April , 1985.
3. Iai,S. Matsnaga,Y. Kameoka,T., “ Analysis of
undrained cyclic behavior of sand under aniso-
tropic consolidation ” , Soil and Foundations
Vo1.32 , No.2 , pp16-20 , June 1992.
4. Kondoh,M. Baba,T. Sawada,S., ” Seismic retrofit
Figure 6. Computed deformation of a quay wall at 20 seconds design using steel sheet pile with .wedge shape
head against liquefaction-induced ground dis-
of shaking
placement (Part 1&2) ” 33‘dJapan National Con-
ference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engi-
300 1 I neering , pp.959-962 , July 1998 (in Japanese).
5. Sawada,S. Kondoh,M., “ Seismic retrofit design
2 I Toward theland
Drnax = 196 (crn)
I using steel sheet pile with wedge shape head ” ,
Proc. Znd International conference on earthquake
geotechnical engineering7pp.353-358,June1999.
U
m
e
Toward the sea
s
,$ -300 { I
Z 0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0
Time (sec)
(a) No-countermeasure model

I
I Toward the land
Drnax = 48 (cm)

I t

Toward the sea

-3000 0.0 2.5 5.0 ’ 7.5 10.0 E.50 15.0 17.5 20.0° ~

Time (sec)
@) Seismic retrofit model
Figure 7. Computed response displacement at the top of caisson

flow mechanism due to liquefaction in mind. The

seismic retrofit design uses much less steels than any
conventional designs, taking the seat of the most de-

324
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 1

Prediction and management of consolidation settlement with master-curve

method in Tokyo International Airport

D. Kozawa, S.Yamaguchi, H. Matsumoto & M.Arata

The 2nd District Port ConstructionBureau, Ministry of Transport, Yokohama,Japan
H. Nakanodo & Y. Kanno
Fukken Company Limited, Consulting Engineers, Yokohama,Japan

ABSTRACT: A method using master curves was used in the management of consolidation settlement in the
third-phase area of the Tokyo International Airport Offshore Expansion Project. In the prediction of
consolidation settlement of grounds, a predicting method capable of simulating the actual settlement with high
accuracy is indispensable. On the other hand, required in quick ground-improvement work is a system which
enables simplified prediction and quick feedback of predicted results to the construction works. The master-
curve method proposed in this paper is a settlement-predicting method which uses simplified models and field
data to make prediction of the same accuracy level as numerically analyzing methods.

1 INTRODUCTION particular, many types of technique and devices had

The Tokyo International Airport Offshore Expansion
Project consists of three phases. In the first phase,
New A-runway was constructed. In the second phase,
terminal facilities and aprons were constructed. In
the third phase, New C-runway was constructed and
other facilities are under construction. (See Fig. 1).
The project site was a ground reclaimed from the
sea with sludge (A,,) of 250% water content which
was dredged up from Tokyo Bay. Lying on the layer
A,, was a layer of construction waste soil (B,) from
construction sites in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Lying under the layer A,, was a 30 to 40 meter-thick
soft alluvial clay layer (A,,). In the first- and second-
phase areas where both the layers A,, and Ac2 were
relatively thin, the ground-improving work was
carried out by the vertical drain method. Plastic
board drains and small-diameter fabri-packed sand
drains( @=12cm) were mainly used. In the third-
phase area where the layer A,, was relatively thick
and the layer A,, was unconsolidated state with its
self weight, another type of vertical drain method
was adopted which used supplementary intermediate
drains and sand drains partially sheathed with
geotextile (see Figs. 2). Because the height of
construction machinery was limited in this area due
to the airspace restriction of the Airport, the ground-
improvement work could not be performed to the
bottom of the A,, layer, leaving behind the problem
of residual settlement. In the third-phase area in
to be developed and used to cope with lots of
restrictions and problems.
This paper describes the master-curve method
used in the management of consolidation settlement
in the third-phase area. In this area, the technique of
computer-aided construction management system
was adopted which fed back the results of settlement
predictions based on field-observation data to the
ground-improvement work. Important in predicting
the future consolidation settlement is a system
capable of simulating the past consolidation
settlement with high accuracy. On the other hand,
important in quick execution of ground-
improvement work is a simple prediction system and
quick feedback of predicted results.
The master-curve method is a settlement-
prcdicting method which uses simplificd models and
field data to make prediction of the same accuracy
level as numerically analyzing methods.
2 MODELING OF ANALYTICAL CONDITIONS
It is desirable in the master-curve method to predict
the consolidation settlement of a ground with a
simple and easy solution as near the actual
conditions as possible. Accordingly, several models
were built in the master-curve method on the
complex conditions of ground behavior.

325

2.1 The Definition of master-curve inethod
The master-curve method is a settlement-predicting
method in ground-improvement work with vertical
drains. It is different from the predicting method at
the design stage which predicts, without data on the
past settlement, the future settlement based on soil
properties determined from soil exploration and
laboratory tests and such conditions for construction
work as determined from general work-execution
plan. In the master-curve method, the parameters of
326
consolidation model is built based on the past
settlement data of a ground to reproduce the
settlement. Then, the model of consolidation is
reformed, for higher predicting accuracy, based on
settlement data collected in the ground-improvement
work.
2.2 Modeling of settlement-analyzing method
(I) Calculation of settlement
In the third-phase area of the Tokyo International
Airport Offshore Expansion Project where loading
on the ground surface was wide enough compared
with the depth of clayey soil layers, the
consolidation settlement was taking place in a one-
dimensional deformation pattern, without lateral
movement. Therefore, the consolidation settlement
was calculated with the so-called C, method.
where, S , is the final consolidation settlement; N,
thickness of each clayey soil layer; P,,, initial
effective overburden pressure; A P, increase in
underground stress; C,, compression index; and e,,
initial void ratio.
(2) Calculation of consolidation rate
(a) Consolidation settlement of non-improved layers:
Terzaghi's one-dimensional consolidation solution
for homogeneous soil was used for calculating the
consolidation settlement of the non-improved layers.
(b) Improved layers with vertical drains: Barron's
(1948) solution is available for the consolidation
theory of vertical drains. It's approximate solution is
often used in the design of ground improvement due
to its simplicity and easiness. However,
consolidation does not necessarily progress in such
an ideal way as formulated by Barron. In actual
grounds, there are problems such as resistance of the
materials of drains.
Regarding the problem of drainage resistance of
drain materials, Yoshikuni and Nakanodo( 1974)
devised a strict solution for well resistance, and
Yoshikuni proposed an approximate expression for
easy designing and a method of applying the
expression to mat resistance. In the second-phase of
construction area, the pore water pressure in drains
and sand mats was measured to ascertain the
existence of well resistance and mat resistance, and
it was confirmed that they could be well explained
with the approximate expression of Yoshikuni. In the
third-phase area, the consolidation process was
calculated with the following equations.
i g n
1 fln)+0.8L 1
yTh)='-ed--- )
 n2 3n2-1
F(n)=-----ln(n)-___
n2-1 4n2

where U represents the degree of consolidation; T,,,

time factor of clay in horizontal direction; n, drain
ratio (ratio of effective drainage diameter de to pile
diameter d\,,); L,,, mat resistance; L,v, well resistance;
k,, coefficient of permeability of clay; k,,,, coefficient
of permeability of sand mats; H,,, thickness of sand
mats; B , one half of the spacing between drainage
pipes arranged in sand mats; and H , length of drains.

2.3 Simple settle}?ierit-a}iuly~i}i~~

method for ~ioti-
tli soiigli rlra ins
I n general, drains are buried through all layers which
are subject to consolidation. Adopted in the third-
phase area, however, was a so-called non-through
drain method that leave the lower part of settling
clay layer unimproved due to the limitation on the
height of construction machinery. The ground was
improved down to the depth of Ap - 28m, which left
unimproved the lower part of the layerAc2 and the
whole layer D c l , allowing them to develop
consolidation settlement in future. Drainage under
consolidation in the soil below such drains is
complex. Horizontal drainage quickens both the
consolidation of the soil penetrated by such drains
and the soil below such drains. However, because no
complete drainage layer is formed in the top zone of
the soil below such drains, the water in the zone
presents complex behavior as shown in Fig. 3.
A series of FEM calculations were carried out to
develop the design method for non-through drains,
which showed that the distribution of consolidation
degree in the soil below the drains could be
explained by the top and bottom drainage theory if a Fig.5 Time-dependent changes of excess pore
plain-like drainage layer was assumed above the pressure in drains and sand mats
bottom level of the drains, and that the analytical
solution by Terzaghi’s top and bottom drainage
2.4 Aizalytical nzetlzocl for supplementary
theory conformed well to the results of FEM if the
intermediate drains
drainage length of the soil under the drains was
regarded as H+de/2. Accordingly, adopted in the The coefficients of consolidation Cv of the supersoft
consolidation calculation of the soil below the drains dredged clay layer A c l and the alluvial clay layer
was a simple design method in which the above Ac2 were largely different from each other, the
extra thickness de/2 was added to the thickness of former being 40 cm7/d, the latter being 100-200
the soil below the drains (Hitachi et a1.,1994). cm’/d. It is desirable in such a multilayer ground to
carry out ground-improvement work to attain similar
degrees of consolidation in all the layers in a
prescribed time period. In our case, sand drains were

327
buried through the Acl layer into theAc2 layer. With
the sand drains, the supersoft Acl layer was to lag
behind the Ac2 layer in consolidation, requiring
supplementary vertical drains between sand drains,
the latter arranged at 2.5-meter intervals. However,
considering the stability of the ground and the sand
drains, the availability and efficient stationing and
operation of construction machinery, etc., we used
plastic board drains and fabri-packed sand drains as
supplementary intermediate drains, as shown in Fig.
2 (Maruyama et a1.,1992).
Because the consolidation behavior under the
above conditions were complex, FEM calculations
were carried out to determine the arrangement of
drains. In consolidation calculation for ground-
improvement design and consolidation management,
the effect of supplementary intermediate drains was
expressed by converting their diameter and spacing
into equivalent ones which showed consolidation
characteristics similar to those observed in the FEM.
3 EVALUATION OF MASTER-CURVE METHOD
In this chapter, the authors will describe the
evaluation of the master-curve method.
3.1 Setting of nzaster curves
The master-curve method is to review and renew the
predicted settlement curve of the execution design
stage based on the results of field observation and
soil exploration and in accordance with reclamation
and filling, or banking, plans.
In the ground-improvement work in the third-
phase area, the master curves were reviewed in three
stages; i.e., execution design stage, stage of
installing settlement gauges layerwise, and stage of
loading by banking and allowing the ground to
settle.
Fig.4 shows the comparison of the calculated
settlement and the measured settlement at each stage.
In Fig.4, the square marks indicate the settlement
values measured by settlement plates set on the
ground surface before the ground-improvement work.
The lozenge marks indicate the settlement values
measured by the settlement gauges installed
layerwise immediately after burying drains. Because
consolidation settlement was calculated for the
period after burying drains, the comparison between
calculated settlement and measured settlement was
also made for the period after burying drains.
It can be seen in Fig.4 that as the work progressed
from the execution design stage to the stage of
installing settlement gauges layerwise, and to the
328
stage of loading by banking and allowing the ground
to settle, the predicting accuracy increased. In the
last stage, the calculation predicted the actual
settlement very accurately.
3.2 Verification of delay in consolidation and non-
through drains
The features of the master-curve method used in the
third-phase area are the consideration of delay in
consolidation due to well and mat resistance,
calculation of consolidation settlement for non-
through drains, and calculation of consolidation
settlement for supplementary intermediate drains.
In the third-phase area, piezometers, or pore
pressure meters, were set in drains, sand mats, and
the clayey soil layers. The piezometers in drains and
sand mats were to determine the consolidation delay
due to the resistance. The piezometers in the clayey
soil layers were to monitor the consolidation degrees
of the layers. In addition, the position of the drainage
layer in the soil below the drains could be estimated
qualitatively from the distribution of piezometers.
Fig.5 shows the time-dependent changes of the
excess pore pressure in drains and sand mats, the
level of the banked soil, and the underground water
level. Fig.6 shows the distribution depthwise of the
pore pressure and the hydrostatic pressure in drains.
It can be seen from Fig.5 that the excess pore
pressure in drains rose immediately after banking
soil and continued to be high for some time. It can
be seen from Fig.6 that an excess pore water
pressure occurred because the pore water pressure
was higher than the hydrostatic pressure. These
observation results proved the existence of well
resistance. Fig5 shows the excess pore pressure in
sand mats. The slight excess pore pressure in the
sand mats indicated the existence of mat resistance.
Fig.6 Relation between pore pressure and hydro-
static pressure in drains
Fig.8 Distribution depthwise of pore pressure in
clayey soil layers
Fig.7 shows the time-dependent changes of pore
pressure in the clayey soil layers. Fig.8 shows the
distribution depthwise of pore pressure in the clayey
soil layers at the completion of ground improvement.
It can be seen from Fig.7 that the pore pressure in
the clayey soil layers increased rapidly as soil was
banked on the ground, and the pore pressure
decreased gradually while the banked soil was left as
if was. Fig.8 shows the hydrostatic pressure and the
overburden pressure, too. It can be seen from Fig.8
that the top drainage layer of the soil below the
drains was formed above the bottom level of the
drains, conforming to the conditions for drainage
layer set in the master-curve method.
Thus, the existence of the consolidation delay and
the position of the drainage layer in the soil below
the drains were ascertained from the results of
measurement of the pore pressure.
329
Fig. 10 Comparison between reverse-calculated
values and test values of consolidation parameters
3.3 Comparison between consolidation parameters
determined by tests and those reverse-calculated
from nzeasured settlement
In the master-curve method, the consolidation
parameters of a ground and its layer configuration
are first determined based on the results of soil
exploration. Thereafter, as the field observation data
build up, such parameters and layer configuration
are reviewed so that actual measured settlement can
be simulated with high accuracy. The values of
consolidation parameters based on soil exploration
are determined through the oedometer tests of
undisturbed soil specimens obtained by soil
exploration. However, the review of values of the
parameters are necessary because the values 4 CONCLUSIONS
determined by consolidation tests differ from the The authors described the master-curve method used
actual ones due to various factors such as in the management of consolidation settlement in the
disturbance of specimens due to the collection of third-phase area of the Tokyo International Airport
specimens, difference in stress condition between Offshore Expansion Project. This method would be
test models and actual ground, and scale effect. effective as a method of managing the consolidation
Values of consolidation parameters (C, and C,) settlement of a vast reclaimed ground which contains
determined by laboratory tests of specimens many uncertain factors at the execution design stage
obtained by check boring carried out during the and which the selection of suitable execution
installation of settlement gauges layerwise and those methods are crucial for. To predict consolidation
reverse-calculated from the data on actual settlement settlement with high accuracy, i t is important to set
in the third-phase construction area will be described. up an analytical theory and analytical conditions
Fig.9 shows the frequency distribution of the fitting to the field. Besides, for the feedback of
consolidation parameters. Table 1 shows the observation results to work, the simplification and
statistics for the frequency distribution. In Fig.10, systematization of analytical work is important.
the values determined by tests and the reverse- (1) The master-curve method is practical and capable
calculated values are directly compared with each of predicting settlement with high accuracy and
other. dealing with fill loads which changes.
The values for the dredged clay layer Acl (2) The master-curve method is effective in
presented a larger dispersion as compared with the predicting the settlement of a complex ground with
alluvial clay layer Ac2-1 layer. In the Acl layer, the vertical drains.
reverse-calculated values of both the compression (3) Because the consolidation parameters of clayey
index C, and the consolidation coefficient C, were layers, the permeability of drainage layers, etc. of a
tended to be smaller than those determined by tests, ground under work are reviewed as the banking
suggesting the delay in consolidation in the layer. In progresses, the accuracy in predicting the settlement
the Ac2- 1 layer, the reverse-calculated values of C, of the ground increases.
and C, conformed well to those determined by tests, (4) The master-curve method enables simple, easy,
but considerable dispersion was observed. and rational settlement management of grounds
The above suggests the significance of the master- while their work is under way.
curve method, wherein calculation conditions are Periodical measurement of settlement is still
reviewed based on measured settlement, in the conducted in the Tokyo International Airport to
management of consolidation settlement of grasp the residual settlement. The authors will make
reclaimed grounds. further verification of the practicality of the master-
curve method with data obtained from the long-term
Table1 Comparison between reverse-calculated filed observation.
values and test values of consolidation parameters
(4c c REFERENCES
Acl layer Ac2-1 layer
Reverse- test-value Reverse- test-value Barron, R.A.,1948. Consolidation of Fine-Grained
calculated calculated Soils by Drain Wells. Dans. ASCE, Vo1.113,
value value NO.2346, pp71 8-742
Sample size 143 128 172 164 IIitachi, S., H. Yamamoto, N.Ikeda, K. Oikawa,
Max value 1.6 1.6 1.1 1.2 & H.Nakanodo 1994. Consolidation with non-
Average 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.7 through vertical drains. Proc. 2Y“ Japan National
Min. value 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation
S.D. 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 Engineering, pp. 2107-2110.(in Japanese)
(bKv
\ I
Maruyama, H., Y. Kawakami, K. Watanabe,
Acl layer Ac2-1 layer H. Nakanodo, & Y. 1n;aoka 1992. Consolidation
Reverse- test-value Reverse- test-value process with vertical drains and supplemental
calculated calculated intermediate drains. Proc. 27”’ Japan National
value value Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Sample size 146 128 172 165
Engineering, pp. 21 81-2184.(in Japanese)
Maxvalue 2000 2250 1500 1730
170 230 Shiomi, M., H. Kanazawa, M. Inada, & N.Fukuda
Average 230 260
1996. Planning and practice of ground
Min. value 50 50 50 20
improvement for construction of airport on
S.D. 340 340 150 220

330
 supersoft ground. Journal of Japaiz Society of
Civil Engineers, Vol. 32, No. 546, pp. 23-37.
(in Japanese)
Yoshikuni, H. & H. Nakanodo 1974. Consolidation
of soils by vertical drain wells with finite
permeability. Soils and Foundatioizs, Vol. 14, No.
2, pp. 35-46.(in Japanese)

33 1
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 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Analysis of lumpy fill

R. Manivannan, C. E Leung & S.A.Tan
Centrefor Soft Ground Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Singapore,
Sing apore

ABSTRACT: Land reclaimed using clam-shell dredged barge deposited material is termed as lumpy fill.
The computer programs SIGMA/W and SEEPNV are used to analyse the performance of lumpy fill using a
field case study data obtained from Halmstad Harbour in southwestern Sweden. The results of the analysis
show that high pore water pressure exits inside the clay lumps while the pore water pressure in the inter-
lump void is small. Redistribution of load takes place as the inter-lump voids close up upon loading.

1 INTRODUCTION discharge pipe (Figure 2). The 3 m embankment

Land reclamation using dredged material can be
carried out by various methods, including hydraulic
filling of sandy or clayey materials and clam-shell
dredged barge-deposited stiff clay. When stiff clay
is dredged from the seabed using a clam-shell grab
dredger and placed using a barge, the resulting
reclamation fill consists of stiff clay lumps having
large inter-lump voids. Such fill, termed as lumpy
fill in the present study, may undergo unpredictable
settlements of large magnitude due to closing up of
inter-lump voids.
In the present study, the analysis is applied to
back analyse the field data obtained from a case
study carried out in Halmstad Harbour located in
southwestern Sweden. Material dredged from the
harbour approach was deposited between two
breakwaters by bottom-opening barges (Hartlen and
Ingers, 1981). Total thickness of the fill was 6.4 m,
of which approximately 3.0 m at the bottom was
silty clay dumped by barge and approximately 3.4
m on top was hydraulically placed silty clay (Figure
1). The fill was placed on 1 to 1.5 m of stiff silty
sand overlying stiff silty clay.
The dredged material consisted mainly of stiff
silty clay, which formed blocks of up to 1 m3 in
size. Stiff silty clay, originally overconsolidated,
was pumped into a part of the area to be reclaimed.
The clay was dredged using a cutter suction dredger
and the material was deposited from several points
within the containing bund. The material leaving
the dredger discharge pipe consisted of well-
rounded lumps of various sizes, with diameters of
up to 300 mm. Certain non-uniformity was obtained
because large lumps of clay settled close to the
corresponding to a surcharge of 58 kPa was placed
after 424 days of consolidation. Figure 3 shows the
monitored settlement with time.
2 CONCEPT OF ANALYSIS
The consolidation settlement analysis is conducted
using a 2-dimensional finite element computer
programme. In the present study, Biot’s theory is.
used to analyse the problem of lumpy fill
consolidation. The lumps are modelled by regular
spatial arrangement of blocks representing the large
discrete chunks of ciay lumps while the inter-lum
voids are modelled as very soft slurry. The I-m!
blocks are assumed as spherical lumps with
diameter of 1.24 m. The hydraulically placed lumps
are taken as 300 m diameter spherical lumps.
In order to allow for passage of water flow to be
continuous in the 2-dimensional simplified analysis,
the interface between clay lumps and void spaces is
modelled by a thin layer of highly permeable soil.
The properties of this material are same as those of
the inter-lump void material. The ground water
table is at 1.4 m below the top of hydraulically
placed silty clay. This dry soil of 1.4 m at the top is
considered as surcharge for analysis of settlement
and pore water pressure.
The SIGMA/W and SEEPNV computer
programs are employed to analyse the consolidation
of the lumpy fill. Both programmes were developed
by Geo-Slope International Ltd, Canada (Geo-
Slope, 1999). The SIGMA/W programme is a finite
element software that can be used to conduct stress
and deformation analysis of earth structures. The
comprehensive formulation makes it possible to

333
Figure 1 Schematic profile of reclamation fill in Hamstad Harbour, Sweden

materials such as soil and rock. In addition,

SIGMNW can perform a fully coupled
consolidation analysis in conjunction with SEEP/W.
In the present analysis, the stress-deformation
analysis is solved together with a flow analysis.
This makes it possible to study the generation and
dissipation of pore-water pressure in response to
external loads.
Figure 4 shows the geometry of the finite
element mesh adopted for this problem. It consists
of eight-noded quadrilateral elements together with
nine-point integration and irregular boundaries are
Figure 2 Shear strength profile as measured by vane modelled with six-noded triangular elements
test (x) and unconfined compression test ( 0 ) (after together with three-point integration.
Hartlen and Ingers, 1981) The relationship between the hydraulic
conductivity and pore-water pressure is known as
the conductivity function. For analysis involving
both and complex problems. saturated soils, the conductivity function must be
On the other hand, S E E P N is a finite element defined for each soil Figure shows the
'Oftware that can be wed to the movement hydraulic conductivity function for stiff clay and
and pore-water pressure distribution within porous inter-lump void material.

Figure 3 Settlement under the centre of the test embankment (after Hartlen and Ingers, 1981)

334
 stiff clay and inter-lump void material are taken as
I8000 kPa and 100 kPa, respectively.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 8 shows the comparison of settlement with
time between the field measurement and the
numerical analysis. Numerical analysis predicts the
settlement of lumpy fill well except between 400 to
850 days. This field settlement behaviour might
have taken place due to rearrangement/movement of
clay lumps after applying surcharge. Figure 9 shows
the variation of pore water pressure with time. The
results indicate that high pore-water pressure exists
inside the clay lumps and low pore water pressure
exists at the inter-lump voids. This is due to higher
permeability of inter-lump void material and lower
permeability of stiff clay lump. This observation
suggests that short-term settlement is controlled by
the consolidation of inter-lump void material and
Figure 4 Finite element mesh for Halrnstad harbour long-term settlement is controlled by the
reclamation analysis consolidation of clay lump. The total stress profile
shown in figure 10 indicates that there is a
redistribution of load between stiff clay lumps and
soft material. It is noted that stiff material would
experience higher stresses than the soft material and
this facilitates the faster consolidation of clay lump.
As a result, stiff clay lumps reduce the
compressibility of lumpy fill compared to hydraulic
fill.
Figure 11 shows the dissipation pore water
pressure with time at the four locations as shown in
figure 4. Pore water pressure inside the large clay
lump increases rapidly and dissipates smoothly.

1,OE-11'
0
I '
40
I I
80
I
120
'
160
'
200
pressure (kPa)
Figure 5 Hydraulic conductivity function for stiff
clay and inter-lump void material

The amount of water stored or retained is

defined by a soil-water characteristic curve. Figures
6 and 7 show the soil-water characteristic curves for
stiff clay lump and inter-lump void material,
respectively. Soil properties reported by Mendoza
and Hartlen (1985) are used to obtain the hydraulic
conductivity functions and soil-water characteristic
curves in addition to the soil parameters obtained
0.4oov
.. ...
0
' '
40
'
80
'
120
' '
160 200
from the site investigation carried out during the Pressure (kPa)
case study. Laboratory test results on slurry clay
and mixture of clay balls from the clay sample Figure 6 Soil-water characteristic curve for stiff
dredged from the Halmstad seabed were reported by clay lump
Mendoza and Hartlen (1985). Elastic modulus of

335
 1.00
10 days
- - - - .
126 days
0.80
--- 445 days
---. 1377 days
0.60

0.40 self-weight

inside lump
0.20

surcharge

0.00 I I I I I I

0 100 200 300

Pressure (kPa) 0 40 80 120 160 200
Pore water p r e w r e (kPa)
Figure 7 Soil-water characteristic curve for inter-
lump void material Figure 9 Variation of pore water pressure with
depth and time
0

+>
surcharge applied after 424 days

100
E n -
E
v II I I
E
U
:I v

! 3-
1,.
W
n
-fEz I settlement at top of dumped material
E 6 -
t
nter-lump void
200 W
2 2-
U

6 - Clay lum

300 I I I I I I I

0 400 800 1200 1600

71me (days) I I I I I

0 40 80 120
Figure 8 Comparison of field measurement with Total stress (kPa)
numerical analysis
Figure 10 Variation of total stress with depth
Pore water pressure at the inter-lump voids near the
large clay lump takes some time to peak before This observation is in line with that observed in the
dissipation. It peaks when most of the inter-lump centrifuge model study. Manivannan et al. (1998)
voids close up. Similar observation was made for reported that the substantial inter-lump voids close-
300mm diameter clay lump and nearby inter-lump up occurs upon surcharge loading. Pore water
void. Higher pore water pressure is developed pressure at the inter-lump voids also peaks
inside the large clay lump compared to the small immediately as most of the inter-lump voids are
lump. closed up. This indicates that surcharge is a good
During surcharge, most of the inter-lump voids ground improvement method for the reclaimed land
have closed up due to high immediate settlement. using dredged stiff materials.

336
 1 Inside big clay lump 4. The use of cutter suction dredged materials
should be encouraged for land reclamation
2 Void near big clay lump instead of hydraulic fill.
3 Inside small clay lump
4 Void near small clay
REFERENCES
Hartlen, J. and Ingers, C. 1981. Land reclamation
using fine grained dredged material, Proc. of the
1Oth International Conference on Soil Mechanics
and Foundation Engineering, Stockholm, Vol. 1,
NO. 24, pp. 145-148.
a .->.-
-
Geo-Slope, 1999. User’s guide for SEEP/W and
Surcharge of 58 kPa applied a t 424 days SIGMA/W, Version 4.22, Geo-Slope
International Ltd, Canada.
0 L
0 400 800 1200 1600
Time (day) Manivannan, R, J.C. Wong, C.F. Leung and S.
A. Tan. 1998. Consolidation Characteristics of
Figure 11 Variation of pore water pressure with lumpy fill, Centrifuge 98, Tokyo, pp 889-894.
time

If clay lumps are used for reclamation, the
compressibility can be reduced and the.
consolidation time can be fast. These findings are of
practical and economical importance, and the use of
cutter suction dredgers should be encouraged even
for relatively soft clays.
Mendoza, M. J and Hartlen, J. 1985,
Compressibility of clayey soils in land
reclamation, Proc. of the Eleventh International
Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation.
Engineering, San Francisco, Vol. 2, pp 583-586.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Numerical analysis was carried to examine the

behaviour of lumpy fill. The following conclusions
can be drawn from the analysis:

The pore water pressure inside the clay lump is

always higher than pore water pressure at the
inter-lump voids due to lower permeability of
clay lump. As the rate of dissipation of pore
pressure in the inter-lump voids is faster than
that in the lumps, initial settlement is controlled
by consolidation of inter-lump voids.

Clay lumps carry most of the applied load and it

increases the rate of consolidation of clay
lumps. Stiff clay lumps reduce the
compressibility of lumpy fill.

During loading, high settlement takes place and

most of the inter-lump voids close up
immediately. Pre-loading is a good ground
improvement method for the reclaimed land
using dredged stiff materials.

337
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 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

Deformation and excess pore water pressure of the Pleistocene marine

deposits due to offshore reclamation

M. Mimura
Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto Universiv,Japan
Y. Sumikura
Department of Civil Engineering, Kyoto Universiry,Japan

ABSTRACT: A series of elasto-viscoplastic finite element analyses is performed to assess the stress and de-
formation of the marine foundation due to offshore reclamation. The foundation is modeled following the
stratification at offshore reclamation site. Attention is paid to the modeling of permeability for Pleistocene
sand layers considering the sedimentation environment because the performance of excess pore water pres-
sure is strongly dependent on the extent as well as the change in thickness of those permeable sand layers.
The mechanism for the propagation of excess pore water pressure is also discussed. It is very important to
know how far the excess pore water pressure generated due to reclamation propagates for assessing the effect
of adjacent reclamation on the existing reclaimed land. From those findings on the performance of excess
pore water pressure, the mode of advance in settlement of Pleistocene deposits is discussed.

1 INTRODUCTION virgin compression, though the origin of both clays

The outstanding development of coastal areas has
recently been accomplished in Japan. A large-scale
offshore reclamation in Osaka Bay is accompanied
with large and rapid settlement of deep Pleistocene
clay deposits. Akai and Tanaka (1999) reported that
large and rapid settlement has been preceding with-
out significant dissipation of excess pore water pres-
sure in the Pleistocene clay and sand deposits in the
foundation ground of the offshore reclaimed site.
The phenomena taking place due to the reclamation
is far from the conventional concept of consolidation
in which deformation advances associated with the
dissipation of excess pore water pressure.
Ito et al. (2000) summarized the distribution of
sandy deposits in Osaka Bay using the data from
elastic wave exploration and in-situ boring logs. It
has been showed that the distribution of sandy de-
posits is different in each deposit subjected to the
difference of sedimentation environment. The most
serious problem originating from sandy deposits is
permeability that controls the rate of consolidation
of surrounding Pleistocene clays. The Pleistocene
clays have distinguished structure due to long term
effect of diagenesis. The compression behavior of
this kind of clay has a strong resemblance to that of
Canadian Clay (Leroueil et al., 1985) where no lin-
ear relationship is found between void ratio and the
logarithm of applied overburden within the range of
is completely different.
However, the effect of the above-mentioned prop-
erties such as the permeability of sandy deposits and
compressibility of Pleistocene clays on the perform-
ance of stress and deformation of the marine founda-
tion has not been rationally explained. In this paper,
the performance of excess pore water pressure in the
Pleistocene deposits is investigated through an
elasto-viscoplastic finite element analyses for the
model foundation that has been made on the basis of
the subsoil data of the reclaimed site. The mass per-
meability of Pleistocene sandy deposits is selected as
one of the parameters controlling the deformation of
the foundation ground. Propagation of excess pore
water pressure in the sandy deposits is also dis-
cussed based on the elastic volumetric strain of
sandy deposits. It is of importance to know how far
the generated excess pore water pressure will propa-
gate in permeable sand layers because it directly in-
fluences the performance of the adjacent structures.
The effect of the existence of excess pore water
pressure in the permeable Pleistocene sand layers on
the subsequent advance in settlement of the Pleisto-
cene deposits is of great concern for prediction of
the long-term settlement of the offshore-reclaimed
marine foundations. Based on the trial calculation,
the authors show how to assess the actual behavior
of the foundation ground that is taking place in the
case of large-scale offshore reclamation.

339
2 ELASTO VISCOPLASTIC CONSTITUTIVE
MODEL AND FINITE ELEMENT
FORMULATION
The elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model used in
this paper was proposed by Sekiguchi (1977). Se-
kiguchi et al. (1982) modified the model to a plane-
strain version. The viscoplastic flow rule for the
model is generally expressed as follows:
in which F is the viscoplastic potential and A is the
proportional constant. Viscoplastic potential F is de-
fined as follows:
[ Yt
F=cc.ln l+-exp
(31
- =vp
in which cx is a secondary compression index, Oois
the reference volumetric strain rate, f is the function
in terms of the effective stress and vp is the vis-
coplastic volumetric strain. The concrete form of the
model is shown in the reference (Mimura and Se-
kiguchi, 1986). The resulting constitutive relations
are implemented into the finite element analysis pro-
cedure through the following incremental form:
{ACT'}= [C"] {AF} - ACT^)
(3)
Where {ACT'}and {AE} are the associated sets of the
effective stress increments and the strain increments
respectively, and [Cep] stands for the elasto-
viscoplastic coefficient matrix. The term { aR} repre-
sents a set of 'relaxation stress', which increases with
time when the strain is held constant. The pore water
flow is assumed to obey isotropic Darcy's law. In re-
lation to this, it is further assumed that the coeffi-
cient of permeability, k, depends on the void ratio, e,
in the following form:
k = k, y)
*exp[ e - e
(4)
in which ko is the initial value of k at e=eo and hk is a
material constant governing the rate of change in
permeability subjected to a change in the void ratio.
Note that each quadrilateral element consists of
four constant strain triangles and the nodal dis-
placement increments and the element pore water
pressure is taken as the primary unknowns of the
problem. The finite element equations governing
those unknowns are established on the basis of Biot's
formulation (Christian, 1968, Akai and Tamura,
1976), and are solved numerically by using the semi-
band method of Gaussian elimination.
340
,CL Surface Load
Sea Bed
-30
A -50
v
E
-70
.-
*
6 -90
iii
-110
-130
n-7
Ma9
I
-150
4 .................................................... * ................>
600 m
Figure 1. Model foundation for the finite element analysis
3 PROBLEMS SET UP AND PARAMETERS
A series of elasto-viscoplastic finite element analysis
is performed to assess the stress-deformation charac-
teristics for the set up marine foundation consisting
of alternated clay and sand deposits, which has been
modeled with the boring data from the reclaimed site
in Osaka Bay. The model foundation used is shown
in Figure 1. Here, Ma and Ds denote a marine clay
layer and sandy layer respectively. Ma 13 is the
Holocene marine clay whereas others are the Pleis-
tocene origin.
The original foundation is assumed from the ele-
vation of -17m to -150m, and in the normally con-
solidated Holocene clay deposit, Ma13, sand drains
are assumed to be driven in a rectangular configura-
tion with a pitch of 2.0 to 2.5 meters to promote the
consolidation of this deposit. The modeling of sand
drains is simulated by the macro-element method
(Sekiguchi et al., 1986). Pleistocene clay layers are
assumed to be lightly overconsolidated, and the val-
ue of OCR equals to about 1.3. The Pleistocene sand
layers, which are expressed by Ds, are also assumed
to be linear elastic material. Considering the mass
permeability for these sandy deposits following the
findings by Ito et al. (2000), the finite permeability
coefficient, k, the constant value of 0.864m/day, is
introduced for Ds 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8. On the other hand,
0.0864mlday is assumed for Ds 6 and 9 because the
mass permeability for these 2 sandy layers is found
to be relatively poor. The bottom boundary is
assumed to be perfectly drained because the sandy
layer, DslO that holds high capacity of permeability,
underlies the Pleistocene clay layer, Ma7. This is re-
garded as a reference, called Case 1. On the other
hand, the comparative analysis is performed with the
assumption that all sandy layers have infinite
permeability in order to evaluate the effect of excess
pore water pressure in sandy layers due to the
subsequent settlement of Pleistocene clay deposits
(Case 2).
The parameters for the used model are rationally
determined based on the procedure proposed by
Mimura et al. (1990). The construction sequence is
assumed that the reclamation will be completed in
960 days with a steady rate of loading. Surface load
is applied to the corresponding nodal points of the
finite element mesh, and as a result, the maximum
effective overburden on the original seabed will be-
come 470.4kPa at the completion of reclamation
(see Figure 2).
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The calculated contours of excess pore water pres-
sure are shown in Figure 3 for Case 1. It is exhibited
in Holocene clay layer, Ma 13 that the excess pore
water pressure is not so remarkably generated even
at the completion of construction (Figure 3 (a)) and
dissipated after 10 years (Figure 3 (b)) which has
been subjected to promotion of drainage through
sand drains driven in this layer. On the contrary, as
the Pleistocene sandy layers for Case 1 have finite
values for the coefficient of permeability, large
amount of excess pore water pressure remains even
in those sandy layers as well as in Pleistocene clays.
At the completion of construction, generation of ex-
cess pore water pressure is quite significant in Ma12,
and Ma 10 and 9 because Ma12 is assumed to be
thick without a remarkable drainage layer in it and
Ds 6 existing between Ma 9 and 10 is assumed to be
poorly permeable in this Case. Although it is dissi-
pated gradually with time, excess pore water pres-
sure of 147 kPa has been seen in Ma 9 even after 50
years (Figure 3 (c)) because of the existence of poor
permeable sandy layer, Ds 6 above it.
It is also very interesting how the propagation of
excess pore water pressure generated due to recla-
mation in the sandy layers occurs to avoid the
boundary effect. From the calculated results shown
in Figure 3, 300 meters from the centerline of the re-
vetment is enough to satisfy this condition, and there
is a need to explain the mechanism of excess pore
water pressure propagation in the permeable sandy
layers. The calculated distribution of volumetric
strain of sand elements, exemplified by Ds 3 is
shown in Figure 4 for Case 1 and Figure 5 for Case
2. In the present research, sand is modeled as a lin-
ear elastic material with a finite permeability for
Case 1 and infinite permeability for Case 2. The ri-
gidity of the elastic material, Go is determined from
the N s p values
~ for the corresponding sand layers for
both cases. Mimura and Sekiguchi (1986) pointed
out that the foundation subjected to surface loading
341
exhibits compression beneath the loading area and
dilation in the area where no surface load is applied
on it. In those figures, the same behavior can be
clearly seen. It is natural that the compressive strain
occurs beneath the reclamation area due to the exis-
tence of surface load. Because of delayed dissipation
of excess pore water pressure in sandy deposits as
shown in Figure 3, the increment of effective over-
burden, A o is gradually increasing with time. With
the increase in effective overburden with time, the
compressive strain gains accordingly. On the other
hand, there is no increase in total stress on the out-
side of the reclaimed area. Incremental stress, A o
can be generated only through the increase in excess
pore water pressure propagated from the area be-
neath the surface load is applied in Case 1. On the
other hand, we have almost one definite distribution
of volumetric strain for Case 2 because there is no
excess pore water pressure in Ds 3, namely, constant
total stress condition irrespective of time. The ob
tained relation from Figure 5 can be a so-called ref-
erence volumetric strain distribution by intrinsic de-
formation. Then, we can obtain the components of
elastic volumetric strains due to propagated excess
pore water pressure by subtracting the values shown
in Figure 5 from the corresponding values of Figure
4.
Figure 6 shows the distribution of the elastic
volumetric strain due to propagated excess pore wa-
ter pressure in Ds3. At the completion of reclama-
tion, significant dilative deformation takes place
near the revetment and it decreases gradually with
the distance from the revetment. As a whole, the di-
lative strain is decreasing towards zero with the time,
and finally it reaches the condition with no volumet-
ric strain after 50 years. At this point we do not have
any excess pore water pressure in Ds 3 at all. From
these results, it is found that the generated excess
pore water pressure in sandy deposits can not be
propagated boundlessly because it is absorbed by the
elastic dilation of sand due to expansive forces by
the propagated excess pore water pressure. It is
thought that the propagating distance of excess pore
water pressure in sand layers can be controlled de-
pending on the elastic rigidity of sand, but it has not
been confirmed yet. This problem can directly be
connected with the effect of the adjacent reclamation
on the present airport fill. From the results of this
particular case, the propagation distance of excess
pore water pressure is limited within about 200 me-
ters from the centerline of the revetment.
 L.
.3

-2 960 days 18000 days (50 years)

3 Elapsed Time (days)
Figure 2. Modeling for loading sequence

Figure 7 shows the comparative profiles of excess

pore water pressure with depth for Case 1 and 2. As
it is assumed that the Pleistocene sand layers are per-
fectly drained for Case 2, the profile of excess pore
water pressure for Case 2 exhibits the spike shape
with a value of zero at the sand layers. On the con-
trary, a large amount of excess pore water pressures
remains even in those sand layers for Case 1. The
process of dissipation is quite similar for Ma 12 on
the both sides the highly permeable sand layers exist.
It is because those sand layers can work sufficiently
even if they are assumed to be partially drained. Af-
ter 50 years from the start of construction, the excess
pore pressure is almost dissipated for case 2, but
more than lOOkPa can be seen in Ma 9 and 10 for
Case 1. It is obvious that the difference between both
cases is significant irrespective of elapsed time.
Time - settlement relations for Pleistocene depos-
its are compared between Case 1 and 2 for the se-
lected clay layers in Figure 8 and 9. The condition of
perfect drainage of the sand layers for Case 2 accel-
erates the dissipation of excess pore water pressure
in the clay layers, and it is naturally found that the
settlement for Case 2 precedes that of Case 1.
Ma 12 is overlain by Ds 1 sand layer and under-
lain by Ds 3 whose ability of permeability are quite
high. Then, the difference in profiles of excess pore
water pressure in Ma 12 is not so significant (see
Figure 7) although the finite values for the coeffi-
cient of permeability are assumed for those sand
layers in Case 1 while they are assumed to be infi-
nite in Case 2. Following the above-mentioned facts,
the advance in settlement for Case 1 and Case 2 can
be regarded almost the same as shown in Figure 8. It
is reasonably accepted that the compression of clay
layer advances equally when the process of dissipa-
tion of excess pore water pressure is same.
On the contrary, the Pleistocene clay, Ma 10 is
underlain by the sand layer, Ds 6 that is considered Figure 3. Contours of excess Pore water Pressure
to have a poor permeability. Let us discuss the effect
of permeability of sand layers on the advance in set- ing layers. As is known from Figure 7, 100 kPa of
tlement of clay layers. As shown in Figure 9, the dif- the maximum excess pore water pressure can be
ference in settlement is larger for Ma 10 between seen in Ma 10 after 10 years for Case 2, whereas 300
Case 1 and Case 2, compared to Ma 12 (see Figure kPa remains for Case 1. This difference in effective
8). This difference is caused by the dissipation proc- stress due to dissipation of excess pore water pres-
ess of excess pore water pressure in the correspond- sure induces the difference in settlement between

342
Case 1 and 2. However it is also very interesting that
the difference in subsequent advance in settlement
becomes less with time. It is caused by the fact that
the compression of clays follows the linear relation
on e-logp curve. The contribution of excess pore wa-
ter pressure to the reduction in void ratio is larger in
the range of low effective stress. In other words, the
absolute value of settlement is larger in the primary
range of consolidation than that in the later range
where the effective stress becomes large due to the
dissipation of excess pore water pressure even if the
quantity of excess pore pressure dissipation is com-
pletely same. As far as the advance in settlement of
Pleistocene clay deposits is concerned, it should be
noted that the long-term settlement that can be seen
in Figure 8 and 9 is mainly due to a so-called pri-
mary consolidation with the dissipation of excess
pore water pressure with time. The secondary con-
solidation can only be seen in the Holocene clay lay-
ers where the primary consolidation is completed
early due to the drainage effect of vertical drains in-
stalled. Another point to be noted is that the intro-
duction of deterioration of clay structure due to plas-
tic yielding into compression model (Mimura et al.,
1994) can qualitatively provide the performance that
the settlement advances faster without a significant
dissipation of excess pore water pressure in the
Pleistocene clay and sand layers.

Figure 5. Distribution of elastic volumetric strain in the Pleis-

tocene sand layer, Ds 3 (Case 2) Figure 7. Profiles of excess pore water pressure

343

Figure 9.Time - settlement relations for Ma 10 clay layer
Assembling those aspects discussed in this paper
is necessary to evaluate the actual phenomena occur-
ring in the Pleistocene marine foundations due to
offshore reclamation.
5 CONCLUSIONS
A series of trial finite element analyses is performed
to assess the stress and deformation of the Pleisto-
cene marine foundation due to offshore reclamation.
On the basis of the findings on the macroscopic dis-
tribution of Pleistocene sand layers, the model foun-
dation and mass permeability of those Pleistocene
sand layers have been set up for the finite element
analysis in the present study. The mode of genera-
tion/dissipation of excess pore water pressure is
found to depend on the modeling for the permeabil-
ity of the Pleistocene sand layers. Mass permeability
plays a significant role for the process of excess pore
water dissipation.
The mechanism of excess pore water pressure
propagation in Pleistocene sandy layers is controlled
by the volumetric change of sand which can expand
due to the increase in inner stress increment by the
propagated excess pore water pressure. In the pre-
sent study, sand is modeled as a linear elastic mate-
344
rial with a finite permeability. Because of its elastic
volume dilation, the excess pore water pressure can
not propagate boundlessly. The distance of propaga-
tion is limited within 200 meters outside from the
revetment in this particular case. This problem is di-
rectly connected to how the adjacent reclamation af-
fects the existing reclaimed fill. In the sense, the pre-
cise modeling of sand in terms of elastic rigidity as
well as the mass permeability is indispensable.
Finally, the contribution of excess pore water pres-
sure to the subsequent settlement is found to be more
significant in the primary range of consolidation.
The difference in settlement subjected to the exis-
tence of excess pore water pressure in the permeable
sand layers is remarkable in the early stage of con-
solidation. Furthermore, in order to describe the ac-
tual performance at the site, the realistic modeling
for the structural Pleistocene clays should be re-
quired, for example, non-linear compression behav-
ior on e - logp relations which takes place associated
with plastic yielding.
REFERENCES
Akai, K. & T. Tamura 1976.An application of nonlinear stress-
strain relations to multi-dimensional consolidation prob-
lems. Annuals DPRI, Kyoto University, 21(B-2): 19-35(in
Japanese).
Akai. K. & Y. Tanaka 1999. Settlement behavioour of an off-
shore airport KIA. Proc. 12‘” ECSMGE, 2 :1041-1046.
Christian, J.T. 1968.Undrained stress distribution by numerical
method. Journal of Soil Mech. and Foundation Div., ASCE,
94 (SM6): 1333-1345.
Ito Y., K. Takemura, D. Kawabata, Y. Tanaka & K. Nakaseko
2000. Sedimentation process in the Quaternary Southern
Osaka Basin inferred from reflection seismic interpretation.
Quaternary Research, Submitted.
Leroueil, S., M. Kabbaj, F. Tavenas & R. Bouchard 1985.
Stress-strain-strain rate relation for the compressibility of
sensitive natural clays. Geotechnigue, 35(2) : 159-180.
Mimura, M. & H. Sekiguchi 1986.Bearing capacity and plastic
flow of a rate-sensitive clay under strip loading. Bulletin of
DPRI, Kyoto University, 36(2) : 99-111.
Mimura, M., T. Shibata, M. Nozu & M. Kitazawa 1990. De-
formation analysis of a reclaimed marine foundation sub-
jected to land construction. Soils and Foundations, 30(4) :
119-133.
Mimura, M., T. Shibata & K. Watanabe 1994.Post yield mod-
eling of compression for Pleistocene clays and its applica-
tion to finite element analysis. Proc. Pre-failure Deforma-
tion of Ceomaterials, 1 : 517-522.
Sekiguchi, H.1977.Rheological characteristics of clays. Proc.
9th ICSMFE, 1 : 289-292.
Sekiguchi, H.,Y. Nishida & F. Kanai 1982.A plane-strain vis-
coplastic constitutive model for clay. Proc. 37th Natl.
Conf, JSCE : 181-182(in Japanese).
Sekiguchi, H., T. Shibata, A. Fujimoto & H. Yamaguchi 1986.
A macro-element approach to analyzing the plane-strain
behaviour of soft foundation with vertical drains. Proc.
31th Symp., JSSMFE : 111-120(in Japanese).
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Observation and analysis of ground deformation of a road embankment on a

manmade island
S.0hmaki & K. Saeki
National Research Institute of Fisheries Engineering, Fisheries Agency, Japan
S.Shikata
Japanese Institute of Technologyon Fishing Ports and Communities,Japan
s.suzuki
Chiba Institute of Technology,Japan

ABSTRACT: The sand drain method was applied as a countermeasure to a road embankment constructed on
an artificial island built 011 soft seabed. In order to estimate the embankment settlement and its effects on the
surrounding structures, the authors conducted field observations and carried out numerical simulations of
two-dimensional consolidation. Tlie results of our investigations showed (1) the nuinerical simulations
slightly underestimated the embankment settlement at the center, whereas the lateral deformation of subsoil
at the end of embankment was slightly overestimated, (2) tlie residual settlement estimated from the numeri-
cal simulations five months after tlie construction of the test enibankinent was about 50 ?40 of the settlement
observed in tlie field, and (3) tlie lateral deformation at a lighter’s wharf increased in the direction toward the
sea immediately after the construction began but soon afterwards it became constant and was therefore con-
sidered to have been stabilized.

1 INTRODUCTION crete blocks were placed. The area behind tlie

lighter’s wharf was backfilled with stones using a
In general, fishing port structures in Japan are de- mixture of cement and soil. The cement mixed soil
signed using a standard design method based on the was obtained by mixing soil dredged up from the
results of a soil survey and laboratory tests. How- surrounding seabed with ceinent solidification mate-
ever, in some cases where embanking ccnditions are rials. The area between DL 0 in and DL + 2.0 111was
severe, or a new method is employed, or unexpected reclaimed using tremie pipes froin tlie sea (the target
deformations occur after einbanking, field observa- unconfined compression strength of the cement
tions and numerical simulations would be typically mixed soil q,, = 198kN/m2)while that between DL +
carried out (Ohmaki, et al., 1989; Mimura, et al., 2.0 i n and DL + 4.7 in, which corresponds to tlie
1991; Oka, et al., 1995). This paper presents the re- maximuin height, was reclaimed using the thin
sults of field observations and numerical simulations spreading method (the target q, = 98 kN/in2).
of deformation in tlie ground and at a lighter’s
wharf, caused by the construction of a road em- Table 1 Construction process
bankment on an artificial island built on soft
ground. Cumulative Period
Process Period(days) (days)
Reclamation(1st layer) 0-13 13
Left untouched 14-128 115
Reclamation(2nd layer) 129-596 468
2 CONSTRUCTION OF AN ARTIFICIAL Left untouched 597-964 368
ISLAND AND TEST EMBANKMENT Excavation 965-971 7
Left untouched 972-981 10
Spreading of sand mat 982 1
Figure 1 shows the layout of tlie artificial island, the Left untouched
Driving of sand drain piles
983-989 7
990-1002 13
test embankment area and the area in which the soil Left untouched 1003- 1015 13
was improved using tlie sand drain method. Tlie ar- 1st filling
Left untouched
1016-1018
1019- 1023
3
5
tificial island has an area of 6.5 ha and the volume
of reclaimed soil used in its construction was
2nd filling
Left untouched
3rd filling
-
1024-1026
1027 1038
1039- 1042
3
12
4
300,000m3. The alluvial clay layer under tlie DL - Left untouched 1043-14000 12958
2.0 m and DL - 1.5 in lighter’s wharves was im-
proved using the deep cement mixing method before
laying a foundation for a lighter’s wharf. Above this
improved soil, rubble mound and three-layer con-

345

Figure 1. Planar layout of the artificial island
The test embankment area was excavated to DL +
2.0 ni after the reclamation, then a sand niat (thick-
ness = 50 cm) was placed. Sand piles (diameter = 40
cin, center-to-center distance = 1.8 m) were driven
down to the bottom of the alluvial clay layer (DL -
19.0 in), within the rectangular area (1 8.4 i n x 27.4
in). Using the same cement mixed soil as used in the
surrounding embankment, three layers at DL + 2.5
in to DL + 3.5 m,DL + 3.5 i n to DL + 4.5 in, and
DL + 4.5 111to DL +5.3 m, were reclaimed as the test
embankment on the sand mat. The cross section of
the embankment is shown in Figure 5 . Table 1
shows the schedule of the various tasks in the con-
struction of the test embankment.
3 PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL
PROPERTIES OF THE GROUND
The original ground consists of a 20 in thick soft al-
luvial clay layer from DL 0 i n to DL - 20 in, a 7 in
thick alternated layer of alluvial sand and gravel
layer and alluvial sand layer froin DL - 20 in to DL
- 27 i n , and a Matsushim layer with tuff below DL
- 27 171.
Figure 2. Physical and mechanical properties of the alluvial clay layer
346
Figure 2 shows the physical and mechanical
properties of the original ground. The figure indi-
cates that the original ground consisted of a soft clay
layer as the water content ,was in the range 100% to
170%, and the plasticity index ranged from 50 to
100. The wet density was almost constant (1.327
g/cm’ on average), except around DL - 20 in. The
unconfined compression strength increased almost
linearly with depth, except close to the surface and
the compression index Cc was 1.9 on average, ex-
cept near the surface.
Figure 3 shows the physical and mechanical
properties of the cement mixed soil after the recla-
mation. The water content was around 150%, which
was almost the sanie as that of the original ground,
and the mean wet density was I .282 g/cm3. The
mean uiicoii fined coin p re ssion strengt 11, t 110ugh d is-
persing slightly, was 8 1.3 kN/in2, which was signifi-
cantly larger than the one obtained close to the sur-
face of the origiiial ground. The mean coefficient of
permeability obtained fro!n a falling-head perme-
ability test was 7.23 x 10 -3 cm/s.
4 FIELD OBSERVATION
Figure 4 shows the layout of the soil iniprovement
area and embankment area, and locations of trans-
ducers used in the field observation. Figure 5 shows
the sectional layout of embankment materials and
the locations of the transducers. The section is taken
along the line 1-1 in Figure 4. A layer settlement
gauge (S-I) was used to calculate the settlement of
each layer, based on the changes in the depth of a
settlement element located at each layer boundary in
the center of the soil improvement area. A bore hole
inclinometer (H-5) was used to measure the horizon-
tal displacement at each depth. A vertical and hori-
zontal displacement gauge (HV-3) was used to ob-
serve both layer settlement and lateral displacement
at each depth. Settleinent plates (V-9 to V-18) were
used to obtain the distribution of surface settlement
along a line at the center of the embankment. A lat-
eral earth pressure gauge (H-6) was used to measure
the lateral flow pressure occurring due to sand pile
 Water content (a) wet density (dcm') Unconfined compressive Coefficient of
- 9.. (kN/m')
strength permeability (cm/s)
0 200 400 do' 10* 10' 10'
1.5

1.0

0.5

-0.5

Figure 3. Physical and mechanical properties of the cement mixed soil

were placed at equal spacing from the center of tlie

sand drain area, in order to verify the drainage ca-
pability of the sand mat.
Figure 6 shows tlie changes with time in the dis-
tribution of surface settlement along tlie line on
which settlenient plates (V-9 to V-18) were placed,
and the distribution of lateral displacement with
depth at sections HV-3 and H-5. The changes were
referenced from the initial values of surface settle-
ment arid lateral displacement which were set from
the measurements made 011 27 April 1998 (the 987"'
day in Table 1). Figure 6 indicates that the settle-
ment in the center of the embankment was largest
and the amount of settlement decreased in accor-
dance with the distance from tlie center. The largest
horizontal displacement in sections H-5 and HV-3
was observed around DL - 5.0 In and DL 0 m, re-
spectively. The deformation modes of the above two
sections are not the same because of the difference
in lateral constraints OII the two sides of tlie ern-
bankment.

Figure 5 , Sectional layout of the soil improvement area, em-

bankment, aiid measuring transducers

placement aiid fill loading. An H-shaped steel was

inserted into the ground and an earth pressure
gauge, pore water pressure gauge, and bore hole in-
clinometer were installed at various depths along its
length as shown in Figure 5 . Pore water pressure
Figure 6. Distribution of surface settlement and lateral dis-
gauges (Pa-l to Pa-3) were installedat DL - 4.0
DL - 10.0 m, and DL - 16.0 111, in order to get a bet- placement Of the s-oulld
ter understanding of the dissipation of excess pore
water pressure in the clay layer within the sand
drained area. Three water level gauges (W-1 to W-3)

347
Table 2. Summaiy of soil parameters in the cohesive soil layer method (Yoshikuni 1979) taking the well resistance
No. o f soil layer 1 2 3 Notes into account; then, the degree of consolidation of an
DL(rn) fOw-3 -3--12 -12%-18 equivalent uniform ground was evaluated by Ter-
Plasticity index PI 60.9 114.5 92.7 Fig2
zaghis’ one-dimensional consolidation theory. As-
sin 4 0.349 0.330 0.352 sin ’‘=OB1-
0.23310g,~P/ suming that the actual time required for 50 % coil-
Coefficient o f earth
pressure at rest 0.606 0.670 0.648 Kozl-sin d solidation in the sand drained area and the
Compression index 0.517 0.807 0.807 Fig2 equivalent uniform ground agree, the following
Swelling index K 0.046 0.070 0.070 Experiment equation can be obtained:
Strength parameter M 0.907 0.742 0.798 M=6sin ”’(’-
Coefficient of secondary
1.O x 10-3 1.O x 1.O x 1OW3 Assumed
compression (y
Initial rate of volumetric
strain vo(l/m) 1 . 0 10-5
~ 1 . 0 10-5
~ 1 . 0 lOP5
~ Assumed

rl0 0.178 0.141
Initial void ratio eo 2.807 4.051
Coefficient of
permeability
(m/day) 6.05 x lO-’ 1.73 x 10-4 1.04 x 10-4 Experiment
ratio U 0.3 0.3
Unit weight y (kN/m3) 13.0 13.0
5 NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
5.1 Material properties of the growid
The physical and mechanical properties of the allu-
vial clay layer mentioned in section 3 were divided
into three categories, in order to create a soil model
based on an elasto-viscoplasticity model proposed
by Sekiguchi and Ohta (Sekiguchi & Ohta, 1977;
Shibata & Sekiguchi, 1980). Table 2 shows the ma-
terial properties of each layer used in the numerical
calculation.
Table 3 shows the material properties used in
the analysis for materials other than the alluvial clay
layer. These materials were assumed to be linear and
elastic. Their locations are shown in the sectional
layout in Figure 5 . The Youngs’ modulus for the
cement mixed soil, the deep cement mixed soil and
the soil in the embankment was obtained from the
following equation (CDM 1993):
E = 0.5 4,,
Here, E is Youngs’ modulus (MN/m2) and 4L,is un-
confined compression strength (kN/m1). The uiicon-
fined compression strength of tlie deep cement
mixed soil was assumed to be 980 kN/m2.
5.2 Equivalent coeflicieiit of permeability of the
sand drain area
Pore water at the sand drained area was drained
horizontally from the clay layer to a sand pile during
consolidation, then drained vertically upward
through the sand pile. As the numerical procedure
used in this study cannot analyze such complicated
behavior of pore water, the analysis was carried out
based on the assumption that tlie sand drained area
could be modeled by an equivalent uniform ground.
I n other words, the degree of consolidation at the
sand drain area was evaluated by Yoshikunis’
rlo=(l-
0.153 Ko),(1+2Ko)
Here, k,,,, nz,,,, and Tl,e50(= 0.197) represent the coef-
3.517 Experiment
ficient of permeability, coefficient of volume com-
pressibility, and time factor corresponding to the
0.3 Assumed
13.0 Fig.2
time of 50 % consolidation, respectively, of the
equivalent uniform ground. Similarly, k,?, in,, ( =
in,& and TI7,,represent the coefficient of permeabil-
ity, coefficient of volume compressibility, and time
factor corresponding to the time of 50 % consolida-
tion, respectively, of the original ground. By using
the values in Table 4, k,,, was obtained to be 2.21 x
10-’ cm/s, which was about 200 times as large as
the coefficient of permeability of the original
ground.
5.3 Aiialyzed section and boundary conditiori
The section shown in Figure 5 was divided into fi-
nite element meshes. The area of analysis in the
horizontal direction was 120 m from the center of
the sand drained area; and that in the vertical direc-
tion was about 35 m starting at a depth of DL -25111.
The displacement constraints on both sides of tlie
section were as follows: the horizontal displacement
was fixed and the vertical displacement was free; at
the lower boundary, displacement in both directions
(horizontal and vertical) was fixed; and at the upper
boundary, displacement in both directions (horizon-
tal and vertical) was free. As for hydraulic boundary
conditions, tlie upper surface was assumed to be
drained, and the other planes were taken to be
undrained. Due to tlie constraints of the software
used in the analysis, the cement mixed soil area and
the embankment area to be excavated and reclaimed
were assumed to be drained.
Figure 7. Numerical results of the time history of settlement

348
 just before loading tlie embankment (tlie 1015‘” day
in Table 1) to five months later. Regarding the
maximum surface settlement around the center of
tlie embankment, the numerical result was smaller
than tlie observed one. This may be because the ce-
merit mixed soil and the embankment area were as-
sumed to be an elastic body for which it is difficult
to express localized deformations.
Figure 9 shows the comparison between observed
and numerical results of the lateral displacement at
sections H-5 and HV-3, from just before loading of
tlie embankment to five months later. At section H-
5 , tlie numerically calculated maximum displace
ment was about 15 cm (around DL - 3.0 In),
whereas the observed maximum displacement was
about 9 cm, smaller by 40 %. At section HV-3, the
numerically computed lateral displacement around
DL - 5 m in tlie direction toward the sea is larger
than tlie observed value. However, except for this
area, the numerical results and tlie observed lateral
displacement showed a similar tendency.
Figure 10 shows tlie comparison between ob-
served and numerically calculated horizontal dis-
placement at tlie ibundation (DL - 2.5 in) of the -
2.0 in lighter’s wharf, from the start of construction
of tlie artificial island. The horizontal displacement
at the lighter’s wharf increased in the direction to-
ward the sea, during the reclamation with the ce-
ment mixed soil and the construction o f the
embankment. Compared to the numerical results,
tlie observed horizontal displacement showed a
larger increase after around 400 to 600 elapsed days.
This may be because the areas with the deep cement
mixed soil, rubble mouiid, and concrete blocks were
assumed to be elastic bodies.

Figure 10. Coinparison between obseived arid nuinerically

coinputed lateral displacement at -2.01n lighter’s wharf

The cases with and without tlie sand drain were

analyzed. The construction process in the analysis is
almost identical to tlie on-site construction, shown
iii Table 1.
Figure 7 shows tlie numerically obtained time his-
tory of the surface settlement at the center of em-
bankment. It is clear from this figure that with the
sand drain, tlie settlement took place at an acceler-
ated pace at the initial stage, and tlie final settlement
was slightly larger although tlie difference was
insignificant.

6 COMPARISON BETWEEN OBSERVED AND

ANALYZED RESULTS
~i~~~~8 shows the compar~sollbetween observed Figure 1 1. Comparison between observed arid numerically
and numerical results of the surface settlement. from colnputed layer

349
Table 3. Suininaiy of material properties used in analysis

Materials
Cement
mixed soil Fill
,Yznt
mixed soil
Rubble
mound
Concrete
block
Sandy
gravel
Back
filling Sand mat
Young’s modulus E (MN/m2) 40.7 40.7 490 19.6 2.65 x 104 19.6 19.6 19.6
ratio I/ 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
Coefficient of permeability k (m/day) 6.25 x 10-* 6.25 x 10-‘ 8.64 x 8.64 x - 8.64 8.64 x 10” 8.64 x 10
Unit weight r(kN/m3) 12.6 12.6 13 0 17.6 22.5 15.9 17.6 17.6
Unit weight in water y (kN/m3) 2.8 2.8 3.2 7.8 12.7 6.1 9.8 7.8

Table 4. Detenniiiation of the equivalent coefficient of penne-
ability in the sand drain area
Items Notation
Length o f sand drain pile (cm) H 1900
Diameter o f sand drain pile (cm) dw
Central distance of sand drain piles (cm) d 180
Diameter of equivalent effective circle (cm) d,
Coefficient o f permeability of sand drain
piles (cm/s)
Coefficient of permeability o f clay(cm/s) k,
Coefficient of well resistance L 0.0827
Ratio o f diameters d , / d w n 5.075
F=[n2/(n2-1 ) 1 1 n ~ - ( 3 ~)/(4n2)
~-1 F 0.95
Time factor a t 50% consolidation T,,
Figures 11(a) and 1 l(b) show observed and nu-
merically computed time history of layer settlement,
respectively, obtained at section S-1 at the ceiiter of
the embankment, from just before loading the
embankment (tlie 1015‘” day in Table 1). The depths
at which measurements of each layer settlement
were made are shown in Figure 5 . The numerical
results were in general smaller than the observed
layer settlements. Tlie amount of numerically
calculated settlement of each layer was smaller than
that of observed settlement at depths of DL - 7.0 ni
or deeper. It is clear from Figure 9 and Figure 1l(b)
that the iiumerical results in comparison to the
observations, showed a tendency to have greater
vertical and horizontal deformations around DL -
1.O ni to DL - 7.0 m.
7 CONCLUSIONS
Tlie authors carried out field observation and nu-
merical analysis on a test embankment and on an
adjacent lighter’s wharf on an artificial island coii-
structed on soft ground. The following conclusions
were obtained.
I . Tlie surface settlement took place at a more
rapid pace in tlie initial stages and the filial
settlement became slightly larger in the case with
the sand drain compared to the case without the
sand drain.
2. The numerically computed layer settlements
aiid the ground settlement were smaller than their
observed values. The amount of numerically calcu-
lated settlement of each layer was sinaller than that
of observed settlement at depths of DL - 7.0 m or
deeper.
3. The numerically calculated lateral deformation
occurred in the direction toward the sea as was the
Value Notes
case for the observed lateral deformation.
4. The numerically computed lateral deformation
40
at the DL - 2.0 in lighter’s wharf was sinaller than
203 tlie observed lateral deformation when cement
mixed soil was applied in the layer DL 0 ni to DL
+ 2.0 m. Except for this, both observed and coin-
1.13 x Experi-
ment puted lateral deformations showed a similar ten-
dency.
0.0881
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
The authors would like to express their gratitude to
the staff inembers at Shiogama Fishing Port Office
in Miyagi Prefecture aiid Pacific Consultant, Co.
Ltd. for their considerable assistance in tlie field
observation for this study.
REFERENCES
A society for the study of CDM 1993. l’lie ninnrtal,for tlesigii
and construciion qf ceiiieiii deep iiiixiiig niethod 80-87 (in
Japanese)
Mimura, M., Shibata, S. & Ohinaki, S. (1991) Numerical
investigation on the deforination of a marine foundation
subjected to caisson-composite breakwater construction.
PI’OC.C ‘oiiipiiier A.Tc.thodr and Atlvances iii C;eoniecliaiiic.~:
765-770.
Ohmaki, S., Kanno, N. & Ikeda, T. (1989) Monitoring of
composite breakwater during construction, TSUC‘HI-TO-
KISO JSSMFE, 37 (8): 27-32 (in Japanese).
Oka, F., Yashima, A., Miura, K., Olunaki, S. R: Kamata. A.
(1995) Settlement of breakwater on submarine soil due to
wave-induced liquefaction, I’lac. 5”’/iileri7nliorinl C?f,sliore
arid Polar Eiigiiieeriiig C ‘ O I ? ~ : 482-487.
Sekiguchi, H. & Ohta. H. (1977) Induced anisotropy and time
dependency in clay, I’roc. 9‘” IC’S’ILfFI!, Specialty Session 9:
229-237.
Shibata, T. & Sekiguchi, H. (1980) A method of predicting
failure of embankment foundation based on elasto-visco
plastic analyses, Proc. JSC‘E, 30 1: 93-1 04 (in Japanese)
Yoshikuni, H. ( 1979) Desigii and c o i i . ~ i r ~ ~ cIiiniiageiiieiii
t~o~i qf
the vertical drain ~~ieiliotl, Gihodo shuppan LTD: 40-49 (in
Japanese).

350
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Effects of some parameters on braced-excavation of soft clay by numerical

studies
T. Pipatpongsa & H.Ohta
Tokyo Institute of Technology,Japan
A. Iizuka
Kobe University,Japan
M. Hashimoto
Hokukokuchisui Company Limited, Ishikawa, Japan

ABSTRACT: Apart from following general outlines for input procedures and parameter findings when per-
forming excavation analysis using FEM, some additional considerations should be taken. The influences of
appropriate soil stiffness, pre-load efficiency, actual strut stiffness, soil/wall interface, crack in concrete re-
taining wall, and foundation piles installed before excavation have been investigated to weight the impact on
analysis quality, enhancing acceptability in practice. Computed deformations and strut axial loads of a case
study agreed quite well with field responses after applying these effects.

1 INTRODUCTION to account for amount of pre-load loss after a few

Accuracy of finite element analysis of excavation
depends generally on the performance of soil con-
stitutive model incorporated with its required pa-
rameters, rational idealization of soil/structure and
construction processes involved, as well as how well
is workmanship quality during construction. How-
ever, there are some particular points that should be
considered in addition:
(A) Deformation properties for elasto-plastic con-
stitutive models are regularly based on consolida-
tionhriaxial tests, giving virgin compression curves
and sweIIing curves where stresses have been mobi-
lized under drained condition. It is, therefore, ar-
guable to employ these properties for handling exca-
vation analysis of soft clay, in which stresses, on the
other hand, are on unloading path under relatively
undrained condition.
(B) There was a vague understanding that the de-
formation experienced on the ground surrounded by
the structure under working stress condition is con-
trolled by properties of soil at small strain, but it was
not until Burland, Simpson & St John (1979), Jar-
dine et a1 (1985), Atkinson & Sallfors (1991)
showed the stress-strain relation for the range of
small strain has a significant effect on the numerical
analysis and soil stiffness determination. Mair
(1993) & Vaziri (1996) emphasized higher stiffness
of soil at relevant low-level strains to the excavation
problem should be practiced instead of value ob-
tained from conventional laboratory.
(C) No structural idealization is more difficult to
cope with than bracing system and pre-load exertion
in numerical modeling effort. It is not easily, in fact,
days, load-transferring efficiency during exertion and
actual strut stiffness in the field due to work quality
and construction limitation.
(D) For concrete-built retaining walls, the effec-
tive moment of inertia varies with the degree of
crack undermining the sectional stiffness. The itera-
tive procedures to modify flexural stiffness are then
required, leading to more proper agreement with
wall curvature and moment redistribution (Honda
1986).
(E) Foundation piles installed prior to excavation
can affect the wall movement. As pointed by
Balasubramaniam et a1 (1994), the effect of founda-
tion piles not only reduce the magnitude of dis-
placement, but also change the pattern of deflection
profile. Without the foundation piles, maximum lat-
eral movements occur at the formation level, but the
foundation piles shift the maximum deflection in the
upper locations.
(F) Having everything to do with the relative
movements between soil/wall contact, interface ele-
ment should model the material discontinuity at both
media, allowing totally different systems assembling
in the same analysis.
To illustrate the above-mentioned importance and
to provide parametric assessment pragmatically and
economically in numerical analyses using FEM,
parametric studies were therefore carried out to ex-
amine the impacts of individual effect both on wall
deflections and axial forces in struts. DACSAR (Ii-
zuka & Ohta 1987), formulated by using nonlinear
incremental elasto-viscoplastic model proposed by
Sekiguchi & Ohta (1977), was used to analyze a se-
lected case study.

35 1

Figure 1. Schematization of in-situ c-log U’, curve under load-
ing/unloading conditions, composed of recompression, virgin
compression and swelling curves. Preconsolidation pressure,
a’,,,is located at the end of recompression curve, indicating
Y3 boundary.
2 INFLUENTIAL PARAMETERS
2.3 Soil stiffness
In conventional consolidation test, the maximum
stress at the end of recompression curve determines
OCR, referring to Y3 sub-yield boundary in stiffness
degradation curve defined by Jardine et a1 (1985)
where relatively large strains are involved. For large
strains, the behavior is elasto-plastic and can be de-
scribed by Cam-clay-type constitutive models. In the
intermediate and small strains, range of stiffness in-
creases rapidly and cannot be characterized by the
same counterpart (Atkinson & Sallfors 1991), be-
sides implying soil parameters obtained from con-
ventional laboratory are not applicable to this class
of problem.
The excavation-induced strains appear to limit
between Y2-Y3 boundaries or at 0.01-1% (Mair
1993) and hence classifying the completely different
classes for parameter finding based on conven-
tional/special laboratory. Degree of strains is found
corresponding to structural type (rigidhon-rigid),
excavation method (top-down/bottom-up), embed-
ment length, soil and boundary conditions.
Capable in stress-induced anisotropic plasticity,
efficient in time-dependent creep, Sekiguchi-Ohta
model (anisotropic Cam-clay model) still has its
weakness in handling stiffness degradation within
Y3 involving massive loadinghnloading rules. So,
this study prefers to set aside the small strain prob-
lem for future development, by instead, sustains on
the scope of relatively large strain to Y3 where con-
ventional laboratory is still employable.
Figure 1 illustrates typical loadinglunloading be-
havior in the field for natural soils.
352
Subtly enriched by natural structurization, recom-
pression curve in state boundary surface, associated
with structured soil, is superior to evaluate set-
tlehebound ground surface than subsequent swelling
curve at higher stress, which rather associated with
destructured soil. In excavation, the relevant strain is
far too small to mobilize the state boundary surface
while water content is unlikely to change from the
initial condition. The unloading behavior is, there-
fore, characterized by stiffness immediate to the ini-
tial state, achieved on recompression curve. Defor-
mation moduli employed in Sekiguchi-Ohta model
are obtained using triaxial test. However, the suffi-
ciently acceptable results can be economically ob-
tained using oedometer test. On the premise that un-
disturbed samples can be prepared for oedometer test
and compression characteristics satisfy with those
appear in the field, stiffness obtained on recompres-
sion curve by gradual loading, where O ’ V j is located,
is encouraging to apply in excavation analysis.
2.2 Pre-load efficiency
Pre-load efficiency including loss effect cannot be
predicted numerically. Part of pre-load is resisted by
connection-induced friction on king posts. Only
about 50-60% of pre-load can be transferred to the
soil behind the wall as reported by Finno et a1 (1991)
& Ou et a1 (1996). Undetermined loss often emerged
in a few days after exertion. Moreover, additional
10-40% of strut load can be fluctuated by ambient
temperature observed by Fernandes (1985). For
design purpose, it is recommended to consider bene-
fit of pre-load just to remove slack from strut mem-
bers.
2.3 Actual strut stiffness
Due to poor member connection, the strut stiffness is
observed to vary 10-60% of nominal value according
to many reports (Fernandes 1985, Hata & Ohta et a1
1985, Ou et a1 1996). Mana & Clough (1981) con-
cluded that it is difficult in knowing the actual strut
stiffness and pre-loading.
2.4 Interface element
Since cast-in-situ walls usually cause sufficiently
rough surfaces between soils and retaining walls. No
fully mobilized slip is assumed to occur at the
soil/wall interface (Ou et a1 1994 & Charles et a1
1995). Soil elements locating next to walls are con-
nected to thin layer of an elastic interface element
which thickness is 3/20 of adjacent element. Shear
modulus is assumed to be similar to of adjoining soil
elements while bulk modulus is 10 times, profi-
ciently ensuring only shear strain can take place
between both media. Theoretically, effect of bulk
modulus towards deformation is trivial in undrained
condition - the greater bulk modulus develops, the
more Poisson’s ratio will approach 0.5. The intro-
duction of interface element results in a proper esti-
mation of differential movements and stress dis-
tribution when excavation gradually becomes deeper
than allowing the soil directly contact with this dis-
continuity.
2.5 Flexurnl stiffness
As long as there is no cracks (M<M,,), the effective
moment of inertia can be assumed to be the same as
the gross moment of inertia of the section. Following
the ACI (American Concrete Institute) convention
code (1992), the simple method can practically ap-
proximate the effective moment of inertia, I,.

Figure 8. Result for a case of no interface element applied

Figure 9. Result of no pile foundation in analysis

where I,, , Icr = moment of inertia of the uncracked

Figure 4. Results by varying irreversibility ratio
Figure 5. Result when employing Karube’s correlation
and cracked transformed section; Mcr = cracking
moment; M , = maximum moment of section; f r =
modulus of rupture; y , = distance from neutral axis
to tension face.

353
Table 1. Primitive and modified factors Cast-in situ bored piles were arranged from level -
Parameter primitive modified 8.6 to -57.0 m in excavation zone to support project
Soil stiffness* A=l-CJCc A=l-Cr/Cc
building. The 7-staged bottom-up excavations, in-
Pre-load efficiency*" 100% 30%, 60%, 90% cluding strut installatiQn and pre-loading, were car-
Strut stiffness 100% 40% ried out down to -9.50 m depth. The inclinometer
Flexural stiffness 100% 27%-45% readings of this site were lack of reference datum
Interface element none apply points, therefore, only the differential horizontal
Foundation pile none apply movements relative to the bottom of supported wall
* View in significance of irreversibilit ratio can be obtained from measurements. The calculated
* * Field observation from strut 15t,2"Y and 3rd wall deflection profile subtracted by computed later-
al displacement at the bottom of the wall is the shift-
Table 2. Comparison of irreversibility ratio obtained by various ed curve that is used to compare with field meas-
methods and references
_______ urements. To illustrate the impacts of concerned
Irreversibility ratio crust soft medium stiff parameters shown in Table 1, the primitive analysis,
This study (1-CJC,)" 0.63 0.88 0.88 0.73 is to compare with a modified one. The calculated
This study (l-Cr/Cc)* 0.92 0.90 0.91 0.92 results (shown as DACSAR) and their shifted pro-
Typical value ( l - ~ i h ) " " - 0.76 0.76 0.76
Correlation (l-RR/CR)""" 0.92 0.88 0.90 0.93 files (shown as SHIFTED) are plotted with incli-
Karube, 1975 (Mh.75) 0.87 0.55 0.52 0.54 nometer readings (IC-9 and IC-10) as shown in Fig-
Honda, 1986(Back-analysis) ----------- 0.90-0.92 -------------- ure 2 and Figure 3. The large discrepancy is found
* Obtained by oedometer tests when ignoring parameter modification.
I:*Sutabutr, 1992 and Long, 1995 The study addresses the problematic soil stiffness
MRT alignment (Jeanjcw et a1 1997)
*'"'* W,-correlation from associated with recompression characteristics in
which the irreversibility ratio, A, seems to coincide
Table 3. Quantitative impact of each effect on calculated result
with back-analysis result what was proposed by
in terms of ratio of displacement area behind retaining wall Honda (1986). By varying A as shown in Table 2,
Effect Area ratio (A'IA) when thc effect is disregarded the results are given in Figure 43.
AI I 1.38 The efficiency for transferring pre-loading force
Soil stiffness at exertion time is found 20-4076 regarding to trial
Prc-load efficiency analyses shown in Figure 6. Figure 7 shows effect of
Foundation pile 1.22 cracked/uncracked retaining wall. The cracked wall
Flexural stiffness 0.92 seems to be curved along well with the measured.
Strut stiffness 0.97 Figure 8 shows the effect of discontinuities when
Interface element 0.98
___________ __ curvature pattern is changed and Figure 11 shows ef-
A: Displacement area calculated by considering all effects
A'. Displacement area calculated by ignoring conccincd effect
fect of pile foundation in reducing lateral movement.
Still, abrupt loss of pressure in a few days is unde-
teirninable. In concerning with field measureinents,
2.6 Foundation pile and Barrette pile most of loss occurred in the first layer. The remained
pre-load learned from the measurements for the l",
The stiffness of the pile element is obtained by 2"d and 3rd strut layer are 30%, 60% and 90% re-
equivalent method (Lee 1989). Finno et a1 (1991) spectively. By accounting on losses found, the series
commented that the response of the soil on the exca- of trial analyses are performed to capture the effi-
vated side controls behavior, following that the im- cient factor for strut stiffness (y) what is met at about
provement of the soil by piling and soil stabilization 40% in accordance with Figure 10.
in the passive side is more effective than that in the Table 3 concludes the quantitative impact of con-
active side (Ou et a1 1996). As a result, only the ef- cerned parameters on the calculated retaining wall
fect of foundations existed in the excavation zone is displacement for the final stage of the case study. It
considered in analysis regardless of any adjacent is found that soil stiffness, pre-load efficiency and
foundations outside excavation zone. foundation pile are the main factors for accuracy.
But flexural stiffness, actual strut stiffness and inter-
face element modeling can be disregarded in pre-
3 CASESTUDY liminary analysis without sigriificant difference.
B-area, approximately 45x45 m2, of Sukhumvit City
project located in Bangkok area was used. The re- 4 VERIFICATION OF ANALYSIS
taining structure was secant pile wall, diameter 0.90
m, 20-m depth cast-in situ of primary and secondary 4.1 Exurnination of shear strain level
pilc (15 and 24 Mpa grade f',), horizontally braced Providing that strains emerge not less than 0.1-1%
by 2xW35Ox35Ox 1.37@9.0m and vertically sup- order, the soil stiffness determined by proposed
ported by 9 m-spacing secondary strip secant pilc. mcthod is out of harm away. The excavation-

354
 induced shear strain obtained from analysis should
be verified to vouch the justification postulated. Ac-
cording to shear strain profiles calculated at the first
and final stage of excavation (see Figure l l ) , most
of soils along the retaining wall have thoroughly ex-
perienced Y3 sub-yield boundary as counted upon.
But those of locating near the end tip which orders
stay close to Y2 (about 0.01%), prompting to higher
stiffness. However, the movement of the end tip is
comparatively small so that the upturn in stiffness
can be disregarded without causing significant dif-
ference, maintaining the method simplicity with ap-
plicable accuracy.

4.2 Elastic model comparison

Clough and Mana (1976) concluded that if appropri-
ate soil parameters are chosen, the type of soil model
does not significantly affect predicted behavior,
leaving a doubt whether a prediction by an exten-
sively used elastic model is consistent with elasto-
plastic model. As the analytical results show the re-
latively undrained condition, p, along the wall are
rather unchanged (Figure 13), the comparatively
small movement during excavation is unlikely to
mobilize whole soil from elastic state given by
formerly initiated OCR. Figure 12 shows the com-
parison of analysis between both models under the
same conditions. The normalized undrained soil
stiffness modulus, E,/&, can be derived from Se-
kiguchi-Ohta model as written in Equation (4)-(6).

" , ) e x ~- A- (M - % ) -
9(1- 2 ~ ' ) ( 1 +
~
M -
~ ( 1 v')M-

where = 0.434C,; (SJidea/= half of UC strength of

undisturbed young clay; p = full correction factor
(Ohta et a1 1985, 1989)

Table 4. Normalized soil stiffness modulus at level of shear

strain 0.1-17i for Bangkok clays. Figure 11. Calculated shear strain profiles of soil adjacent to
E"/S" crust soft medium stiff the retaining wall.
Figure 12. Comparison between prediction by elastic and Se-
This study 230 120 220 400
kiguchi-Ohta models under the same conditions.
Tcparaksa (19YYa, 13) - 150 250 1000"
Pressuremeter tests (0.1%) - 300-1500 - 370-1600""
(MRT project, BKK) (1%) 150-750 - 220-820"" 4.3 Review of normalized soil stiffness modulus
Duncan correlation (1976) 400 300 450 600"""
Shibuya, Tenma, Theramast (0.1%) --- 360-600 --- 800-1500 The extensive researches on soil stiffness at low
RrYarnamoto (1997-1999) (1%) --- 120-210 --- 200-400 strain level in Bangkok clays have been carried out
Back-analysis on 4 sites with full instrumentation. by Shibuya and his colleagues (Shibuya et a1 1999)
xx Six self-boring pressuremeter tests. at AIT using special and multi-functional triaxial ap-
""" Initial stiffness correlated by using P I and OCR. paratus for extension and compression test, bender
element laboratory and seismic cone penetration.

355

Figure 13. Calculated stress paths along front and back walls
throughout all excavation stages.
Furthermore, pressuremeter tests were conducted
along the MRT route by Cambridge In-situ (1997).
E,& obtained at the threshold of shear strain 1% is
consistent with stiffness determined by using Equa-
tion (4)-(6). The comparative values of E,& avail-
able by various methods are listed below.
5 CONCLUSION
Though the method applied in the study is limited to
relatively large strain problems, by all accounts, af-
fords guidance, for rational analysis by eyeing influ-
ential effects suggested. The parametric study re-
veals soil stiffness is the key role for accuracy of
lateral wall movement prediction while quality of
axial force estimation in strut depends on details of
pre-load efficiency, pre-load loss and actual strut
stiffness. The performance of elastic model is
enough to employ in the realm of excavation analy-
sis when subsoil are still immobilized by excessive
movement and soil stiffness at level strains concern-
ed is well provided.
REFERENCES
ACI 1992. Building code requirements for reinforced concrete
(ACI 318) and commentary-AC1318R-89 (Revised 1992)
Atkinson, J.H. & Sallfors, G. 1991. Experimental determination
of stress-strain-time characteristics in laboratory and in situ
tests. X ECSMFE (111): 915-956, Florence.
Balasubramaniam, A.S.; Bergado, D.T., Chai, J.C., Sutabutr
J.C. 1994. Deformation analysis of deep excavations in
Bangkok subsoils, XZII ICSMFE, 1994, New Delhi.
Burland: J.B., Simpson, B., 61 St John, H.D. 1979. Movements
around excavations in London Clay. In Design Parameters
in Geotechnical Engineering. Proceedings, 7'" Europeun
Cotifetwe Soil Mechutiics ( I ) : 13-30, Brighton.
Cambridge In-situ of Little Eversdcn 1997. Self-boring pres-
suremeter MRTA initial system project, North Contract,
Bangkok.
Charles, W.W. & Lings, M.L. 1995. Effects o f modeiiitg soil
nonlinearity and wall installation on back-analysis of deep
excavation in stiff clay, JSMFD 121(10): 657-695, ASCE.
356
Clough, G.W. & Mana, A.I. 1976. Lessons learned in finite
element analyses of temporary excavations in soft clay,
ICNMG: 496-510, Virginia.
Duncan, J.M. & Buchigani, A.L. 1976. An engineering manual
for settlement studies, Geotechnical Report of Civil engi-
neering department, University of California at Berkeley.
Fernandes, M.M. 1985. Performance and analysis of a deep ex-
cavation in Lisbon, X I ICSMFE (4): 2073-2078, Rotterdam:
Balkema.
Finno, R.J., Lawrence S.A., Allawh, N.F. & Harahap I.S. 1991.
Analysis of performance of pile groups adjacent to deep ex-
cavation, JSMFD 117(6): 934-955, ASCE.
Hata, S . , Ohta H., Yoshida, S., Kitamura, H. & Honda, H.
1985. A deep excavation in soft clay performance of an an-
chored diaphragm wall, VICNMG: 725-730, Nagoya.
Honda, T. 1986. The fundamental study on application of
elasto-plastic finite element analysis to the construction
control of retaining wall, Dr.Etig.Thesis, Kyoto University
Iizuka, A. & Ohta, H. 1987. A determination of procedure of
input parameters in elasto-viscoplastic finite element analy-
sis, Soils and Foundations 27(3): 78-87.
Jardine, R.J., Fourie, A., Maswoswwe, J., & Buralnd, J.B.
1985. Field and laboratory measurements of soil stiffness,
XIICSMFE (2): 551-514, San Francisco.
Jeanjew, M., Vorasithsaet, M., Sookanan, N. & Teparaksa, W.
1997. Engineering soil properties along the MRT align-
ment, B.Eng. Chulalongkorn U., Bangkok.
Lee, Y.H. 1983. Behavior of Embankments, Excavations, Piled
Foundation in Soft Bangkok Clay, M.Eng. GT 82-2, AIT.
Mair, R.J. 1993. Developements in geotechnica engineering re-
search: application to tunnels and deep excavations. Pro-
ceedings, Institution of Civil Engineers and Civil Etigi-
neering, Paper 10070: 27-41.
Mana, A.I. & Clough, G.W. 1981. Prediction of movements for
braced cut in clay, JSMFD (107): 759-777, ASCE.
Ohta, H. & Nishihara, A. 1985. Anisotropy of undrained shear
strength of clays under axi-symmetric loading conditions,
Soils and Foundations 25(2): 73-86.
Ohta, H., Nishihara, A., Iizuka, A., Morita, Y., Fukagawa, R.,
Arai, K. 1989. Unconfined compression strength of soft
aged clays; XI1 ICSMFE (1): 71-74, Rio de Janeiro.
Ou, C.Y., Wu. T.S., Hshieh, H.S. 1996. Analysis of deep exca-
vation with column type of ground improvement in soft
clay, JSMFD 122(9): 709-716, ASCE.
Ou, Chang-Yu & Lai, Ching-Her 1994. Finite-element analysis
of deep excavation in layered sandy and clayey soil depos-
its, Can.Geotech. J. (31): 204-214
Sekiguchi, H. & Ohta, H. 1977. Induced anisotropy and time
dcpendency in clays, Proceedings of specialty session 9, IX
ICSMFE, Tokyo, Constitutive equations of Soils: 229-238.
Shibuya, S., Mitachi, T., Tanaka, H., Kawaguchi, T. & Lee. I.
1999. Measurement and application of Quasi-elastic prop-
erties in Geotechnical site characterization, Theme lecture
for plenary discussion session 1, Proc. of 21'" Asiuti Re-
gional Conference on Soil Mechanics atid Geotecliriicul
Engineering, Seoul, Korea, August 16-20, 1999.
Teparaksa, W. 1999a. Geotechnical aspects on the design and
construction of the MRTA subway in Bangkok, Lecture uf
British Club, Society of Professional Engineers, Bangkok.
Tcparaksa, W., Thasnanipan, N.& Pornpot, T. 1999b, Analysis
of lateral wall movement for deep braced excavation in
Bangkok subsoils, AIT 40"' Antiiversury, Civil utid Envi-
ronmentul Engineering Conference, Nov. 1999, AIT.
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the response of flexible retaining walls, Cutz.Geotec1i.J.
(33): 290-308.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Modeling of the behaviour of sand drains installed at a Naval Dockyard,

Thai1and

I.W. Redana
Department of Civil Engineering, Udayana University,Denpasar, Indonesia
B. Indraratna & W. S a l h
Department of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong,A! S. W ,Australia
A. S. Balasubramaniam
School of Civil Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology,Bangkok, Thailand

ABSTRACT: This study describes the modeling of sand drains incorporating smear and well resistance in a 2-
D plane strain finite element model employing the modified Cam-clay theory. In the analytical model, the sand
drains system was converted into equivalent parallel drain walls by converting the coefficient of permeability of
the soil. The transformed permeability coefficient was then incorporated in the finite element code, CRISP. The
numerical results indicate that the inclusion of the effects of both smear and well resistance of the vertical
drains improves the accuracy of predictions of the settlements, excess pore water pressures and lateral
displacements.

1 INTRODUCTION effect of well resistance is incorporated by specifying

an appropriate discharge capacity.
Although settlements can be predicted reasonably
well (Indraratna et al., 1994, 1997), the lateral
deformation of embankments built on soft clay 2 EQUIVALENT PLANE STRAIN MODEL
stabilised with vertical sand drains is difficult to
predict accurately, even after the progress has been Indraratna and Redana (1997) showed that the
made in the past few years through rigorous degree of consolidation (plane strain) can be
numerical modeling. The classical solution for represented by:
vertical drains (Barron, 1948; Hansbo, 198 l), can be
used in the prediction of settlement along the
embankment centerline. Due to the increasing
popularity of the finite element method in
geotechnical software, a plane strain model is
employed in the current numerical analysis. Based on By explicitly defining the smear zone,
the work introduced by Hird et al., 1992, Indraratna
and Redana (1997) extended the analysis based on
the plane strain solution to include explicitly, the
effects of smear and well resistance.
Multi-drain analysis is pertinent to study the
overall behaviour of clay foundation underneath the For the dimensions B, b,Tand b, defied in Fig.1,
embankment, even though single-drain analysis is the geometric parameters a! , p and flow term 13are
usually sufficient to model the soil behaviour along given by:
the embankment centerline. Limited case studies
employing multi-drain analysis have been described in
the past (Chai et al., 1995; Indraratna et al., 1997;
Indraratna and Redana, 2000). In this study, a multi-
sandwick drain analysis is conducted where the
smear zone is explicitly defined on either side of the
sandwick drain element. For a given drain length, the

357

The half width of drain b,, and half width of smear
zone b, may be taken to be the same as their radii in
axisymnnetric r,,, and r,, respectively, which gives:
b,,, = r,,, and b, = r, (3)
In this model, at each time step, and at a given
stress level, the average degree of consolidation for
both axisyrnmetric ( o h ) and equivalent plane strain
( u h p ) conditions are made equal. If the radius of the
axisymmetric influence zone around a single drain
( R ) is taken to be the same as the width ( B ) in plane
strain (Fig.l), then the converted plane strain
equation is given by:
where, n = WrW, s = rs/rw, k, and kk are the
horizontal permeabfity in the undisturbed and
disturbed soil, k,, and k;, are the corresponding
values in plane strain model, I is the length of drain,
qwis the speclfic discharge capacity of the drain and z
is the vertical depth considered.
For no well resistance, the permeability in the
smear zone can be given by the following expression:
kl:, R f.cj
Ignoring both the smear and well resistance, the
simplified ratio of plane strain to axisymmetric
horizontal permeability, k,! would be given by:
The effect of well resistance is considered in the
analysis by choosing an appropriate discharge
capacity (q,J of the drain. The well resistance is
modelled independently, and the equivalent plane
strain discharge capacity of drains (yz) is given by:
2 increased shear strength of about 20 kN/m'.
4, =- 4," (7)
ZB
358
drain
smear
zone
1
D 2B
a) Axisymmetric b) Plane strain
Figure 1. Conversion of an axisymmetric unit cell into plane
strain (Indraratna & Redana, 1997).
3 SANDWICK DRAINS AT A NAVAL,
DOCKYARD, THAILAND
3.1 Sub-soil and embankment conditions
This case history looks at the performance o l
sandwick drains at a Naval Dockyard test
embankment, Pom Prachul, Thailand. The test site is
located in the Samutprakarn Province, approximately
20 km south of Bangkok, along the Chao Phraya
river. Three test embankments T l , T2 and T3 (no
drains) were constructed and stabilised with
sandwick drains installed in a square pattern to a
depth of 17 m. Prior to the construction of the
embankment, eight boreholes were drdled for soil
identification and laboratory tests. Specimens for
oedometer and triaxial tests were obtained using 10
inch diameter tube samplers.
The subsoil is relatively uniform, consisting of a
thin weathered clay (0.75 m deep) overlying a soft
clay approximately 17 m thick. A stiff clay layer
underlies the soft clay and extends to a depth of 25 m
below the ground surface. The soil retains a very
high moisture content of about '75%) near the surhce
to a depth of 10 m. The moisture content decreases
with depth, and is about 40 %) at 20 m depth. The
unit weight of the soil varies between 15 to 18 kN/m3
from the ground surface to a depth of 20 m. The field
vane strength increases with depth, except at the
surface where the weathered clay gives a locally
The Cam-clay parameters for each soil layer and
the in-situ stress states are given in Fig. 2. In order to
estimate the undisturbed soil permeability, laboratory
consolidation tests were conducted on both vertically
and horizontally cored specimens. The horizontal and
vertical permeability coefficients of the undisturbed
soil ( k h and kv) are given in Fig. 2 and the equivalent
plane strain values were estimated using Eqs. ( 5 ) and
(6). The estimated values of vertical permeability (k,,)
at this site given by Brenner and Prebaharan (1983)
varies between 10-l' d s e c at the bottom of the
stratum and 2 x 10'9 d s e c at the top. However,
these values are lower than the permeability
estimated by the writers as shown in Fig.2. The
coefficient of horizontal permeability was taken to be
1.8 times the vertical permeability. Inside smear
zone, the horizontal permeability was taken to be
1.15 times the vertical permeabllity based on current
laboratory study.
The drain pattern and the typical cross section of
the embankment at this location are shown in Fig. 3.
The sandwick drains consist of a hose made of a
fibrous material of high permeability, and f i e d with
dry sand. The sandwick drains were installed to a
depth of 17 m to reach the stiff clay layer. The drains
were installed using a 7.5 cm diameter casing with a
wooden plug at its lower end and pushed into the
soft ground using a 2 tonne hammer. The drains were
installed in a square grid pattern at 1.5 m and 2.5 m
spacing for the two embankment sections, T1 and
T2, respectively.
The instrumentation for monitoring settlements of
these test embankments included both suri'ace and
sub-surface settlement plates. Surface settlement
plates consisted of a 16 mm diameter steel rod Figure 3 . Cross section of embankment with drain pattern
connected to a 0.40 x 0.40 m2 base plate and installed at Naval Dockyard, Thailand.
protected by a 19 mm diameter casing. The
60 I I
subsurface type consisted of a 25 cm diameter steel
screw head connected to a 19 mrn diameter steel tube 501 a'
which was attached to a screw head by a keyway.
Pore water pressures were monitored using three
types of piezometers including open stand pipe,
closed hydraulic and air (pneumatic) systems. Lateral
deformations were monitored using inclmometers
which were installed close to the embankmcnt toe. E m b a n k m a t T1
E m b a n k m e n t 1'2
Figure 4 indicates the rate of loading ' ( ' I ' ( '
50 100 150 200 250
(construction history) of the embankment. The Time (days)
embankment loading was applied in three stages. Figure 4. Construction loading history.
Firstly, a sand blanket of thickness 0.35 ni was
placed, followed by an initial layer of i-3.l of 1.10 m,
which was then raised until a total fill height of 2.35 3.2 Numerical analysis a i d results
m was attained (Fig. 4). The loading scheme of the The finite element mesh of the embankment for
unstabilised section of the embankment (T3: without multi-drain analysis is shown in Fig. 5. The
drains) was almost the same, therefore, the foundation was discretized into linear strain
performance of the embankment with and without quadrilateral (LSQ) elements. For the zone with
drains could be directly compared. sandwicks, a finer mesh was developed so that each
drain element represents the sandwick containing the
smear zone on either side of the drains. The locations
of instrumentation such as inclinometer and

359
piezometer to monitor the performance of the
embankment are placed in the mesh in such a way
that their measuring points coincide with the mesh
nodes. For instance, the piezometer is placed in
between two drains at 0.75 m from the embankment
centerline to measure the pore pressure (Fig. 5).
The clay layer is characterized by drained
conditions at the upper boundary only, where as
lower boundary is impermeable due to the presence
of a stiff clay layer below 17 m depth. In
axisymmetric condition, the equivalent radius of
sandwick drains and smear zone are I-,,,=0.05 m and
r, = 0.3 m, respectively. For the plane strain analysis,
the width of drains and smear zone were taken to be
the same as their radii in axisymmetric condition,
which give b, = 0.05 m and b, = 0.3 m. In the
analysis incorporating both smear and well
resistance, after a few trials based on single drain
analysis, it was found that a discharge capacity (4,)
of 50 m3/year for each drain was appropriate for
numerical modeling. This discharge capacity is in the
range of q,, of 25-100 m3/year as reported by Holtz
et al. (1991) for drain affected by significant vertical
and lateral pressures.
The results of the plane strain and multi-drain
analysis together with the measured settlements are
plotted in Fig. 6. The analysis based on perfect drain
conditions (no smear, complete pore pressure
dissipation) overpredicts the settlement. The
inclusion of smear effect decreases the settlements,
hence improves the accuracy of the predictions. The
inclusion of both smear and well resistance slightly
underestimates the settlements, especially beyond
150 days. At 5 m depth where the applied stress is
smaller, the effect of well resistance is hardly noticed
(Fig. 7), in comparison with surface settlements (Fig.
6).

Piezonrtrr
T Y

lOOm
Ir U

Fig. 5. Finite element mesh of embankment for plane strain

analysis at Naval Dockyard, Thailand. Figure 7. Total settlements at 5 m depth below ground level
along embankment centerline, Naval dockyard.

360

Figure 9. Variation of excess pore water pressure at
embankment centerline, Naval dockyard.
The prediction of settlement along the ground
surface from the centerlme of embankment is shown
in Fig. 8. The available measured data agree well
with the settlement profile, near the embankment
361
centerline. Heave is also predicted beyond the toe of
the embankment, i.e. at about 25 m away from the
centerline.
The predicted and measured excess pore water
pressures for the piezometer located at the
embankment centerline at a depth of 7.5 m arc
compared in Fig. 9. Although the inclusion of smear
effect can reasonably predict the excess pore
pressures up to Stage 2 of construction, the
prediction of Stage 3 and post-construction pore
pressures is difficult. It is believed that ‘clogging or
partial clogging of drains’ is the main factor causing
this retarded rate of dissipation in the long term,
which is difficult to model in the numerical analysis.
As shown, the inclusion of well resistance with the
smear effect slightly improves the prediction. As
expected, the perfect drain predictions underestimate
the actual pore water pressures, for both
embankments T 1 and T2. Pore pressures predicted
by ‘no drains’ assumption gives the highest among all
other predictions, although field data in the long term
shows higher pore pressures than ‘no drains’
conditions, due to possible partial clogging of the
drains. This is interesting to note that the perfect
drain predictions in Fig. 9(a) and 9(b) produce very
similar pore pressures. For perfect drains, 2.5 m
spacing is more than sufficient. Increasing the no. of
drains (i.e. reducing spacing) does not seem to
reduce the pore pressure any further.
Lateral deformation (predicted and measured) for
the inclinometer installed at 10 m away from the
centerline of the embankment is shown in Fig. 10.
The lateral deformations at 230 days after loading are
very well predicted when the effects of both smear
and well resistance are included in the analysis. As
shown in Fig. 10, the inclusion of smear effect alone
underestimates the magnitude of lateral deformation.
The perfect drain condition, as expected, yields the
smallest lateral deformation. It is illustrated clearly in
Fig. 10 that the inclusion of the drains are expected
to reduce the lateral movement of the soft clay under
embankment loading. The predicted lateral
deformation for ‘no drains’ is also plotted for
comparison. In T2, the difference in lateral
displacements between ‘no drains’ situation and the
field measurements is small, in comparison to T1.
This also verifies that the drain spacing in T 2 (ie. 2.5
m) is too large to have much effect on both
settlements and lateral displacements. In contrast, the
smaller drain spacing of 1.5 m in T1 has signifkant
effect on reducing lateral displacements.

Figure 10. Lateral displacement profiles at 10 m away from
centerline of embankment, Naval dockyard.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Based on the 2-D plane strain analysis and the
comparison with the field measurements of test
embankments stabilised with vertical sandwick drains
at Naval dockyard, Bangkok, it can be concluded
that the explicit m o d e h g of the effect of smear in the
vicinity of the drains provides good prediction of
settlement. Conventional analysis using 'perfect
drains' overestimates the settlements, and
underestimates the actual pore pressures. The
inclusion of the effects of both smear and well
resistance in the analysis improves the prediction of
settlement and lateral deformation, but the
contribution of the well resistance alone is small on
the dissipation of excess pore water pressure. This
indicates that the 17 m long drains do not suffer from
well resistance to any significant extent, hence, it is
the smear effect that predominantly affects the
consolidation process in the vicinity of the drains.
362
REFEWNCES
Baron, R. A. 1948. Cansolidation of fine-grained soils by
drain wells. Trans., ASCE, 113, 718-742.
Brenner, R.P. and Prebaharan, N., (1983). Analysis of
sandwick perforrnance in soft Bangkok clay. Proc. 8th
European Conf. Soil Mech and Foundation Enggr.,
Helsinki, Vol. 1, pp. 579-586.
Britto, A.M. and Gunn, M.J. 1987. Critical state soil
rnechanics via finite elernents. Ellis Horwcnxl, Ltd.,
Chichester, England.
Chai, J. C., Miura, N., Sakajo, S., and Bergado, D. 1995.
Behaviour of vertical drain improved subsoil under
embankment loading. J. Soil and Foundations, Japanese
Geotechnical Society, 35 (4), 49-61,
Hansbo, S. 1981. Consolidation of fine-grained soils by
prefabricated drains. Proc. 10th ICSMFE, Stockholm,
Sweden, 3, 671-682.
Hird, C.C., Pyrah, I.C., and Russell, D. 1992. Finite eleiizenr
rnodelling of vertical drains beneath eiizbankriients on .sofr
ground. Geotechnique, 42 (3), 499-5 11.
Holtz, R.D., Jamiolkowski, M., Lancellotta, R., and Pedroni,
S., (1991). Prefabricated vertical drains: design uncl
performance, CIRIA ground engineering report: ground
irnprovenient. Butterworth-Heinemann Lid, UK, 131 p.
Indraratna, B., Balasubramaniam, A. S., and Ratnayake, P.
1994. Perforrnunce of ernbunktnent stabilized with verticul
drains on soft clay. J. Geotech. Eng., ASCE, 120 (2), 257-
273.
Indraratna, B., Balasubramaniam, A. S., and Sivaneswaran,
N.1991. Analysis of settlenzent and lateral defortnation o f
soft clay foundation beneath two jidl-scule embanktizents.
Int. J. for Numerical and Analytical Methods in
Geomectianics, 21, 599-618.
Indraratna, B. and Redana, I W. 1997. Plane struirz inodeling
of m e u r effects associated wirh vertical drains. J.
Geotech. Eng., ASCE, 123 (3,474-478
Indraratna, B. and Redana, I W. 1998. kiborutoty
detertnination of smear zone due to vertical di-uin
installation. J. Geotech. Eng., ASCE, 124 (2), 180-184.
Indraratna, B. and Redana, I W. 2000. Numerical mtdeling of'
vertical drains with smear and well resistance installed i n
soft clay. J. Canadian Geotech. (in Press)
hxner, J.J., Kraemer, S.R., and Smith, A.D. 1986.
Prefabricated vertical drains, Vol. II: Si~tntnuiy of
Research Report-Final Report. Federal H~ghway
Administration, Report No. FHWA-RD-86/169,
Washington D.C.
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineeringin Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Construction of vertical seawall - Prediction and performance

Thiam-Soon Tan, Poh-Ling Leong & Kwet-Yew Yong

Centrefor Soft Ground Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Ryuji Kamata
TOA Corporation,Singapore OfJice,Singapore
John Wei, Keng-Chay Chua & Yan-Hui Loh
Housing and Development Board, Singapore

ABSTRACT: Reclamation is a major construction activity in Singapore. In recent years, with greater afflu-
ence, marina development for residential purpose has become more common. This often entails the construc-
tion of a vertical seawall to form the outer boundary to facilitate the reclamation. In Singapore a frequently
used technique is the use of a L-Block. However, there are concern about the movement and tilt of such rela-
tively light blocks. An ongoing reclamation in the Northeastern part of Singapore makes use of nearly lOkm
of such wall. As a requirement, prior to commencement of construction, a finite element study was carried
out to analyze the possible movement and tilting of the block. Detailed instrumentation clusters were then
provided in the contract, and these thus provide a good set of data to validate the accuracy of the design and
also allow lessons to be learned fi-om the difference between the movement predicted and that measured. This
paper is a report of the comparison between prediction and performance that was carried out at this site. This
construction is still ongoing and thus the comparison exercise is not fully completed.

1 INTRODUCTION proach is increasingly common in Singapore and has

A major reclamation is currently ongoing in the
Northeastern part of Singapore, as part of a major
new town development in this area. A marina is
planned for this area, and one of the requirements in
this project is the construction of a long stretch of
vertical seawall to provide containment for the rec-
lamation. In this project, this entails the construction
of over 5.6km of a vertical sea wall using L-shape
concrete blocks. Such type of seawall has been used
in a number of projects previously. An important
consideration is the movement of the wall during and
after construction as these are relatively light-weight
walls. The layout of this reclamation project is
shown in Fig. 1 and typical sections of L-Block de-
sign are shown in Fig. 2.
A finite element study was required as part of the
design. This study was conducted primary for the
purpose of evaluating the movement and the associ-
ated tilting of the L-Block during construction. To a
large degree, this study was also used as the basis for
site control. In other words, if the field performance
deviates significantly from the predicted values, the
contractor will have to provide justifications for
works to continue. It was therefore important that
this study produces reasonable results. This ap-
been adopted by a number of regulatory agencies.
Thus, it is important that such an approach be also
evaluated with hind-sight, that is comparison against
actual field performance. Only through such field
case study evaluation can adequate experience be
developed to ensure reasonable design in the future
for similar construction.
2 SOILPROFILE
At this site, the soil profile in general comprises an
organic clay layer follows by a marine clay layer,
usually referred to as the Upper Marine Clay layer.
In some other locations, this is followed by a desic-
cated layer of clay and then another layer of marine
clay known as the Lower Marine Clay layer. Under-
lying the clays is a stiff clayey silt and then a sedi-
mentary rock. Such a profile is typical of many parts
of Singapore (Chong et al., 1998). For this particular
location, the soil investigation carried out revealed a
soil profile as given in Fig. 3.
An immediate, and probably most important,
problem in any finite element study is the choice of
appropriate soil models and the selection of relevant
soil parameters. As the present study arises out of a
construction project, the necessary soil investigation

363
was conducted in accordance with typical require-
ments of industry. In the present case, a number of
boreholes were sunk. Standard Penetration Tests I . is33
were conducted in all the boreholes. Undisturbed WLtJOO RLCWAION WD FILL

sampling was conducted at selected boreholes, espe-

cially those containing soft clay. For these samples,
besides the usual odeometer tests, CK,UC and
CK,UE, and Mikasa’s type direct shear tests were
conducted. At some locations, these tests were com-
plemented using cone penetration tests. As these are
typical tests, and done by soil investigation compa-
nies, the soil parameters derived are thus partly
based on the soil tests and partly based on local MPL ‘A’ RiiRNlNG WALL RNtIMLNI
knowledge of these soils. Eventually, during the de-
sign, the models and associated soil parameters in Fig. 2 Typical section of a vertical seawall
Table 1 were chosen for the analysis. For design, a (Figure not drawn to scale)
primary consideration in the selection is that these
should represent safe parameters.
The CAM-Clay model is chosen for the marine I L-Block30 I
clay, mainly because this in-situ marine clay is
known to be lightly overconsolidated. It is also ex-
pected to consolidate significantly during the recla-
mation. This clay is known to be relatively young
and lightly structured, but only mildly anisotropic
with shear strength values from UC and UE tests -10
nearly similar (Chong et al., 1998), though for this
particular site, the compression strength is about
15% higher than the extension strength. Thus it is
expected that the CAM-Clay model will be able to
model the deformation behavior reasonably. It is the -20

behavior of this layer that will largely determine the

behavior of the L-Block. For the other soils, an elas- I Bearing Layer I
tic plastic model is used, assuming a Mohr Coulomb
failure criterion. For most of these soils, it is ex-
pected that the yield criterion is not a major factor, -30
but the estimation of the stiffness is. This point will -30m Om
be revisited later on in the paper.
Fig. 3 Soil Profile along L-Block 30 and ACLl

Fig. 1 Site of ongoing reclamation

Fig. 4 Finite Element Mesh

364
Table 1 Properties use for FEM Analysis fort, which is not expected to be significant, is not
accounted for in the analysis.
Perme- For this reclamation, an aspect of concern is the
son’s ability movement of the vertical wall as a result of the sand
weight Ratio filling operation, in particular the dynamic effect
from the water carrying the sand during the hydraulic
placement. In this project, the sand fill was placed
I I parallel to the wall, and some distance from it. The
main purpose for this is to reduce the lateral move-
Stone
Fill Sand 19.60 17 0.33 30” ment of the L-Block. This method had been adopted
based on information gathered on other similar pro-
1 Bearing
L Layer
18.62 18 0.33 35” jects in Singapore where there were L-block move-
ments when sand filling works were carried out in
the direction of shore to sea.
Marine clay layer - CAM-Clay Model Trailer-hopper suction dredges were used in the
~=0.1, h=0.5 (C,=l.15), v’=0.33,y=17.0 W a hydraulic filling operations. A branch from the dis-
K, = K,= 1.0x10-~m/s charge pipe was placed about 25m behind the L-
blocks in parallel to the revetment line. The sand
was deposited from behind the L-blocks and pro-
Table 2: Construction Sequence gressed towards the shore. This method helps to
minimize the lateral movement of the L-blocks and
Activity prevent any circular slip failure during reclamation.
Considering the soil condition at this site, it would
be impossible to avoid slip failure, if the filling
Dredging and sand works had been carried out from shore towards the
fiiiplicement sea with a bulldozer moving the sand forward.

1 1 11 1
2 1.25 1.75 Inspection and sur-
vev
Placement of Stone 4 DESIGN - FINITE ELEMENT STUDY
~ and The time dependent behavior of the L-Block retain-
Granite in sand key ing structure and its supporting ground was studied
0.25 L-Block Installation using the program, CRISP, which incorporates a

6 0.5 3 mths wait

1
Placement of back-
fill stone
Sand-fill to 1.0m
fully coupled consolidation analysis based on Biot’s
formulation (Britto and Gunn, 1987). CRISP
( W t i c a l State Program) is based on the finite ele-
0.75 -then 0*25 Sand-fill to 5.33m at ment method and includes in the constitutive models
7
mth a distance 20m away available, a number of critical state models. This
program can simulate the construction of the sand
8 0.75 N.A. Installation of cop-
key, placement of L-Block and the sequence of fill
ing concrete
placement. CRISP is a relatively well-known pro-
9 0.75 N.A. Sand-fill of the gap
10 1 1.5 1 N.A. 1
Surcharge imposed
gram and has been used to study problems of
excavation and earth retaining structures, particularly
those involving time-dependent behaviors (Powrie &

1 Long term consoli-

dation
3 CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
A schematic of the seawall is shown in Fig. 2. The
sand in the sand key is placed by direct dumping and
the only compaction comes from the tamping, car-
ried out to compact the stone and granite, which is
placed just under the L-Block. This compaction ef-
Li, 1991; Bolton, et al., 1989 and Lee et al., 1993,
and Yong et al., 1996).
In the finite element analysis of the problem, the
construction sequence proposed by the contractor as
shown in Table 2 was used as the basic for simula-
tion. Later on, after the construction, and in the back
analysis, the actual construction sequence, also
given in Table 2, was adopted. This project is still
ongoing as reflected in the table.
In this study, the finite element mesh used must

365
be adequate for simulating the entire construction
process. CRISP allows the flexibility of removing
and adding of elements, a feature that is particularly
useful in this study. For the design analysis con-
ducted, the mesh used is a shown in Fig. 4, which is not
drawn to scale or proportion.
Fig. 6Tilting of L-Block
5 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
As a first comparison, the original design predictions
were compared against the actual measured value.
Fig. 5 shows the vertical settlement of the L-Block
while Fig. 6 shows the tilt of the L-Block. It can be
observed that the total settlement and tilt predicted is
significantly smaller than the actual measured value.
The principal cause for this disparity is the
settlement caused during the placement of the back-
fill stone.
A very significant settlement was noted during
the placement of the back fill stone just behind the
L-Block wall. Further the wall was also observed to
tilt backwards during this phase, though the pre-
dicted results suggest that the wall should have tilted
forward. One likely reason is that the sand placed in
366
this area is very thick, more than 10m actually. This
sand is placed by direct dumping, and thus may re-
sult in an inconsistent relative density, prevalent
when a thick layer is formed. Since it is very diffi-
cult to demonstrate the dynamic effect of backfill
stone placement, this omission has resulted in the
difference between analysis and actual measurement.
It is also believed that the elastic modulus of
sand key is slightly lower in the actual condition than
that used in analysis. These varied effects thus
caused a large settlement in the sand in the sand key.
Fortunately, the vertical wall was designed with a
coping concrete to be added to the upper part in the
final stage, thus allowing for some adjustment, pro-
vided this settlement resulted in a tilt that was ac-
ceptabele. In the present case the maximum tilt re-
corded, as shown in Fig. 6was 1: 130,and this was just
acceptable.
As the finite element study conducted cannot
consider this dynamic effect, the predicted results
were clearly off. For a fairer comparison, this set-
tlement due to the dynamic effect of the hydraulic
fill was removed from the results. The new comparison
for the vertical settlement is not shown in Fig. 7.
The predicted settlement is now closer to the
measured value, especially in the early stages. How-
ever, the prediction in the later stages is still clearly
smaller than the measured values. As a design, this
degree of agreement is probably considered ade-
quate. However, it is clear that the finite element
study still has room for improvement. To be able to
evaluate how to improve the analysis, especially the
soil parameters selected, it is essential to evaluate the
settlement of different soil layers, some distance
away from the L-Block. This is to avoid complica-
tion arising from the placement of L-Block and the
stone placement operations. The instrumentation
cluster, ACLI, was placed 30m from the L-Block
and was designed to provide this information
through the extensometers attached to an installed
inclinometer. The compression of different layers at
the current stage is now summarized in Table 3.
This comparison indicates that in the first design
run, RTJN1, the soil parameters chosen have pre-
dicted incorrectly the compression of two layers,
though the errors compensate each other, producing
a predicted settlement of 112mm at 3 depth of -4.8m
which is very close to the measured value of 123mm.
in particular, two glaring aspects can be observed.
First is the gross over prediction of the settlement of
the stiff base layer (below a depth of 18.8m). The
finite element analysis suggested a settlement of
19mm whereas in reality the movement is only I mm.
 order of magnitude while the compressibility pa-
rameter for the marine clay is also increased.
The settlement profiles at two levels, -4.8m and
-7.8m are shown in Fig. 8. As this is a back analysis,
the agreement is necessarily much improved.
The comparison shown in Table 3 indicates that
there is still room for fine-tuning. This is not an im-
portant point in this paper. However, what is impor-
tant is the fact that the changes made are reasonable,
albeit, this is done in retrospect.

Table 3: Compression of different layers of soils

Run No. I Runl/2 1 Run3 1 Actual I

Layer (m) Compression of each layer
(mm)
-4.80 to 7.80 49 101 82
-7.80 to -9.80 10 19 38
I -9.80to-11.30 I 18 I 4 I 0 1
-11.30 to -13.30 4 5 -1
-13.30 to -15.80 6 2 1
-15.80 to -18.80 6 1 2
Below -18.80 19 5 1
Sett. at -4.8 112 137 132

6 CONCLUSIONS

The present study offered a rare opportunity

to evaluate an actual design calculation against
measured field performance. The ability to perform
Fig. 8 Settlement at ACLl (after adjustment) accurate design analysis in a large and extensive pro-
ject cannot be over emphasized as there are serious
cost implications. Such an evaluation is only possi-
On the other hand, the predicted compression of the
ble when compared against actual field study. The
top marine clay layer is too small, yielding a value of
following conclusions can be drawn as a result of
59mm whereas the actual compression was 120mm.
this study.
As was mentioned in the introduction, this was an
actual design using values derived from routine soil
As is usual in construction projects, certain proc-
investigation reports. Thus, little attention was paid
esses often cause major deviation from design
to using a stiffness that will reflect that below a
that are unanticipated. In this case, the most sig-
depth of 18.8m, the strain is likely to be very small
and thus a much large stiffness can be used. Simi- nificant movement occurs during the placement
of the back fill stones on a thick sand key where
larly, the marine clay at the top was known to con-
some inconsistencies of density are likely to be
tain traces of organic clay. However, the parameters
observed. Without the relevant experience, such
shown in Table 1 are really suitable for marine clay
events cannot be included in the design analysis.
only.
To correct for this, a series of back analysis was
The finite element analysis conducted neverthe-
carried out and soil parameters were adjusted based
less were able to produce reasonable prediction
on these perceived behaviors in the field, that in ret-
of the movement of the vertical seawall, pro-
rospect, were not considered during design. The
vided it has been constructed in accordance with
main adjustments were to the two layers. The stiff-
good engineering practice and the settlement due
ness of the very stiff clay was increased by nearly an
to events not simulated were factored out.

367
3. In the present analysis conducted, there is still
significant room for improving the analysis by
using appropriate adjusted soil parameters. The
obvious challenge is the ability to estimate these
parameters during design and not after back
analysis as is the case here.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Part of the research reported here is funded by the

National Science and Technology Board, Singapore,
Grant No. MCE/99/003).

REFERENCES

Bolton, M.D., A.M. Britto, W. Powrie & T.P. White

1989. Finite element analysis of a centrifuge
model of a retaining wall embedded in a heavily
over-consolidated clay. Computer and Geo-
technics, Vol. 7, pp. 289-3 18.

Britto, A. M. & M.J.Gunn 1987. Critical Stste Soil

Mechanics via Finite Element. Ellis Horwood.

Chong, P.T., T.S. Tan, F.H. Lee, K.Y. Yong & H.

Tanaka 1998. Characterisation of Singapore
Lower Marine Clay by In-situ and Laboratory
Tests. Proceedings of The International Sympo-
sium on Problematric Soils, IS-Tohoku 98, Sen-
dai. pp.641-644.

Lee, F.H., T.S. Tan & K.Y. Yong 1993. Excavations

in residual soils with high permeability. In Pro-
ceedings of the 1lth Southeast Asian Geotechni-
cal Conference, 4-8 May 1993, Singapore.

W. Powrie & E.S.F. Li 1991. Finite element analysis

of an in-situ wall dropped at formation level.
Geotechnique, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 499-514.

Tan, T-S and Shirlaw, N.(1999). General Report on

Deep Excavation - Braced Excavation. Proceed-
ings of IS-Tokyo ’99 - International Symposium
on Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Con-
struction in Soft Ground, Tokyo, Japan. (under
print)

Yong, KY, Lee, FH and Liu, KX (1996). “Three di-

mensional finite element analysis of deep excava-
tion in marine clay.” Proceedings of the Twelfth
Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference, 6- 10
May, 1996, Kuala Lumpur, pp. 435-440.

368
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice,Nakase & Tsuchida(eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 1

A proposal of method for calculating consolidation'settlement

K.Terada
Takenaka Corporation, Osaka, Japan

ABSTRACT: The e-log p curve of the oedometer test was able to be divided into the e,-log p curve of pri-
mary consolidation and the es-log p curve of secondary consolidation. There were the normally consolidated
range and the overconsolidated range in those curves. And, the constants for calculating consolidation settle-
ment were obtained from their curves. A method that the consolidation settlement was calculated separately
for the primary consolidation portion and the secondary consolidation portion by substituting those constants
was proposed. The consolidation settlements of clay layers were observed in Rokko Island. The observed val-
ues were compared with the values calculated by the proposed method and the standard method. The result
was that the proposed method was almost appropriate.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 OEDOMETER TEST

The primary consolidation has been calculated based
on Terzaghi theory for calculating the consolidation
settlement of alluvial clay in the design of the
building up to now. Recently, the necessity for cal-
culating the consolidation settlement of diluvial clay
was caused. It was necessary to calculate primary
consolidation and secondary consoldiation sepa-
rately for this clay. And, the consolidation settlement
analysis is made by the finite element method by
using the constitutive equation of Sekiguchi-Ota
(1977) model, which contains the elements of the
primary consolidation and the secondary consolida-
tion. However, the compression index (C,) and con-
solidation yield stress (P,) obtained by the oedome-
ter test are used for this analysis, and, the element of
primary consolidation and the element of the secon-
dary consolidation are included in them. Therefore,
it was proposed a method for obtaining the compres-
sion index (C,,) and the consolidation yield stress
(Pc,) concerning primary consolidation from the
oedometer test, and a method for obtaining the coef-
ficient of secondary consolidation (C,) and the time
(t,) when secondary consolidation was began con-
cerning the secondary consolidation. And, a method
for calculating the consolidation settlement sepa-
rately for the primary consolidation and for the sec-
ondary consolidation portion by substituting for tho-
se constants (Ccp,Pcp, C,, and t,) was proposed.
2.1 Separation of primary consolidation and
secondary consolidation
The oedometer tests with step loading were done
with undisturbed samples which had been obtained
in the diluvial clay layer in Osaka city. In this case,
the sample was consolidated at each load stage for
24 hours when load increment ratio ( 4 p / p ) was 1.0,
and for 12 hours when Ap/p was 0.42. The consis-
tency of the clay was w,=112%, w,=35% and
w=65%. The e-log p curves of the sample were
plotted in Figure 1 by 0 for Ap/p=l.O and by A
for p/p=0.42. Leonard (1962)'s result was that
load increment ratio influenced the e-log p curve.
And, his experiments were all for 24 hours loading.
The e - log p curves of Figure 1 were almost identi-
cal unlike Leonard (1962)'s experiment.
The secondary consolidation had been generated af-
ter the primary consolidation in their examinations
(Terada 1999). Therefore, the variation of the void
ratio ( A e) is calculated by the expression (1) when
consolidation pressure is a p . The void ratio of pri-
mary consolidation (e,) is calculated by the expres-
sion (2) with the primary consolidation ratio (r), and
that of secondary consolidation (e,) is calculated by
the expression (3). The e,-log p curves of the pri-
mary consolidation were obtained from the data of
Figure 1 by expression (2) and were plotted by
and A in Figure 1. The e, - log p curves were almo-
st identical.

369
 e,, = e,, - 2 Aep = e,, - 2 rAe
e, = e,, - 2 Ae.s = e,, - 2 (1- r b e (3)

The oedometer tests were conducted with the block

samples of the diluvial clay in the three soil condi-
tions with difference of disturbance. Those condi-
tions are the undisturbed (Und), the received strain
of 30% at failure in unconfined compression test
(Str) and the remolded (Rem). And, this method was
proposed by Schmertmann(l9.53). Those e-log p
curves were plotted in Figure 2. The consistency of
the clay was w,=86%, w,=29% and w=59%. In the
same way, the e,-log p curves of the primary con-
solidation and the e,-log p curves of the secondary
consolidation were obtained from the data of Figure
2 by expression (2) and expression (3) and were
plotted in Figure 3 and 4.
The primary consolidation was not as sensitive to
the sample disturbance as the secondary consolida-
tion. From these examinations, it was obtained the
idea that primary consolidation and secondary con-
soldiation were able to handle respectively sepa-
rately.
2.2 Secoizdary consolidation
The d-log t curves at each load stage of data shown
in Figure 2 were overlapped with the curve ruler.
The times where the former parted from the latter
were the beginning time (tJ of the secondary con-
soldiation in the oedometer test, and the values were
obtained. Next, The times for 90% consolidation
(t,J were obtained by root t method from the d - root
t curves of the data. The values of t, and t,,, were
plotted in Figure 5. Since the values of t,,, were al-
most the same with the values of t, regardless of the
level of sample disturbance, the t,,, was assumed to
substitute the t, in oedometer test. The undisturbed
samples were obtained from the diluvial clay layer
under Port Island. They were consolidated in the
oedometer test by the constant load for 100 days.
Those results were shown in Figure 6.

Figure 5. relation between t,,, and t, in oedometer test.

Figure 6. variation of void ratio -time for long time

(diluvial clay)

370
The value of load of the data shown by 0 was 1260
kPa , and the p, value was 950 kPa. The value of
load of other data was 630 kPa , and the p, values
was 560 -620 kPa. The figure showed that the
rithm at time. The liquid limit was 83%
plastic limit was 21%
-
variation of void ratio was proportional to the loga-
- 96%, the
27%, and, the water con-
tent was 45% -51%.
The variation of the void ratio ( 4e,) of secondarq
consolidation is calculated by expression (4).
(4)
The curves of e-log p and e,-log p shown in Figure 1
by 0and 0 were plotted in Figure 7 by 0and @
respectively. The e-log p curve was divided into A ep
and A e,, and plotted in the figure by A . The
amounts of secondary consolidation for 1 day, 10
days and 1000 days were calculated by expression
(4). Those values were added to the e,-log p curve,
*
and they were plotted in this figure by X , +, and .
The figure was compared with the figure to explain
the method for calculating long-term compression
by Bjerrum (1967). The e,-log p curve corresponded
to the instant compression by Bjerrum. And, the
group of dotted line in the figure corresponded to the
(instant + delayed) compression by Bjerrum (Terada
1999). The thickness of the clay layer influenced
secondary consoldiation (Aboshi 1981). And, the
beginning time of secondary consoldiation in the
Figure 8. e- log p curve for comparing pc values
(diluvial clay)
371
Figure 9. e- log p curve in oedorneter test with step
loading. (diluvial clay)
depth in the clay layer with large thickness was as-
sumed to be able to calculate by expression (5) with
the value oft,,, in oedometer test. ZC in the expres-
sion is the distance between the examined depth and
the permeable face of the layer (m).
t, = t9,,eZc (5)
3 CONSTANTS FOR CALCULATING
CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT
3.1 Consolidation yield stress
The undisturbed samples were obtained at the center
of the diluvial clay layer (Ma12) under Port Island
and Rokko Island. The e-log p curves of these sam-
ple were plotted by 0,0, and A in Figure 8. It was
reported that the p, values of 0 and were 600
kPa, and that of A was 750 kPa. Because the clay
layer was in the boundary which changed from the
overconsolidation into normal consolidation, the dif-
ference of the p, values made the state of the clay for
consolidation misjudged. The oedometer tests with
step loading were done with the sample shown in
Figure 2. In this case, the sample was consolidated at
each load stage for 24 hours when load increment
ratio (Ap/p) was 1.0, for 12 hours when Ap/p was
0.42, and, for 6 hours when Ap/p was 0.19. Those
e-log p curves were plotted in Figure 9 by 0, 0,
and A.Figure 9 showed that the consolidation yield
stress was measured more accurately as load incre-
ment ratio became small. The consolidation yield
stresses were obtained from the e-log p curves in
Figure 9 in the cases of 4 p / p for 1.0 and 0.42. And
those values were plotted in Figure 10. Similarly, the
tests were done with the sample obtained in other
sites, and the pc values of those were plotted in the
figure. The former was smaller than the latter.
(AC is alluvial clay. DC is diluvial clay.)
3.2 Compression index
The compression index of e-log p curves (C,) was
not equal to them of e,-log p curves (Ccp)in Figurel.
In the same way, the values of C, and C,, were ob-
tained from the clay samples in other sites. Those
values were plotted for the liquid limits in Figure 11.
The values of C, were not equal to them of C,,unlike
Crawford (1964)’s experiment. The regressions of
the compression index of the primary consolidation
shown in the figure were obtained, and were expres-
sion (6) and expression (7).
C, = 0.004(~, + 9) for alluvial clay (6)
C, = 0.005(~,- 5) for diluvial clay (7)
3.3 Coefficient of secondury consolidation
The Co-log p curves obtained from the data of Fig-
ure 4 were plotted in Figure 12. The values of C,
sensitively reacted to the sample disturbance and de-
creased greatly immediately after the value of pc.
Figure 12. influence of sample disturbance on coef-
ficient of secondary co~polidation.
372
The values of C , were obtained when the consoli-
dation pressure was within the normal consolidation
zone of Figure 1 were plotted in Figure 13. The co-
efficients of secondary consolidation C o were not
influenced by the load increment ratio. The values of
CJC, of alluvial clay were plotted in Figure 14 for
pc/p by 0 in the overconsolidation zone and by 0
in the normal consolidation zone. The mean values
of CJC, were calculated at pressure of 40kPa and
630 kPa, and were plotted in Figure15 by 0.And,
the mean values of CJC, of the alluvial clay were
calculated at other pressures and plotted by e in the
figure. In the same way, the mean values of CJC,
for diluvial clay were plotted by 0 in the figure.
The result was that the value of C,/C, was influ-
enced by the consolidation pressure. The regression
of the values of is the expression (8), and that of
the value of 0is the expression (9) in the figure.
Figure 15. relation between mean of C,/C, and con-
solidation pressure.
 These expressions are the functions of stress and The observed values of time-settlement curves of
compression index, and differed from the expression those clay layers were plotted in Figure 16 and 17 by
(10) introduced by Mesri (1973). (Terada 1997) The settlements of primary con-
solidation (S,) were calculated by expression (11)
C, =0 .08~-~)~"~C~ for alluvial clay (8) with the values of H, P,,, Ccp,e,, and p(=pO+A p) in
the table.
C, = 0.08p-".05C, for diluvial clay (9)
by Mesri(1973) (10)
C, = (0.05 * 0.02)CC

The degree of consolidation (U,,,) on the day to

4 CALCULATION OF CONSOLIDATION which the soil investigation was done was calculated
SETTLEMENT with the c, values in Table 1. When the elapsed time
was t, the degree of consolidation was U(t). The set-
The method for calculating consolidation settlement tlement of primary consolidation (S,,) was calculated
considering secondary consoldiation was explained by expression (12) with S,, U,, and U(t). When the
based on the case history. Reclamation was com- elapsed time was t, the settlement of secondary con-
pleted on a site of Rokko Island in April, 1986. The soldiation (&,) was calculated by expression (13)
day was a day when load was added. The soil inves- with the constants in Table 1. The consolidation set-
tigations were done two times in May, 1986 and tlements of clay layer were calculated by expression
July, 1995. The undisturbed samples were obtained (14), and plotted in Figure 16 and 17 by 0 in 1986,
in the diluvial clay layer (Ma12) and the alluvial and a
in 1995.
"
clay layer (Ma13). The oedometer tests were done 3
with the samples. The constants had been obtained s,, = L u ( t )
by these examinations were described in Table 1. (1- U,,,1
And, the values of t, were calculated by expression
( 5 ) with the values of t,,, in the table and shown in
the table. The differential settlement gages were set
up in those clay layers on May 23, 1986.
s,,
C
=H L l o g
1+eo 1
(I
-

Table 1. Constants for calculating consolidation settlement

day clay c, H* e, P, C, pCp C,, P"* Ca t, t,
crn2/d m kPa kPa kPa rnin day
-.- 60 4.8 2.25 64 0.96 50 0.54 322 0.048 10 0.07

n
-% 4.5
5.8
2.40
2.34
67
98
0.97
1.03
55
60
0.54
0.56
344
373
0.054
0.050
11
12
22.92
0.15
160 2.5 1.52 847 0.83 950 0.39 896 0.037 3 0.01
1.6 1.70 602 1.08 640 0.52 908 0.034 8 0.17
2.1 1.82 618 1.26 640 0.61 919 0.035 8 0.53
2 1.77 633 1.17 700 0.58 931 0.038 10 13.18
1 1.88 592 1.15 660 0.58 941 0.033 7 25.65
1.5 1.77 609 1.06 710 0.56 948 0.037 10 100.48
1.5 1.75 81 1 1.07 1000 0.61 957 0.038 8 72.37
3.5 1.83 657 1.02 880 0.58 971 0.033 6 21.16
4 1.38 691 0.80 900 0.47 997 0.029 9 0.072
1.5 1.oo 1163 0.47 1100 0.30 1018 0.024 14 0.02
-.^
m
80 2.8
3
1.47
1.91
345
191
0.9
0.82
280
210
0.53
0.52
295
313
0.044
0.040
21
16
0.06
0.84
>
m
- 3 1.90 214 0.87 200 0.56 330 0.041 18 2.25
3.7 1.76 349 0.79 280 0.48 348 0.039 23 0.14
100 1.0 1.54 734 0.96 950 0.46 818 0.035 8 0.01
1.5 1.61 834 1.01 1050 0.42 824 0.035 8 0.03
-.-
m 2.6 1.67 71 1 1.02 900 0.43 837 0.036 8 0.2
> 3.1 1.72 717 1.12 900 0.43 855 0.038 8 4.25
...
.I

3 3.1 1.72 844 0.98 1100 0.46 874 0.041 9 35.53

2.9 1.51 743 1.05 1100 0.40 892 0.039 7 1.5
4.7 1.2 1109 0.81 1200 0.38 911 0.032 13 0.16
"H: thickness, * * p: effective overburden pressure

373
The values calculated by Terzaghi’s expression (15)
were plotted in Figure 16 and 17 by c] in 1986 and
0in 1995 with the constants in Table 1. The values
of consolidation settlement calculated with the con-
stants in 1986 were different from the values calcu-
lated with the constants in 1995. The consolidation
yield stresses had been shown in the table were
compared in the diluvial clay. One of causes of the
difference of the settlement was measurement accu-
racy of the consolidation yield stress. The values
calculated by expression (14) were closer to the ob-
served values than the values calculated by expres-
sion (15) in Figure 17. It is necessary to calculate not
only primary consolidation but also secondary con-
solidation for diluvial clay.
Figure 17. comparison between calculated value
and observed value for consolidation settlement
(diluvial clay).
374
5 CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions were obtained by a result
of the research.
1) Primary consolidation is independent to secon-
dary consoldiation.
2) Consolidation yield stress p, is different from
consolidation yield stress pcpof the primary con-
solidation.
3) Compression index C, is different from compres-
sion index C,, of the primary consolidation.
4) The coefficient of the secondary consolidation C (y
is the function of the stress. And, it may be cal-
culated by expression (8) for alluvial clay and ex-
pression (9) for diluvial clay.
5 ) The author proposed the method that the consoli-
dation settlement was calculated separately for
the primary consolidation portion and the secon-
dary consolidation portion, and the method for
obtaining the constants used for the calculation.
At last, but not the least, the author would like to ex-
press gratitude to Tokyo Soil Research, Co., LTD
who had offered a cooperation in the soil test.
REFERENCES
Aboshi, H. and Matuda, H. 1981. Secondary Compression of
clays and its effect on settlement analysis, TUCHI-TO-
KISO, No.3 : 19-24, in Japanese
Bjerrum, J. 1967. Engineering Geology of Norwegian normally
consolidated marine clays as related to settlements of
buildings, Geoteclitiique 17, No.2: 83-1 18.
Crawford, C. B. 1964. Interpretation of the Consolidation Test,
Pro. A.S.C.E., Engrs., 90-SM: 5-87.
Leonards, G.A. 1962. Foundation Etigitieeritig : 149:McGraw-
Hill.
Mesri, G. 1973. Coefficient of secondary compression, Proc.
A.S.C.E., No.SM1: 123-135.
Schmertmann, J. H. 1953. Estimating the True Consolidation
Behavior of Clay from Laboratory Test Results, Proc.
A.S.C.E. Etigrs., Vo1.79, No.311:1-26.
Sekiguchi, H. and Ohta, H. 1977.Induced anisotropy and time
dependency in clays, Proc. 9th ICSMFE, Speciulty Session
9: 229-237.
Skempton, A. W. 1944. Notes on the Compressibility of Clays,
Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., Vol. C: 119-135. London.
Terada, k. and Matano, H. 1997. Liquefaction and Spread
Foundation Buildings during an Earthquake, Proc. of the
Third Kutisai Itzteriiational Geotechtiicul Forum oti Com-
parative Geotedinical : 131-140.
Terada, K. 1999. A proposal on Calculation Method to Predict
Consolidation Settlement considering Secondary Con-
solidation, TUCHI-TO-KISO, N o 5 : 35-38, in Japanese.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Effect of the lateral resistance of coupled piles on the field loading test

Kiyoshi Terauchi & Tsuneo Sat0 - The Third District Port Construction Bureau, Ministry of Transport, Kobe,
Japan
Masatoshi Sawaguchi- University of Tsukuba,Japan
Yoshiaki Kikuchi -Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yobsuka, Japan
Sosuke Kitazawa & Makoto Imai -Coastal Development Institute of Technology, Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT To develop a new design method for coupled piles that takes into considerationthe ground resistance
perpendicular to the axis of piles, a field horizontal loading test of coupled piles has been conducted. From the
test result, the percentage of shear is roughly 18% and is independent of loading level. This means that the pile
penetration length can be shortened by about 10% as compared with previous design methods because the axial
force is reduced by 18%. The subgrade reaction coefficient ratio of in-batter piles to out-batter piles with the
angle of 20 degree of inclination, kuin/kHout,is 2.5. This result is nearly identical with the result obtained by other
researchers. The degree of change in the coefficient of subgrade reaction by inclining piles in the reclaimed and
compacted ground is same as in natural ground.

1 OUTLINE OF COUPLED PILES DESIGN

METHODS
V
Coupled piles are widely used for anchorage of sheet
pile walls in Japan. In the simplified design method,
the coupled piles are considered to resist to external
loads only through axial resistance of piles as shown
in Figure 1 (Ministry of Transport 1989). Resistance
perpendicular to the pile axis due to subgrade reaction,
however, also takes part of the resistance to external V
loads to the coupled piles. Taking account for the effect
of subgrade reaction, Yokoyama (1 977) proposed a
method to calculate coupled piles resistance by in axial P
and perpendicular directions. Based on the results of
laboratory tests, Sawaguchi et al. (1970) proposed an
analytical method that takes into consideration the H
deformation properties of piles.
Coupled piles used for anchoring sheet pile walls Pl
has been relatively close to the sheet pile walls in many
Japanese ports. Subgrade reaction in coupled piles is
small in such cases, because the movement of ground Figure 1. Force diagonals considered in the simplified design
method. V vertical load, H:horizontal load, P,: axial resistance
between the coupled piles and the sheet piles weaken
of out-batter pile, P,: axial resistance of in-batter pile.
t h e lateral resistance of the coupled piles.
Consequently, the resistance component due to lateral
subgrade reaction is less important in designing sheet In this research, a field loading test on coupled piles
pile walls. Recently, however, the distance between using on-site facilities has been conducted. The aim
sheet pile walls and coupled piles are getting wider, is to investigate the resistance perpendicular
because of availability of large size cranes and demand component and to estimate the coefficient of subgrade
of the quay walls and anchorages for foundations of reactions in the direction perpendicular to the axis for
cranes. With anchorage positions getting widening coupled piles in anchored sheet pile quay walls.
away from the main quay wall, it is now beneficial to
take into consideration the resistance perpendicular to
the axis of the coupled piles.

375
2 FIELD HORIZONTAL LOADING TEST
2.1 Test procedure
Figure 2 shows a schematic view of the ground
condition, along with the coupled piles and sheet pile
wall at the site where the horizontal loading test was
carried out. The natural ground surface at the site was
DL. -7 m. The top layer of the natural ground to a
depth of 4 m was a layer of clay, overlying a gravel
layer. The construction of the site was carried out as
follows. First the coupled piles and the sheet pile walls
were installed and the coupled piles were bound to the
sheet pile walls with tie rods; sand filling was then
done behind the quay wall; densified by sand
compaction pile method as shown in Figure 2. The
average of N-values from standard penetration tests in
the improved ground was about 13. The piles used for
both the out-batter piles and in-batter piles of the
coupled piles were steel pipe piles with a radial
thickness of 12 mm and diameter of 1000 mm. The
piles were driven to an embedded depth of DL. -26 m.
Two pairs of couple piles were set as one block and
horizontal load was applied. The load to the pile heads
was applied by pulling the tie rods with hydraulicjacks.
The height of loading point was 1.1 m above ground
surface. The pile head section was covered with a
concrete block of 4.3 m long x 2.23 m wide x 1.6 m
high to fix pile head angle. The lower surface of the
concrete block was 0.5 m from the ground surface.
The test was conducted with static loads using
multistage, multi-cycle loads in accordance with
Japanese Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering standard (1983). Displacement of the
concrete block was measured with 12 dial gauges, the
30.5m
Tie rod
CDL-27.0m
Figure 2. Cross section of the coupled piles tested. Sand layer over laid on the original groud is improved by sand compaction piles
method(SCP) and gravel drains method(GD).
376
axial force and shearing force of each pile were
measured with triaxial strain gauges at 2 points on each
pile and the bending strains were measured with strain
gauges at 10 points on each pile (Figure 3).
2.2 Test results
The relationship between horizontal load and the
horizontal displacement of each pile head is shown in
Figure 4. The horizontal displacements of the pile
heads are calculated from the measurement of the
concrete block displacement. The relations shown in
Figure 4 present less torsional displacement. In this
test, the effect of torsional deformation is ignored,
though the couple piles are not axi-symmetric.
Relationships between horizontal load and the axial
force acting on the out-batter piles and on the in-batter
piles are shown in Figure 5. The axial force for each
pile is determined from measurements of triaxial strain
gauges. The axial force of out-batter piles represents
the sum of axial force of each out-batter pile. The axial
force of in-batter piles represents the sum of axial force
of each in-batter pile. Both the axial compressive force
on the out-batter pile and the axial extension force on
the in-batter pile increase linearly with the horizontal
load. The absolute values for the axial force of the in-
batter piles showed a tendency to be somewhat larger
than those of the out-batter piles. The in-batter piles
still could not be extracted within the load range in
this experiment.
Figure 6 shows relationship between the horizontal
load and the shear force acting on the out-batter pile
heads and the shear force acting on the in-batter pile
heads. The shear force acting on each pile was
calculated from the measurement of triaxial gauges.
Pile top section concrete
0 5 10 15 20(m)

Figure 4. Relasionship between horizontal load and horizontal
displacement of pile tops. Numbers shown are the number of
each pile. Piles are installed in aline as they numberd.
The shear forces shown in Figure 6 are the sum of two
out-batter piles and two in-batter piles, respectively.
Figure 6 shows the shearing forces acting on both the
out-batter piles and the in-batter piles linearly increase
with an increase in the horizontal load with few
scattered results and the shearing force acting on the
in-batter piles is somewhat larger than that on the out-
batter piles.
377
Figure 6. Relasionship between horizontal load and shear forces
of pile tops. Shear forces are summed up for out-batter piles and
in-batter piles.
The percentage of shear p (Sawaguchi 1970) is
calculated by using the results from this experiment.
The percentage of shear p mentioned here shows the
ratio of the horizontal component of the shear force
perpendicular to the pile axis to the horizontal load
acting on the coupled pile. This is shown as the
following equation:
percentage of shear
in which, HIand H,: shearing forces at the top of the in-
batter and out-batter piles; 0, and 0, : the batter angles
against vertical in the in-batter and out-batter piles (20
degrees in this test case); T is the horizontal load.
 Figure 7 shows the relation between the horizontal
load and the percentage of shear. The percentage of
shear is roughly 18% and it is independent from the
level of the horizontal load. Sawaguchi (1970) showed
that the percentage of shear of coupled piles is almost
constant until in-batter piles are extracted by the model
test conducted in the laboratory. The results from the
present field test give the same conclusion. Moreover,
Sawaguchi (1970) mentions a sharp increase in the
percentage of shear when the in-batter pile begins to
be extracted. Sawaguchi (1 970) also concludes that
the percentage of shear varies under different
experimental conditions such as loading height, angle
of batter piles, and ground conditions.
Assuming the percentage of shear is 20% until the
in-batter pile is extracted, axial force of piles becomes
20% less than that not considering this effect when the
load is completely horizontal. And the pile penetration
length can be shortened by approximately 10%.
Figure 8. Relasionship between shear force and displacement
perpendicular to pile axis at pile top.
Furthermore, according to test results from Kikuchi
(1999a), the lateral resistawe of a coupled pile
continues to increase even after the in-batter pile has
begun to be extracted. It will be possible to design
coupled piles even more economical if these results
can be incorporated into design.
3 ESTIMATION OF COEFFICIENTS OF
SUBGRADE REACTION IN THE DIRECTION
PERPENDICULAR TO THE PILE AXIS
Displacement of pile heads of couple piles has been
simulated by considering the reaction perpendicular
to the pile axes. Yokoyama (1977) proposed the pile
head springs in axial direction and perpendicular to
axis direction of piles. In order to appropriately
evaluate pile head springs, it is necessary to properly
estimate the coefficients o f subgrade reaction
perpendicular to the pile axes.
Relationships between displacement of pile head and
the load component perpendicular to the axes of in-
batter and out-batter piles that are obtained from the
field test are shown in Figure 8 (Kikuchi et al. 1999b).
The displacements of the pile head perpendicular to
pile axes are calculated from the measured
displacement, and the load perpendicular to the axes
are calculated from the measured shearing force of the
pile head using a triaxial strain gauge. As shown in
Figure 8, it is known that the in-batter piles show very
large resistance compared to the out-batter piles. This
result coincides with the result shown in Figure 6 where
in-batter piles have large forces perpendicular to the
pile axes. What all these show is that the coefficient of
subgrade reaction for the in-batter piles is larger than
that of the out-batter piles.
Figure 9 shows relationships between the load and
displacement of the pile head perpendicular to pile axis.
The relations shown in lines are calculated using
Chang’s equation (p = k,?) and those in plots are the
measured values in the test. According to this data,
the coefficient of subgrade reaction of out-batter piles
kljolt,,estimated from the measured value, decreases as
displacement increases, while the coefficient of
subgrade reaction of in-batter piles kljlNis almost
constant and independent of displacement. Comparing
the coefficient of subgrade reactions at the point where
the pile head displacement perpendicular to the axis is
1 cm, the out-batter pile kHOly= 5000 kN/m3, while the
in-batter kH,,,= 12000 kN/m . Figure 10 compares the
measured and the calculated load versus displacement
relationship as it can be expressed using the Kubo’s
formula 0, = kSxyo5). In this case the estimated
subgrade reaction constants for both the in-batters k,,,,
and out-batter piles k$,,,,,is nearly constant -
independent of displacement level; for the out-batter
pile k,Ol,,= 200 kN/m3 5 , and for the in-batter pile kslt1=
500 kN/m3
 Kubo (1 962) showed the coefficients of subgrade
reaction perpendicular to pile axis vary depending on
the differences in the pile’s angle of inclination from
the results of field tests and laboratory experiments
(Figure 11). The vertical axis in this figure is the ratio
of the coefficient of subgrade reaction for inclined piles
to vertical piles. The figure shows a comparison of the
coefficient of subgrade reaction between vertical and
inclined piles. The dotted line shown is estimated from
the field test, which was conducted by Kubo, carried
out by inserting inclined piles into natural ground. The
solid lines are estimated from the results of laboratory
tests where the ground is thoroughly compacted at the
front surface of the inclined piles. From these results,
it is known that the coefficient of subgrade reaction
for the in-batter piles grows larger compared to that
for the vertical piles. Conversely, the subgrade reaction
for the out-batter piles grows smaller than that for the
vertical piles. Since the coefficient of subgrade reaction
for the vertical piles is not obtained in this test, the
coefficient ratio of subgrade reaction of the out-batter
pile to that of the vertical pile is tentatively 0.6. Then,
the coefficient ratio of subgrade reaction of in-batter
pile is to be 1.5. These plots are also shown in Figure
11 for comparing the results from the research of Kubo.
As mentioned in 2.1, the ground around the piles
were reclaimed in this test site and soil improvement
through ground compaction at the front side of the piles
may appear somewhat inadequate for enough
densification. This condition is different from the
condition in which Kubo (1 962) tested. And the test
results correspond significantly with those previously
obtained by Kubo in regard to the ratio of increase in
the coefficient of subgrade reaction between out-batter
and in-batter piles. This result shows that it is
acceptable to consider the coefficient ratio of subgrade
reaction for inclined piles in reclaimed ground similar
to that in natural ground.

Figure 11. Coefficient of subgrade reaction changes according

to anlge of batter pile.

Figure 9. Comparison of caIcuIation results according to Chang’s
formula and test results.
4 CONCLUSIONS
To develop a new design method for coupled piles that
takes resistance properties perpendicular to pile axis
into consideration, a field horizontal loading test of
coupled piles was conducted. From the test result, the

379
percentage of shear and the coefficients of subgrade
reaction are discussed in this paper. The conclusions
are as follows:
1) The percentage of shear is roughly 18%, and is
independent of loading level in the test. This means
that the pile penetration length can be shortened
about 10% as compared to simplified design
methods because the axial force diminishes by 18%.
2) The subgrade reaction ratio of in-batter piles to out-
L:. ‘:er piles, kHin/kHOul,
with the angle of 20 degree
of inclination is 2.5. This result is nearly identical
to the result obtained by Kubo. The change in the
coefficient of subgrade reactions by inclining the
piles in the reclaimed and compacted ground is the
same degree as in natural ground.

REFERENCES
Kikuchi, Y., Oooka, S. & Taguchi, H. 1999a. Horizontal loading
test results on coupled piles - Part 1 outline of tests and their
results -, Proc. of 54th Annual Conf of the Japan Society of
Civil Engineers, 3-(A): 836 - 837. (in Japanese)
Kikuchi, Y., Abe, K. & Yuasa, K. 1999b. Change of lateral
resistance of batter piles according to the ground improvement
by sand compaction piles, Proc. of34th Japan National Conf
on Geotechnical Engineering, 2: 1661 - 1662. (in Japanese)
Kubo, K. 1962. Experimental study on the lateral resistance of
piles (Part 3) - Lateral resistance of single free-head battered
piles and single fixed-head vertical piles -,Monthly Reports
of Transportation Technical Research Institute, 12(2): 3 1 -
55. (in Japanese)
Ministry of Transport. 1989. Technical Standards and
Explanationsfor Port and Harbor Facilities in Japan, (1):
397 - 398. (in Japanese)
Sawaguchi, M. 1970. Empirical investigation on the horizontal
resistance of coupled piles, Report o f the Port and Harbour
Research Institute, 9( 1): 3 - 69.
The Japanese Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering. 1983. Standard Method for Lateral Loading
Testfor a Pile and its explanations.
Yokoyama, Y. 1977. CalculationMethods and Examplesfor Piled
Structures: 147 - 152. (in Japanese)

380
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Characteristics analysis of granular fill on oil-tank soft soils

Li-Zhong Wang, Xu Liang, Yuan-Qiang Cai & Shi-Ming Wu

Department of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang Universig, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a granular fill behavior model on soft soil which includes a shear beam and
Terzaghi consolidation. The mathematical expression of this model is a two differential-linear ordinary
difference equation. Using a finite difference method, we study the influence of some parameters such as the
radius, modulus and thickness of the granular fill on the maximum settlement and differential settlement of an
oil tank foundation. The results which have been drawn into graphics are compared with those using
traditional settlement-calculating method.

1.INTRODUCTION The hnctions of granular fill may be

Soft soil is widely distributed over coastal and
riverside regions. Oil-tanks are often constructed in
these coastal port regions because of their special
locations. Soils under large oil-tanks which are
sensitive to differential settlement should bear heavy
load. The compressive stress affects deep-ground
soils. Usually it is the differential settlement (rather
than the general settlement) that is of the concern in
the design of a foundation. On the other hand, it is
much more difficult to estimate differential
settlement than to estimate the maximum settlement.
Therefore, it is very important for the underlying
foundation to be well designed and constructed. In
the design of the foundation system, the critical
problem is to prevent settlements from being so
large as to be a danger to the structure.
Granular fill is often taken into account when
disposing of soft soils underlying oil-tanks. Two
kinds of cases are to be considered. One is that the
coastal-site level is below sea level and granular fill
is paved to raise the site level and then oil-tanks are
built on it. When the ratio (Rdro) of the radius of
granular fill (Ro)to that of oil tank (YO) is relatively
large, we may consider it to be this case. The other
considers economic factors and granular fill is paved
after the soft soil in a given region is dug away and
Rdro is between 1.1 and 1.4.
generalized as follows: (1) to improve the bearing
capacity of shallow foundations. (2) to reduce the
settlement of foundations. (3) to reduce differential
settlement between in the center and the edge of
load region. (4) to quicken drainage and
consolidation of soft soil.
Settlement problem of oil-tank foundations
becomes more complex because of the presence of
granular fill. Study in this problem is practical to
engineering for special application demand of oil-
tanks.
2.MODEL AND DESCRIPTION
In accordance with granular fill under strip
foundation, two Indian scholars Sanjay Kumar &
Sarvesh Chandra( 1995) put forward a model, which
was developed from Winkler foundation. The
granular fill in this model is idealized into Pasternak
shear layer and the soft soil is idealized into spring-
dashpot system. Spring-constant adopts that of
Winkler model. Settlement under plane-strain
situation formed by strip load applied onto granular
fill is analyzed, considering the primary
consolidation of soft soil only. However, to oil-tank
foundations, it is difficult to obtain results
conforming to engineering practice when adopting
Winkler model to calculate the settlement. This
paper is to construct a new settlement-analysis

381
model about granular fill-soft soil system as shown
in Figure 1. The model considers granular fill as (4)
Pasternak shear layer and represents saturated soft
soil with the Terzaghi's one dimensional where k, =& , t =E H
~ , a n dCT' is the
consolidation model. The spring represents the soil H,(I - v % ) 12(1+ v , )
skeleton and the dashpot simulates dissipation of effective stress. EOand vo are respectively the elastic
pore water pressure in the soil. Axial symmetrical modulus and Possion's ratio of soil skzleton. HZ is
load is applied onto granular fill. The equation the thickness of the soft soil. In light of Terzaghi's
controlling the response of the model at any instant one-dimensional consolidation theory, the average
of time can be acquired when considering the pore water pressure(u,) in soil may be written as:
equilibrium of forces.
Taking the shear layer element shown in (5)
Figure 2. into account, according that the resultant
force along 2 coordinate axis is zero, the equation where ~2 =e
and m
4
is positive odd integer
can be written as:
(1,3,5...) .TV(=c"')is the time factor for primary
2 ~ q d r - 2 ~ c L d r - 2 7 c r H 1 x ~ ~)x2n(rtdr)H1=0
*~+~dr (1) H,'
a
Equation( 1) can also be simplified as: consolidation and uois the initial pore pressure.
(2) According to effective stress theory, the total
qr-gr+,H1+%
a. rHl=O
where q is the circular uniform load intensity, qsis stress is the sum of U, and cr: the equation can be
the vertical stress at the interface of the shear layer
written as:
and the soft soil. Since there is a relationship
(6)
between ,z and G* (i.e. xrz=G*), where G and
& &
,z are respectively the shear modulus and the shear With u o = q,, equation(6) can be written as:
stress of the layer. HI is the thickness, W(T) is the
vertical surface displacement, T is the distance (7)
measured from the center of the load region.
Then the following equation can also be obtained:
Equation(1) can be written as the following form:
C - - e -2M ' r ,
o"q,(l - m=m
) (8)
M2 ml
(3) U (the average degree of consolidation in one-
As to the underlying soft soil layer which is dimensional theory) equals to(1- y+-~b)
considered as spring, the strain state of elastic layer m=l M
in T-z plane is studied with Vlazov model (see Equation(8)can be written as: &qsU (9)
Figure 3). The vertical force equilibrium equation Substituing equation ( 9 ) into equation (4) , the
can be obtained through Langrage's principle of following equation can be obtained:
virtual work.

Figure 1. Conceptual diagram and suggested foundation model

382
 (10)

Substituting equation ( 10) into equation (3 ) ,

the equation can be written as:

Equation(l2) can also be applied to

characteristics analysis to granular fill on soft soil
disposed by prefabricated band drains or sand drains,
whose main difference is the degree of consolidation
at particular instant of time.
The following normalization may be used to
make items in equation( 11) dimensionless:
2t
- + GH,
Y = r lr,, W = w(r)/r,,G* =U,
q* = 4 (12)
kA2 k*ro
Using the above normalized items, equation( 11)
becomes:

3 .FINITE DIFFERENCE EQUATIONS

The following central finite difference-scheme is
used:
w (Y',) = W(yTi+I1- WWi-1) (14)
2h

(i=1,2,***n)
Equation (1 3) can be written as:

The degree of consolidation is taken as a

hnction of time.

Hi
Figure 6. Settlement-distance profiles for different shear modulus

Figure 2. Forces on the shear layer element 4.LOADNG AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
qo* is a uniform non-dimensional load intensity
acting over a radius(2ro). Due to symmetry about the
center of the load region, only radius (ro) needs to be
Hz d r calculated. The slope of settlement-distance profile
soft s
at the center of load region is considered to be zero
impervious
b ou n d ary (i.e. dw = 0 at ~ 0 )Since
. the edge of granular fill
Figure 3. Vlazov model
dY

383
is assumed not to bear shear stress, the slope is also Figure 4 below shows the settlement-distance
profiles for different shear modulus when the ratio of
considered to be zero (i.e. "I= 0 at w=RJr,). R, to r, is 5 . We may observe that the maximum
dY
Some equations can be obtained with settlement(S-)and the differential settlement
equation( 16) and boundary conditions as follows: (Sdf)between the center and the edge are larger in the
case of small shear modulus (G) of the granular fill
than those of large shear modulus. When U is 10%,
- w,+ 4 4 .- 3w0- the difference of S,, between small shear modulus
(18) and large shear modulus is not significant; however,
2h
when U is 1OO%, the difference of S,, is remarkable.
3w,-4wn-, + wn-2-
-0 (19)
2h The shear modulus has a more and more remarkable
(i'l ,2, * *n-1) effect on , S , as U increases gradually under
WOand W, can be substituted in equation(l7). After constant load, which means granular fills with larger
iteration, equation(l7) can be written as a matrix G (compacted fills) are preferred in order to reduce
form .With a computer, W, W,, *..,W,, and then WO both S,,,, and Sdfin engineering.
and W, can be obtained through equations (18) Figure 5 below shows the settlement- distance
and( 19). profiles for different radius( tv=1.2,1.4 and 5) when
G* and q* are respectively equivalent to 5 and 0.1.
S, varies according to Y. When U is loo%, the S,,
S.PRELTPL/m\JARY
RESULTS ratio of Y=5 to ~ 1 . 2is 0.07/0.0175 =4 .However,
In this part, the cases when Y is 1.2 ,1.4 and 5 are &$in the case of ~ 1 . whose2 value is 0.001482 is
going to be discussed. smaller than that in the case of ~ = whose
5 value is
0.004173. In the figure , at the edge of the granular
fill, the slope varies with different Y.When u/is 1.2,
the slope goes smoothly, which means the granular
fill with smaller Y shows higher rigidity compared
with soft soil whose shear strength amounts to less
than one tenth of the fill.

Figure 7. Setttement-distanceprofiles for different radius
6.ENGINEERINGPRACTICE
As Figure1 shown above, there is an oil-tank soft
foundation soil ( H ~ 2 0 m )disposed by granular fill.
The radius (ro) is 10m while the fill radius (Ro)is
12m. Uniform pressure qo amounts to 150kpa, and

Figure.8. Settlement-distanceprofiles for different thickness ofthe granular fill

384
the elastic modulus (Eo) of the soft soil is 3Mpa.The
Possion’s ratio is 0.4 and HI is 3m.
The following results can be easily obtained:
k s 4 .1786MNld: e 3 . 57MN/m3; 4t 0 . 0 8 4
Figure 6. above shows the settlement-distance
profiles when G are 20Mpa,lOMpa and 5Mpa
respectively. S,,,, doesn’t vary much when U is 10%.
The value is 64mm when G is ZOMpa, which is only
13mm less than that when G=lOMpa. As U
increases, S,,,, becomes remarkably different. When
U reaches loo%, the value is 386mm when G is
ZOMpa, which is 135mm less than that when G is
10Mpa.This can be explained that when the
foundation soil begins to consolidate, 2tNmay be
large enough not to be neglected and the value of
2f
C *(= 5 + ) doesn’t vary much, which accounts
k,d
for little difference in S., As U increases gradually
to loo%, t can properly be omitted. At this time, the
effect of variation of G on settlement is hlly
displayed. Because of great difference between 2t
and GHI, f can be neglected when calculating the
final consol~dation settlement and then G* is
(GHI)/(kfZ,). However, it must be pointed out that
when the shear modulus is not very much larger than
elastic modulus (Eo), the binding effect of underlying
soft soil (2t) can’t be omitted. Obviously, to raise the
value of G can significantfy decrease the surface
settlement.
Figure 7. shows the settlement-d~stanceprofiles
when Y are 1.2 and 5 respectively G=20Mpa. From
the figure below, we can observe that I// affects not
so much on settlement when the soft soil begins to
consolidate (U=lO%). As U increases, the final
consolidation settlement in the center reaches
173mm for iv=5 while that reaches 586 mm for U/
=1.2. A conclusion can be drawn that the fill radius
affects remarkably on when U is lOO%, which
can’t be obtained through traditional stress
dispersion method. Letter ‘‘8 represents the slope of
the final consolidation settlement in the center and
that in the edge. When 1 ~ r is 5, Sis 0.48% and when
Y is 1.2, 6 is 0.16%. Therefore, another conclusion
can be drawn that with the same shear modulus, the
general settlement of the fill is more similar when is
small at different consolidationdegree.
385
Table 1 shows the effects of G and U on G*.
I G* 1 U=10% 1 U=50% I U=lOO% 1
G==20MPa 1 7.357 4.159 3.759
G=lOMPa f 5.677 2.479 2.08
GSMPa 1 4.838 1.639 1.24
Table 2 shows the effects of HI on G*( G=2OMpa, Y
=5\.
H1=2m 6.237 3.04 12.64
HI=lm 5.12 1.92 11.52
With data above, settlements are calculated.
From Figure 8. below, a conclusion can be drawn
that the settlement decreases as the value of HI
increases. When U is loo%, S, is 173mm for H,
being 3m while it is 217mm for HI being 2m; it is
298mm for HI being lm. It is obvious that the
thickness (H,) of the fill affects settlement
remarkably. As H, increases at the same number,
S,,,, decreases more and more rapidly.
With trad~t~onallayer-wise summation method
at Z//R,=3/10=0.3, the stress dispersion angle is 20’
and unit weight of soft soil is 17.8KN/m3. The
designed additional stress at the bottom of the fill is
~ , = m O 2 ( p --~E ,X) 102 x 150 = 104.2Kpa
do2 Z X 122
The thickness of each divided soft soil layer is
4m. At last, the result can be obtained that the final
consolidation settlement in the center is 599mm
while that in the edge is 305mm.
Comparing the results using layer-wise
summation method with those using the method
provided in this paper, we can observe that the
respondent results of S,, are almost the same for
G=20Mpa,H=3m, 1v=1.2.But for Sdfthere is a large
difference between the two results, one of which is
294mm with layer-wise summation method, and the
other is 18mm. Since traditional method does not
take the interaction between granular fill and soft
soil into account reasonably, the result does not
conform to engineering practice very well. The
method given in the paper can predict and calculate
the maximum settlement and the differential
settlement more accurately.
7.CONCLUSIONS T.William Lambe; Robert V. Whitman: Soil
Mechanics. SI Version (1979), John Wiley
The generalized conclusions drawn from calculation
&Sons, Inc, New York.
above are summarized as follows:
Winkler,E.( 1876): Die Lehre von der Elasticitaet
1. The foundation model provided suggested
und Festigkeit. Prag, Domincus.
above has a simple response function and can be
well applied to the study of settlement response of
granular fill on oil-tank soR soil.
2. It is very usekl with granular fill disposing
of soft soils to reduce S,,, and S d C . The larger G is,
the more remarkable the effect of the granular fill to
reduce settlement is. t can be omitted when
calculating the final consolidation settlement, which
leads to G* =(GHI)/(X$J. However, when G is not
much larger than E,, the binding effect (2t) of the
underlying soft soil can’t be omitted.
3. The radius of the granular fill can affect S,,
and S d f i too. The larger the radius is, the smaller S,,
is. When 1 ~ / is relatively small(but still>I 1, S d f is
smaller than that of larger Y. To soR soil whose
shear strength is o d y one tenth of the granular fill,
when Rdro is smaller, the granular fill shows more
rigidity.
4. The thickness (HI) afFects the settlement
remarkably. When the thickness increases evenly,
S,,,, decreases rapidly.
5 . The degree of consolidation (U) aiyects S,,,,
and S d f . To different H I , G , v,when U is smaller,
the all three parameters don’t affect s,, and s d $ ; as
U increases, the effects can be displayed entirely
through calculation, especially remarkable to S,, .

REFERENCES

Das,B .M: Advanced Soil A4echanics.Hemisphere

Publishing Corporation,Washington.1983
Pasternak, P. L(1954): “On a new method of
analysis of an elastic foundation by means of
two foundation constants”. Gosudarstvennoe
Izdatelstvo Literaturi po Stroitelstvu I
Arkhitekture, Moscow, USSR.(in Russian).
Sanjay Kumar & Sarvesh Chandra:“Time-dependent
Settlement Response of Granular Fill on Soft
Soil”. Soils And Foundations Vo13 5 Nod, 105
-108 Dec. 1995.
Se1vadurai.A.P.S (1979): Elastic Analysis of Soil-
Foundation Interaction. Elsevier Sc. Publ. Co.,
Amsterdam.
Terzaghi.K (1943): Theoretical Soil Mechanics.
John Wiley &Sons, Inc, New York.

386
 Coastal Geo~ec~~icai
fn~ineer~ng
in Practice, Nakase L? Tsuchida (eds)02000 Baikema, Rotterdam, lSBN 90 5809 151 1

rbation stochastic finite element method and its a ~ ~ l i c a t in

~ othe
n
~eliabilityanalysis of excavation
J i ~ p ~ Xu,
n g Jian Zhou & Yuwei Chi
~ e ~ u r ~ofe~ne ~t t e c h n i c~anl g i n e ~ r ~Tongji
n g , ~ n i ~ e~ rh ~a in~~People's
~ ~ i Republic
, of China

ABSTRACT: The r e l ~ a b i ~ ~analysis

ty of excavation by PSFEM (Perturbation Stochastic Finite Element
Method} is carried out. The results of a numerical example demonstrate the strength of this method in solving
the reliability problems of excavation. With its strict theoretical framework and accurate computational re-
sults, PSFEM is a reliable and efficient computational technique in the reliability analysis of excavation.

1 INTRODUCTION transformation is introduced into the local average

The stability of excavation is mainly influenced by
material properties of soil and external loads, which
are of spatial uncertainty. Performance of the system
should be considered as a kind of stochastic one,
which is the function of random fields. Thus, the
stress and displacement field should have character-
istics of random fields.
PSFEM can be used to analyze the system re-
sponses when internal and external factors change
stochastically, yet there are few examples in the reli-
ability analysis of excavation by PSFEM. Virtual
works of PSFEM mainly consist of two aspects that
are discretization of random field and inverse opera-
tion of stochastic operator and matrix. This paper
provides an overview of PSFEM and a numerical.
example on the reliabi~ityof excavation.
model (Chen & Liu 1993). A 2-dimensional con-
tinuous smooth random field a(x,y; cox,+) with en-
semble average rn and variance d? can be discretized
into a stochastic vector ={aj,az,...,aJT, where
o,,wy are sample value, n is the sum of elements.
Local average of arbitrary straight quadrilateral efe-
ment e is CZ~=;(I/A~)~ 6,
~ ( x , ~)(x,y) ~ E~.iz,),
y
where A, is the area of element e, and a, is the re-
gion occupied by element e. The expectation of lo-
cally averaged random field element e and the co-
variance of two arbitrary elements e, e' could be
given respectively as follows:

2 ANALYSIS OF STRESS FIELD BY PSFEM

2.1 Discretization of randomfield
The theory of local averages of random fields (Van-
marcke 1986) is an approximate theory that func- where p(r, s;i is the standard correlative fmction, and
A A
tions of random fields are locally averaged into ran-
dom variables in every discrete element to represent
the statistic of every point in homologous element. are the nodal coordinate value of discrete element e.
To give the second-order statistic of solution h n c - NI is the shape function of element e and N,=
tion, the stochastic finite element method based on ( ~ / ~ 131 is the
~ ~ Jacobian.
~ + ~ ~ ~
the theory of local averages needs only the ensemble If the crossed method of eigenvector is applied on
average, variance and scale of fluctuation of original the discrete model of random field, stochastic vector
random field. Required random information inputted composed of stat~st~cally correlative components
is decreased greatly. The method of linear coordinate could be converted into one composed of statistically

387
independent component (Chen & Liu 1993). The
scale of calculating could be reduced greatly. Be-
cause the density of finite element mesh has nothing
to do with random field but is determined by stress
gradient, another mesh should be adopted to discre-
tized random field, whose density be deter-
mined by the scale of fluctuation.
2.2 The second-order information of stress and
displacementfields
The governing equation Of displacement solution Of
finite element method could be written as follows:
KV=F
-_ (3)
0 < i 5 n, & 0 < j 5 n,
n, < i l n & n , < j < n (5)
others
After the finite element mesh is generated, the
stiffness matrix K , external load vector E and no-
dal displacement vector _V at the average of 5- (0 )
in form of Taylor series are expanded and the expan-
sions is truncated at the second-order. Substitution of
these series into the governing equation (3) and ap-
plication of the mean-centered second-order pertur-
bation method to the result give rise to the following
recursive equation group:

Because the stiffness matrix L( depends on

mechanical properties of soil material and nodal co-
ordinates involving uncertainty, and the external
load vector _F is also stochastic, equation ( 3 ) shows
that the nodal displacement vector is certainly
stochastic. Assume mechanical property m and ex- where 3= 2 -c c v ~ c o v ( t ~ , t , )
1 "
,=I ,=I -
ternal load g involve uncertainty, which can be rep-
- p re-
resented by a small but random variable a and
-
spectively. Hence, m = m(1+a) and g = g(1-t p) ,
where m and are ensemble averages representing
In equation (6)-(8), K
the certain parts. The random parts a and p can re- -O ,- Fo and Vo represent the
spectively be modeled a mean-zero continuous expectation matrixes. The suffix i andj of _K ,E and
smooth random field. After local averages and ei- V represent the partial differentials to { j and 4 at
-
genvector crosses of a and ,O respectively, stochastic mean-zero point, which are deterministic matrixes
vectors = (a,,a, ., anl}' and -
,a p = (p, p2,.- .,pn2}' independent on 5j and 5. Solution of aforemen-
could be obtained, in which components are statisti- tioned recursive equation group one by one, ma-
cally independent. The correlation functions of every 6 and V,
Vo, _
trixes _ -
can be obtained, and the second-
component in g and - /? are as follows: order statistical expectation matrix of displacement
field can be defined as follows:

And the covariance of displacement vectors of

node e andfis:
Therefore the synthetically stochastic vector
- '
5= {t,,5,;. ,,{,I}T= { g , where M = ~ I + YOb-
I~.

viously p
-
is still a mean-zero stochastic vector,
The matrix relationship between stress and dis-
which is E [-5 ] = 0.If random field a is independent
placement vector of element e is & = D"Be Y e , in
on p, the elements in the covariance matrix of every
component in 5- can be assumed as follows: which , , and ILf.are respectively the stress
vector, elastic matrix, strain matrix and nodal dis-
cov ( a , , a , > placement vector of element e. B" is independent of
'0' (P(i-nl) > P(,-nl) 5.
-
The expansions of ,E and y" in form of
0 Taylor series are truncated at the second-order. Sub-
stitution of the expansions into the matrix relation-

388
 ship and transformation, give rise to the following
second-order expectation of stress field of element e
and the covariance of element e and f respectively:
n n
Expansions of the main stress 0 : and o .and
maximum shearing stress Z e m a of element e to ran-
dom variable Ci at mean-zero point in a form of
Taylor series, which are truncated at the second-
order, can give rise to the following expectations:
- -

- - - -2
E [ z ~ , ] =r i m = ( ( O : - O ; ) ~ / ~ + Z $ ) 1 ' 2 (17)
The covariance of maximum main stress, mini-
mum main stress and maximum shearing stress of
Cov(a",(af)') element e are obtained respectively as follows:
n n

n n

Dl ,B,"
in which, _ _ and V:
- represent the expectation
n n
matrixes, and the suffix i and j represent the nia-
trixes of partial differentials to tiand d at mean-zero
c0v(Zim7Z~m) = ~ ~ Z i , , f r i m , J c O v ( t { , t J ) (20)
I = 1 J=1
point. It is obvious that B is independent of 5.
-
The partial differential of stress vector of ele-
2.3 The second-order information of main stress ment e to random variable Cl at mean-zero point of
jeld <
random vector - is E:, =(dx,f, a",,. -f,J'. On one
Now take a planar problem into account. Partial dif- hand, the stress vector can be obtained by
0' = D ' B e V e , on the other hand, by the mean-
ferentials of equation dl,d3=(cfx+ d , ) / 2 ~ fof, ~ ~ -
~
main stress and f,,={(dx-dy)2/4+ fv2j1I2 of centered second-order perturbation to the equation
maximum shearing stress of element e to random the vector = D," B,' y e + D,' V , + _--
Bf' _ 0,'B,' V," can
__-- __
variable ti at mean-zero point, following equations be obtained. It is obvious that the values of cfx,l,a"y,l
can be obtained:
and f q , l can be obtained accordingly. Substituting
them into equation (13) and (14) respectively and
taking equation (15) into account, the values of
dl,,,d3,, and Tema,i can be obtained. Lastly according
to the equations from (1 8) to (20), the covariance of
main stress and maximum shearing stress of element
e and f can be obtained (Xu & Hu 1999). Let element
number e =f,the variance would be obtained.
in which, dl,i,d3,i,f m q i , dx,,,
d y , i and f x y i represent
the partial differentials of dl, d3,f m a X",,a", and 3 RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF EXCAVATION
fv to random variable tiat
-- - mean-zero point respec-
3.1 Local failure probability analysis of
tively, and cr ," ,0 and z :y represent the average homogeneous isotropy system
of the component d,dL.. fv of stress vector of ele- Assume that the shearing failure of soil coheres to
ment e. The expectation vector of stress vector Mohr-Coulomb criterion. The cohesion C and inter-
= { ~ T ~ ~ , ~ can
T ~be
~ obtained
, z ~ ~ ~as) follows:
~ nal friction angle @ are random variables, which
---
could be defined as C=C(lfE) and #=J(l+cv)re-
Ella'l= , ,
(0: 0; Z:y 1' (15)
spectively. c and ? represent the averages of C and
389
4 respectively. The stochastic part E and ry could all in which Q.:,i is the partial differential of Q," to qj at
be modeled to mean-zero continuous smooth random
fields. Local averages and eigenvector crosses of E 7 , and
the mean-zero point of - Q,' is the average
and I,U, stochastic vectors 4: = (cl , , . . . , E , , }' and part. so:

- = (ryl ,ry2 ,. - .,ry,, } could be obtained in which

ry Ere,']= 2
every component is statistically independent. So the _ _ _ - _
correlation functions of every component in g and = c c o s ? + ( o ; +ol)sin?/2-(of -o3/2 (23)
iy could be defined just like equation (4).
-
Because 5- ,E_ and ry
-
are independent, the covari-
ry and the
Synthesize stochastic vectors g , -
ante of QB and Ql is obtained as follows:
former vector 5- (obtained from PSFEM) into a new
- ~T,, g~T N,_w
stochastic vector -q = = { ~ l , ~ 2 , ~={< }T T} T ,
q is still a mean-zero sto-
in which N=n+n3+nd. -
chastic vector. If E and ry are irrelative, the elements
in the covariance matrix of every component in sto-
chastic vector q
- can be assumed as follow-s:

The partial differentials of equation (22) to 6- ,

and iy
-
respectively at mean-zero points are:

O<iln&O <j r n Q.:,<,= {(a;,+ 4 , , ) s i n 8 - <4,,

-4,,)}/2 (25)
n < i 2 n + n, & n < j 5 n + n3 -
(21)
n + n, < i I N & n + n3 < j 5 N Q:,E, = cos4

others - _
Q;,,, = -?sin? + (0; + o;)cos?/2
Omitting the failure direction of element in ho-
mogeneous isotropy system, the failure probability where meanings and algorithms of o;,,and o;,i have
of element can be obtained according to the ap- been given in form of equation (1 3) by PSFEM.
proach extent of the stress circle to the strength In equation (24), if let e=f; the variances of safety
curve. If r; represents the distance from the center capacity of element would be obtained.
of stress circle to the strength curve of element, and According to the viewpoint of ultimate equilib-
rium, the safety coefficient of element would be:
ztfiax(the maximum shearing stress of element) rep- _ _
resents the radius of stress circle, the safety capacity = CcosJ+(o: +of)sin?/2
Fve= ___ - - (28)
of resistant shearing failure of this element is E[rfnax 1 (0; -a f ) / 2
Q,"= r; -rim . According to the geometrical rela-
tionship between the main stress and strength char- If Q,: distributes normally, the reliable index pc
acteristic of element, following can be obtained: and probability of shearing failure P; of element e
Q,'=Ccos$+(oe +o,")sin4/2-(oe -o,")/2 (22) could be obtained according to following:

Obviously, if Q: GO, it meant that element e

would fail. Because C and cp are random variables,
P; = 1- q p ' ) (30)
Q," is certainly a random variable.
The linear expansion of Q: to stochastic vector where q)is the function of standard normal distri-
- N bution.
g is Q,: = Q,' +cQ,:,iq in a form of Taylor series,
r=l

390
 stress of element e is shown in Figure 2. It is obvi-
(xo, y 0) ously that cf=(cfl+cf3)/2+ (cf1-cf3)cos(28')/2 and
f=(cf1-cf3)sin(28')/2, in which 6=fl+d and
d=tan-'(28J(cf,-cfy))/2 and fl is the mean dip an-
gle of tangent of circle-sliding surface in element e.
Thus Q: would be:

x tan @ / 2 - (a;- 04) sin(2B') / 2 (3 1)

Figure 1. Elements cut by circle-sliding surface.

where 8' depends only on stochastic vector 6- . 8' is
determined by the stress field of element e. Q,' is al-
so a stochastic variable. Based on the linear espan-
sion of QZ to stochastic vector -
7 in a form of Taylor
series, the expectation of Q,; would be obtained:
- - _ - -
E[Q,']= C,+ ((a;+ 0 ; )+ (0; - o , " ) c o s ( ~ ~ " ) }
_ _ - -
x tan&/2-(a; -a;)sin(2ee)/2 (32)
The covariance of Q,; and Q,/ could be obtained
just like equation (24). But the partial differentials of
Q,: should be as follows:
Figure 2. Stress and safety capacity of element e.

k- 10" 4 Excavation

7-

il - -
30% <
-
50%--/-
50%

30% --?
10% 1

/(2c0s2 S) (35)
where the expectation of 8' and the partial differen-
Figure 3. Isograph of failure probability of excavation slope. tial of 8'to tiare as follows:
- __

3.2 Totalfailure probability analysis of

Qe = p e+ae
homogeneous isotropy system with a certain - - -
circle-sliding surface = pe+ tan-' {22,"y/(a,"
- a;)}/ 2 (36)
Assume the most dangerous circle-sliding surface
penetrates n, elements and the radius is r (shown in
Figure 1). Shearing strength of element e on the sur-
face r i = C +aetan@, where c f is the normal
stress. If 8 represents the shearing stress, the safety The total moment of resistant shearing MR and
capacity of resistant shearing failure of element e on total moment of sliding M , and total safety capacity
the surface could be defined as Q,' = ;2 - re. The of resistant shearing failure Qs,~ol
on the surface can
be defined as follows:
relationship between the normal, shearing and main

391

e=l e=I
where 6, is the length cut by sliding surface in ele-
ment e. The expectation and variance of Qs,ro[are:
n.
e=l
v a r ( ~ ~= j, ; ~, k ~6 e~6 )f r 2 ~ c o v ( ~ : y ~ : )(41)
e=l /=I
where Cov(Q:,Q,/)is the covariance of cut element
e and$ In the forms of equation (29) and (30), the
total reliable index Pro1 and total failure probability
P J Tcan
~ ~be obtained, if Qs,r0/distributes normally.
4 EXAMPLE
An example of excavation is to be analyzed, in
which clay stratum is the main stratum. The stochas-
tic properties of physical and mechanical parameters
of clay are shown in Table 1, in which the elastic
module E, Poisson’s ratio v, gravity 3: cohesion C
and internal fi-iction angle (b of clay stratum can all
be considered as random fields. The sizes of exca-
vation are shown in Figure 3.
The reliability of excavation is calculated by
PSFEM. The finite element mesh is made up of tri-
angle discrete elements, and the random field mesh
is quadrangle discrete elements. Each element of
random field involves 2 to 3 finite elements. Figures
of meshes of finite element and random field are
passed over in this paper. The local failure probabil-
ities of elements are calculated according to equation
(30) in the form of percentage. The results are shown
in Figure 3 in a form of isograph.
It is shown that the failure probabilities of soil
elements around the foot and the top of excavation
slope are greater than that of any other positions. In
Table 1. The stochastic properties of physical and mechanical
parameters of clay.
Scale of
Parameter Distribution Expectation Variance fluctuation
E Normal 208(kPa) 1520(kPa2)
U Normal 0.5 0 0.34m
C Normal 25.5(kPa) 6.2(kPa2)
4 Normal l8.6(“) 4.5(02)
Y Normal 1.78(g/m3) 0 0.30m
the deep part of excavation, failure probabilities are
approximate zero. In Figure 3, the position of the
most dangerous circle-sliding surface in this excava-
tion could be found easily. Calculations are conso-
nant with practice.
5 CONCLUSION
The fundamental of PSFEM is elaborated in this pa-
per. All the equations of the statistical properties of
displacement field and stress field and main stress
field are given. PSFEM is combined with the Mohr-
Coulomb criterion, so it is possible to apply this
method to the reliability analysis of excavation.
Equations of the total safety coefficient and the ex-
pectation and variance of the safety capacity of re-
sistant shearing failure on the most dangerous sliding
surface are perfectly deduced. The reliable indices
and probabilities of failure of local elements in sys-
tem and the total ones on this surface are also given.
By an example of the reliability analysis of excava-
tion, it is indicated that this new method could deal
with the stochastic physical and mechanical
parameters in the forms of the stochastic and spatial
vectors and the finite element combined with pertur-
bation method. The calculation time required is re-
duced remarkably and the results are accurate.
6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This paper is supported by the key project of Nation-
al Natural Science Foundation of China (No.
5973%160).
REFERENCES
Vanmarcke, E. (1986), Random fields and stochastic finite
elements, Structural Safety, No.3: pp. 143-166.
Chen Q. & Liu X.B. (1993), Stochastic finite element method
and its engineering applications, Chengdu: Press of South-
west Jiaotong University.
Xu J.P. & Hu H.T. (1999), Application of perturbation sto-
chastic finite element method in the reliability analysis of
bedding rock slope, Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engi-
neering, V01.21, No.1: pp.71-76.
0.31m
0.32m
0.38m
392
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Effects of the back-filling to the stability of a caisson

Kouichi Yarnada, Shin-Ya Eguchi & Hiroshi Shinsha
Penta-Ocean Construction Company Limited, Japan
Yoshiaki Kikuchi
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuka,Japan

ABSTRACT: It is well known that using the back-filling to a caisson improves the stability of the caisson.
But, the extent of the improvement of the stability is affected by the interaction among the back-filling and the
caisson and the foundation. To reveal the effects of the interaction the model loading tests are carried out. The
shape of the back-filling, the confining condition of the mound, and the loading point are changed in each test
case. The applied load, the movement of the caisson, and the deformation of both the back-filling and the
mound are measured. Discussions as to the test results on the existing design method, failure mode, and the
sliding resistance are made. They show that the existing design method is not enough to explain the effect of
back-filling. Finally new design method is presented in this paper.

1 INSTRUCTION Studies (Y. Ito et al. 1966) conducted in the past

Suggested methods for improving the stability of
breakwaters by reinforcement are:
(1) Increasing the unit weight of filling materials;
(2) Increasing the frictional resistance between a
caisson and its foundation mound; and
(3) Installing back-filling behind a breakwater body.
A breakwater reinforced by the method (3) is
referred to as a caisson breakwater with back-filling.
In this method, the sliding resistance force due to the
caisson and the back-filling behind it is used to secu-
re the stability of the breakwater (Fig. 1).
In construction work executed in a port, a revet-
ment is occasionally constructed prior to a breakwa-
ter. In such construction work, the section of a cais-
son breakwater is often determined by the conditions
of waves prevailing at the time of the execution. In
such cases, the caisson width must be matched to the
section required when the revetment is completed.
For this purpose, part of the back-filled stone work is
executed in advance in the aim of increasing the
sliding resistance force by means of the back-filling.
enable us to calculate the increase in sliding resis-
tance force due to the presence of back-filling; how-
ever, many of the characteristics to be expected
when rubble is used are yet to be clarified. In addi-
tion, to design efficiently a caisson-type composite
breakwater of this kind, it may become necessary to
take into consideration deformation behavior of a
caisson and back-filling materials and deformation
of the mound.
To address these problems, it is necessary to get
an idea of the behavior of a caisson and back-filling
when the caisson slides and to investigate the in-
crease in the sliding resistance force due to the back-
filling of rubble. For this purpose, a static loading
experiment was conducted using a large, one-tenth-
scale model.
This paper presents the results of an experiment in
which a caisson was horizontally loaded as well as
the results of the stability analysis, and a new design
method based on the experiment.
2 EXPERIMENT USING A LARGE MODEL
TEST

When a phenomenon of the prototype is simulated in

Fig. 1 Caisson-type composite breakwater with back-filling
a scale model experiment, it is necessary to consider
the effect of scaling (the rule of similarity), regard-
less of the type of experiment. However, in a case
like the current one where the deformation behavior
of crushed stone must be considered, it is desirable
to conduct experiments by using a scale as close to

393
reality as possible; the reason for this is that it is dif-
ficult to evaluate effects of the difference in scaling
from reality on the behavior of particulate bodies.
Due to restrictions on our experiments, we conduct-
ed experiments by using an approximately one-tenth
scale model (€3. Shinsha et al. 1997).
The particle diameters for foundation rubble and
back-filled stone used in port construction range
roughly from 10 to 100 cin. In the present experi-
ment, however, crushed stone with particle diame-
ters of about 10 to 40 mm shown in Figure 2, artifi-
cially crushed to roughly even size, was used as
materials for both rubble mound and back-filling. In
addition, we conducted a large triaxial compression
test, shown in Figure 3, to determine the friction an-
gle @ d, obtaining @ d = 49 degrees for a low confin-
inn stress condition.
Figure 4 shows the section and plan of the ex-
perimental unit. The scale of the model caisson is
1.6 m in width, 1.8 m in height and 2.0 m in length.
Its frame was made of reinforced concrete, and its
body is-filled with sands with the density of 2.1
kN/m3.
The observation wall was constructed by fixing a
25-mm thick acrylic plate to a steel frame by bolts.
Treatments of teflon coating and other means were
adopted to minimize the friction between the back-
filled stone and the wall surfaces on both sides (Fig.
4 (4).
The rubble mound was constructed by gently
placing crushed stone without letting it drop from a
high position and compacting it in a manner that
prevented particle breakage.

h
$100 I 8

y 90 I
6 80
‘5 70
37.5 -
Size Range,rnrn
26.5 I
%
33.1
3 60
50
40
19.0
9.5
-- 9.5
4.75
*- 30
5 20
5 10
$ 0
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Grain Size(rnrn)
Fig.2 Grain-size distribution of tested back-filling materials

600
I
4
5 400

200

0 500 1000 1500

a (@a)

Fig. 3 Mohr’s stress circle

Fig.7 Average horimntal displacement and inclination of the caisson

394
Fig. 8 Searing strain distribution (Case 1006)

After flattening the upper surface of the rubble Table 1 List of experimental cases
mounds, the caisson model was installed. A 1 cm
clearance was provided between the caisson model
and each of the wall surfaces to avoid generation of
friction between them.
The back-filling was heaped up in the same way
I I
I

as rubble mounds were formed, with its back formed lO0Ol 100 - - - I 92
generally with a gradient of 1:1,2, which is roughly 1001 100 114 80 1:1.2 92
equal to the angle of repose of crushed stone. The
1002 100 276 80 1:1.2 92
average weight per unit volume of the back-filling
for the experimental cases was r d= 15.1 m/m3. TO 1003 100 18 160 ' 1:1.2 92
observe the displacement behavior inside the back- 1004 100 180 160 1:1.2 92
filling and mounds, displacement measurement tar-
1005 100 18 160 1:1.823 92
gets (bolts with a diameter of 7 mm and a length of
30 cm) were arranged in a lattice formation with in- 1006 100 18 160 1:1.2 112
tervals between 10 and 20 cm inside the back-filling.
In the current experiment, the caisson was loaded
with a concentrated load by using hydraulic jacks Figure 6 shows the relationship between the aver-
(two units) that were horizontally installed at the age horizontal displacement and the loading of the
working height for the wave pressure resultant force caisson. Back-filling enabled maximum loading to
determined by Goda's wave force calculation for- be increased up to a value four times that of loading
mula. The standard stroke speed for the jack was 1 for the case without back-filling. This shows that the
cm/min in both methods. effect of back-filling is significant.
The loading force was measured by the load cell In Case 1000, the caisson tilted during sliding,
fixed at the tip of the hydraulic jacks. The displace- with the bottom on the loaded side separated upward
ment of the caisson model was measured by using a from the rubble mounds completely. The bottom
wire type displacement meter and a dial gauge dis- lower end on the back-filled side was seen moving
placement meter. The internal displacement of the and locally destroying surface layers of the rubble
crushed stone was determined by photographing the mounds within a depth of about 5 cm in each case.
displacement of the targets laterally at a fixed point The friction coefficient between the caisson and the
and analyzing the images thus photographed. The rubble mounds determined on the basis of the
experiment was stopped when the slope collapsed. maximum value of loading was P = 0.61.
The average horizontal displacement of the caisson Figure 7 shows the relationship between the aver-
at the time when the loading was stopped was about age horizontal displacement and the inclination of
40 to 60 cm. the caisson. During the initial loading period, the
amount of rotation of the caisson increased with the
loading; however, after the loading had reached the
3 RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENT maximum or near-maximum value, the shape of
back-filling tended to inff uence, and thereby change,
Table 1 lists details of the experimental cases. Each the displacement mode of the caisson.
experiment was conducted with the thicker mound The shearing strain in a triangular element con-
that is not constrained. sisting of three neighboring targets was calculated on
Figure 5 outlines the section of the experimental the basis of coordinate displacement of each vertex.
unit. In all experimental cases, including those in Figure 8 typically shows the shearing strain distribu-
which back-filling was not used, eccentric loading tion for Case 1006 at the beginning of loading, near
was adopted. the maximum sliding resistance, and at the time of

395
the ultimate collapse of the back-filling.
In all experimental cases in which back-filling is
considered, the prevailing domain for the strain oc-
curring in mounds was not clearly observed for an
average horizontal displacement of 5 cm. However,
in the vicinity of the displacement at which the
loading became maximum, a prevailing domain of
strain began to develop from the vicinity of the rear
toe of the caisson toward the toe of the slope of the
rubble mounds, leading to causing definitive sliding
when the ultimate collapse occurred.
As described above, calculating shearing strain
distributions on the basis of the displacement of tar-
gets enables us to get an idea of the state of progres-
sive fracture inside the back-filling and to estimate
the slip plane. Figure 9 shows a slip plane assumed
to exist in a domain where strain prevails.

Fig. 10 Predetermined slip plane in the back-filling

4 DISCUSSION
In designing a gravity type structure like a caisson,
three modes of stability, namely, the tipping stability
and sliding stability of the structure and the stability
of the ground bearing capacity, are usually examined
separately. Among these modes, the tipping stability
and sliding stability are examined on the assumption
that the structure is placed on solid ground and that
consideration of deformation of the ground is not
necessary. The stability of the bearing capacity is
examined on the assumption that the foundation
ground is subject to deformation, being considered
as a problem of the bearing capacity at the time
when an eccentric and inclined load acts on the
foundation ground. Kobayashi et al. (1987) investi-
gated fractures inside mounds exposed to inclined
load by imposing horizontal force on the loading
plate of a mound in a centrifugal field.
In the current experiment, the caisson did not slide
in a simple way but was displaced rotating with its
rear toe somewhat stuck in the mound. It is con-
cluded that the failure mode observed in the current
experiment was due rather to insufficiency in the
slide stability than to insufficiency in the bearing ca-
pacity caused by eccentric and inclined load; how-
ever, local failure of the ground that accompanies
eccentric inclination cannot be ignored. This sug-
gests the importance of examining both sliding and
bearing capacity when examining the stability.
The horizontal resistance force arising from back-
filling, inclusive of the wall surface friction, is given
by the minimum value for the horizontal force ex-
pressed by the following equation in the convention-
al method (Fig. 10).
where
PO,: Passive resistance force due to back-filling;
Ws: Weight of the back-filling above the slip plane;
6 : Angle that the slip plane makes with the horizontal direc-
tion;
6 : Friction angle of the back-filling material (=49' ); and
6: Friction angle of the wall surface (=1$).
Table 2 shows the relationship between the resis-
tance force increment Pe, due to the presence of
back-filling and the passive resistance Peal. Pex val-
ues are obtained through the experiments and Pcal
through calculation. The ratio Pex/Pcal of the passive
resistance force obtained experimentally P,, to the
result obtained by calculation Pea, ranges roughly
between 0.77 and 1.34 except the case 1002 which is
different from the other cases on the shape of back-
filling. This result suggests the limits of calculation-
a1 accuracy that can be expected from the conven-
tional method.

4.1 Characteristics of Resistance to Horizontal 4.2 Examination of Bearing Capacity Stability

Load of a Caisson Type Breakwater with Back-
filling
We consider the resistance force in the absence of
back-filling as the standard resistance force. The
relationship was evaluated between the maximum
horizontal load obtained in each experiment minus
the standard resistance force and the passive resis-
tance force due to back-filling as shown below.
We conducted a stability analysis using the circular
arc method for an eccentric and inclined load (Japan
Ports and Harbours Association, 1999). The safety
factor obtained was FS=0.94 to 1.26, which means
that the results of the experiment were not repro-
duced satisfactorily.

396
 Fig. 11 Load conditions for the new method
Width ofcaisson : B
K Y
Case No. 1004
0 0.5 1.0 1.5
Fig.12 Slip plane determined by the new method
4.3 New Stability Calculation Method for a Back-
filled Caisson Type Breakwater Based on the
Circular Arc Method
In this section, we examined a new stability calcula-
tion method, the circular arc method; this method
allows us to consider the stability for the bearing ca-
pacity and the stability for sliding at the same time.
Figure 11 shows the load conditions in the new
method. In the load conditions, the balance between
the external force and the moment acting on the cais-
son is considered. Since the results of the experiment
show that the installation width of the bottom at the
time of ultimate fracture was slightly over one-half
the bottom width of the breakwater body, it is as-
sumed that the subgrade reaction is uniformly dis-
tributed in the domain of up to 0.75B of the width of
the breakwater body. It is also assumed that the
frictional force acting on the bottom surface covers
the domain of O.lB, because the results of the ex-
1.5 rn
1 .o
0.5
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
periment show that the slip lines for stone materials
originated in the end portions of the caisson in all the
experimental cases.
Table 3 shows the load conditions and the results.
Figure 12 shows the positions of the circular slip
planes. The safety factors calculated by the circular
arc method range from FS = 1.01 to 1.10, which are
closer to 1 than the values obtained by the ordinary
method. It is also shown that the slip plane on which
the safety factor becomes minimal is represented, in
all the cases, by an arc starting from the vicinity of
the lower end of the back of the caisson and passing
through the toe of the slope. This shows that these
results are significantly close to the slip planes esti-
mated in the experiment.
397
Table 2 Evaluating of the passive resistance of back-filling

Maxium Increasement of the Resistance Weight of Passive Resistance of

Case Load Force due to Back-filling
NO.
Back-filling Back-filling ‘ex’ Peal
Pmax (kN/m) pex (kN/m) Wb (kN/m) (kN/m)

1001 57.62 13.52 19.50 16.86 0.80

1002 93.59 49.49 38.81 17.93 2.76
1003 62.03 17.93 27.64 23.32 0.77
1004 118.58 74.48 66.64 58.51 1.27
1005 90.16 46.06 39.59 34.30 1.34
1006 68.89 24.79 27.83 23.52 1.05

Table 3 The safety factors calculated by the circle arc method REFERENCES
Case R h, W/0.75B RI R2 Safety Y. Ito, M. Fujishima & T. Kitatani. 1966, On the stability of
)No.
“l ( (m) (kN/m2) (kN/rn) (kN/m) Factor breakwaters, Report of port and habour research institute
1001 19.50 0.81 45.08 32.93 5.19 1.07 Vo1.5 No.14: 117-121, Ministry of Transport, Japan.
H. Shinsha, S. Eguchi & Y. Kikuchi. 1997. ; Proc. of 32”dJa-
1002 58.51 0.89 36.36 26.56 15.68 1.03 pan nationarl conference on geotechnicnl engineering.,
1003 24.11 0.84 44.00 32.24 6.47 1.10 Kurnamoto, 15-17 July 1996.
1004 85.65 0.90 30.28 22.15 22.93 1.05 M. Kobayashi, M. Terasi, K. Takahashi, K.Nakashima & H.
Odani. 1987. A new method for calculating the bearing ca-
1005 54.68 0.89 37.14 27.24 14.70 1.01 pacity of rubble mounds, Report of port and habour re-
1006 31.65 1.25 42.34 30.97 8.53 1.01 search institute Vo1.26 No.2: 371-413, Ministry of Trans-
port, Japan
Technical Standards for Port and Harbour Facilities in Japan.
5 CONCLUSION 1999, Japan Ports and Harbours Association

The results of the present study are summarized as

follows:
1)The presence of back-filling enhances the stability
of a caisson-type composite breakwater. The incre-
ment and the deformation behavior of the horizontal
resistance force in this case are strongly affected by
the shape of the back-filling.
2) In a caisson-type breakwater with back-filling, the
stability of sliding, tipping, and bearing capacity are
not independent, which requires that the three factors
be considered together.
3) Considering the passive resistance of the back-
filling allows the increment of the horizontal resis-
tance force to be examined roughly, but does not al-
low the difference in the shape of back-filling to be
explained sufficiently.
4)Applying the newly proposed circular arc method
enables the stability of sliding and that of bearing
capacity to be examined simultaneously.
In the current study, the effects of back-filling for
a caisson-type composite breakwater were studied by
using a large-scale model experiment. In the current
study, a static loading experiment was performed as
a subject for a basic study. However, such study
alone is not satisfactory in examining the design of
actual breakwaters, and large-scale experiments us-
ing wave channels will be necessary. In addition, the
current static loading experiment leaves the clarifi-
cation of dynamic interactions between a caisson and
its back-filling as an urgent subject.
398
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice,Nakase & Tsuchida(eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Method of probability analysis for breakwater stability

Wohua Zhang, Yunmin Chen & Yi Jin

Geotechnical Engineering Institute, Zhejiang University,Hangzhou, People's Republic of China

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a method of probability analysis for problems of the breakwater stability under
random storm wave loads and random properties of media. The major purpose of h s study is carrying out (a)
probability analysis of seepage stability for embankments; (b) reliability analysis of slope-stability of the
embankment under the storm wave action; (c) statistical estimation of erosive depths due to washout sediment
from the embankment. In analysis, a linerlized Rosenblatt Transformation is applied to determine the reliability
index of performance functions for breakwater stability problems. The method of the analysis could provide an
advanced basis on the reliability evaluation and design for the breakwater system.

1. INTRODUCTION 2.1 Generalization of safety reliability

The aim of the probabilistic safety analyses is to
obtain a quantitative understanding of how the
variability or uncertainties in system properties to
effect the distribution of the safety performance
functions of a random field (Alfiedo, Wilson 1984).
The safety reliability analysis has been attempted
to develop such a approximation of the effective
orthogonal standard transformation for the correlated
and non-normal random system using a point of
view of the linerlization method respect to
Rosenblatt Transformation (Alfredo, Wilson 1984).
A large number of factors are known to
contribute to the safety performance function for
embankment stability and the breakwater failure
problems (Chowdhrury et. al. 1987). This study
presents an improved modeling of the reliability
analysis for a general type of the safety performance
function of embankments.
2. PROBABILITY APPROCH FOR SAFETY
The level of performance of a system obviously
depends on the properties of the system. In this
context and for the purpose of a generalized
formulation, we can define a performance function, or
safety function, as
g({ X I ) = g ( x , ,x*,... x, 1=0 (1)
where { x ) = {x,, x2 ...,x,) is a random basic state (or
design) variable of the system, and the function g({x))
expresses the performance or safety state of the
system. g({x))>O represents the safe state and,
g({x))<O represents the failure state. g({x))=O is an n-
dimensional surface that may be called the 'failure
surface'. The value of performance function g({x))
should be a random due to the randomness of the state
variable (x). Therefore, the failure probability can be
represented by the performance function as
Pf = P( g(l'x))--CLK > - ' 1 " ) = P ( Z > - P )
% ??
D

FACTORS I fz(z)dz
-8
= 1- Fz(-P) (3)
Evaluation for safety problems of a breakwater (or whel.e pgisthe mean and og is the
embankment) stability that is subject to the failure devi,Ltionof the performance function,f,(z) and Fz(z)
Probability is an task in geotechical are the probability density function and probability
engineering. Practical statistics investigations of
distribution function of 2 respectively. 2 is the
failed embankments have prcjvided substantial stant/ard
variable, which is defined as
evidence to confirm that failure of embankments is a
random process of a random field. Consequently, Z = g u X I ) - Pug
(4)
probability failure reasoning has been applied to
explain reliability of the stability of a breakwater and the ratio
system in both drained conditions.
399
p =P a
(5)
0- s
can be defined as the Reliabiliiy Index. When g((x)) is
normally distributed, the reliability of the system can
be represented by Gaussian b c t i o n (D as
-P
R = P( Z < -p) = Jb( Z)dz = O(-p) (6)
--I)
The position of the failure surface relative to the
origin of the standardized parameter space should
determine the safety or reliability of the system
(Alfiedo, Wilson 1984). Thus the index pas shown in
Fig.Z may represent the minimum distance fiom the
origin of the standardized parameter space to the limit
state boundary (failure surface). Namely, the point on
the failure surface with minimum distance to the
origin is the most probable failure point. Actually, for
the non-correlated multivariate normal space, the joint
probability density function will project spherical
contours on the n-dimensional plane of the
standardized parameter space (Fig.Z for n=2). The
symbols R, S, pp o-@ ps o-, in Fig.Z are the supply,
demand and their means and standard deviations,
respectively. Therefore, in some approximate senses,
t h s minimum distance may be used as a measure of
reliability. However, this new definition of reliability
should be used with care, because this invariant
format of reliability index has to be satisfied with the
following assumptions €or a non-correlated
multivariate normal case.
The point on the failure surface, (U*), having the
minimurndistance to the origin may be determined by
minimizing the distance j3 = ({ U ) { U )) f ,
subject to the constrain g((x)) 4, that is
Minimize j3 = ( { U ) ~ { U ) ) +
Subject to g({x)) =0 (7)
Figure 1. Reliability index p by probability
contours in the normalized space of the
supply and the demand (2,J.J
400
2.2 Linearlization of Rosenblatt
Transformation
From previous section, it can be seen that if random
parameters of a system are non-correlated and normal
distributed, the probability integration for the
reliability can be straightly carried out from
minimization of the reliability index p. The most
general case of a random system is the correlated and
non-normal random. Thus, if we can find out a general
transformation, which is able to transfer the correlated
and non-normal random system into the non-
Correlated and normal system, the reliability of system
will be determined strictly fiom Eqns (7) and (6).
Theoretically, such a transformation can be employed
based on the Rosenblatt Transformation (Alfiedo,
Wilson 1984), but the difficulties to use the Rosenblatt
Transformation are the nonlinearly due to the
integration of conditional probability for the non-
normal distribution. This study presents a
linearlhtion of Rosenblatt Transformation.
Lets (x) is a correlated and non-normal random
vector and (U) is a non-correlated (independence) and
normal random vector. Consider a general
transformation T :the vector (x) can be transformed
from x-space into the u-space as {u)=r((x)), and
therefore, the performance function g((u)) becomes
g({x)) =g(T-’((u))) =O under the transformation.
The tangential plane of the failure surface through
the point (U*) is expressed as
where [ J ] = [ a ( x ) / a ( u ) ] is the Jacobian matrix.
In order to linearlize the transformation we may
first approximately assume the transformation r has a
linear form as
{U>= [AI-’ ( (4- cu,>
1 or =E4{U)+ {Px1 (9)
where (A is the mean vector of (XI as
(pJ=E({x))=(E(x)) , [ A ] is the matrix of the linear
transformation. Consequently, the performance
function becomes g((x)) =g([A](u)-{&) =O under the
transformation. The tangential plane of the failure
surface through the point (U*) under the
transformation is
Comparison Eqn(l0) to (S), we have ( x* ) =
[ A * ] ( u * ) + ( A ) and[A,*] = [ a ( x ) / a { u ) / , =
[J ] . In order to define the matrix [A ] to satisfy the
purpose for the transformation of K we have to
consider the general case when (x) is non-normal and
correlated.
 {U") = rJI"Nx"1- {A))
Eqn(l6) becomes 4 ( u , ) = f , ( x , ) a , in which

Figure 2. Modeling of the embankment safety

The covariance matrix [C] of {x} is defined as

[ C,/] = [ Cov(x,,x)], then the covariance matrix [C 'J
of the standard vector {x')={ (x,-pJ/q } can be
represented

(1 1)
in which a; is the standard deviation of x, , [pX,,,J is
the correlation matrix of {x) Matrix [ C ' I or [ p ] is
real and symmetric, thus, there is a transformation
matrix [T ] to satisfy
[T]T[C'/[T/=[nJ=diag[A,S,] (12)
where [A] is a diagonal matrix of the eigenvalues of
[C'J, The matrix flJ consists of the eigenvectors of
[C 'J. Actually, the matrix [T ] is a coordinate rotation 3. MODELING OF SAFETY PERFORMANCE
transformation, and it has [T ] -I=[ T J .' Consider the FUNCTIONS FOR BREAKWATERS
standardized transformation, {x 7= [D] -'({x)-{d), This section will present three major performance
where [DJ' is the diagonal matrix as [D] -'=diag [ q,/ functions for the breakwater stability design under
a ; ] . Thus, lets {U ?=[ T ] '{x ?=[ T ] '[D]-'({x}-{d) random loads due to the storm wave action,
and {U)=[ A ] -'{U 7 , the correlated vector {x) can be watercourse washout and effects of random properties
transferred into the non-correlated standard vector {U} on the embankment based on the Code for Design of
as Levee Project (GB50286-98, 1998).
{U) = r~I-"T/"D/-"xZ - { P x l ) (13) The structure and the geometrical parameters of
the analyzed embankment are illustrated in Fig.2. The
When {XI is a non-normal and non-correlated, we equations of the boundary lines for the embankment
need to define vectors can be geometrical represented as
3 ~ ...,F, (xJ '1 and

1
CF) = {PI ( ~ F,(xj, j , ( ~ ) = m , (-x)
b, i f b, S x < b 2
If}= l,fi(XJ?L(X3,...?fn(X 4IT (14)
j ( x ) = j 2 ( x ) =H i f b2 1 x 5 4 (25)
in which F,(x) andj;(xJ is the probability distribution
function and the probability density function of x, j3(x)=ho+-x if 4<x5b4
(i=1,2...,n) respectively. When assume where m, and m2 is the inclination of the slope of
cq/y)=F;(xJ and Ku,)=x(x,) (i=192,....n) (15) upper-side and down-side respectively. H is the high
we have of the embankment, h, is the high of seepage
exudation on the down-side slope, the geometry
meaning of b, as shown in Fig.2. The equations of the
water table of seepage in the embankment can be
geometrical represented (GB50286-98, 1998) as

401
 3.2 Performance functions for analysis of
erosive depth due to washout
The formulations of erosive depth due to tilted
washout and parallel washout can be expressed as
hb =H, +[& -11
Y,
23 tan ( L ) l
2 A, - A l
Ahn = .-, - 30d
4 f m:g

where H, is the average tidewater level of storm wave. where h, is the local washout depth measured fkom the
B is the width of the embankment bottom. The water table. Vcpis the average flow speed. V, is the
equations of the slip circle of the embankment can be allowed flow speed in the case of non-washout. n is
geometrical represented as the shape parameter of the cross section of the
embankment. dhpis the local washout depth measured
y' = J(x - x,)' - R 2 - y , (27) from the bed of the water depth. a is the angle
where x,, yois the coordinate of the slip circle center, between the flow direction and the bank line of the
R is the semi-drameter of the slip circle. embankment. d is the equivalent diameter of particles
Some useful triangular functions of the tangent near the slope base. Q is the designed discharge of the
angle 9 at the location x on the slip circle can be flow. A , is the original cross section. A , is the
represented by the circle equation as narrowed cross section. If Eqns(30) are considered as
& *=
tan 6 = - WO
- x)
(28a) the performance functions, parameters, Vcp,n , d , a ,
dx ,/(x - x , ) ~- R2 Q ,A , ,A, should be considered as random variables.

-'y
c o d = (x-x,)2
S(x-x,)2
-P sine =
-F Yx-x0)2 -P (28b) 3.3 Per$ormancekctions for slope stability of
the embankment
In order to sensitively carry out the probabilistic
analysis, the all design parameters presented on the The performance function for the slope stability of the
Code for Design of Levee Project (GB50286-98) embankment can be represented fiom the safety factor
should be represented (transferred to) by the essential formulation of the slope in GB50286-98 as
random parameters such as the maximum and
minimum tidewater level of storm wave, the stream CjcsecB+[ ~ +
~j i () cjo d - ( p-~j.r,) sece/ta+~~x
K=
flow speed, the grain diameter size of washout Es($
+r.)s i e
sediment from the bed of the embankment, the shear (31)
strengths of medium. where c and $ are the shear strengths of the
embankment material. is the unit weight of dry
3.I Performance functions for seepage medium. yw is the unit weight of water. p is the pore
analysis of the embankment pressure in the embankment. Ax is the width of the
The performance h c t i o n of seepage can be carry out block bar. vt
is the first part of the high of the slipped
by the formulation to calculate the stream volume of block bar between the water table of seepage and the
flow out due to seepage from the per unit area on slip circle in the embankment. y" is the second part of
downside slope presented by (GB50286-98) as the high of the slipped block bar over the water table
H: -h,Z of seepage in the embankment as shown in Fig.3.
g=q-qc = m:-2m, - 1 k-9,
When Ax taken small enough, Eqn(31) can be
2(B + H, +" A )
2m: +m, rewritten in the form of integration along the circle-
(29) arc C on the slip surface as
where q is the stream volume flowed out due to
seepage from an unit area on downside slope of the
K = (C-Ptan$)J, +y,tanql/, +Ywtan@3 (32)
embankment, k is the permeability of the embankment
YxJ 4
in which
medium. q, is the design permissive value of q . In this
J,
analysis H,,h, and k are considered as random
parameters.
=
J, I j*cosBdx
= Lj*sin& (33)

402
 where v’ =y+v* is the total slip high consisting of
1 ”

7. and y’ in the embankment. The intergrations in

Eqn(33) should be carred out along the length of the
arc C on the slip circle. Assume there are only two
cross points (x, and x2) produced by the possible slip
circle and boundary lines of the embankment.
Obviously, there are only three possible regions for
the position of the slip circle as shown in Fig.3.
The x-coordinate of the two end points on the slip
circle in the three cases can be represented by (x,, x2I),
(x,,x, I), (x,,x2 I), which can be determined from the
”

simple geometrical relation as presented in Fig.3. The

slip circle can be determined by minimization K
respect to x,, y, and R as

Eqn(32) with conditions Eqn(34) are considered

as the performance functions, regarding to Eqn(26),
parameters, c, 4, H,, h, andp should be considered as
random variables.

4. FACTORS OF STORMY WAVES

In above performance functions, parameters H,,yCp h,
and Q randomly depend on the factors of stormy wave.
The factors of storm wave can be determined
regarding to the Code for Design of Levee Project
(GB 50286-98, 1998 and Horikawa, 1994) as
0.0018
= 0.13th[O.7(~)”]~h{ v } (354
V V 0.13th[0.7(<)”]
V

where H,is the average high of the storm wave. T is

the average wave period. V is the wind speed. d is the
average depth within the water area. g is the
gravitational acceleration . t,,, is the minimum time
when the storm wave becomes to stable. L is the
average wave length. The length of wind area F can
be calculated follows the same procedure presented in
(GB 50286-98, 1998 and Horikawa, 1994). In
Eqn.(35), H,,T ,V: L, d and t,,” are considered as
random parameters.

5. NUMERICAL RESULTS
The developed model has been applied to cany out the
numerical computations of the failure probability for
different performance functions of the embankment.
The data of parameters necessary for the numerical
analysis are calibrated fiom (GB 50286-1998, Figure 6. Probability of the embankment-slip for
Horikawq 1994) and the analyzed embankment different variation-coefficients of the internal
model is referenced from the example presented in frictionangle
(Zheng Zuzhen 1988).

403

Figure 8. Relation between the reliability and
reliability index for the slope stability
Fig.4 presents the failure probability due to
seepage (in logarithm scale) effected by the relative
maximum water table (ratio of the maximum high of
the water table and the high of the embankment. The
lines A and B in Figures represent when the average
tidewater level H, is in the typhoon condition and
general storm condition respectively.
Fig.5 shows when the upper-side slope of the
embankment has been washout somewhere due to
erosion , the failure probability is strongly effected by
the relative mean of the eroded depth through washout
sediment from the embankment (i.e. the ratio of the
mean eroded depth in the embankment and the high of
the embankment). It can be seen that there is
significant effect of the washout depth on the erosion
failure probability in the typhoon condition.
Fig.6 presents the failure probability of the slope
stability for the embankment effected by the
randomness of the fnction angle of the material,
where the randomness is expressed by the variation
coefficient of the random variable such as o4/p4here.
Whereas, it should be point out that the randomness of
the material cohesion has no significant effect on the
slip failure probability for tlus embankment.
404
In reliability analysis, the reliability index, ,8 =pg
og, for the performance function g has an important
operation (Chowdhrury 1987). The value of reliability
index is depending on the major random variable.
Thus, Fig. 7 can be used to illustrate the effect of the
randomness of the friction angle o4 /p4 on the
reliability index p for the slope stability of the
embankment. Once determine the reliability index, the
failure probability as well as the reliability of the
system can be straightly carried out by the value of
@(-PI in Eqn(6).
Fig.8 presents the relation between the reliability
and reliability index for the stability of the breakwater
under random stormy wave loads and random
properties of media. The reliability of a purposed
design performance increases with increasing of the
reliability index P of the design performance function.
6. CONCLUSION
The failure probability affected by the seepage, the
eroded depth due to washout sediment, and the
combined slope-stability of the embankment under the
stormy wave action can be expressed by a set of
performance functions involving the random stormy
wave factors, random material properties and random
geometry conditions. The reliability index is an
important measurement of system reliability. From
numerical analysis, it has observed that the erosive
depth due to washout sediment has a significant effect
on the failure probability especially in the typhoon
condition.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The financial supports from The Science and
Technology Development Research Fund by
Zhejiang Province of China are gratefully
acknowledged.
REFERENCES
GB 50286-98. 1998, The National Code of People’s
Republic of China, Code for design of levee
project, Published by the national t e c h c a l
supervision authority and the constructional
ministry of P. R. China.
Horikawa, K, 1994, Nearshore dynamics and coastal
processes, Theory, Measurement and predictive
model, Edited by Korikawa, University of Tokyo
press, Japan.
Chowdhrury, N., Tang, H. and Sidi I, 1987, Reliability
model of progressive slope failure, Geotechnique,
37, NO.4,467-48 1. .
Alfiedo H-S and Wilson T, 1984, Probability concepts
in engineering design, Vol. 11, Secession, rescue
and reliability, Hohn Wiley & Sons, New York.
Zheng Zuzhen, 1988, The report of analysis for the
engineering safety of the breakwater system near
Qinshan Nuclear Power Station, pressed by the
Management Authority of Qian-Town River of
Zhejiang Province, (in Chinese).

405
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 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Numerical modelling for beach profile

Wohua Zhang, Yunmin Chen & Yi Jin

Geotechnical Engineering Institute, Zhejiang University,Hangzhou, People's Republic of China

ABSTRACT: This paper presents numerical modelling for analysis of coastal development problem The
major focus of this paper is to develop a coupled model from the theory of cross-shore and long-shore
sediment transport. The effect of erosion rate of coastal materials on the sediment transport rate has been
considered as the porous evolution due to water driftthrough porous. A hybrid approach combining numerical
and analytical solution have be used to analysis the development of the coast-line (long-shore) and the coastal
profile (cross-shore).

1. INTRODUCTION 2. MECHANICS OF COASTAL

Flow and sediment transport near the coastal line are
important in relation to several engineering topics
like sedimentation and erosion around structures,
backfiring of dredged channels, changes in near-
shore morphology and long- and cross-shore
sediment transport rates. During the last decade the
development in beach sediment transport research
has changed from simple phenomenological
descriptions to sophisticated numerical models
(Cullen 1977) in which the flow as well as the
resulting sediment transport rate are described in
detail of (Hanson and Nicholas 1991).
The natural causes of beach erosion are due to
deglaciation and greenhouse effect; sever storms,
hurricanes and typhoons contribute to beach erosion
by amplifying wind conditions, amplifying wave
conditions as well as causing sea-level to rise;
reduction in sediment supply. The coastal
characteristics along the beach will also affect the
rate of erosion. If the material along the coast is very
hard, such as rock, they will have resistance to
mechanical wave erosion and chemical weathering.
However, if the material is very soft, such as soil, it
will be eroded easily. These natural phenomena
greatly inspired us to develop the new concept of
mechanics to the area of the ocean engineering for
modelling the physics and mechanism of beach
erosion problem.
DEVELOPMENT
2.1 Sediment transport model
In this study, the formulation of the sediment
transport model is divided in two parts and the
mechanisms of cross-shore and long-shore sediment
transport will be described, for both conditions
outside and inside the surface zone. The beach
profile can vary considerably during a number of
years or even a single storm event. The kinematics
element of a shoreline change model simply ensures
conservation of volume of sediment. The associated
equation can be expressed in a very compact
mathematical form, however, the form of greatest
use is one which relates the time rate of change in
sand volume V in a beach profile to spatial gradients
in the components (Q, , QJ of sediment transport as
where the coefficients, A, and A, are very hard
practically to measured.
The cross-shore sediment transport plays an
important role in the development of the beach
profile and, a model which describes the
morphological development can be formulated. The
main assumption is that the net discharge in
direction parallel to the coastline is zero. The
morphological consideration of onshore/offshore
sediment transport model can be taken into account
by calculating the variation of sediment transport
across the profile (see Fig.] and Fig.2). From the

407
sediment transport field, the development of beach
profile can be analysed by continuity equation for
the sediment in the cross section as
aD 1 8% = 0 (2)
%F+mF
where D = D (x , y , t ) is the water depth from the
still water surface (coastal bed level ). psis the mass
density of coastal bed, Qy is the sediment transport
rate in the cross-shore section. a * is the effective
porosity of the eroded medium, and it can be
assumed by an appropriate form, wherein it may be
suggested as, a* = a 1 ( 1 - y a ), where a is the
porosity of the uneroded medium, y is the erosion
parameter.
The long-shore sediment transport is often
manifest itself through the coastal erosion or
accretion around coastal areas. If the beach is long
enough, the accretion and erosion should continue Figure 2. Topographical development of
and the coastline may move offshore on the up-drift beach profile
side. The change in shore-line position Y (x , t ) can
be calculated from the equation of sand conservation Lets consider an elemental volume along the
near the shoreline
shoreline with a bottom area of AY. The most
(3) interesting for the problem of coastal development
is to study the topographical change of the coastal
where D' is the active water depth of the beach bottom near the shoreline. Therefore, the analysed
profile near the coastal line. Q, is the sediment elemental volume should be taken near the shoreline
transport rate in the long-shore direction. It is with thick , Ay = y - f . The size of Ay can be taken
evident that Q, and Qy are components of the as need as possible, because of that the size along
sediment mass transport rate. shoreline can be considered as infinite. Thus, at the
time t,, the water depth from the still water level to
2.2 Modelling for the transport rate of eroded the surface of the beach bottom is D = D (x , y , t , ),
sediments and the elemental volume of sea water based on the
elemental area AYcan be expressed as
The transport rate of the eroded sediment mass per V , = -I [ D + ( D - -l3D
Ay ) ] A s (4)
unit area on the beach bed can be derived from the
2 dY
mass conservation based on the topographical
where the elemental base area ds equal to Ay times
change of beach bed as shown in Fig.2.
the length of the elemental volume along x direction.
At the time t, = t, + A t , the beach depth becomes
to D=D(x, y, tJ, and the elemental volume changes
to

+ -a( D - -aD
Ay ) A t J AS
(5)
at dY
Eqn.(S) minus Eqn.(4), we have the volume changed
due to the development of the beach depth during At
as

and this changed volume should equal to that of

topographical profile of the beach bed. Neglecting
the higher order term , ( d'D / dyd t 1 dydsdt and
Figure 1. Illustration of sediment transport substituting Ay = y - Y . Eqn.(6) can be rewritten as
near the beach
408

where d Y / dt, is the speed of shoreline change as
presented in Eqn.(3), d D / d t is the speed of cross-
shore profile as presented in Eqn.(2). d y / d t
actually is the drift velocity of watedsediment
particle on the surface of the beach bottom near the
shoreline along y direction, it should equal to the
speed of sediment transported on the surface of the
beach bottom near the coastal line due to stormy
wave wash away. The drift velocity can be assumed
to equal to V b , the time-averaging speed of water
/sediment particles on the surface of the beach bed
over one wave period as,
dY = -
- transport rate, Q, , can be determined from the wave
(8)
dt vb
The eroded mass transport rate per unite area on
the surface of the beach bed near the shoreline can
be defined as
dm - p , ( l - a * ) - - dV 1
-- (9)
dt dt AS
Substituting Eqn.(7) into (9), we have
Considering the effect of sedimentation (damage)
and erosion parameters on material properties an
erosion criterion can be developed from the
expression presented by Dyer (1986) as
- to establish any analytical solutions, instead a data
where *b is the average frictional stress on the
surface of the beach bed . ( I - 0 ) zc is the effective
critical shear stress of eroded sediment medium on
the surface of beach bed. The effective stress has a
similar manner of that due to damage parameter
presented by Zhang Wohua and Valliappan (1998) and
(Valliappan, Zhang Wohua 1996). The effect due to
erosion and sedimentation of coastal medium is
expressed by the erosion parameter, y , and
sedimentation parameter, R , respectively. The
coefficient M, has an unit of the erosion-transport
rate (transport of eroded mass per unit area per unit
time), and it varies with other factors such as
temperature and the presence of organic matter.
Ariathurai and Arulanandan (1978) have
investigated the relationship between M, and the
action exchange capacity, sodium adsorption ratio,
pore fluid concentration and temperature. Values
were generally in the range 0.005 to 0.015, but
varied particularly steeply with temperature, being
greater at high temperatures
409
2.3 Modelling for beach topographic
development
Substituting Eqn.( 11) into (10), we have
p, -ao
c p --
"( a f - aD
' b )-
at 2 at ay
-
-- M c
- [ 2-b -11 (12)
(La*) ( l - S z ) Y ~ ,
This equation presents the model of coastal
topographic development due to erosion and
sedimentation of the beach medium, which is
coupled with the rate of the coastline development,
the average shear stress on the bottom surface and
the average energy flux per unit of wave crest.
On a long shoreline coast the long-shore sediment
climate, i. e. statistics for wave height and direction.
If the coast is given a different orientation, the entire
calculation can be carried out once more, and in this
way the long-shore sediment transport rate can be
determined as a function of the coastline orientation
(Kamphuis 1991), such as Q,= Q,(d Y/dx).
This is a parabolic partial differential equation which
can normally be solved numerically for the complex
initial and boundary conditions.
The establishment of the coast orientation and the
long-shore sediment transport rate will require a
large number of individual calculations of the long-
shore sediment transport rate. It will be not possible
base table can be established with corresponding
values of Q, and d P / 8 x (Fredsoe and Deigaard
1992). One example for long-shore sediment
transport rate can be assumed in the forrn as
ak
Q, =a, (bq--,P (m3/year) (14)
dX
where a,, b, and /z are the coefficients to be filled
from the observed data. Reference (Fredsoe and
Deigaard 1992) suggested a linear expression as
Q, = 2.27xld(0.15--)
a? (,'/year) (15)
dx
It should be noted that the model of the beach
profile developed herein, Eqn.( 12) and (13), have
provided a method which couples the cross-shore
and long-shore sediment transport models and the
total simulation may possibly to be carried out by
the interaction between the beach profile and
coastline development.
 - dv dV
V = v +7 [vdt + 7[ w d t
i3y 8.2
The last two terms in Eqn.(lS) can be easily
evaluated by applying the linear wave theory
(Fredsoe and Deigaard, 1992) for the orbital
Figure 3. Drift velocity as seen from a Lagrangian velocities giving
point of view - I nH
v = v i
2c T
3. WAVE SCOUR ON BEACH PROFILE cosh2[k( D - z )J -I- sinh2[k( D - z )J
sinh2(kD)
1 (19)
The intent of this section is to provide a background
of wave scour based on the hydrodynamics of water where H is the wave height; k is the wave number; T
waves. Wave in the ocean actually serve as a is the wave period; c is the wave propagation speed.
mechanism which can abstract energy fiom wind Close to the bed ( z = D ), the mean drift
system, store it in the form of potential and kinetic velocity on the surface of bed becomes v b
energies, and transmit it toward shoreline. The
dissipation of wave energy occurs near shore in a - v 2
relatively narrow zone.
in which V , is the maximum horizontal orbital
3.I Wave drift velocity velocity on the bottom of the beach bed
In relation to sediment transport, it is essential to v = -Hn
distinguish between the mean velocity V measured T tanh( kD)
at a fixed point and the dnft velocity V (mass-
transport speed) which is the mean velocity of a 3.2 Wave energy
fluid particle over a wave period. The drift velocity
V is always ,positive relative to the mean velocity V The average energy flux per unit of wave crest
(Longuet-Higgins, 1970), the reason is as following: through a fixed vertical plane parallel to the wave
A fluid particle will stay longer below the wave crest near the shoreline (Collins 1976) is
crest than below the wave trough, the fluid
velocity is positive below the crest and
E,= P
- IId~P,~hdt
-?
(22)
T c D
negative below the trough.
where p is the mass density of water, 7 is the wave
The particle path is elliptic in shape, with the
particle travelling forward at the upper part of surface elevation from the still water level, CP is the
the orbit and backwards at the bottom of the wave potential function. In the case of a linear
orbit. At the top of the orbit, the velocity is periodic progressive wave, an example was
slightly higher than at the bottom, resulting in a suggested in (Fredsoe and Deigaard 1992), and the
small positive contribution to the drift. integration of Eqn.(22) gives
The instantaneous drift velocity v can be I 2kD
evaluated by Lagrangian description (Longuet-
E,, = - - - p g H ’ C [ I +
I6 sinh (2kD)
I
Higgins 1970) as follows: consider the points P and The friction stress on the bottom surface of the
G, where P is a point on the orbit of a particle, the beach bed can be evaluated by the drift velocity of
mean position of which is G, (see Fig-3) and, the waterlsediment particles as
difference between the instantaneous velocity at P
and at G is given
where cf is the friction factor. The average work
done by this friction stress is

where Az and Ay are the horizontal and vertical

displacements of P from G, and can be given.
where subscript b indicates the value on the
Ay = Jvdt Az= Jwdt (17) bottom boundary. The variation of energy flux
equals the rate of energy dissipation (Collins 1976),
There v, w are the velocity components of fluid
particle in y and z direction, Substituting Eqn.(l7)
into (16) and time-averaging over one wave period
gives
41 0
 Substituting Eqn(25), (26) into (24), the friction
factor cf can be determined as

Thus, the friction stress can be represented by the

average energy flux and driftvelocity as

4. FINITE ZIFFERENTIAL MODEL

The finite difference equations for the topographic
development and coast-line development can be
written as

where

Hn: I
{- T tanh[ k D ( x , , y j , t ) J

in which

[f(xi+l,t )-2f(xi, t )+f(xi-l,t)/ =o J

where i =1,2,3....(I j=1,2,3 ....M.

41 1
 Eqn(29) to (33) consist of (N+l)*M first order
non-liner ordinary differential equations respect to
time. It can be solve by Runge-Kutta method under
the given initial water depth fiom the still water
table to the surface of the beach bed, D( x, , y, , 0 ,l ,
and initial position of coastal-line, f ( x, ,O,l .
5. NUMERICAL RESULTS
The developed model has been applied to simulate a
three dimensional beach evolution. The simulated
region and the initial topographic surface of the
beach bottom are plotted in the form of a three
dimensional graphics with a two dimensional
contours on the top of the topography figure as
shown in Fig.4. The analysed region is taken as
5~4(Km)'along the x-direction (shoreline or coastal
line) and y-direction which is from the shoreline to
sea. The necessary wave data, near-shore current
date as well as the beach material data and sediment
transport data for analysis in this model are referred
from (Dyer 1986, Fredsoe and Deigaard 1992).
The simulated results are plotted also in Fig.5 and
Fig.6 similarly to Fig.4. Fig. 5 shows the developed
bottom topography due to the effects of the general
wave and the near-shore current after 24 hours.
Fig.6 shows the developed bottom topography due
to the effects of the stormy wave and stormy tide in
the typhoon condition after 24 hours.
From comparison, it can be seen that after a
strong storm the bottom topography of the beach
profile has significantly changed from that before
the storm events. Therefore, the mechanism of
beach profile development should be considered in
two phases, one is the long-term effects due to the
general wave and near-shore current, the other is the
single effect due to a storm event.
6. CONCLUSIONS
The developed modelling in this paper presents a
feasibility for numerical simulation of development
of beach profile (erosion / deposition). The advances
of this modelling is the naturally coupling among the
cohesive-erosion theory of porous medium,
sediment transport theory and hydrodynamics of sea
wave.
The coastal morphological development model
presented in this paper has provide a way that the
cross-shore and long-shore sediment transport
models have been geometrically coupled, and the
simulation of coastal-topography development can
be carried out by a full description of the interaction
between the beach profile and coastal line
development.
412
From above quantifying, it can be seen that the
system equations are described both in space and
time domain. A wind dependent wave load as an
input has to be take into account, and a special
boundary treatment for the cross-shore beach profile
and long-shore coastline development have to be
coupled.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The financial supports from the Science and
Technology Development Research Fund by
Zhejiang Province in China are gratefblly
acknowledged.
REFERENCES
Ariathurai and Arulanandan 1978, Erosion rates of
cohesive soils, J. Hydraulic. Div, ASCE, 104,
HY2,279-283
Collins J. 1976, Wave modelling and
hydrodynamics, Beach and Near-shore
Sedimentation, Based on Symposium, (Edited
by Eichard D. J. and Etbington R. L.), 55-68.
Cullen P. 1977, Coastal Management in Port Phillip,
Coastal Zone Management Journal, Vol. 3(3),
291-305.
Dyer R. K.1986, Coastal and Estuarine Sediment
Dynamics, A Wiley-Interscience Publication,
New York.
Hans Hanson and Nicholas K.1991, Numerical
simulation shoreline change at Lorain Oho, J. of
Waterway, Prot, Coastal and Ocean Engineering,
Vol. 117, NO. 1 , -18.
Fredsoe J. and Deigaard R.1992, Mechanics of
Coastal Sediment Transport, Advanced Series
Ocean Engineering - Volume 3, World Scientific
Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd. 341-347.
Kamphuis W. 199I , Alongshore sediment transport
rate., J. of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean
Engg., ASCE, 117(6), 624-641).
Longuet-Higgins, M. S. 1970, Long-shore currents
generated by obliquely incident sea waves, l., J.
Geophysics. Res. 75(33), pp 6778-6789.
Zhang Wohua and Valliappan S. 1998, Continuum
damage mechanics theory and application-part
I: theory, part 11: application, Int. J of Damage
Mech., Vol. 7,250-273,274-297.
Valliappan S. and Zhang Wohua 1996, Numerical
Modeling of hiethane Gas Migration in Dry Coal
Seams, Int. J. for Numerical and Analytical
Methods in Geomechanics, 20,571-593.
3 Improvement of soft ground by consolidation and compaction techniques
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 Coasfal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Kinking deformation of PVD under consolidation settlement

of surrounding clay
H.Aboshi, Y. Sutoh, T. Inoue & Y. Shimizu
Fukken Company Limited, Hiroshima,Japan

ABSTRACT: Kinking deformation by buckling of PVD (Prefabricated Vertical Drain) due to consolidation
settlement of clay layer around it, is discussed in this paper. A new testing device is manufactured for the
purpose and deformation properties of two-kinds of PVD during consolidation of the surrounding clay are
compared with each other. It is concluded that a fibredrain which is made of natural fibres only, can sustain
the vertical permeability during a larger settlement strain up to 24% and on the contrary, a PVD made of plas-
tics loses its permeability before 19% strain. The field performance of both materials is also referred.

1 INTRODUCTION shrinking deformation to a certain degree, judged

from the past experience on PVD. An experimental
Around the earliest years of the 1960’s, card-board study was planned to investigate the consolidation
drains invented by W.Kjellman of Sweden in 1937, properties, based on the theoretical analysis.
were introduced to Japan. New drain-driving ma- (Aboshi, 1999(1)) (Aboshi, 1999(2)) (Hanai et al.,
chines were manufactured under the guidance of the 1999)
first author, which could execute drains down to -20
m deep. Paper drains, nominated by the same
author, were used to stabilize a total of 10 million m2
of newly reclaimed lands for the Mazda Automobile
Co. and Nippon Steel Pipe Co., both in Hiroshima in
1963. These cases were the first practical usage of
PVD in the world. (Aboshi et al., 1965) (Aboshi et
al., 1969)
Though the method were accepted favorably in
general, it was found from the earlier cases that there
existed a fatal defect in PVD which could not be
avoided. PVD could not reduce their length with
consolidation settlement of the sorrounding clay
layer. Fig.1 is a result of the check boring after con-
solidation at Mazda, the first case of usage of this
method. It clearly showed that paper drains were ef-
fective in the dredged silt layer, and on the contrary,
unsatisfactory in the natural alluvium of silty clay.
Fig. 2 shows the deformation of paper drains after
consolidation in both strata. In the dredged clay
layer in slurry state, the paper drain can simply move
laterally and undergoes deep bending, and as a re-
sult, the gutters or the water striae in the drain re-
mained effective. In the natural clay layer, the drain
could not move laterally, only reduced its length by
buckling in a zig-zag form, losing its longitudinal
permeability.
Fibredrains invented by Prof. S.L.Lee and his as-
sociates in NUS seem to be sustainable under the

415

Figure 2. Deformation of paper drain
2 DEFORMATION OF PVD IN NATURAL
CLAY LAYER
Fig.3 a) shows a PVD executed in a natural clay
layer. When the layer thickness is shortened by con-
solidation, the PVD must be shortened at the same
time. There is a generated force Q as the reaction.
Fig.3 b) shows a cross-section at the center of PVD.
As the earth pressure on both sides of PVD is always
balanced, and so, whether this PVD can move later-
ally or not becomes the same problem with this
bearing capacity problem. As is widely known, the
bearing capacity q, of clay ground is 5.5 c, from
Terzaghi’s equation when the load is on the surface
of the ground, and about 9 or 10 times c, in very
deep place such as a pile tip. This is the same case
with the deep foundation. The reaction by bending of
PVD can not at all exceed such bearing capacity, ex-
cept the case of slurry state mud.
In conclusion, the shrinkage of PVD becomes the
same problem with the buckling of a column on
elastic foundation shown in Fig.4. This problem had
been solved in the 1920’s by Prof. Hayashi of Kyu-
shu University and written in any textbooks of
structural engineering. Here is shown the buckling
load.
And the most important point is the half wave-
length of sinusoidal buckling curve shown as fol-
lows.
l l n : half wave length EI : rigidity of PVD
/3 :elastic modulus of surrounding clay ground
416
Fig.5 shows the stress-strain diagram of clay in
different conditions. In natural clay layers the gradi-
enta is always very large even in soft clays. On the
contrary, a in case of slurry clay or remoulded clay
is very small.
As P in the above-mentioned equation equals
tana , the half wave length in buckling of PVD is
directly affected by a . This means that the consoli-
dation test of PVD in a slurry state clay, frequently
carried out in the laboratory has almost no meaning,
from the view point of explaining deformation in
natural clay ground, even if a very high consolida-
tion pressure is applied.
In our experiment using undisturbed natural clay
samples, the half wave length of a plastic made PVD
widely used in the world, calculated by using the
measured a and EI becomes only 2.64cm. In order
to make clear that this value is correct or not, the
present experimental study had been performed.
EI of fibredrain is very small and C/n for it is prac-
tically null.
3 PVD TESTING DEVICE AND TEST RESULTS
Fig.6 shows the general outline of the newly devel-
oped testing device. The consolidation sampler, used
for preparing samples for the testing device, has the
inner diameter of 30 cm and height of 40 cm, and it
is a two-half divisible cylindrical mould. At the time
of sampling, an undisturbed specimen was taken by
driving into the clay ground the cylindrical sampler,
equipped with the collar at the upper edge and with
the cutter at the lower edge. After the sampler was
brought into the testing laboratory, its mould covers
were released and the cylindrical specimen was cut
into two half-cylinders. At the middle portion of the
half-cylinder shaped specimen surface, a groove
whose cross section is almost the same as that of the
PVD to be tested was excavated using a saw. Into
this groove the PVD material was inserted for test-
ing. The specimen thus prepared was assembled as
shown in Fig.6 and subjected to consolidation test-
ing. At the surface of the specimen, an acrylic glass
plate was attached to make it easier to inspect the de-
formation condition of PVD during consolidation
settlement.
From the results of consolidation tests, conduct-
ed on two similar undisturbed samples (natural
moisture content:51.5%, plasticity index:42.0, con-
solidation yield stress: p , =78.4kN/m2) using prefab-
ricated vertical drains namely fibredrain (hereinafter
FD) and plastic board drain (hereinafter PD),
-
e logp relationship was derived as shown in Fig.
7. The final settlement strain was E~ = 24% for FD
material and E~ =19% for PD material.
Furthermore the dissipation of pore pressure (with
the pressure transducer, installed at 5cm apart from
the drain section of lower plate) versus time is
shown in Fig.8. This relationship was obtained when
the consolidation pressure was increased from
p =785 kN/m2 to 1422 kN/m2. For the case of FD
material, the pore pressure converged to zero at the
time of EOP consolidation. In contrast of the case of
FD material, the case of PD material, it was found
that approximately 5 m water head remained at the
pore pressure transducer although the material was
under the secondary compression stage. The perme-
ability of PD at the end of testing of 19% strain,
measured directly by flowing water in PD, showed
almost zero.

The drain materials were taken out after the end

of consolidation testing and their deformation were
compared. The photograph is shown in Fig.9. The
FD material was shortened and the lateral deforma-
tion was hardly observed. But instead, its thickness
got bigger from approximately 9mm to 10-12mm.
On the other hand, the PD material was crooked at
three or four spots. It is speculated that these crooks
caused the occurrence of residual pore water pres-
sure, and no permeability at the end of the test.
Figure 5. Stress and strain curves in clay

41 7
Figure 9. Photo of PVD deformation after consolidation
4 EXAMPLES OF FIELD PERFORMANCE OF
PVD METHOD
The case studies of field performance of the fibre-
drain method, practiced in Japan are as follows. In
the first case, the ground improvement works, ex-
ecuted at the newly reclaimed seaside land for the
development of Ujina Port and its surrounding area
are shown in Fig.10. For the same objective of
ground improvement, two methods, the sand drain
method (drain diameter: d , =40cm, drain pitch:
d =2.5m and drain arrangement: rectangular shape)
and the FD method ( d =l.lm,drain arrangement:
rectangular) were executed and compared. The ob-
servations revealed that both methods yield settle-
ments which are in proximity with those of the con-
418
solidation theory.
Fig.11 shows the results from the second case
study, conducted in Kanagawa Prefecture. The soil
layer subjected to ground improvement was mostly
made up of organic materials. The FD materials
were driven into the ground in a rectangular pattern
with a 1.3m pitch. This also had settlements ap-
proximately equal to those of the theoretical com-
putation.
Fig.12 shows a case of a plastic-made PVD used
in the extension project of The Izumo Airport in the
lake Shinji, near Matsue City. (Shimane Prefecture
1993) Though the settlement seemed to proceed as
expected from the theory in the earlier period, it
might have changed to the secondary consolidation
after around 80% consolidation.
 Figure 11. Comparison of computed and measured settlements (Kanagawa prefecture)

5 CONCLUSIONS Sand drains can deform laterally without losing

Contrary to an ordinary expectation, PVD can not be
bent deep in a natural clay layer during consolidation
of the layer, even in case of very soft clays.
From theoretical analysis, assuming the shrinking
deformation of a PVD as the buckling of a column
on an elastic foundation, it is found that the half-
wave length of sinusoidal buckling curve of com-
monly-used PVD made of plastics, is only 2 or 3 cm
order.
In order to ascertain this phenomenon experi-
mentally, a new testing device is developed for the
purpose, and the consolidation tests using undis-
turbed natural clay specimens with PVD in the cen-
ter are performed,
419
vertical continuity under consolidation and as a re-
sult, can sustain their function as drains in larger
strain. PD cannot shrink themselves and crook or
kink at certain intervals by buckling, losing their
vertical permeability in larger strain deformation.
There must be a certain limitation of usage in term
of consolidation strain for each PD.
Fibredrain has an intermediate nature between SD
and PD, without any kinking deformation and is still
alive as drain until 24% strain.
Examples of field usage of FD and PD are shown
in the last chapter. It seems that the above-
mentioned characteristics are shown in these field
measurements.
Figure 12. Comparison of computed and measured settlements (Izumo airport)

REFERENCE

Aboshi H. et a1.,1965. On Paper Drain Method, Soils and

Foundations (in Japanese), Vo1.13, No.6, pp.3-10.
Aboshi H. et a1.,1969. Stability of Soft Clay Foundation
underneath Embankment Consolidated by Means of
Card-Board Drains, Soils and Foundations, Vo1.9,
N0.2, pp.1-14.
Aboshi H, 1999. (1) On Some Problems of Consolidation
and Soil Stabilization in Soft Clays, Symp. on Inno-
vative Solutions in Structural and Geo-technical
Engg. (Bangkok) pp.241-250.
Aboshi H, 1999. (2) On Some Problems Concerning Soil
Stabilization with Vertical Drains, Pre-Conf Syrnp.
40'"Anniversary AIT. pp.175-189.
Hanai et al., 1999. On Japan's Recent Development of
Soil Stabilization with Fibredrains and Deformation
of PVD due to Consolidation Settlement of Sur-
rounding Clay. Conf Symp. 4dl' Anniversary AIT. pp.
- 21-E - 28.
Shimane Prefecture, 1993. Record of Construction
of Izumo Airport.

420
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

Settlement behavior of improved soils using the packed drainage procedure

N.Arita, H.Takahashi & A. Shibata
Kowa Company ltd, Niigata, Japan
T. Sasagawa & H.Yamada
Niigata Prefecture, Japan
T. Shogalu
Department of Civil Engineering, National Defense Academy, Yokosuka,Japan

ABSTRACT: The change in index, mechanical properties and settlement behavior of improved soils with 13
cm diameter packed drains is quantitatively discussed. The settlement .plates were emplaced before con-
structing the sand mat and packed drains. Therefore, settlement behavior throughout the whole process, in-
cluding loading pre-load, can be measured. The natural water content and the compression index decreased
about 20 %, the unconfined compressive strength increased about 10 % and the preconsolidation pressure in-
creased about 70% by using driven packed drains with a sand mat. The estimated settlement increased about
15 % by taking into acount the effect of sample disturbance and the prediction accuracy of the final settlement
improved.

1 INTRODUCTION throughout the whole process, including loading pre-

Packed drainage is one of several vertical drainage
procedures used in improving soil by consolidation.
It is used with a pre-loading method and hastens the
consolidation of clayey layers. At first, it was
thought that the consolidation and/or the change in
the mechanical properties of clayey layers was not
progressing satisfactorily with only vertical drainage
although the consolidation and/or the change in
mechanical properties of improved soils with a sand
drain and/or sand compaction piles were reported by
some researchers such as Akagi, 1981; Okabaya-
shi, 1983; Chai et al, 1998; Matsuo and Honjyo, 1999,
et al. However, the measurement of settlement be-
havior in vertical drainage construction is very diffi-
cult, due to settlement plate shifting problems
caused by the construction of the packed drains.
Akagi (1981) reported changes of index, strength
and consolidation properties caused by making sand
drains. Okabayashi ( 1983) measured the settle-
ment behavior using a settlement plate before pack-
ed drainage construction and he reported that the
amount of consolidation settlement in packed drain-
age construction, after building a 50 cm thick sand
mat, was 50 cm. However, the changes in the
mechanical properties of clayey layers were not de-
scribed in his paper.
In this paper, the changes of index, mechanical
properties and settlement behavior of improved
soils, with packed drains 13 cm in diameter, are
quantitatively discussed. The settlement plates were
emplaced before constructing the sand mat and
packed drains. Therefore, settlement behavior
load, can be measured. The unconfined compresion
and oedometer tests were performed on an undis-
turbed sample taken three times; First, before con-
struction of the sand mat. Second, after driving the
packed drainage piles. Third, after loading the pre-
load.
2 OUTLINE OF GROUND CONDITIONS AND
THE LOCATIONS OF SOIL SAMPLING
The banking site is located at Kitakanbaragun Na-
kajo town in the northeast part of the Niigata plains.
The Niigata plains deposits are thick clay deposits at
the back of the sand hills along the coastline and
consist of an upper layer and a lower layer to 40
meters with both layers separated by a sand layer
ranging from 5 to 10 meters below the ground sur-
face. The lower clayey layers are identified as Hc2,
Hc3 and Hc4 from the point of view of soil properti-
es as shown in Fig.1. The pre-loading with packed
drainage procedure is used as a countermeasure for
unstable soil conditions in new road construction.
The layout of the packed drainage and the loca-
tions of soil sampling along the longitudinal section
of the planned road are also shown in Fig.1. The
elevation of the planned road increases at the bridge
across the river. The depth and spacing of the pack-
ed drainage and the height of pre-loading differ ac-
cording to the elevation of the planned road as
shown in Fig. 1. In practice, the general procedure is
to set up the settlement plates after driving the paced
drainage piles. However, in this particular research,

421
 the settlement plates were emplaced before driving
the packed drainage piles to estimate the amount of
consolidation settlement caused by the construction
of the sand mat and packed drainage.
To estimate the mechanical properties of clayey
layers affected by the driving of packed drainage
piles, the undisturbed samples were taken at the lo-
cations shown in Fig.1. The sampling was done at
seven different sites before construction of the sand
mat under original soils conditions (0),at one site
400 days after driving packed drainage piles (
and at another site 230 days after loading pre-load
(A).Field sampling was done with a 75 mm inner
diameter, fixed piston sampler (JGS 1221- 1995) to
enhance sample quality. The ground surface settle-
ment was measured automatically by a water pres-
sure sensor at two sites (0)as shown in Fig.1
(Arita et al, 1998).
Note : The water-level at these sites is located at
about ground level year-round.
3 CHANGE IN MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
CAUSED BY DRIVING PACKED DRAIN
AGE PILES AND LOADING PE-LOAD
3.I Change of strengthproperties
Unconfined Compression Tests on the undisturbed
samples were performed according to the Japanese
Industrial Standard (JIS A 1216-1993) for uncon-
fined compression tests of soils. The secant modulus
(EJo)is found by the equation (q,/2)/ E 50, in which q,
is the unconfined compressive strength and E 5o is
the strain at the value of qJ2.
The results of UCT before sand mat construction
are shown in Fig.2. The natural water content (w,)of
clayey layers Hcl and Hc3 decreases about 50 %
and those of Hc2 and Hc4 decreases about 10 %. It
can be judged from Fig.:! that the effect of the dif-
ferent sampling sites on w,,wet density ( p J and q,
Figure 1, Outline o f ground c o n d i t i o n s and t h e locations o f soil sampling.
422
is small. Therefore, the index and mechanical prop-
erties for the horizontal direction of the clayey layers
are relatively homogeneous.
Figure 3 shows the test results for the undisturbed
samples before sand mat construction, after driving
packed drainage piles and after loading pre-load.
The curved lines are determined by a cubic equation
for each plot. These plots and curves show clearly
that the void ratio (e) and w, values decrease and the
P E 5 0 , E and 4, values increase with progressive
cosolidation.
Figure 4 shows the relationship between the ratios
of w,,E E 5 0 and q, to the depth for the sample be-
f,
fore sand mat construction, after driving packed
drain piles and after loading pre-load. These ratios
are obtained from the values at the same depth for
each curve as shown in Fig.3. The ratio between the-
se values determined after driving packed drain piles
compared to those prior to sand mat construction for
the Hc2, Hc3 and Hc4 are about 0.8, 1.1, 1.6 and 1.1
respectively. The Rq, value prior to sand mat con-
struction is about 1.9 after loading pre-load. The in-
creasing undrained strength due to 13 cm diameter
packed drains is advantageous for pre-loading sta-
bility in soft clayey soil.
Akagi (1981) reported that Rw,=0.9 two months
after sand drain installation and Rq,=0.4 immedi-
ately after installation of 30 cm diameter sand drains
and 0.65 two months later. Matsuo and Honjo
(1999) also reported that Rw,=0.9 and Rq,=3.5 five
months after installation of 70 cm diameter sand
compaction piles.
3.2 Change in consolidationproperties
The oedometer tests were done using a load incre-
ment ratio of unity and the loading duration for each
load increment was one day. The values of compres-
sion index (Cc) and preconsolidation pressure ( (J 'J
were determined from the e - log (J ',, curves corre-
sponding to 24 hour compression.

Preconsolidation pressure based on Casagrande’s
method has human errors concerning engineers’
opinions on the location of the maximum curvature
point of the curve for e - log cr curves (Shogaki et
al, 2000). Therefore, Mikasa’s method was used to
identify pre-consolidation pressure on the 24 hour e
- log cr curves. This method has been employed in
Japan as the Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS A
1217-1990) for determining one-dimensional con-
solidation properties of soils.
Figure 5 shows the index and consolidation prop-
erties arranged as in Fig.3. The w, and Cc decrease
and the p I, E ,, and cr ’ p increase with progressive
consolidation.
The volumetric strain ( E ), is determined by the
following equation (Shogaki, 1996);
(Schmertman, 1955; Shogaki and Kaneko, 1994)
and the E ,,value becomes larger. Therefore, the E ,,
value can be employed as an index in order to ex-
press the effect of sample disturbance (Shogaki,
1996; 1999).
Figures 6, 7 and 8 show the relations of e - log
cr log c, - log si and log mv- log 5 for the
undisturbed samples prior to sand mat construction,
aRer driving packed drainage piles and after loading
pre-load, in which 5 is the mean value of cr .
The e values decrease and the CT ’ p values increase
with progressive consolidation. In the over
consolidation range, the c, values decrease and the
m, values increase with progressive consolidation.
However, there are no certain tendencies in the
normally consolidated region. The ratios of e,, E w,
Cc and cr ’ p after driving packed drain piles and
loading pre-load to the e,, E w , Cc and cr ’ p for the
sample before sand mat construction are shown
against the depth in Fig. 9. These ratios are obtained
from the values at the same depth for each curve as
shown in Fig. 5 . The Re, R E , RCc and R cr ’ p after
driving packed drain piles to those before sand mat
construction, for the Hc2, Hc3 and Hc4, are about
0.9, 1.7, 0.8 and 1.7 respectively. The mean value (R
cr ’ p ) of R cr ‘p value is about 1.8 for after loading
pre-load. For sand mat construction and driving

eo- e,
E =
, - x loo(%)
1 + e,

in which the e, and e, are the initial void ratio and

the void ratio under the effective overburden pres-
sure ( cr of the specimen. In in-situ soil under the
CT value, there was no sample disturbance. There-
fore, the E ,,value is 0 since the e, value is equal to
the e, value. The e, value decreases with sample
disturbance because the void ratio decreases with
sample disturbance under the same cr value Figure 4. Relationship between z and R .

Figure 3. The results of Unconfined Compression Test.

423

Figure 8. Relationship between m , and
Figure 9. Relationship between z and R .
packed drain piles 13 cm in diameter, the change in
consdidatiQn properties can be measured quantita-
tively.
Akagi (1981) reported the Rc, =0.24 two months
after installation of 30 cm diameter sand drains and
Chai et a1 (1998) reported the Rk=O. 1 for 12 cm
diameter packed drains.
4 CONSOLIDATION BEHAVIOR AND ITS
PREDICTION
Figures 10 and 11 show (1) the relationships be-
tween the height (I?) of the sand mat and pre-
loading, (2) consolidation settlement (S) of soil un-
der the embankment observed at the settlement
plates A and B and (3), the time (1). The solid,
dashed and dotted lines in Figs. 10 and 11 represent
the relationships between the estimated settlement
before fill and time obtained from the six kinds of
consolidation parameters as follows:
0e-log CT ', and c, obtained from the sample be-
fore sand mat construction: e(b),c,(b)
@ m, and c, obtained from the sample before sand
mat construction: m,(b),c,(b)
@ corrected m,(b) and c,(b) for sample distur-
bance: m,*(b),c,* (b)
7'". @ e-log CT ', and c, obtained from the sample af-
ter driving packed drainage piles: e(d),c,(d)
424
 0m, and c, obtained from the sample after driv-
ing packed drainage piles: m,(d),c,(d)
@ corrected rn,(d) and c,(d) for sample distur-
bance: rn,*(d),c,*(d)
The corrected m,* and cv* values for sample dis-
turbance are derived from the mean curves in Figs. 7
and 8 respectively, such as the relationships between
OCR (= CT ' p / CT ',J and correction values as shown in
Shogaki et a1 (1998). The settlement of the sand
layer, z = 5-10 meters, is ignored for consolidation
of ground surface. The amount of consolidation set-
tlement caused by the sand mat load and the con-
struction of the packed drains is about 40 cm for
settlement plate A and about 10 cm for settlement
plate B, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11.
The packed drains were constructed when the de-
gree of consolidation under the sand mat load was
about 50 % and then new settlement occurred. The
difference in the amount of settlement between both
settlement plates reflects the drain spacing. Basi-
cally, the amount of settlement of plate A with small
drain spacing is greater than that of plate B. In the
settlement behavior after the construction of the
packed drains, the prediction of the settlement be-
havior using the consolidation parameters before
constructing the sand mat is closer to the observed
settlement than the estimated settlement after driving
packed drainage piles. Furthermore, the amount of
the estimated settlement, using the e-log o ',, is
about 10 % less than that using the m, value. The es-
timated settlement for both settlement plates is almo-
st finished after the loading of the pre-load since the
c, values of the clayey layers are relatively large and
the drainage distance becomes shorter. However, the
observed settlement is still progressing after loading
of the pre-load and the predicted settlement can not
explain these behavior.
Figure 10. Relationship between H,S and t ( S e t t l e m e n t plate A).
425
The relationship between the ratio (Rs)of the es-
timated settlement (Se) to the observed settlement
(So) and the degree of consolidation (U) for the
same data, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11, is shown in
Figs. 12 and 13, where the Uvalue is defined as the
degree of consolidation of the So value to the final
settlement obtained from the hyperbolic method for
the observed settlement. The Rs values obtained
from the four kinds of consolidation parameters,
namely 0, 0, @ and 8 as described above, are
shown against the U value in Figs. 12 and 13. It can
be seen from Figs. 12 and 13 that the prediction of
the settlement behavior using the consolidation
parameters before constructing the sand mat is closer
to the observed settlement than the estimated settle-
ment after driving packed drainage piles and the es-
timated settlement increases about 15 %, taking into
account the effects of sample disturbance (@ and
@). Therefore prediction accuracy of the final set-
tlement improves.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The main conclusions obtained in this study are
summarized as follows:
1. The ratios of w,, E E,, and q, after driving
fi
packed drain piles compared to those prior to sand
mat construction, for the Hc2, Hc3 and Hc4, were
about 0.8, I . 1, 1.6 and 1.1 respectively. The Rq, val-
ue prior to sand mat construction was about 1.9 after
loading pre-load. The increasing undrained strength
due to 13 cm diameter packed drains is advanta-
geous for pre-loading stability in soft clayey soil.
2. The ratios of e, E v o , Cc and o ' p aRer driving
packed drain piles to those of sand mat construction,
for the Hc2, Hc3 and Hc4, were about 0.9, 1.7, 0.8
and 1.7 respectively. The ratio of 0' ' p value was
about 1.8 after loading pre-load.
Figure 11. Relationship b e t w e e n H,S and
t ( s e t t l e m e n t plate B).
sand mat was closer to the observed settlement than
the estimated settlement after driving packed drain-
age piles and the estimated settlement increased
about 15 %, taking into account the effects of sam-
ple disturbance. Therefore prediction accuracy of the
final settlement improved.

REFERENCES
Akagi,T 1981. Effects of mandrel-driven sand drains on soft
clay, Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference
on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering:58 1-584.
Stockholm.
Arita,N.,Takahashi,H.,Shibata,A. and Nagumo,M 1998. The
developed of automatic settlement gauge with water level
meter. Proceeding of the thirty-thirdjapan national confer
ence on geothchnical engineerring. Vo1.2:2469-2470(in
Japanese).
Chai,J.C,Wura,N. and Shen,S.L 1998. Field performance of
vertical drain installed in Ariake cray deposit. Teiheitikenkyu
N0.7:64-76.
Japanese Geotechnical Society 1990. Test Method for one-
dimensional consolidation properties of soils.(JISA 1217
-1990).The Method and Explanation of Soil test:289-294(in
Japanese).
Japanese Geotechnical Society 1990. Method for unconfined
comoression test on soils.(JISA 1216-1993).The Method
and Explanation of Soil test:320-330(in Japanese).
Japanese Geotechnical Society 1998. method for obtaining
undisturbed soil sample using thin-walled tube sampler
with fixed piston(JGS 1221-1995).Standards of Japanese
Figure 13. Relationship between R, and U Geotechnical Societyfor Soil Sampling:1-7.
(Settlement plate B) Matsuo,M. and Honjo,Y 1999. Jibankankyoukougaku-no-
atarashii-shiten. Gihoudou publishing company:207- 22 l(in
Japanese).
3 . The amount Of the estimated using
the e-log ' was about l0 % less than using the mv
' V J
Okabayashi,I 1983. Sekiyutankukiso-no-rron-to-jissai. Kashj-
ma Publishing Company:105-114(in Japanese).
value. Schmertman,J.H 1955.Theundisturbed consolidation beha-
4. The prediction of the settlement behavior using viorof clay. TransactionsASCE.Vo1.120:1201-1233
the consolidation parameters before constructing the

426
Shogaki,T and Kaneko,M 1994. Effects of sample disturbance
on strengh and consolidation parameter of soft cray. Soils
and Foundations.Vol.34.No.3: 1-10.
Shogaki,T 1996. A method for correcting consolidation
parameters for sample disturbance using volumetric strain.
Soils and Foundations.Vo1.36.No.3: 123-13 1.
Shogaki,T.,Shirakawa,S. and Maruyama,Y 1998. Estimation of
in-situ consolidation parameters using volumetric strain me-
asured in standard oedometer tests.Proceeding of the interna-
tional Symposium on Lowland Technology:137-144. Saga.
Shogaki,T 1999. A method for correcting consolidation
parameters for. sample disturbance using volumetric strain.
Soils and Foundations.Vo1.39.No. 1: 124-125.
Shogaki,T., Satamoto,T. and S.Kawata 2000. Human errors
concerning preconsolidation pressure by Cassagrande’s me-
thod and their correction. Tsuchi-to-kiso.Vol.2:9-12(inJapa-
nese).

427
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Recent developments of ground improvement with PVD

on soft Bangkok clay
D.T. Bergado & M.A.B. Patawaran
School of Civil Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology,Bangkok, Thailand

ABSTRACT: The soft Bangkok clay foundation at the site of the Second Bangkok International Airport
(SBIA) and the Second Bangkok Chonburi Highway Project (SBCH), were improved using PVD. At SBIA,
the water content reduction Erom field measurements were in agreement with the computed values from the
consolidation settlements. Employing the SHANSEP technique, there was excellent agreement between
measured and predicted undrained shear strength. Moreover, the actual required discharge capacity has been
successfully back-calculated. At the SBCH, a one-dimensional FEM software capable of calculating the
consolidation of multi-layered soil, called PVD-SD, was also used for settlement prediction. The PVD-SD
method demonstrated slight overprediction. Electro-osmotic (EO) consolidation involves application of direct
current electricity through electro-conductive PVDs as electrodes. Due to E 0 consolidation, significant
increase in shear strength and faster rate of settlement were achieved at shorter time. Vacuum preloading is
imposed by reducing the pore pressure in the clay through the application of vacuum pressures. The vacuum
preloading with PVD increased the rate of settlement by 60% and reduced the preloading period by 4 months.

1 INTRODUCTION

Because of its low permeability, the consolidation
settlements of soft clays takes a long time to
complete. To shorten the consolidation time, prefa-
bricated vertical drains (PVD) are installed together
with preloading by surcharge embankment. PVDs
are artificially-created drainage paths which are
inserted into the soft clay subsoil. Thus, the pore-
water squeezed out during the consolidation of the
clay due to the hydraulic gradients created by the
preloading, can flow faster in the horizontal direc-
tion towards the PVDs taking advantage of higher
horizontal permeability of the clay. Subsequently,
these pore water can flow freely along the PVDs
vertically toward the permeable layers. Therefore,
the PVD installation reduces the length of the
drainage path and, consequently, accelerates the
consolidation process and allows the clay to gain
rapid strength increase.
The PVD was first investigated for its effective-
ness in improving the soft Bangkok clay in subsi-
ding environment (Bergado et al. 1988). Later, the
research direction extended into back-analyses of
design parameters (Bergado et al. 1991, 1992,
1996a), numerical analysis and modeling (Bergado
& Long 1994, Chai et al. 1995), model tests, perfor-
mance, evaluation of PVD types (Bergado 1996a),
and evaluation and development of specification cri-
teria (Bergado et al. 1996b,c). In 1992, the first
major project using PVD in the Central Plain of
Thailand was finally realized when PVD was uti-
lized in the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) route
Erom Klong 19 to Kaengkhoi, Saraburi. Currently,
PVDs are being used for the Second Bangkok Chon-
buri Highway (SBCH) and the Outer Bangkok Ring
Road (OBRR). In the Second Bangkok International
Airport (SBIA), the PVD has been studied by full
scale field embankments and the PVD ground
improvement is being implemented. Moreover,
vacuum assisted preloading has been studied at the
SBIA site in order to reduce the preloading period,
reduce the amount of sand surcharge, and eliminate
embankment stability problem. In addition, the con-
solidation period can be further reduced by using
electro-osmotic consolidation in conjunction with
PVD installation. Electro-osmosis is the process
wherein positively charge ions move from the anode
to the cathode carrying hydrated water with them
upon the application of direct electric current.

429
Fig. 1 Generalized Soil Profile and Properties
Fig. 2 Water Contents Before and After Preloading with PVD
for TS3
2 SITE AND SOIL CONDITIONS
The Bangkok subsoils, part of the larger Chao
Phraya Plain, consist of alternate layers of sand,
gravel and clay. The underlying profile of the
bedrock is still undetermined, but its level is known
to be between 550 to 2000 m below the ground
surface.
The test site is located approximately 30 km east
of the capital city of Bangkok. The generalized soil
profile and soil properties are shown in Figure 1.
The soil profile is relatively uniform consisting of a
thin weathered crust (2 m thick) overlying very soft
to soft clay approximately 10 m thick. Underlying
the soft clay is a medium clay layer of about 4 m
thick followed by a stiff clay layer extending down
to 22 m depth which is in turn underlain by a layer
430
of dense sand. The profiles of soil strength
determined by laboratory tests are also shown.
The natural water contents are reasonably uniform
across the site, and lie close to the liquid limit
between depths of 2 and 16 m. Most of the Atterberg
values lie above the A-line on the plasticity chart,
confirming the high plasticity of the Bangkok clay.
The groundwater varies at depths of 0.5 to 1.O m.
3 PVDATTHESBIA
Three full scale test embankments (TSI, TS2, TS3)
were constructed in stages on PVD improved soft
Bangkok clay at SBIA site with PVD spacing of 1.5,
1.2 and 1.0 m, respectively, in square pattern
(Bergado et al, 1997). All PVDs were installed to
12 m depth. Three PVD models were installed in
the test embankments, namely: Flodrain in TS1,
Castle Board in TS2, and Mebra drain in TS3. After
the PVD installation, the thickness of the sand
drainage blanket was increased to 1.5 m. Then,
clayey sand was used to raise the embankment to 4.2
m (i.e., 75 kPa of surcharge) in stages.
The test embankments were 40 x 40 m in plan
dimensions with 3H:lV side slopes and a finished
height of 4.2 m. For TS3, a berm width of 5 m and
1.5 m high was included. Construction took 9
months to complete. The fill material was com-
pacted to an average bulk unit weight of 18 kNm3.
Surface and subsurface settlement gauges were
installed near the center of the test embankment. The
subsurface settlement gauges and the piezometers
were installed at 2 m interval.
The results show consistent patterns in settlements,
pore pressures, and lateral movements. The settle-
ment was fastest in TS3 (1.0 m PVD spacing) than
in TS2 (1.2 m spacing) and TS2 was faster than TS 1
(1.5 m PVD spacing). The lateral deformation-
settlement pattern was similar for all 3 embank-
ments.
Figure 2 illustrates the reduction of water content
with depth for test embankment TS3 after 660 days
of preloading (February 1996) compared to mean
values measured in February 1994. Previous values
from 1973 study by Moh & Woo (1987) are
included as dotted lines. The reduction in water
content at TS3 is more than 20% which agreed with
the back-calculated values from settlement data.

Fig. 5 Comparison of ChValues

The increase in undrained shear strength was

predicted by SHANSEP technique (Ladd 1991). The
predicted increase are indicated by solid lines in
Figure 3. The corrected undrained shear strengths
measured by field vane shear tests in February 1994,
May 1995 and March 1996 are also plotted for
comparison. There is excellent agreement between
the measured and predicted increase in undrained
shear strength due to preconsolidation and drainage
by PVD.
Assuming &/K, = 5 and using c h = 3 m2/yr, the
c h versus discharge capacity, qw, can be back-
calculated based on the concepts of Asaoka (1978)
for the three test embankments as shown in Fi . 4.
The back-calculated qwranged fiom 30 to 100 m /yr. 8
Assuming KhK, = 5, d,/d, = 2, and qw = 30 rn3/yr,
c h values were back-calculated and were in
agreement with the corresponding values from
piezocone tests as shown in Fig. 5. The results of the
1983 study are also plotted for comparison (Bergado
et al, 1996a). The accuracy of the back-calculated
parameters depends on the limitation of the Asaoka
(1978) method as well as the assumption of radial
consolidation.

4 PVD PERFORMANCE AT THE SBCH

Fig. 4 Comparison of ch-q, Relations of Three Test
Embankments TSI, TS2 and TS3 Using the Same Value of
Smear Ratio, KhK, = 5
The PVD performances at Sections 2A/2 and 2B/1
of SBCH which have the thickest layer of very soft
to soft clay and having maximum settlements
throughout the highway, were evaluated. The field
settlements as well as the fill height were compared
with those proposed and predicted by the designers
(Bergado et al, 1999).
The settlements predicted by Asaoka’s method
(Asaoka 1978) represented the settlement of the
whole stratum (improved and unimproved layers), as
it is based upon the monitored surface settlement
record. At the final stage of loading, the subsoil at
all sections has gone through about 90% or more
degree of consolidation. PVD-SD is a one-

43 1
dimensional FEM software capable of calculating
the consolidation of multi-layered soil. PVD-SD
calculations indicate that most of the settlement took
place at 2 to 12 m depth, corresponding to the zone
of very soft to soft clay.
Figure 6 shows a comparison of the settlements
predicted by the different methods with the observed
data for Section 2B/1. The time-settlement plot
predicted on the basis of Asaoka’s method (Asaoka
1978) shows that the calculated settlements were in
excellent agreement with the observed data. The
PVD-SD method also yielded very good predictions
whereas the one-dimensional method based on
Terzaghi’s theory slightly overpredicted the
settlements. Fig. 7 Calculated and Measured Settlements for Embankment
2 (TV-2)

5 VACUUM PRELOADING
A water and airtight very low density (VLDPE)
The scarcity of sand to be used as surcharge fill has geomembrane was placed on top of the drainage
led to the proposal to explore a combined vacuum layer. To maintain airtightness, the ends of the liner
preload and surcharge technique. The idea is to were placed on the bottom of a perimeter trench and
reduce the fill height and shorten the time of
covered with 300 mm layer of sand-bentonite mix
preloading. Instead of increasing the effective stress and water. A vacuum pump with a capacity of 100
in the soil mass by increasing the total stress by m3/hr and pressure of -70 kPa was installed for each
means of conventional mechanical surcharging,
embankment. After applying vacuum pressure for 45
vacuum assisted consolidation preloads the soil by
days, the embankments were raised in stages up to a
reducing the pore pressure while maintaining
height of 2.50 m. The pumps were run continuously
constant total stress.
for 5 months (Bergado et al, 1998).
Two additional 40 x 40 m embankments were
Figure 7 compares the FEM results with the
constructed at the SBIA site close to the previous
corresponding measured data assuming no vacuum
PVD embankments with a platform of 0.3 and 0.8 in
sandfill for Embankments 1 and 2, respectively. For pressure, with vacuum pressure that simulated the
field conditions, and with higher vacuum pressure
Embankment 1 (TVI), 15 m long PVD was used in
(-60 H a ) for Embankment 2. Similar trends of
conjunction with hypernet and nonwoven geotextiles
results were also observed for Embankment 1. The
drainage system. For Embankment 2 (TV2), 12 in
results indicated that even with PVD instal-lation,
long PVD was used together with corrugated pipe
high vacuum needs to be maintained for 4 to 5
and nonwoven geotextile drainage system. PVD
months to achieve higher degree of consolidation.
spacing was at 1.0 m in a triangular pattern for both
embankments.

Fig. 6 Time-Settlement Plot using Different Methods at Section 2 B / 1 ~SBCH Project

432

Fig. 8 Comparison of Maximum Surface Settlement Between
Embankment 2 and Previous Embankment TS3 at SBIA Site
Fig. 9 Variation of Settlement with Time with and without
Electro-osmotic Consolidation using Reconstituted Clay
Samples
The final settlement of TV1 and TV2 were 0.’74
and 0.96 m, respectively. The performance of TV2
when compared to previous studies using conven-
tional sand surcharging, as shown in Figure 8, pro-
duced an acceleration in the rate of settlement by
about 60% and a reduction in the period of
preloading by about 4 months.
The major difficulty experienced with this type of
preloading is the maintenance of vacuum pressure.
Even though a vacuum preloading of 75 kPa was
anticipated, the actual measured values seem to
indicate an efficiency of only 40 to 50% equivalent
to a surcharge pressure of 35 to 40 kPa.
433
Fig. 10 Variation of Shear Strengths for Recons-tituted Sample
(Small Cylinder Cell)
6 ELECTRO-OSMOTIC CONSOLIDATION
Electro-osmosis (EO) is the process wherein posi-
tively charged free water in a clay-water system
moves from the anode to the cathode. Upon appli-
cation of a direct current, cations in the diffused
double-layer of water moves toward the cathode to
gain electrons and thereby become discharged. As
the cations move, they carry with them water so that
there is a new movement of water toward the
cathode. Consolidation will result if water is re-
noved at the cathode but not replaced at the anode.
Studies on the effect of electro-osmotic consoli-
lation on soft Bangkok clay were performed in the
aboratory. Two types of electro-conductive drains
nade from common prefabricated vertical drains
PVD) were used. These consist of copper electrodes
nade by inserting 2 mm diameter copper rods into
he drain core, and carbon electrodes made by
.vrapping the drains with carbon fibers. The samples
were reconstituted and tested in a 300 mm high
having 300 mm diameter small cylinder cell (Abiera
et al, 1999; Bergado et al, 2000). Two holes at the
top and bottom cap, spaced 200 mm apart, were
provided for PVD installation. Vertical load was
applied on the top cap through a loading piston.
Reconstituted pressure and applied vertical stress
was maintained at 5 kPa coupled with 60 and 120
V/m voltage gradients. These voltage gradients were
obtained from previous investigators (Abiera et al,
1999; Bergado et al, 1998). Polarity reversal was
done every 24 hours. All tests were carried out until
90% consolidation was achieved (Bergado et al,
2000). The initial water content, liquid limit and
plastic limit of the soil specimen were 97%, 96%
and 33%, respectively. The pH, cation exchange
capacity (CEC), and total dissolved salts (TDS)
were, respectively, 6.3, 46.85 meq/lOOg, and 4050
PPm.
The variation of settlement against time and the
variation of shear strength across the drains are
shown in Figures 9 and 10, respectively. The shear
strengths were measured by customized miniature
vane shear apparatus. Larger settlements and higher
shear strength were obtained upon application of
electro-osmotic consolidation compared to using
ordinary drains. Moreover, the carbon electrodes
displayed better results compared to copper
electrodes in both 60 and 120 V/m voltage gradients.
The shear strength between the anode and the
cathode were almost equal indicating the
effectiveness of 24-hour polarity reversal. However,
the shear strengths in-between the cathode/anode
locations can be lower.
7 CONCLUSIONS
Three full scale test embankments were constructed
in stages on soft Bangkok clay at the Second Bang-
kok International Airport (SBIA) with prefabricated
vertical drains (PVD) installed to 12 m depth in a
square pattern. The water content reductions from
field measurements were in good agreement with the
computed values from consolidation settlements.
The undrained shear strength with depth as mea-
sured in the field is in agreement with the values
calculated from the SHANSEP technique due to pre-
consolidation and drainage. The back-calculated ac-
tual discharge capacity, qw, for the three test em-
bankments ranged from 30 to 100 m3/yr. The back-
calculated CI, values agreed with the corresponding
results from piezocone tests.
The PVD performance was also evaluated at
selected sections of the Second Bangkok Chonburi
Highway (SBCH) Project. The rate and amount of
settlement predicted by Asaoka’s method proved to
be in excellent agreement with the observed values.
The settlements predicted by the one-dimensional
FEM computer program PVD-SD proved to be in
reasonable agreement with the measured values.
Two additional embankments were constructed at
SBIA to study the effect of vacuum preloading in
combination with reduced amount of sand surchar-
ging. The final settlement of TV1 and TV2 were
0.74 and 0.96 m, respectively. The performance of
TV2 when compared to previous studies using con-
ventional sand surcharging showed an acceleration
in the rate of settlement by about 60% and a reduc-
tion in the period of preloading by about 4 months.
Electro-osmotic consolidation under 60 and 120
V/m voltage gradient was performed on reconstitu-
ted soft Bangkok clay using drains modified by
adding copper and carbon electrodes. Tests indicated
larger settlements and higher shear strength for both
electro-conductive drains compared to ordinary
drains. However, the carbon electrodes displayed
434
better results compared to copper electrodes in both
voltage gradients. Polarity reversal every 24 hours
proved to be effective producing almost equal shear
strength between the anode and the cathode.
REFERENCES
Abiera, H.O., Miura, N., Bergado, D.T. & Nomura,
T. 1999. Effects of using electro-conductive PVD
in the consolidation of reconsti-tuted Ariake Clay.
Geotech. Eng’g. Journals, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 67-
84.
Asaoka, A. 1978. Observational procedure for
settlement prediction. Soils and Foundations,
Vol. 18, NO. 4, pp. 87-101.
Bergado, D. T., Miura, N., Singh, N. &
Panichayatum, B. 1988. Improvement of soft
Bangkok clay using vertical band drains based on
full scale test. Proc. of the Intl. Conf on Eng’g
Problems of Regional Soils, Beijing, China, pp.
379-3 84.
Bergado, D. T., Asakami, H., Alfaro, M.C. &
Balasubramaniam, A S . 199 1. Smear effects of
vertical drains on soft Bangkok clay. ASCE
Journal of Geotech. Eng’g. Div., Vol. 117, No.
10, pp. 1509-1529.
Bergado, D. T. , Enriquez, A. S., Casan, L., Alfaro,
M. C. & Balasubramaniam, A. S. 1992. Inverse
analysis of geotechnical parameters on improved
soft Bangkok clay. ASCE Journal of Geotech.
Eng’g. Div., Vol. 118, No. 7, pp. 1012-1030.
Bergado, D. T. & Long, P. V. 1984. Numerical
analysis of embankment on subsiding ground
improved by vertical drains and granular piles,
Proc. 13th Intl.Conf Soil Mech. Found. Engg.,
New Delhi, India, Vol. 4, pp. 1361-1366.
Bergado, D. T., Long, P. V. & Balasubramaniam, A.
S. 1996a. Compressibility and flow parameters
form PVD improved soft Bangkok clay. Geotech.
Engg. Journal, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 1-20.
Bergado, D. T., Mannivannan, R. & Balasubra-
maniam, A. S. 1996b. Proposed criteria for
discharge capacity of prefabricated vertical drain.
Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 14, pp.
48 1-505.
Bergado, D.T., Mannivannan, R. & Balasubra-
maniam, A.S. 1996c. Filtration criteria of prefa-
bricated vertical drains filter jackets on soft
Bangkok clay. Geosynthetics Intl., Vol. 3, No. 1,
pp. 63-83.
Bergado, D.T., Balasubramaniam, A.S., Fannin,
R.J., Anderson, L.R. & Holtz, R.D. 1997. Full
scale field test of prefabricated vertical drain
(PVD) on soft Bangkok clay and subsiding
environment.Ground Improvement Developments
 1987-97 (GeoLogan '97), Geotech. Special Publ.
No. 69, ASCE, New York, U.S.A.
Bergado, D.T., Chai, J.C., Miura, N. & Balasubra-
maniam, A.S. 1998. PVD improvement of soft
Bangkok clay with combined vacuum and
reduced sand embankment preloading. Geotech.
Eng g. Journal, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 95-122.
Bergado, D.T., Balasubramaniam, A.S., Chishti,
I.A., Ruenkrairergsa, T. & Taesiri, Y . 1999.
Evaluation of the PVD performance at the Second
Bangkok Chonburi Project. Lowland Tech. Intl.,
Vol. 1, NO. 2, pp. 55-75.
Bergado, D.T., Balasubramaniam, A.S., Patawaran,
M.A.B. & Kwunpreuk, W. 2000. Electro-osmotic
consolidation of soft Bangkok clay with prefabri-
cated drains. Ground Improvement, Vol. 4 (in
press).
Chai, J.C., Miura, N. & Bergado, D. T. 1995.
Behavior of PVD improved ground under
embankment loading. Soils and Foundations,
Vol. 35, NO. 4, pp. 49-61.
Ladd, C. C. 1991. Stability evaluation during staged
construction. ASCE Journal of Geotech. Eng g.
Div., Vol. 117, No. 4, pp. 540-615.
Moh, Z. C. & Woo. S. M. 1987. Preconsolidation of
Bangkok clay by non-displacement sand drains
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This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice,Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 1

Improvement of hydraulic fills by using dynamic consolidation method

Jing-Wen Chen & Jer-Min Liao

Department of Civil Engineering, National Cheng Kung Universiy, Taiwan

ABSTRACT: Field measurements collected from literature are used to study current practice and to determine
the response of the ground improvement using dynamic consolidation method. Ground conditions at these
sites were all fill sands. Equations summarized from literature show that depth of influence increase with
square root of product of energy per blow and energy applied on soil stratum per unit area. Another one show
that SPT-N value increases with energy applied at soil stratum per unit volume. The last one show that the
PMT-P,~value increases with the energy applied at soil stratum per unit area. Meantime, the difference be-
tween depth of influence and depth of improvement are also discussed.

1 INTRODUCTION
To meet needs of industrial development in Taiwan,
there are many projects on reclamation of land going
i n the seaside of western Taiwan. Normally the fill
needed is made available by hydraulic extracting.
However, hydraulic fill is typically handicapped not
only by insufficient bearing capacity and extensive
settlement but also by liquefaction. If hydraulic f i l l
is intended as an industrial land, its soil stratum must
be improved i n advance. Since dynamic consolida-
tion is able to achieve the application quickly and is
cost-saving, the niethod has been adopted to im-
prove the soil stratum of reclaimed land.
When a tamper impacts on a fill, air trapped i n i t
will be squeezed out because of compaction. If the
coinpaction is applied continually, void of soil will
be decreased until it is saturated. The soil grains will
realign and the soil will be more compacted when
the pore water pressure rises and is dissipated and
squeezed out as compaction is continually applied.
Therefore, the first stage of dynamic consolidation
method applied to fill is compaction, and the second
stage makes fill compact because of squeezing out
of water, which can be defined as the dynamic con-
soiidation stage. There should be difference between
the two stages with respect to the effect on depth of
improvement. We can determine that, according to
the definition of Menard, tamping with a fixed
amount of energy has fixed depth of influence ap-
plied to the soil stratum, but depth of improvement
applied to the soil stratum will change as the number
of tamping increases.
The effect of the dynamic consolidation method in
reinforcing soil stratum is primarily dependent on
type of soil, initial conditions of soil, weight of the
tamper, drop height, tamping conditions, such as;
spacing, number of tamping for each layer, number
of layer, time delay after each tamping and ground
water level. However, the major issue in a design is
whether the fill at the desired depth of improvement,
applied by known energy, can meet the contract
specifications. Therefore, one of the focal points in
research of the method lies in the relationship be-
tween tamping energy and depth of improvement.
Most of important studies in dynamic consolidation
method (Menard and Broise 1975, Leonards, et al.
1980, Rollins and Kim 1994) emphasized the rela-
tionship between the square root of single tamping
energy applied to fill and depth of improvement.
However, a linear relationship between depth of
improvement and square root of single tamping en-
ergy can not be verified theoretically. Therefore,
through such energy demonstration forms as single
tamping energy, energy per area, and energy per
volume of applied fill, this study attempts to exam-
ine whether there exists a practical linear relation-
ship between the applied fill and depth of improve-
ment. It will also investigate the relationship be-
tween tamping energy and improvement of fill. The
results are expected to serve as a reference in des-
igning hydraulic method for improving the soil
stratum of reclaimed land.

437

Figure . The models ofenergy transfer
2. AP 'LIED ENERGY AND DEPTH OF
IMPROVEMENT
2.1 Depth of improvement and depth oj'injluence
Menard and Broise ( 1975) presented
where D is the thickness of compacted fill (ni)and M
is pounder weight (ton), and h represents falling
height (m).
Leonard, et a1.(1980) defined D as depth of
influence or effective depth of compaction. Mayne
(1 984) defined depth of influence as the maximun~
observable depth of fill improvement and further
defined critical depth as the maximum value of
depth of fill improvement. Rollins and Kim (1994)
defined depth of improvement as the depth to which
the dynamic cornpaction caused some improvement
in a given soil property, such as; density, stiffness,
penetration resistance. Chen, et al.( 1994) defined
depth of improvement as that fulfilling the design
requirement of SPT-N or CPT-Q,. specified in the
contract. In summary, depth of influence and depth
of improvement largely refer to the sanie thing.
However, it will be practical when depth of
improvement is regarded as the constant
accumulation of depth of influence, i.e. depth of
influence is the process of dynamic compaction
while depth of improvement is the final result.
Therefore, to facilitate analysis, this study will, in
discussion, treat applied depth of fill by single
tamping energy as depth of influence D,and treat
applied depth of fill by energy per unit area or unit
volume as depth of iniprovement D,,,, and make
distinct i o 11.
With respect to tamping energy applied to f i l l , we
can apply the dissipation of soil pressure and
classify the energy transfer model into three
categories as indicated in Figure 1. I n model A,
when the tamper strikes soil stratum, the energy
applied to soil stratum is burdened by the volume
obtained by the product of the area of the tamper
438
bottom and depth of improvement D,,,,. Model B is
the so-called pressure bulb method in soil statics.
Various ellipses indicate different equi-pressure
lines. When pressure is applied to soil, soil grains
shift, and the grains under the load focus shift only
vertically while the side grains shift not only
downward but also laterally. Therefore, regarding
soil layer on the same level, the soil grains right
under the plummet burden heavier pressure than
those outside grains do. This primarily accounts for
why the equi-pressure lines form bulb shape. Liao
and Chen( 1997) found that this model was more
reality. In model C, soil is regarded as an ideal
elastic object. The load weight on soil is evenly
burdened by the under layer of soil formed by a 30
degree line extending from the horizontal line.
Therefore, two types of energy we can use to
express the tamping energy applied to the fill. One is
the applied energy per unit area of the fill, E(,.
Another one is the energy burdened by each unit
volume of improved fill, E l .
2.2 Work of Previous Research
Mitchell ( 198 1 ) maintained that depth of
improvement was affected not only by impact
energy but also by type of soil, pattern of tamper,
and existence of soft layers. In other words, when
the same tamping energy is applied to sand fill and
to clay fill respectively, the obtained depth of
improvement is larger in the former case. Moreover,
the applied energy of a free drop is more effective
than that of a crane drop. Moseley (1993) indicated
that under ground water level and the number of
tamping can affect depth of improvement. Leonards
et a1.(1980) pointed out that soft layers in soil inay
interfere with the downward transfer of tamping
energy and decrease depth of improvement of fill.
For the present, estimation of depth of improve-
ment is typically modeled on equation proposed by
Menard and Broise( 1975) as D = ffdM . h . Value
of coefficient a is usually equal to 0.5-0.6 for sandy
soil.
However, Menard's equation ignores the influence
of the number of tamping and the size of applied
energy. Thus it is not justifled to regard the equation
as depth of improvement. Tai Yuan Industrial
University ( 1988) presented the dcpth of
improve men t as fo 11o ws :
D,,,,
= 5.102+ 0.009 W '11 + 0.
009Et, (2)
Since tamping energy per unit area, E(,is added to
Equation(2), it takes consideration into the influence
of number of tamping and tamping spacing.
However, because the mininiuni limits of tamping
energy per unit area and single tamping energy are
not determined, a depth of improvement of about 5
ni is obtained when the equation is put into use, even
when no energy is applied to fill. This is not
reasonable. In addition, Chang, et al.( 1992), based
on their findings from tamping crushed rock fill,
presented an equation of depth of improvement to
which the number of tamping N and revised
coefficient of tamping energy are added. Asahi, et al.
( 1979) inferred depth of improvement through work
principle which regard dynamic as static load weight.
Chen, et al. (1994) inferred from energy applied to
fill per unit area, the interval of tamping and the
relationship among the applied energy, the interval
and depth of influence. Except Menard's equation,
other equations required referring to tables and
complex calculation and are inconvenient.
Therefore, this study presents revisions after taking
strenghts and weaknesses of each equation into
consideration.
2.3 Principle and Process ojRevisions
The 14 sites using dynamic consolidation method to
improve the hydraulic fill are collected in this study.
The results of improvement and analysis are listed in
Tablel. I n the table SPT-N or PMT-P, is used to
evaluate the result of the improvement.
The following hypotheses are proposed to facilitate
analysis of data available:
1 . To be practical, both depth of influence and depth
of improvernent are designated as zero when no
energy is applied to fill.
2. Depth of improvement of fill D,,,, and energy
applied to f i l l form linear relationship, and so do
depth of influence D ,and energy applied to fill.
3. The influence of underground water level on
depth of i i n p ro veine n t is ni i n i m urn.
4. Improvement of soil stratum is conducted soon
after hydraulic fill, and time effect is not
considered.
Table 1 Applied energy and depth of improvement
439
The relationships between single tamping energy
E,) and depth of influence De, square root of El, and
De, tamping energy per unit area E, and depth of
improvement Dlnl,square root of EIl and DI,,, square
root of the product of El, and EIl and D,r,l,to the 0.25
root of the product Er, and E, and Dlnlare studied.
The equations of linear regression for these
relationships and the corresponding coefficient of
correlation are listed in Table 2.
From statistical point of view, equation(3)and (4)
should be the suitable equations that to present the
relationship between depth of iinprovement and
applied energy.
D',
=O. 5 95(E,,)".' (3)
D,,,l=0.667(EIl)" ' (4)
However, for taking consideration of practical
construction, it is inconvenient to use two different
pounder with different weights since the depth of
improvement can not be determined. Therefore,
equation Dl,,,=0.667(E, )'" should be the appropriate
candidate to express the relationship between depth
of improvement and applied energy.
3. ENERGY AND DEGREE OF FILL
IMPROVEMENT
3.1 Examination of Inzprovernent on Fill
The degree of improvement of fill which has been
reinforced by dynamic consolidation method is
normally judged by the measurement of Menard's
compression gauge (PMT-PJ, standard penetration
test (SPT-N) and cone penetration test (CPT-Qc).
The Menard coinpression gauge primarily measures
soil transfornlation modulus E> and soil limit
 Equation De=0.0282Ep De=0.595 (Ep)"j D,,,,=0.041Ea DI,,,=0.667(Ea) D,,,=0.371(EpEa)"5 D,,,=0.63 (Ep Ea)025
Coefficient of
Corre 1at i on 0.907 0.953 0.896 0.949 0.958 0.980
r'

pressure P, . The standard penetration test is widely

used; SPT-N frequently serves as the reference index
to liquefaction of soil. Therefore, after fill is
improved with dynamic consolidation method, an
examination by using the SPT-N is quick and
convenient. CPT is characterized by its ability to
repeat examination of fill, but the technique has
difficulty penetrating into hard f i l l .

3.2 Analysis of SPT-N Value

Figure 2 shows the change in SPT-N of fill before
and after energy per unit volume is applied to force
and thus has lower disturbance to the fill. This
technique is accurate in examining the effect of
improvement on fill. We can observe the trend of
positive correlation between the two factors. Figure
3 shows the relationship between energy applied to
fill in terms of per unit volume t . nz /nz3 and
increase of standard penetration SPT-N value. The
relationship is represented in the following:
A N = 0.304 E, (5)
in which El is energy per unit volume,
10 < E , ) <50 ( t . f i ~ / i ~ ' )
A N : increased standard penetration number

Lin et a1.(1986) indicated that the sedimentary

mudsand in Taiwan area, the ratio of conical
penetration experimentation CPT-Qc value and
standard penetration experimentation SPT-N value is
about 4. Therefore, the incremental Qc value after
energy is applied to f i l l can be obtained, and the
ratio of the two is 1.22.

Figure 4. The relationship bctwecn tamping eiicrgy pcr u n i t

area and increase of S I T - N

AQc = 1.22 El (6)

A Q c : the increase of conical penetration CPT-Qc

3.3 Aiialysis of PMT-PL Value

Figure 4 indicates the relationship between energy
applied to per unit volume E , and the increased f i l l
limit pressure value P,. From this figure, we know
that data dots and line of regression are more
dispersed, and r' = 0.956. Therefore, we can infer
that there exists better linear relationship between
Figure 2. Tamping energy per unit volume and the incrcase of the increased fill limit pressure value and energy
SP T-N

440
applied to per unit area t . m / nz'. The relationship
can be express as follows:

AP , =0.038 E, (7)
Where AP, is increased limit pressure and E(,is the
applied energy per unit area.

3.4 Field Examination

The refinery plant, located nearshore of Yunlin
county, Mailiau as shown in Figure 5 , represents a
model case history of dynamic consolidation (Shih
Chiu Construction and Suivey Engineering Company,
1994). The derived equations can be calibrated by
field data listed as follows:

Single tamping energy, E,,= 500 t .ttz

Applied energy per unit area, E(:= 489 t . i n
Depth of improvement, D,,,,= I4ni
Applied energy per unit volume, El = 35.5 t ,112 / t12'
Initial average SPT-N = 9.4 Figure 5 . Location of Mailiau, Taiwan
Final SPT-N = 19.4
Initial average Q,= 40 liy/criz'
4 CONCLUSION
Final average Q,= 85 kg/cm'
C a I i brat i o n : 1. In the implementation of dynamic consolidation
Depth of improvement from Equation (4) method, the depth of improvement 011 fill and the
Din,=0.667 (E,,)'' product of single tamping energy and energy per
= 0.667 (498f ' unit area of the applied fill to 0.5 power form
=14.8m = 14m (measured) linear relationship, but the energy of
SPT-N from Equation (5) reinforcement has upper limits. The depth of
A N = 0.304 ( E l ) influence and the square root of single tamping
= 0.355 (35.5) energy form positive correlation, and the
= 10.8 coefficient is 0.595. Depth of influence is the
N (After) = N (before) t- 10.8 process of depth of improvement. In analyzing,
= 9.4 4-10.8
there should be distinction between the two
= 20.2 = 19.4(nieasured)
factors.
Q, from Equation (6)
By examining the degree of improvement of
A Q L= 1.22 E , hydraulic fill by using the standard penetration
=1.22 (35.5) , SPT-N value, we know that the increase of SPT-N
= 43.3 (kg/cm,-) value and energy burdened by per unit volurne El
Qc (after) = Qc (before) -43.3 form linear relationship, and the coefficient is
=40+43.3 , 0.304.
= 83.3 = 85 (kg/cnz-)(measured)
J. For the sedimentary niudsand i n Taiwan area, the
Froni above examination and field calibration we ratio of conical penetration test CPT-Qc yalue and
can clearly observe that when the depth of standard penetration test SPT-N value is about 4.
improvement i n a soil stratum is detemiined, Therefore, the increase of Qc value after energy
Equation(3) can use to deteiiiiine the weight and per unit volume is applied to f i l l can be obtained,
height of tamping, Equation(4) for calculation of the and the ratio is 1.22.
size of energy to apply to an unit area of ground, and
Equation(5), Equation(6) and Equation(7) are further 4. By examining the degree of improvement of fill
used to determine whether the SPT-N value, CPT-Qc by using PMT-P,- liniit pressure value, we know
value and PMT-P/. value of fill after it has been that the increase of limit pressure value L I P , and
rammed meet the specifications, capable of energy burdened by per unit area E,,form linear
replacing the test tamping of pilot test and saving relationship, and the coefficient is 0.038.
time and engineering cost.

44 1
5. The empirical equations suggested in this study
are calibrated by field data. The results present
reasonable agreement.
REFERENCES
Asahi, S. Hiroshi, N. Masao, H. and Nobo, S. "The
Application of Dynamic Consolidation Method 011
Oil Vessel Foundation," Soils and Foundations,
V01.17,NO.9,pp.5-11. (1979).
Rollins, K. M., and Kim, "U.S. Experience with
Dynamic Compaction of Collapsible Soils," Pro-
ceeding of In-Situ Improvement, Atlanta, pp.26-43,
(1 994).
Shih Chiu Construction and Survey Engineering
Company, Report on the Application of Dynamic
Consolidation Method to the Soil Improvement of
Heavy Works Construction Foundation of Formosa
Plastic Corporation, ( 1994).

Chang,Y .J. Ping,Y .C. Kong, H.F. and Chang, F.

"Experimental Research on Boulder Foundation
Treated by Strong Tamping," Proceeding of the
Third National Seminar on Foundation Treatment,
Qin Huang Dao, pp.395-400 (1992).

Chen, J.W., Liao, J.M., and Wei, D. "Stress Dis-

tribution in Sand under Dynaniic Compaction,"
Proceedings of the 7"' Conference 011Current Devel-
opment of Geotechnical Engineering, Taipei,
pp.727-734 (1997).

Chen, S.G. Chang, T.S. and Lee, L,Y. "Energy-

Effective Depth Relationship in Dynamic Compac-
tion for Hydraulic Fill Site", Proceeding of 16th
Conference 011 Ocean Engineering, Taiwan, pp.232-
263 (1994).

Leonards, G.A. Gutler, W.A. and Holtz, R.D., 'Dy-

namic Coinpaction of Granular Soils, "Journal of the
Geotechnical Engineering Division. ASCE. Vol.
106, No.GT 1, pp.35-44 (1 980).

Lin, P.S., Lee, F.P. and Lai, S.Y,"Correlations of

Dutch Cone Test with Dynamics Characteristics,"
Sino-Geotechnics, No. 16, pp.5 1-62 (1 986).

Tai Yuan Industrial University Strong Tamping

'I

Method" Manual of Foundation Treatment, Chapter

6, China Architecture Industry Press (1 988).

Mayne, P. W., "Ground Response to Dynamic Com-

pact i 011, J O U ~1 IofI ~the G cotechn i cal Engineering
"

Division, ASCE, Vol. 110, No.6, pp.757-774 (1984).

Menard, L., and Broke, Y., "Theoretical and practi-

cal Aspect of Dynamic Consolidation," Geotech-
nique,Vol. 25, No. 1, pp.3- 17 ( 1 975).

Mitchell, J.K., "Soil Iniprovenient, state-of-the-art

Report," Proceedings, 10th International Conference
on Soil Mechanics, Vo1.4, Session 12, Stockholm,
pp.509-52 1 , ( 198 1).

Moseley, M.P., Ground Improvenient, Hayward

Baker Inc. Maryland, USA, pp.2 1-39, (1 993).

442
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 1

Accelerated consolidation method in Minami-Honmoku Terminal

construction project

T.Chiba
Minami-Honnioku Terminal Construction Ojfice, Port and Harbor Bureau, City of Yokohama,Japan

ABSTRACT: Minami-Honmoku Terminal is a container berth that has been constructed by reclaiming land,
using as reclamation materials the leftover soil from inland construction works and the dredged soil obtained
from dredging rivers and channels. The sea around the site is deep, having an average depth of Y.P-25m. And
a soft alluvial clay stratum lies under the seabed, for which it is worried that ground subsidence will take place
over a long time. Thus, as a counter-measure against residual settlement, vertical drain method was employed.
This report describes the summary of ground improvement design and construction works together with the
actual performance.

1 INTRODUCTION Figure 1 shows the general plan of the Minami-

The purpose of Minami-Honmoku Terminal Con-
struction Project is to cope with the diversified de-
mands for commodity distribution, which resulted
from the increase in container cargoes. The works
consist of construction of four container terminals
with water depth of approximately -15 to -16m on a
man-made island, created by reclaiming from a sea
area of 217ha, that is located off the coast of Mi-
nami-Honmoku roughly around the middle of the
coastline of Yokohama City.
Figure 1. General plan of the Minami-Honmoku Terminal con-
struction project.
Honmoku Terminal Construction Project and Table
1 the Construction Schedule.
The whole project is being carried out roughly in
two stages to promote efficient utilization of con-
tainer terminals. The first stage construction zone
that is reported in this paper shall start its services in
the year 2001. The reclamation works are in progress
dividing the first stage construction zone into two
blocks: No.1 block (62ha) and No.3 block (27ha).
The soil leftover from inland construction works and
the soil obtained from maintenance dredging of riv-
ers and channels are used as the reclamation fill ma-
terials. In October 1991 soil dumping started all
from offshore side at the No.1 block using soil carri-
ers and floating conveyor ships.
The average water depth of the sea area was
originally Y.P-25m, and at the seabed, the soft allu-
vial clay is deposited in layers, which is likely to
cause ground subsidence of the reclaimed land over
a long period of time even after the land is in ser-
vice. The technical problem of this project is to ac-
curately estimate the ground subsidence and to con-
ceive effective counter-measures against subsidence
in a limited time before the beginning of the con-
tainer terminal service. In this report some consid-
erations are given after making mostly the compari-
son between the design and the actual in connection
with the ground improvement works of the first
stage construction zone.

443

2 EXISTING GROUND AND SOIL
CHARACTERISTICS
2.1 Composition of the existing ground
This project site was dredged in 1960’s to collect
soil for reclamation of other sites. As a result the
water depth before the beginning of the construction
works was Y.P-20 to -27m except at the channel-
side revetment and the middle partition revetment.
The original seabed is inclined with a gentle slope of
0.8% from the land side toward the middle portion
of the bay.
Figure 2 shows the contour map of mudstone
(BR) layer under the seabed, which is hereinafter,
called the base layer. The elevation of the base layer
varies widely, ranging from Y.P-10 and Y.P-45m.
Consequently, the thickness of the layer to be con-
solidated differs greatly with the location. Moreover,
in Fig. 2, the location of subsurface soil investigation
is shown. The ground investigation was carried out
by boring, soil sampling and electric cone penetra-
tion tests, and it mostly aimed at grasping the thick-
ness of the layer to be consolidated, and the accumu-
lation of super-soft silt and confirming the soil strata
that will function as a drainage layer.
Figurc 2. Contour map of mudstonc (RR) layer under the sea-
bed.
444
The reclaimed and existing ground of the first stage
construction zone is rather comply on generally
comprises from the upper layer down to the bottom
in the order of the leftover soil from construction
works, including mainly gravel (Bg), a non-uniform
reclamation soil stratum comprising alternately in-
termixed dredged soil (Bc) and construction leftover
soil (Bs), an alluvial sandy soil stratum (As), an al-
luvial clay stratum (Ac), and diluvial clay deposits
(Dc) in the rolling hill of the mudstone (BR) layer of
the No.1 block. Since the height of the reclaimed
land is Y.P+S.Om, the thickness of soil stratum to be
consolidated is approximately 50m at the maximum.
2.2 Soil properties of existing and reclaimed
ground
Figure 3 shows the profile of soil properties that are
the results of soil tests conducted on the existing and
reclaimed soils. The summarized properties of each
stratum are as below.
Bg Stratum: Non-uniform stratum with N-values
widely varied, ranging from 0 to 13. It is widely dis-
tributed over the ground surface with thickness of
about 10m.
Bc Stratum: The reclaimed soil stratum including
mainly cohesive soil with N-values ranging from 0
to 3. Some parts of the area include sludge with
natural water content of 100%.
Bs Stratum: The reclaimed soil stratum including
mainly sand with N-values ranging from 1 to 14. It is
difficult to distinguish the boundary of the stratum
from that of the Bc stratum.
As Stratum: It is widely distributed around the origi-
nal seabed of the No.1 block with N-values ranging
from 4 to 11. This stratum has a function of drain-
age.
Ac Stratum: Existing unconsolidated clay layer, rela-
tively homogenous with N-values ranging from 1 to
7. It is considered that the consolidation of the stra-
tum will be speeded up with As layers existing above
and below.
Dc Stratum: It forms an alternate stratum with sand
layers and it has N-values ranging from 5 to 16 and
the thickness of the stratum is approximately lm.
Since the stratum is sparsely distributed and hardly
distinguished from the Ac stratum, it is assumed as a
part of the Ac stratum in the design work.
Figure 3. Profile of soil properties
3 ACCELERATED CONSOLIDATION
WORKS
3.1 Generul policy
The present reclaimed land has to begin its service as
a container terminal wharf within approximately
three years after the land reclamation together with
the infrastructure development including roads and
supply lines. Hence, with an aim to minimize the
ground subsidence after starting the services, the
ground improvement was performed on 59hu of land,
approximately 65% of the total area.
The general policy of the ground improvement in-
cludes the following.
To up-keep the residual settlement within
30cm at the starting time of the infrastructure
development (one year before the beginning
of the terminal service).
To employ the accelerated consolidation
method that is called the vertical drain
method (sand drains, cardboard drains). It is
used in combination with the embankment
loading method considering from the view-
points of workability and economic viability.
To conduct the improvement of the ground
that includes the alluvial and earth-fill re-
claimed soil strata above the base layer (BR).
To use repeatedly the loading materials for
the economic viability and finally use them
as roadbed materials for the terminal wharf
road construction.
445
3.2 Design of accelerated consolidation works
Figure 3 shows the profile of soil properties that are
widely scattered. Hence, in case the soil constants
were taken directly from the results of soil tests, it is
predicted that the computed settlement and com-
puted settlement speed would differ greatly from
those of the measurement. Thus, prior to the design
works, a test embankment was constructed on a test
ground that was provided within the reclaimed land
of the No.1 block, where the field observations, such
as settlement, horizontal displacement, pore water
pressure, ground water table were conducted and
these results were used in the design computation.
The consolidation settlement was computed by the
one-dimensional consolidation method. The degree
of consolidation was computed by Terzaghi’s one-
dimensional theory and also by Barron’s approxi-
mate solution that takes into consideration the well
resistance. Based on the analysis of results from in-
strumented measurements and also based on the re-
sults from pore water pressure dissipation tests, the
ground surface, the As stratum and the strata above
the base layer were assumed to be acting as the
drainage layers. The consolidation settlement was
computed for 80 observation points that were lo-
cated on the first stage construction zone, consider-
ing the reclamation history, ground conditions, land-
use configuration and ground preparation schedule.
The studies on accelerated consolidation settle-
ment began from the most economical embankment
loading method. The vertical drain ground improve-
ment method was scrutinized only when the em-
bankment loading method could not yield the results
that satisfy the objectives. The embankment loading
ground improvement method was designed under the
upper-limit design conditions: loading height = 6m,
left-over period = 6 months.
The so-called vertical drain methods, such as sand
drain method, sacked sand drain method and board
drain method were examined by conducting com-
parative studies. As a result of these studies, the sand
drain method was found to have the following ad-
vantages. Consequently it was adopted for the No.1
block.
1) The method employs a big diameter drainage
pipe and the effect due to the consolidation time lag
is small.
2) There is no problem of percolation of the hard
gravel layers that lie between the soil layers of the
reclaimed ground.
3) It is possible to secure the required number of
long-size sand-drain driving machines.
Moreover, as to the No.3 block, the sand drain
method and the most economical board drain
method were employed.

3.3 Execution of works for accelerated

consolidation settlement
Figure 4 shows the outline of works for the acceler-
ated consolidation settlement. The area where recla-
mation was completed most early in the No.1 block
was improved by the embankment loading method
(PL : loading thickness = 2.5-3.5m), and other ar-
eas were improved by the sand drain method (SD :
pile diameter = OSm, layout pattern = square pattern,
spacing = 3.5~2).As to the area out of the operation
range of the machine that is the maximum piling
range equal to 35m, a part of the alluvial clay stra-
tum remains non-improved.
As to the No.3 block, the whole area of the con-
tainer yard was subjected to the sand drain ground
improvement method (SD : pile diameter = OSm,
square layout arrangement, pile spacing = 4 . 0 ~ ) .
Regarding the area adjacent to the channel side,
sand-drain piles were driven into the ground by
changing the pile spacing gradually from 6 to 10m Figure 6. Contour map of measured settlement values.
with an aim to control the differential settlement af-
ter the beginning of the service. And finally, regard-
4 FEATURES OF IMPROVED GROUND
ing the area where land reclamation was completed,
the ground was so soft that the continuity of the sand 4.1 Characteristics of consolidation settlement
drain pile was to be worried about. Consequently, After conducting accelerated consolidation works,
the board drain ground improvement method was the measurements were made to find out settlement,
adopted (BD : drain material = natural fiber, 9mm pore water pressure and ground water table of the re-
thickness by 90mm width; square layout arrangement, claimed land. The embankment for loading was re-
drain spacing = 2.0, 2.5m). moved only after it was confirmed that the residual
The sand mat thickness is taken 0.5m and the un- settlement was within the allowance value. The re-
der-drainage pipes were provided at 20m intervals in view of the predicted (computed) settlement was
made on the basis of the results from measurement.
the sand mat to make up for the drainage efficiency.

446

Figure 8. Time -settlement curve (point E).
The contour map of computed settlement values
and the contour map of measured settlement values
at the time of completion of one dimensional con-
solidation are shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6
respectively. And Figure 7 shows the comparison of
the computed and measured settlements. According
to these figures, both settlements were inclined to be
roughly in conformity with each other. Regarding
the settlement values, the measured settlements were
mostly larger than the computed values in the case of
the No.1 block, but they are slightly smaller in the
case of the No.3 block. The results show that the
measured settlement values at points from A to E in
Figure 7 (and 5 ) are larger than the computed values.
447
Figure 10. Comparison of unconfined strengths (4") before and
after ground improvement.
This is due to the fact that at these points, exceed-
ingly soft clays were accumulated under all aspects
of reclamation process and soil properties of these
clay layers were not taken into account in the calcu-
1ation.
Figure 8 indicates the time - settlement curve of
point E, shown in Figure 7 (and 5). This point is the
deepest point in the first stage construction zone
with the foundation elevation Y.P-45m, and the
lower 15m thick clay layers out of the alluvial strata
were not improved. From this it is learnt that the
consolidation of the reclaimed layers was almost
completed until the beginning of the terminal ser-
vices and the residual settlement was taking place at
the alluvial clay strata. Moreover, in the design caI-
culation, a comparatively precise prediction was
possibly made with respect to the settlement of the
alluvial clay strata, but with respect to the soils of
the reclaimed ground, the results were fairly larger Table 2. Calculated soil constants and modified soil constants
than the predictions due to the above mentioned rea- Property
Designed value M d f i e d value
son. Thus, to verify the effect of the accelerated con- Reclaimed Alluwal Reclaimed Alluvial
layer strata layer strata
solidation works, the computed time-settlement Umtwei t Above ground water level . 18 6
curve was modified to fit in with the measured set- r, Underground wafer level 9 8 (r)
Void ratio
tlements. Accordingly, it was confirmed that the re- e 1.20 180 120 180
quirement of the ground improvement to keep the Consohdabon yeild stress 5r,H Cr,H 5r,H
residual settlement within the allowance value of P, WW
Compression index 010/020 050 015/020 050/060
30cm was fulfilled. CC
The soil constants, used in the calculation and the Coemcienr
cb(cm'/d) Of consol'dabon 5000 300 5000 / 1000 200 / 300
soil constants, modified by fitting in with the meas- Coemcient of well resistance I 06
ured settlements are shown in Table 2. L,
The apparent consolidation coefficients (ch) of the
reclamation soil, obtained from backward calcula-
tion by Monden Method using measured settlements The reclamation works will be continued toward
are shown in Figure 9. The apparent ch of the the second stage construction zone having a larger
-
reclamation soil is 1000 2000 cm2/d and it is depth of water in the near future. And it is the au-
almost equal to the value at the lower range of ch thors' desire to scrupulously carry out future works
shown in Table 2. These ch values in Table 2 were while attention will be focussed on the foundation
derived by the fitting analysis. behavior of the first stage construction zone, doing
continuously analysis and observation of data.
4.2 Mechanical characteristics
The changes of unconfined compression strengths Acknowledgements : My warmest gratitude and
(qu) before and after ground improvement by sand grateful appreciation go to Mr. K.Yamada and Fuk-
drain method are shown in Figure 10. The post im- ken Co., Ltd. who gave helpful advice to complete
provement results were obtained three months after this report.
the end of the 10-months' pre-loading period. Major
changes of strength were not confirmed at the Y.P 0 REFERENCES
- Y.P-lOm Bg layer because it has a high content of
Monden, H., Y1963. Memoir, Faculty of Engineering. Hi-
sand and gravel, but the strength increase, propor- roshima University (eds), A New Time Fitting Mefhodfor the
tionate to the embankment load, was confirmed at Settlemetit Analysis o f Foundallon on Sofi Clays, 2( 1):21-29.
-
the Bc layer around Y.P-10 Y.P-15m.

5 CONCLUSION

Since this reclamation site made use of the leftover

soils from construction works as reclamation materi-
als, the characteristics of soils were widely scattered
with the origin of soil. Sand seams (thin layers of
sand) exist irregularly. Hence the soils were largely
non-uniform and the evaluation of their characteris-
tics was difficult. Thus the results from soil investi-
gation together with those from instrumented meas-
urement on the test embankment were effectively
used to reflect them to the analysis, which made it
possible to achieve a reasonably precise settlement
prediction using a simplified one-dimensional con-
solidation computation. Moreover, in carrying out
the accelerated consolidation works, the economic
viability was given top priority, and the embankment
loading method and the sand drain method with a
wider spacing of sand piles were adopted. The objec-
tives laid down at the beginning of works were ful-
filled.

448
~ e l a ~ o nbetween
s ~ ~ s~ ~ ~ ~ eand n t d ~ ~ ~ l a ~ofe soft
m elateral m ~~n t ~ ~
under embankment
1H.f.Chung & Y.S*Lee
Korea institute of Construction TechmlogxSeotd, Korea
K. H. Kinn & K. N. Jin
Kurea Land C ~ ~ ~ Seoul,
~ ~Korea
a ~ u n ~

ABSTRACT : ~ e # ~ e m e nand t lateral disp~acementin clay f o ~ d a t i o ntreated with pack drain under
embankment during construction and consolidation have been analysed. This paper described the relationship
between settlement and lateral displacement of the soft ground at the test site. It presents an analysis of the
settlement and lateral displacement data recorded, with concIusions regarding the practical effectiveness of the
vertical pack drains installed. The vertical settlement and lateral displacements were evaluated using the field
test data from i n s ~ e n t a t i o nof settlement plates, extensometers and inclinometers. The correlation between
settlement and lateral displacement was obtained. These correlation can be used effectively for prediction of the
rates and magnitudes of the behaviour of the soft clay treated by pack drains under embankment on clay
foundation.

pack drain. This study provides a means of evaluating

It has been suggested that settlement and lateral
displacement can be considered a good indicator of
the stability of soft foundation under embankment.
Marche and Chapuis( 1974)have suggested the use of
observations of lateral displacement as a means of
controlling the stability of embankments during
construction. Their approach is based on the
assumption that increased lateral displacements are a
sign of incipient failure.
A field test site was constructed to evaluate the
performance of vertical pack drains for soft ground
improvement. The test site was heavily instrumented,
and good performance data were obtained. Vertical
pack drains were installed with different type and
spacing at this test site. The key objectives of the test
site were the development of specific information
regarding the behaviour characteristics of the marine
soft clay layer under embankment. Works are being
conducted for three years from 1996.8 to the present
time. This field test site is located Yangsan area near
Pusan in Korea.
This study is concerned with the soft ground
i ~ ~ r o v e ~ by
e npack
t drains at fufi-scale triai field
test site. A comprehensive array of 4 types was buiIt
in the same field test site to assess the relative
efficiency of various pack drain schemes. A typical
plan view of test site is shown in Figure 1. The test
site is divided into 4 sections for different type of
the effectiveness of pack drains in improving soft
ground subjected to embankment loading. The depth
of soft g r o ~ isd 30m, and the depth of pack drains
installed in soft ground is 25m. The pack drains were
not installed from 25m below the ground level to the
bottom of the soft clay layer. Thus, the depth of upper
5m at the bottom of the soft clay layer was untreated
by pack drains. The e m b ~ e n fit1 t consisted of a
granitic residual soil compacted to a unit weight of 17
kN/m3.The drain spacing are 0.8m, I .2m, 1.6m, 2.0m
respectively.
In order to obtain continuous settlement and lateral
displacement distribution curves across the
e m b a ~ e n tand to prevent disturbance of the
construction work, the profile settlement gauge and
inclinometer were used in this site. The magnitude
and distribution with depth of the iateraf deformation
6, are fictions of the position of the inclinometer
with respect to the e m b ~ e n t sIn. the present study,
the lateral displacements observed at 5m apart from
the toe of the e m b ~ e n slopest are used. To
investigate the variations of the magnitude of
settlement and lateral displacements with both
e ~ b a ~ e load n t and time, it has been found
appropriate to refer to the maximum lateral
displacement 6, observed along a vertical profile and
to compare its variations to those of the maximum
settlement S observed under the embankment.

449
 2 G E O T E ~ ~ I C APROPERTIES
L OF SOFT
CLAY

The soft soil of field test site constitutes of marine

clay up to 30m thick. The subsudace geology data at
the site reveal the existence of a filled layer of about
1.5m above a 28.5m thick layer of alluvial soft silt
clay. The sandy gravel layer is appeared below the
bottom of clay layer beyond 30m below ground level.
The artesian pressure of 33kPa is existed in the sandy
gravel layer below the clay layer, and applied upward
to the clay layer.
The variations of density, void ratio, and
consolidation parameters with depth for clay of test
site are presented in Figure 2.

3 ANALYSES AND DISCUSSIONS OF

RESULTS
3.1 Settlements and lateral d~splace~~ents
with
c ~ n s t r ~ stages
c~~~n
When an embankment construction begins on a clay
deposit, a significant consolidation and shear
deformation should be expected to occur in all stages
of construction. Thus, settlement and lateral
displacement are developed in the clay deposit under
the embankment. The magnitude of settlement and
lateral displacement during construction and at the
end of construction is extremely difficult to predict.
Because it depends essentially on the relative
importance of the drained and undrained phases of
response ofthe foundation to the conshction such as
the rates of load application and of construction, the
geometrical characteristics, and the mechanical
properties of the clay.
To investigate the variations of the magnitude of
settlement and lateraf displacements with
construction stages, settlement and lateral
displacement under the embankment are analysed
according to the elapsed time. Representative
example of vertical settlement and lateral
displacement measurements with construction
sequence is shown in Figure 3. The magnitude of
vertical settlement and lateral displacement are
increased with construction sequence and the elapsed
time (Indraratna et al., 1994).
By examining Figure 3, it may be seen that the shape
of 6=f(z), which corresponds to a homogeneous
foundation, is more or less stable after the
embankment construction. The magnitude and the
depth developing maximum lateral displacement are
presented in Table 1. Where, 6,,?.z,,, and H represent
the maximum lateral displacement, the depth
developing maximum lateral displacement, and the
thickness of soft ground, respectively. An analysis of
the data presented in Table 1 shows that average 6,, is
about 36.98cm and average z, is about 0.2551-r.

450
 displacement 6, remains small at the initial stage, on
the other hand the lateral displacement increments
are very large from the middle stage.
3.4 Correlation between settlement and lateral
displacement with construction stages
The behaviour of clay foundations under stage
constructed embankments has been analysed in detail
by Tavenas et al. (1978). Irrespective of the depth at
which it occurs, the maximum lateral displacement
developing during construction and consolidation
can best expressed as a function of the settlement of
the embankment. To investigate the variations of
lateral displacement 6, with consolidation settlement
S during one stage of construction and consolidation,
the variations of 6, with S observed under
embankments have been calculated from the field
monitoring.

Figure 5. Lateral displacement shapes with

embankment loads

0.255H means that the depth developing maximum

lateral displacement is 25.5% of total depth of soft
ground below ground surface.
3.2 Shapes of lateral displacement with depth of soft
ground
The magnitude and distribution with depth of the
lateral deformation 6, after 8m height of fill are
presented in Figure 4. In this figure, the normalised
curves on 6/6, and z/H corresponding to the different
observations are drawn. They confirm the stability of
the distribution of lateral displacements with depth.
Large lateral displacements develop in the upper
layer. The lateral displacement with depth is
decreased.
3.3 Lateral displacements with embankment loads
The variations of the maximum lateral displacement
6, with the embankment load q11yh observed during
the construction in this test site are presented in
Figure 5. In this figure the embankment load means
the height of embankment fill. The average
construction velocity of fill is 5.8dday in this study
site. In all cases the lateral displacements are (d) pack -4
increased with embankment loads. The lateral Figure 6. Variations of the maximum lateral
displacement 6, with the settlements S
451
Table 1. The ma nitude and the depth developing
maximum lateral fiisplacement
I Magnitude 1 6,(crn) 1 H(m) 1 &,(in)
Pack- 1
Pack-2 27.14 30 9.0
Pack-3 54.27 30 5.5
Pack-4 29.54 30 8.5
Average 36.98 - 7.7
Table 2. Summary of the relationships of settlement
and lateral displacement
During 1”
Methods
Em bankrnent
1 6,=0.183-4.44
2 6,=0.19S-2.52
Pack
3 6,=0.208+0.43
drain
4 6,=0.26S- 1.78
Ave I 6,=0.193-2.08 I 6,=0.01 S+21.82
Figure 6 presents the variations of the maximum
lateral displacement 6, with the settlements S for the
typical case of pack drains. There is a scatter of the
data but a least square regression analysis indicates
that correlation is established in terms of 6, = a -S@.
In the construction and consolidation stages, the
lateral displacements are much smaller than the
settlements. And the lateral displacements are larger
in the construction loading stage than in the
consolidation stage. Generally the lateral
displacements develop much more slowly than the
settlements (Hartlen et al., 1996). This conclusion
can also be applied to stage-constructed
embankments.
The relationships of settlement and lateral
displacement can be expressed in terms of 6, = a
.S+p, since the settlements S and lateral displacement
6,, are also variably affected by the duration of
construction (Tavenas et al., 1980). The summary of
the relationships of settlement and lateral
displacement for all cases is presented in Table 2.
The lateral displacements in these cases are ralated to
the settlements by a linear relation of the type 6, = a
.S$. During the initial construction phase, a has
values varying between +0.18 and +0.26 and p has
values varying between -4.44 and +0.43. During the
later consolidation phase, a has value +0.01 and p
has values varying between +18.08 and +21.77.
It seems that a is reduced with time for the very long
term, possibly as a result of the increasing importance
of secondary consolidation phenomena. The total
average 6, = a -S@ for prefabricated band drains are
6, =0.19S-2.08 during the periods of embankment
construction and 6, =O.O 1S+2 1.82 during the periods
of consolidation after embankment. From these CO-
relating equations, we can recognise that t$e lateral
I z,/H 1 Remark 1 displacement 6, increases linearly with settlement S
during the periods of construction and consolidation.
0.300
0.183 4 CONSLUSIONS
0.283
In this study, the improvement efficiency of soft
0.255
ground below embankment stabilised with pack
drains is analysed. The effectiveness of vertical
drains could be evaluated by considering the surface
settlement and lateral displacement changes in
relation to the consolidation behaviour of the
foundation clay layer below embankment. The
During settlement and horizontal displacements developing
in clay foundations treated different pack drains
Consolidation
6,=0.01 S+18.08 during construction and consolidation have been
6,=0.0 1s+2 1.77 analysed. The development of a significant
consolidation at the beginning of any embankment
6,=0.01 S+2 1.60
construction has been confirmed.
6,=0.0 I s+22.17 An analysis of the data presented in this study
shows that average 6, is about 36.98cm and average
is about 0.255H. The relationships of settlement
and lateral displacement for pack drains are
6,=0.19S-2.08 during the periods of embankment
construction and 6,=0.0 1S+21.82 during the periods
of consolidation after embankment. This data
indicate a linear increase of the maximum lateral
displacement with the maximum settlement. These
relationships can be used effectively for prediction of
the rates and magnitudes of the behaviour of the
foundation clay treated by vertical drains under
embankment on marine soft soil.
REFERENCES
Korea Land Corporation (1999), “A study on the
consolidation of soft ground”.
Hartlen J, and Wolski W (1996), “Embankments on
Organic Soils”, Elsevier, pp. 181-233
Indraratna ByBalasubramaniam AS, and Ratnayake P
( 1994), “Performance of Embankment Stabilised
with Vertical Drains on Soft Clay”, J o f Geotech
Engng, Vol 120, No 2, pp. 257-273.
Leroueil S, Magnan J-P, and Tavenas F (1990),
“Embankments on Soft Clays”, Ellis Horwood, pp.
47- 176
Tavenas F, and Leroueil S (1 980), “ The Behaviour
of Embankments on Clay Foundations”, Can
Geotech J, Vol. 17, pp. 236-260.
Marche, R, and Chapuis R (1974), Controle de la
stabilite des remblais par la mesure des
deplacements horizontaux, Can Geotech J, Vol.
11(1), pp. 182-201
452
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Influence of the void ratio in soils treated with air foam and cement

Y. Hayashi & A. Suzuki

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Kumamoto Universig, Japan

ABSTRACT: The properties of soil treated with air foam and cement for different void ratios were studied. The mechani-
cal properties of the treated soils were greatly influenced by the void ratio. In this study, unconfined compression strength.
which has previously been shown to have a profound relation to the void ratio, was found to be an important indicator of
the stress level in the shear behavior of treated soil. The study aBo showed that the treated soils could be regarded as
over-consolidated soils. The triaxial compression behavior depended on consolidation pressure divided by the uncon-
fined compressive strength; however the failure strength did not depend on it.

1 INTRODUCTION Table 1 Soil Property

Soils treated with air foam and cement are popular

lightweight geomaterials which possess properties that
make them very useful. The foremost property is the
lightness of the soil. Ground constructed with a lighter soil
intrinsicallytransmits loads a lesserload to the lower ground.
Other merits include strength and density, which can be
easily controlled, and soil, even if not suitable for
construction, can be used as the raw material for treated
soil. The treated soils can be also used in narrow space
fields because of their high liquidity.
Quality management of improved soils is often based on
the unconfined compression strength. Hayashi and Suzuki
(1998) indicated that the unconfined compression strength
of soils treated with air foam and cement decreased as the
void ratio (e)increased. In this study, the authors examined
treated soLs with a microscope and conducted unconfined
compression, triaxial compression. consolidation and
permeabilitytests on the treated soilswith differente values
Through the experimental results, this paper describes the
importance of e and the unconfined compression test as
indices in the evaluation of the treated soil properties.
2 EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
2.1 Raw Soil
Dredged soil takes up about 45% by volume of dumped
wastes in Japanese port (Tsuchida et al., 1996). The
utilization of such soil is desirable, hence the soil for this
study was taken from the Kumamoto port. The properties
of the soil, classified as silty sand, are shown in Table 1.
wet densit v 1.69 dcm3
liquid limit I 30%
plastic limit 26 %
clay contents 14%
silt contents
sand contents
2.2 Preparation Specimen
The air foam was prepared from an animal-proteinfoaming
material with a density of 0.031g/cm3 (Details in Hayashi
et al., 1998). The air foam was mixed into a cement slurry
with a 100% cement-water ratio. The slurry was then
mixed into the prepared soil, with a 59% in water content.
to maintain a homogenous mixture. The cement ratio was
0.2, and the ratio of air foam to dry soil was varied from
0.006 to 0.03 by mass, respectively. The specimens were
prepared by tamping the mixture into steelmolds (150mm
in diameter and 150mm in height) and were then cured for
several days in a thermostatic room (20+3T). The
specimens were removed from the molds and trimmed for
each experiment. They were wrapped in polyethylene film
to protect them from drying and were then cured in the
same room.
2.3 Experiment
Measurement of the air distribution in the treated soil
Each specimen was divided into sections and
photomicrographs were taken of several cross-sections

453
of each sample. Air voids were identified from the
photomicrograph, and the area, number and shape of each
air void were measured using a computer with imaging
software.
Unconfined Compression Test
The specimens measured 50mm in diameter and 100mm
in length and the curing times were 4,7,14,28,56 and
112 days. The compression tests were conducted for an
axial strain rate of l%/min. The load and displacement
were measured.
One-dimensionalConso lidation Test
The specimens measured 60mm in diameter and 20mm in
height and the curing time was 7 days. The loads of the
experiment were varied from 0.0196 to 1.923 MPa and
the loading period for each stage was 1 hour. The
displacement was measured at fixed times.
Consolidated-undrained Triaxial Compression Test
As the permeability of the treated soil was very low, it
sheared without drainage for ordinary loading. The triaxial
compression test should be examined for unsaturated soil
because the treated soil always exists in unsaturated
condition.The experiment for unsaturated soil is not general
method and the matrix strength of the unsaturated soil can
be also obtained from effective stress for a saturated soil.
The experiment was performed using following method.
The specimens measured 50mm in diameter and 100mm
in length and the curing times were 64 to 83 days. Each
sample was saturated using vacuum procedure (Rad and
Clough, 1984). After confirmation of saturation by
determining that the Skempton B value was over 0.95, a
fixed isotropic consolidation pressure, chosen from 0.03,
0.06, 0.09, 0.12 and 0.15 MPa, was applied to each
specimen until primary consolidation was completed. The
axial load was then applied with an axial strain rate of
O.OS%/min under undrained conditions. The load,
displacement, and pore pressure were measured under a
compression of up to 15% axial strain.
Figure 1 Air void diameter distribution
454
PermeabilitvTest
The specimens measured 50mm in diameter and 100mm
in length and curing times were greater than 56 days. The
specimens were set in a chamber and loaded under a
confined pressure of 0.03MPa and a back pressure of
0.025MPa through the lower pedestal into the specimen.
The amount of water running from the top cap was
measured.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Air-void Distribution
Photograph 1shows three photomicrographs of the treated
soil. The void ratio (e) and scales are also given. e is
obtained the followingequation:
,where pnJis the perticle density of matrix composed of
soil and cement and pdis the dry density of specimens.
In the photomicrograph of e=2.0, although very small,
each air void can be seen clearly. As e increases, the air
voids become greater and are transformed. The distribution
of the air voids is shown in Figure 1.The diameters were
calculated by assuming that each void was a circle and,
because the small air voids were hard to discern, the small
size air voids were adjusted by a calculated air-void content
ratio. The frequency of air void not more than 0.05mm in
diameters were over 60%, and it was higher against e.
rhese distributions may be approximated by the following
zxponential function:
, wherex is the air-void diameter and d is the mean and
:he standard deviation of diameters. d is 0.065mm,
3.057mm and 0.042mm of 3.3, 2.6 and 2.0 in e ,
respectively.
3.2 Unconfined Compression Property
The air voids in porous materials affects the strength, and
the unconfined compression strength (4,) and modulus of
deformation (E,,) decrease exponentially as e ofthe treated
soil increases. This can be expressed by the Equation 3:
The coefficients a a n d pare soil constants. Hayashi and
Suzuki (1998) have shown that the strength increases with
age up to 56 days. Figure 2 shows the q, and E,, at 7,56
and 112days. The values for the treated soil aged for 7
days is easily distinguishable from the 56 and 112 day old
specimens. However, the 56 and 112 day old specimens
could not be distinguished from each other. The deter- Table 2 Coefficients Q and
mined constants a,/3, and multiple correlation coefficient
R2are shown in Table 2. The qu value is affected more
than the Esobecause the /3of q, is greater than that ofEso.

56

Table 3 Experimental conditions

Code pr e o’, q u l o J c
1-30 1.02 3.31 30 0.052
1-60 1.02 3.34 60 0.101

3.3 One-dimensiona L Compression Property

Figure 3 shows the e to Logp relationship of the treated
soil. Aclear yield stress @,> can be appeared. The e value
decreased a little with increased stress belowp,. However,
abovep, e decreased profoundly as the stress increased.
The compression index Cc varied from 1.5 to 3.0,
independent ofe, and is much greater than for alluvialclays.
The p, value is also related to e shown in Figure 4,and the
q, line calculated from Equation 3 is also included in the
figure. Thep, point falls somewhere between l.Oxqu to
1 . 5 4,.
~

3.4 Undrained Triaxia L Compression Property

The wet density (g), e value and consolidation pressure
(( of the
i, specimen
) submitted for this experiment are
shown in Table 3. The far left column shows the experiment
code used in the legend of the following figures. The d)
q, ratio is considered the index denoting the reciprocal of
Figure 3 e -1ogp relationshq the over-consolidation ratio.

Photo I u-oss-section ot the treated soils

455

Figure 4 e - p relationshq
Figures 5(a)-5(c) show deviator stress (4) to axial strain
(E,) and excess pore pressure (Au) to axial strain (E,)
relationships. In Figure 5(a), dcis 0.03MPa, 0.09MPa
and 0.15MPa for the treated soilwithconstant e.Allvalues
of q represented a clear peak value - failure strength (qJ-
at small E,. After the peak they decreased as E, increased.
The modulus of elasticity (E=dqld~,) at low strain was
almost constant of all the treated soils. The tendency for
q, to became smaller for larger dcis shown: the reason
for this is discussed later. The behavior of du shows a
dilation of the soil, and this behavior became profound as
dcincreased. Such behavior is equivalent to that obtained
in over-consolidated clays.
Figure 5(b) shows the results of the treated soils with
different e values but the same dc. q, increased as e
decreased - a tendency similar to that observed in the
unconfined compression test. The behavior of du became
apparent as e increased. When q, decreases as e increases,
a) e k 3 . 3 b) o =0.09MP a
Figure 5 Stress - strain and excess pore pressure -strain behaviors
456
it means that the dcto q, lessens, and so it shows the
sameresult as that represent in FigureS(a). From the results
shown in Figures 5(a) and 5(b), the authors found that
both e and dcaffected the shear behavior. As e is related
to q,, a stress parameter (dJq,)was defined, as shown
in Table 3. The q and du values are normalized by 4,. The
shear behaviors with constant d J q , are shown in Figure
5(c). Because each behavior ofq/q, and du/q, exhibited a
similar trend among the three treated soils, q, seems to
represent a stress parameter for the shear behavior of the
treated soils with different e and dc.
q, and theE are plotted withdc in Figures 6 and 7. Both
values depended on e but not on dcand show some
scattering. The q,and the E divided by q, or Esoare shown
against dlq, in Figures 8 and 9. q was nearly equal to
q,, whereas E was about 40% of ks0. The deformation
property shown by the triaxial compression test appears
to show some difference to that shown by the unconfined
compression test.
3.5 Coefficient of Permeability
The relationship between k and e is shown in Figure 10.
Though the treated soil has much void, the coefficient of
permeability ( k ) may increase as e increases, from 10-sto
10-6(cm/s) and the soil could be regarded as barely
permeable geomaterial because of the independence of
the air voids (see Photograph 1). Because the degree of
saturation changed slightly after the experiment, the
existence of a water route could be surmised, and the
coefEicient of permeability k may be an apparent index.

4 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Asoil treated with air foam and cement is a singular,high-
strength geomaterial in spite of the high void ratio. The.
mechanical properties of treated soil with different void
ratioswere studied and the followingresultswere obtained.
(1)The air-void diameterin the treated soils became bigger
as the air-void ratio increasedand the distributioncould
be supposed an exponentialdistribution.
(2) The unconfined compressionstrength and the modulus
of deformationdecreasedexponentially as the void ratio
increased.
457
Figure 10 k to e
(3)Aclear yield stress could be obtained through the one-
dimensional consolidation test, and it was analogous
to the unconfinedstrength.
(4)The confiningpressure levelto unconfined compression
strength (d,/q,) provided the shear behavior in the
hiaxialcompressiontest. The failurestrengthwas almost
equivalentto the unconjjnedcompressionstrength,while
the modulus of elasticity was much smaller than the
modulusof deformation.
(5) The coefficientof permeabilitywas comparativelylow
in spite of the high void ratio.
The void ratio affected many properties of the treated
soil and the unconfined compression strength was an
important index of stress level.
Inhomogeneity of the qualityoftreated ground is a serious
problem in the fields. Density change due to defoaming of
air foam can be considered as a factor of inhomogeneity,
the authors hope this study will give some help to establish
for evaluatingthe grounds.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This studywas performed as a part ofjoint research project
undertaken by Kumamoto University, Fut aba-Komuten
Inc. and Nippon-Hod0 Inc. The authors are grateful to
these organizationsfor financialsupport. The authors are
also indebted to Ms. Y. Ujiyama and Mr. S . Hirano for
assistancein carrying out these experiments.
REFERENCES

1)Hayashi,Y., Suzuki,A. and Kitazono, Y. (1998), "Effect

of Soil Properties on the Improvement with Foam
and Cement Milk", Environmental Geotechnics,
A.A. Balkema, pp .637-642.
2) Tsuchida, T., Takeuchi, D., Okumura, T. and Kishida,
T. (1996), "Development of light-weight fill from
dredgings", EnvironmentalGeotechnics, Balkema,
pp.4 15-420.
3) Rad, N. S., Cloughand G. W., (1984), "New procedure
for saturating sand specimens", Journal of
GeotechnicalEngineeringDivision, Proceedings of
ASCE, V01.110, NO.GT9, pp.1205-1218.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 15 1 1

Design of prefabricated vertical drain method on reclaimed marine clay

H. Irnanishi, D. Zhang & S. Suwa

Geo-ReseurchInstitute, Fukuoku, Japan

ABSTRACT: In the analysis of consolidation of soft ground improved by means of prefabricated vertical
drain (PD), coefficient of consolidation with horizontal drainage (ch) is one of the important parameters.
There are many laboratory tests and some measurement-based analysis had been carried out. However, the ch
used to the PD method is still unsolved by these studies. Then, a series of field tests was conducted on an ob-
servation site of reclaimed ground. By changing the interval of drain spacing while keeping the loading and
soil condition approximately same, the consolidation settlements of the reclaimed ground were measured.
Based on the observed results and numerical analysis results, this paper examines ch of reclaimed ground.
And then, the effectiveness and the cost of ground improvement were examined from both drains spacing and
pre-loading.

1 INTRODUCTION However, it is not sufficient to find the mechanism

Prefabricated Vertical Drains (PDs) have been car-
ried out in several sites and several conditions in
soft ground. The actual observed consolidation
speed in the field is different from calculated con-
solidation speed on design. Their differences are
caused by thin sand layers in the soft clay, equiva-
lent diameter of PD; smear effect and well resis-
tance (Yoshimi, 1979, Mizukami et al. 1996).
They are concerned with drain distance (H) and co-
efficient of consolidation with vertical drainage (c,)
of soft ground. The determination of c, is one of
the most important things when vertical drain
method is carried out.
Many researchers have been studying about a
consolidation speed, which is caused by PD due to
the horizontal drainage in soft clay. The c, should
be considered theoretically. Therefore many inves-
tigations about c, were carried out in laboratories.
It was found that ch was larger than c, obtained
from laborat07 test.
On the other hand, it makes clear that the calcu-
lated consolidation speed used by c h in laboratory is
faster than the observed speed. However, it is re-
ported that the calculated consolidation speed used
by c, in laboratory is well closed to the observed
speed, The reason is "smear effect" which is pro-
duced around the drain materials in soft clay
ground. There are a few studies about smear effect.
and there is no established estimated technique.
Design engineers and field engineers are always
worried about the determination of coefficient of
consolidation to estimate the construction period.
Both c, and drain spacing (Ds) are very important
parameters to design the PD method to fix the con-
struction cost and the period, moreover the numeri-
cal analysis is important as well. We got an oppor-
tunity to measure the soft ground settlement
improved by PD at test fields. This paper presents
the knowledge from not only measured data by ob-
servational method but also calculated results by
Finite Differences Method (FDM).
GEoTECHNICAL AND
OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
Figure 1 shows a ground plan of test fields. Test
works were carried out on three cases, which are
l.Om, 1.2m and 1.6m intervals of spacing respec-
tively.
Figure 2 shows the geologic column and soil
properties by boring and laboratory tests. The sea-
bed consists of Holocene marine clay in 7 meters
thick and Pleistocene coarse sand in 10 meters
thick on the Tertiary sand stone and shale. Dredged
clay has been reclaimed in 10 meters thick on these
strata. It is found that both reclaimed clay and

459
Holocene clay are in the state of unconsolidation
and the mean c, is around 50 cm2/day by laboratory
test. Sand seams can be recognized among the re-
claimed clay by electrical cone penetration test,
through which penetration resistance, pore water
pressure and skin friction can be measured.
Measuring devices in the soft clay consist of pore
pressure meters and differential settlement gauges.
Differential settlement gauges positioned on thi
border not only between reclaimed clay and marin1
clay but also between marine clay and sand. Afte
covering the reclaimed clay with sand, we set U]
those instruments in the clay.

460
Fig. 3 Measured Settlement Curve and
Calculated Curve (Drain Spacing 1.0m)
Fig. 4 Measured Settlement Curve and
Calculated Curve (Drain Spacing 1.2m)
3 DRAIN SPACING AND COEFFICIENT OF
CONSOLIDATION
The calculation method was FDM, which consisted
of both Terzaghi's consolidation equation and Bar-
ron's vertical drain equation. Figure 3 to Figure 5
show the comparison between calculated results
and observed data. In these figures, ch was back-
calculated with help of measured settlement result,
while supposing the original c, obtained from labo-
ratory test to be cvo. Relations of chand cvowere ob-
tained as follows.
46 1
Fig. 5 Measured Settlement Curve and
Calculated Curve (Drain Spacing 1.6m)
Fig. 6 Drain Spacing and Reduction Ratio ch/cvO
When Ds is 1.0 m, Chequals 0.5 times cv0;while
for case of Ds being 1.2 m, c h equals 0.6 to 0.8
times cv0, and for the case of Ds being 1.6 in, c h
equals 0.8 to 1.1 times cv0. By using these parame-
ters, it could be found that the calculated consolida-
tion curves by FDM showed good consistency with
the observed data.
Figure 6 shows the relation between Ds and the
reduction ratio (c/cv0). The results suggested us as
follows.
(1) Based on the assumption that three testing fields
have the same ground condition, it is found
that c h is getting larger in proportion to increase
of Ds.
(2) Using c,, of the laboratory test, the observed
consolidation speed is slower than the calcu-
lated speed by using Barron's equation.
( 3 ) cIJc,o of reclaimed clay is smaller than that of
alluvial clay.
Fig. 7 Measured Settlement Curve of Field Test
(Drain Spacing 1.0m)
Fig. 8 Compare of Measured Settlement Curve and Calculated
Curve (Drain Spacing 1.Om)
It is considered that the reasons of these phenomena
are caused by not only smear effect but also dis-
turbed area, which occurred during penetration of
mandrel to soft clay.
4 IMPORTANT NOTICES FOR RECLAIMED
CLAY
Figure 7 shows one of the consolidation curves,
which was obtained from test works. These ob-
served data show that settlement started as soon as
PD was driven to the reclaimed clay. It amounted
to one third of total settlement before pre-loading.
It was considered due to dissipation of excess pore
water pressure, which occurred in reclaimed clay
462
and alluvial clay by reclamation works.
Figure 8 shows the relation between degree of
consolidation and elapsed time. There are three
curves by FDM. The curve A is calculated with ch
taking account of the settlement before pre-loading.
It can be fitted to the observed data. The curve B is
calculated with c,, which is obtained from labora-
tory test. It is found that the curve B is overesti-
mated compared with observed data. The curve C is
calculated with c,, that did not consider the settle-
ment before pre-loading, which showed an underes-
timated tendency. Therefore, it is very important to
estimate the settlement before pre-loading and de-
termination of ch.

Fig. 9 Examining on the Economy of PD Design
5 ECONOMY OF PD DESIGN
From the results of these test works, it has been
made clear that the consolidation settlement could
not be speeded up, even when the distance between
drain spacing was made small. This showed good
consistency with the computing results by means of
Barron's theory. The smaller the distance between
drain spacing is, the higher the construction cost
will be. Namely, using ,c, obtained from the pre-
investigation borings to predict the consolidation
settlement in field would probably result in uneco-
nomic design. Therefore, it is concluded that, if the
design was based on relationship of ch and drain
spacing, the construction cost could be made
cheaper.
463
Table 1 . Example unit construction costs.
PD c o s t Land Fill
cost
Material I Working
* Length of board =18.0m
Generally, in the design of drain spacing, to
shorten the construction period, two aspects of fill-
ing and drain spacing are mostly considered. Here,
as an example, basing on the ground condition of
these tests works, the construction cost of ground
improvement for each 10,000m2 is estimated by us-
ing PD method.
Calculation of the construction costs is as fol-
lows; suppose the design load (P) being 2.5 m (as-
suming the residual settlement being zero), and the
target degree of consolidation being 90%; the pe-
riod of construction is from the start of PD con-
struction to the end of target degree of consolida-
tion. Trial calculations on the construction period
and construction cost were made for five kinds of
drain spacing cases: 0.8 m, 1.0 m, 1.2 m, 1.4 m,
and 1.6 m, respectively. Table 1 shows the parame-
ters used in the calculation.
Figure 9 shows the calculation results. From
these trial calculation results, it is made clear that;
(1) To shorten the construction period, it is effec-
tive by shortening the distance of drain spacing.
(2) Relationships between the height of filling and
construction period are not always linear. When
the height is greater than 3.5 m, the effect of the
filling in shortening the construction period be-
comes weaker.
( 3 ) The most economic drain spacing is 1.0 m for the
construction period of 160-220 days, 1.2 In for the
construction period of 220-260 days and 1.4 m for
the construction period of 320-360 days respectively,
in this example.
6 CONCLUSIONS
Based on the field test data of settlement and the
analytical results, the following conclusions are de-
rived.
(1) For estimating the consolidation speed, it is
necessary to make a modification of c, ob-
tained from laboratory tests. The smaller the in-
terval of drain spacing is, the smaller c h be-
comes. cdc,o for Holocene clay is larger than
that for reclaimed clay.
(2) It is necessary to consider the settlement before
pre-loading for giving a correct estimation of
construction period. FDM is more useful than
the conventional method.
(3) The economies of PD designs were examined,
basing on the costs of different test works. And
then it was made clear that if the design was
based on relationship of c h and drain spacing,
the construction cost could be made cheaper.
(4) When the construction period is given previ-
ously, it is possible to economize the cost of
ground improvement by means of both drains
spacing and pre-loading.

REFERENCES
Imanishi H., Zhang D., 1999. Test Works concerning
with Spacing of Prefabricated Vertical Drains, Proc.
Second China-Japan Joint Symposium on Recent De-
velopments of Theory & Practice in Geotechnology,
pp. 185- 190, 1999.
Kamon M., Pradhan T.B.S., Suwa S., 1991. Valuation of
Design Factors of Prefabricated Band-Shaped
Drains”, Geo-coast ‘91, pp.369-374.sa
Mizukami J., Kobayashi M. and Tsuchida T., 1991. The
horizontal coefficient of consolidation c/, Journal of
JSCE, No.535/III-34, pp. 1-12. (in Japanese)
Tanaka H., Ohta K. and Maruyama T., 1991. Perform-
ance of Vertical Drains for Soft and Uniform Soils
(in Japanese), Report of the port and harbor research
institute, Vo1.30, No.2, pp.212-227.
Tanaka H., 1990. Settlement of ground improved by band
drains at the development of Tokyo international
Airport, 10th S.E.Asian Geotech. Conf., pp. 133-138.
Yoshikuni H., 1979. Design and management of works in
Vertical drain method (in Japanese), Gihodo.

464
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)1( 2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Fibredrain development, design and performance

S.L. Lee, G. I? Karunaratne, M. A. Aziz & K.Y.Yong

National University of Singapore, Singapore

ABSTRACT: Fibredrain is a prefabricated vertical drain made of natural fibres which are biodegradable,
hence ecologically harmonious and environmentally friendly. The manufacturing process entails low energy
consumption. The tensile strength of Fibredrain is such that it can withstand the stresses associated with deep
installation as well as the densification of granular soil layers at the surface by heavy tamping. The apparent
coefficient of consolidation Ch is a function of the permeability and compressibility of the clay and the field
performance of the drain. The latter is influenced by the deformation of the core and the filter, the clogging of
the filter and the kinking of the drain in the consolidation process. The design of soil improvement using
Fibredrain is discussed. Finally the satisfactory performance of Fibredrain in several selected projects in East
and Southeast Asia is reviewed.

1 INTRODUCTION
Infrastructure construction on soft clay leads to long
term settlement problems. which are best dealt with
by pre-consolidating the clay until the anticipated
settlement under the design load is enforced prior to
superstructure construction. Prefabricated vertical
drains (PVD) are normally used to achieve the
desired degree of consolidation within the project
duration under a predetermined surcharge intensity,
which should take the post-construction settlement
due to secondary compression into account. An
account of the development of PVD in Japan was
given by Aboshi (1999).
A PVD should facilitate permeation of water into
the PVD from clay subjected to excess pore pressure
and to convey the water axially to the drainage
boundary. Both axial and filter permeability of the
PVD are important in this regard. The filter cover
should satisfy two requirements simultaneously, i.e.
cross-plane water transmission and soil retention.
The reduction of axial discharge flow capacity
caused by the deformation of the core and the filter,
the clogging of the filter and the kinking of the drain
in the consolidation process must be taken into
account. The cross-plane filter permeability. Should
be large eneough to take advantage of the occasional
pervious inclusions, such as lenses, seams and layers
of sand and silt that exist in natural soil deposits.
During installation in deep deposits of soft clay
PVDs are subject to tension as the mandrel is
withdrawn. Furthermore, the fluttering of the portion
of the PVD between the top of the mandrel and the
pulley at the top of the installation rig is known to
course the tearing of the filter sleeve of some PVD.
Adequate tensile strength in the PVD core and filter
to withstand installation stresses is therefore
beneficial.
In many soil improvement projects, to minimise
ground settlement, recently placed granular fill need
to be densified while the PVDs are employed for
subsoil consolidation under the fill, as shown
schematically in Figure 1. Fill soils, even with a high
ground water table, can be effectively treated with
the application of high energy tamping. The PVD
passing through the fill soils should be able to
withstand the above high energy tamping without
significant damage to its drainage performance. In
addition, adequate tensile strength and flexibility are
important for a PVD to withstand the sliding and
heaving of soil layers in such treatment projects.
Figure 1 . Sequence of ground treatment with Fibredrain
and heavy tamping

465
Fibredrain reported in this paper is made of organic
jute fibre and coconut coir. The core consists of four
axial coir strands enveloped within the filter
comprising two layers of jute burlap to form a
rectangular strip measuring 80- lOOmm by 8- 10 mm.
Three continuous stitches running longitudinally
prevent the folding of the drain (Lee et al. 1995,
Karunaratne et al. 1999). Figure 2 shows a bale of
Fibredrain delivered on site. It has been used in
many projects in Southeast Asia and Japan involving
treatment of soft marine and fluvial clays as well as
peaty clays in conjunction with surface densification
using high energy tamping with satisfactory
performance.
Fibredrain is a green product. It is biodegradable,
ecologically harmonious and environmentally
friendly. From the environmental point of view, the
energy consumption of jute production is only 15%
of that needed for synthetic drains. The solid waste
generated during production is basically organic, and
biodegradable. Some of the more important
laboratory tests conducted to examine the properties
of Fibredrain are reported in the following, detail of
which can be found in Karunaratne et a1 (1999).
2 AXIAL PERMEABILITY
The discharge capacity of Fibredrain determined in
accordance with ASTM D47 16-87 has a range of
200 m’lyr for a lateral pressure of 10 kPa and 20-30
m’/yr at 300 kPa (Lee et al. 1989a) as shown Figure
3. The discharge flow capacity decreases with
increasing lateral pressure corresponding to the
depth of installation which causes the deformation of
the core and the filter. It is of interest to note that the
field performance of PVD, for one way drainage,
which is usually the case, requires maximum axial
flow capacity at the surface where the lateral
pressure tends to be small.
3 FILTER PERMEABILITY AND CLOGGING
POTENTIAL
Apparent opening size (AOS) of the two burlap-
layer filter design of Fibredrain is in the range of
200-600 pm. The large AOS serves to tap pervious
layers and lenses in clay deposits and the double
filter layer intercept the clay slurry generated
immediately after installation of Fibredrain in the
clay as the mandrel is withdrawn. The cross-plane
permeability of the filter was measured under a
constant head across a stack of four identical burlaps
fastened across an open end of a circular perspex
cylinder (Lee et al. 1989a). Edges of the burlaps
were sealed off with rubber membranes and a
reinforcing coarse wire mesh was placed below the
fourth burlap and clamped to the cylinder. The
466
cross-plane filter permeability determined in this
way for clean water was better than 10-5d s . This is
equivalent to the coefficient of permeability in fine
sand which helps in tapping natural drainage layers
such as sand and silt seams, lenses and other
pervious paths.
The clay slurry of water content ranging from
65% to 600% was passed through four burlap layers
mentioned above under a pressure head of 0.5 m of
water. About 2 litres of marine clay slurry at water
content of 260% and 600% flowed out within 15
minutes. For Singapore marine clay at water content
of 65% (LL = 70%), the passage of water was
slower but clear almost from the beginning. The four
burlap filter layers were then removed carefully and
cleaned in an ultra-sonic agitator to extract the clay
embedded in each burlap layer separately.
Gravimetric analysis showed that soil particles
retained on the outermost burlap layer and the
immediately next inner layer, but no particles were
detected in the third and fourth burlap layers (Figure
4a). The water passing through the four burlap layers
was examined similarly to be free of any soil
particles (Lee et al. 1989a). The retention of soil
particles on the two filter layers under axial
permeability test with marine clay at 65% water
content is shown in Figure 4b. This study shows that
clay of near liquid limit will not enter the drain core
during the installation process as well as the
consolidation process but will be retained by the two
burlap layers.
4 KINKING
Miura et al., 1995b compared the apparent
coefficient of consolidation, Ch, of Ariake clay (W, =
86-97 %, Ip = 48-54%, Wn = 105-134%, Gs = 2.59-
2.62) obtained with Fibredrain and another PVD,
identified by PD, by installing both separately in 500
mm diameter and 500 mm high consolidation cells.
On back analysis, the clay was found to have a Ch of
1.35 m’lyr and 2.19 m’lyr with PD and 9.2 m’lyr
and 10.7m’Iyr with Fibredrain at consolidation
pressures of 98 kPa and 294 kPa respectively. Figure
5 shows the deformed shapes of the two drains after
carefully removing the clay around the drains at the
end of consolidation. PD has deformed significantly
resulting in kinking and decrease in axial drainage
capacity. The deformation of Fibredrain, on the
other hand, was largely confined to increase in
thickness and longitudinal compression of the drain
without kinking. Axial compression in the
Fibredrain is largely manifested as an increase in
cross sectional area due mainly to the unwinding
characteristics of coir fibres in the filter layer as well
as the core. The resulting increase in cross-sectional
area and the decrease in filter opening size enhance
the unclogged water flow into the drain.
 Figure 2. Bale of Fibredrain and anchor shoes

Figure 5 . Deformed shape of PD and Fibredrain (Miura et al.

1995a)

Figure 3. Discharge flow capacity of Fibredrain

Figure 6. Tensile test and biodegradability (Miura et al. 1995a)

M 50
Parbcle S i z e Imrcron) 5 TENSILE STRENGTH
(a 1
Figure 6 shows the tensile strength of the Fibredrain
Jr 1
under air-dry, after 4-day soaking in water, after 50-
day outdoor exposure and after consolidation in
Ariake clay for 126 days (Miura et al. 1995a). The
tensile strength varied from 9 16kg, 860 kg, 77 1 kg
to 208 kg respectively for the cases considered. The
strength deterioration with time in the Ariake clay
shows the biodegradability of the fibres. It should be
pointed out that the deterioration in strength does not
Particte Size (micron) imply a reduction in drainage capacity as observed
Ib) in Pantai Mutiara reclamation project where
Fibredrain performed satisfactorily for more than
Figure 4. Distribution of particles retained on filter layers: (a) two years (Lee et al. 1988). Because of the high
filter permeability test, (b) axial permeability tcst tensile strength, the robustness and the flexibility of
the jute filter layers, Fibredrain can withstand high
It should be observed from the above energy tamping and still retain its drainage functions
consolidation experiment that the apparent Ch for unimpaired. It has the highest tensile strength (6.8
clay tested under lateral pressure is influenced by the kN with 8.7% strain at rupture) of all PVDs in the
reduction on flow capacity of the two drains due to market today, which helps in unimpeded and
kinking, clogging and deformation of the core and concurrent application with high energy tamping.
the filter.
467
Table I . Recommended reduction factors for PVD (After (3)
Cause for reduction Notation Magnitude where Qf is determined by Equation (1) and Qr is
Deformation of filter into core Fi 1.5 - 2.5 estimated by
space
Deformation of corc and intrusion Fd 1 .0 - 2.5
of‘ filter into core space
Chemical clogging of filcr or core Fc 1.0- 1.2
space where the average degree of consolidation U is
Biological clogging of filter or Fb 1.0 - 1.2 defined by
core space
Kinking due to settlement of clay Fk 1 .0 - 4.0 U = 1 - exp (-8Ch t /D2 p) (5)
In Equations (4) and (3,A = 7cD2/4, SOthe initial
slope of settlement-time curve, Ch the coefficient of
Table 2. Required discharge flow capacity, QT(m’/yr) consolidation in horizontal flow, D the influence
Ch D Sf(m) diameter of a drain, t the time, p s ln(D/d)-% , d the
(m’/yr) (In) 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 equivalent drain diameter (Hansbo, 1979) and U the
1 I 1.46 2.92 4.38 5.84 7.31 ratio of current settlement to the final settlement Sf.
1.5 1.23 2.26 3.69 4.92 6.15
It is of interest to note that multiplying So from field
2 1.10 2.21 3.31 4.42 5.52
settlement-time curve by A yields a good estimate of
the drain performance and U predicted by Equation
( 5 ) using Ch obtained from laboratory test will yield
accurate result only if Qr given by Equation (4) is
smaller than Qf given by Equation (1). The value of
Qr defined by Equation (4) are given in Table 2 for
7 1 10.23 20.45 30.68 40.91 51.13 arguments of Sf, Ch and D.
1.5 8.60 17.21 25.81 34.41 43.02 Referring to Table 1, kinking is not a problem for
2 7.73 15.47 23.20 30.95 38.69
Fibredrain (Miura et al. 1995b) and hence Fk for
9 1 13.15 26.30 39.44 52.59 65.74
1.5 11.06 22.13 33.19 44.25 55.31 Fibredrain is close to 1.0. For short duration projects
2 9.94 19.89 29.83 39.77 49.72 Fc is low or close to 1.0 (Koerner, 1997). Mlynarek
Note: Value of d = 0.0551n is assumed (1998) reported that biological clogging is not a
problem if AOS is large. AOS of Fibredrain is in the
range of 200-600 pm, hence Fb for Fibredrain is 1 .O.
6 DISCHARGE FLOW CAPACITY For Fibredrain the value of QI as defined by
Koerner (1997) ranges from 40 to 60 m3/yr (Lee et
The field performance of PVD depends on the al. 1999) at lateral pressure of 200 kPa under a
interaction between the PVD and the soil. To hydraulic gradient of 1.O.
account for reduced field discharge Row capacity of The flow capacity at lateral pressure of 300 kPa
PVDs, the discharge flow capacity determined in the ranges from 20 to 30 m’/yr, hence F, x Fd ranges
laboratory should be reduced by suitable reduction from 1.5 to 3.0. The reduction factor R for
factors as shown in Table 1. Koerner (1997) Fibredrain is therefore in the range of 1.5 to 3.0.
suggested that the field flow rate Qf should be
determined from the laboratory flow rate QIobtained
from short-term laboratory tests in accordance with
ASTM D4716, at lateral pressure of 200 kPa under a
hydraulic gradient of 1.0 by a reduction factor R
such that

R = (Fi x Fd x Fc x Fb x Fk) (2)

The reduction factor R as suggested in Table 1

ranges from 1.5 to 36. The large range of values of
R illustrates why some types of PVDs were only
partially successful in some projects.
Figure 7. Piezometric variation in clay and within Fibredrain, Hiroshima,
If the required flow rate for a given project is Qr Japan (After Yoshida et al, 1995)
then the factor of safety FS is given by

468
7 DESIGN OF SOIL IMPROVEMENT WITH
FIBREDRAIN
In the design of soil improvement work using
Fibredrain, Sf and Ch can be estimated from the
results obtained from soil investigation and the
design load. The value of Qr can be obtained from
Table 2 as a function of the adopted spacing and
compared with the discharge flow capacity given in
Figure 3 depending on the lateral pressure
corresponding to the depth installed and the design
surcharge. The latter is determined by the prescribed
consolidation time.
It should be observed that the discharge flow
capacity shown in Figure 3 has taken into account
the reduction factor discussed earlier as, for
Fibredrain, Fc = Fb = Fk = 1 and Fi x Fd reflects the
effect of lateral pressure which is taken into account
in Figure 3.
The design of the spacing to achieve a certain
degree of primary consolidation, say 80%, under
surcharge, which is equivalent to 100% primary
consolidation under design load, within a prescribed
time is determined as usual by means of Equation
( 5 ) . If Qf<Qr, the apparent Ch should be obtained
from the laboratory Ch in proportion to the ratio
QdQr.
In this regard, the discharge flow capacity of
Fibredrain given in Figure 3 corresponding to the
design lateral pressure can be used as QF, as the
reduction effect has already been taken into account.
For PVDs in general the reduction effect caused by
the deformation, clogging and kinking of the drain
caused by the lateral pressure, intrusion of clay and
axial compression in the consolidation process must
be taken into account.
8 FIELD MONITORING IN HIROSHLMA,JAPAN
Yoshida et al. (1995) reported the installation of
Fibredrain in one project site in Hiroshima under the
jurisdiction of Hiroshima Prefecture Government.
The site was underlain by about 15-18 m of
Hiroshima Clay. Fibredrain was installed at a
spacing of 1.1m and sand drains at 2.5m spacing. A
considerable excess pore pressure remained in the
clay at the end of eight months in the sand drain
area.
Figure 7 shows the monitoring of piezometers
installed in clay in the Fibredrain area at El -9.2,m, -
12.5m and -19m, where the clay occurs between El -
8.5m and -25m. Piezometers were also installed at
El -10.6m, -13.6m, -16.6m, -19.6m and -22.6m
within Fibredrain core to investigate the well
resistance in the drain. Within the same eight-month
period, the piezometers in the Fibredrain core
showed only an excess pore pressure not exceeding
10 kPa indicating that well resistance is insignificant
and the axial flow capacity is more than adequate.
469
9 RECLAMATION AT PANTAI MUTIARA,
JAKATA. INDONESIA
For soil improvement in a reclamation for a housing
project in Pluit area of Jakarta Fibredrain with
surcharge was used to consolidate 16m to 18m of
very soft (Cu = 2-14 kPa) to medium stiff clay (Cu=
20-40 kPa). The upper 12m of the deposit was of
highly plastic silts and organic clay with w, = 50-
70%, WL= 60-130%, I p = 30-70%, void ratio e = 1.5-
3.5 and C, = 0.7- 1.2. Fibredrain was installed at 2m
spacing and the maximum flow through a drain due
to the compression of clay volume within the
tributary area yielded a rate of 4.7 m3/yr for the
single drainage condition. In phase I1 of the project,
for Ch of about 9 m2/yr, a drain spacing of 1.4 m was
adopted to achieve the desired degree of
consolidation in 3 months with an appropriate
surcharge. Subsequently increase in undrained shear
strength and ground settlement was observed to be
satisfactory (Lee et al, 1988).
In this reclamation, excavation for drainage
channels in an area where Fibredrain was installed
about eight years earlier, found no trace of its
existence, verifying the biodegradability and hence
ecological friendliness of Fibredrain.
10 TREATMENT OF EX-MINING LAND NEAR
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
Fibredrain was used in conjunction with high energy
tamping for the treatment of ex-mining land for a
housing project (Lee et al. 1989b) for which a safe
bearing pressure of 60 kN/m2 with a factor of safety
of 2.5 was required. The site, composed of loose
mine tailing soils, had N values less than 2 in clays
and between 2 and 10 in sand. To treat the deep
seated clay varying from 9 m to 21 m, Fibredrains
were installed first at 1.5 m square spacing, followed
by high energy tamping with a 15 tonne pounder
falling freely from heights between 10 m to 25 m
with 6 to 12 blows per pass for three passes over a
6m x 6m grid, together with a fourth ironing pass
imparting an energy of 225 to 250 tm/m2 for
dynamic compaction in the sandy areas. The energy
intensity was increased to 270 tm/m2 - 335 tm/m2 for
dynamic replacement (DR) in the clayey deposits.
A surcharge fill of 4.5 m was placed and the
resulting settlement was observed to taper off in 60
to 70 days. Figure 1 illustrates the concept of this
treatment. Drains and surcharge combined with high
energy tamping enforced anticipated total settlement
of the order of 1 m. This case record shows that
using Fibredrains, surcharge and high energy
tamping application, a safe bearing capacity
adequate for 5-storey residential houses can be
easily achieved. For highway embankment
construction, this treatment method can be easily
adopted.
1 1 PEATY SOIL TREATMENT IN SINGAPORE
This site was a waterlogged land with peaty clay and
fluvial deposits. In a series of field trials conducted
in 1983 to evaluate the feasibility of stabilising some
7.8 m of peaty clay underlain by 5.6 m of fluvial
clay (Lee et al. 1984), Fibredrains were installed at
2.2 m square spacing from a 1 m thick sand blanket.
Subsequently, dynamic replacement and mixing
(DRM) was employed in treating the upper layer of
the peaty clay. DRM consisted of dropping a 15
tonne pounder through a height of 15 m to 20 m in
six passes. A surcharge equivalent to 3.7 m of well
rolled clayey sand fill was placed subsequently for
verification. The settlement in the area treated with
Fibredrain and DRM levelled off within 6 months
compared with areas using drains and surcharge
method and surcharge only where the settlement
continued at the same rate.
12 CONCLUSIONS
From the forgoing discussion the following
conclusions can be made.
1. The apparent coefficient of consolidation Ch in
field performance of PVD is a function of the
permeability and compressibility of the soil as
well as the property of the PVD, i.e., the
deformation of the core and the filter, the
clogging and kinking of the drain.
2. The clogging and kinking potential of Fibredrain
is negligible and the reduction of axial discharge
flow capacity of Fibredrain due to the
deformation of the coe and the filter due to lateral
pressure is taken into account in Figure 3.
3. The design of the spacing is governed as usual by
Equation 5 and the required field discharge flow
rate Qr by Equation 4 or Table 3 with Sf and Ch
estimated from soil investigation results and the
design load. If Qr is larger than the value given
by Figure 3 corresponding to the design lateral
pressure, the apparent Ch in Equation 5 should be
scaled down in proportion to the ratio of the
discharge flow capacity.
4. The high tensile strength and robustness of
Fibredrain is beneficial to withstand installation
stresses and application of high energy tamping
commonly employed in soil improvement
projects.
5. Fibredrain is biodegradable and requires low
energy consumption in production from natural
fibres, hence ecologically harmonious and
environmentally friendly.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The co-operation of Drs S.D. Ramaswamy and N.C.
Das Gupta in the development of Fibredrain and the
470
advice rendered by Professor H. Aboshi, honourable
adviser to Fukken CO Ltd., Hiroshima and adviser to
Amano Corporation, Onomichi, and the support
given by Dr T. Inoue, Fukken CO Ltd., Hiroshima,
Japan as well as the contribution of Mr Ludi Bone,
P.T. Indonesia Nihon Seima, Jakarta, in the
manufacture and supply in strict accordance with the
specifications of Fibredrain are deeply appreciated.
REFERENCES
Aboshi, H. 1999. On some problems of consolidation and soil
stabilisation in soft clays. Proc. the Seng-Lip Lee symp. on
innovative solutions in structural and geotechnical
engineering, Bangkok, May 14- 15, 1999, 24 1-250
Hansbo S. 1979. Consolidation of clay by band-shaped
prefabricated drains. Ground Etigimeritg, 12 (5), 2 1-25.
Karunaratne G.P., Lee S. L., Aziz M.A. Yong, K.Y & Soehoed
A. R. 1999. Fibredrain for soil improvement. Proc. the
Seng-Lip Lee symp.on innovative solutions in structural
and geotechnical engineering, Bangkok, May 14-15, 1999,
26 1-275
Koerner, R.M. 1997. Designing vt3irl7 gc.o.sytitheric.s, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Lee S.L., Karunaratne G.P., Aziz M.A., Yong K.Y, Aboshi H.
& Inoue T. 1999. An environmentally friendly PVD for soil
improvement works. Proc. 11"' Asian regional conf on soil
mechanics and geotechnical engineering, Korea, 1 : 43 1-434
Lee S.L.. Karunaratne C.P., Aziz M.A. & Inoue T. 1995. An
environmentally friendly prefabricated drain for soil
improvement. Proc. B. B. Broms symp. on geotechnical
engineering, Singapore, 13- I5 December, 1995, 1-9
Lee S.L., Karunaratne G.P., Das Gupta N. C., Ramaswamy, &
Aziz M. A. 1989a. Laboratory testing and field behaviour
of Fibredrain. Proc. Symp. on application of gcosynthetic
and geofibre in South Asia, Petaling Jaya, 1 - 17 to 1-25,
Lee S.L., Yong K.Y., Tham K.W., Singh J. & Chen W.P.
1989b. Treatment of' ex-mining land by Fibredrains,
surcharging and high energy impact. Proc. symp on
application of geosynthetic and geofibrc in South Asia,
Petaling Jaya, 5- 18 to 5-22.
x e S.L., Karunaratne G.P. & Yong K.Y. 1988. Perforniance
of Fibredrain in Pantai Mutiara. Proc. seminar on ground
improvement application to Indonesian soft soils, Cawang,
Indonesia
x e S.L., Lo, K.W., Karunaratne, G.P. & Ooi, J . 1984.
Improvement of peaty clay by dynamic replacement and
mixing. Proc. Seminar on soil improvement and
construction techniques in soft ground, Singapore, 208-2 14.
.vIiura T., Tou M., Murota H. & Bono M. 1995a. The basic
experiment on permeability characteristics of Fibredrain,
(In Japanese). Proc. of annual regional meeting, Kyushu,
JSCE
Miura T., Tou M., Murota H. and Bono M. 1995b. Large Scale
Consolidation test on drainage characteristics of Fibredrain,
( I n Japanese). Proc of annual meeting of JSCE
Mlynarek, J. 1998. Panel discussion on filtration and drainage,
5'h Intern. conf. on geotextilcs, geomembranes and related
products, Singapore, 4. 1383- 1385
'{oshida, Y.. Hamada. K.,Sakimori, H and Coto, H. 1995.
Effectiveness of soil stabilisation of Fibredrain method. (In
Japanese), Proc. of annual meeting of JSCE
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Ground behavior during the consolidation by vacuum preloading of soft clay

layer

Kouki Matsumoto - Hazamu Corporufion,Tokyo,Jupun

Kazuyoshi Nakakuma - Muruyama Industry ConzpanyLimited, Suitamu, Jupan
Hiroyasu Shima - Kujitani Engineering Company Limited, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroshi Ichikawa - Tokyo Consultant ConzpaizyLimited, Japan
Goro Imai - Yokohuma Nationul UniversiQ,Japan

ABSTRACT: This paper describes ground behaviors during the consolidation by vacuum preloading of soft
clay layer with vertical drains beforehand installed. Based on four practical cases carried out in the last two
years, it was confirmed that the reduction in pore pressure within the ground caused by vacuum pressure
occurs down to the bottom of the vertical drains, and that the influenced area of ground surface deformation is
limited only to a distance nearly equal to the drain length from the edge of improvement area. Settlement
measurements at the center of the preloading areas showed a fact that the traditional one-dimensional
prediction method far overestimates final settlement, and it was suggested that the traditional prediction
method should be revised from the viewpoint of isotropic consolidation characteristic in the case of
consolidation by vacuumed water pressure.

1 INTRODUCTION It is most essential for the design and execution

Vacuum preloading method is one of the ground
improvement methods for soft clay, in which
vacuum pressure is applied to a ground area covered
with an airtight membrane to pump out the pore
water from the ground. Principles of this method
were first introduced by W.Kjellman in the early
1950’s (Kjellman 1952). This method has been
recognized to be effective for improvement of very
soft soil, especially when surcharge material is
deficient.
A recent case history of the improvement by
vacuum preloading at reclaimed land in Xingang
Port at Tianjing in China (480,000 square meters)
(Shang 1998) is reported. In Japan, this method was
frequently used in actual constructions from 1960’s
to 1980’s. Actual performance in their constructions
were, however, not well because of the following
reasons, then vacuum preloading method had not
been used in Japan up to the time several years ago.
1) It is hard to keep air tightness. 2) There are limits
in improvement depth. 3) Effectiveness is low for
the ground where sand layers with high permeability
are sandwiched. 4) High cost resulting from the
sheet piles used to surround the improvement area
aiming at the increase the vacuum degree. Taking
these shortcomings into consideration, Nakakuma,
one of the authors, has improved the materials used
in the traditional vacuum preloading method,
especially for airtight membrane and vertical drain.
A schematic view of the vacuum preloading system
improved by him is shown in Figure 1.
of the vacuum preloading method that settlement
and lateral displacement induced by the vacuum
consolidation could be correctly evaluated. Lateral
displacement of the ground must occur toward the
inner side of the improvement area during vacuum
preloading, because the reduction in pore water
pressure must isotropically consolidate clay. This
behavior is entirely different from the cases of the
consolidation by conventional surcharging.
In this paper, firstly, displacement behaviors of
the ground surface which were observed at four sites
in which the vacuum preloading method was used.
(Ninomiya et al. 1998, Sandanbata et al. 1998,
Matsumoto et al. 1998). Subsequently, the
applicability of the conventional prediction method
for the settlement during vacuum preloading is
discussed by comparing the prediction with actual
measurements.
2 CONSTRUCTION METHOD AND FIELD
MEASUREMENT
Construction procedures used in the vacuum
preloading method were as fol1ows:l) Sand mat
work, 2) vertical drains installing, 3) lateral drain
tubes laying, 4) collecting tubes laying, 5) protection
sheet laying, 6) airtight sheet laying, 7) connection
of collecting tubes to a vacuum instrument, 8)
loading by vacuum pumping , and 9) the termination
of vacuum pumping.

471
Figure 1. Overview of vacuum preloading system.

Figure 2 . Soil profiles at each site.

Observational measurements done in the field

work were the change in vacuum pressure between
the ground surface and the airtight sheet, the pore
water pressure within the ground along the center
line among the vertical draind, and displacement of
the ground surface.
Figure 3. Vacuum performance at each site.

3 FIELD CONDITIONS
3.1 Improvement specijkation
Table 1 shows the improvement specification for the
four sites which are dealt with in this paper. The
main purpose of the improvement was to accelerate
consolidation and increase the strength of the
ground.
3.2 Ground conditions
Figure 2 shows soil profiles at each site. The depth
of installed vertical drains is 10 to 27 m. Any of the
grounds consists of the layers of soft clay, organic
clay and/or peat. A sand layer with the thickness of
about 2m is sandwiched at the site A and D.
4 OBSERVATION RESULTS
4.1 Vacuum pressure in the vacuum tank and
beneth the airtight sheet
Figure 3 shows the vacuum performance during the
vacuum preloading. The vertical axis indicates the
positive vacuum pressure measured from the
atmospheric pressure.
The pressure reduction under the airtight sheet
was 10 to 25% smaller than that in the vacuum tank.
And the absolute value of the pressure reduction at
ground surface maintains a nearly constant at each
site, and was about 60 kN/m2 at the site A & C and
about 80 kN/m2 at about other sites; the average was
approximately 60 kN/m2. These results are
summarized in Table 2.

472
Table 1. Improvement specification and consolidation degree
attainted by vacuum preloading.
Vertical drain Vacuum driving
Improve-
Site ment area Depth Spacing Tern Final degree
(m2) (m) (m) (days) ofconso'ida-
tion U(%)
~~

A 400 27 0.8 36 80
B 10,500 10 0.7 50 Above80
C 7,525 11.6 0.8,l.O 30 Above 80
D 1.025 20 0.7 42 70

Table 2. The pressure reduction under the airtight sheet and

inside of the vacuum tank by vacuum pumping.
Specification per one Pressure of Pressure of
vacuum um vacuum ground
Site hea D ~ ~ : pvolume tank surface
(m') (m) (m') (kN/m2) (kN/m2)
A 400 27 10,800 80 40-60
B 2,182 10 21,820 40-80 40-80
C 1,818 11.6 21,095 80-90 50-60
D 512 20 10,250 80-90 70

4.2 Pore pressure reduction in the ground

Pore water pressure gauges were set up in a hole
bored at the center of the adjacent four vertical
drains at specified depths to monitor the pore
pressure change in the ground. Figure 4 shows the
reduction of pore pressure due to vacuum pumping
at the final stage- The reduction of Pore pressme Figure 5. Settlement and lateral displacement of ground surface
value from the atmospheric pressure is expressed in at the final stage of vacuum pumping.
the abscissa; its origin means no reduction and 98
W / m 2 means the complete reduction by vacuum.

Figure 4. Reduction of pore pressure due to vacuum pumping

at the final stage.

Figure 6 . Movement of the ground surface outside of the

improvement area.

473
 Lateral displacement (cm) Lateral displacement (cm) as positive value. Figure 6 shows the ground surface
5 movement especially at the outside of the
GL
(m)
improvement area. The vertical axis shows their
values normalized by the maximum settlement
0 observed in the improved area. The horizontal axis is
the distance from the border normalized by the
length of vertical drain. From these figures, the
5 following findings could be gotten.
1) Settlement at the border of the improvement area
reaches 50 to 90% of the maximum settlement.
-10
-15 2) Inward lateral displacement of the ground surface
is not so large outside the area apart from the
- -20 border by the distance about 100 to 150% of the
-IS
length of installed vertical drains.
3) The maximum inward lateral displacement is

-2 0 I:
i
Figure 7. Lateral displacement within the ground at the border
found at a distance within 40% of the drain length
and reaches about 30 to 40% of the maximum
settlement.
of improvement area. 4.4 Lateral displacement within the ground
Figure 7 shows inward lateral displacement within
the ground at the improvement area border. Its value
is almost zero near the bottom of vertical drain, and
gets larger toward the ground surface reaching its the
maximum at the ground surface. Figure 8 shows its
behavior normalized by the maximum settlement.
The maximum inward lateral displacement at the
ground surface is about 40% of the maximum
settlement. In all cases, tension cracks caused by the
lateral deformation were observed. They surrounded
the improvement area with the maximum opening of
about 5 cm.

..- 5 DISCUSSION ON SETTLEMENT PREDICTION

0.0 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.0
Normalized displacement
by maximum settlement In the vacuum preloading, any soil element in the
ground to be improved reduces its volume not only
Figure 8. Lateral displacement at the border normalized by the in the vertical direction but also in lateral direction,
maximum settlement.
because vacuum pumping consolidates clay
isotropically. In the conventional design method for
The following results could be concluded from this settlement, however, one-dimensional deformation
figure: in vertical direction is assumed. The difference of
1) The reduction of pore pressure in the ground is the deformation mode was examined by using a two-
about 40 to 80 kN/m2, and their average is about 60 dimensional soil-water coupling FEM analysis
kN/m2. (Matsumoto et al. 1999). Figure 9 shows a typical
2) The degree of pore pressure reduction is even at example of the analytical results for uniform ground.
any depth from the top surface to the bottom of Calculated settlement in this case was only 62% of
vertical drain. the one-dimensional settlement.

4.3 Movement of the ground surface 5.1 Comparison of analytical results with
observations
Figure 5 shows the shape of the ground surface at the
final stage of vacuum pumping. In the vertical axis The applicability of the conventional one-
settlement and lateral displacement normalized by dimensional settlement calculation method was
the installed length of vertical drain is plotted, and in examined by the use of FEM analysis for the site A,
the lateral axis the distance from the border of the and its results were compared with the data observed
improvement area. In the figure, the lateral at the site. “A” site is a fresh land reclaimed one and
movement toward the improvement area is defined half year ago. Under the freshly filled layer soft soil

474
underlays with the thickness of about 35m. Vertical
drains were driven down to the depth of 27 m below
the ground surface.

Figure 12. Stress state before improvement.

Figure 9.Two-dimensional deformation analyzed by FEM.

GL Log.
0

-2
-4

-6 (a) Schematic of desigh load

-8
-1 0
$ : ; r l
401d\I/m2
-1 2 C O
10 16 20 30 35 (days)
-
(b) Change of the pressure shown in Figure 13(a)
-42 Figure 13. Pressure change assumed in the analysis.
(m)

Figure 10. Ground condition at the site A.

Figure 14. Calculated settlement vs. observed results.

(1) Ground condition

Ground conditions at the site A before improvement
are shown in Figure 10. Figure 11 shows the
relationship between the consolidation pressure p
and the coefficient of consolidation c, obtained by
Figure 11. Consolidation pressure p vs. coefficient of the standard consolidation test. The minimum value
consolidation c,. of cvis about 250cm2/day.
475
(2) Initial stress state in the ground
The value of the consolidation yield stress pc before
the improvement is smaller than that of the effective
over burden pressure (initial stress) as shown in
Figure 12. The initial stress value was calculated by
assuming the static water pressure distribution.
Based on the comparison shown in Figure 12, it was
confirmed that excess pore water pressure
accompanying the filling remained within the ground
before the improvement by the present vacuum
preloading. Settlement due to the dissipation of the
residual excess pore water pressure was evaluated by
the use of two-dimensional FEM analysis as well as
the conventional one-dimensioned one.
(3) Calculation method for settlement
The C, (compression index) method was used to
calculate consolidation settlement. Consolidation
pressure by vacuum pumping was assumed to be
uniformly loaded from the ground surface down to
the bottom of vertical drain as shown in Figure 13(a).
Furthermore, its value was assumed to change as
shown in Figure 13(b). The parameters (C, and c,)
were determined based on the results of the standard
consolidation testing. The minimum cv value of
250cm2/daywas used for calculations.
(4) Comparison between calculated settlement and
measured results
Figure 14 shows the comparison between the
calculation results and the observed settlement. The
calculated settlement well agrees with the
measurement results due to the weight of the sand
mat, which took place before vacuum pumping. This
shows that the values of soil constants were correctly
determined. However, regarding the settlement
during vacuum pumping, calculated final settlement
was 140 cm and the measured settlement was 60 cm.
The measured settlement is only 43% of the
calculated one. The value of difference is larger than
the FEM results as shown in Figure 9.
6 SUMMARY
Following results have been obtained:
1) It was confirmed that the reduction of pore water
pressure within the ground caused by vacuum
occurs down to the vertical drains, and their
average is about 60 kN/m2.
2) The influenced area of ground surface
deformation induced by the vacuum consolidation
is limited only to a distance nearly equal to the
drain length from the edge of improvement area.
3) The traditional one-dimensional prediction
method far overestimates final settlement
measured at the center of improvement area, and
it was suggested that the traditional prediction
method should be revised from the viewpoint of
isotropic consolidation characteristic in the case
of consolidation by vacuumed water pressure.
476
REFERENCES
Barron,R.A. 1948. Consolidation of fine-grained
soils by drain wells, Trans. ASCE, 113: pp.718-
754.
Kjellman,W. 1952. Consolidation of clay soil by
means of atmospheric pressure, Proceedings of
Conference on Soil Stabilization, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Boston, pp.258-263.
Matsumoto,K. Ohno,M., Nakakuma,K., Shima,H.,
Ichikawa,H. & Imai,G. 1998. Study on
applicability of vacuum consolidation method
for deep soft clay ground, Proceeding of the
International Symposium at Lowland
Technology, pp.287-294.
Matsumoto,K., Ohno,M., Koga,T. & Nakakuma,K.
1999. Comparison of deformation behavior
between vacuum consolidation and surcharging
with vertical drains due to finite element method,
Proc. of 54* annual Conf. of Japan Society of
Civil Engineers, 111, pp.520-52 1 (in Japanese).
Ninomiya,H., Honda,K., Akashi,K., Hayashi,H.,
Umezaki,T. & Shiono,T. 1998. Improvement
effects of soft clay ground due to newly
developed vacuum consolidation method (Ver. 1
to Ver.3), Proc. of 33'd Japan National Conf. on
Geotech. Engrg., pp.2 139-2144 (in Japanese).
SandanbataJ., Koga,T., Ishihara,K.., Kato,T. &
Nakakuma,K. 1998. Ground behavior during
ground improvement due to vacuum
consolidation (Vol.1 to V01.2). Proc. of 33'd
Japan National Conf. on Geotech. Engrg.,
pp.1093-1096 (in Japanese).
Shang,J.Q. et al. 1998. Vacuum preloading
consolidation of reclaimed land: a case study,
Can. Ge0tech.J. 35: pp.740-749.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Simplified prediction of the shape of up-heaved ground caused by SCP

N.Mori, T. Ito & T. San0

Hakodute Port Branch Ofjce, Hakodate Developnleizt and Construction Department, Hokkuido Development
Agency, Japan

ABSTRACT: Sand compaction pile (SCP) method is a soil improvement method, where sands are compulsorily
driven into the ground with vibration, replacing the soft clays with the dense sand columns. Hakodate Port
Branch Office is constructing 14 m depth quay-wall and 12 m depth quay-wall in Hakodate Port, where soft silt-
clay layers up to approximately 30 m depth are being improved by the SCP method of 78.5% improvement ratio.
Because the present depth at the construction site is shallow, the workability of construction vessels is highly af-
fected by the lack of draft margin due to the upheaval by SCP driving. This paper reports a new method for pre-
dicting the shape and the height of upheaval due to the SCP driving. The method was actually used to the SCP
work in Hakodate Port, and its applicability was evaluated to be appropriate in practice.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON UPHEAVAL

Sand compaction pile (SCP) method is a soil im-
provement method, where sands are compulsorily
driven into the ground with vibration, replacing the
soft clays with the dense sand columns. The degree
of improvement by SCP is usually presented by the
improvement ratio or the replacement ratio, which is
the ratio of volume of driven sand to the total vol-
ume of improved ground. When the improvement
ratio is larger than 50%, the upheaval of ground
cased by the driven sands must be taken into consid-
eration in the design SCP method. At present, Ha-
kodate Port Branch Office is constructing 14 m
depth quay-wall and 12 in depth quay-wall in Hako-
date Port, where soft silt-clay layer up to approxi-
mately 30 m depth is being improved by the SCP
method of 78.5% improvement ratio. Because the
present depth at the construction site is shallow, the
workability of construction vessels is highly affected
by the lack of draft margin due to the upheaval by
SCP driving. This paper reports a new method for
predicting the shape and the height of upheaval due
to the SCP driving. The method was actually used to
the SCP work in Hakodate Port, and its applicability
was evaluated to be appropriate in practice.
PREDICTION
The prediction of the shape of upheaval had been
carried out by calculating the upheaval ratio, the
maximum height of upheaval, and the average
height of upheaval by using empirical equations
with the parameters of improvement ratio and insitu
shear strength. Fukute et al. (1988) presented a
method to predict upheaval caused by SCP, in which
the shape after the improvement is predicted by su-
perimposing the standard shape for a row of im-
proved ground. Fukute et a1 applied the method to
the construction works at Kansai International Air-
port. Hirao et al. (1996) revised the method by com-
paring the measured shapes of actual upheavals with
those predicted. In this study, the prediction by
Hirao et al. is compared with the measured in Hako-
date Port, and a new method is proposed.
3 PREDICTION METHOD
Fig.1 shows the standard cross section of 12 m depth
quay-wall. As the water depth before construction
was shallow as 7.4 m, dredging of the seabed was
necessary before SCP work in order to keep the
draught of construction vessels after upheaval took
place by SCP driving. The prediction of the shape of

477
 Fig. 2 shows the flow diagram of the prediction.

4 METHOD TO PREDICT A BASIC SHAPE OF

UPHEAVED GROUND

4.1 Upheaval rate

Figure 1 Standard section of 12 m depth quay-wall
heaved ground were carried out with considering the
following points:
1. The upheaval rate y (the ratio of the total vol-
umeof heaved ground to the total volume of
Fig.3 is the plane view of construction site, where
Area A, B and C had been already improved by SCP
method. Using the cquation provided by Hirao et al.
(1996), the upheaval rates of Area A, B, and C, were
calculated and compared with the measured values
in Table 1. The prediction was made on the Area D
where the improvement of SCP was to be newly car-
ried out.
Hirao et a1 (1996) proposed the following equa-
tion for SCP of 2 m diameter:
y =2.117 / L + 0.718 a, + 0.056
(1)
where ,U :upheaval rate

driven sand) was determined based on the past
experiences at Hakodate Port.
2. Considering the effect of dredging before SCP
driving.
3. Determining a single row of upheaval caused by
SCP as a basic shape, based on the past construc-
tion work in Hakodate Port
4. Predicting the overall shape of up-heaved ground
by superimposing basic shapes
L: depth to be improved (m)
a,: improvement rate
As shown in Table 1, it is found that the measured
values are approximately 20% larger than those pre-
dicted by Eq.(l). Since this 20% difference cannot
be ignored for the construction work, the upheaval
rate was set at p=0.96, which is obtained by the ac-
tual measurement.

To determine the upheaval rate To determine areas under influence

by reviewing the results from areas which of upheaval by considering:
have already been improved . direction in which SCP are driven
. inclination of the ground caused by pre-
excavation for the foundation

I To predict the basic shape of upheaved ground I

. to predict the amount of upheaved ground
. to predict the height of upheaved ground

*
To predict the shape of upheaved ground using calculation of superposition
To predict the shape of upheaved ground in areas which have already been improved
(calculating the coefficients of the shape)
I
To predict the shape of upheaved ground in areas to be improved this year
1
To compare the predicted shape of upheaved ground o f areas to be improved this year
with the shape acquired by actual measurement
Figure 2. The flow diagram for prediction of the shape of upheaved ground

470
 Outside the port __--_--_--,.
..
Quaywall(-14rn) I Quaywall(-12m)

'
I

I
'Area&'
1 1
'
I
New1 improved area
AreaA [AreaC (Area U)
I

Inside the port

Figure 3. Each improvement area

Figure 7 Predicted areas of upheaval (cross section )

-KIEV- e =60'
Figure 4. Areas
Thhe drrccnon 10 whlch rand
pdcs are dnvcn

under influence of upheaval according

to the direction in which sand piles are dnven
0 =4j3
When the flat ground is up-heaved in the cross
sectional direction, it is reported that the angle of the
upheaval can be assumed to be 60 (National Fish-
ing Port Association,1994). Based on this assump-
tion and considering that the upheaval caused by
SCP takes place with pushing the cohesive soil into

.------;1-rI
the direction of a row of SCP, Hirao et al. (1996)
determined the angle of upheaval as shown in Fig.4,
which have been observed in the past construction
0 ~ 6 0 +" n a =45' - a
works. When the ground is declined, it is said that
the areas influenced by upheaval change due to the
Figure 5. Areas under influence of upheaval
inclination as shown in Fig.5 (National Fishing Port
according to the ground inclination
Association, 1994). It is therefore reasonable to

I-::::
propose that the angle of the upheaval will change
due to the ground inclination, when SCP are driven
in the ground after the excavation. Accordingly, dur-
ing the present construction work, predicted areas of
upheaval on the cross section were considered as
shown in Fig.6, by combining Figs. 4 and 5.
e =4j' - a
On the area of upheaval on the longitudinal sec-
8 160' - U
tion, it has been found that the upheaval width in the
Figure 6. Predicted areas under influence of area, which has been already improved, tends to be
upheaval on the cross section
narrower than that in the area which is newly im-
proved. Considering this fact and also the effects of
4.2 Areas of" upheaval
'
ground inclination caused by upheaval in the area
which has already been improved, we assumed areas
The areas of upheaval, that is the area influenced by
under influence as shown in Fig. 7.
the upheaval, should be determined both in the cross
sectional and the longitudinal directions against the
line of quay-wall.

Values acquired by actual measurement and predicted values Predicted values

Amount of upheaved Amount of sand to be Upheaval rate Upheaval rate
ground(m3) dumped(m3)
Area A 30,005 29,155 1.03 0.76
Area B 75,480 8 1,997 0.92 0.77
Area C 35,670 38,037 0.94 0.76
Average 0.96 0.76

479
 Calculation conditions
a a1 b b,
47.9m 18.0~1 53.1111 34.0~1
4.3 Prediction on the basic shape
Using the upheaval rate p=0.96 determined in 4.1,
the volume of up-heaved ground in a block V will be
calculated. The "block" defined here refers to each
driven row of sand piles. In this construction work,
three sand piles of 2 m diameter were driven simul-
taneously with a pitch of 6m and this process is re-
peated three times, and the width improved in one
block is 18 m. The equation to calculate V is as fol-
lows:
V=(Design volume of driven sand ) X 0.96 (2)
(Design volume of driven sand) = a1 X 61 X 1 X a,
where ul = improvement length
bl = improvement width
1 = improvement depth
a, = improvement rate (78.5%).
To calculate the upheaval height h, it is assumed
that the shape of the area of upheaval will be a
trapezoid. And h is given by using Obelisk's formula
as follows:
where,
a=length of areas of upheaval in longitudinal section
b = length of areas of upheaval in cross section.
For Area D in Fig.3, prediction was made with the
conditions in Table 2,where calculated values of V
and h are also presented.
5 PREDICTION OF OVERALL SHAPE OF
UPHEAVED GROUND
5.1 Shape of up-heaved ground on the longitudinal
section
By considering that the upheaval height h will take
place in the standard longitudinal section, the shape
of up-heaved ground on the longitudinal section is
predicted by superimposing the blocks of standard
shape in their height (See Fig.8).
480
Calculation results
I V h
16.9~1 7794m3 5.27m
5.2 Shape of up-heaved ground on the cross section
We consider that thc height of up-heaved ground on
the cross section means the average height of up-
heaved ground on the longitudinal section. Hirao et
al. (1 996) used a standard shape of the cross section
as shown in Fig. 9, which are determined by shape
parameters HIIH,,,,, H2/H,,, and the location of
H,,,,, showed by the ratio X /(B/2). In the present
study, the same shape parameters were measured in
the SCP works carried out in 1996 and 1997 at Ha-
kodate Port, and obtained as follows:
HI = 0.89 H,,,,
HI= 0.34 HI,,
According to the data by Hirao et a1.(1996), the
location of H,,,, was assumed to be X=(B/2) X 0.3
(See Fig.9). After correcting the shape as mentioned
above, the final shape of up-heaved ground in the
cross section was predicted.
Figure 8 Predicted shape of up-heaved ground
(longitudinal section)
\ I -
t--
The direction to which sand
pilcs are drivcn
I /
Figure 9 Predicted shape of up-heaved ground
(cross section)
 Measuredshape
Block 6 Block 5 Block 4 Block 3 Block 2 Block 1

.- - - - ---
I I I

Figure 10 Predicted shape of up-heaved ground (longitudinal section)

The shape throughactual mmurcmcnt

1 XBm I

Figure 13 Predicted shape of up-heaved ground

( cross section)

6 COMPARIZON BETWEEN PREDICTED AND

i 15m ' 18m ~
MEASURED SHAPE

Figure 11 Relationship between draught of construction Comparisons were made between the predicted
vessel and predicted upheaval shape and the measured shape of up-heaved ground
( in case with dredging)
after the SCP driving in Area D.
Fig.10 is the comparison of the shape in the
longitudinal direction. As shown in Figure, the shape
of the measured ground had a gentler slope than the
predicted one. The reason for this is probably that,
as the ground is very soft, the steep inclination of the
ground immediately after the SCP driving may be-
come gentler by the effect of the waves and cur-
rents. However, comparing the predicted and the
measured, the accuracy of the prediction is satisfac-
tory for the purpose of the construction control.
Fig.10 is the comparison of the shape in the longi-
tudinal direction. As shown in Figure, the shape of
the measured ground had a gentler slope than the
predicted one. The reason for this is probably that,
as the ground is very soft, the steep inclination of the
i 1Sm I 18m
ground immediately after the SCP driving may be-
Figure 12 Relationship between draught of construction come gentler by the effect of the waves and cur-
vessel and predicted upheaval rents. However, comparing the predicted and the
(in case without dredging)
measured, the accuracy of the prediction is satisfac-
tory for the purpose of the construction control.
Figs.11 and 12 show the relation of the draught of
construction vessels and the predicted upheaval by
SCP. Fig.11 is the case that the dredging is carried,

481
while Fig12 is the case without the dredging. From
these figures, it is found that the draught of the ves-
sel is enough in the case with the dredging, while the
draught was not enough in the case without dredg-
ing.
Fig.13 shows the comparison in the cross section
where H,,,,, was observed. As shown in this figure,
the prediction seems not to be good. This is because
the directions of driving piles in the actual construc-
tion work were not strictly same as those of the pre-
diction. For accurate prediction, the direction of
SCP driving in the actual construction work should
be taken into consideration.

7 CONCLUSION

In this paper, the prediction of ground upheaval after

SCP improvement work was made based on the pre-
vious researches and the experiences in Hakodate
Port. The results are summarized as follows:

1. In the prediction method, the effects of dredging

before SCP driving were newly taken into
consideration for determining areas of upheaval.
The shape of upheaved ground was drawn simply
by superimposing standard shapes.
2. New shape factors were introduced to ensure ac-
curate prediction of the shape of up-heaved
ground based on the experiences in Hakodate
Port.
3. Comparing the prediction with the measured
shape of upheaval, it is found that the prediction
was satisfactory. And the necessity of dredging
was confirmed.

REFERENCES

T. Fukute, Y. Higuchi, M. Furuichi & H. Tsuboi

(1988): Prediction on the Shape of Up-heaved
Ground Under the Sea Caused by iarge-scale
Driving of Sand Compaction Piles. 33rd Sympo-
sium on Geotechnical Engineering, Japanese So-
cicty of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engi-
neering, pp23 -28. (in Japanese)
T. Hirao, H. Tsuboi. H. Taga & M. Matsuo (1996):
Prediction on thc Shape of Up-heaved Viscous
Ground Under the Sea Caused by Driving of Sand
Compaction Piles. 31st Meeting for the Study of
Geotechnology: pp83 - S4. (in Japanese)
National Fishing Port Association (1994): Guide to
Designing Buildings in Fishing Ports: pp88 - 89.
(in Japanese)

482
Modelling the effects of surcharge to reduce long term settlement of
reclamations over soft clays
D. ET. Nash
Department of Civil Engineering, University ojBristol, UK
S.J. Ryde
Richard Davies Associates, Bradford on Avon, U K (Formerly Bristol University)

ABSTRACT: Long-term settlement of reclamations constructed over soft soils may be reduced by use of
surcharge, although there is often uncertainty over how long the surcharge should be maintained. A one-
dimensional finite difference consolidation analysis is outlined showing that vertical and radial drainage of a
multi-layer soil profile in the zone of influence of a vertical drain may be modelled. The analysis allows
inclusion of a zone of peripheral smear around the drain, permeabilities which vary with void ratio, and creep
both during and after primary consolidation using an elastic visco-plastic constitutive model. Drawing on data
from the Bothkennar soft clay research site, the model is used to predict settlements beneath a hypothetical
test fill with time, including the secondary settlement behaviour when surcharge is removed. The potential
application of the model in assessing surcharging strategy for reclamation schemes is discussed.

1 INTRODUCTION more features of a structured clay. In this paper the

Construction of reclamation over compressible soils
frequently necessitates the use of ground
improvement techniques to minimise post-
construction settlements. Vertical drains are often
installed to accelerate consolidation. and sometimes
a temporary surcharge is used to pre-load the
ground. The principles for compensating for primary
consolidation are well-established (Johnson 1970),
but partial compensation for secondary consolidation
is harder to achieve with confidence (Bjerrum 1972).
Procedures for determining the rate and magnitude
of secondary compression after surcharge removal
are not well established and generally involve
empirical relationships between the coefficient of
secondary compression C, for nornially
consolidated clay and that for the over-consolidated
clay (Jamiolkowski et al. 1983, Mesri et al. 1994).
Furthermore, it is observed that C, post-surcharge
frequently increases with time.
Similar problems are encountered in designing
surcharge to embankments built on soft clays. The
authors recently developed numerical procedures for
analysing the consolidation of a soft soil adjacent to
a vertical drain to explore the effects of creep,
applied them to the back-analysis of the performance
of some embankments built over estuarine alluvium
in the UK @ash and Ryde, 1999). A simple isotache
constitutive model originally proposed by Yin and
Graham (1989, 1996) was adopted, and
subsequently this has been developed to include
application of the procedures to reclamation projects
is discussed and illustrated by predictions of the
behaviour of the soft clay beneath fill hypothetically
placed at the Bothkennar soft clay research site.
2 MODELLING CONSOLIDATION ADJACENT
TO VERTICAL DRAINS
2.1 Background
The consolidation of clay in the vicinity of vertical
drains is the subject of several closed form solutions
(eg Barron 1948. Hansbo 1981). but such solutions
are quite restrictive. Numerical methods pro1 ide
more flexibility and permit the inclusion of a multi-
layer profile, but while several such analyses have
been developed recently (eg Mesri and Choi 1985).
none was readily available which could model creep
during primary consolidation. Accordingly the finite
difference procedure BRISCON. was developed b!
Ryde ( 1997) to model one-dimensional strains
arising from vertical and radial flom? permitting the
effects of non- linear stiffness, creep. and smear
around a vertical drain, and anisotropic permeability
varying with void ratio to be considered.
2.2 Finite diference procedure
The one-dimensional consolidation equation for a
soil element with vertical and radial flow may be
expressed as:

483
 (RTL). Subsequent creep is determined from a set of
isotaches through the introduction of the concept of
“equivalent time” te which is the time taken to creep
where k, and k, are permeabilities in vertical and under constant effective stress from the RTL (where
radial directions, U is excess pore pressure, m, is the fe is zero) to the present state. The total strain at any
elastic coefficient of volume compressibility and o, time is given by:
is the total vertical stress. The soil may be modelled
as linear elastic (using a constant m,) or non-linear.
with or without creep; the last term expresses the
creep strain rate as described in the section below.
Equation (1) has been expressed in implicit finite The equivalent time and creep rate are given by:
difference form (Ryde 1997). By dividing the soil
into a series of sublayers and considering nodes at
the centre of each, a solution is obtained in a similar
manner to that adopted by Reece (1986) in the
analysis of heat flow through a metal bar. Free
drainage is assumed at the vertical drain and
drainage boundaries, although the procedure may be
extended to include the effects of drain resistance. in which ryis the slope of the void ratio vs In([,) plot
As the analysis proceeds the coordinates are (similar to the conventional coefficient of secondary
updated, with the values of soil permeability, consolidation C,), vo is the initial specific volume,
stiffness and creep rate being those applicable to the and f, defines the creep rate on the RTL. Thus 1,
current soil state. To simulate an equal strain isochrones are isotaches or lines of constant creep
condition the total stresses applied at ground level rate. The parameters dpoand dp0’ which locate the
may be redistributed using an iterative procedure. RTL and to are curve fitting parameters which may
During development, BRISCON was used to analyse
be obtained from high quality oedometer tests.
some simple problems, and comparison made with Figure 1 illustrates such a model with a linear
closed form solutions (Barron, 1948) and solutions reference time line. An element of soil initially at
obtained using CRISP. Implementation of the creep state A is subjected to an increment of total vertical
model was checked by making comparison with
stress Ao. During consolidation the state moves
problems analysed by Yin and Graham (1996). In all
along a path such as AB, crossing various isotaches,
cases satisfactory agreement was obtained.
and at point B the excess pore pressure has
dissipated. Thereafter the clay creeps from B to D at
2.3 Simple isotache model for one-dimensional constant effective stress. If the loading is reduced
compression with a consequential reduction of effective stress say
A model for the creep behaviour of soft clays was from C to E the creep rate is reduced to that of the
outlined by Bjerrum (1972), who showed that one- corresponding isotache at E. Thereafter creep
dimensional strain at constant effective stress continues at a reduced rate towards point F.
increases linearly with logarithm of time. On a
diagram of strain versus logarithm of effective Vertical Effective Stress (log scale)
stress, this gives rise to a series of parallel lines each
showing the strain at constant time; Bjerrum also -r-----
stated that these were lines of constant creep rate
Reference Time Line -
(isotaches). These ideas have been incorporated in
equivalent time = 0
several models. but there has always been a
difficulty in selecting the appropriate time origin.
This difficulty is avoided by using a constitutive
model in which creep rate is determined directly
using isotaches, such as the elastic visco-plastic
model proposed by Yin and Graham (1989, 1996).
In this model, creep occurs throughout
consolidation, which is different to that proposed by
Mesri and Choi ( 1985) who argued that compression I

strains at the end of primary consolidation are

unique. Yin and Graham adopted the A-K model
used in critical state soil mechanics to define
“instant” elastic-plastic behaviour, with the normal Figure 1. Void ratio vs. effective stress in EVP model showing
consolidation line replaced by a reference time line path during consolidation and subsequent creep behaviour.

484
2.4 Modelling creep behaviour ojstructured soils
The simple isotache model outlined above (herein
denoted model 1) is able to predict many aspects of
the behaviour of soft clays pertinent to reclamation
projects. Since the creep rate is uniquely defined by
the current state of the soil, the model may be used
to predict the behaviour in unloading as well as
loading. However the model also has several
limitations. Firstly, the isotaches are linear whereas
structured clays frequently exhibit curved normal
consolidation lines. Secondly the separation of the
isotaches is constant whereas tests show that at high
stresses the value of v, which defines the separation
of the isotaches. decreases. Thirdly there is no lower
limit to creep and under small applied loading the
model may predict unrealistically high creep rates.
These problems may be partially overcome if
natural strain E" is considered rather than
engineering strain E (following Butterfield, 1979)
where natural strain is defined as:
(4)
in which v is the specific volume as before.
Butterfield showed that for many natural clays a plot
of natural strain or logarithm of specific volume
against logarithm of vertical effective stress is more
linear than the usual semi-logarithmic plot. A second
model has been developed in which equations (2)
and (3) are formulated in terms of natural strain
instead of engineering strain. Further curvature of
the isoraches has been introduced in model 3 by
using a power formulation as proposed by Den Haan
( 1992). In developing these models, the assumption
has been made that the ratio (similar to Ca/Cc)
remains constant along the isotaches, which leads to
convergence of the isotaches at high stresses. The
use of these models in assessing the effectiveness of
surcharge in reducing long-term settlements of
reclamation is illustrated in the next section.
Figure 2. Data from IL test 16B-3: a) experimental results and results predicted by BRISCON and b) experimental creep data.
485
3 CASESTUDY
The models outlined above have been used to
predict the behaviour of the clay at the Bothkennar
soft clay research site in Scotland if a wide fill were
placed. This site was chosen because the clay was
the subject of an extensive collaborative research
programme undertaken in the early 1990s. The
ground conditions at Bothkennar are well described
in a series of papers (Geotechnique 1992).
3.1 Ground conditions at Bothkennar
The post-glacial organic estuarine silty clay at
Bothkennar is of high plasticity. and its sensitivity
from vane tests averages about 5. A desiccated crust
2m thick overlies about 16m of lightly over-
consolidated soft clay (OCR about 1.6), beneath
which is a layer of dense sand and gravel.
During the characterisation study a large number
of careful oedometer tests were undertaken on
samples obtained with the Lava1 sampler (Nash et al.
1992), comprising 45 incremental load (IL), 24
constant rate of displacement and 13 restricted flow
tests. Each IL test involved 20 to 30 load increments,
which were generally applied daily. A typical
loading sequence utilised four equal load increments
up to the in-situ vertical effective stress. Then small
load increments of around 10 kPa were used to
define the yield stress, after which larger increments
with a load-increment ratio of 1 were applied to a
maximum stress of around 2000 kPa. Some tests
were run with extended load increments, and many
had unload-reload loops. Recently the data were re-
examined to determine compressibility and creep
parameters.
An example of the test data is given in Figure 2,
which shows data from a sample taken from half
way down the profile. On a plot of engineering
strain versus logarithm of effective stress. a line was
carefully drawn tangent to the first part of the curved
TABLE I : Soil parameters derived from IL oedometer tests on Bothkennar clay.

Layer Thickness y kN/m’ e, Oi)epror RTL strain k,, ndsec kh twsec

q , C P ‘ I q)’ rate %/hr
Orus1 1.5in 16.87 1.100 150 1% 0.137 0.014 0.03 0.03 1.OE-09* 1.OE-09*
Soft sitty clay 2.5m 16.38 1.750 1.6 1% 0.358 0.024 0.04 0.03 1 .OE-09 I . 1E-09
Soft silty clay 3.0m 15.60 1.950 1.5 1% 0.448 0.030 0.04 0.03 1.2E-09 I .9E-09
Soft silry clay 3.0m 15.77 I.80O I .5 1% 0.486 0.032 0.04 0.03 9.3E-I0 1.1E-09
Soft silty clay 4.0m 16.21 1.700 I .55 I% 0.504 0.033 0.04 0.03 5.7E-I0 6.4E-10
Soft silty claq 2.0m 16.73 1.550 I .4 1% 0.421 0.028 0.04 0.03 3.6E-10 8.6E-10
Soft silty cla) 2.0m 17.I0 1.350 1.3 I% 0.306 0.021 0.04 0.03 2.0E-10* 4.7E-10*
Dense sand and gravel * denotes assumed valites.

normal. consolidation line. Here the origin used for
strain was taken after recompression to the in-situ
stress. This line was chosen as the RTE for model 1,
and its position was fixed by determining its slope
2.3A/v,, (or GJv,,), and the stress at 1% strain. Creep
parameters were derived from plots of strain against
logar~thmof strain rate, whose slope is equal to
2.3t,v/v,,. Figure 2b shows the data from test 168-3
for the three increments either side of yield plotted
in this way. It may be seen that the slopes vary
(increasing to yield and then decreasing), but that the
creep rates at the end of each increment after yield
were generally similar at about 0.03%/hour. This
uniformity of strain rate justifies selecting a RTL
equal to the 24-hour normal consolidation line.
Using the data obtained from this test a check was
made that the observed behaviour was satisfactor~~y
predicted using BRISCON. The results are shown
alongside the experimental data in Figure 2a where
it may be seen that for stresses around yield there is
good agreement. For clarity the unload-reload loop
is only shown for the simple isotache model 1 (Yin
and Graham, 19961, and while the model correctly
predicts the swelling on unloading and creep when
the previous maximum stress is approached, it does
not predict the hysteresis observed in practice. At
high stresses this model over-predicts the changes of
void ratio. Better agreement is obtained using
models 2 and 3 based on natural strain which have a
curved RTL, whose gradients were matched to that
of the linear RTL at the reference point. It should be
noted that creep occurs throughout consolidation, so
during each increment the effective stress path is
generally above the RTL. Load increments of longer
duration would of course result in larger strains.
3.2 Numerical study
The data from all the IL tests have been examined
and soil parameters obtained for the whole profile.
These are summarised in Table 1. The permeability
data is based on results reported by Hight et al.
(1992) in their table 6. The initial effective stress
profile was based on hydrosta~ic groundwater
conditions below 0.8m depth. which were also taken
as the boundary conditions for consolidation.
The effects of placing fill equivalent to 100 kPa
on the ground surface with and without vertical
drains and surcharge has been simulated using
BRISCON. The profile of vertical effective stress
before filling is shown in Figure 3, together with the
final effective stress profile and the values of stress
that were used to locate the RTL. It may be seen
that, throughout the soft clay below the desiccated
crust, the final effective stress is significantly larger
than the yield stress ensuring that the clay will then
be normally consolidated.
First. benchmark analyses were carried out to
predict the long-term consolidation behaviour with
vertical drainage alone under 100 kPa, placed
initially at 1 kPa/day. The three creep models
outlined above were used, as well as three non-creep
models in which the normal consolidation line was
substituted for the RTL. and the long-term
settlements are given in table 2. The time-settlement

TABLE 2: Settlements after 2 5 0 0 0 ~days under 100 kPa

Model Without creep With creep

I . (Yin & Graham 1996) 1.44m 2.56m
2. (based on ~ u ~ e r ~ 1979)
eld I .40m 2.4im
3. (based on Den Haan 1992) 1.29m 2.211~1
Figure 3. Profiles of vertical effective stresses.

486
Figure 4. Predicted time-settlement behaviour under 100 kPa loading using models of type 2 (after Butterfield 1979).
behaviour for the analyses made using models of
type 2 based on natural strain (Butterfield, 1979), are
shown in Figure 4. This shows that without vertical
drains, large settlements would occur over a period
of around 35000 days (100 years), the long consolid-
ation time being due to the long drainage path as
well as the combination of low permeability and
high conipressibility of the clay. The creep increases
both the magnitude of the long-term settlement and
the time for primary consolidation by about 70%.
Next the effect of installing vertical drains prior
to filling was considered. Analyses were carried out
assuming a drain of effective diameter lOOmni to be
at the centre of a unit cell 2 metres in diameter, with
a smear zone of diameter 200mm. In the smear zone
the horizontal permeability was reduced to be equal
to the vertical permeability of the undisturbed clay.
Figure 4 shows that the times for consolidation are
reduced to around 1000 days (3 years), but that in
the long term, the settlement increases to equal that
calculated for the clay without vertical drains.
Finally, the effect of placing a temporary 50 kPa
surcharge in conjunction with the vertical drains was
considered. After first analysing the effect of an
indefinite 150 kPa loading, analyses were
undertaken for the surcharge left in place for 1, 2
and 3 years (see Figure 4). It was found that when
the surcharge was removed after 1 year (point A in
Figure 4) there were negligible excess pore pressures
at mid-depth, but that after a short period of
swelling, significant creep settlements resumed (at a
rate of 70mm/year). The profile of effective stress
midway between the drains just before unloading is
shown in Figure 3. which confirms that the stresses
at that time exceeded the final stresses (after
487
surcharge removal) at all depths. The varying creep
parameters result in a profile rather different from
the normal isochrone shape. Leaving the surcharge
in place for 2 or 3 years (points B and C in Figure 4)
almost eliminated further creep movements reducing
the rates of settlement to 3 and 0.3 mm/year
respectively.
4 DISCUSSION
The EVP isotache models used here are able to
predict many aspects of consolidation behaviour
relevant to reclamation projects. In particular they
are useful in predicting how long surcharge should
be maintained to reduce creep after unloading to
acceptable rates. The study above shows clearly that
surcharging should be continued long enough to
achieve the settlement that would occur in the long-
term without surcharge, a criterion that may be hard
to fulfil in practice.
Parametric studies may readily be carried out
with procedures such as BRISCON to explore
different scenarios. However it must also be
recognised that the models assume that the creep
rate is only dependent on the current stress and void
ratio, and that the value of ty (or C,) remains
constant at large times, assumptions whose validity
are uncertain (Yin, 1999). Daily load increments in
IL consolidation tests can only provide useful creep
data under sustained loading for relatively short
times, and special extended testing would be needed
to establish behaviour on unloading definitively.
The simple isotache model can actually be used
to make an estimate of the effect of removing a
surcharge without resort to a numerical procedure.
With reference to Figure 1, at a given strain.
reduction of effective stress from dl to dl (say from
point C to E), results in a reduced creep rate and
increased equivalent times which for t, )) to are
approximated by:
(5)
Equation ( 5 ) may be used in the field to provide
an estimate of the reduction of creep rate when a
surcharge is removed using data from field
instrumentation. This may be illustrated using the
data from the study above, for example by
considering the effect of removing surcharge after I
year (point A in figure 4). The profile of effective
stress before surcharge removal is first compared
with that in the long term (Figure 3). Dividing the
soft clay into layers, the ratios of effective stresses
are computed for the centre of each layer. and
Equation ( 5 ) is used to calculate the reduction in
average creep rate for each layer. and thus for the
whole profile. Such calculations have shown that
when the surcharge is removed, the average creep
rate after pore pressure equilibration would reduce to
around 30% of its previous value. This compares
with a reduction of settlement rates to 9% of its
previous value calculated using BRISCON. but
some of the settlement occurring prior to unloading
arises from pore pressure dissipation rather than
creep. A better comparison is obtained when
surcharge is removed after 2 and 3 years; equation
( 5 ) implies that creep rates are reduced to 1.1TOand
0.5% of their previous values, which compare
favourably with 1.1% and 0.6% obtained from
BRISCON. Such agreement between BRISCON and
equation ( 5 ) for surcharge removal after 2 and 3
years is expected, since by then the excess pore
pressures have almost completely dissipated. At
earlier times the simple approach using equation ( 5 )
underestimates the reduction of settlement rate
achieved, which in practice would generally be
conservative.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The consolidation of soft soils around vertical drains
frequently presents difficulties to designers of
reclamation schemes if there is significant creep.
The elastic visco-plastic models utilised here enable
simple calculations to be made to assess surcharge
effectiveness where primary consolidation occurs
quickly, and their incorporation in the finite
difference procedure BRISCON facilitates design to
reduce secondary settlements even if primary
consolidation is not complete.
6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to the Engineering and
Physical Sciences Research Council for sponsoring
the initial part of research.
REFERENCES
Barron, R.A. 1948. Consolidation of fine-grained soils by
Drain Wells. Trans. ASCE, 113:718-754.
Bjerrum, E. 1972. Embankments on soft ground. State of the
Art report. Proc. Spec. ConJ on Performance of Earth and
Earth-supported structures, Purdue University. 1 : 1-54.
ASCE.
Butterfield, R. 1979. A natural compression law for soils (an
advance on e-log p ' ) . Geotechnique 29(4):469-480.
Den Haan, E.J. The formulation of virgin compression in soils.
Geotechnique 42(3):465-484.
Geotechnique (1992). Bothkennar soft clay test site:
characterisation and lessons learned. Symposium in Print.
Geotechnique 42(2): 161-378.
Hansbo, S. 1981. Consolidation of fine-grained soils by
prefabricated drains. Proc. lUth lnt. Cons on S M F E ,
StockhoO?1.VOI 31677-682.
Jamiolkowski, M., Lancellotta, R. & Wolski, W. 1983.
Precompression and speeding up consolidation. General
Report to Spec. Session 6. 8'" Eur. ConJ on SMFE.
Helsinki. Vol. 3:1201-1226.
Johnson, S.J. 1970. Precompression for improving foundation
soils. Proc. ASCE, 96(SM1):1 11-144.
Hight, D.W., Bond, A.J. and Legge, J.D. 1992. Characteris-
ation of the Bothkennar clay: an overview. Geotechnique
42(2):303-348.
Mesri, G. & Choi. Y.K. 1985. Settlement analysis of
embankments on soft clays. Proc. ASCE. 1 1 I(GT4): 441-
464.
Mesri G., Lo, D.O.K. & Feng, T.W. 1994. Settlement of
embankments on soft clays. Vertical and Horrzontd
dejormations of foundations and embankments. Geot. Spec.
Pub. NO 4018-55.ASCE.
Murray R.T. 197 1, Embankments constructed on soft
foundations: settlement study at Avonmouth. Road
Research Laboratory, Report LR 4 19.
Nash, D.F.T., Sills, G.C. and Davison. L.R. 1992. One-
dimensional consolidation testing of soft clay from
Bothkennar. Geotechnique 42(2):24 1-256.
Nash, D.F.T. and Ryde, S.J. 1999. Modelling the effects of
surcharge to reduce long term settlement of an embankment
on soft alluvium. Proc. 12"' Eur. Cons on SMGE,
Atnsterdatn, Vol. 3: 1555- 156 1.
Reece G. 1986. Microcomputer modelling by finite differences.
Macm illan. London.
Ryde, S.J. 1997. The performance and back-analysis of
embankments on soft estuarine clay. PhD Thesis.
University of Bristol.
Yin, J-H. & Graham J. 1989. Viscous-elastic-plastic modelling
of one-dimensional time-dependent behaviour. Canadian
Geot. Jnl. 26(2): 199-209.
Yin, J-H. & Graharn, J. 1996. Elastic visco-plastic modelling of
one-dimensional consolidation. Geotechnique. 46(3):5 I 5 -
527.
Yin, J-H. 1999. Non-linear creep of soils in oedometer tests.
Ge'otechniqtre. 49(5):699-707.
 CoastalGeotechnicalEngineeringin Practice,Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 0 2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Stability of soft clay improved by SCP with low replacement ratios

under backfilled caisson loading
Md. Z. Rahman, J.Takemura & T.Mizuno
Tokyo Institute of Technologx Japan
M. Koda
Railway Technical Research Institute, Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT Stability of clay improved by SCP with low replacement ratio under backfilled caisson loading
is investigated. The influence of various factors especially weight of the caisson is revealed by series of centri-
fuge model tests. The test results show that increase in caisson weight can decrease the lateral displacement
of the caisson under backfill loading. Stability analysis shows that there is an optimum caisson weight for a
specific backfill load and improvement condition beyond which the factor of safety becomes smaller. So it is
confirmed that increasing the caisson weight to some extent can increase the stability during backfilling.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 CENTRIFUGE MODEL TEST

Sand Compaction Pile (SCP) Method with low re-
placement ratios is one of the alternatives to reduce
the construction cost of SCP improved soft seabed in
harbor construction works (quay wall, sea wall etc.).
But relatively larger settlement and lower stability of
low replacement ratio SCP are impeding the practi-
cal use of this method. In recent years, several re-
searches through model to full scale tests (Yagyu et
al., 1989, Nakase & Takemura, 1989, Terashi et al.
1991, Rahman et al., 1999b) have been conducted on
SCP with low replacement ratios to study the bear-
ing capacity, settlement, short and long term stability
and deformations. The previous studies show that
behavior of SCP improved ground is not clearly
known and depends on several factors. Since the
shear strength of the sand is directly proportional to
the normal effective stress on the shear plane, the
caisson weight is one of the important factors to be
investigated especially for the low replacement ratio
SCP ground.
This study focussed on the stability of soft clay
improved by SCP with low replacement ratios of
%=30%-50% subjected to gravity caisson and back-
fill loading. The investigation is carried out by cen-
trifuge model tests and stability analysis. The effects
of different parameters have been investigated espe-
cially the weight of the caisson. From the investiga-
tion it is confirmed that the increase of the caisson
weight to some extent for a specific backfill pressure
and improvement condition can increase the stability
of the low replacement ratio SCP ground.
Ariake clay was used for model soft ground, for SCP
and sand drain Toyoura sand was used whereas Zir-
con sand was used for backfill material. The clay has
the following major properties; specific gravity, G,
=2.67, liquid limit =71 .l%, plastic limit =38%,
compression index, C, =0.52, strength increase ratio
cJp0.42. The properties of Toyoura sand are; spe-
cific gravity, G, = 2.64, maximum and minimum
void ratios are 0.974 and 0.609 respectively. The
relative densities of SCP and SD are 80% and 30%
respectively. The angle of internal friction of the
Toyoura sand with Dr=80% under triaxial compres-
sion condition is about 40". The properties of Zircon
sand are; specific yavity, G, =4.6, submerged unit
weight y'=20 kN/m and the angle of internal friction
is about 40". To simulate the construction of the
caisson, the empty caisson box was filled in-flight by
water and ZnClz solution in two different series of
tests respectively. The specific gravity of ZnCl2 so-
lution used is 1.77. The observed tilting of the cais-
son was less than 3", the effect of the tilting on the
position of the center of gravity of the caisson can be
negligible.
The model preparation and test procedure is pre-
sented here in brief. Details of the centrifuge model
test is given by Rahman et al. (1998). Tests were
performed using two strong boxes in two series. The
small box was 500nlm in length, 350mm in height
and 150 nun in width and the large box was 700mni
in length, 450mm height and 150mm in width. Fig1
shows the schematic illustration of test setup show-
ing different parameters and dimensions adopted in
the small box. The clay was remolded and poured

489
into the strong box. A drainage layer of 20mm in
thickness was prepared on the base of the strongbox
prior to the clay pouring. Preconsolidation pressure
of 5 kPa was applied to the clay layer using bello-
fram cylinder on the lab floor and after completion
of the preconsolidation, the specimen was consoli-
dated under 90kPa seepage pressure (Takemura et. a1
1991). On completion of consolidation, markers
were placed on the front side of the clay block.
Figure 1 Test setup (all dimensions in mm)
Figure 2 Loading process with time
490
Thickness of the model ground was 150mm which
correspond to 15m in prototype under the centrifugal
acceleration of lOOg employed in the tests. The SCP
and SD were installed in a triangular arrangement.
The diameter of the model SCP and SD were 15 mm
and 7 mm respectively. After preparing the model
ground the earth pressure cells and pore pressure
transducers were inserted to the predetermined posi-
tions.
The model caisson with width and height of
75mm (7.5m in prototype) was made of the steel
wall box with frictional base and instnunented with
two pressure cells on the inside bottom to measure
the pressure of the liquid filled. It was placed on
SCP ground and Toyoura sand was spread on the
both side of the caisson to provide surcharge pres-
sure of 5kPa under lOOg field. Potential meters and
laser displacement sensors were installed. The
model was then taken on the centrifuge and sand
hopper and liquid tank were mounted on the strong
box. Water was then poured into the both side of the
caisson to a height of 6Omm above the ground level
and maintained constant throughout the test. The av-
erage contact pressure from the empty caisson in
partially submerged condition under 100g is 20ltPa
which was 15kPa higher than the surcharge pressure.
Centrihigal acceleration is increased stepwise by
log upto 1OOg. On completion of the dissipation of
excess pore water pressure, the caisson was filled
with water in series 1 and with ZnC12 solution in se-
ries 2 in-flight at a constant rate from the liquid tank
on the strong box. In series 2 care was paid so that
the caisson was not overflowed. The increment of
the caisson load with time is shown in Fig.2(a). Av-
erage increments of caisson pressure are 70 and 115
kPa in series 1 and 2 respectively. After filling the
caisson, consolidation of model ground was allowed
for 10 min equivalent to about 10 weeks in prototype
scale. Zircon sand was then rained down on the SD
improved part of the model ground to simulate stage
construction of backfill by using the sand hopper.
Due to manual operation of the sand hopper, there
were some differences in loading process between
test cases as shown in Fig. 2(b). Lateral placement
a ! c i se;*lmentof paisscii was mmitored by ~ * : n gi:l-
displacemeni sensors and potential niztyrs re-
spzctively. Centrifugation has continued tijl tile con-
solidation of model ground under fill exceeded 90%,
which ~ i a sconfirmed by the pore water pressure
transducers. Photographs were taken to measure the
displacement of the ground. Water content at differ-
ent depths and locations were measured after tests.
Replacement ratio (aJ, width of SCP portion (W)
and caisson weight (W,) are the parameters studied
in the tests. 30% and 50% replacement ratios, the
width of the SCP portion of 1.2B and 2B and the
caisson weight of 85 and 130 kPa were employed in
the tests. Test conditions are given in Table 1.
 Table 1: Test conditions 140 kPa, as the backfill pressure in casel is higher
Series Test a, W Backfill Net cais- than other cases. The figure shows that increasing
(%I load, Wbf son load, the net caisson load from 85 kPa to 130 kPa is ef-
-
(@a’) W, (Wa) fective in reducing the lateral displacement of the
casel 30 1.2B 173 caisson under the conditions in the tests. Widening
1 case2 30 2.0B I40 85 SCP portion has significant effect on the reduction
case3 50 1.2B 140 of the lateral displacement of the caisson. It is inter-
case8 30 1.2B 140 eating to see that lateral displacement of the caisson
?-r
L case9 30 2,OB 140 130 is almost the same ur,Cir the both light and heavy
case11 50 1.2B 140 caisson when the improvement width is two times
B (width of caisson): 75nm (7.5m in prototype) the width of the caisson. So, for this backfilling con-
dition the improvement width two times the caisson
width is enough to ensure the short term stability.
3 TESTRESULTS

All the test results are given in prototype scale. The

settlement of the caisson during caisson loading is
plotted against the increment of caisson load as
shown in Fig.3. The settlement of the caisson in
case 1 was not measured accurately. The settlement
increases with the load and no marked change in the
slope of the settlement-load curve even upto the in-
crement of the caisson load of 115 kPa except of
case8. In case8, a large settlement was observed at
load increment of 65kPa without increasing the load.
This was due to consolidation of the SCP ground as
the load from caisson was kept constant for about
100 days as seen in Fig.2, which allowed the ground Figure 3 Vertical settlement of the caisson vs increment of the
to be consolidated. The slope of this curve before caisson load
and after the load increment of 65 kPa is same which
meaiis no failure was occurred.
The deformation of SCP ground due to the caisson
loading was mainly vertical. whereas the defornia-
tions of the SCP ground and the caisson due to back-
filling were mainly horizontal. The lateral displace-
ineiit during backfilling with backfill loads is shown
in Fig. 4. The lateral displaceineiit of the caisson in-
creases with the backGll load and similar trend is ob-
served in all cases irrespective of the iniproveinent
and loading conditions. In the previous study (Rah-
man et al. 1999b) it was confirmed that the lateral
displacement of the caisson could be reduced by
both increasing replacement ratio and widening the
SCP improved portion toward the fill, when the im-
provement width is two times the caisson width and Figure 4 Lateral displacement of the caisson with backfill load
the SCPs are installed under the caisson and ex-
tended toward the fill, the effect of increasing the re-
placement ratio from 30% to 50% is not significant.
The lateral diyplacement of the caisson is also de-
pendent on the rate of backfilling rate.
In this study, although there were some differ-
ences in backfilling process among the test cases. the
investigation is made ignoring that effect. Figure 5
shows the effects of the improvement width (W) and
the net caisson weight (W,) on the lateral displace-
ment of the caisson due to backfilling. The net cais-
son weight is the total load intensity of the caisson
minus the surcharge pressure (5kPa). The lateral dis-
placement is the one measured at the backfill load of Figure 5 Effect of lateral improvement width and caisson load
on the lateral displacement of the caisson

491

Figure 6 Settlement of the caisson after backfilling with time
Figure 7 Effect of improvement width (W) arid net caisson load
(W,) on long term settlement
When the overall stability is considered, the long
term stability should be investigated from the defor-
mation point of view especially for the low replace-
ment ratio SCP ground where the deformation after
the construction is relatively large. The settlement of
the caisson with time after the construction is shown
in Fig. 6. The figure shows that the settlement of the
caisson increases with time. The long term settle-
ment after the construction of the caisson was stud-
ied by Rahman et al. (1999a, b). Those studies
showed that the settlement of the caisson had con-
tinued after the completion of consolidation at SCP
portion. They pointed out that the long term settle-
ment of the caisson was caused by both the consoli-
dation settlement of SCP portion and differential
settlement between the SCP and SD portion under
the fill behind the SCP portion. They concluded that
the long term settlement could be effectively con-
trolled by adopting higher replacement ratio and
widening the SCP portion toward the fill. Similar re-
sponse is also observed in this study. It can be seen
from Fig.6 that both the widening the improvement
width (W) and the increase of the net caisson pres-
sure (W,) from 85 to 130 kPa reduce the long term
settlement. Effects of W and W, can be confirmed in
Fig.7. In these figures the long term settlements of
492
the caisson 15 months after the construction are
plotted against W and W,. The long term behavior
of the SCP ground under this type of backfilled cais-
son loading is relatively complicated. The settlement
of the caisson after the construction can be divided
into two phases. One is immediately after the con-
struction the settlement of the caisson mainly caused
by the consolidation at SCP portion and the other is
the settlement mainly caused by the differential set-
tlement between the SCP and SD portion after fin-
ishing the consolidation at SCP portion. In the later
phase, the settlement depends on the stiffness of the
SCP ground under the caisson as well as the load
applied to that due to differential settlement. The
widening the SCP area toward fill reduces the load
due to this differential settlement on the SCP area
under the caisson, consequently the settlement of the
caisson reduces. The increase of the caisson load in-
creases stiffness of the SCP portion under the cais-
son. As a result the settlement is also reduced. So,
the wider improvement area toward the fill and the
increase of the caisson load to some extent can re-
duce the long term settlement thus increase the long
term stability.
4 STABILITY ANALYSIS
Factors of safety of the iinproved ground was calcu-
lated by using Modified Felleiiius Method. The
shear strength of the composite ground is obtained
by calculating the shear strength for sand and clay
part separately along the sliding surface as shown
below.
for sand pai-t:
T = (y',z + Ao,p,)lm?(p, cos2a (]a>
and for clay part:
T = c0 + kz + Ac, (1 b)
where, T is shearing streiigth of composite ground at
depth z of sliding surface, Y ' ~is effective unit weight
of sand pile, Ao, is the average increment of pres-
sure on iinproved surface at depth z. p, is the ratio
of the stress in the sand pile to the average stress re-
spectively, CO is the initial shear strength of clay at
depth z=O, k is the rate of increase of undraiiied
strength of the original clay with depth, Ac, is the in-
crease of the strength of clay due to consolidation at
time t.
The increment of strength of clay due to consoli-
dation is estimated by the following equation:
Ac, = A T k,/ P ) U , (2)
Where AD, is vertical stress increment in the claj
part, c,/p is ratio of increase of clay strength to the
increase of effective vertical stress and Ut is the de-
gree of consolidation due to vertical and radial flow.
 Table 2: Factor of Safety (FS)
>
case no 1 2 3 8 I1

FS (after cais- 1.82 1.82 2.03 1.41 1.41 1.61 ~

m
son loadirg)
A
FS (after 1.06 1.35 1.28 1.29 1.44 1.38
backfilling) . LConsolidation*

The details of the calculation of stability analysis and

selection of parameters are presented by Rahman et Time (days)
al. (1999b). -In this analysis the angle of internal
Figure Ger,eralizedloadingprocess
friction of SCP was taken as 40' and the stress con-
centration ratio in the SCP was assumed as 3.
The calculated factor of safety after caisson load-
ing and caisson and backfill loading is shown in Ta-
ble 2. Under caisson loading higher factor of safety
was obtained in case3 in series1 and case11 in se-
ries2, with a,=50% than the other cases where
%=30% was used. Widening of SCP portion does
not increase the factor of safety significantly under
caisson loading. In case2 and 3 the number of SCPs
are almost same 32 and 33 respectively. It was found
that widening the SCP portion under the fill could
increase the factor of safety than increasing the re-
placement ratio under only the caisson with the same
number of SCPs. As the load from fill was higher
than that from caisson, mobilized strength of SCP
under fill was higher than that under the caisson. Figure 10 Relationship between the net caisson weight and the
The observed lateral displacement of the caisson f;ictor of safety
is plotted against the calculated factor of safety im-
mediately after the backfilling in Fig.8. The unique
relationship between the lateral displacement of the
caisson and the factor of safety can be seen. This re-
lationship reveals that irrespective of the loading and
improvement condition the lateral displacement in-
creases at the lower factor of safety and large lateral
displacement is found at the factor of safety lower
than 1.2. Similar phenomena was also observed in
the previous study (Takemura et al., 1991).

Factor ot'safety (FS)

Figure8 Relationship between factor of safety and lateral dis-

placenient of the caisson after backfilling Figure 11 Relationship between the factor of safety and the net
caisson load (W,) under different backfill loads (Wbf)

493

Figure 12 Relationship between the factor of safety and the net
caisson load (W,) under different improvement widths ( W)
Figure5 and Table:! show that increasing the cais-
son load can increase the stability of the SCP ground
under the applied backfill loading. However, there
may be several combination of net caisson load (W,)
and backfill load (Wbf) to get the optimum stability
in the construction of the backfilled gravity type
caisson with a specific improvement condition. In
order to investigate the effects of the caisson and
backfill load on the stability, a loading process is as-
sumed as shown in Fig.9. Under this loading proc-
ess, the caisson is constructed in 21 days followed by
70 days consolidation and then the backfilling is
made in 70 days followed by the consolidation. The
calculated factor of safety (FS) for the backfill load
of 140 kPa is plotted with the net caisson load (W,)
is shown in Fig.10. The factor of safety immediately
after the caisson construction decreases with the net
caisson load. But immediately after the backfilling
the response is quite different. The factor of safety
depends on the net caisson load, backfill load and
improvement width. Figure1 1 shows the factor of
safety with net caisson load under different backfill
loads. When the width of improvement is 1.2 times
the caisson width, the factor of safety increases with
the net caisson load to an optimum value and then
again decreases. The position of the optimum factor
of safety. denoted by an arrow shifts to the right
(toward higher net caisson load) with the increase of
the backfill load and left with widening the SCP
portion toward the fill side. However, when the im-
provement width is 2 times the caisson width, the
factor of safety decreases with increasing the caisson
load without showing the optimum W,. under this
range of loads. This response is observed in both
494
&=30%and a,=50%. So it can be concluded that the
factor of safety increases with caisson load to an op-
timum value and then again decreases for a specific
backfill load and improvement condition. Fig. I 2
shows relationships between the factor of safety and
W, with different W. The figures show that when
the caisson load is smaller than the backfill load, the
wider improvement width toward the fill is effective
in increasing the factor of safety but the effective-
ness decreases with increasing the improvement
width. But for higher caisson load than backfill
load, the widening of the improvement width is not
significant in increasing the factor of safety.
5 CONCLUSIONS
From this study the following conclusions can be
drawn.
Widening SCP area toward fill is effective to in-
crease the stability of SCP improved soft clay under
backfilled caisson loading. increasing the caisson
weight to some extent can also increase both the
short and long term stability.
The factor-of safety increases with caisson load to
an optimum value and then again decreases for a
specific backfill load and improvement condition.
When the caisson load is smaller than the backfill
load the factor of safety increases by widening the
improvement toward the fill but for the caisson load
higher than the fill load, the widening of SCP por-
tion toward the fill does not increase the factor of
safety significantly.
6 REFERENCES
Nakase, A., & Takemura, J. 1989. Stability of clays improved
by sand compaction piles, Techical report. No. 40, Dept.
of Civil Engg., Tokyo Institute of Technology. 1-1 8.
Rahman, Md. Z., Takemura, J., Kouda, M., Yasumoto, K.
1998. Stability and deformation of soft clay improved by
SCP with low replacement ratios, Proc. 13"' SEAGSC,
Vol. 1: Taipei, Taiwan. pp.393-398.
Rahman, Md. Z., Mizuno, T., Kouda, M & Takemura, J. 1999a.
Long term settlement of soft clay improved by low re-
placement ratio SCP under backfilled caisson loading, Proc.
51"' ./SCE iinnziul Conventio~,Hiroshima, September 27-
24.
Rahman, Md. Z., Takemura, J.. Kouda, M. and Yasumoto, K.
1999b. Experimental study on deforination of soft clay ini-
proved by low replacement ratio SCP iinder backfilled cais-
son loading, Soils u17d Foiir7ckution (Submitted)
Takemura, J., Watabe. Y . , Suemasa. N., Hirooka. A . & Kiinura.
T. 199 1. Stability of soft clay improved with sand compac-
lion piles, Proc. 9"' h i m Regiomd Confirence, Vol. I , pp.
543-546.
Terashi, M. & Kitazume, M. and Minagawa, S. 1991. Bearing
capacity of improved ground by sand compaction piles,
Deep Foioidutioii Improvements: De.sig17 constrzictior? mtl
testing, ASTM STP 1089, pp 47-6 1
Yagyu. T. Endo, H., Takahashi. K., Yukita. Y . , Uniehara, Y.
199 1. Strength characteristics of soil improved by low re-
placenient sand coinpaction piles. GEO-CO,-IST ' 9 I , Y o -
kohama. Japan. pp 423-428.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) (c) 2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

A case of vacuum preloading in combination with filling

I. Sandanbata & K. Matsumoto - Hazunza Corporatioi?,Tokyo,J u p n

K. Nakakuma - Muruyama Iizdustiy Company Limited, Suitania, Japan
M. Kubo - Shiniizu Coi-poration, Tokyo,Jupun
TYoshida - Konoike Coizstruction Conipany Limited, Tokyo,Jupuiz
K.Yamaguchi - Asia Air Survey Conipany Limited, Tokyo,J a p m
R. Arita - Hokknido Developnzent Bureau, Jayur?

ABSTRACT: In a highway project, an embankment, the maximum thickness of which was about 13 meters,
was constructed on a soft ground (about 24 meters thick) consisting of an organic clay layer (about 7 meters
thick). In spite of the fact the initial strength of the soft ground indicated the critical height of 2 meters for
staged filling, the concurrent adoption of vacuum preloading enabled to accelerate the filling. The
embankment of 13 meters thickness was rapidly filled up in about 70 days, hence the average filling rate was
18.5cdday. This value is about ten times larger than that of conventional surcharging. The filling method
using vacuum preloading is found to be most appropriate for stable construction of an embankment on a soft
ground in a short period of time.

1 INTRODUCTION consolidation in combination with filling are

When an embankment is constructed on a soft
ground, the conventional surcharge method is often
executed. The filling operation is usually performed
step by step after the required strength of the ground
is generated in each phase to prevent the
embankment failure. Thus the period of construction
will be generally extended. In case shortening of
filling duration is required, a ground improvement
method is applied additionally to strengthen the soft
ground. Vacuum preloading method is to accelerate
consolidation of a ground by applying vacuum
pressure to the ground covered with an airtight
membrane, and by pumping out forcibly the pore
water and the gas within the ground through vertical
drains driven into the ground. By vacuum
application beneath membrane, the pressure in the
drains is reduced. Therefore the generation of
excessive pore water pressure during filling process
is suppressed by accelerating the drainage. This
leads to an immediate increase of the ground
stability during filling process. The construction
method to apply vacuum preloading method in
filling process is most appropriate for stable
construction of an embankment on a soft ground in a
shortperiod of time.
This paper describes the subjects in the following
order; the plan of the project, the vacuum operation
and observation results during the vacuum
consolidation and during construction of the
embankment. Finally, the technical problems
remained concerning the method to execute vacuum
summarized.
2 OUTLINE OF THE PROJECT
In the highway project in this paper, the maximum
thickness of the embankment is about 13 meters. It
was constructed on a soft ground (about 24 meters
thick) including an organic layer (about 7 meters
thick) near the ground surface. The soft ground is
consolidated to eliminate or reduce the settlement
after the construction. The conventional surcharge
method requires a long period of time. So, the
vacuum preloading method was adopted to improve
the soft ground by conducting a feasibility study.
The project was executed over three years. A
construction of test embankment with vacuum
preloading (1,036m2) was executed precedently in
the first year (Ninomiya et al. 1998). The main
construction was perfomed in the second and the
last year. This paper mainly describes the summary
of the construction (18,289m2) in the second year.
Figure 1. Plan of vacuum preloading.

495
 Table 1. Specification of each block.
Treated Embankment Spacing of
area(m’) thickness(m) drains(m)
A 1,710 6.3 0.9
B 2,278 9.1 0.8
C 1,466 13.1 0.7
D 2,097 12.2 0.7
E 2,911 10.7 0.8
F 2,578 9.1 0.8 (0.9)
G 2,633 7.4 0.8 (0.9)
H 2,616 6 0.9
Figure 2. Construction process. Total 18,289

Table 2. Average of the measured vacuum pressure.

Block Vacuum pump Ground surface
(kN/m’) (kN/m’)
A 77 58
B 86 53
C 81 30
D 82 40
E 79 39
F 77 22
G 83 43
H 87 32
Figure 3. Soil parameters.

The construction area was located at a connection 3 GROUND CONDITION

area of a bridge as shown in Figure 1. The
improvement area was divided into eight blocks in
order to execute vacuum consolidation. Each block
had an area of 1700-2900m2. The specifications of
each block are summarized in Table 1. The vertical
drains were driven into the ground to 20 meters
depth. Spacing of the drains was chosen from three
types such as 0.7, 0.8 and 0.9 meter according to the
difference of the embankment structure (main road,
byway and height of embankment). Major
measurement was performed in two blocks (“C” and
“H” block). Take note that embankment thickness
and spacing of drains in these blocks are different
from each other.
Figure 2 shows the construction process. From the
technical viewpoint, for example, in order to reduce
the residual settlement, the determination of the
period for the vacuum operation before and after
filling is a very significant problem. These problems,
however, have not been solved and there is no
authorized design method because the construction
records have not been accumulated. So,
consolidation rates and settlement values were
evaluated by using the conventional design method
i.e. Terzaghi’s theory and Barron’s equation. The
vacuum operation started at 10 to 28 days period
before the filling, and terminated at about 40 days
period after completion of filling. The total period
for the vacuum operation is about 4 to 6 months.
496
The soft peat layer (about 7 meters thick) with
natural water content of 100-700% was deposited on
the ground before improvement. Under the layer,
clayey silt layer (about 16 meters thick) was
deposited. Fine sand layer was inter bedded from
GL-7 m to -9 m. Typical soil parameters are
indicated in Figure 3. It is inferred that the initial
stress state before construction is to be in a normal
consolidation state as shown in Figure 4. The values
of the coefficient of consolidation (corresponding to
the effective overburden pressure consideringL the
load increment by embankment) were 20cm /day
and 70cm2/dayfor the organic clay and the clay layer,
respectively.
4 OBSERVATIONAL RESULTS
4.1 Overview of measurement
Figure 5 shows the measurement points in “C” block
and “ H y block. To monitor the ground behavior
during construction, pore water pressure gauges,
differential settlement gauges and inclinometers
were set up under the ground. A pore water pressure
gauge was set up at each hole bored in the middle of
four drains arrayed in a square at the specified depth.

Figclre 4. Stress condition before the construction.
Figure 5. Measurement plan (“C” & “H’ block).
4.2 Vacuum consolidation work
Table 2 shows the average of the measured pressure
reduction values in the vacuum pump and under the
airtight sheet on the ground surface. It indicates that
pore pressure reduction of 70 kN/rn2 or more was
generated in the vacuum pump. Under the airtight
sheet, the reduction values were about 30 to 40
kN/m2 except “A” and “B” block, which were
smaller than that measured in the vacuum pump. The
loss of vacuum pressure under the membrane is
larger than the values of other construction sites. In
case records carried out for recent two years, the
average of vacuum pressure under the airtight sheet
indicated about 60kN/m2 (Sandanbata et.al. 1998,
Matsumoto et.al. 1998). It is presumed that the
gauges under the membrane did not function
properly under severely low temperature in winter
season. This construction site is in Hokkaido, the
northern district of Japan. Outside air temperature
reaches -20 degree centigrade in winter. At first, we
497
planned to start vacuum consolidation before the
arrival of a cold wave. However, we had to execute
vacuum preloading in the severe winter because of
the delay of the process in the early construction
stage before the process of vacuum preloading.
There is a possibility that the gauges used to
monitor negative pressure could not indicate the
differential pressure between the pressure under the
membrane and the atmospheric pressure correctly
when outside air temperature fell far below zero
degree. Therefore, it may be impossible to correctly
measure the pressure reduction generated on the
ground surface in the second construction year.
4.3 Ground surface settlement
Figure 6 shows the settlement of each block. In “C”
block with the thickest embankment (13.1 meter
thickness), the settlement exceeding 4 meters was
recorded until the end of the vacuum consolidation.
The observed settlement value corresponds with the
designed one calculated fiom the vacuum pressure
and the weight of the embankment. The settlements
before filling were 33 cm and 34 cm in “C” and “H”
block respectively.
4.4 Differential settlement of each layer
Figure 7 shows the compressive strain in the ground
calculated from the observational results by using
the differential settlement gauges at the final stage.
Major ground compression took place in the peat
layer and the organic clay layer near the ground
surface. The values of compression in the peat layer
and the organic clay layer were found to be 65-75%
(for “C” block) and 7844% (for “H” block) of those
at the end of vacuum consolidation.
Figure 6. Settlement ofeach-block.
 about 40cm was measured on the ground surface. In
“H” block with lower embankment, the same
tendency in ground behavior was observed, though
the values were smaller than those of “C” block.
In the first year of test embankment of this project,
slight lateral deformation toward the outside of the
improvement area was observed during filling period
as shown in Figure 9. This behavior is entirely
different from that observed in the second year
shown in Figure 8. One of the reasons why the
results in the first year were largely different from
the behavior in the second year may be due to the
fact that the period of vacuum operation before
starting of filling was longer than that of the second
year. In the first year test embankment, the vacuum
operation period before filling was 43 days. In the
second year construction presented in this paper, the
period was 10 and 21 days for “C” and “H” block,
respectively.

4.6 Pore pressure under the ground

Figure 7. Compressive strain in each stratum.
Figure 10 shows the pore water pressure under the
ground in “H” block. The changes of pore pressure
in the ground after vacuum operation are shown in
Figure 11. If the intermediate sand layer exists in the
ground, it is anticipated that the vacuum pressure
may be decreased by the inflow of the pore water
from the surrounding area. However, in this case, the
rise of pore water pressure in the sand layer was not
observed even if the water pressure in other stratum
was increased by the filling operation. It is clear that
the intermediate sand layer improved the ground
stability effectively by suppressing the rise of the
excess pore pressure.

Figure 8. Lateral displacement in the ground.

(Main embankment in the second year)

4.5 Lateral displacement in the ground

Figure 8 shows the lateral displacements before
filling and at the end of filling observed within the
distance of one meter from the border of the
improvement area. The positive values indicate the
movement toward the outside of the embankment.
The ground was displaced toward the inner side of
the improvement area due to the vacuum preloading.
The lateral displacement toward the outside of the
improvement area began to take place from the start
of the filling. The maximum value of lateral
displacement toward the outer side was about 70cm
in the organic clay layer at “C” block with the Figure 9. Lateral displacement in the ground.
thickest embankment. The lateral displacement of (Test mh-mkment in the first year)

498
Figure 10. Pore pressure in the ground.
Figure 1 1. The change value of pore pressure.
4.7 Stability control of embankment
In the second year of this project, the ground
deformation showed the tendency to deform largely
toward the outside during filling process. However,
the embankment failure did not occur during the
constructicn period.
The stability control method to prevent the ground
failure under the filling in combination with vacuum
preloading is not still enough studied. We have not
obtained enough knowledge on ground failure under
the vacuum preloading. That is because there is no
example of ground failure where filling is executed
concurrently with vacuum preloading. Therefore, we
adopted the conventional stability control method for
filling as in the conventional surcharge in Japan. We
controlled filling rate so as to set the maximum
horizontal displacement rate to 1.5cdday or less
near the top of the slope. In case the rate was about
to exceed this limit, we stopped the filling and
observed the behavior of the ground carefully.
499
Figure 12. Pore pressure vs. time after the filling
Figure 13. Normalized settlement by the maximum settlement.
4.8 Effect of drain spacing
The ground behavior due to the difference of the
spacing of drains was examined through the
observed results. Figure 12 shows the change of pore
water pressure in the ground from the start of filling.
With regard to the dissipation rate of the excess pore
pressure after the completion of filling, the rate in
“C” block (the spacing of drains was 0.7 m) was 2.4
times faster than “H” block (the spacing of drains
was 0.9 m). The observed settlement rates are shown
in Figure 13. In order to compare the settlement rates
of each block, the settlement was normalized by the
final settlement predicted from the fitting method by
using hyperbolic curve. As expected, it is clear that
the smaller spacing of the vertical drain accelerates
the consolidation rate.
5 CONCLUSION
The following results can be concluded.
1) In case an embankment is constructed on a soft
ground, concurrent adoption of vacuum preloading
method with filling process makes it possible to
execute a rapid earth filling.
2) In the reported case, the embankment of 13 meters
thickness on the organic soft clay ground was rapidly
filled up in about 70 days, the average filling rate of
18.5 c d d a y , which indicates about ten times faster
than the conventional surcharge method.
3) The maximum lateral displacement recorded in
the soft ground due to the filling load was about
70cm. However, the failure of the ground was not
occurred in this project. It is considered that the
increase of excess pore pressure due to the filling
operation was restrained by the combination with the
vacuum preloading.
4) Evaluation methods have to be established for the
following items.
- The stability control for filling in combination with
vacuum preloading.
- The period of vacuum operation before and after
the filling to prevent excess residual settlement.

REFFERENCES
Matsumoto,K., Ohno,M. PhiOanh,T., Nakakuma,K.
and Nakakuma,.K 1998. Ground behavior
during ground improvement due to vacuum
consolidation (V01.2). Proc. of 33'd Japan
National Conf. on Geotech. Engrg., pp. 1095-
1096 (in Japanese).
Ninomiya,H., Honda, K., Akashi, K., Hayashi, H.,
Umezaki, T. and Shiono, T 1998. Improvement
effects of soft clay ground due to newly
developed vacuum consolidation method (Ver. 1
to Ver.3), Proc. of 33'd Japan National Conf. on
Geotech. Engrg., pp.2139-2144 (in Japanese).
Sandanbata,I., Koga,T., Ishihara,K., Kato,T., and
Nakakuma,K 1998. Ground behavior during
ground improvement due to vacuum
consolidation (Vol.1). Proc. of 33'd Japan
National Conf. on Geotech. Engrg., pp. 1093-
1094 (in Japanese).

500
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, lS5N 90 5809 151 1

Self-weight consolidation of dredged clay with plastic board drain

IS.Sat0 & N.Yoshida

Department of Civil Engineering, Fukuoka Universiv, Japan
T. Nomura
Kinjo Rubber Company Limited, Osaka, Japan

ABSTRACT: The Plastic board drain (PD) method for self-weight consolidation has been proposed by the
authors as one of soil improvement methods in reclamation works using high water content dredged soils. This
method is the vertical drain method for accelerating self-weight consolidation using a PD and floating driving
machine to dehydrate such very soft grounds in a short period.
Therefore, the effectiveness of the PD for self-weight and loading consolidation was confirmed by
laboratory tests using a large size cylindrical container (H=2lOcm, D=30cm) filled with dredged clay slurry of
high water content (w=lOOO%).

1 INTRODUCTION 2 TEST PROCEDURES

In recent years, for maintenance of navigational
channels or purification of the environment, it is
often planned to dredge the clayey deposits on the
surface of sea, and utilize the dredged spoils as
landfill and manmade island materials. Typically, the
dredged spoils are temporarily stored in a nearby
sedimentation pond and then very soft ground is
formed. Nevertheless, since an artificial ground filled
with the spoils has a very high water content such as
200 to 300%, it is necessary to dehydrate it properly
for the utilization to landfill and manmade island.
Kamon et a1.(1991), Shinsha et. al. (1991) and
Yoshikuni et.al. (1994,1995) have researched the
vertical drain method using plastic board and
horizontal drain method as one of the soil
improvement methods in reclamation works for
dredged clay. Therefore, the authors have developed
the vertical drain method for accelerating self-weight
consolidation using plastic board drains as a method
of dehydration such very soft grounds in a short
period. This method is not only possible to pour the
large quantity dredged spoils into the landfill pond
but also is possible to utilize a landfill ground as soon
as possible after the end of reclamation.
In this paper the effectiveness of the plastic board
drain (PD) for self-weight consolidation was
confirmed by the laboratory tests using a large scale
cylindrical container (H=210cm,D=30cm). Moreover,
the results from the loading consolidation tests after
the self-weight consolidation tests is also reported.
2.1 Clay sample, PD and apparatus
The clay sample used in this study was an alluvial
marine clay called as Kanda clay, which was taken
from the port of Kanda bay in Fuku0k.a prefecture,
Japan. Pieces of shells were taken out from clay
slurry by using a sieve of 2.0mm diameter. The
particle size distribution curve of Kanda clay is
shown in Figure 1. The physical properties of this
clay are given as: G,=2.525, w,=140%, w,=84.2%,
w,=36.9% and Ip=47.3.
The clay slurry was completely remolded in a
mixer with the 3% density salty water. At this stage,
the water content of prepared clay slurry is about
1000%.
A PD sample used in this study was 50mm width,
3.6mm thickness, which has the composite boards
with filter sleeve attached to the profiled core as
shown in Figure 2. The water contained in clay slurry
is drained through the inside of a core, when the PD
sample is inserted into very soft clay ground.
The testing apparatus used for investigation of self-
weight consolidation characteristics of slurry dredged
clay consisted of 7 parts of large scaled cylindrical
container (H=210cm) as shown in Figure 3. This each
container has D=30cm inner radius and H=30cm
height. The inner surface of the cylindrical container
is made of acrylic with lcm in thickness.

501
 were measured. The pore water pressure in the clay
sample was measured by the transducer installed at
the bottom of the cylindrical container as shown in
Figure 4.
In order to investigate the mechanism of the self-
weight consolidation with PD, two types of the
consolidation tests were carried out : 1) self-weight
consolidation test (SW-test) in which pore water
drains from the upper surface only, 2) self-weight
consolidation test in which the PD is set up at the
center of sample (PD-test), in other words, pore water
drains from the PD and the upper surface.
2)L,ouding consolidution test
Figure 5 illustrated that the loading and the
perineability tests apparatus. This loading system is
controlled by air cylinder.
A series of tests are carried out as follows:
After self-weight consolidation, a stage loading
consolidation tests for SW and PD-test did with
the each vertical load ov=19.6kPa and 49.0kPa.
The tests were performed in step by step way
under the consolidation pressure.
After the each loading consolidation test, the
constant head permeability test carried out to
investigate the permeability performance of PD
samples in the clay specimen under constant
loading.
After the 2nd stage loading test, in order to
investigate the strength properties of clay
specimen for each tests, the cone penetration tests
were carried out at the top of clay sample.
In the case of PD-test, after the final
consolidation step in the model test is finished,
the mold was disassembled carefully so as to see
the deformations of the prefabricated drains
inside the clay.
After the consolidation test, the local water
contents of the clay was measured. The points
were chosen with the radiation from the center at
thc middle of PD. It was measured to a depth
Figure 3 Test apparatus
direction 5 cm each.

2.2 Test procedure

3. TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
1 ) Selj-weight consolidation test
3.1 Self-weight consolidation test
The clay samples prepared by the above-mentioned
Figure h shows the time versus height of clay surface
method were poured into the cylindrical container up
rclations for cach layer as clay slurry is poured. The
to ;I height of about 1C)Omm per day for each layer.
height of clay slurry after 24hr. starting since pouring
The total layers are five, finally leading to 250cm
clay slurry has risen at the constant rate. The rising
height using the top cap mold. The pouring method rate of slurry clay surface is 37.3cm/day and thus the
wa$ used by the water pump. The PD samples was
amount of settlement for each layer is almost the
inserted at center of the clay sample after 24 hours
same .
since pouring of 5 layers. After pouring for each layer,
thc surface settlement and excess pore water pressure

502
Figure 6 Relationships between elapsed time and Figure 9 Relationships between elapsed time and
height of clay surface for each layer consolidation velocity

U (96) Conyolidalion Time (min) The clfecl of acceleration LJ 0Y Conwlidatirm Time (min) The effect of acceleration
PD-test t I 1 SW-test t t 2/ t I t ,/ t (c,;) (k~",) PD-lest t , SW-test t t J t , t ,/ t
90 24550 I 281530 11.5 j 0.09 50 19.6 7500 17190 6.9 0.15
50 40.0 1330 34430 25.9 0.04

503
 Figure 7 shows the time-settlement relations of the
slurry clay surface for SW-tests and PD-tests.
These results indicate that the settlement data of PD-
tests was terminated in 6ldays after start of
mcasurenient. On the other hand, the results of SW-
tests was terminated in 310 days. The relation of
time-settlement markedly that indicates the
consolidation is accelerated by PD. In this Figure, the
final settlement, S,, is estimated by using a hyperbolic
fitting method for PD-test data. Based on the above-
mcntioncd proccdure, the final settlements (&) is
about C)O.lcm, which is calculated by the each
consolidation curve. The degree of consolidation at
SW-tests and PD-tests was calculated from the final
settlements (S,).
The effect for accelerating consolidation by means
of PD is estimated by comparing the consolidation
time at U=c)Oo/O.The results are shown in Table-1.
The self-weight consolidation in which the PD is set
u p at the center of sample has been accelerated at as
the 11.5 times as the case without PD. This result
indicates that it is very effective for accelerating
consolidation to make use of PD during self-weight
consolidation.
The relationships between the pore water pressure
and elapsed time for SW-tests and PD-tests are
shown in Figure 8. This Figure indicates that the pore
water pressure dissipates for the case with PD with
the progress of self-weight consolidation. The rate of
pore water pressure dissipation is higher than that in
the case without PD.
Figure 9 shows the relationship between
consolidation velocity and elapsed time. The
consolidation rate of PD-tests is larger than that in
SW-tests until U=87%. Afterwards, the consolidation
velocity of each test becomes the same steady rate.
The above-mentioned results from the experiment
indicate that it is very effective for accelerating
consolidation to make use of PD during self-weight
consolidation.
3.2LoircEing consolidation test
The settlement versus elapsed time curves for self-
weight and loading consolidation of SW-test and PD-
test are shown in Figure 10. In this Figure, the
relation of time-settlement markedly indicates that
the consolidation is accelerated by PD for each
loading step. The rate of initial settlement of PD-test
is greater than the case without PD for each loading
steps. Comparing the elapsed time for the end of
consolidation, the SW-test requires about three times
as longer time as PD test. This result indicates that
the PD after high deformation by self-weight
consolidation maintains a high permeability
performance.
Figure 13 Results of grain size analysis

504
 Therefore, the effect for accelerating consolidation
using PD is estimated by comparing the consolidation
time at U=50% for each loading step. The results are
shown in Table-2. The loading consolidation in
which the PD is set up at the center of sample has
been accelerated at as the 11.5 and 25.9 times for
each loading steps as the case without PD. This result
indicates that it is very effective for accelerating
consolidation to make use of PD during loading
consolidation. After the final consolidation step in the
model test is finished, the mold was disassembled
carefully so as to see the deformations of the
prefabricated drains inside the clay.
Figure 11 shows the deformations of PD inside
the clay. A PD sample was deformed and bent with
large curvature by consolidation and received the
strain up to 70% to the axial direction. The
photograph shows that the PD sample undergoes
large deformation following the settlement of a
model ground. A sharp local kinking which is one of
the major reason for the reduction of the permeability
performance of PD, was not observed.
In order to investigate the permeability
characteristics of the PD after loading consolidation
the permeability tests were performed under the
constant head as shown in Figure 12. The result of
the permeability test of PD sample for the triaxial cell
is also simultaneously shown in this figure. These
experimental results were obtained with a hydrauric
gradient i = 1.0 condition. In this research, the PD
samples with B=Scm width and L=20cm length were
used. In the triaxial cell tests, samples were
consolidated by the isotropically under the stress of
29.4kPa.
The permeability of PD sample tends to decrease
with the increase of the strain. On the other hand, the
permeability of PD under the vertical consolidation is
about 1/9 as much as the results of PD sample. This is
caused by the length and bending of PD. And, the
cross section of PD sample becomes narrower by
transformation of the non-woven filter for the
confining effect of consolidation. However, this Figure 16 Results of cone penetration test
coefficient of permeability is estimated from the
amount of drained water using the Darcy’s low, it
will be set as k= 4.3 cm/sec, and it turns out that it as i t is closer to the PD sample. It is shown that the
fully has the drainage function as compared with the small size grains are accumulated near the PD sample
permeability of model clay foundations. In order to under self-weight consolidation stage. However, the
place the PD sample in the slurry of high water particle diameter of clay specimen is almost uniform,
content, the clogging of the non-woven fabric filter which may not be one of the major reason to reduce
by the fine clay particle would be one of the ploblem. the discharge capacity.
Therefore, the grain size analysis was performed for The relation of the water content distribution in
the clay samples after the loading consolidation test. model foundations and the distance from PD sample
Figure 13 shows the average grain size D,,, is shown in Figure 14. It is understood that variation
according to distance from PD sample. It shows the in a water content distribution of clay specimens is
tendency that the average grain size becomes smaller, large. It turns out that water content gets a little

505
higher as it goes further from the PD sample.
The average water content distributions of the
center and edge of clay specimen for S W and PD-test
are shown in Figure 15. It can be observed from this
figure that the average water content distribution in
the depth direction is uniform with a maximum
variation of about 20%. This result may be
interpreted as that the consolidation occurs faster at
the upper layer of specimen and there is a lag in the
depth direction. However, the water content
distribution of SW and PD-test after loading
consolidation indicate the same tendency. This result
indicates that the consolidation of clay is efficiently
performed by PD.
After loading consolidation test, the local
undraincd shear strength of the clay for SW and PD-
lest was measured by cone penetration test. The
average undrained shear strengths at edge of each
layer in the depth direction are shown in Figure 16.
The shear strength of the clay for each test slightly
decrease in the depth direction. However, the strength
for SW and PD-test indicate almost same tendency.
of the Geotechnical Engineering for Coastal
Development (Geo-Coast '91),Vol. 1, pp.329-334.
Shinsha, H., Watari, Y . and Kurumada, Y.,
I991 : Improvement of very soft ground by
vacuum consolidation using horizontal drains,
Proc, of International Conference of the
Geotechnical Engineering for Coastal
Dewlopment (Geo-Coast '91), Vol.1, pp.387-392.
Yoshikuni, H., Kim, H., Hirokane, S., Moriwaki, T.
and Kusakabe, 0. 1991 , Consolidation behaviour
of dredged clay ground improved by horizontal
drain method, Proc, of International Conference
of the Geotechnical Engineering for Coastal
Development (Geo-Coast '91), Vol.1, pp.99-
103.
Yoshilwni, H., Hirokane, S., Moriwaki, T. and
Kusakabe, 0. 1994, A study on the effectiveness of
horizontal drain method (in Japanese), Journal of
Geotechnical Engineering (JSCE), No.499 ,
pp.87-96.

4.CONCLUS IONS
The conclusions obtained in this study are
summarized as follows:
(1) The PD material has high permeability under
large dcforrnation due to self-weight consol-
ida t ion.
(2) It is very effective for accelerating consolidation
to make use of PD during self-weight
consolidation. The consolidation by means of PD
has been accelerated at as the 6.5 times as the case
without PD at U=50%.
(3) The PD sample after high deformation by self-
weight consolidation maintains a high per-
meability performance. Comparing the elapsed
time for the end of consolidation, the SW-test
requires about three times as longer time as PD
test.
(4) The water content and undraind shear strength
distribution in the depth direction of clay specimen
for SW and PD-test indicate the almost same
tendency. These results seem that the consol-
idation of clay specimen was efficiently performed
h y PD sample.

REFERENCE
Kamon, M., Pradhan, T.B.S. and Suwa 1991 :
Evaluation of design factors of prefabricated band-
shaped drains, Proc. of International Conference

506
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

Reclamation control of pump-dredged clay by CONAN

T. Sat0 & K. Ishinuki
Fourth District Port Construction Bureau, Ministry of Transport, Shimonoseki, Japan
M. Katagiri & M.Terashi
Nikken Sekkei Nakase Geotechnical Institute, Kawasaki, Japan
S. Kitazawa
Coastal Development Institute of Technology,Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT: Along with the progress of reclamation by pump-dredged marine clays, the detailed soil inves-
tigation and monitoring were performed together with the numerical simulation by “CONAN” for predicting
the consolidation behavior of dredged clay layer. Although the dredged clay layer is not uniform due to the
grain size sorting during the sedimentation process, one dimensional consolidation analysis gives practically
useful prediction not only of the change of elevation but of water content distribution and pore water pressure
distribution, if the appropriate parameters are determined.

1 INTRODUCTION

Two projects are going on simultaneously on the sea

northeast of Kyushu Island as shown in Figurel.
One is the maintenance dredging of sea bottom
sediment to keep the required depth of navigation
channels and anchorage area. The Strait of Kanmon
between the Honshu and Kyushu islands is one of the
busiest sea routes in Japan and its maintenance is of
vital importance. For the protection of marine envi-
ronment, dredged materials, mostly clays have been
and will have to be discharged into a pond surround-
ed by containment dikes on the sea. This in turn con-
tinuously creates a new artificial island of extremely
soft soil condition.
The other is a New Kitakyushu Airport construc-
tion project which is a relocation of existing one in-
land, thereby reducing the air noise to the residential
area and increasing the capacity of airport. The site
for the airport was selected on the artificial islands
created by the maintenance dredging. The merge of
two projects had a merit of reducing the amount of
hill-cut materials substantially that might otherwise
be enormous and cause a destruction of the environ-
ment at borrow area. However, the project posed a
challenging problem of predicting huge consolidation
settlement of soft dredged clay during the construc-
tion of airport.
The water contents of marine clays of high plas-
ticity easily reach as high as 2,000 % after pump-
dredged. When such a dredged clay slurry is dis-
charged into the pond, suspended soil particles settles
loosely with the water content between 200 to 300 %.
Figure 2 Design o f New Kitakyushu airport and
monitoring sites in K1-area

507
 Elevation (DL+m) I ground improvement
I
1979 1999 2605 Time
Figure 3 Reclamation history and construction plan
Figure 4 Ground conditions o f reclaimed lands
The dredged clay layer thus created is in the uncon-
solidated condition and subsequently consolidates
largely due to its own weight in the long term. To
create a reliable foundation ground for the airport at a
specified elevation the placement of extra-fill over
the dredged clay layer is necessary. As the extra-fill
causes additional large consolidation settlement, it is
necessary to accelerate the consolidation by vertical
drainage if the term of construction is limited.
The accurate prediction of the time dependent set-
tlement is important in such a project in order to plan
the capacity of containment dikes, to estimate the
508
amount of extra-fill, and to keep the residual settle-
ment within an allowable magnitude.
In this paper, an outline of the new Kitakyushu
airport, the results of field observation and settlement
analysis, and the evaluation of consolidation
parameters for dredged clays will be described.
2 IMPORTANCE OF PREDICTION OF SET-
TLEMENT
The project site consists of four disposal ponds as
shown in Figure 2 and airport facilities such as a
runway, taxiway and apron will be constructed across
three ponds KO, K1 and K2. The KO area had been
reclaimed from the sea by dredged materials for
about 18 years from July 1979 to March 1997. The
K1 and K2 areas are planned to be reclaimed in a
shorter period of about three years each. The recla-
mation of the K1 area has started in October 1996
and ended in June 1999 and that of K2 area followed
since December 1998 and will end in March 2001.
Both the total and residual settlements vs time rela-
tion of each area will be different due to these differ-
ences in the history of reclamation as shown in Fig-
ure 3. The vertical axis shows the elevation from the
datum line (DL). The airport should be in operation
in 2005.
Soil profile of the KO area was investigated in
September 1995, 18 months before the end of recla-
mation. Open circles in the Figure 4 show the meas-
ured data of the KO area. Figure 4(a) indicates that
the water content of top 2 m layer is .around 200 %,
that of the layer between DL+7m and DL-2m ranges
from 50 to 100 %, and that of the layer beneath DL-
2m exceeds 100 %. It is interesting to see the varia-
tion of the preconsolidation pressure, p o with the ele-
vation in Figure 4(b). The broken line in the figure is
the effective over-burden stress, 0'".The magnitude
of po in the top 2 m layer are nearly the same with
that of dV.In contrast to this,po and d Vare different
in the deeper layers. The layer between DL+Sm and
DL-3m exhibits over-consolidated condition and the
layer beneath DL-3m exhibits the unconsolidated
condition. The middle layer, together with its lower
water content, will show the lower compressibility
under the extra-fill loading. The reclamation of KO
area was slow taking about 16 years, and in each year
there was an intermission of approximately six
months. These high preconsolidation pressures in the
middle layer are thought to be caused by the desicca-
tion.
Similarly the soil profile of the K1 area was in-
vestigated in November 1998 before the end of the
reclamation. The solid triangles in the Figure 4(a)
show the water contents. Whole the layer here has
high water content and seems to be the unconsolidat-
ed condition. Much larger consolidation settlement is
 anticipated in the K1 area under the subsequent ex-
tra-filling. The same is anticipated for K2 area.
Throughout the reclamation of KO to K3 areas,
similar sea bottom sediments from nearby navigation
channels have been and will be used. When, how-
ever, the reclamation process is different, the pro-
gress of consolidation differs, the soil profile of the
completed ground differs, and hence the subsequent
consolidation settlement will be much different. The
runway sensitive to the change of gradient has to be
constructed on three different areas having different
reclamation histories. Therefore, it is important to
predict the settlement behavior with high accuracy,
and to examine the construction conditions carefully.
The error in the prediction will affects seriously the
cost and term of construction. In the following sec-
tions, new reclaimed area, K1 with large anticipated
settlement will be discussed in details.
Figure 6 Reclamation history of K l area
509
3 CONDITIONS OF K1-AREA
The K1-area is 900 x 940 m in plan and the average
depth of seabed and thickness of the alluvial clay
layer are DL-7.7m and 5 m before the reclamation,
respectively. A planned reclamation elevation by
dredged materials is DL+7m.
The materials are mainly marine clays dredged
from three navigation channels located near the con-
struction site as shown in Figure 1. Figure 5 shows
the consolidation parameters of three samples ob-
tained from these borrow areas. The parameters are
determined by the hydraulic consolidation tests
(HCT) at smaller stress level and by ordinary con-
solidation tests (OCT) with incremental loading at
the higher stress level. The parameters in the inter-
mediate stress level are obtained by interpolation to
cover the wide stress range. The physical properties
of the materials are shown in the same figure. Alt-
hough the numbers of test data are quite limited,
three materials have shown almost the same charac-
teristics. The consolidation parameters for the pre-
liminary prediction are decided as average relations
among these data as shown in Figure 5.
The reclamation history of the K1-area is shown
in Figure 6. Total amount of dredged soil at their bor-
row area is about 10 million cubic meters. For the
numerical analysis, true mass of solid part of the re-
claimed materials is needed. The mean water content
of 101 % obtained from the field investigation was
used for the calculation of true mass.
4 METHOD AND APPLICATION OF ONE-
DIMENSIONAL CONSOLIDATION ANALYSIS
4.1 Numerical method used
The numerical method used in this paper was known
as ‘CONA”, which was developed based on a gen-
eralized consolidation theory (Imai, 1995). The nu-
merical code was developed by considering the ac-
cumulated layer based on the technique proposed by
Yamauchi et a1.(1991). The detailed procedure of this
numerical method will be described in a companion
paper by Katagiri et al. (2000).
4.2 Consolidation parameters
Figure 7 shows the range of consolidation parameters
of the materials sampled from the K1-area after the
reclamation (after the grain size sorting). Individual
data will be shown later in Figure 12. To determine
the consolidation parameters over a wide stress
range, the multi-sedimentation tests (MST) proposed
by Yamauchi et al. (1990) and the ordinary consoli-
dation tests (OCT) were carried out. Thef-p and c,-p
relations of all samples range widely according to
their physical properties. The average relation in Fig-
ure 5 on original samples before the grain size sort-
ing falls within this wide range of actual variations.

Figure 7 Range of consolidation parameters of
samples obtained from K1 area and
assumed consolidation parameters
Figure 8 Time records of elevation of K l area
In the back analyses, the consolidation parameters
are assumed based on the average relations shown in
Figure 5. For the compressibility, the inclination of
log f - logp relation was changed by a fixing point at
p = 1,000 kPa on the average relation, as case 2 - 4.
The permeability was changed by shifting the log c,
- logp relation in parallel to the average one, as case
B and C. These assumed relations are within the
range obtained from the samples from the K1-area.
510
Figure 9 Water content distributions in K1 area
4.3 Application of one-dimensional consolidation
When pump-dredged materials are poured into the
water, soil particles settle freely with grain size sort-
ing. Coarse particles are piled up near the outlet of
discharging pipe, and finer ones will be transported
and will be accumulated far from the outlet. Alt-
hough the outlet is moved periodically during the re-
clamation process, the deposit thus formed is not uni-
form. However, it is impossible to determine the
spatial distribution of soil parameters beforehand, the
reclamation is assumed as one-dimensional consoli-
dation by a homogeneous material in the numerical
analysis.
To fill this gap in the assumption and reality and
to improve the accuracy of prediction, monitoring of
the dredged layer and the back analyses are conduct-
ed along with the progress of reclamation and the
consolidation parameters are modified accordingly.
For the monitoring, the height and water content dis-
tribution of dredged layer have been measured. In
addition set of pore pressure transducers are installed
in the different elevation within the dredged clay
layer and alluvial clay layer underneath on Novem-
ber 1998 (24 months after the start of reclamation) in
three locations (Figure 2).
If this simple approach is successful, this will be a
practical tool to evaluate the average behavior of the
reclaimed land, to obtain an overall volume of extra-
fill, and to provide sufficient information for the ba-
sic design of the ground improvement.
5 EVALUATION OF NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
BY MONITORING RESULTS
5.1 Comparison between monitoring and numerical
results
Along with the progress of reclamation, back ana-
lyses are carried out in several stages and parameters
are modified for the prediction of next stage.

Figure 10 Excess pore water pressure distribu-
tions in the middle of reclamation by
dredged materials
Figure 11 Excess pore water pressure distribu-
tions after reclamation by dredged materials
Figure 8 shows the change of elevation of top sur-
face of dredged clay layer with the progress of rec-
lamation. The calculations by four different sets of
parameters are exemplified in the figure. The calcu-
lation must fit not only with the height of the dredged
clay layer but also with the water content and pore
water pressure distributions in the dredged clay layer.
Finally selected parameters which simulates the
overall behavior are those for the Case-3C. Here, the
case-3C means a set of #3 logf- logp relation and
#C log c, - logp relation shown in Figure 7.
Figure 9 shows the water content distribution ob-
tained on a number of samples taken at the K1 area
on October 1998. As the grain size sorting occurs
during the reclamation process, the grain size dis-
tribution and Atterberg limits are also investigated on
all the samples taken. The data plotted on the upper
right of the figure with water content above 200 %
and enclosed with a circle are obtained from the
51 f
samples with higher liquid limit and with larger clay
fraction content in comparison with original soils.
The data with lower water content on the lower left
enclosed with another circle are from the samples
which contains sand fraction more than 25 %. The
original characteristics of the dredged materials at the
borrow area were Ip = 59-69, Fc = 43-50 % and Fs =
4-8 %. When ignoring the data enclosed with two
circles, predicted water content distribution by the
Case 3C agrees with the measured ones.
Figure10 compares the measured and calculated
distributions of excess pore pressure at the same time
instances of December 2 1998 (Figure 10(a)) and
January 6 1999 (Figure lO(b)), when the water levels
in the reclaimed land were almost the same as the
seawater levels outside the reclaimed land. Three
measurement locations, No. 1-1, 1-2 and 1-3, are in-
dicated by open circles in Figure 2. Here, excess pore
pressure is defined as the measured pore pressure
minus hydrostatic pressure. The grain size distribu-
tion and the water content were investigated on the
samples taken during the installation of transducers.
The data enclosed in a circle are those obtained from
the transducers embedded in the soil with a large
sand fraction. When these data are ignored the cal-
culation by Case 3C agree well with measured ones.
Figure 11 shows the comparison between the
measured and calculated distributions of excess pore
pressure at January 2000, 7 months after the recla-
mation. The measured points are indicated by solid
squares in Figure 2. The pore water pressures in the
reclaimed land were measured by the pore pressure
dissipation tests using a piezometer cone, and were
obtained from the assumption that the ground water
table was consistent with the ground surface. The
numerical results of case-3C under 3 and 5 meters of
thickness of alluvial clay layer were drawn in the
same figure.
In the reclaimed layer, every measured data are
located in a relatively narrow range, and its distribu-
tion has the maxim~mvalue at the bottom of re-
claimed layer. The numerical results also show the
same tendency. The analyzed distributions are locat-
ed in two third in the range of measured distributions
and are recognized to be consistent with the meas-
ured ones.
5.2 Assessment of consolidationparameters
The range of consolidation parameters obtained for
the reclaimed soil samples of K l area has been
shown in the Figure 7. The every test results are
shown again in the Figure 12 together with the
physical properties of samples for further considera-
tion. Figure 12(a) shows the relation between specific
volume, f and the consolidation stress,p. Numbers in
the figure represents the clay fraction Fc, plasticity
index Ip and sand fraction Fs. Specific volume f is
higher and f-log p relation becomes steeper with in-
creasing Fc and Ip. The consolidation coefficient c,
in the Figure 12(b) become lower with increasing Fc
and Ip. These trends are agreeable because lower
plasticity materials show the lower compressibility
and higher permeability.
The best-fit f-p and c,-p relations obtained from
the back analysis (Case 3C) are also shown in the
same figures by the solid broken line. This relation
falls within the range obtained from the sampled
materials and is corresponding to the materials hav-
ing Ip of 40 to 50, Fs of 5 to 10 % and Fc of 40 to
50 %. Compared with the mean original three mate-
rials, the material evaluated by the back analysis was
with the lower plasticity.
6 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Along with the progress of reclamation by pump-
dredged marine clay, the detailed soil investigation
and monitoring were performed together with the
numerical simulation by CONAN for predicting the
behavior of dredged clay layer. From these studies,
the following conclusions can be drawn:
Figure 12 Consolidation parameters and physical properties
512
(1) Time history of reclamation affects drastically the
soil condition and changes the compressibility of
dredged clay layer.
(2) Dredged clay layer is not uniform due to the grain
size sorting during the sedimentation process.
(3) Although the spatial variation of consolidation
parameters is large in the dredged clay layer, one
dimensional consolidation analysis gives practi-
cally useful prediction not only of the change of
elevation but of water content distribution and
pore water pressure distribution, if the appropriate
parameters are determined.
(4) The best-fit consolidation parameters falls in the
range of those obtained from the samples sorted in
the sedimentation process.
ACKNOWLEGEMENT
The authors would like to thank Prof. H. Ochiai of
Kyushu University for their valuable advice. The
authors also thank Prof. G. Imai of Yokohama Na-
tional University for technical advice of CONAN.
REFERENCES
Imai, G., 1995. Analytical examinations of the founda-
tions to formulate consolidation phenomena with in-
herent time-dependence. Proc. of IS-Hiroshima '95, 2:
891-935.
Katagiri, M., Terashi, M., Henmi, K. & Fukuda, K., 2000.
Change of consolidation characteristics of d a y from
dredging to reclamation, Proc. of IS-Yokohama 2000.
(to be submitted).
Yamauchi, H., Imai, G. & Yano, K., 1990. Effect of the
coefficient of consolidation on the sedimentation con-
solidation analysis for a very soft clayey soil (in Japa-
nese), Proc. of 25'" Annual meeting of JSSMFE: 359-
352.
Yamauchi, H., Imai, G., Watanabe, IS.& Ogata, K., 1991.
S~dimen~ation-conso~i~ation analysis of pump-~redged
cohesive soils, Proc. of Geo-coast '91: 129-134.

513
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

Field performance of PVD improved soft clay under embankment

S.L. Shen
Institute of Lowland Technology, Saga Universig, Japan
c.w.Yang
China Academy of Railway Science, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
N.Miura & J.C.Chai
Department of Civil Engineering, Saga University,Japan

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a case history of the performance of prefabricated vertical drain (PVD)
improved soft clay deposit under embankment loading in eastern coastal region of China. The thickness of
soft deposit is 16 to 20 m. The PVDs were installed to a depth of 19 m with spacing of 1.5 m in a triangular
pattern. Field performance of embankments constructed on natural subsoil and PVD improved subsoil is
analyzed using FEM. A simple approach for estimating the equivalent vertical hydraulic conductivity of PVD
improved subsoil is used. Following influential factors, (1) well resistance (discharge capacity), (2) smear
effect, and (3) drainage boundary conditions are investigated. Furthermore, the back calculated field perform-
ances of PVD are compared with these of other case histories reported in the literatures. Suggestions are made
on determining proper design parameters related to the PVD behavior on soft clay deposit.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 GEOTECHNICAL PROFILE

In China, many lines of expressway have been con-
structed within recent 10 years in order to improve
the infrastructures. Hongzhou-Ningbo (HN) ex-
pressway locates on the southern coast of Hongzhou
bay, eastern coastal region of China. It starts from
Hongzhou, the Capital of Zhejiang Province to
Ningbo, the biggest harbor city of the same Prov-
ince. The total length of HN expressway is 145km,
in which about 92km is passing through soft clay
deposit (in China it is called mucky clay).
In order to get the reliable data and experiences to
guide the design and construction, 12 field hll-scale
test embankments with total 3.15km long were con-
structed and investigated (Wang et al., 1998).
Ground treatment methods used were preloading
plus: (a) gravel sand mat on natural subsoil, (b) two
layer geotextiles reinforced gravel sand mat on natu-
ral subsoil, (c) vertical drain (VD), including sand
drain (SD) and plastic vertical drain (PVD). The soft
ground can be divided into two typical sections
based on its thickness. The first one is relatively
thicker with a thickness of soft soil 38 to 51m. The
thickness of the other section is much thinner than
the first section and the thickness of soft clay is 16 to
20m. The behavior of two test embankments con-
structed on PVD improved subsoil and on natural
subsoil at the thinner deposit section is investigated
in this paper.
515
The generalized soil profile and soil properties of
soft deposit at the thinner section are shown in Fig-
ure 1. The soil profile is consisting of a thin weath-
ered crust (TC) from 1 to 1.5m thick overlying a
silty clay (SCl) approximately 4m thick. The third
layer is very soft mucky clay (MC) with a thickness
of approximately 1Om. Underlying the mucky clay is
a soft clay layer called mucky-silty clay (MSC) ap-
proximately 4m thick. Below it is a medium to stiff
silty clay layer (SC2) from 3 to 5m thick extending
down to 21.3 to 23m depth which is in turn under-
lain by a layer of loose clayey sand (CS). The soft
silt clay and mucky clay have the water content
greater than their liquid limit, low hydraulic conduc-
tivity and lower shear strength.
3 CONSTRUCTION OF TEST EMBANKMENTS
Figure 2 plots the cross section and plan of the test
embankments and instrumentation. As seen in the
figure, a 0.5m thick sand mat (hydraulic conductiv-
ity: >O.OOlm/s) was placed on soft ground at first.
Then, the decomposed granite was filled and com-
pacted to a unit weight of 20kN/m3. The height of
embankment on improved subsoil is 5.88m and that
on natural subsoil is 4.66m. For the improved case,
prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) were installed
in a triangular pattern with the spacing of 1.5m and
19m deep. Table 1 lists the properties of PVDs used
in the field. The discharge capacity Q,,, provided by
manufacturer is greater than 1500m3/year.
Figure 1. Soil profile and soil properties at the test site of thinner deposit section.

4 MODELING OF THE PVD IMPROVED

SUBSOIL

In order to analyze the behavior of PVD improved

Figure 2. Cross section and plan of embankment and field in-
strumentation.
Field behavior of soft ground under embankment
loading were observed through monitoring surface
settlement, sub-surface settlement, lateral displace-
rnents of the subsoil under the middle point of em-
bankment slope and about lm from embankment
toe, and pore pressure variation by piezometers at
different soil layers, The field instrumentation points
are also indicated in Figure 2.
soft subsoil, finite element method (FEM) is used.
There are three existing approaches for modeling the
PVD improved subsoil in FEM. The first method
employs a 1-D drainage element (Hird et al., 1992;
Chai et al., 1995). The second method adopts a spe-
cial formulation of FEM program (Sekiguchi et al.,
1986). The third method is a simple approximate
way, in which an equivalent value of vertical hy-
draulic conductivity (kVJ of PVD improved subsoil
is estimated. Then, the behavior of PVD improved
subsoil can be analyzed as the same way as that of
natural subsoil case through using this equivalent
hydraulic conductivity value (Chai & Miura, 1999a).
It is proved theoretically that the maximum error for
the average degree of consolidation using the third
method is less than 10%. When considering the ver-
tical drainage of deposit and well resistance, it is
confirmed that the error is much smaller compared
using the aforementioned first method in practical
engineering case (Chai & Miura, 1999a). The third
approach is used in this study.
4.1 Epivalenf hydraulic conductivity
The equivalent vertical hydraulic conductivity of
PVD improved subsoil, k,,,, can be expressed as
(Chai and Miura, 1999a):

Table 1. Size and physical properties of PVDs.

Thickness Width Unit 0,". Material
(mm) (mm) weight (m3/yr) Filter Core where !=drainage length; Ddiameter of unit cell;
(g/m) and kh, k,,=horizontal and vertical hydraulic conduc-
6 100 108 1580 Nonwoven Polyolefine tivity of soil layer, respectively. Parameter p can be
polyethylene
expressed as follows:
* Provided by manufacturer.
n k 3 21'kh
p =In-+~ln(s)--+z-----
s k, 4 3q,,
516
where n =D/d,, (&,=diameter of vertical drain);
s=d,/d,,, (d,=diameter of smear zone); k,=horizontal
hydraulic conductivity in the smear zone; and
q,,,=dischargecapacity of PVD in field.
4.2 ~ o d e i j ofdrain
n~ effect
4.2.1 E ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~drain
a i ediameter
nf
The modified approach for equivalent drain diameter
(d,,,)of a band-shaped PVD drain by considering the
corner effect is used in this study. It can be calcu-
lated using the following equation (Rixner et al.,
1986):
w -I-f
d,, zz - evaluate this value (Chai and Miura, 1999b).
2
where w-Tidth of a band-shaped PVD and
t=thickness of the PVD.
4.2.2 Discharge capacity of PVD
The discharge capacity of P W in field is much low-
er than the value reported by the manufacturer. The
main factors for the well resistance may be as fol-
lowings:
1. Con~ningthe drain by clay.
2. Effect of air bubbled trapped in the drainage
path.
3. Effect of folding of the drain.
4. Clogging by clay particles.
5. Creep of drain filter.
All above factors make the discharge capacity re-
duction in field. Chai and Miura (1999b) showed
that long term confined in clay discharge capacity of
several PVDs is only 5% to 10% of that for short
term confined in rubber membrane.
4.2.3 Smear eJ^fect
When a PVD is ~ n s t a ~ ~ine soft
d clay g r o u n ~by us-
ing a mandrel, a disturbed zone cailed smear zone
around the mandrel is created, in which the hydrau-
lic conductivity is reduced significantly. There are
two parameters needed to evaluate the smear effect,
namely, the diameter of the smear zone (d,) and the
hydraulic conductivity ratio (kdk,), i.e., the value in
the undisturbed zone (4th) over that in the smear zone
(ks).
Based on several field and laboratory test results,
the diameter of the smear zone dsis estimated from
Equation 4 (Jamiolkski et al. 1983; Hansbo 1987;
Miura et al. 1993):
ds=(2 to 3)d,, (4)
where d,~~=equivalent diameter of the cross-sectiona1
area of mandrel. In practice, if there are no test data
for evaluating the smear zone size, it is suggested
that the value of dS=3d,, can be used (Chai & Miura
1999b).
517
Table 2. Cfvalue for a few clay deposits.
Deposit CJ References
Bangkok clay (1OOkm from sea) 25 Chai et al. (1995)
Bangkok cIay (close to sea) 4 Chai et al. (1996)
Malaysia Muar clay deposit 2 Chai and Bergado( 1993)
Ariake clay (close to sea) 4 Chai and Miura( I999b)
Louiseviile (Canada) I Tavenas et al. (1986)
St-Alban (Canada) 3 Tavenas ct al. (1986)
Mucky clay in China 6 Present study
(close to sea)
Many uncertainty factors affect the value of kdk,
in field. A simple approach has been proposed to
where C'hydraulic conductivity ratio between field
and laboratory values; khrub=horizontal hydraulic
conductivity from laboratory test; k,~~b=hydrauIic
conductivity in smear zone from laboratory test. Cf
is greater than unity and varies with the clay type
and sediment environments. The Cfvalues of a few
clay deposits are listed in Table 2. The value of
khlQb/kslub is varied from 1 to 5, based on laboratory
tests (Hansbo, 1987; Madhav et al., 1993).
4.2.4 EJ^fecfof sand maf
Part or all of the water coliected by the drain flows
to the ground surface first, and then drains out by the
outlet system, the sand mat. The hydraulic conduc-
tivity of sand mat affects the analytical results. Chai
and Miura (1999b) showed numericaIly that if the
hydraulic conductiv~tyof sand mat is greater than
10-4m/sec,the free drainage path assumption for the
sand mat is acceptable. In this case, the hydraulic
conductivity of sand mat is 10"3mfsec,which is lar-
ger than 10-4mlsec,so that the free drainage assump-
tion is used in this study.
4.3 ~ o conditi~ns
~ and ~no ~ e i ~~a r a m e~tin
ers
FEM analysis
In the finite element analysis, the plain strain condi-
tion was assumed. The modeled range was 25m deep
from ground surface, and horizontally 120m away
from the embankment centerline. The displacement
boundary conditions were as follows: at bottom,
both vertical and horizontal displacements were
fixed, and for left and right vertical boundaries, the
horizontal displacement was fixed. The adopted
drainage boundary conditions were as follows: the
ground surface and bottom line (weathered rock)
were drained. The left and right boundaries were
undrained. Figure 3 shows the FEM mesh for the
embankment on natural subsoil.
Table 3. Model parameter for natural subsoil.
clay p* eo h K M V kh k,,
layer (m/m3) ( 10-8m/s)
TC 19.3 0.81 0.08 0.001 1.0 0.3 3.0 3.0
SC 1 18.5 1.07 0.17 0.017 1.0 0.35 0.64 0.26
MC 14.3 1.26 0.23 0.023 0.8 0.35 2.58 1.72
SMC 17.9 1.10 0.18 0.018 0.8 0.35 1.90 0.96
S C 2 19.3 0.81 0.08 0.001 1.0 0.35 0.45 0.21
* p =unit weight; eFinitial void ratio; h=virgin loading slope in
e h @ plot (p is effective mean stress); K=reloading/ unload-
ing slope in e-In@ plot; and Wslope of failure line in p ver-
sus q plot (q is deviator stress); iFPoisson‘s ratio. 120m

Figure 1. Finite element analysis mesh.

Table 4. Parameters related PVD behavior.

The ground-water level was about 1.5m below

Table 5. Equivalent values of hydraulic conductivity of PVD
improved subsoil.
Clay layer Depth khk, keh ke, kelf%h=k,Jk,
(m> (x 10-81ds)
Top crust 0-1.2 1.0 39.8 39.8 13.3
Silty clay 1 1.2-4.8 2.5 19.9 8.1 31.3
Mucky clay 4.8-14.3 1.5 50.3 33.4 19.5
Mucky Siltyclay 14.3-18.3 1.9 15.1 8.0 7.9
Silty clay 2 18.3-19.0 2.2 12.7 5.8 28.3
The mechanical behavior of the soft clay layers
was represented by the Modified Cam-Clay model
and the clayey sand layer, the sand mat as well as
decomposed granite fill material were assumed to be
elastic. The determined model parameters for subsoil
are listed in Table 3. For the clay layers, the parame-
ter were determined from a laboratory standard oe-
dometer test and triaxial test results on the undis-
turbed samples (Sun et al. 1988), except for Pois-
son’s ratio and hydraulic conductivity. Poisson’s ra-
tio, v, was assumed empirically. For the values of
hydraulic conductivity, first, the representative labo-
ratory values of khlab and kvlab are selected as shown
in Figure 1. From Figure 1, the ratio of khniv was de-
termined as fiom 1.5 to 2.5 for the soft clay layers.
Then, the values of vertical hydraulic conductivity
were adjusted to fit the observed field data of the
embankment on natural subsoil, which are about six
times the laboratory values ( C F ~ ) The. values of
hydraulic conductivity listed in Table 3 were initial
values with respect to initial void ratio (eo); during
consolidation, they vary with void ratio according to
Taylor’s equation (Taylor, 1948). Parameter Ck in
the equation was set up as 0.45eo in this study. The
subsoils are in lightly overconsolidated to normally
consolidated states with a maximum overconsolida-
tion ratio (OCR) of about 5 for the top crust. The
lateral earth pressures were calculated using the
equation proposed by Mayne and Kulhawy (1982).
ground surface. The parameters for clayey sand were
assumed as Young’s modulus E=25,000kPa and
Poisson’s ratio 1-0.25. The unit weight of clayey
sand was 19.5kN/m3. The mechanical properties of
the fill material were assumed as follows:
E=30,000kPa and ~ 0 . 2 5The . unit weight of the fill
material was 2 0 1 ~ ~ ~ .
The parameters for PVD are listed in Table 4.
The equivalent drain diameter for PVD was calcu-
lated using Equation 3, the diameter of the smear
zone was estimated 3 times the equivalent mandrel
diameter (Chai & Miura 1999b). The average value
of khladksrclbwas from 2 to 2.5 (Madhav et al. 1993).
Since the ratio of C ~ i s6 in this case, according to
Equation 5, kdkS is fiom 12 to 15. For the value of
discharge capacity in the field (qw$, the back-
evaluated value was from 79 to 158m /yr to fit the
measured settlement of the PVD improved case.
The equivalent hydraulic conductivity values for
the PVD improved subsoil are calculated by Equa-
tion l, using the aforementioned parameters. The re-
sults are listed in Table 5. The hydraulic conductiv-
ity of PVD improved subsoil is increased from 8 to
31 times.
5 BACK ANALYSIS OF TEST EMBANKMENTS
5.1 Analysis of the embankment on natural subsoil
The purpose of analyzing the embankment on natu-
ral subsoil is to verify the model parameters as well
as the numerical procedure, as proposed by Chai and
Miura (1999b). The initial values of hydraulic con-
ductivity in Table 3 were adjusted by comparing the
numerical results with the measured data of the em-
bankment on natural subsoil. The simulated results
for settlement and excess pore pressure are com-
pared with the measured data depicted in Figure 4.
Figure 5 shows the simulated and measured val-
ues of lateral displacement under the middle of em-
bankment slope for the case on natural subsoil. As
seen fiom Figure 4, the analysis simulated the set-
tlement curve well. If checking it carefully, we can

518
find that in the initial period, FE analysis is a little
over-estimated the settlement, however, after 600
days, FE analysis underestimates the settlement.
This is because the secondly consolidation effect and
this effect cannot be considered in the Modified
Cam-Clay model.

Figure 6. Embankment construction procedure. settlement-time

and excess pore pressure-time curves for embankment on PVD
improved subsoil.

Figure 4. Comparison of the simulated and measured values of

settlenient and excess pore pressure for e K ~ b ~ one natural
n ~
subsoil.

Figure 7 . Simulated and measured lateral displacement profile

for embankment on PVD improved subsoil.

5.2 Analysis of enibariknienfson PVD improved

su bsoif

5.2.1 Back-calculated valzie of discharge capaciy

In order to fit the measured data, the discharge ca-
Figure 5 . Simulated and measured lateral displacement profile pacity Of the pm was varied in the The
for eItibankme~ton natural subsoil. numerical result shows that the discharge capacity is
about 158rn3/yrand 79rn3/yr with respect to the hy-

519
draulic conductivity ratio kdkS=15 and 12. The
adopted values are kdks= 13 and qH,=1OOm3/yr. These
back-analyzed values agree well with the laboratory
and field data in soft Ariake clay as reported by Chai
and Miura (1999b).
5.2.2 Comparison between measured and simulated
values
Figure 6 depicts the simulated and field measured
data of the settlement and excess pore pressure for
the embankment on PVD improved subsoil. The
simulated and measured values for the lateral dis-
placement are shown in Figure 7. The results given
in Figures 6 and 7 are under the conditions of dis-
charge capacity q,,,=100m3/yr and smear effects of
kh/ks=13 and ds=3d,,,. As seen in the figure, based on
these parameters, the simulated settlement agreed
well with the field data. However, if checking care-
hlly, we can notice that the analysis predicted well
during the construction period and slightly overesti-
mated the settlement during the consolidation period
after construction until to about 600 days (finished
of primary construction). One possible reason is the
continuous variation (reduction) of discharge capac-
ity of PVD with elapsed time. In the analysis, it was
assumed that the field discharge capacity of PVD is
constant. Chai and Miura's (1999b) laboratory test
results showed that the discharge capacity reduced
with the elapsed time. Another reason for the FEM
under-prediction of the settlement after 600 days, is
that after 600 days, the primary consolidation fin-
ished and the secondly compression could not be
simulated by the Modified Cam-Clay model.
The simulated excess pore pressure is lower than
the measured one during consolidation period. The
reason is not clear. The analysis shows that, for the
same embankment height 4.66m, although the abso-
lute lateral displacement for the PVD improved case
is about twice that of the embankment on natural
subsoil (as shown in Figure 5 and 7 ) , the ratio be-
tween maximum lateral displacement and settlement
is 0.37 for improved case and 0.48 for unimproved
case. PVD improvement reduced the lateral to verti-
cal displacement ratio.
6 CONCLUSIONS
From the field measured data and the FEM simu-
lated results, the following conclusions are given:
1. The field hydraulic conductivity is about 6
times the laboratory test values of soft clay deposit
at the test site in eastern coastal area of China.
2. The field discharge capacity of PVDs in soft
mucky clay is about 100m3/yr.This value agree the
laboratory results on discharge capacity tests with
clay confinement (Chai and Miura, 1999b).
3. The hydraulic conductivity in smear zone is
about 1/13 of the horizontal hydraulic conductivity
520
of the field value.
4. The procedure for analyzing the PVD im-
proved subsoil proposed by Chai and Miura (Chai
and Miura, 1999b) is applicable to the soft clay de-
posit in China.
5 . Installation of PVD with the spacing of 1.5m
makes the vertical mass hydraulic conductivity of
soft clay deposit increasing about 20 times.
REFERENCES
Chai, J.C., Bergado, D.T., Miura, N., & Sakajo, S. 1996. Back
calculated field effect of vertical drain. Proc. 2nd Int. Conf
Soft Soil Engrg. Nanjing: Hohai University, Voll:270-275.
Chai, J.C. & Miura, N. 1999a. A simple method for analyzing
consolidation of PVD improved subsoil, Proc. 8th Austra-
lia-New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics, Hobart,
Vol. 1: 243-249.
Chai, J.C. & Miura, N. 1999b. Investigation of factors affecting
vertical drain behavior. Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironinental Eiigineering, ASCE 125(3): 2 16-226.
Chai, J.C., Miura, N., Sakajo, S., & Bergado, D.T. 1995. Be-
havior of vertical drain improved subsoil under embank-
ment loading. Soils and Fouiidations 35(4): 49-6 1.
Hansbo, S. 1987. Design aspects of vertical drains and lime
column installations. Proc. 9" Southeast Asian Geotech. -
Conf., Bangkok: Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society,
Vol.2: 8-1-8-12.
Hird, C.C., Pyrah, I.C. & Russell, D. 1992. Finite element
modelling of vertical drains beneath embankments on soft
ground. Geotechnique 42(3): 499-51 1.
Jamiolkowski, M., Lancellotta, R., & Wolski, W. 1983. Pre-
compression and speeding up consolidation, general report.
Spec. Session 6, Proc. 8* Eur. Cod. SMFE, Rotterdam:
Balkema, 1201-1226.
Miura, N. & Park, YM. &Madhav, M.R. 1993. Fundamental
study on the discharge capacity of plastic board drain. J.
Geotech. Engrg., JSCE, 35(III): 3 1-40 (in Japanese).
Madhav, R., Park, Y.M., & Miura, N. 1993. Modelling and
study of smear zones around band shaped drains. Soils aiid
Foundations 33(4): 135- 147.
Rixner, J.J., Kraemer, S.R., & Smith, A.D. 1986. Prefabricated
vertical drains. Engnrg. Guidelines, FWHA/RD-86/168,
Washington, D.C. : Federal Highway Administration, Vol. 1.
Sekiguchi, H., Shibata, T., Fujimoto, A. & Yamaguchi, H.
1986. A macro-element approach to analyzing the plain
strain behavior of soft foundation with vertical drains. Proc.
3 1st Synp. JGS: 111-1 16 (in Japanese).
Sun, J. & Wang, B.J. 1988. Finite Eleriient Analysis in Geo-
techiiical Engineering. Shanghai: Tongji University Press.
(in Chinese).
Tavenas, F., Tremblay, M., Larouche, G. & Leroieil, S. 1986.
In-situ measurement of permeability in soft clays. ASCE
Spec. Conf. on Use of In-situ Tests in Geotech. Engrg.,
ASCE, New York, 1034-1048.
Taylor, D.W. 1948. Fundanientals of soil mechanics. New
York: Wiley.
Wang, 2. M. et al. 1998. Field experimental study on the soft
ground treatment of Hongzhou-Niingbo (HN) expressway
foundation. In Ti-leng Cai (ed.), Soft Ground Treatment in
HAT Expressway; Hongzhou: Hongzhou Press. (in Chinese).
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Strength and deformation characteristics of cement-mixed soft clay

M. Sugai
Maeda Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
ETatsuoka, M. Kuwabara & K. Sugo
Universip of Tokyo, Japan

ABSTRACT The strength and deformation characteristics of a dredged Holocene soft marine clay mixed
with a low content of cement were evaluated by unconfined and consolidated drained triaxiaI compression
tests and oedometer tests. The strength and deformation characteristics of the original untreated clay were
also evaluated. The stiffness of the cement-mixed clay becomes very low as the yielding starts in both
shearing and compression. At pressures lower than a certain level, the cement-mixed clay is stronger than
the untreated clay, while the reverse is true at higher pressures. The smaller peak strength of the cement-
mixed clay is due to large void ratios, close to the initial value, maintained even at high pressures, unlike the
untreated clay. The strength of the cement-mixed clay becomes similar as the untreated clay only at very
high pressures after having exhibited large compression with substantial damage to the original cementation.

1 INTRODUCTION conditions for a long term during and after

Very high water content soft clay dredged from the
sea bottom was often dumped into surrounding sea
areas, which is now basically not allowed for
environmental conservation. Dredged clay is often
used as the backfill material for reclamation projects
along sea shores. In such projects, however, due to
very low shear strength and rigidity of dredged clay,
before commencing subsequent construction work,
reclaimed land should be, for example, reinforced by
construction.
The objective of the present study is therefore to
evaluate the drained strength and deformation
characteristics of dredged marine soft clay with a
high water content (about 50%) mixed with a
relatively low content of cement. To this end, a
series of unconfined and consolidated drained
triaxial compression (TC) tests were performed for a
wide range of consolidation pressure up to 1.96
oI3

using geosynthetic sheets, or improved with means
of sand drains or sand compaction piles. Yet, the
residual deformation of such reclaimed land could be
too large. As a method to construct stable on-shore
landfills with small residual deformation using
dredged clay, the clay pre-mixed with a relatively
small amount of cement before filling. This
construction method, without compaction, is often
employed because of its high construction speed.
In such cases, it is important to find the minimum
amount of cement that is sufficient and necessary for
the stability and small residual deformation of
constructed landfills. Although the strength and
deformation characteristics of such a material is
evaluated usually by unconfined compression tests,
the behaviour at relatively high pressures, which
may be encountered in some field cases, such as high
embankments to a height of, for example, 50 m,
cannot be evaluated by this conventional test method.
In some cases, it is necessary to evaluate the
deformation of fill that takes place under drained
MPa. A dredged clay with from a actual
construction project was used (Fig. 1 and Table 1).
For this clay, it had been required to determine the
cement content so that an about 50 m high
embankment can be constructed safely and with
small residual deformation, but at the minimum
construction cost. To evaluate the yield pressure
and compressibility under one-dimensional (1D)
conditions, a series of oedometer tests were also
performed. For a comparison purpose, similar tests
on normally consolidated untreated clay (without
cement mixing) were also performed.
2 TESTING PROCEDURES
2.1 Test material
The material described in Figure 1 was used to
prepare 10 cm-diameter specimens, and it was seived
to remove soil particles larger than 2mm for prepare
5 cm-diameter specimens. The natural water

521
content of the tested dredge clay was higher by
6.6 % than the liquid limit. As a typical field value,
a cement content of 3.5 % of clay in dry weight was
selected. After mixing with cement, slurry of the
cement-mixed clay was poured into a split mould
having the inner dimensions that were the same as
the dimensions of the specimens for unconfined and
b) C e m t-e n- e d clay consolidated tQ CT',= 1.B
and 1.96 MPa: The diameter and height of
specimen were 5 cm and 10 cm. Axial strains
were measured only externally, as the effects of
bedding errors become negligible after
consolidated up to such high pressures. As the
clip gauges were not used, the test at CT = 19.6
Ic

TC tests, and then cured for seven days under sealed
constant water conditions before using for each
compression test. To prepare specimens of
untreated clay, the original clay was mixed again,
and the slurry was poured into a 1D consolidation
MPa was performed on a saturated specimen,
measuring the volumetric strain by the amount of
pore water expelled from the specimen. The
volumetric deformation characteristics from this
test was used to estimate that in the test at CT =
IC

cylinder with an inner diameter of 20cm. After 11.6 MPa on an unsaturated specimen.
thoroughly de-aired, the slurry was re-consolidated Differences in the drained strength and
at a vertical stress of 98 kPa for several days. deformation characteristics between unsaturated
Specimens for TC tests were trimmed from a large specimens as prepared and saturated ones under
consolidated clay cake. otherwise the same conditions were found
negligible with this cement-mixed clay.
2.2 Drained triaxial compression tests c) Untreated clay consol idated to o',= 0,098 -
4 Cement-mixed clay consolidated to CT = 0.049l3 0.49 MPa: The diameter and height of
0.588 MPa: The diameter and height of specimen were 5 cm and 10 cm. Axial strains
specimen were 10 cm and 20 cm. The TC were measured only externally.
specimens had the same initial water content and
degree of saturation as prepared. The specimens
were aged for 24 hours at the final consolidation
state and the axial strain rate was 0.03 %/min in
all the unconfined and TC tests in the present
study. The effects of bedding error at the top
and bottom ends of specimen could be significant
in such compression tests on a cement-mixed soil
at relatively low C T ' ~ (Tatsuoka and Kohata,
1995). Therefore, axial strains were measured
locally with a pair of local deformation
transducers (LDTs; Goto et al., 1991), set at the
opposites ends of specimen diameter (Figure 2).
Axial strains were measured also externally for
monitoring. Changes in the specimen diameter
were measured by using three clip gauges set
around the specimen diameters (Tatsuoka et al.,
1999). To ensure uniform deformation of
specimen, which is essential for reliable local
strain measurements, the top and bottom ends of
specimen were capped with gypsum on site in
the triaxial cell.

Table 1 Physical properties of the tested dredge clay

IVoid ratio 1.381

- - ~_ -
I
4%1 Figure 2. Triaxial testing method.
I
22.4%
I
Plastcity index I 20.7

522
2.3 Constant-rate-of-strain oedometer tests on
cement-mixed and original clays (Figure 3)
Specimens had a diameter Of cm and a height Of
cm. The cement-treated specimens were prepared
Pouring the the Oedometer and
curing in it, while the untreated clay specimens were
-prepared
- by trimming the consolidated cake. The
specimen was saturated with a back pressure of 98
Figure 3. Oedometer tests in t h e triaxial cell.
kPa. To ensure drained conditions, a low axial
strain rate (0.0055 %/min and 0.015 %/min for
cement-mixed and untreated clays) was used. As
the axial strains were measured externally, the effects
of bedding errors would not be negligible, in
particular with the cement-mixed clay at relatively
low stresses.
3 TEST RESULTS
3.1 Behaviour at CJ, 5 0.59 MPa
Figures 4 and 5 show the relationships among the
deviator stress q = o1- 0, , the axial strain E , and
the volumetric strain E from the drained TC tests
on cement-mixed and original clays (and one
unconfined compression test on the cement-mixed
clay). A short broken curve seen in the stress-strain
curve for CJ ', = 589 kPa denotes the range without
data due to a malfunction of the data recording
system. Figure 6 shows the stress paths together
with the peak stress points. The following trends of
behaviour may be seen from these results.
1) The stiffness and peak strength of the normally

U ,'=294.3 kf'a
\ U .'=I962 kPa
100 -
c\

v
2 -
:350
-
b 300 -
( 0 -
2 250 -
a . . .
+.J
*
L
200 -
-

2
.- 1.io -
6> 100
-
-

0 1 2 3 1 5 -2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5

Axial strain, ( E (%) Volumetric strain, E (%)

Figure 4. Relationships between; a) q and E , ; and b) q and 0.049 - 0.588 MPa)
froin unconfined and drained TC tests (d3=
on cement-mixed clay .

5
v
P

Figure 5. Relationships between; a) 4 and E , ; and b) q and E 0.09s - 0.49 MPa) on untreated
froni tlie drained TC tests (d3=
clay.

523
 consolidated untreated clay increases essentially
proportionally with the confining pressure o ,
as expected. The specimens exhibit very similar
volume contraction until the peak stress state,
irrespective of the consolidation pressure o 13.
2) On the other hand, the pre-peak stiffness of the
cement-mixed clay first decreases with o up to
I3
o ,' = 98 kPa, and then increases with the further
increase in o I 3 . The shear yield point was
defined as the point where the curvature along
each log q and log E , curve is maximum and
plotted in Figure 6. It is seen that corresponding
to the trend described above, with the increase in
o ,' , the shear yield stress (qy)shear
first decreases,
and as loaded in TC beyond the shear yield point,
the stiffness decreases substantially and the
volume contraction becomes more noticeable.
The decrease in (qy)shear with the increase in o',
may be due to the damage by isotropic
compression to the cementation that has
developed during the initial curing. As oI3
increases more, (qy)shear starts increasing
gradually, which may be due to effects of re-
structuration, or re-bonding at inter-particle points
(Barbosa Cruz and Tatsuoka, 1999) developing at
the final consolidation stress state (i.e., ageing
effects in general terms). A similar result with
another type of cement-mixed saturated clay has
been reported (Tatsuoka and Kobayashi, 1983).
Note however that the (qy)shear values of the
cement-mixed clay at these o', values are
comparable with those of the untreated clay
developed by drained creep under similar
consolidation stress states. The behaviour of the
cement-mixed clay in drained TC at o', larger
than 192 kPa is less contractant than that at lower
o',s, which may be due to relatively large
isotropic compression that has taken place before
these TC tests.
3) As the peak strength of the cement-mixed clay
increases only very gradually with the ot3up to
OS9 MPa, the peak strength becomes nearly the
same with that of the untreated clay at o', of
around 0.2 MPa, or p ' = (a + 20 / 3 at failure
I, 13)
of around 0.3 MPa. At values of o', (or p ' )
higher than that respective value, the cement-
mixed clay becomes weaker than the untreated
clay, with the difference increasing with oI3 in
the range of o', shown in Figure 6. As shown
later, as oI3 (or p ' ) increases further, the peak
strength of the cement-mixed clay starts
increasing, approaching to that of the untreated
clay.
The relationships between the void ratio and the
effective mean principal stress p' during isotropic
and triaxial compression of the cement-mixed and
untreated clays are presented in Figure 7. The
zoomed-up relationships for the cement-mixed clay
are shown in Figure 8. The following trends of
l3 behaviour may be noted:
1) In this range of o ' , (or p ' ) , the volume
contraction of the cement-mixed clay in both
isotropic and TC compression is significantly
smaller than that of the untreated clay, due likely
to the resistance against compression by
cementation. Therefore, the void ratio of
cement-mixed clay at the ultimate failure is
substantially larger than that of the untreated clay.
It is likely that in this pressure range, the peak
strength of the cement-mixed clay is controlled
mainly by the cementation that has developed
during the initial curing, while this initial
cementation could be somehow damaged by
isotropic compression. At the same time, as the
total volume contraction that has taken place until
the ultimate failure is very small, it could not
contribute noticeably to the increase in the peak
strength. For these reasons, the strength of the
cement-mixed clay becomes significantly lower
than that of the untreated clay.
2) The cement-treated clay starts yielding at an
isotropic compression pressure o =(p7y)iso.comp l3
of around 0.15 MPa, which is denoted by a open
triangle in Figure 6. Although it is much
smaller than that of the untreated clay, the
cement-mixed clay starts exhibiting noticeable
volume contraction by isotropic yielding at p'
values exceeding (pyy)iso~comp.
3.2 Behaviour at very high pressures
Figure 9 shows results similar to Fig. 4, obtained
from the two drained TC tests at o t 3 = 1.18 MPa
and 1.96 MPa on the cement-mixed clay, together
with those of two tests at lower o*,s. At these
high o', values, the peak strength is substantially
larger than that at oI3 equal to, or lower than, OS9
MPa. The effective stress paths together with the
peak stress points from all the compression tests are
presented in Figure 10. It may be seen that the
peak strength of the cement-mixed clay has become
Figure 6. Stress paths with the peak stress points.
524
close to that of the untreated clay at these high
pressures, while exhibiting a large volume
contraction until the ultimate failure state, similarly
to the untreated clay (see Fig. 5b).
Figure 7. Relationships between void ratio and p ’ during
isotropic and TC compression of the cement-mixed and
untreated clays.
Figure 8. Zoomed-up e-p’ relationships in isotropic and TC
compression for the cement-mixed clay.
3500 3
3 10 15 20 25
Axial strain, E , (%)
Figure 9. Effects of c f 3 on the relationships between q and
mixed clay for a wide rang of d3
Thin solid curves in Figure 11 represent the
relationships between the void ratio and p ’ (obtained
by assuming that a ’ ,= a ’ , / 2 )from one oedometer
test on the cement-mixed clay and other two on the
untreated clay. The relationships during isotropic
and subsequent TC compression are also shown.
The isotropic yield pressure of the two triaxial
specimens is larger than the value seen in Figure 8,
which is considered more reliable due to a large
specimen size (10 cm in dia. and 20 cm in height)
and a larger number of tested specimens. For both
cement-mixed and untreated clays, the relationships
from the two different types of tests are consistent to
each other. It is likely that the difference in the
void ratio between the oedometer test and the
isotropic compression tests for the triaxial specimens
of cement-mixed clay would be due to relatively
large effects of bedding errors in the oedometer test.
The compressibility in 1D compression of the
cement-treated clay at p ’ exceeding (P’y)iso.comp is
noticeably larger than that of the untreated clay. A
large decrease in the void ratio during the isotropic
compression up to o = 1.18 MPa and 1.96 MPa
l3
and that during drained TC loading would explain
the increase in the peak strength in the TC tests at
these oI3values. It may be seen from Figures 10
and 11 that the difference in the peak strength
between the cement-mixed and untreated clays is
largest when the difference in the void ratio is
largest.
It should be noted however that the axial strain at the
peak stress state is very large and the overall pre-
peak stiffness is very low in these TC tests at very
high pressures, similarly to the normally
consolidated untreated clay (Figure 5). This feature
can also be seen from Figure 12, in which the
contours of same axial strains and the shear yield
points from the drained TC tests on the cement-
mixed clay are summarised. It is likely that as the
void ratio decreases largely in isotropic compression
3500
- 3000
2500
v
0.
- 2000
m
2 1500
i
5 1000
.-
>
500
0
- 2 - 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Volumetric strain, E vo, (%)
E, and those between q and & in drained TC tests on the cement-

Figure 10. Effective stress paths with the peak stress points
from all the compression tests.
Figure 11. Relationships between e a n d p ’ in isotropic and 1D
compression and T C for cement-mixed and untreated clays.
Figure 12. Contours of same axial strains and shear yield points
from the drained T C tests on the cement-mixed clay.
and subsequent drained TC, the original inter-
particle bonding by cementation have been nearly
totally damaged, while the strength gain by ageing at
the final consolidation pressure is not significant
compared with the high consolidation pressures. It
seems that due to the void ratios that are still
526
noticeably larger than those of the untreated clays at
these very high pressures, the peak strength of the
cement-mixed clay is still somewhat smaller than
that of the untreated clay.
4 CONCLUSIONS
1) When the pressure level is below the yield
pressure, the void ratio of the cement-mixed clay
does not decrease noticeably in isotropic or ID
compression, the void ratio being higher than that
of untreated clay. In this range of pressure, the
peak strength is nearly constant, controlled by the
cementation that developed during the initial
curing.
2) As the consolidation pressure becomes larger
than the yield pressure and as the shear stress
becomes larger than the shear yield stress in
drained TC, the cement-treated clay becomes
much softer, exhibiting large volume contraction.
3) The peak strength of cement-mixed clay could be
much smaller than that of the untreated clay in
some pressure range where the void ratio is
substantially larger than that of the untreated clay.
It seems that the strength difference is largest
when the difference in the void ratio is largest.
4) After having exhibited a large compression at
very high pressures, the strength of cement-mixed
clay increases with pressure, approaching that of
the untreated clay. However, due to large
damage to the initial cementation by large
compression that takes place until the ultimate
failure, the pre-peak stress-strain behaviour
becomes very soft, exhibiting large axial strain
and volume contraction by the peak stress state.
It can be suggested therefore that for constructing a
high landfill with using a cement-mixed soft clay, the
cement content should be determined so that the
working stress in each lift is always lower than the
instantaneous yield stress. That is, the cement-
mixed clay should not yield at any moment after
having been cast-in-place. Otherwise, the fill may
exhibit large deformation with cracking at some
locations. It is unsafe to assume that the strength of
the cement-mixed clay is always larger than that of
the untreated clay, but at pressures exceeding the
yield pressure, the peak strength of the cement-
mixed clay could become substantially smaller than
that of the untreated clay. Further study will be
necessary to generalise the conclusions, in particular
for more plastic clays.
REFERENCES
Barbosa-Cruz,E.R. and Tatsuoka,F. 1999. Effects of stress state
during curing on stress-strain behaviour of cement-mixed
sand. Proc. Second Int. Conf: on Pre-Failure Deformation
Characteristics of Geomaterials, IS Torino '99 (Lo Presti
eds.) 1:509-516. Rotterdam: Balkema.
Goto.S, Tatsuoka,F., Shibuya,S., Kim,Y.-S. and Sato,T. 1991.
A simple gauge for local small strain measurements in the
laboratory. Soils and Foundations, 31(1): 169-180.
Tatsuoka,F. and Kobayashi,A. 1983. Triaxial strength
characteristics of cement-treated clay. Proc. the 8th
European Conf: on SMFE, S(1): 421-426.
Tatsuoka,F. and Kohata,Y. 1995. Stiffness of hard soils and soft
rocks in engineering applications. Keynote Lecture, Proc. of
Int. Symposium Pre-Failure Deformation of Geomaterials,
IS-Hokkaido (Shibuya et al., eds.) 2: 947-1063.
Rotterdam:Balkema.
Tatsuoka,F., Modoni,G., Jiang,G.L., A n h Dan,L.Q., Flora,A.,
Matsushita,M., and Koseki,J. 1999. Stress-Strain
Behaviour at Small Strains of Unbound Granular Materials
and its Laboratory Tests. Keynote Lecture, Workshop on
Modelling and Advanced testing for Unbound Granular
Materials, January, 1999, Lisboa (Correia eds.): 17-61.
Rotterdam: Balkema.

527
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

Compaction pile method utilizing coal ash as filled material

H.T&, Y. Nishio & H. Suzuki

Chubu Electric Power Company Incorporated, Japan
M. Higo, K. Harada & H. Nitao
Fudo Construction Company Limited, Tokio,Japan

ABSTRACT: Clean sand is normally used as the filled material in the sand compaction pile (SCP) method of
soft ground improvement, the most widely used method in Japan. But environmental concerns have prompted
as an alternative use of coal ash, a by-product of coal-fired thermal power stations, and site tests have been
carried out using pile materials composed mostly of coal ash.
This paper reports on this experimental ground strengthening work undertaken on a coastal coal ash-filled land-
fill site liable to liquefaction, to confirm the implementation characteristics and improvement effect of the pile
materials. The results showed that the SCP method can be used as a countermeasure (increased density) to
liquefaction in coal ash ground, and that coal ash makes a suitable filled material.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 REQUIRED PERFORMANCE AND MATERIAL

An important environniental technology issue for
Japan’s construction industry is the effective use of
construction-displacedsoil from construction sites, and
coal ash produced by coal-fired thermal power stations.
The quantity of fly ash and clinker ash produced by
power stations amounted to 5.15 million tons in 1995,
and is expected to increase considerably, to about 9
million tons in 2000 (Matsuo et al. 1997). At that same
time, the quantity of sand available for use as filled
material for the SCP method of ground improvement
has been declining year by year and it may be extremely
difficult to secure a supply in the future.
As a result, a ground improvement method that
makes effective use of waste soil has been devel-
oped for practical applications (Matsuo et al. 1997).
It uses waste soil as the filled material in a compac-
tion filled method. Because quality stipulations for
the filled material require a fine content of less than
15%, coal ash has not been considered suitable for
this purpose, due to its fine content of 80-90%. Thus,
an analysis of the material properties and perfor-
mance required for coal ash to be used as a filled
material, and a clarification of its engineering char-
acteristics, will throw important light on an assess-
ment of its suitability for recycling in this way.
This paper reports on the results of laboratory tests
undertaken on substitute materials based on coal ash,
and also on site tests at a coal ash landfill site (Taki et
al. 1999) prone of liquefaction carried out to confirm
the implementation characteristics and improvement
effect of coal ash materials used as the filled material.
PROPERTLES OF FILLED MATERIAL
2.1 Material properties required of pile material
Figures 1-2 show the required functions of the pile
material used in compaction methods of ground im-
provement such as the SCP, and reference values for
the purposes of design and implementation to accom-
plish those functions (Tsuboi et al. 1993).
Figure 1 shows that in the case of clay ground, a
composite ground is formed of piles and clay ground
surrounding them, and so the function required of the
piles is not only pile strength but also drainage for the
surrounding ground. On the other hand for sandy
ground, the only function required of the filled mate-
rial is the strength as a pile, and as a countermeasure
to liquefaction the improvement effect relies compara-
tively little on the filled material. Thus, in a case like
this, in coal ash landfill ground prone to liquefaction,
what is important is whether the material can be dis-
charged through the casing pipe and formed into well
compacted piles in the ground. When using a material
such as coal ash with a high fine content, problems
such as discharge of material from the casing pipe or
clogging, or longer cycle times for the implementa-
tion (loss of implementation efficiency) can be envis-
aged.
2.2 Material properties
For coal ash to be used as the filled material in com-
paction pile improvement work in ground liable to liq-

529
 IPile function I Required of pile material I Required reference value

Clay ground
(Mixed ground)

Sandy ground

6 d : Drainage compression shear strength; Fc: Fine content; k : Coefficient of permeability; DIS:15% grain size; Dx5: 8S% grain size

Fig. 1 Functions of piles and reference values for implementation design

I Properties for pile formation I Implementation requirements I Reference values

II ,
IInI Conveyance through casing pile
(discharge efficiency) .
I
1\1
1

Fc: Fine content

Fig. 2 Material properties for pile formation and reference values for implementation design

uefaction, its implementation characteristics and im- sistance. When the degree of compaction exceeds 90%,
provement effect need to be confirmed. Ahead of the the angle of shear resistance exceeds 30" for all the
site tests, laboratory tests were performed on the fol- specimens, indicating sufficient strength.
lowing materials to determine their properties.

1 Cleansand
2 Site soil (fine content about 25%)
3 Clinkerash
4 Fly ash
5 Cement mixture
cfzy ash with cement added at 30kg/m3)
6 mixture offly and clinker ash (mixing ratio 2 : 1)

The results of the tests on these substitute materi-

als are shown in Table 1, and grain size distribution
curves are shown in Figure 3. Figure 4 shows the re-
sults of drained triaxial compression tests with differ-
ent compaction degree to confirm strength. In the fig- Fig. 3 Grain size distribution curves for substitute
ure the degree of compaction Dc (dry density of the materials
prepared specimen p d max,
dry density in compaction Table 1 Physical properties of substitute materials
tests pd max) is taken as the
density index. Although the
data is somewhat scattered,
with increasing fine content of
the specimens, the lower the
degree of compaction, the
smaller the angle of shear re- *proportions in ash waste delivered from power stations

530
 Fig. 6 Implementation times for substitute materials

Fig. 4 Strength characteristics of substitute materials

3 OUTLINE OF SITE TESTS AND RESULTS

Site tests were carried out to study the suitability of the

compaction method using waste soil (site soil) or power
station-generatedcoal ash waste, as a countermeasure to
liquefaction in coal ash landfill ground. The results are
given below:

3.1 Site test outline Fig. 7 Relation between fine content and relative
implementation times
Test implementation was carried out with two objectives:
to confirm the implementation characteristics of such is possible, taking 1.6 times that with sand. Coal ash (fly
materials as coal ash used as filled material, and to check ash) is believed to require more time for compaction than
the improvement effect in coal ash ground. sand because its fine content exceeds 80%. The relation
between fine content and relative implementation times is
3.2 Test to confirm implementation characteristics shown in Figure 7 (Tsuboi et aI. 1993). The figure indi-
cates that as the fine content of the material increases,
The usual equipment for SCP implementation work was implementation efficiencytends to fall.
used, with some modifications (Matsuo et al. 1997).Also,
a 500mm diameter butterfly point was used at the tip of
Table 2 Substitute material and improvement ratio
the casing pipe, as shown in Figure 5, as suitable for dis-
specifications
charge of the materials, and also to prevent coal ash flow- r
ing back into the pipe during compaction due to the low 21% 15% 10%
Improvement ratio (pitch)
specific gravity of fly ash compared with clean sand. 1.2m) (U1.6m)
(0 (U2.0rn)
Clean sand - 0 -
Implementation characteristicsof various substitute ma- .-;;i
terials were drawn from these site tests and are shown in -'E E Site soil 0 0 0
-
Figure 6. They confirm that implementation using fly ash Coal ash (fly ash) - 0

Fig. 5 Shape of tip of casing pipe Fig. 8 Test conditions to c o n f m improvement effect

531
 ....... Before improvement
-After improvement
Pitch: 01.6m

Coal ash
Clean sand
L L 0.2 .~ , ~

..__
-.__
0.0
0.0 0.5 10 15 2.0 25 0.0 0.5 1.0 15 2.0 2.5
Void ratio, e Void ratio, e
Fig. 9 Changes in void ratio before and after improve- Fig. 10 Changes in void ratio before and after im-
ment and according to pile material provement and according to improvement ratio

Table 3 Comparison of theoretical and measured viod ratio after improvement

I Ivoid ratio 1
Average void ratio after improvement
I I
Improvement ratio (%) Pitch (m) before improvement Theoretical values Measured values Measured decreasein void ratiollheoretical decrease in void ralio
27 0 1.2 0.73 1 (0.63 1) 0.829 (0.533) 84.5 %
15 0 1.6 1.362 1.008 (0.354) I .I06 (0.256) 72.3 %
10 0 2.0 1.135 (0.227) 1.189 (0.173) 76.2 %
( ) decrease in void ratio

3.3 Tests to confirm improvement eflect 4 CONCLUSION

Tests as detailed in Table 2 and Figure 8 were un-
dertaken with the objective of confirming the im-
provement effect with different substitute materi-
als, and at different improvement ratios (pitches).
As coal ash landfill ground shows the same tendency
to liquefaction as loose sandy ground (Taki et al.
1999), the improvement effect was confirmed
through an evaluation of the decrease in void ratio,
as in sandy ground.
Figure 9 shows porosity before and after im-
provement and for different substitute materials.
The figure indicates no significant difference in im-
provement effect due to the filled material. This is
thought to be because well compacted piles of
700mm diameter were formed of all the materials,
with no great difference from the degree of com-
paction of the surrounding ground.
Figure 10 shows void ratio before and after im-
provement and for different improvement ratios
(pitch). The figure shows that as the improvement
ratio increases, porosity after improvement de-
creases. When the average measured void ratio be-
fore and after improvement was compared with theo-
retical values, whereas it is known that the void ra-
tio in sandy ground decreases after improvement
almost to that of the theoretical value (Table 3), for
coal ash landfill ground, the decrease in void ratio
was only about 80% of that to the theoretical value,
as shown in Table 3. This may be because coal ash
landfill ground has a finer content than sandy ground
and doesn’t compact so easily.
This paper studies the suitability of substitute filled ma-
terials based on coal ash (clinker ash, fly ashwement, fly
ashi-clinker ash, etc.) in site tests using the compaction
pile method of ground improvement at a coastal site of
coal ash landfill ground. Their material properties, and
their implementationefficiency and improvement effect
in use, were examined. The results confirmed that the
compaction pile method can be used as a countermea-
sure to liquefaction in coal ash landfill ground, that imple-
mentation is possible with fly ash and clinker ash, as types
of coal ash, used as the pile material in new ground mate-
rial, and that in design terms they produce the same im-
provement effect as sand when used as the pile material.
REFERENCE
Matsuo M., Honjo Y.(eds), [ 19991: New Viewpoints on
Soil and Environmental Engineering - Effective Use of
Waste Soils, Ch. 2 Types of Construction-Displaced Soils
and Their Background, Gihodo Shuppan. (in Japanese)
Matsuo M., Kimura M., Nishio R., Ando H., [ 19971: ‘De-
velopment of Soft Ground Improvement Method Using
Waste Soil’, Civil Engineering Society Papers, 35 (567):
237-248. (in Japanese)
Taki E., Hayashi Y., Nakajima H., Suzuki E, Nitao H.,
[ 19991: ‘PhysicalProperties and Tendency to Liquefac-
tion of Coal Ash Ground’, Civil Engineering Society54th
Annual Lecture Series lII-B261: 522-523. (in Japanese)
Tsuboi H., Hongo T., Okuda S., MatsumotoJ., Nakasurni
I., [ 19931: ‘Effect of Fine Content on Soil Characteristics
in Sand Used for Ground Improvement’,Symposium on
Ground Discrimination and Engineering Classification,
129-134. (in Japanese)

532
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

CPT investigation to the ground treated by deep mixing method using Flyash
Gypsum Cement
M.Tanaka & H.Tanaka
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport,Yokosuka,Japan
J.Asano & K.Azuma
Electric Power Development Company Limited, Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT: The ground was treated by Flyash- Gypsum- Cement (FGC) using Deep Mixing Method, for
deep excavation work. The treated ground was investigated by Cone Penetration Test (CPT) as well as con-
ventional laboratory test for specimens collected by sampling. This paper discusses the applicability of CPT,
comparing with test results from laboratory test, for measuring the engineering properties of the treated
ground. It is found that in combination with laboratory testing, CPT testing is capable of evaluating properly
the strength of the treated soil.

1 INTRODUCTION such as a jet column method without mixing blade.

It is conventional that the ground treated by deep
mixing (DM) method using cement or lime is evalu-
ated based on uniaxial compression strength (4u).
However, 41(values of the treated ground are consid-
erably scattered, and it has been a controversial
subject as whether this large variety in 4u value is
due to non-uniformity of the treated ground or sam-
ple disturbance caused by sampling. Several at-
tempts for employing CPT were made in the past to
the investigation for the treated ground. However, it
has been usual that the capacity of the penetration is
not large enough for CPT to penetrate to a required
depth due to large stiffness of the treated ground.
The authors had an opportunity to conduct a CPT
investigation in the treated ground by DM method
using flyash gypsum cement (hereinafter referred to
as the FGC-DM method), which was produced rela-
tively lower strength treated soil than conventional
DM method dose. This improvement method was
applied to excavation work with great depth. This
paper presents characteristics of the treated ground
by the FGC-DM method, using CPT.
However, the cost for treatment of such these
methods is considerably higher than that of the DM
method. In addition to high cost, a jet column meth-
od often deform sheet piles to the outside as a result
of its high pressure of injection, when the original
ground is very soft (Tanaka et al. 1992). Hence, it
has been desired to develop a DM method with
moderate strength of the treated ground. It may be
possible for the treated ground to get low strength by
reduction of amount of cement. However, it inevita-
bly leads to a wide scatter in strength for the treated
ground because of reduction in efficiency of mixing
due to small amount of cement. The FGC-DM
method was developed to solve this problem. By ad-
ding fly ash gypsum to cement, the volume of the
stabilizer is increased and hence the strength after
the improvement becomes more uniform (Asano et
al. 1996).

2 FGC-DM METHOD
It is in general difficult to drive sheet piles into the
ground treated by the conventional DM methods
using Portland cement or lime, because of high
stiffness of the ground after treatment. Thus, when
the DM method is used as a supplemental measure
for excavation, the ground is left untreated about 1
m from the sheet pile. This untreated ground, then,
is treated by other soil improvement techniques, Photo 1 Investigation i n progress

533
Fig. 1 Soil Profile
Fig. 2 Cross-section of the ground improvement
The CPT investigation was conducted at a location
for the untreated ground and at 10 locations for the
treated ground. A penetration machine with large
capacity (the maximum penetration force is 196 kN)
was used to penetrate the cone into the ground.
Photo 1 shows the vehicle mounting the penetration
machine used in this investigation.
3 DESCRIPTION OF TREATED GROUND
The site of this investigation is located in a re-
claimed area faced on the Tokyo Bay. Fig. 1 shows a
soil profile of the ground before the treatment. The
land was reclaimed with sand fill to the depth of 3 rn
534
from the present ground surface. Below this fill
layer, a clay layer reclaimed by the dredged soil is
found. The original sea bottom is located at a depth
of about 15 m.
In this site, a designed ql, value for the treated
ground was set at 400 kPa. The component of stabi-
lizer to get this strength was: 62 kg of cement, 155
kg of flyash gypsum, and 217 kg of water'per 1 m3
to the original ground (Tabei et al. 1999). Fig.2
shows a typical cross-section of the braced excava-
tion. Two layers were treated: the ground surface for
reducing the deformation of the sheet pile wall, and
the bottom part for increasing passive earth pressure
and for preventing the bottom heaving.
4 TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
To evaluate strength of the treated ground by the
FGC-DM method, laboratory tests as well as CPT
were carried out. Samples were collected by using a
rotary type of a triple tube sampler for the treated
ground and a fixed piston type of a thin wall sampler
(hydraulic type) for the untreated ground.
To directly compare test results from the laboratory
and the CPT investigations, sampling and CPT were
carried out at the same treated column. These points
were approximately one meter apart from each
other. Strictly speaking, both tests should be con-
ducted at the same time since strength and stiffness
of the treated soil increase with curing time. How-
ever, when a certain time elapse, effect of curing
time on strength of the treated soil becomes insig-
nificant. Therefore, these influences in this investi-
gation may be negligible, although the date for con-
ducting the laboratory tests and CPT investigation
were somewhat different.
Fig. 3 CPT results of the FGC ground
Fig. 4 Shear strength obtained from CPT, and qu/2
4.1 CPT performance in treated and untreated
ground
Fig.3 compares the CPT data obtained at typical two
locations after and before the treatment. The cone
resistance corrected by the effective area (qr), skin
friction V;.) and the pore water pressure ( U ) are pre-
sented by solid line for the original ground and dot-
ted line for the treated ground in this figure. It is
seen from these measurements that the original
ground consists of the following layers: one cohe-
sive layer is found at depths between 5 and 8 m and
another cohesive soil is between 13 and 23 m from
the ground level. A relatively dense sandy layer ex-
ists at a depth of 5 m. And an alternating layer of
sandy and cohesive soil is found from 8 m to 13 m
depth.
It is seen in the figure that qf, U andJ. measured at
the location B1 increase by as much as 4 to 6 times,
2 to 3 times and 15 to 30 times that before treat-
ment, respectively. The same increases in qr, U andJ.
were observed at the location B3. It should be more
535
in mind that the increase infs is in particular signifi-
cant. This fact gives a reason for a large penetration
force is required to CPT investigation. It is generally
said that high qr values indicate existence of a sandy
layer, but in case if the ground improved by the
FGC-DM method, both qr and U values become
large. This behavior is quite different from that of
sandy ground or soft clayey soil ground.
4.2 Shear strength
The upper part of present ground was reclaimed
with gravelly or sandy soils, so it is difficult that to
get the samples from the ground. The q, value from
this part would be scattered. Therefore, shear
strength of the samples which were taken from low-
er part of the ground will be discussed. This section
will compare the shear strength of the treated ground
measured by the cone penetration test (s, (CPT)) and
UC test, i.e., qJ2. To calculate s, from CPT, the
cone factor (NkJ in the equation (1) should be as-
sumed:

where,
s,, (CPT): Undrained shear strength from CPT
ql: Corrected cone resistance
C T , , ~ :Overburden pressure in total stress
Nkl: Cone factor
First, let us consider the shear strength of the origi-
nal ground, which lies below the original sea bot-
tom. As shown in Fig. 4(a), s, from CPT and q,/2
laboratory test coincide well with each other when
Nkr = 14. It is reported that the Nkc varies between 8
to 16 for marine cohesive soils in Japan (Tanaka et
al. 1992). The Nkt factor for the present investigation
is in this range.
Figs. 4(b) and 4(c) show the relationship between s,,
(CPT) and q,,/2 for the ground after the treatment. It
is found that s, (CPT) using Nkr = 14 significantly
overestimate qJ2 of the treated ground. Ifs, (CPT)
is calculated using Nkl = 20, then it becomes closer
to the q,/2 values measured from the laboratory test
at the location B1 as well as B3.
It may be concluded that Nkl values for the treated
soils are much larger than those of ordinary cohesive
soils. However, there is a possibility that q,/2 value
may under-evaluate the true strength due to sample
disturbance caused during the sampling process. In
fact, many horizontal cracks were observed in the
samples collected by rotating the sampler in this in-
vestigation. On the other hands, it is well known that
the treated soil presents a smaller strain at failure
and smaller residual strength after peak than ordi-
nary cohesive soil; i.e., it is a typical brittle material
(Tanaka & Terashi 1986). These different charac-
teristics of the treated soil may be attributed to rela-
tively large Nkt factor. Further studies are required to
know which is main factor for large Nkr.
One of the most advantages of CPT over conven-
tional laboratory testing may be that testing data are
available nearly continuously to depth. For example,
let us consider a situation where CPT data are not
available but only q,,/2 values are plotted with depth
in Fig.4(c). According to the specification stipulat-
ing the ground improvement, the treatment of the
bottom section is to be started at a depth of 13 m
and ended at a depth of 20 m. However, the q,,/2
values considerably varies in this section and it is
not clear whether this variation is due to errors in
testing including the sample disturbance, or mishan-
dle of the treatment work. However, with help of
CPT data, it is able to correctly evaluate laboratory
test data test.
536
5 CONCLUSIONS
It turns out from this study that CPT investigation is
able to evaluate the ground improved by the deep
mixing method using flyash gypsum cement. The
findings obtained from this study are summarized
below:
1. Investigation using CPT for the ground im-
proved by the FGC-DM method reveals a different
behavior from that of usual cohesive ground or san-
dy ground. Response of CPT for the treated ground
is characterized by large point resistance, large pore
water pressure, and large skin friction.
2. The cone factor (NkJ for the treated ground by
the FGC-DM method is greater than that of usual
Japanese marine clays. However, it is not clear
whether this large Nkr factor is caused by under-
evaluation of q,/2 due to sample disturbance, or by
the inherent characteristics of improved ground.
REFERENCES
Asano, J., Ban, K., Azuma, K. & Takahashi, K.
1996. Deep Mixing Method of soil stabilization
using coal ash. Proc. of IS-Tokyo'96, The 2ndIn-
ternational Conference on Ground Improvement
Geosystems: 393-398: Rotterdam: Balkema.
Tabei, F., Mouri, T. & Enomoto, T. 1999. Deep
Mixing Method using flyash gypsum cement for
Construction of the Isogo Thermal Power Plant.
Electric Power Civil Engineering No. 279: 57-6 1.
(in Japanese).
Tanaka, M. & Tanaka, H. 1992. Effect oftjet grout
method on retaining walls. Proc. of 2 7 Annual
Meeting of JGS : 1753-1754. (in Japanese).
Tanaka, H., Sakakibara, M., Goto, K., Suzuki, K. &
Fukazawa, T. 1992. Properties of Japanese nor-
mally consolidated marine clays obtained from
static piezocone penetration test. Report of Port
and Harbour Research Institute, Vol. 31, No. 4:
6 1-91. (in Japanese).
Tanaka, H . & Terashi, M., 1986. Properties of treat-
ed soils formed insitu by Deep Mixing Method.
Report of Port and Harbour Research Institute,
Vol. 25, No. 2: 90- 119. (in Japanese).
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice,Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 7

Use of stone column for improvement of very soft clay in the marine swarnp
area

Wanchai Teparaksa
Center of Soft Ground Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Chulalongkorn University,Bangkok,
Thailand

ABSTRACT: The application of stone column technique was firstly adapted to improve the very soft clay in
the marine swamp for constructing flood protection dyke. This dyke is about 2.5-3.0 m high and 11 km. long
constructed on the 14-18 m. thick soft clay aims to protect the rising up of the seawater and create additional
flood problem to Bangkok City in the rainy season. The construction was started by dumping the crush stone
to prepare the platform for truck hauling and the heavy stone column equipment of about 40 tons weight. The
crush stone backfill was sunk and laterally flow into the very soft clay to about 10m depth. After completion
of platform, the stone column soil improvement technique was started. The original 18 m. length of the stone
column was not successful due to its collapse in the very soft clay beneath the platform. Therefore, the length
of stone column (1 .Om in diameter) was changed to 10 m. and installed inside only its own platform. The plat-
form of about 10m depth and the dyke embankment were acted as a surcharge to induced a huge of long-term
settlement in the future. Due to the limitation of construction technique, the stone column seems to be not
suitable to improve the very soft clay in the marine swamp area.

1 INTRODUCTION behavior (Xanthakos et al, 1994, Koemer, 1985 and

Soil improvement has been widely used in Thailand,
mostly to improve the soft Bangkok Clay. The gen-
eral soil condition of Bangkok area consists of 12-15
in. thick soft to medium dark gray clay. The water
contents is about 70-90%. This soft clay is very sen-
sitive and has anisotropic and time dependent
undrained stress-strain-strength properties and is a
creep susceptible materials. The prefabricated verti-
cal drain (PVD) technique has been used to improve
the soft clay of the New Bangkok International Air-
port as well as the outer ring road connecting to the
airport. Recently, cement column is also widely used
to stabilize the soft ground as a road foundation. The
application of stone column is rarely used in
Bangkok especially for soft clay due to limitation
of construction technique. This paper presents the
possibility of using the stone column to improve the
very soft ground in the marine swamp area. The con-
struction technique is discussed concerning the lat-
eral soil movement. The FEM analysis based on the
field performance is also presented.
2. SOIL IMPROVEMENT TECHNIQUES
The soil improvement techniques were divided ac-
cording to the performance and-soil behavior into 2
groups as Densification behavior and Consolidation
NAVFAC DM-7.3, 1983). Densification technique
is generally suitable for cohesionless soils or granu-
lar materials by improving the bearing capacity of
soils such as Dynamic Compaction Method, Vibro-
flotation or Vibrocompaction Method, Sand Com-
paction Pile and Stone Column technique. Consoli-
dation behavior aims to accelerate the settlement of
soft cohesive soils such as Preloading with and
without PVD technique. The other soil improvement
technique is to from the pile foundation such as the
Cement Column technique, Jet Grouting technique,
and Lime Column.
3. PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND SOIL
CONDITIONS
In rainy season, flood problem is very serious for
Bangkok city, a capital of Thailand, due to a huge of
water be push from the Northern and Northeast part
of Thailand to Bangkok area as a lowest basin and as
an outlet delivered to the sea. In rainy season, around
September to October month, normally the sea water
level is also very high and causes difficulty in push-
ing the entire flood water to the sea. All floodwater,
therefore, has to be pumped out to the sea by using
the temporary dyke or existing road along the sea-
coast. The research project is the construction of the
permanent flood protection dyke along the sea coast

537
 in the marine swamp area parallel to the Sukhumvit
road (temporary dyke for flood protection) in the
eastern zone of Bangkok city so call Samutprakarn
Province as shown in Figure 1.
This flood protection dyke aims to protect the rising
up of the seawater and create additional flood
problem as well as accumulated to normal rainfall
flood into Bangkok City in the rainy season. The
flood protection dyke of about -2.5-3.0 m. high and
11 km. long was constructed in the marine swamp
area on the worst Bangkok very soft dark gray clay.
The stone column technique was adapted to improve
the very soft marine swamp to act as the foundation
of the dyke embankment. The dyke was about 4m.
width having the side slope of 1:1.5. The stone col-
umn was initially designed as a pile foundation to
support the embankment by penetrated into the stiff
silty clay layer at about 18 m. depth below the
ground surface in order to minimize the long-term
settlement. The stone column was design to use 4
stone columns for each row with longitudinal spac-
ing of 2.50 m. and diameter about 1.0 m. as shown
in Figure 2.

The soil condition consists of 14-17 m. thick very

soft dark gray clay. The water content is over than
100% and the shear strength is about 8 kN/m2. This
soft clay is very sensitive and has anisotropic and
time dependent undrained srtess-strain-strength
properties and is a creep susceptible materials. The
medium stiff gray clay about 4-6 m. thick and very

Figure 3 Soil profile along the route

stiff silty clay is found below the soft clay. Figure 3

shows the soil profile carried out during stage of fea-
sibility study along the Sukhumvit road. The general
and engineering properties of soils was presented in
Table 1.

Figure 1 Project location

538
Table 1 Engineering Soil Properties
Depth Soil Type Undrained Water Con- yt
(m) shear tents (%) (kN/m3) Sensi-
strength tivity
(kN/m*)

0.0- Verysoft
8 > 100 14.0-54.3 7-8
15.0
15 0- Medium 25-35 60-70 16-16 5 5-6
18 0 Clay
18 0-24 Stiff sllb' 130 30-35 19
Clay
>24
1"Sand 20

4. METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION

The flood protection dyke was proposed to construct

in the swamp area on the very soft clay by con-
structing the embankment of 2.5-3.0 m. high on the
very soft ground that improved by means of stone
column. For constructing the stone column in soft
ground, the platform is really necessary for support-
ing the stone column equipment of about 40tons
weight. For constructing the platform, the hydraulic
fill method was selected. In order to create a plat-
form, a huge of crush stone was dump into the very
soft clay. The crush stone was mixed and fastly sunk
into the very soft ground. The dump crush stone was
stable when its own stress distribution was equal to
the undrained shear strength of the very soft clay.
Figure 4 Results of FEM analysis for ideal case
Figure 5 Results of FEM analysis for case of em-
bankment with platform
According to the record of used crush stone backfill
volume, the soft ground was replaced by crush stone
up to about 10 m. depth (Teparaksa 1999, and Pan-
sereewong, 1996). After completion of the platform,
the stone column was carried out on this platform by
penetrated the stone column through the platform
and very soft clay until reaching the stiff silty clay
layer at about 18 m. depth. The finite element (FEM)
analysis was carried out to study the soil behavior
and plastic flow of soil before and after completion
of platform with out stone column by using 2D pro-
gram namely "PLAXIS" (BrinkgrevebtBrand, 1996).
The FEM analysis was based on the Mohr Coulomb
or bi-linear soil modeling by using the soil stiffness
of very soft clay according to the result of self boring
pressuremeter test in Bangkok clay (Teparaksa,
1999) of Eu = 100 Su. The FEM analysis for case of
non-soil improvement without platform could not be
completed, because the soft soil was flow and abso-
lutely failed after loading the embankment. Figure 4
presents only the schematic of the mesh deformation
and soil movement of the ideal case but not the ac-
tual results of the analysis. In case of constructed
platform by means of dumping the crush stone into
the soft soil and form the bulb of crush stone in the
ground about 10m depth with out stone column, the
result of FEM analysis was presented in Figure 5.
Figure 6 shows the result of the FEM analysis for
soil movement after installation of the stone column
inside its own platform. After. comparing between

539
case of with and without stone column (Figure 5b
and 6), it is clear that the stone column did not im-
prove any stability of the dyke. It also can be seen
that the soft clay was push and heaved above the
water surface in the wide area up to about 40 m.
away from center of the dyke. This evident was also
proved by the photograph during construction on the
landside and seaside as shown in Figure 7a and 7b

Figure 8 Stone column installation

Figure 6 Result of FEM analysis for case of em-

bankment with platform and stone column

Figure 9 Platform during stone column installation

Figure 7(a) Platform (land side)

Figure 10 Heaving soils are removed after comple-

tion of works

After completion of the platform the stone column

was started by using vibro-replacement technique
with the vibrator of about 300 mm. in diameter by
vibrating and rotating and filling the small size of
crush rock through the holes of the vibrating rod as
Figure 7(b) Platform (sea side)
shown in Figure 8.

540
The initial stone column of 18 m. long was not suc-
cessful due to the crush rock be collapsed after
penetration through the platform and spread out in
the very soft clay. This evidence can be explained by
common basic soil mechanics that the very soft soil
is easily failed under heavy loading with very low
confined stress. After trial and failed, the length of
the stone column was changed from 18 m. to be only
10 in. long. This means that the stone column was
performed only inside the area of filled platform and
did not improved any soft clay beneath the platform.
The diameter of the stone column was about 1.0 m.
which was estimated according to the used volume
of the stone per one column. This means that it was
not necessary to use the stone column technique to
stabilize the very thick soft clay. Figure 9 shows the
photograph during performing the stone column and
it can be seen that the filled platform is already
strong enough to carry the bearing stress from the
heavy equipment and the truck. The embankment of
about 2.5-3.0 m. height was later constructed on this
platform to acting as the flood protection dyke. Af-
ter completion of the dyke, some heaving soft soil
materials were removed to give a good view of the
final dyke as shown in Figure 10.
5. LONG TERM BEHAVIORS OF DYKE
The stone column of about 1.0 m. in diameter was
carried out on its own platform without improves
any soft ground. The crush stone of the platform
will be formed a surcharge to the very soft ground
and will induce the long-term settlement. Unfortu-
nately that only one set of instrumentation consists
of settlement plate and inclinometer was failed dur-
ing the construction of the platform. The estimating
of the long-term settlement based on 1D consolida-
tion theory was about 860 mm. (Teparaksa, 1998).
This long-term settlement is very high and the height
of the dyke has to be risen up in the future. The
study on the long-term settlement of this flood pro-
tection dyke constructed on the very thick soft clay
using the stone column is very interesting. Unfortu-
nately that no any instrumentation was provided to
measure the long-term settlement of the dyke as well
as the performance of the stone column and the
backfill platform.
6. CONCLUSIONS
The stone column technique was firstly adapted to
improve the very soft clay in the marine swamp for
constructing flood protection dyke. This dyke is 2.5-
3.0 m high and 11 km. long aims to protect the rising
up of the seawater into Bangkok area and create
much more flood problem in the rainy season. The
soil condition consists of 14-17 m. thick very soft
541
dark gray clay. The water content is over than 100%
and the shear strength is about 8 kN/m'. During pre-
paring the platform for constructing the stone col-
umn, a huge of crush stone was dump and sunk into
the very soft clay. The backfill platform was sunk to
about 10m. depth and laterally flow out in the wide
area. The original length (18 m) of the stone column
was not successful due to its collapse in the very soft
clay beneath the platform at about 10 m. depth. The
stone column, therefore, finally carried out only 10
m. long inside its own platform area. The long-term
settlement was estimated about 860 mm. due to the
embankment and excessive surcharge of platform.
Because of the very thick soft ground conditions, the
stone column technique seems to be not suitable for
improving the very soft clay in the marine swamp
area.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author express their appreciation to Mr. Narong
Thasnanipan and Mr. Pornpot Tanseng of Seafco
Co.Ltd for their assistances in the preparation of this
paper.
REFERENCES
Brinkgreve, R. and Brand, P.A.( 1996): Application of PLAXIS
for soil and rock plasticity, Short Course on Numerical
Analysis in Geotechnical Engineering, AIT.
Koerner R.M. ( 1985): Construction and Geotechnical Methods
in Foundation Engineering, Mc.Graw Hill Book Company.
NAVFAC DM-7.3 ( 1983): Soil Dynamics, Deep Stabilization,
and Special Geoteclinical Construction, Design Manual 7.3,
Dept. of the NAVY.
Pansereewong, W.( 1996): Study of Stone Column for Im-
provement the Stability And Settlement in Soft Ground,
Master Thesis, Chulalongkorn University ( In Thai).
Teparaksa W.( 1998): Possibility in using stone column for soft
soil improvement, Seminar on Ground Improvement, EIT,
pp. 109-126 ( in Thai).
Teparaksa, W. (1 999): Principle and application of instru-
mentation for the first MRTA subway project in Bangkok,
5th International Symposium on Field Measurements in
Geomechanics, Singapore, November.
Xathakos, PP, Abrainson, LW, and Bruce, D.A.( 1994): Ground
Control and Improvement, John Wiley & Sons Inc.
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal Geotechnica/~n~ineering
in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchi~a(eds)02000 ~ ~ / k e~ ~ ~a , ~ ISBN
e f 90~5809
a 151
~ 1,

New design method of short vertical drains to improve a soft clayey gound
in the Mekong Delta
Le Ba Vinh & Goro Irnai
Department of Civil Engineering, Yokohama National University,Japan

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a new method to design vertical drains. Their length has long been
determined based on the depth of consolidation zone within which the effectiveness of consolidation process
can be expected. An attempt to minimize the length of vertical drains has been made. The vertical drain of
varied lengths across the section of an embankment has been proposed. Based on a relationship between the
water content and compactness of soft clay during the consolidation process, a new method to predict the
settlement, consolidation time and load-bearing capacity relationship of soft clayey ground underneath the
embankrnent has been introduced in this paper.

1 INTRODUCTION where, y = unit weight of soft soil, c = cohesion of

In the South Vietnam, Mekong Delta is one of areas
with very thick layer of soft soil (Brand and
Premchitt 1989), in which areas the method of
vertical drains are widely used to improve the
surface zone underneath cbnstructions, 1; that case
the vertical drains cannot reach the firm base, and
the total system of the construction and the
'One 'Oats On the s u ~ o ~ d i n gwhere, b = half width of loaded area, the values of
soft soil. It is required, therefore, to analyze the
stability of the system in combination with a
Process Of the 'One to be
This paper presents a new design approach to this
Problem 'Pecial natures Of the Mekong
Delta in mind.
2 VALUE OF FILL P ~ L O A FOR~ ~
VERTICAL DRAINS
soft soil, # = internal friction angle of soft soil. c
and # are determined in total stress.
2. For load djstributing by an isosceles triangle:
2c. cos q5 + yb. sin d,
4s
a0
a, are determined as shown in Table
When dealing with the Mekong Delta clays, it is
required to &eat them as (c, #) material, even though
they are fully saturated.
When a method for consolidation acceleration is
used in the step loading fill, for example, the
vacuum preloading method with vertical drains, the
~ of c and # in equations (1) and (2) should be
values
replaced by new value increased by consolidation.

In order to prevent an unimproved soft ground from

failure, a fill preloading process must be done by 3 CALCULATION OF THE DEPTH OF
step loading. The plastic zone caused by fill VERTICAL DRAIN^ (Dw)
preloading should be generated at only one point in
the ground (VN MOC 1997). Therefore, the value of Based on the results of a research (Lareal et al.
allowable fill preloading for vertical drains can be 1989) into drainage of soft ground, consolidation
determined as follows:
3.. For uniform load:
Table 1. Value of a,.
xc cot fp
(1)
4s =
cot 0) 4- (0) - );
543
Figure 2. Determination of initial hydraulic
gradient, io.
due to embankment solidifies the soft ground down
to a definite depth. Therefore, the bottom of vertical
drains to be installed should reach that definite depth.
The basic concept to determine that limit depth of
drainage is as follow:
i 2 io (31
where, i = hydraulic gradient caused by embankment
load, io = initial hydraulic gradient of soft clayey soil.
Scheme of the conventional experiment to determine
the initial hydraulic gradient is shown in figure 2. At
the stable state of water level with no water flow
through the soil specimen Z, we get:
(4)
where,
~0 = io.yw.z (5)
544
Figure 3. Relationship between initial hydraulic
gradient and liquidity index at various plasticity
index of soil. 1- Clay No 1, Ip = 33.8, 2- Clay No
2, Ip = 29.9, 3- Clay No 8, Ip = 25.1,4- Clay No 7,
Ip = 18.2, 5- Clay No 4, Ip = 12.4, 6- Sandy Clay
No 6, Ip = 7.2 (Khanh et a1.1995).
Therefore, the initial hydraulic gradient is defined as
follows:
Experimental results on the initial hydraulic gradient
of Mekong Delta soft clay (Khanh et al.1995) are
shown in figure 3.
In order to minimize the length of vertical drains,
varied lengths along the cross section of an
embankment has been proposed. Figure 4 shows an
example of real embankment on soft ground. Based
on the fact that the embankment load causes its
effect only within a finite area of soft ground, the
 Layer No2: Road base: sandy clay, y2 = 18.6 KN/m3.

Layer No4: Soft clayey ground. y4 = 15.8 KN/m3.

Figure 4. Cross section of an embankment on soft ground.

2 12 22 32 42 Stress
0

10 Calculated stress due to

15

20

Depth I
U
(m> phe location of vertical drains (From center axis of embankment)

Figure 5. The determination of vertical drains’ length at various locations underneath the
embankment.

length of vertical drains should be a finite one,

which may be as equal as the depth of the influential
areas due to embankment. It is here determined by
the following equation: ... ... ... ... ... ... .._

0, = 0.2Yz
.. . . . ._
. .. .. ..
where CT, = total stress in the soft ground due to the
embankment load, Y = unit weight of soft ground, z
= depth from the bottom of embankment.
Figure 5 shows a graph to determine the length of
vertical drains at various locations underneath an
embankment. The bottom of vertical drains are
determined by intersection points between the Figure 6. The determination of vertical drains’
straight line of 0.2 Yz and the stress curves oZ z
calculated at various axes underneath the
- length: 1- Vertical drains, 2- An approximate
boundary of the bottom of vertical drains, 3- The
embankment. calculated boundary of the bottom of vertical drains.

545
4 STABILITY ANALYSIS OF A TOTAL Table 2. Input data used in the slope stability
SYSTEM OF EMBANKMENT AND SOFT analysis
GROUND I ~ P R O V E DBY VERTICAL DRAINS Name Thick- Y C 6
ness(m) (kNim’) (kN/m2)
In the case of soft ground, modes of potential failure Coating: 1.o 21.2 22.4 17.6
include general failure and local failure as shown in sandy clay
the following analyses: Road base: 1.o 18.6 20.0 15.2
sandy clay
4.1 Slope stability analysis Sand mat I .o 17.2 0.0 28.0
Fellenius’ method (Leonard 1962) has been widely Soft ground 20.0 15.8 6.0 5.0
applied in Vietnam to analyze an embankment’ s
slope on soft ground improved by a preloading 4.2 S t a b ~ l analysis
i~ of soft ground unde~neat~
the
process. In the analysis, the shape of a failure embankment.
surface has been assumed to be an arc. A computer Load-bearing capacity of soft ground improved by
program named SOIL-SAP for automatically vertical drains is checked by the use of the following
analyzing slope stability was made by Khanh (1998). equation:
The input data used in the slope stability analysis is
shown in table 2. The cohesion and internal R = F.q (8)
frictional angle of soft ground have been increased
due to water content’ s decreasing after the where, F is safety factor. It must be grater than 1.5; q
preloading process as shown in figure 7. The is design load of a construction acting on the ground
analysis results have presented the ten most at the bottom of the foundation. R is allowable load-
dangerous slip arcs and the safety factor as shown in bearing capacity of the ground at the end of
figure 8. preloading process of soft ground (VN MOC 1997):

Figure 7. Change of water content, characteristicsand settlement of soil with time during two stages of
fill preloading.

Figure 8. Slope stability analysis. Safety factor by Fellenius’ s method.

546
R - m1*m2 [Aby + Bhy’+ D . c ~ -
, ~y’h]
(9)
K active zone of consolidation in the ground defined in
where ml and m2 are the coefficients of working
conditions of ground and construction, respectively.
K is a reliable coefficient depending on the
exactness of soil experiments. A, B and D are
parameters depending on the angle of internal
fkiction of the soil at the end of a preloading process,
B = f (4+,2);D = f (4+,2);Y and Y’are
+f,J: A = f (+f,2>;
the unit weight of soil under and above the
foundation bottom, respectively.
The reinforcement effect of drain material is
taken into account by using the unit weight, y,
cohesion, c, and internal friction angle, +, which
have been increased due to both drain material and
water content’ s decreasing after the preloading
process.
5 SETTLEMENT CALCULATION OF SOFT
GROUND IMPROVED BY VERTICAL DRAINS
The settlement of a soft ground to be improved by
preloading with vertical drains can be divided into
the two, one of which preloading and the other takes
place by construction.
As mentioned above, preloading should be
usually done by many steps of fill loading. After
each step of loading, the soft ground consolidates
resulting in water content decrease of soft soiI
followed by settlement as shown in figure 7.
The settlement of a soil layer having depth H i s as
follows:
if S, = loo%, we get:
[
e = A.w; A = --
):o;1:
From the two equations (10) and (1 l), the final
settlement of soft ground in each loading step can be
determined as follows based on the water content
change between the beginning and the end of each
loading step:
- + Wil
6
where Si= settlement of soft ground after loading
step number i, wil and wi2are water contents at the
547
beginning and the end of loading step number i,
respectively, A = density of soil, D = depth of the
Figure 6.
Settlement which takes place during an operating
process of construction project can be predicted as
follows:
wi2- w
so=- 1 .D (13)
- +w,2
A
where So = settlement of soft ground during
construction project, wi2 and wfare water contents at
the beginning and end of the construction project,
respectively.
6 THE SETTLEMENT TIME OF SOFT GROUND
To calculate required times, t~ and th, for the same
degree of consolidation of two soil layers having
different depths, H and h, respectively, Maslov
(196 1) proposed the following equation:
Based on this equation, the following equation can
be here proposed to predict a process of
consolidation by vertical drains.
tf =,(yj”
where th = time required for a test specimen to
its primary consolidation, L =
m:$;spacing between vertical drains), r = radius
of vertical drain (figure l), h = height of specimen, n
= consolidation parameter of soil, and can be
determined by the oedometer test. If the Terzaghi’ s
theory can be completely applied to Mekong Delta
clay, n should be equal to 2.
We cannot determine the value of n by the use of
equation (14) because we couldn’t get filed data,
therefore, the following equation is here proposed to
determine n-value in laboratory.
Based on the equation (141, we get:
where, tl and t 2 are required times for the same
degree of consolidation of two soil specimens
having different height, h, and h2, respectively.
Experimental results on the consolidation
parameter of Mekong Delta soft clay is shown in
figure 9.

7 SUMMARY

A new method to design short vertical drains to

improve a soft clayey ground is proposed based on
the conventional methods which has been widely
practiced for the Mekong Delta soft clays, new
concepts being added to the conventional one.
Main differences between the Mekong Delta soft
clayey ground and alluvial clay layers in Japan are
as follows:
1) To deep soft clay layer in the Mekong Delta: Figure 9. Relationship between consolidation
Full improvement by vertical drain could not be parameter, n, and plasticity index, Ip, at various
done. An area improved by short vertical drains state of soil (Khanh et al. 1995).
floats on the surrounding soft ground.
2) Mekong Delta soft clay has apparent cohesion
c and friction angle 4 in the term of total stress. It is Table 3. Consolidation parameter, n.
(c, 4) material, not c material (4 = 0). n
Based on the knowledge above stated, several
proposals for designing a floating ground solidified Ip I L = ~ .I~=0.88 I~=0.62 I~=0.37 I~=0.12
by short vertical drains are presented in this paper. 27.7 2.00 1.83 1.54 1.24 0.56
1. In the condition of very thick and soft ground,
the designing of short vertical drains can be done 21.0 2.00 1.80 1.36 0.68 0.00
based on the determining the depth of active zone of 16.0 2.00 1.72 1.18 0.30 0.00
consolidation. 6.5 2.00 1.64 0.94 0.00 0.00
2. A new setting of vertical drains’ length that
decreases from the center axis to the edge of
embankment has been proposed based on the Marine clays, Kuala Lumpur, Vol. 2: 10-1/8.
equation (7) not only for this project but also the
Khanh, L.B., Ly T.V. & Vinh, L.B. 1995. An
general.
investigation on soft clayey ground in the
3. Both the slope stability and load bearing Mekong Delta. Hochiminh City University of
capacity analysis has been carried out considering Technology (HUT).
the cohesion and internal fiictional angle of soft
Khanh, L.B. 1998. Stability of road base on soft
ground have been increased due to water content’ s ground during the consolidation process. Proc.
decreasing. Conf. on New Technology in Construction,
Also, the settlement and settlement’s time can be HoChiMinh City, 19-21 February, 1998: 49-52.
predicted as equation (12), (13) and (15) from the Lareal, P., Nguyen Thanh Long & Le Ba Luong
experimental studies on water content of soil during 1989. Remblais routiers sur sols compressibles
the consolidation process. dans les conditions du Vietnam: 24-169, Paris,
France.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The author would like to Leonard, D.A. 1962. Foundation and Fundamental:
thank Prof. Kazuo Tani for his helphl comments on 81-1 18, New York, U.S.A.
this paper. Maslov, N.N. 1961. Sur le problem de la resistance
au cisaillement des sols argileux plastiques a
consolidation incomplete. Proc. 5‘h Int. Conf, on
REFERENCES Soil Mechanics and Foundation Eng., Paris, 17-
22 July, 1961: 243-248.
Brand, E. W. & Premchitt, J. 1989. Comparison of
Vietnam Ministry of Construction (VN MOC) 1997.
the predicted and observed performance of Muar Specification for design of traffic construction.
test embankment on Malaysian Clays. Proc. Proceeding of Vietnam Construction Standards,
Symp. on trial embankments on Malaysian Hanoi: TCVN No 4054-5729.

548
 Coastal Geotechnical EngineeriRgin Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 751 1

Bo Myint Win & R.Bawajee

SPECS Consultants Pte Limited, Singapore
VChoa
~ a n ~ ~a ~~~ g~ n o ~l on i~~ie ~r ~sa iil~~, ~ u p o r ~

ABSTRACT: Implementation of mega soil improvement works required systematic approach and planning.
Firstly, design concept for the various areas, which required various loading conditions and various
allowable duration of soil improvement is necessary to be correctly adopted. During the course of
implementation, determination of penetration length, selection of equipment, material and quality control of
material are important. Due to the different ground conditions with various thickness of soil profile, different
types of vertical drain rigs with various heights and various principles of penetrating mechanism were
required. Selection of mandrel and anchor is equally important since its control the degree of disturbance to
the ground. Finally systematic planning of i n s t ~ e n t a t i o nand monitoring, method of assessing degree of
consolidation are essential. This paper described procedure and process of implementation of soil
improvement works in Changi East Reclamation projects in Singapore.

1 INTRODUCTION

Changi East Rec~amation Projects include 2000

hectares of reclamation. The reclamation is being
carried out under four phases since vast quantities of
fill material and prefabricated vertical drains
required. As the reclamation covers quite a large area
extent, the soil profiles and characteristic of soils are
different from one area to another. In addition to that
the fbture loading and timing of land usage are
different within the area. Therefore design of soil
improvement works were considered accordingly
based on existing soil profile, future land use and
allowable duration for soil improvement works. In
addition to that acceptance criteria of the soil Figure 1. Site location and reclamation Area.
~mprovementworks were also varied since design
criteria and future land use were varied. The
prefabricated vertical drains were designed to install 2 PROJECTA~A
with various spacings in order to accelerate the
consolidation of soft compressible underlying soil. Project area is located eastern part of Singapore
Due to the thick layer of soft clay and large area (Fig.1). The reclamation is being carried out
required for soil improvement works, a total of 140 foreshore of eastern coastal Iine of Singapore for
over million meters length of vertical drains are various future land usages. Majority of area is being
being installed. As such, efficient system of reclaimed for expansion of future airport and the
implementation is required for such a large Soil remaining areas are for industrial and other usage.
improvement projects. The process of As such various end-users called for various
implementation includes selection of materials, requirement and allowed for various durations of
quality control, selection of installation rigs and implementation. In addition to that nature of
accessories and monitoring of improvement together underlying soils are varied through out the area.
with performance assessment. This paper described Therefore implementation of soil improvement
the implementation of soil improvement works at works is necessary to plan to suit the natural soil
Changi East Reclamation prqjects. conditions as well as end-user’s requirements.

549
Figure 2. Geological profile at the project site along south to north.

Generally soft marine clay layer of thickness Table 1. Range of Physical and consolidation
varying between 10 to 50 metres underlies the characteristics of Singapore Marine Clay at Changi.
majority of the area. This quaternary deposit of soft UMC ISC LMC SPS
clay layer is locally known as Kallang formation and 14.23 - 18.64- 15.7- 12.26 -
which is underlain by old alluvial formation of 15.7 19.6 16.67 15.7
medium to dense silty clay. Marine clay was 70-88 10-35 40-60 140 - 180
deposited during the rise and fall of sea level. 80-95 50 65-90 6 0 - 115
As such the desiccated layer of lower marine clay
was found in most of the area as 2 to 3 meters
20-28 18-20 20-30 22 45 -
intermediate thin layer in between upper and lower
1.8-2.2 0.7-0.9 1.1-1.5 -
2 4.5
2.6-2.72 2.68-2.76 2.7-2.75 2.68
marine clays. Sometimes intermediate sand layer 0.2-0.3 0.6-1 .O 0.5 - 1.7
0.6-1.5
could be found instead of desiccated lower marine
clay. The parameters of upper, lower and
0.012 - 0.0043 - 0.012 - 0.023
0.025 0.023
intermediate clay layers are shown in the Table 1 and
0.008 - 0.0076 - 0.012 -
details characteristic of Singapore Marine Clay could
0.042 0.1 15 0.0383
be found in Bo Myint Win et a1 (1 998a ).
0.09-0.16 0.05-0.15 0.14-0.2
In general thick layer of Marine Clay could be
0.47-0.6 1-4.5 0.8-1.5 0.3 - 1.0
found at the northern part of the area and the
thickness could be as thick as 50 metres and the 3-7 10-30 4-10
profile is found to be uniform. However at the 2-3 5-10 3-5
southern part of the area thickness of soft clay layer OCR 1.5-2.5 3-4 2 0.2 - 0.75
was varying between 10 to 30 metres thickness and * UMC = Upper Marine Clay, ISC = Intermediate Stiff Clay
Lower Marine Clay was deposited in the deep and LMC = Lower Marine Clay, C, = Recompression Index
steep valley cut. This makes the significant variation SPS = Siltpond Slurry, C, = C, for Recompression
of total thickness of clay layers. In some locations at
Southern part, Upper Marine clay was missing and
Lower Marine Clay was found as overconsolidated formation, there was a big slurry pond inside the
clay. At the Southern most area, soft marine clay reclamation area which was earlier formed to contain
deposit was rarely found and localized pocket of the mine tailing waste from the sand quarry located
Marine Clay was found as overconsolidated clay. 10 Km from the present location. The fine materials
The soil profile along North - South line is shown from sand quarry were transported to the foreshore
in Fig. 2. In addition to the natural soft clay with high water content and contained in the bunded

550
 Table 2. Comparison on design of soil improvement works with pre-fabricated vertical drains.
Area Year of Thickness Type Future Design Design Surcharge Specified
Design of clay (m) of clay Land use Spacing (sq:) Surcharge El. period Acceptance Criteria
A 1992 20 - 40 Marine Clay Runway 1.5m + 10 mCD 18 Months 90% degree of
consolidation equivalent
to fill & surcharge load
B 1992 10 - 35 Marine Clay Taxiway 1.8m + 8.5 mCD 18 Months - do -
C 1995 20 - 30 Marine Clay Infrastructure Area 1.8m + 8.5 mCD 24 Months - do -
D 1995 30 - 45 Marine Clay Infrastructure Area 1.8m + 9.5 mCD 24 Months - do -
E 1995 30 - 45 Marine Clay Others 1.8m + 8.5 mCD 24 Months - do -
F 1995 20 - 40 Marine Clay Roads 1.5m + 8.5 mCD 12 Months - do -
G 1998 40 Marine Clay Future Material 1.5m + 12 mCD 12 Months - do -
Stockpile Area - do -
H 1998 40 Marine Clay Infrastructure 1.8m + 10 mCD 18 Months 90% degree of
consolidation to finished
level to + 5.5 mCD +
Future load 20 kPa
I I998 40 Marine Clay Infrastructure 1.5m + 10 mCD 12 Months - do -
J 1998 10 - 35 Marine Clay Infrastructure 1.8m + 9 mCD 18 Months - do -
K 1992 10 - 20 Soft Slurry Infrastructure 2.0m + 9mCD 36Months 90% degree of
3 passes consolidation equivalent
to fill & surcharge load

area. The thickness of slurry in the pond varying
between 1 to 20 meters and water content of slurry is
varying between 140 to 180 %. The elevation of top
of slurry is about -4 mCD. The details of this slurry
pond could be found in Bo Myint Win et al. (1998b)
and parameters of slurry-like soil is also shown in
Table 1. As such this slurry-like soil would produce
significant large strain and takes longer time to
consolidate. Therefore special effort were put to
implement the systematic soil improvement works
for such soil.
3 BASIC DESIGN CONCEPT
Generally prefabricated vertical drains were
designed to install to improve the drainage system of
compressible soil. Spacings of vertical drain were
selected to achieve the 90% degree of consolidation
with fill and surcharge load after taken into
consideration of submergence effect caused by
sinking of fill below groundwater level within
surcharge period. For such cases, at least minimum
preloading pressure of equivalent to two to three
meters thickness of sand (35 to 50 kPa) were
achieved. Some locations where no special treatment
were required for future load, soil improvement
works were carried out to achieve 90 % degree of
consolidation due to fill load plus general future load
of 20 kPa. At certain locations where future loads
were known, surcharge load equivalent to future
loading were applied. Vertical drain spacings were
designed based on thickness, parameter of
underlying clay and duration allowed for surcharge
period. Details of design for each area are shown in
Table 2.
4 DETERMINATION OF VERTICAL DRAIN
LENGTH
Vertical drains are required to penetrate throughout
the compressible clay layer. On the other hand the
installation of vertical drain to the clay layer of less
than of equal to 2 meters thickness would be wasted
since it could be improved by preloading alone.
Therefore the area has to be profiled in order to
determine the penetration length of vertical drain.
The preliminary profiling was carried out with
seismic reflection survey followed by confirmatory
boreholes and preliminary estimation of vertical
drain length was carried out. During the course of
the installation, panels were sub-divided into 50
metres by 100 metres rectangular panels and one
each reference Cone Penetration Test (CPT) was
carried out to determine the penetration length.
Some additional CPTs were carried out whenever
discrepancy between actual penetration length and
reference CPT was encountered in the certain panel.

551
Table 3. Specification of prefabricated vertical drain ( Requirement versus Supplied materials).
Property Unit Specified Colbond MD 7007 MD 7007 MD 7007 Flexi
Requirements CX 1000 Holland Korea Malaysia FD 767
CORE Continous plastic drain core Polyester Corrugated Corrugated Corrugated Corrugated
Material wrapped in non- woven Filament 38 groves 40 groves 37 groves 39 groves
FILTER geotextile material. Polyester PP PP PP PP
Non- non-woven non-woven non-woven non-woven
woven
Dimension Width mm 100 f 2 100 103 103 100h2
ofdrain Thickness mm 3 to 4 5 3.1 3.4 3.5 f 0.2

Darcy m/s >5 x 1O4 15x 104 1 x 104 1 x 104 1.02~

104* 1 x 104
Permeability

Discharge m3/s >25 x 10" At 350 kN/m soil 90 95 100 69* 52

capacity of pressure after 4
drain weeks

Discharge m3/s >10 x 10" At 25% relative 80 71 77 45* 45

capacity of compression
drain under
deformation

Soil retention Microns AOS Og5 <75 73 73 40* 75

capacity <75

Tensile Dry kg/lOcm >I00 Atelongation 210 220 250 147* 294*
strength width Min-2%, Max- 10 %
ofentire Wet kg/lOcm >100 Atelongation 232* 212* 275* 167* 3 10*
drain width Min-2%, Max- 10%

Tensile Dry kg/cm >3 Tested at 1% 11 40.8 40.8 89* 80*

strength strairdmin after
of filter saturation in H 2 0
Wet kg/cm >3 at 10°C for 48 hrs 1 1* 49.7* 68.4 97* 95*

Elongation Dry YO 4 0 At 100kg/lOcm 6* 3%at 2* 4*

of entire width 50 kg/cm
drain Wet % <10 At3 kg/cm 2* 4* 4* 1.4* 2*
* Tested at third party laboratory

5 SELECTION OF TYPES OF VERTICAL Due to the requirement of vast quantity of vertical

DRAIN
Selection of vertical drain was solely based on the
specification requirement. However now a day more
or less all types of vertical drains are being
manufactured to meet the specification and
parameters of drain are becoming standardized.
In the selection of vertical drain, more emphasis
was put On to the parameters such as
discharge capacity and parameters such
as tensile strength of entire drain. The required
specification and parameters of supplied materials
are shown in the Table. 3.
drain it was difficult to rely on the supply of drains
from one source. Therefore parallel usage on another
type of vertical drain was required. In Changi East
Reclamation Project several types of vertical drain
were used since soil improvement works were
carried out under various Phases. In each phase, at
least two types of prefabricated vertical drains were
used. The types of vertical drain used were Mebra
MD 7007 (Manufactured in Holland, Korea
Malaysia) Colbond CX 1000 and Flexi FD 767.
However all types of vertical drain meet
specification requirement.

552
 Table 4. Types of rig used in Changi East Reclamation.
Type of rig Type of base Capacity of Penetration Height of Maximum Mechanism Maximum
Machine base machine Power (tons) Rig (m) penetration of penetration penetration
(tons) depth (m) length I days
(m 114 hrs.)
Cofra 0 & K Excavator 70 - 110 20 - 30 36 - 55.5 50.5 Hydraulic motor 30,000
RH 30, RH 40 Motor, wire & Pulley
Econ 0 & K Excavator 70 - 120 20-30 3 6 - 56.1 51.2 - do - 27,000
RH 30, RH 40 (01)
Hitachi Excavator
EX 1100
Yuyang Crane 7 7 - 100 25 - 30 52.5 - 55.8 52.8 Hydraulic motor 10,000
sprocket & chain
Chosuk Daewoo - Solar 45 25 54.6 51 Hydraulic motor 12,000
450 - Excavator multi pulley system
Dae Yang Daewoo - Solar 33 - 55 20-34 42-56 51 Hydraulic motor 13,500
450 - Excavator Push in roller & clamp
B+B Excavator 3 1 - 47 29 - 45 Hydraulic 19,200
sprocket & chain
B+B Excavator 43 - 50 41 - 48 Vibro pushin 8,600

Figure 3. Types of mandrel use in Changi project.

6 SELECTION OF INSTALLATION RIG, Therefore suitable types of rig are required to be

MANDREL AND ANCHOR
For prefabricated vertical drain works carried out
in the large area where soil profile and properties are
varied, required more than one type of Rig. For
example shallow area may require shorter rig with
lower capacity whereas deep area may require taller
rig with higher capacity. In some places powerful
installation rig with heavy base machine is required
to be able to penetrate the hard intermediate soil
layer interbeded with soft clay. The common types
of vertical drain rigs with height, weight of base
machine, penetration mechanism and maximum
thrust force available are shown in the Table 4.
selected based on penetration depth required, type of
soil and profile. In addition to the common type of
vertical drain rig, the special types of rig with special
features are required for difficult area. There are also
vertical drain rig with hydraulic balancing, which
is normally used in soft ground area, and vertical
drain rig with vibratory penetration, which is
generally used for hard penetration.
In addition to the type of rig, selection of type of
mandrel and anchor is also important. Fig. 3 shows
various types of mandrel and anchor used in the
Changi East soil improvement works. It is common
practice to use the smaller dimension of mandrel in
order to reduce the disturbance to the ground.

553

Figure 4. Quality control of vertical drains.
However flexibility of smaller mandrel would
deter the penetrability and verticality of mandrel
penetration. Therefore sometimes bigger dimension
with stronger stiffness mandrels were bound to be
used for deep penetration and penetration through
intermediate hard layer. In such case significant
disturbance could be encountered and it has to be
taken into account in the design phase. Size and
shape of the anchor must be strong enough to be able
to anchor and able to protect the ingression of soil
into the mandrel. Smaller anchor with tippered
mandrel reduces the disturbance during installation.
However the hydraulic balancing inside mandrel
may require for penetration in the very soft clay
where excess pore pressure could force the soil to
ingress into the mandrel. The large mandrel with
oversized anchor would create column of extruded
554
soft soil around the vertical drain throughout the fill
until the ground surface when installing in the very
soft soil or highly disturbed soil. At such location
smaller mandrel with tippered shoe and anchor bar
combined with hydraulic balancing may reduce the
formation of extruded soil column.
7 QUALITY CONTROL OF VERTICAL DRAIN
MATERIALS
Since large quantity and several types of vertical
drains are being used, good quality control system is
essential. The procedure of quality control involves
evaluation of manufacturer specification against
required specification. Third party and on-site
laboratories carried out the laboratory tests and
monitored the consistency of supplied materials.
Hydraulic parameters of prefabricated vertical
drain such as permeability, Apparent Opening
Size(A0S) and discharge capacity are important for
better performance of vertical drain whereas
mechanical property such as tensile strength of entire
drain is important to be able to withstand the stress
caused during mandrel penetration. In Changi East
Reclamation Project, third party testings were called
for full scale tests on every one million metres length
of vertical drain and discharge capacity and tensile
strength test on every 20,000 metres length of
prefabricated vertical drain are required to carry out
by on-site laboratory for checking the consistency of
supplied material. One research laboratory was also
established to carry out the special tests to simulate
the in-situ condition in order to check the possible
performance of vertical drain under field condition.
Details of quality management on prefabricated
vertical drains could be found elsewhere (Bo Myint
Win et al. 2000).
Some of the test results from on-site laboratory are
shown in Fig. 4. With these three adopted
laboratories, quality and consistency of supplied
prefabricated vertical drains were managed to
control.
8 INSTRUMENTATION MONITORING AND
ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE
For a soil improvement works with prefabricated
vertical drains, the systematic instrumentation
scheme is essential to monitor the performance of
vertical drain and to assess the degree of
consolidation. Two major instruments such as
settlement plate and piezometer are necessary to
monitor the consolidation process. Deep screw
settlement gauges and multi-level magnetic
settlement gauges were designed to monitor the
settlement of various sub-layers whereas
piezometers were installed at the center of each sub-
layer .to monitor the degree of consolidation or extent
 of effective stress gain of sub layers. Some of the
monitoring results are shown in the Fig. 5. With
these instruments not only process of consolidation
could be monitored but also degree of consolidation
could be assessed. In addition to the soil instruments,
in-situ testing is the alternative method to assess the
degree of consolidation. The various types of in-situ
testing equipment, which could be used for
determining improvement, are as follows:
(1) Field vane Shear Test (FVT)
(2) Cone Penetration Test (CPTU)
(3) Dilatometer Test (DMT)
(4) Self Boring Pressuremeter Test (SBPT)

The another way of measuring the improved soil

parameter is laboratory testing on the collected soil
samples from post improvement borehole. The
parameters indicate degree of improvement are
moisture content, void ratio, undrained shear
strength and apparent preconsolidation pressure.
From those values, degree of improvement could be
determined.
Details of assessment of the degree of
consolidation were described by Bo Myint Win et
al. (1997). Some examples of assessed degree of
consolidation from various methods are shown in
Fig 6 to 8.

9 CONCLUSION
Implementation of Mega soil improvement works
required systematic approach and planning. Correct Figure 5. Monitoring data from soil instruments.
selection of prefabricated vertical drain material

Figure 6. Comparison of degree of consolidation from different instruments at vertical drain location (A2S-6).

555
 In addition to that systematic instrumentation
scheme together with regular monitoring program is
required to monitor degree of soil improvement. In-
situ testing equipment, and laboratory testing are
also helpful in assessing the degree of improvement
and consolidation of improving soil.

10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to express their thanks to Mr.
Ador Y. Franco and Mr. Rodolfo S. Arellano of
Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company
Limited for their help in Computer graphical works.

11 REFERENCES
Bo Myint Win, A. Arulrajah & V. Choa 1997.
“Assessment of degree of consolidation in soil
improvement Project”. Proceedings of the
International Conference on Ground Improvement
Techniques: Macau : 71-80.

Figure 7. Comparison of in-situ over consolidation

ratio after soil improvement at vertical drain location Bo MYint Win, A. hirajah bi v. Choa l99ga.
(A2S-6). ”Site characterization for a land reclamtion project
at Changi in Singapore”. Geotechnical Site
charcterization, Robertson & Mayne (eds)
Balkema, Rotterdam : 3 3 3 -3 3 8.

Bo Myint Win, A. Arulrajah & V. Choa 1998b.

”Land reclamation on slurry-like soil foundation”.
Problematic soils, Yanagisawa, Moroto & Mitachi
(eds): Balkema, Rotterdam : 763 - 766.

Bo Myint Win, J. Chu & V. Choa 2000.

“Quality Management on Prefabricated Vertical
Drain Works in Land Reclamation Project”. An
International Conference on Geotechnical &
Geological Engineering, November 2000.
(Submitted).

Figure 8. Comparison of laborato results fi-om

prior to and after improvement borehxs.

could be made only if comprehensive specification is

adopted. Selected and deployed resources such as
installation rigs and accessories (mandrel and
anchor) should suit the type of soil and ground
condition at improvement area. Full scale quality
control laboratory is essential to maintain the
consistency of parameter of supplied vertical drains.

556
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Design and construction method of compaction grouting

as a ground-improving technique against liquefaction
S.Yamaguchi, D. Kozawa, M.Arata & H. Matsumoto
The 2nd District Port Construction Bureau, Ministry of Transport, Yokohama,Japan
M.Taki & Y. Kanno
Fukken Company Limited, Consulting Engineers, Yokohama,Japan

ABSTRACT: The authors have been researching into the method of applying compaction grouting method
(CPG) to ground-improvement work against liquefaction of sandy soil under earthquakes. The CPG has been
used mainly for correcting the differential settlement of buildings and structures and protecting culverts by
compacting the soil around them. There are not many cases of the technique used for the prevention of
liquefaction of sandy soil. Therefore, before applying the technique to actual grounds for that purpose,
subjects such as establishment of a design and construction method, evaluation of improving effect, influence
on surrounding soil, etc. have to be dealt with. The authors applied the technique to an actual ground and
propose a design and construction method, which proved practical.

1 INTRODUCTION "Compaction Grouting Denver's Systems." In this

Compaction Grouting involves injection of stiff,
mortar-like grout into previously drilled holes in the
soil in a closely controlled manner. As the mass of
grout increases under pressure, the soil is densified
through compaction (e.g., Warner 1982, and Tamura
et al. 1995).
The principle of the CPG is to inject grout of very
low liquidity into a ground to form grout columns,
which exert compacting effect upon their surround-
ing soil zone in the ground. As grout is pressurized
and injected with a pump, the CPG is called ''static
compaction method." Accordingly, the CPG is
distinguished from dynamic compaction methods
such as the sand compaction pile method (SCP).
In Japan, mainly used so far for the prevention of
liquefaction in sandy grounds have been the SCP
and the cement deep mixing method of soil
stabilization. These methods present problems such
as heavy vibration during execution of work and
large displacement in adjacent soil zones in the
ground. If there are important structures around an
area of ground-improvement work, those methods
cannot be adopted. Needed under such circum-
stances is a method which does not affect adjacent
area and structures. The CPG is suitable to use in
such circumstances if it is effective for the
prevention of liquefaction in sandy grounds.
The authors performed full-scale compaction
grouting in a ground at an old taxiway of the Tokyo
International Airport on a testing basis by using the
test work, the spacing between injection bores was
changed to grasp the relation between the
displacement ratio (the volume ratio of grout
columns to the soil to be compacted) and the
improving effect. Besides, two systems of forming
grout columns were used to grasp the relation
between the work-executing procedure and the
displacement in the adjacent soil zone in the ground.
The ground was investigated before and after the test
work to ascertain the improving effect and grasp the
deforming behavior of the adjacent zone.
2 EXPERIMENTAL WORK
12.1 Strata and soil profiles of ground
The experimental liquefaction-preventive work was
czarried out in a plot on an old taxiway of the Tokyo
Ihternational Airport. The stratigraphy in this area
iInd the soil properties of the stratum to be improved
'were as follows.
1) Stratigraphy: The 2.3 to 2.8 meter-thick top layer
c-onsisted of filled soil to raise the ground level and
1 pavement (asphalt, and compacted subbase course
;snd subgrade). Below the top layer was a 7.0 to 8.2
I meter-thick sandy layer consisting of dredged sludge,
?which was the main layer to be improved and called
,A,,. Lying below it was a clayey layer Acl. The
;groundwater level was in the fill layer. Accordingly
;grout columns were formed in the length of 9 m,
ifrom 2.8 m below the ground level.

557
2) Soil properties of Aso: Table 1 shows the soil
properties of the natural layer Aso. As shown in
Figure 1, its fine-grained fraction (finer than 75 p m )
content Fc was 10-50%, revealing the sandy soil
considerably inhomogeneous.
Table 1. Physical properties of Aso.
2.71 0.2 7.5 11.8 0.90 1.53 0.80
Figure 1. Grain size distribution curves of Aso.
Figure 2. Details of experimental work.
2,2 Exper irnenta 1 Cases
The experimental liquefaction-preventive work was
carried out in four cases as shown in Figure 2. Cases
1, 2, and 3 were to see the relation between the
displacement ratio (a,) and the improving effect.
Cases 2 and 4 were to compare the ground behavior
between two different grout-column forming
systems. One system was to form the grout column
from the bottom to the top (called “bottom-up
method”). The other was to form first the top 2-
meter portion and then form the lower portion from
its bottom to top (called “top-down/bottom-up
method”). The former method was applied to Cases
1, 2, and 3; the latter, to Case 4.
2.3 Soil tests
The following in-situ tests and soil-property tests
were conducted before and after the experimental
work. See Figure 2 for the test locations.
The parameters involved in the tests are design
parameters used for the evaluation of liquefaction in
Japan and important criteria to estimate the improv-
ing effect by the CPG.
1) Standard penetration test
(SPT): SPT N-values were
measured every one-meter
depth.
2) Soil property test: Bulk
density P t, grain-size distribut-
ion curves, fine-grained fraction
content Fc, plasticity indices Ip,
etc. were determined.
3) Density log in borehole:
Density was continuously
measured depthwise with a
radioisotope.
4) Selfboring pressuremeter test
(SBP) in soil: Coefficients of
earth pressure at rest KO were
determined in situ to evaluate
the confining effect of grout
column’s lateral pressure on the
lateral movement of soil.
5 ) Cyclic undrained triaxial test
(liquefaction test) of soil: The
cyclic stress ratio ( a d / a ;)20
was determined with undisturb-
ed specimens of soil. ( ad/a: )zo
is the value of ad/2a: when
liquefaction occurs at the 20th
loading under the condition that
the double amplitude of axial
strain DA is 5% ( o is the
amplitude of cyclic deviatoric
stress; a: , isotropic confining
pressure).
2.4 Field measurement of deformation of ground

Regarding the behavior of the ground, the following

items were measured. See Figure 2 for the points of
measurement.
1) Leveling: The vertical displacement of the ground
surface, that is, the elevation of pavement by the
CPG was measured with level.
2) Horizontal displacement: The horizontal displace-
ment of soil, that is, the lateral propagation distance
of displacement by the CPG was measured with
inclinometer.
3) Pore water pressure: The pore water pressure of
the layer A,, was measured with electrical pore
pressure meters. The dissipation process of the
excess pore water pressure around grout columns
was monitored, and the time for the post-grouting
survey was determined. The excess pore water
pressure decreased to almost zero in two to three
days.

3 RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTAL WORK

To evaluate quantitatively the improving effect of

the CPG in the inhomogeneous layer A,,,, it was
necessary to relate the evaluation method to the
design method described later. The basic data for the
evaluation, which directly concern the design criteria Figure 3. N-values before and after CPG.
against liquefaction in Japan, are as follows.

3.1 N-values

Figure 3 shows the pre- and post-CPG vertical

distribution of N-values for each Case. F c values are
also plotted in the Figure. It is apparent that the N-
values were increased by the CPG. It is suggested
that as the degree of compaction and the displace-
ment ratio heighten, the increment in the N-value
increases. However, the effect of Fc on the
compaction degree, or N-value, is unclear from these
data. Anyway, it was ascertained that the CPG
compacted the sandy soil. The N-value is the most
important index in discussing the design criteria, as
described later.

3.2 Soil parameters

Figure 4 shows the relations between p I , KO,and

( od/a: )20 on one side and the depth on the other.
1)Bulk density of soil: 0 I was increased by the CPG in
every Case. As there was dispersion depthwise in the
measured values of soil density and the layer A,, was
inhomogeneous, it was difficult to evaluate the
increment in the soil density quantitatively.
2) Coefficient of earth pressure at rest: The pre-CPG
coefficient ranged from 0.45 to 0.60; the post-CPG
coefficient, from 0.65 to 2.95. As the mean value of the Figure 4. Soil properties before and after CPG.

559
natural layer A,, was 0.5, a common value, these
measured values appeared accurate enough.
Therefore, the increase of KOwas due to the increase
of lateral pressure caused by the CPG. The
dispersion depthwise taken into account, the
increment in KO due to the CPG can safely be
expected to be in the range of 0.5 to 1.5.
3) Cyclic stress ratio: ( ad/a: )zo was apparently
increased by the CPG although its degree was not so
salient as those of the N-values and KO.Its cause may
be the effects of the isotropic consolidation (K,=l .O)
in the cyclic undrained triaxial test. It is generally
known that as the KO increases, the ( a d / o :)20
increases. Therefore, the (a, /a: )20 shown in Figure
4 (c) may be underestimated.
3.3 Behavior of soil around CPG
Figure 5 shows the distribution of displacement of
the soil around the grout columns at the cross section
A-A’(see Figure 2) in Case 2. The injection pressure
of grout basically acts radially, or laterally. However,
when the displacement ratio is large, the injection
pressure acts not only laterally but also upward,
causing both lateral and upward displacement.
1) Elevation of ground surface (Case 2): The
maximum elevation of 52 mm was recorded at the
central part of the improvement area. The maximum
elevation decreased to 48 mm in 10 to 20 days
because as the grout columns hardened, they
contracted slightly. As the measuring point moved
Figure 5. Behavior of soil around CPG in Case 2.
560
outward away from the boundary of the improve-
ment area, the elevation decreased to become zero at
a distance of about 15 m.
However, although Case 4 had the same
displacement ratio as Case 2, it presented a smaller
maximum elevation of 31 mm, the final value being
28 mm. Accordingly, the top-downbottom-up
method can effectively be used when it is desirable
to minimize the elevation of ground surfaces.
The above elevation values are smaller than those
usually observed, and its reason would be the
resistance of the pavement lying above the grout
columns.
2) Horizontal displacement (Case 2): The horizontal
displacement of the pavement, A,,, and at the
outward distance of 2 m from the boundary of the
improvement area was -8 mm, +32 mm, and +67
mm, respectively. As the measuring point moves
away from the boundary, the horizontal displace-
ment decreased to become zero at a distance of
about 14 m, as in the case of the elevation.
4 DESIGN METHOD
The authors examined and considered the data from
the experimental work to reach the conclusion that
the design method for SCP (e.g., Mizuno et al. 1987)
could be applied to CPG with some modification. In
short, the post-CPG N-value can be formulated
through the relative density D,and the void ratio e of
 density of natural ground; a:,, effective overburden
pressure; Hi,N-value after improvement without
consideration of F,; N,, N-value after improvement
with consideration of F,; emu, maximum void ratio;
[see Fig.7fa)l
=0.010Fc~~.130 =0.010Fc+1.130 [see Fig.7(a)] minimum void ratio; and e,, void ratio equiva-
ernill,
lent to N I .
The calculation procedure of Figure 6 (a) will be
described below.
1) Relation among N , a:, and Dr (Gibbs and Holtz
1957, and Meyerhof 1957)
D, =2 1 ~ ~ ~ /+~0.010:.
0.7 ) (1)
where Dr is in 5%; a,‘,,in kN/m’.
2) Defining formula of e and D,
~r = (ern,, -el/(ernax -emin 1x100 (2)
*N-valoe of plan value after CPG The values of ernnsand erniri can be determined by
(a)Calculation of N, from a (b)Calculation of a from N, maximum and minimum densities tests of sands. In
the above e x p e r i m e ~ t awork,
~ they were found from
Figure 6. Outline of the proposed design method. Figure 7 as follow:

emax= 0.010Fc +1.130 (3)

1. emin= 0.006Fc + 0.671 (4)
2 1. 3) Calculation of NI without considering effects of
fine-grained fraction
1.
The equation (1) gives the following equation for the
1. relative density of the natural ground: ‘

Fc (%I
(a) emaxNFc
1.3
1.1 The following equation for the void ratio of the
naturaf ground is derived from the equation (2):
2 0.9
0.7 ‘ 0 =ernin -DrO(ernax -ernin )/loo
(6)
The displacement ratio a, is given by the following
0’50 10 20 30 40 50 60 equation:
Fc (%I
(b) e,,,-Fc
a , =(eo -e,)/h+e*> (7)
Figure 7. Relationship between ernmand emlnand Fc.
From the equation (7), el = eo - a , (1 +eo ) is derived.
By substituting it for e in the equation (2), the
sand. Omitting the description of the process of following equation is given for the relative density
reaching the conclusion, we will describe the outline between grout columns after improvement:
of our proposed design method and its verification
result. Dr, = (ern,, )/(ernu -emin 1x100 (8)
The following equation is derived from the
4.1 Outline of design method equations (1) and (8):
Figure 6 shows the calculation flow of the design N, = (0.7 + 0.010: ,@,I /21)2 (9)
method. The calculation procedure of (a) is to
calculate the N-values between grout columns after 4) Reduction of improving effect by fine-grained
CPG, and the calculation procedure (b) is to fraction (Calculation of N2)
calculate the necessary displacement ratio in the The relation between NI and N2 was derived by
stage of design. In other words, these procedures are comparing N I given by the equation (9) and
just opposite to each other, and hence they reach one measured N2 (affected by the fine-grained fraction)
and the same result. The signs in the Fig. and their to introduce a reduction rate P shown below, and
meanings are as follows: No, N-value of natural an experimental equation was obtained from the
plotted values in Figure 8 as follows:
ground; e,, void ratio of natural ground; Dro,relative

561

Figure 8. Relationship between 0 and Fc.
z*o
1.5
;r"
----.
1.
c The authors are planning to perform further
0.
0.
No
Figure 9. Relationship between No and W2/W2.
P=",-No)/tN2-No)
= 1.05 - 0.51Log F,
Therefore, N,is given as follows:
N , =No +P@, - N o )
As the proposed design method is very simple, it
can conveniently be used in designing CPG for the
prevention of liquefaction.
4.2 Verification of precision of proposed design
method
The proposed design method described above was
applied to the experimental work. Figure 9 shows
the relation between No and N ; / N , , Nh represent-
ing the measured N-value after improvement,
N ; / N , representing the order of approximation
between the measured value and the estimated value
(calculated value by the proposed design method).
As shown in Figure 9, N ; / N , ranges from 0.5 to
1.5, but its mean is about 1.0. Thus, the proposed
design method proved to have sufficient accuracy
for actual field application.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The conclusions of the present study are summarized
below:
1) The CPG is effective in compacting sandy
grounds. In our experimental work, CPG increased
562
the N-value, soil density, KO,and ( D~ /LT: )20,proving
itself applicable enough to the measures against
liquefaction.
2) The CPG caused displacement in the soil around
the grouting area. The maximum elevation of the
ground surface and the maximum lateral under-
ground displacement (in Aso) were 52 mm and 38
mrn. The ground-surface elevation was smaller than
those usually observed. Its reason would be the
resistance by the pavement lying on the grout
columns.
3) The design method for liquefaction-preventive
work with CPG proposed in this paper is based on a
principle similar to that of the design method for
SCP. The proposed method is simple and practical.
Besides, the fine-grained fraction content is
considered in the proposed method, it enables us to
make reasonable design which reflects the soil
properties of actual grounds.
detailed study to evolve the design theory and
enhance the design method.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The present study was made under the guidance of
the investigating committee for liquefaction-
preventive methods for the ground under the existing
pavement in the Tokyo International Airport. The
authors would like to thank Prof. K. Zen of Kyushu
University and the members of the committee.
REFERENCES
Gibbs, H.J. & W.G. Holtz 1957. Research on
determining the density of sand by spoon
penetration test. Proc. 4th Int. Con$ on Soil
Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, London,
1:35-39.
Meyerhof, G.G. 1957. Discussion of Session 1. Proc.
4th Int. Con$ on Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering, London, 3.
Mizuno, Y., N. Suematsu & K. Okuyama 1987.
Design method of sand compaction piles for
sandy soils containing fines. Tsuchi-to-Kiso,
Japanese Geotechnical Society, 35(5):21-26. (in
Japanese)
Tamura, M., H. Sibata, T. Satoh & K. Ohsawa 1995.
Strengthening of building foundation by
compaction grouting. Tsuchi-to-Kiso, Japanese
Geotechnical Society, 43( 11):31-34. (in Japanese)
Warner, J. 1982. Compaction Grouting-The first
thirty years. Proc. Conf. on Grouting in
Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE, 694-707.
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice,Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Effects on environmental aspect of new sand compaction pile method

for soft soil
M.Yamamoto & M. Nozu
Fudo Construction Company Limited, Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT: The conventional sand compaction pile (SCP) method, which is a widely applied ground im-
provement method, aims to increase the bearing capacity of soft ground by reinforcing it as compacted ground,
or by increasing the density of loose sandy ground. However, the use of a vibro-hammer generates noise and
vibration, which may adversely affect the surrounding environment. To reduce noise and vibration, the
authors developed a “non-vibratory SCP method”, that is based on a rotary penetration system that uses a
forced liftinddriving device and a rotary drive motor. And as an another new SCP method, “SCP with exca-
vated soil method”, in which the excavated soil will be recycled as the material of the pile instead of sand, has
developed in recent years. Because it has been increasingly difficult to obtain highly permeable materials re-
quired for the SCP method and sand drain (SD) method. This paper sets out the development objectives and
development history of above two methods, which are both applicable for environmental point of view.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 NON-VIBRATORY SCP METHOD

The sand compaction pile (SCP) method is a way to 2.1 Outline

improve soft ground through the installation of well
compacted sand piles. It conforms with fundamental
principles of compaction and consolidation drainage.
As a result, it has been used successfully on many
occasions for the improvement of all types of soil,
since 1950s in Japan.
In soil improvement field, latest key environmen-
tal technology issues include “noise-free and vibra-
tion-free construction in urban areas” and “recycle of
soil obtained during the excavation for building
foundations and tunnels and of coal ash produced at
coal-fired thermal power plants as the pile material”.
This paper, first of all, explains the operational
equipment and procedure for the “non-vibratory SCP
method”, as well as its improvement effect, which is
almost same as the conventional SCP method. In or-
der to clarify the mechanism of non-vibratory com-
paction of loose sand layer, authors tried to conduct
the laboratory test. (Nozu, et al. 1998.)
Secondary, as for the “SCP with excavated soil
method”, this paper describes the results of a field
test conducted on the landfill at the Nagoya port.
As shown in Figure 1, above two methods might
be applied simultaneously in urban area.
In the case of sandy ground, SCP method is widely
used as a remedial measure against liquefaction. It is
one of the most reliable methods for this, and its ef-
fectiveness in compacting the ground to control liq-
uefaction has been verified in several strong earth-
quakes. However, the use of a vibro-hammer
generates noise and vibration, adversely affecting
surrounding areas, and so it is not suitable for use on
urban sites or those very close to existing structures.
In an attempt to overcome these problems, a new,
non-vibratory compaction method, called the non-
vibratory compaction method, has been developed
(Yamada,T. and Nozu,M. 1996). This allows cost
savings in operations close to existing structures, and
minimizes noise and vibration to eliminate adverse
effects on the surrounding environment.
2.2 Equipment, operation procedure
The non-vibratory compaction assembly is shown in
Figure 2. The major difference between this and the
conventional SCP method lies in the means of pene-
tratiodwithdrawal of the casing pipe. In the con-
ventional SCP, the casing pipe is penetrated by
means of vibromotive force supplied by a vibro-
hammer, and is withdrawn by winding a cable. In-
stead of a vibro-hammer, the non-vibratory compac-
tion method uses a forced liftinddriving device to
raise or lower the casing pipe as it is rotated.

563
Vibration free Recycle(use excavated soil)
Non-vibra~orySCP SCP with excavated soil
method method
Figure 1. Required sand compaction pile method from
environmental viewDoint
Figure 2. Non-vibratory compaction assembly
Figure 4.Decrease in vibration with distance
564
The operation assembly consists of an pile driving
device as its base machine, an electric rotary drive
motor to rotate the casing pipe, and liftinddriving
device with a rack-pinion type geared motor. The
total weight of the assembly provides the necessary
force, and an oil pressure motor drives the rotation of
the pinion gears.
The main characteristic of the non-vibratory com-
paction operation is the wave action with which the
sand piles are installed, as shown in Figure 3.
2.3 Confirmationof Reduced Vibration
Figure 4 plots the relationship between recorded
level of vibration (dB) and distance from operation
equipment (m), for several work sites. Japanese
regulations stipulate that “vibration must not exceed
75dB at the perimeter of the site of specified con-
struction work”. This level and background vibration
data measured at Site A, are also marked in the fig-
ure. Vibration measurements conform to JIS Z 8735,
a Japanese standard for recording vibration levels.
The figure shows a reduction in vibration of 25 to
30dB in non-vibratory compaction operations over
convent~onalSCP methods, with vibration hardly
perceptible at distances as little as 10m away from
the operation equipment.
2.4 ~ ~ n f i r m a ~ofi oCompaction
n Eflect
Comparison of the results of several trial sites were
made to determine whether or not the compaction ef-
fect of the non-vibratory compaction method
matched that of SCP methods.
As an example, the results of standard penetration
test made before and after improvement work at Site
A are given (Yamada, et al. 1996). At this trial site,
both SCP and non-vibratory compaction method
were used for two different improvement ratios, a, =
10% and 20%, as shown in Figure 5, and N values
for the two methods were compared. Figure 6 shows
comparisons of the distributions with depth of SPT
N-values measured before and after improvement,
for ~mprovementratios of 10% and 20%, together
with the soil profile and the fine grain content. As
the fine grain content distribution shows, the top 4m
of the ground was clay and was therefore not subject
to improvement.
In the case of the 10% improvement, for the sand
layer at depths of between 4m and 10m, with a level
of fine grain content of about 20%, SPT N-values
measured before improvement of between 10 to 14
increased after improvement to levels of between 15
and 25 for both non-vibratory compaction method
(marked 6 and A) and SCP (marked 1 and +)
improvement. In the case of the 20% improvement,
SPT N-values after improvement increased to around
20 to 25, the improvement effect of the non-vibratory
compaction and SCP methods again being virtually
the same.

Improvement as = 10%
* location of standard penetration lest after improvement
Figure 5. Site A; improvement specification (unit: mm)
At Site B, the non-vibratory compaction method
was used for ground improvement to prevent lique-
faction in the ground beneath sea walls (Suganuma,
et al. 1997). It was decided that SCP should be im-
plemented to ensure the stability of newly construct-
ed embankments after the removal of the existing
Improvement as = 2070
ones. Because of concern over the adverse effect of
vibration on nearby structures, the non-vibratory
compaction method was selected. Figure 7 shows a
cross section of the site ground and specifications of
the sand piles. Figure 8 shows the relationship be-
tween the revised N- values (N1=1.7N/( 0 .'/98+0.7))
before and after improvement and the fine content,
taken from standard penetration test undertaken to
confirm the improvement effect. The revised N val-
ues before and after improvement are relatively
smaller as the fine content increases, but increased
revised N values after improvement shows the im-
provement effect.

3 SCP METHOD WITH EXCAVATED SOIL

3.1 Outline
In recent years, it has been increasingly difficult to
Figure 6. Site A; comparison of improvement effect obtain highly permeable materials required for the
sand compaction pile (SCP) method and sand drain
(SD) method. Continued acquisition of the good
materials in the future will undoubtedly be difficult.
In order to cope with such a situation, .research and
Non-vibratory SCP method investigation and pilot constructions have been car-
0 700, as = 15% ried out. As a result, a "soil improvement method
-12.5
using excavated soil from construction as the materi-
23.1 m
als instead of sand" has been developed (Ma-
(unit: m) (unit: mm) tsuo,et.al. 1997). If excavated soil can be used as soil
improvement material at the site, in particular, con-
Figure 7. Site B; cross section, SCP specification struction cost can be frequently reduced.

3.2 Construction procedure

(1) Classification by material
The "soil improvement method using excavated soil
construction as the materials" is classified into two
types according to the material property. The basis
for classification is whether or not it is possible to
pull out a casing pipe in the soil to discharge the
material and then insert the pipe again to expand the
pile diameter for making a compacted pile. Classifi-
cation here is based on the fine content Fc, the sum
of cohesive component and silty component in the
excavated soil.

a. Material for SCP (Type 1: 15%<Fc<25%)

In this case, sandy excavated soil such as moun-
Figure 8. Site B; relation between revised N-value (NI) and tain sand is used. (pile diameter:700mm)
fine content b. Material for SD (Type 2: 25%<Fc)
Here, cohesive excavated soil is used.
(pile diameter500mm)
The construction methods are outlined in Figure 9.

565

Figure 9. SCP with excavated soil method
Figure 10. Consolidation due to sand pile installation
Figure 11. Construction procedure for Type 1
Figurc 12. Construction procedure for Type 2
Type 1 can be used for compacting sandy soils,
and/or stabilizing and reducing the settlement of CO-
hesive soil ground. Type 2 is used to accelerate the
consolidation of cohesive soil ground. It is known
566
that when the Fc of the material exceeds 15%, the
permeability coefficient rapidly drops to 10-'m/sec or
below. Drainage of the pile is, therefore, carried out
not by the pile itself but by additional drain pipes
such as plastic board drain (PD). With Type 2, 4
pieces of PD are attached to a felt bag (PD-attached
bag), in which excavated soil is placed. Required
number of PD can be estimated by 2-D FE-analysis.
There is no limit on the fine content of the exca-
vated soil used for Type 2. The water content of the
soil should be 25% or less for this case. That limit is
imposed for the convenience of construction. If the
water content is higher than 25%, it should be re-
duced to 25% or less by using additives like quick-
lime.
Here, a phenomenon of "volume decrease and
strength increase owing to the consolidation of the
cohesive soil due to installation of the piles, without
embankment" is considered as a function of the SCP
(Figure 10). The conventional SCP design assumes
that the surrounding clay loses its strength after pile
driving, but later its strength recover to the same
level of the natural ground. It has, however, come to
be known that consolidation for an adequate time en-
ables the clay strength to increase over that of the
natural ground even without any surcharge such as
embankment. Because the clay can be consolidated
by dissipating (with artificial drains) the excess pore-
water pressure that is generated in the soil by the cy-
lindrical (horizontal) cavity expansion during the
driving of sand piles (Asaoka, et.al. 1994).
The SCP with excavated soil method makes an
active use of the above feature to dispose of excavat-
ed soil. Specifically, the driving of piles of excavated
soil enables the ground that has risen due to pile
driving to settle in the subsequent consolidation pe-
riod, after all the excavated soil can be returned in
the ground. When the excavated soil is used for
compacting sandy soils, the soil that has risen can be
scooped up to use it as the material again.
(2) Construction method
The construction machinery is almost same as that
for ordinary SCP. It is characterized by some features
applied to enable soils containing a large amount of
fine content to pass through the machine inside
smoothly, using special hopper with low-friction in-
ner wall such as stainless and/or nylon resin, constant
diameter casing pipe, and PD-attached bag for the
pile. The construction is carried out by the following
procedure.(Figure 11,12.)
3.3 Construction work for field verification of soil
improvement effect
(1) Outline of construction work for field test
The objectives of the field test were to verify the in-
crease and dissipation of excess pore-water pressure
during construction, and related strength increase and
ground surface settlement in cohesive soils.
 upper part consists of filled clay layers and the lower
part at a depth of 12 m or below consists of alluvial
sandy layers. The pile was 15 m long.
(2) Field test results and discussion
Figure 17 shows vertical distributions of the uncon-
fined compression strength qu of the cohesive soils
improved by the piles. For all types of method,

Figure 13. Site condition and instruments arrangement

Figure 16. Soil profile of the natural ground

Figure 14. Grain size distributions of the materials

Figure 17. Vertical distribution of the clay strength

Figure 15. Site view

Figure 13 shows the construction condition and in-

struments arrangement. The grain size distributions
of the materials used are given in Figure 14. For
Type 1, PD were applied after the driving of piles of
excavated soil was completed. Type 3 is the same
construction method as Type 2, although the material
for the former type has a higher fine content
(50%<Fc<100%). Figure 15 presents a distant view
of the site.
The condition of the natural ground identified by
pre-construction boring is shown in Figure 16. The Figure 18. Change with time in pore-water pressure

567

Figure 19. Time-settlement relationship
N-value
1 -month
3 -inon t hs
Figure 20. Vertical distribution of N-value at the pile core
Figure 21. Increase of N-value in the improved alluvial san-
dy layers
strength increase was outstanding. Strength increased
more at a greater depth. Figure 18 presents changes
with time in pore-water pressure during and after the
installation of piles for improving cohesive soils at a
depth of 6 m below the ground level. The excess
pore-water pressure that increased rapidly with the
progress of construction work returned to the level of
hydrostatic pressure within a few months. The
change corresponded to the strength increase A q,, of
568
the cohesive soils improved by the piles due to con-
solidation. Figure 19 shows settlement immediately
following the installation of piles to improve clay
layers on the landfill. The settlement shown is purely
for the clay layers on the landfill because the read-
ings of differential settlement gauges installed at the
bottom of the clay layers are subtracted from the set-
tlement of the ground surface. According to the dis-
sipation of excess pore-water pressure, settlement of
300 to 400 mm occurred at each point without any
embankment load.
Figure 20 is a vertical distribution of the N-value
at the pile core (after the lapse of one and three
months) for Type 1. It shows that the pile strength in
sand layer is very high and it is kept for long time.
Figure 21 shows an increase of N-value at the
point of center of four piles in the improved alluvial
sandy layer deposited under the reclaimed layers
(Type 1). After one month, incremental N-value was
about 2-10. Thus, this method was also proved to be
fully effective for compacting loose sandy soils.
4 CONCLUSIONS
This paper has described about the non-vibratory
compaction method, and SCP with excavated soil
method. As for the SCP with excavated soil method,
the number of vehicles for removing excavated soil
and transporting sand for pile material is also re-
duced. These two methods, therefore, have a favor-
able impact on the environment and are expected to
be applied more widely in the future.
REFERENCE
Asaoka, A., Kodaka, T. and NOZU, M. 1994,
Undrained shear strength of clay improved by
sand compaction piles, SOILS AND FOUNDA-
TIONS, Vo1.34, No.4.
Nozu, M., Matsunaga,Y. and Ohbayashi,J. 1998,
Application of the static sand compaction pile
method to loose sandy soil, Proc. of the Int.
Symposium on Problematic Soils, BALKEMA,
751-755, IS-TOHOKU,Sendai, Japan.
Matsuo, M., Kimura, M., Nishio, R. and Ando, H.
1997, Development of soil improvement method
using construction waste soil, Journal of geotech-
nical engineering, Japan society of civil engi-
neers, No.567, U-35, 238-248. (in Japanese)
Suganuma, S., Fukada, H. and Nakai, N. 1997. Case
Studies of Ground Improvement using a Non-
Vibratory SCP Method, Proceedings of 52nd
Conference of Japan Society of Civil Engineering,
m-412-413. (in Japanese)
Yamada, T. and Nozu, M. 1996. Compaction Effect
on Sandy Ground of Non-Vibratory Compaction
Method, Proc. of 31st Conference for Japanese
Geotechnical Society, 49-50. (in Japanese)
4 Engineered geo-materials made from solid wastes
with/ without chemical treatment
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice,Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Properties and application of expanded glass waste at lightweight ground

material
H. Abe & E. Fukazawa
Kajima TechnicalResearch Institute, Tokyo, Japan
H. Mizutani & Y. Kato
Kajima Corporation, Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT Authors have been carrying out researches toward an effective utilization of material generated
by melting, expanding and consolidating waste glass bottles as lightweight ground materials. Various
laboratory material tests have been performed, and the properties of expanded glass as lightweight ground
material have been revealed. In addition, through field trial construction, it has been found that the expanded
glass is fully applicable as lightweight ground material in the field of civil engineering.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 PROPERTIES AND FIELD APPLICABILITY

OF EXPANDED GLASS AS LIGHTWEIGHT
Recycling and effective utilization of various kinds GROUND MATERIAL
of waste have drawn attention recently from the
Various laboratory material tests were carried out in
viewpoint of global environmental conservation. The
order to clarify the properties of expanded glass (see
authors have been carrying out researches toward an
Photo 1) as lightweight ground material, considering
effective utilization of material generated by melting,
the application of the material for embankment filling,
expanding and consolidating waste glass bottles as
refilling and back filling as shown in Figure 1.
lightweight ground materials (hereafter referred to as
Construction and quality control methods were also
expanded glass lightweight ground material or
examined through field trial construction.
simply as expanded glass) in the field of civil
engineering’-’).
Various laboratory material tests have been
performed, and the properties of expanded glass as
lightweight ground material have been revealed. In
addition, the construction and quality control
methods have been examined through field trial
construction, and based on the results, the material
has been applied in actual construction site for the
back filling of structure. It has been found that the
expanded glass, which is the product of an effective
recycling technology of used glass bottles, is fully
applicable as lightweight ground material in the field
of civil engineering, such as filling material of
embankment, refilling material and back filling
material. This paper presents the results of the above Photo 1. Expanded glass waste
investigations.

571
Figure 1. Application of expanded glass waste as lightweight ground material

2.1 Laboratory tests Table 2. Specific gravity and Water absorption

Laboratory tests were conducted on the items listed Specific gravity in absolute Water absorption
in Table 1. The test method adopted in this study is
dry condition (%I
according to the Japanese Industrial Standard, and
the standards of the Japanese Geotechinical Society 0.41 18.3
and the Japan Highway Public Corporation, which
are standards for soil mechanics and concrete test. Table 3. Compaction energy - P d- Grain size
Compaction Dry density Maxmum Grain size Grain size
Table 1. Test Item
energy p (t/m3) grain size D50(mm) D20(mm)
Test Item Test Method
Dmax (mm)
Specific gravity,Water absorption JIS A 1110 37.5 24.2 18.5
0 0.20
Water content of submersion sampl JIS A 1203
1Ec* 0.30 37.5 18.6 8.8
Grain size analysis JIS A 1204
2 Ec 0.36 37.5 14.6 2.0
Compact ion JIS A 1210 37.5 11.6 0.5
3 Ec 0.41
Triaxial compression JGS 0524
JF 1 Ec=54.9N*cm/cm3
Loading of constant load p~ax=137.2kN/m2
Permeability JIS A 1218 The test results are shown in Tables 2 to 5, and
Slaking JHS 110 Figures 2 to 5. Major observations from the test
Stability to sodium sulfate JIS A 1122 results are as follows.
Field rolling compaction lton Vibrating roller a. The dry specific gravity was 0.41 and the
J1S:Japan Industrial Standard absorption ratio was 18.3%(Table 2).
JGS:Standard of Japanese Geotechnical Society
b. The material was classified as gravel according
JHS:Standard of Japan Highway Public Corporation
to the grain size. Compaction caused slight refining.

572
 Table 4. Test result of triaxial compression The compressive strain was about 1.8% under the
Dry density Sample Cohesion Angle of shear loading of 98 kN/m2 when the compacted material
density was 0.3 t/m3 (Figure 5).
-p d (t/rn3) condition CU (m/m2) resistance,4 d
g. The permeabi~ity coefficient of compacted
Dry 0 29
0.2 expanded glass k was 1.2~10'to 2.9x10-' cm/s at a
Submerge 0 27 density of compacted material of 0.3 to 0.4 t/m3.
Dry 0 33 This indicates that the permeability coefficient of
0.3
Submerge 0 31 expanded glass is at the same level as those of sand
or gravel (Table 5).
Dry 0 34
0.3
Submerge 0 33 h. The slaking ratio of expanded glass was obtained
Dry 0 37 by a test based on JHS 110, a Japan Highway Public
0.4
Submerge 0 35 Corporation standard (a method of testing rock
slaking ratio). The slaking ratio was approximately
0.1%, and there was very little change in the grain
Table 5. Test results of permeability and stability size composition of expanded glass due to alternate
wetting and drying (Table 5).
Dry density Coef. permea- Slaking Stability sodium sulfate
p d (t/m3) bility k (cm/s) (%) (mass lost,%) i. A stability test using sodium sulfate revealed
0.30 1.2~10' 0.1 3.7 that the percentage of mass lost of expanded glass
0.41 2.9~10~ - - was about 3.7%, which was lower than 12% the
number specified in the Standard Specifications for
Design and Construction of Concrete Structures.
This indicates that the expanded glass has a high
Compaction of 1 Ec reduced the mean grain size D,, resistance to weathering (Table 5).
from its original 24 mm to about 20 mm (Figure 2).
2.2 Field applicability
c. The features of compaction was that with the
increase of energy of compaction, the dry density p d A field trial construction was carried out to collect
increased. The dry density p d increased from 0.21 basic data for construction and quality control of
t/m3 at a compaction energy of zero Ec to 0.30 t/m3 expanded glass (Photo 2). For compactio~,a l-ton
vibrating roller and a 10-ton swamp bulldozer were
at 1 Ec and to 0.36 t/m3 at 2 Ec (Table 3).
used. T h e test result s h o w e d a t e n d e n c y of
increasing density of compacted material with the
d. Absorption tests were carried out on the
increasing number of passes of the roller. With more
assumption of the underwater use of the material at a
than eight times of compactions, the density
depth of 3m. Water pressure during immersion Pu
converged to a constant level. It was also found that
was set at 29.4 kN/m2. The results of the tests
four times of compactions with a l-ton vibrating
showed that the immersion caused the water content
of expanded glass to increase, but the value tended
in pd=0.30 tim37 and four times
to reach a constant level during about 30 days of
immersion. The water content was about 40% under
the condition of water pressure p,=29.4 kN/m2 and
days of immersion period (Figure 3).
e. As for the shear behavior of compacted
expanded glass, was clarified. The cohesion was
zero and the friction angle Q>d was around 27-37
degrees when the density of compacted material
p d=0.20-0.40t/m3.The increment of p d leaded to
larger @ (Table 4,Figure 4).

f. Compressive deformation characteristics of

expanded glass were investigated under constant
loads for a long time. The compressive ratio reached
Figure 2. Grain size accumulation curve of Compacted
a certain value after about 400 minutes of loading.
expandedglass

573
 45 0.55

- A
water pressure p,=29.4kN/m2
m
h

5
v
0.50
0.45
lOton swamp bulldozer

3 40 -j 0.40
Q
*
E 0.35
* .-
3
E
8 35
Y

s
L dry density p d=0.41t/m3
-0
5 0.25
'D
0.30

0.20 j four times compactions

I I I I
0.15
n 5 10 15 20 25
-0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 number of rolling compaction (times)
elapsed time (days) Figur 6. Relationship between dry density and number
Figure 3. Water content of immersion sample of rolling compaction

UU" / back filling

P
v1 400-

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

0 (kN/m2)
(unit ;m)
Figure 4. Mohr's stress circle of compacted expanded glass
Figure 7. Real application
4.0 I

3.0
96 hour loading
1- box culvert

1 (7) expandedglass
2.0 10ton truck
1.2m3/bag. 25bagIload

(Photo 3.)
0.0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
load p (kN/m2) lton vibrating roller
Figure 5. Loading test results (Relationship between four times rolling compaction
(Photo 4.)
compressive ratio and load)
control p d 2 0.30 t/m3
cornpactions with a 10-ton swamp bulldozer resulted I in-situ density test
in p d =0.37 t/m3 (Figure 6 ) .
From a series of the laboratory tests and field
cornpaction tests, the basic data were obtained on the
characteristics of expanded g l a s s and o n the Figure 8. Construction flow
applicability to the actual construction site. It was
confirmed that expanded glass could be used
forfilling, refilling or backfilling (Figure 1) as being
expected.

574
3 APPLICATION EXAMPLE
As shown in Figure 7, expanded glass was used for
backfilling For a box culvert (with an inner cross-
section of 7.0 m x 4.0 m and a length of about 90 m),
which was a crossing structure under a road within
an athletic facility. The construction was carried out
by the procedure shown in Figure 8. Photo 3 shows
and Photo 4 shows compaction work. About 1,000
m3 of expanded glass was used. Four times
ofcompactions were conducted using a 1-ton
vibrating roller. For quality control, density tests
were carried out for every 100 m3 of expanded glass
b y replacing local water so that the target density of
compacted material p could be equal to or larger
than 0.30 t/m3. The mean of measured values was
0.32 t/m3, which reached to the satisfactory level.
575
Because the density of the expanded glass waste
it floats in the water. Therefore, when used below
the ground water level, filling must be doue over the
expanded glass waste.
4 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Reported above are the results of laboratory tests,
field trial constructions and real appli~tionsof
expanded glass. Through the series of studies, it was
found that expanded glass was fully applicable as
material for embankment filling, refilling or
backfilling. Expanded glass is a safe recycled
products from the viewpoint of environmental
conservation since it causes no concern about toxic
substance emission. The authors are currently
studying the feasibility of "a combined use of
expanded glass and excavated earth" in order to
make an effective use of excavated earth, and to
make contribution to a further use of recycled
products through establishing above mentioned
technologies.

REFERENCE

Ueda, T., Fujisaki, K., Mizutani, H 1997. Properties

of lightweight soil mixture made of recycled
scrapped glass, Proc. of 25th con$ of Kanto
Branch of JSCE, (inJapanese): 986-987.
Iwama,K.,Ukita,T.,Mizutani, H 1998. Applications
of new lightweight fill material, Proc. of 26th. Con$
of Kanto Branch of JSCE, (in Japanese): 528-529

576
 CoasfafGeoiec~nicalEng;neefi~gin Practice, Nakase & ~suc~;da
(eds)02000 8alke~a,f f o ~ e f d /S8N
a ~ , 90 5809 151 7

A study on the soil ~ p r o v ~properties

~ ~ n t of FGC ~ ~ d ~ nagent
ing
B.S.Chun
~ e ~ a rof ~Civil
~ ~ngin~ering,
n t ~ u n ~ a ~n ngi v e r s iKorea
~?
J.C. Kim
Korea Institute of Geo TechnologyIncorporated,Seoul, Korea

ABSTRACT: Increase in the traffic volume requires construction of new roads. In Korea, most of the pave-
ments are covered with an asphalt concrete or Portland cement concrete. Therefore a new pavement system is
highly demanded to protect the natural environments around the roads. The purpose of the study is to investi-
gate properties and applications of soilcrete using soil mixed with Fly ash, Gypsum and Cement(FGC) stabi-
lizer and then to evaluate the benefits to be gained by soilcrete pavement when the existing pavements are re-
placed by soilcrete.

1 INTRODUCTION FGC hardening agent properly mixed with Fly

Soil-cement is a mixture of pulverized soil material
and measured amounts of Portland cement based soil
stabilizer and water, compacted to high density. As
the cement hydrates, the soil-cement mixture be-
comes harder and more durable.
The soil material in soil-cement can be almost
any combination of sand, silt, clay and gravel or
crushed sand. Local granular material (such as slag,
caliche, limestone, scoria) plus a wide variety of
waste(such as cinders, fly ash, and screenings &om
quarries and gravel pits) can be used to make soil-
cement. Also, old granular-base roads, with or with-
out their bituminous surfaces, can be recycled to
make good soil-cement (ASTM 1995).
Soil-cement is sometimes called cement-treated
base or cement-stabilized-aggregate base. Regard-
less of what it is called, the principles governing its
co~positionand construction are the same. Like in
this study, engineering properties of FGC-treated
base is similar to that of the ordinary lean concrete,
so we will intend to call the FGC-soil mixture as
‘soilcrete’ from now on.
Soilcrete is a traditional material for the above
mentio~edground works. But it is not widely used
because its quality is not homogeneous. The proper-
ties of soil materials, kinds and amounts of soil sta-
bilizer uncertainly influence the quality of soilcrete.
So there are some restrictions on permanent struc-
tures. With increasing emphasis on nature conserva-
tion, the application cases of soilcrete are rapidly in-
creased at the light traffic road such as park, farm,
forest, golf course etc.. Because the leaving of
weathered soilcrete can be returned to the surround-
ing nature without pollution.
ash, Gypsum and Cement was used for early stabili-
zation of unconsolidated soil. The treated soil is
clay, which is spread nationwide. And experimental
design was applied to make the reference mixtures
table of soilcrete.
The design of experiment is the system by which
one can efficiently and reliably evaluate all possible
methods considered for a particular objective, that is,
this system consists of the method of laying out cal-
culations and experiments, data analysis method,
and rationali~ationof the characteristic values.
In this study, we will use the method of carrying
out efficient response analysis by using central com-
posite orthogonal arrays for numerical analyses in,
for example, design calculations and planning calcu-
lations. As long as the conditions are given, numeri-
cal values, computer calculations are possible no
matter how complicated the problem is, but if one
wishes to find the output changes when the initial
conditions, boundary conditions, system parameters,
etc., are varied. The number of conditions becomes
enormous and the calculation is almost impossible.
Therefore, orthogonal arrays can be used for more
variables.
Through the response analysis of the relation be-
tween content of FGC hardening agent and water
content of treated soil, surface value of workability
index or strength trend can be plotted in 2 or 3 di-
mensional. From this statistical method we could
make the reference mixtures table for the strength of
-
50 1 50kg/cm2 soilcrete (Japan Cement Association
1984).

577
2 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
2. I Ma~erials
There are two typical hardening agents used in the
shallow and deep soil mixing method, cement and
lime. In the past, quicklime as dry hardening agent
was used to improve soil, but ordinary Portland ce-
ment, as slurry, is now the primary agent.
Additives, which have a solidifying admixture or
liquefying effect, tailored to the soii or cement
blended with pozzolanic materials like blast furnace
slag, fly ash, gypsum, etc. can be used. In particular,
organic soils are very difficult to treat because soil
acidity can affect the hydration reaction of ordinary
Portland cement. In this case, special blended im-
proved cements should be used.
The mixture of FGC hardening agent consists of Fly
ash, Gypsum and Cement. It makes the fibrous et-
tringite hydrates, which is especially effective for
the hardening of organic and cohesive soil. The typi-
cal properties of FGC hardening agent as shown in
table 1.
Table 1. The typical properties of FGC hardening
admixture selection. The most commonly used dos-
age of hardening agent lies between 100 and
200kg/rn3 of native soil and can reach, in some
cases, 300kg/m3 over. The.. achieved unconfined
compressive strength (qtJ varies between 10 and
50kg /cm2. But because the target of compressive
strength is 50kg/cm2 over in this study, the dosage of
FGC stabilizer lay between 100 and 300kgim'.
In this study, we selected the yellowish clay that
is found nationwide. The typical properties of the se-
lected sample were shown as in table 2.
Tabie 2. The typical properties of soil
Chemical
Physical Properties
Composition Ratio(%)
SO3 Gravity 2.45
Ignition 7.5 Class SP-SM
loss

Chemical
2.1.2 Flowing soil-cement u~mjxture
1 12 In concrete technology, flowing concrete admixtures
Si02 31.7
2 21 called superplasticizers have come into common use
3 29 to improve the workability of fresh concrete and re-
4 37 duce water content. Recently, chemical admixtures
6 47 like superplasticizers and sand are also used for im-
8 57 proving the consistency for soil-cement. In this
CaO I 44.3 1 10
12
1
I
65
72
study, as flowing agent of soil cement, standard fine
sand for mortar and lignin sulfonic acid-based dis-
16 79 persion agent for cement was used .
MgO 2.3
20 85
24 87 2.2 Experiment ~ e t ~ o ~
NazO 1.1
30 94 2.2.1 Mixing Soilcrete
40 99 Hardening agent, clay, water, fine sand and super-
KlO 0.8
60 100 plasticizer are put into the mortar mixer at the same
80 100 time to make soilcrete. It takes 30 seconds to mix
SO3 8.5
100 100 soilcrete with low speed, and it continues mixing
Ignition 1.5 D5o 6.9 soilcrete with high speed for 30 seconds. After leav-
ing the mixed fresh soilcrete for 90 seconds, it con-
tinues mixing soilcrete again for 90 seconds.

2.1.1 Soil materials 2.2.2 Makirzg and measurir?gspecimens

Achieved unconfined compressive strength of im-
proved soil by in situ mixing with a hardening agent
depends on several parameters such as soil charac-
teristics and type, quantity and mixing ratio of hard-
ening agent.
Detailed soil investigation and laboratory tests to
evaluate the water content and sand, silt, clay and
huinus content of the subsoil should be done before
After mixing soilcrete, slump should be immediately
measured using mortar slump cone to estimate the
consistency of soilcrete. And the 50 X 50 X 50mm cu-
bic specimens are made. These specimens are placed
into the moisture chamber set with the 23 k 1 "C and
95%RH over. The compressive strengths of the
cured specimens are measured at the 3, 7 , and 28-
day aging.

578
 Table 3. Design matrix and test results
Fine Sand Superplasticizer FGC agent Compressive Strength (kgicm')
Exp.No. . Slump .

(n) x, ratio x2 c x %, X; kg/m3 (cm) 3days 7days 28days

(so11 " I )
1 -1 0.5 -1 1.0 -1 100 2.5 8 24 35
2 -1 0.5 -1 1.0 1 300 1.8 46 88 129
3 -1 0.5 1 2.0 -1 100 4.5 10 25 35
4 -1 0.5 1 2.0 1 300 1.9 53 111 158
5 1 1.5 -1 1.0 -1 100 3.5 25 4 55
6 1 1.5 -1 1.0 1 300 4.8 61 114 173
7 1 1.5 1 2.0 -1 100 6.5 24 38 52
8 1 1.5 1 2.0 1 300 5.1 65 124 186
9 0 1 0 1.5 0 200 4.9 21 34 79
10 0 1 0 1.5 0 200 6.0 18 31 67
11 -0.5 0.75 0 1.5 0 200 3.3 21 35 85
12 0.5 1.25 0 1.5 0 200 4.8 27 48 108
13 0 1 -0.5 1.25 0 200 2.9 31 57 115
14 0 1 0.5 1.75 0 200 4.1 25 49 95
15 0 1 0 1.5 -0.5 I50 3.2 23 41 65
16 0 1 0 1.5 0.5 250 2.9 43 63 141

2.3 Experiment and results Table 4. Matrix of correlation coefficient

Slump Comp. Strength
The objective of experiment is to determine the ref- 3days I
7days I28days
erence mixtures table of FGC treated soil. In order to Fine sand 0.63 0.31 0.20 0.22
be more economical and effective, factors and levels Superplasticizer 0.38 0.05 0.07 0.05
are arrayed by the central composite design. The fine FGC agent -0.23 0.86 0.85 0.93
sand lay between 0.5 and 1.5 weight ratio to unit Slump -0.13 -0.18 -0.17
soil, superplaticizer lay between 1.0 and 2.0 weight
Compressive 3days 0.98 0.96
percent to cement, FGC hardening agent lay be- 7days 0.93
tween 100 and 300kg/m3, and the levels are 5 re- strength
28days
spectively (Park 1995).
As a result, the number of design matrix consist
of 8 control points, 2 center points and 6 axial
ing slump. Because it is difficult to get the optimum
points, that is, come into 16 mixes. The mixture and
compaction at treated highly workable soil.
test result of each mix are shown as in table 3.
3. I .2 Tlie regression model
Response surface analysis is the multiple regression
3 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
models that can explain several independent vari-
3. I Correlation a i d regression analysis ables on the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional coordi-
nates through statistical testing and estimation. Then
3.1. I Correlation analysis both the independent and dependent variables are
In order to find the correlation between dependent quantitative. The response relationship between the
variables and properties acquired, we analyzed the dependent variable y and independent variables X I ,
data of table 3. The results were shown as in table 4. x2, ..*'.., xk is the 2nd order polynomial regression
From table 4, the slump of workability index in- model, and the equation is shown as in formula
creases in some degree with the increasing content (3.1).
of fine sand, superplasticizer, but it decreases a little
with the increasing content of FGC agent.
While the coefficient between the compressive
strength of treated soil and the content of FGC agent
is correlative in plus. But the compressive strength
of treated soil was decreased a little with the increas-

579
 The possible number of independent variables is From table 5 , the coefficient of determination R2
10. Each variable is independent and come into E-I? for the fitted slump regression equation is high in
(0, 2).Therefore the fitted response surface througli some degree. While the testing results for the coeffi-
the least square method is expressed as shown in cient of regression (0)- p (33) are given in table 6.
formula (3.2).
k
y = PO 4 - y p , x i 2f -yp,xx, (3-2)
r=O OI
Coefficient of re- Estimated Standard eFiOr Critical value
gression Coefficient for T test
From the equation (3.2), if design matrix, data
vector, regression coefficient vector are specified as /B0,:constant 4.05 0.39 10.51
X , y , ,L? respectively, matrices can be formed. And
then regression coefficient ,L? can be calculated
through the least square method by the formula
(3*3).-
1 XI1 x21 Xkl

1 XI2 X 2 2 ... XkZ

x= 1
..
XI3 X 2 3
.. . .
XX-3
.
. . .. .. ..
f Xln X 2 n Xkn
PW) -0.58 0.36 - 1.59
l m -2.02 2.37 -0.85

From table 6, the effective factors of T test are

Y= p = (XIX)-’x’y
(3.3)
X’is transpose matrix, (x‘Y)“ is inverse matrix
that design matrix Xmultiplies transpose matrix X‘.
From the table 4, the effective factors of slump
are determined as fine sand, superplasticizer, and
FGC agent. And the effective factors of compressive
strength are determined as fine sand and FGC agent.
The regression coefficients were calculated by equa-
tions (3. l ) - (3.3), and the accuracy of regression
coefficients were tested as follows (Park 1987).
3.1.3 Testing the accuracy for the slump regression
equation
The results of the variance analysis for the slump re-
gression equation are given in the table 5.
Table 5. Analysis of variance table for the slump re-
s q m es
frcedom
2 53
,8 (,)(fine sand), ,8 (z)(superplaticizer), ,8 ( 2 3 ) (inter-
action between superplasticizer and FGC agent),
19(3) (FGC agent), ,8 (13) (interact~onbetween fine
sand and FGC agent) in order. Therefore, the rela-
tionship between output y and factors is given by the
following equation.
y = 4.06 4 1.17 X (Sand) + 0.71 X (SP) -
0.42(FGC) + 1.98 x (Sand)2 + 0.15 X
[(Sand).(SP)] + 0.40 X [(Sand).(FGC)] -
0.22 X $SP)2-0.58 x [(SP)*(FGC)J 2.02 X
(FGC) (3.4)
3.1.4 Testirzg the accumcjifor tlie compressive
strength regression e ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t i ~ ~
From table 4, superplasticizer does not have an in-
fluence on the compressive strength. Therefore fine
sand and FGC agent were only selected as effective
factors for the regression model of compressive
strength. And the results of the variance analysis for
the compressive strength regression equation are
given in table 7.
From table 7, the coefficient of determination R2
for the fitted compressive strength regression equa-
tion is relatively high. While the testing results for
the coefficient of regression 13 (0) - p (33) are given
in table 8.
From the table 8, the effective factors of T test
are p (2) (FGC agent), p (1) (fine sand) in order.
Therefore, the relationship between output y and fac-
tors is given by the following equation.

580
 Table 7. Analysis of the variance table for the com-

Figure l(a). Slump contour lines of relationship be-

Table 8. Testing table for the coefficient of compres- tween sand ratio and FGC content

05 10 1 5
17.9 29.74 0.60 Sand Ratio (XSOI I)

Figure l(b). Slump contour lines of relationship be-

tween sand ratio and SP content
Table 9. Reference mixtures table with regard to the
FGC hardening agent treated clay 2
Design properties Unit weight
I

(C*
wt%)

1
05 10 1 5
Sand Rat io(XSoi I )
Figure 2. Compressive strength contour lines of rela-
tionship between sand ratio and FGC content

3.3 Suggestion Reference Mixtures f o r the FGC

Treated Clay
4 260 1.2 1.3
If the figure 2 would be superimposed on the figure
6 260 1.5 1.5 1(a), from the combinations between compressive
strength and slump, the content of FGC agent and
sand ratio pairs could be determined by the superim-
y = 93.4 + 14.2X(Sand) + 59.6x(FGC) - posing diagram. And if the figure 2 would be super-
8.1 X(Sand)' + 4.4 x[(Sand) (FGC)] + imposed on the figure l(b), the content of FGC
17.9 x(FGC)' (3.5) agent, sand ratio and superplaticizer ratio pairs could
be determined as the same way. As the results, the
3.2 Contour lines on the response surface combinations of mixtures with regard to the design
The contour line for the slump between sand ratio by strength of the FGC treated clay are suggested as ta-
soil and the content of FGC agent or superplaticizer ble 9.
is given in the figure 1. And the contour line for the Table 9, with respect to the pairs of the mixing
cornpressive strength between sand ratio by soil and strength 50kg/cm2 combined with the slump
the content of FGC agent is given in the figure 2. 6cm(hereafter, stands for 50-6) and 100-2, the mix-

581
tures were determined by assumption because they
could not be determined on the response surface. As
the slump increases, sand ratio and the content of
superplasticizer increase. The content of FGC hard-
ening agent is controversial. That is, as the slump in-
creases, the content of FGC agent increases at the
low strength of the about 50kg/cm2, but the content
of FGC agent decreases slightly at the high strength
of the about 1OOkg/cm2 inversely. These controver-
sial results are concluded to cause to the low accu-
racy of the estimated slump regression model be-
cause the experimental scope is relatively wide.
3 . 4 .Examination of Hydrated Textures
After FGC hardening agent was added 200kg/m3 to
the testing clay, the hardened soilcrete 3days aged
was taken by SEM instrument for observation of the
hydrated textures. And to compare the FGC treated
soil, ordinary Portland cement treated soil specimens
were also molded. The magnification of SEM pho-
tographs is 10K.
Because FGC hardening agent forms much the
fibrous ettringite hydrates from the early ages, we
can conclude that FGC agent will be more effective
to speed up the consolidation of the high water or
high organic soil like marine clay.
When FGC hardening agent was agent was mixed
with weathered soil, the unconfined strength by cur-
ing time was increased in proportion to the amount
of hardening agent used. In addition, the unconfined
strength showed its peak at 20% of water content. It
means that the unconfined strength is influenced by
compaction. When FGC hardening agent was agent
was mixed with yellowish clay. The flow value was
more influenced by fine aggregate than by
superplasticizer when it was not hardened. The
unconfined strength increased in proportion to the
unit amount of hardening agent.
According to the results of the in-situ application,
the unconfined strength on site was higher that the
required strength. It is assumed that adjustment of
mixing ratio and application method can make high-
strength design possible.

4 CASESTUDY REFERENCES

Project name: Pavement of trail near the Suwon ASTM PS23 1995. Provisional Sturzclurd Guide for
Stream. Use of Coal Combustion FIJ) Ash in Structural
Modification of design: Change concrete pavement Fills: 1-10.
to earth-friendly soilcrete pavement Japan Cement Association 1984. Ground iniprove-
Purpose: To provide the citizens with a convenient inen t man ual by cernent tjpe sta hilizer
and cozy rest area, the Suwon Stream and its sur- Park, S.H. 1987. Regiwsion anulysis: 52 1-57 1 :
rounding area are renovated into earth-friendly, Daeyoimgsa.
clean and beautiful ones.
Required Equipment: Roller, compact, dump trucks,
backhoe loader and soilcrete mixing system
Unconfined strength of soilcrete on site: 9 specimens
were formed on site to measure 3, 7, and 28-days
strength. According to the results from the uncon-
fined tests, 3-day strength was 52kg/cm2, 7-day
strength was 103kg/cm2 and 28-day strength was
187kg/cm2. 28-day strength was measured7 to be
higher than the required strength of 180kg/cni-

5 CONCLUSIONS

Through the statistical analysis method, we found

the order of having an influence on the workability
of FGC hardening agent treated clay was sand ratio,
superplaticizer, interaction of superplasticizer and
FGC agent, FGC agent in sequence. And the order
of having an influence on the hardened soilcrete was
FGC, sand ratio in sequence.
Using the response surface regression analysis in
some degree could make the practical reference mix-
tures table, and if the experimental scope was di-
vided into more detail, we could conclude to get the
more accurate reference mixtures table.

582
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase (I: Tsuchida (eds)02000 Baikema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 I

A study on the ground improvement of year 2002 World Cup stadium site
using hardening agent
B. S.Chun & H. S.Kwon
Department of Civil Engineering, Hanyang University,Korea
K. H. Kim
Department of Civil Engineering, Suwon Science College, Korea

ABSTRACT: Football stadiums for 2002 World Cup are being constructed at several places in Korea. One of
the stadiums under construction has some problems of soft ground and irregular soil strata. It is considered
that shallow mixing method using hardening agent has the advantage of securing trafficability, reducing the
working time, solving the problems of lack of replacing soils, etc.
In this paper, three different types of representative hardening agent in Korea were used to achieve the op-
timum. The execution on shallow depth with hardening agent and the property of laboratory improve men^
strength with ground soil were analyzed by the type of hardening agent, curing days and water content. The
unconfined strengths on site with various mixing ratios were estimated from the results of the laboratory tests.
It was estimated that strength increase on site was higher than the required strength.

1 ~TRODUCTIO~ Recently, const~ctionson soft ground have in-

As the industry develops recently, the population
gets larger and the economy grows, nationwide
developments have become necessary in many parts
such as housing, tr~sportation,and industrial com-
plex. The development in relatively difficult ground
conditions like landfill area became unavoidable.
Therefore, the treatment of soft grounds emerged as
a significant matter. Effective and economic ways
of treating soft ground were highly required more
than ever before (KICT 1988).
Replacement, dewatering, hardening and com-
paction are the major principles of soft ground
treatmenl. The importance of ground improvement
method using the hardening agent is emphasized
recently because it provides advantages of shorten-
ing the working time, securing the required
strength, solving the problems of lack of replacing
soils, etc (Bergado 1996).
As the necessity of construction on extremely
soft grounds increases, it becomes difficult to gain
the required strength of the ground only with the
cement and lime. Hardening agents are widely used
to stabilize the ground on which relatively light-
weight structures such as retaining walls, tanks and
houses are placed (Housing Research Institute
1998).
creased. It causes lots of problems such as poor
trafficability, high cost, environmental problems,
etc. Therefore, the shallow improvement methods
using hardening agents have been applied to the
improvement of landfills and highways to solve
those drawbacks.
In Korea, football stadiums are being con-
structed nationwide for World Cup. This paper is a
study on a case history of the soft ground improve-
ment on one of the stadiums. The ground condition
is weak and with irregular soil strata. Prolonged
working time, lack of replacing soils and dumping
problem of poor soils are foreseen on this site.
Three representative harden~ngagents applied to
verify the effectiveness of the soft ground im-
provement. Unconfined compression tests were
executed on specimens with various mixing ratios
and curing times of hardening agent to assess the
stabilizing ability. The effectiveness of the harden-
ing agent was verified after the stability methods
were applied to the construction site.
2 SHALLOW MIXING METHOD
Shallow improvement method with hardening agent
improves the soft ground by mixing agent with the
soil to the depth o f 1-2m. Then the ground gets

583
hardened. This method can be used for both tempo-
rary and pernianent purposes such as securing traf-
ficability, increasing bearing capacity and iniprov-
ing durability, permeability and strength. The
proposed method can help the soft ground acquire
the required strength by adjusting the mixing ratio
of hardening agent, and has following advantages;
shortening the working time, cost reduction, effi-
ciency in small or middle scale constructions.
Compared to replacement method, the amounts
of excavated soils are reduced. This method can
also be applied where replacing soils are not easy to
Figure I . Particle-size distribution curve in ground
achieve (Housing research institute 1998).

weight of (hardening agent + water +soil)

3 MIX PROPERTIES AND LABORATORY yt= (1)
volume of niold
TESTS
The weight of hardening agent and soil is dry
3.1 Ground condition weight that doesn’t consider natural water content.
A, B and C type hardening agent were used to
Sieve analyses were carried out on the soils from tests and then mixing ratios were 0, 3, 5 , 7, 9, 10,
World Cup stadium site and a few representative 15,20%.
soft alluvial soils, which were collected from U1- The Equation(2) determines hardening agent
San, Mok-PO, Bee-In, Jin-Hae and Kun-San. The mixing ratio.
particle-size distribution curves for those six kinds weight of hardening agent
of soils are shown in Figure 1. Mixing ratio = XI00
weight of (hardening agent + water + soil)
The soil strata of the ground under consideration
(2)
have irregular and various soil compositions down
to lOmeters from the planning ground level. Labo- In case the degree of saturation is loo%, water
ratory tests were performed to obtain the properties content is determined by Equation(3). In case wet
of the representative soft clayey soil collected from unit weight is 1.7 t/m3, water content was calculated
the construction site. The test results are shown in to 51%, and wet unit weight 1.9 t/m3 to 31%.
Figure 1 and Table 1. weight of water
Wnter content = XI00 (3)
3.2 Applied hardening agent weight of (hardening agent + soii)

The three different hardening agents named A, B Cylindrical specimens were made of 5 x 10 cm
and C were used as admixtures and their chemical (diameterxheight). Curing periods were 3,7 and 28
composition are shown in Table 2. Quantity meas- days, curing temperature was 2 0 f 3°C in ordinary
urement was carried out by means of XRF(X-ray temperature, and specimens were cured in humidity
Fluorescence Spectrometer). Materials such as oven.
H 2 0 , C O 2 and SO3 were counted as the loss of igni-
tion.
Table 2. Properties analysis by XRF
3.3 UnconJined compression test
Percent o f total weight(%)
3.3.1 Preparation of specimens Hard-
Spe-
Si02 A120, Fez03 TiOz MnO CaO
Specimens were made to have the unit weight of ening
cific
grav- Igni-
1.7t/m3 and 1.9t/m3, which are made with dried type Total
hardening agent with disturbed soils from the field ity MgO K20 Na2O PzOj tion sum
loss
under the assumption of 100% saturation.
20.72 4.75 2.G9 0.21 0.05 46.74
A 3.06
3.36 0.98 0.02 0.19 20.89 100.00

Soil
Specific
Classification 44.20

584

Figure 2. The unconfined strength after 3-day cur-
ing
Figure 3. The unconfined strength after 7-day cur-
Figure 4. The unconfined strength after 28-day cur-
ing
3.3.2 Testing method
The unconfined compression test using constant
strain method (1 .O mm/min) was performed by Ko-
rean Standard(KS F 1996).
4 RESULTS AND ANALYSES
Considering surcharge load and section property in
the main stadium ground, the required improvement
strength was estimated. According to types of hard-
ening agent, curing period and water content, the
property of compressive strength and the effect of
ground improvement were analyzed.
585
4.1 Required laboratory unconfined strength
The improvement depth of stadium ground was es-
timated to 1.5m by Bousinesq method, and the re-
quired expecting strength was 10 kg/cm2 for acquir-
ing long term allowable bearing capacity
considering that the strength reduction ratio (field
strength/laboratory strength) is 0.5 and safety factor
is 2(Cement Association 1994).
4.2 Imp rovem eizt strength clz ara cter ist ics
The effect of improvement in field(7-day curing)
and laboratory(3, 7, 28-day curing) respectively
was analyzed by unconfined compression test.
4.2.1 Compressive strength-types of hardening
agent
According to the mixing ratios, improvement ef-
fects, which had been acquired in a laboratory-
mixing test, appear Figure 2-4. In case water con-
tent was 51%, C type hardening agent’s property
was better than other hardening agent’s, and in case
water content was 31%, A type hardening agent
was somewhat better. In case water content of C
type hardening agent was 51% and that of A type
hardening agent was 3 1%, required improvement
strength was satisfied with 10 kg/cm2 in mixing ra-
tio 5%.
4.2.2 Compressive strength - curing time
A and C type hardening agent showed excellent
performance among three hardening agents. Ac-
cording to the specimens formed with A and C type
hardening agent, the longer the curing time is, the
higher the compressive strength is. As shown in
Figure 3, 4, comparing the 7-day strength and 28-
day strength, the increment of the unconfined
strength of A type hardening agent is appeared to
be larger than that of C type hardening agent.
4.3 Improved strength increase on site
A type hardening agent was applied to the site at
the mixing ratio of 5%. The treated ground was
well mixed and compacted. The 7-day strength was
5.7, 6.3, 7.1 and 6.0 kg/cm2 . The maximum dried
unit weight was 1.89 t /m3. The required strength on
site was 5kg/cm2. Even though the strength is ex-
pected to decrease by 0.5kg/cm2, the mixing ratio of
5% is enough to satisfy the required strength.
5 CONCLUSION
The effectiveness of shallow mixing method by
hardening agent and the results of the analysis are
as follows.
 The advantages of trafficability, increase of du-
rability, shortening the working time, financial
benefits and solving the problems of replacing soils
shortage and environment, can be acquired when
the proposed method is applied.
According to the laboratory tests on the speci-
mens of three representative hardening agents at
51% water content, C type hardening agent showed
better performance compared to other hardening
agents. At 31% water content A type hardening
agent showed a bit better performance. The 7-day
strength of C type hardening agent was 10.04
kg/cm2 at mixing ratio of 5% hardening agent and
51% water content. The 7-day strength of A type
hardening agent with 31% water content showed
1 1.43 kg/cm2at the same mixing ratio. Both results
satisfy the required strength of 10.0 kg/cm2 .
The longer the curing time is, the higher the
strength of the improved soils by hardening agent.
Comparing 7-day strength and 28-day strength, A
type hardening agent showed higher strength than C
type hardening agent.
A type hardening agent showed higher strength
at 3 1 '?A0 water content than at 5 1 % water content. C
type hardening agent showed higher strength at
5 1% water content than at 3 1% water content.
In-situ installation was carried out based upon the
laboratory tests.
The treated ground was well mixed and com-
pacted. The 7-day strength was 5.7, 6.3, 7.1 and 6.0
kg/cm2. The mixing ratio of 5% is enough to satisfy
the required strength of 5.0 kg/cm2 .

REFERENCES
Bell, F.G. 1993. Engineering Treatmeiit of Soils:
240-267. E&FN SPON
Bergado, D.T. et al. 1996. Soft G ~ O UImprovernent
II~
i n ~ O U ~ I C ~ Jand
I C I otlier emiroiimeiits: 234-269,
ASCE Press
Housing Research Institute, Korea national housing
corp. 1998. A study or1 the upplying stardw-cl of
softground iniprovenient ~izethotl.3- 142
Japan Cement Association 1994. GTOZLI~CE improve-
ment ~ ~ i ~ i iby t acement
l t-ype stabilizer: 1-87,
381-395
Korea Institute of Construction Technology 1988. A
study on the softground wit11 shallow stabili-
zatiorz niethod:33-65
KS F 2314. 1996. Testing method for- tinconfined
compressive strength of cohesive soils: 1-5
Noble, D. F. 1968. Reactions and Strength Devel-
opment in Portland Cement-Clay Mix-
tures:39-56. H.R.R NO. 198

586
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Compression characteristics of sludge cake

H. Fujii & S.Nishimura
Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology, Okayama UniversiQ,Japan
YWakitani & T Inoue
Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology,Okayama University,Japan
0.Seino & N. Nishino
Chugoku-ShikokuAdministration Office of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Okayama, Japan

ABSTRACT: The laboratory consolidation tests were performed to investigate the compression character-
istics of the dewatered sludge as a construction material. The sludge is dredged from the bottom of a lake.
After the dehydration, it is broken into fragments. The fragments shows different compression behavior
from that of ordinary undisturbed clay. The remarkable point in our research is: The e-logp curves of
fragments have two kinds of compression index in the normally consolidation region. The first compres-
sion index has linear relation with initial water content, while the second one is almost constant.

1 INTRODUCTION pressed samples prepared by cutting after remold-

ing and recompression. The miniature sludge cakes
Dredged sludge has been used as banking material made for experiments to simulate compression be-
at Kojima Lake of Okayama Prefecture, which is havior of granular sludge cake used as a banking
located western Japan. Kojima Lake was created material. Unsubmerged tests and submerged tests
nearly forty years ago by enclosing a part of Kojima were performed for comparison between compres-
Bay by a dyke. For the past forty years, a large sion behavior of sludge cake in unsaturated state and
amount of sludge has accumulated. The Ministry of that in saturated states.
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries planed a project
to clean up the lake, and has been dredging the bot-
tom sludge. The dredged sludge is mixed with a 2 SAMPLE AND TEST METHOD
coagulant, then is forcefully dewatered to yield what 2.1 Dredged sludge and sludge cake
is called “sludge cake”. Thus obtained sludge cake
is used as banking material (Oda, 1997). The physical properties of sludge differ in each
Embankment using sludge cake has following dredging zone in the lake. Their average properties
problems. Since the sludge cake immeddiately after are shown in Table l.(Fujii, 1997).
banking keeps a large granular shape, the continuum The sludge in Kojima Lake is dredged at two
theory is not applicable. With increase of compres- zones, the left shore area and the right shore area,
sive load and the passage of time, a granular shape using respective high concentration dredgers. The
begins to break. Finally, the sludge cake changes dredged sludge is sent to a dewatering yard by sludge
into continuous substance. Embankment using pumps, where the sludge is held for two days to com-
sludge cake is saturated below the water table and plete sedimentation. After removing the supernatant,
unsaturated above that. a coagulant is added to the concentrated mixture to
As above mentioned, two characteristics of defor-
mation behavior in sludge cake are clarified in this
T a b l e 1. Physical properties of sludge for dredging
study, (1) behavior from granular to continuous state,
in t w o regions of t h e lake
(2) behavior in saturated or unsaturated state.
In order to study compression characteristics of Properties Bottom of lake Waterway
the sludge cake, two kinds of consolidation tests Specific gravity of soil particle G s 2.58 2.67
were performed. They are the standard oeudometer Water content w (5%) 200 100
test and the large-scale consolidation test. The tests Grain size distribution (96)
Sand fraction 5 45
were carried out using three kinds of samples. One Silt and clay fraction 95 55
was undisturbed original sludge cake. The others Liquid limit Wf. (%) 120 70
were miniature sludge cakes; (a) strained samples Plastic lim w/’ (%) 40 30
made of the sludge cake using a sieve, and (b) com- Plasticitv Index 1,. 80 40

587
Table 2. Physical properties of sludge cake
ProDerties Cake A Cake B Cake C Cake D
Specific pvity of soil particle Gs 2.67 2.75
Water content w (5) 41 75
Liquid limit w /(%) N,P. N,P.
Plastic limit w~(Ft) N,P. N,P.
Plasticitv Index ZP N.P. N,P.
agitate the two. Then, the mixture is dewatered by a
filter press machine to obtain sludge cake (Oda,
1997). The standard amount of additive coagulant
is 60 kg of poly-aluminum chloride and 12 kg of
slaked lime per 1000 kg of dried sludge. The filter
press is operated under pressures from 600 to 700
kPa for 100 minutes. The sludge cake immediately
after dewatering by the filter press has dimensions
of 2.0 m in diameter and 10 cm in thickness. The
sludge cake has broken into small blocks from 5 to
15 cm in diameter during transportation (Fujii,
1997).
2.2 Samples
Four kinds of sludge cake were sampled for testing
at the site. These cakes were dewatered from the
sludge dredged at three points in the left shore area
and one point in the right shore area, each of which
is named as Cake A, Cake B, Cake C, and Cake D,
respectively. Table 2 shows average physical prop-
erties for each cake. Their water contents are 41 to
110%, and the liquid limits are 103 to 154%. Each
cake has different values of water content and liq-
uid limit (Fujii, 1999).
The three kinds of samples were prepared for test.
Namely,one is original sludge cake, which is undis-
turbed sample, and another is miniature sludge cake,
which were made from disturbed sludge cakes.
(1) The sludge cake: a specimen was prepared by
cutting the cake into a piece of 6 cm in diameter
and 2cm in height.
having 2 mm and 0.425 mm of opening, respectively.
(b) The compressed sample; a sludge cake was
2.64 2.61
recompressed after remolding, then was cut into a
78 110 piece of 5 mm square using a wire saw.
103 154 A large-scale consolidation apparatus made the
61 66 recompressed sample. The apparatus comprises an
42 88 acrylic cylinder having 18 cm in inner diameter and
60 cm in height, and the load is applied by weight
or compressed air (Fujii et al. 1999). The samples
were recompressed under three levels of pressures
(denoted asps), 160, 320, and 640 kPa, for 60 min-
utes of compression time. The amount of each
sample was adjusted to form about 2 cm in thick-
ness after the compression.
Cake A and Cake B were used as the specimens
(1) sludge cake. The specimens (a), strained samples,
were prepared from Cake C and Cake D, separately.
The specimens (b), compressed samples, were pre-
pared from Cake C.
2.3 The method of experiment
Six kinds of experiment were carried out as Series
1, 2, 3, 3w, 4 and 4w.
Series 1 : The standard consolidation tests were per-
formed for sludge cakes. Consolidation pressures
(p) were 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, and 1280
kPa.
Series 2 : The standard consolidation tests were per-
formed for strained samples. Since the primary con-
solidation of strained samples end in a short time,
the consolidation test was carried out with 1 hour
of intervals for stepwise loading.
Series 3 and 3w : The consolidation tests for the
compressed samples were conducted using the
Cake Specimen Test
A - Sludge cake - Series 1
B - Sludge cake - Series 1
{ Strained sample Series 2
~

(2) The miniature sludge cake: (a) The strained Compressed sample Series 3 and 4
Series 3w and 4w
sample; a sludge cake was remolded, then it was D - Strained sample - Series 2
strained using two kinds of sieves successively, each
Figure 1. Combination of Cakes, Specimens and Tests

Table 3. Results of consolidation tests

Series Number of Initial water Initial void Degree of Compression index Pc* Pd**

specimen content wo ratio er, saturation Src,

G Gl c 2
YO % kPa kPa
1 40- 42 1.19-1.23 90-100 0.23-0.28 50- 55
1 62- 78 1.83-2.08 91-100 0.48-0.80 80-1 10
2 127-149 3.35-3.87 96-100 0.67-0.90
2 115-121 2.99-3.19 100 0.54-0.64
2 205-208 5.50-5.52 100 1.46-1.63
3 56- 73 3.77-5.53 31- 43 0.87-1.12
3w 56- 73 4.24-5.58 31- 41 0.82-0.94
4 55- 73 4.16-4.63 33- 44 1.54-1.82 0.96-1.15 7- 13 65-200
4w 5 54- 76 4.03-5.62 30- 36 1.80-2.53 0.87-1.02 5< 10
*: Stress at first large curvature point, **: Stress at second large curvature point

588
above-described large-scale consolidation appara-
tus. In that case, the values o f p were 10, 20,40, 80,
160, 320, and 640 kPa with 1 hour of intervals for
stepwise loading. Comparison was given between
an unsubmerged test (with Series 3) and a submerged
test (with Series 3w).
Series 4 and 4w : The casep = 5 kPa and 7 kPa were
added to those of Series 3 and 3w.
The compressed samples were lightly filled in the
Figure 2. e + logp curves
589
consolidation cell to reach the initial sample height
to about 2 cm. Figure 1 shows the combination of
cakes, specimens and tests.
The miniature sludge cakes were prepared for
simulating the behavior of granular sludge cake used
in situ as banking. After all, in Series 3, 3w, 4 and
4w, a granular shape of the specimen affected con-
solidation characteristics. In Series 2, behaviors of
the specimens was like continuum substance.
3 TEST RESULTS
3.1 Relation between void ratio (e) and consolida-
tion pressure (p)
Table 3 shows outline of the test results. Figure 2
(a) shows typical e-logp curve for each series. In
Series 1 for sludge cake, the overconsolidated re-
gion and the normally consolidated region are clearly
identified. The consolidation yield stress (p,) ranges
from 50 to 110 kPa. For both miniature sludge cakes
such as strained samples (Series 2) and compressed
samples (Series 3), the e-logp curves become
straight lines over the whole region. While for the
compressed samples, Series 4 shows two large cur-
vature points. Figure 2 (b) shows typical e - l o g p
curve for eachps value of compressed samples. In
Series 3, the curve becomes straight line over the
whole region for everyPS. In Series 4, there are two
large curvature points for everyps. Figure 2 (c)
shows typical e-logp curves of compressed samples
for unsubmerged test and submerged test. In Series
3w, the e-logp curve becomes straight line over the
whole region as in the case of Series 3, and the lines
of both series are almost in parallel to each other. In
Series 4w, there are one large curvature point like a
second curvature point in the case of Series 4. The
first curvature point may be smaller than 5kPa which
is the first consolidation pressure.
In Series 4 and 4w, the e-logp curves have large
curvature points. As shown in Figure 3, the consoli-
dation pressure at the first point is defined as p,,
Figure 3. Definition o f p candp,
and that at the second point is defined asp,. Com-
pression index (Cc) is gradient of e-logp relation.
In the region o f p >p,, C, is divided into two sec-
tions with the boundary of pd.The compression in-
dex in the region o f p <pCIis defined as C,l, and
that in a region of p > pCIis defined as Cc2. It is sup-
posed that a granular shape of specimen begins to
break whenp exceedp,, and then, it disappears when
p is overp,.
In Series 4 and 4w, as shown in figure 2 (a), (b)
and (c), the gradient of e-logp relation in the re-
gion of p < p, is very small. In the region of p, < p <
p,, C,l is comparative large. In the region o f p >p,,
Cc2 is smaller than C,l. In the case of submerged
test as shown in figure 2 (c), p, and p, become less
than those in the case of unsubmerged test.
In the region ofp, < p <p, in Series 4 and 4w, the
gradient of straight line is larger than that in Series
3 and 3w, and, in the region o f p > p d , the line be-
comes almost in parallel with the straight line of
Series 3 and 3w as shown Figure 2 (b) and (c). The
reason why the whole region of Series 3 and 3w is
similar to the region o f p >pd in Series 4 and Series
4w is, presumably, that the values o f p , andp, are
Figure 5. Relationship between stress at second large curvature
point Pc and initial water content w oin Series 4
590
smaller than 10 kPa which is the first consolidation
pressure. When first consolidation pressure is too
large, a granular shape of specimen may break at
first loading.
The state that Series 2 gives straight line over the
whole region resembles a case of ordinary normally
consolidated clay.
The results of Series 4 and 4w tests correspond to
compression characteristics in the case that sludge
cake is used for embankment. That is, in a region of
p <p,, the compressibility is very small, in a region
of p, < p < p,, it is great, and in a region of p > pCl,it
becomes relatively small. The test results of Series
3 and Series 3w correspond to compression charac-
teristics of the case that first consolidation pressure
is larger than p, in actual banking. The compression
characteristics in that case is similar to the region
o f p >pi/ in Series 4 and Series 4w.
3.2 Relation between consolidation pressure at large
curvature point bCJ
pd) and initial water content (wJ
In Series 4 and 4w, p, and pdare observed. In Se-
ries 4, p, ranges from 7 to 13 kPa, and p, ranges
Figure 6. Relationship between compression index C, and
initial water content w,
from 65 to 200 kPa. Both p , andp, increase with the Table 4. G-w, and Cc-eolinear relationshiDs for each series
increase of p , value. In Series 4w, p , and pd are Series Specimen Correlation Coefficient of
smaller than those in Series 4. The value of p , in correlation
Series 4w is not found and it might be smaller than 1 Sludge cake G =0.014~o-0.312 0.990
5 kPa, which is the first consolidation pressure. 1 Sludge cake C =0.533&,-0.368 0.954
The water content of compressed samples de- 2 Strained sample C =0.01 lwo-0.707 0.986
2 Strained sample G ~0.389ffi-0.615 0.987
creases whileps increases. In Series 4, as shown in 4 Compressed sample Cl =0.014w0+0.798 0.951
Figure 4 and Figure 5, p , and p,, have linear correla- 4w Comoressed s a m d e G1=0.031wo+0.148 0.989
tion with the initial water content (w,)of the speci-
men. Thus the phenomenon is approximated by
equation (1) and equation (2),giving correlation co-
efficients of 0.902 and 0.972, respectively. C, in Series 1 and 2, and Ccl in Series 4 and 4w
have linear correlation with w, or e,, respectively.
p , = -0.284 w,+ 28.5 There are many reports on clay about the correla-
pd = -7.47 w,+ 606.9 tion between compression index and physical prop-
In Series 4w, p , is smaller than 5 kPa and pdis 10 erties (e.g. Ogawa et al. 1978), and a similar corre-
kPa. lation is observed in the sludge cake. Table 4 gives
approximation equations and correlation coeffi-
cients. For the sludge cake of Series 1, Cc of Cake
3.3 Compression index (CJ A and Cake B ranges from 0.23 to 0.80. Although
Figure 6 (a) and (b) show the relation between Cc the test results were obtained from different kinds
and wo.Figure 7 (a) and (b) show the relation be- of cakes, the correlation coefficients between C, and
tween C, and initial void ratio (e,), for individual w,,and between C, and e,, are as large as 0.990 and
Series. 0.954, respectively. For the strained samples of Se-
ries 2, C, of Cake C and Cake D ranges from 0.54 to

Figure 7. Relationship between compression index Cc and Figure 9. Relationship between compression index C, and
initial void ratio e, initial void ratio e,,

591
 Table 5. Compression index G of compressed sample
Submerged or Compressibility index
PI * Unsubmerged n&,,***
plSPc** Unsubmerged G1=0.014w,+0.798
plSP,** Submerged Gl=O.O31w,+0.l48
** Unsubmerged
p l >>P,
pl>>P,** Submerged
* : Consolidation pressure at the first loading
** : Stress at first large curvature point of e-logp curve
*** : Stress at second large curvature point of e-log p curve
1.63. For the strained samples, the correlation coef-
ficients between Cc and w,,and between Cc and e,,
which were derived by overlaying the results of tests
with different kinds of cakes, show as large as 0.986
and 0.987, respectively.
C,l for compressed samples of Cake C ranges of
from 1.54 to 2.53. Cc2 of the samples ranges from
0.82 to 1.15. For the compressed sample, the corre-
lation between C,l and w, of only Series 4 and 4w
give linear relationship. The correlation coefficient
for that case is large, 0.951 for Series 4 and 0.989
for Series 4w. Regarding Cc2of Series 3, 3w, 4, and
4w, the value is almost constant with change of w,
and e, . The average value is 0.95.
Figure 8 shows the relation between C, and w, for
all series. Figure 9 shows the relation between C,
and e, for all the series. C c l and C,2 of the com-
pressed sample (Series 3,3w, 4 and 4w) are greater
than Cc of the sludge cake (Series 1) within a simi-
lar w, range. The reason is that e, of the compressed
sample is greater than that of the sludge cake. The
w, value of the strained sample (Series 2) is very
great in comparison with those of other samples.
However, in the case that e, is roughly 4.0, Cc of
strained sample coincides with Cc2 of the com-
pressed sample.
The compressed sample is considered to simu-
late the in-situ compression characteristics of the
sludge cake as banking material. The compression
characteristics of the compressed sample are sum-
marized in Table 5. When the actual settlement pre-
diction of the sludge cake is performed, two kinds
of the compression index C,l and Cc2 need to be
used.
4 CONCLUSION
The consolidation tests of sludge cake samples and
miniature sludge cake samples revealed the follow-
ings.
(1) For the sludge cake samples, there exists con-
solidation yield stress point on e-logp curve, show-
ing compressibility of overconsolidated clay ordi-
narily observed. The compression index (Cc)has a
linear correlation with the initial water content (w,)
or with the initial void ratio (e,).
(2) For the strained samples, one kind of miniature
sludge cake, there observed compressibility close
to that of ordinary normally consolidated clay. The
D)D'i*** compression index (Cc)has a linear correlation with
62=0.95 the initial water content (w,)or with the initial void
G2=0.95 ratio (e,).
62=0.95 (3) For the compressed samples, another kind of
C2=0.95
miniature sludge cake, there observed two large cur-
vature points on e-logp curve. The two points @,
andp,) have a linear correlation with the initial water
content (w,).
(4) For the compressed samples, the first compres-
sion index (Ccl)afterpchas a linear correlation with
the initial water content (w,),and the second com-
pression index (Cc2) shows almost constant value.
The phenomenon presumably comes from a signifi-
cant influence that the samples are in a granular
shape during the initial stage of consolidation.
( 5 ) The tests using the compressed samples showed
that the submerged test gives very small values of
p , a n d p , compared with the case of unsubmerged
test.
REFERENCES
Fujii, H. 1997. Compression and Consolidation on Com-
pressed Dehydrated Sludge. Report of Research: Okayama
University (in Japanese)
Fujii, H. 1999. Compression and Consolidation on Com-
pressed Dehydrated Sludge. Report on Research Project,
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (in Japanese)
Fujii, H., Nishimura,S., Inoue,T., Shimada,K., Wakitani,Y. &
Nishino,N. 1999. Deformed Properties of Dehydrated
Dreged Sludge in Kojima Lake. Proc. of the Third Japan
National Symposium on Environmental Geotechnology:
23-26 (in Japanese)
Oda, T. 1997. The Works of Dredging of Muddy Sediment,
Water Removal and Filling-up Reclamation i n Lake
Kojima. Jour.JSIDRE, 65 (5) : 35-40 (in Japanese)
Ogawa, Y. and Matsumoto, K. 1978. Correlation of the Me-
chanical and Index Properties of Soils in Harbour Dis-
tricts. Report of the port and harbour research institute,
1 7 (3) : 3-89 (in Japanese)
592
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, lS5N 90 5809 151 1

Effect of alkdine-earth metal cations on stabilization of loessial and clayey

soil using alkalizing
L. N-Gera & E E.Volkov
BashNIIsfi-oy,Ufa,Russia

ABSTRACT: Results of laboratory investigations are presented to understand the effect of alkaline-earth metal
cations on the interaction between loessial and clayey soils with natrium hydroxide. It is shown that the ad-
mixtures of 2.5 N and 5 N NaOH solutions influence the crystallization of new formations and increase in soil
strength. The introduced admixtures decrease the natrium hydroxide concentrationtwice without changing the
strength characteristicsof the stabilized soil.

1 INTRODUCTION One method of decreasing the alkali consumption

Increase in human economic activities results in de-
velopment of a large number of different technical
solutions, that can change the environmental geoe-
cological situation. Knowledge how such solutions
influence the dispersed soils is actual and allows to
evaluate in time the extent of risk from an ecological
point of view.
The influence of natrium hydroxide on the dis-
persed soils has been under investigation for some
years in the Institute “BashNIIstroy”. The investiga-
tions show that the alkali solutions of 1 N concentra-
tion promote the swelling of the clayey soils and the
solutions of more than 1 N concentration contribute
to soil strengthening (Volkov 1988). The strength of
soil samples increases with the natrium hydroxide
solution concen~ration increase. The strength in-
crease involves the accumulation of natrium silicates
and aluminates in the interpore space, the concentra-
tion of which leads to a new phase formation - na-
trium hydroaluminosilicate of the sodalite type, ce-
menting soil particles. As a result of above process,
a method of alkalization is worked out that helps to
solve the practical problems of strengthe~ngclayey
soils as structural foundations. During alkalization, a
focal zone is formed where the short term transfor-
mations of soils occur as a result of physical-chemical
and t h e r m o d y n ~ cconditions. As a rule, the quan-
tity of the injected alkali is less than the value of soil
sorption. As the tests show, the alkali interacts with
the soil, meaning the alkali solution does not spread
beyond the local zone (Zlochevskaya 1990). The av-
erage concentrat~onof the alkali solution used for
soil strengthening is a 5 N solution. From the techni-
cal and economical point of view it is more advanta-
geous to decrease this consumption of alkali.
is the introduction of inorganic compounds of the
alkaline-earth elements and the silicates, which have
the binding properties.
Two soil types of very different geological origin can
be found in Bashkortostan Republic - alluvial loam
aQa with the index (number) of plasticity (difference
of hurnidities on the boundary of fluidity and the
boundary of rolling-out) 0.08, light silt clay dQm
with the index (number) of plasticity 0.24 - have
been chosen for the laboratory investigations. Also,
loess-like loam pdQa with the index (number) of
plasticity 0.09 was tested. Soils were unsalted, car-
bon-bearing and in the undi~turbedstate - macropo-
rous. In the granulometric loam composition parts of
silt prevailed. For clays the amounts of silt and clayey
fractions were equal. When watering the soil samples
until the state of full saturation, the significant de-
crease in strength was noted.
Natrium hydroxide solutions of 5 and 2.5 N con-
centration and electrovacuum soda were used as the
chemical agents. The electrovacuum soda is a prod-
uct of a sodium salt electrolysis with natrium hy-
droxide obtained with the electrochemical method
and contains 1 10 g/l of NaOH and 140 g/1 of NaCl.
Twelve kinds of admixtures of the alkaline-earth
elements and aluminium inorganic compounds of
soluble and insoluble compounds were tested.
The main criteria of the admixtures contribution
eva~~ation was the ~ t r e n index
~ h of the dkalized cy-
lindrical specimew with the dimension 40x40 m.
The samples were hardened in conditions of cap-
illary inleakage in excess content of alkali agent of

593
the definite concentration (5 N, 2.5 N of an elec- Table 1. Strength of the alkalized samples with the
trovacuum soda). After 28 days of hardening the inorganic compound admixtures, MFa
samples were uniaxial compressive strength tested, Concentration of NaOH solution, N
therrnographically and X-ray phase analysed, plasti- Admixtures 2.5 N 5N
city tested and particle-size analysed. loess-like clay Loess- clay
loam dQm likeloam dQm
PdQm ~dQm
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Strength without
admixtures 0.07 0.07 0.27 0.11
The results of uniaxial compressive strength tests of Ca(OH)2 0.50 0.15 0.9 0.28
samples alkalized with 5 N NaOH solution with an CaC12 0.38 0.19 0.84 0.30
optimum quantity of admixtures were 3-5 times CaS04 0.26 - 0.57 -
higher compared to results of tests of samples alka- Phosphogypsum 0.42 0.16 0.33 0.32
lized with the same solution of NaOH without ad- CaC03 0.17 - 0.57 -
mixtures (table 1). To define the effect of admixtures d(OH)3 0.42 0.15 0.86 0.13
upon structure formation when alkalizing of loess- 0.39 0.08 1.05 0.30
MgO
like loam with 5 N NaOH solution, the samples were MgCh 0.18 0.10 0.66 0.14
thermographically and X-ray phase analized. MgS04 0.23 - 0.66 -
The results of thermo-graphical and X-ray analyses Ba(OH)2 0.48 0.12 0.77 0.21
showed the admixtures actively influenced the phase BaC12 0.88 0.23 2.03 2.14
composition of new formation (Fig. 1a, b).

Figure 1. X-ray difiactograms (a) and therrnograms (b) of loess-like loam: 1 - initial loam; 2 -loam alkalized
with 5 N NaOH solution; 3 -loam alkalized with 5 N NaOH solution with Ca(OH)2; 4 -loam alkalized with
5 N NaOH solution with CaC12; 5 -loam alkalized with 5 N NaOH solution with phosphogypsum; 6 -loam
alkalized with 5 N NaOH solution with MgO; 7 -loam alkalized with 5 N NaOH solution with MgCl2; 8 -
loam alkalized with 5N NaOH solution with Al(OH)3; 9 -loam alkalized with 5 N NaOH solution with

594
Table 2. Plasticity of loess-like loam samples with inorganic admixtures alkalized with 5N NaOH solution after 28
days of hardening
Admixtures The upper plasticity The low plasticity Index (number) of plas-
limit,unit fractions limit,unit fractions ticity, unit fractions
Primary 0.29 0.18 0.11
Without admixtures 0.43 not rolled-out no
Ca(OH)2 0.37 not rolled-out no
CaC12 0.47 not rolled-out no
CaS04 0.40 not rolled-out no
Phosphogypsum 0.48 not rolled-out no
CaC03 0.47 not rolled-out no
d(OH)3 0.42 not rolled-out no
dcl3 0.44 not rolled-out no
MgO 0.44 not rolled-out no
MgCb 0.42 not rolled-out no
MgSO4 0.44 not rolled-out no
Ba(OH)2 0.44 not rolled-out no
BaC12 0.39 not rolled-out no

Table 3. Dispersion of loess-like loam samples with admixtures of inorganic compounds alkalized with 5N NaOH
solution after 28 days of hardening
Granulometric composition, %, particle size in mm
Admixtures
>o. 1 0.1-0.05 0.05-0.01 0.01-0.005 0.005-0.001 <0.001
Primary 0.1 3.7 65.9 6.0 9.6 14.7
1.6 32.8 49.5 7.4 4.4 4.3
0.4 42.8 36.2 7.5 6.8 6.3
1.9 27.6 48.0 8.0 7.3 7.2
3.1 23.9 46.2 10.5 8.3 7.9
1.3 29.3 46.5 8.5 6.6 7.8
0.2 29.1 51.0 10.1 6.1 3.5
0.5 12.0 67.2 6.9 6.5 6.9
0.5 12.0 67.2 6.9 6.5 6.9
0.1 32.9 45.8 9.5 5.5 6.1
2.4 13.8 62.7 7.8 8.9 4.4
3.9 11.9 57.1 13.3 7.0 6.8
0.9 15.1 53.3 12.7 9.7 8.3
2.9 12.1 61.8 8.1 6.2 8.9

Table 4.Plasticity of loess-like loam samples with effective admixtures of inorganic compounds alkalized with
2.5N NaOH solution after 28 days of hardening

Admixtures The upper plasticity The low plasticity Plasticity number,unit

limit,unit fractions limit,unit fractions fractions
Primary 0.29 0.18 0.11
Without admixtures 0.3 1 0.24 0.07
Ca(OHj2 0.33 not rolled-out no
CaCI2 0.41 not rolled-out no
Phosphogypsum 0.35 not rolled-out no
d(oH)3 0.33 not rolled-out no
MgO 0.32 not rolled-out no
Ba(OH)2 0.38 not rolled-out no
BaC12 0.44 not rolled-out no

595
Table 5. Dispersion of loess-like loam samples with effective admixtures of inorganic compounds alkalized with
2.5N NaOH solution after 28 days of hardening
Granulometric composition, %, particle size in mm
Admixtures
>o. 1 0.1-0.05 0.05-0.01 0.01-0.005 0.005 <0.001
0.001
Primary 0.1 3.7 65.9 6.0 9.7 14.7
Without admixtures 1.6 32.8 49.5 7.4 4.4 4.4
Ca(OH)2 0.7 9.1 64.9 8.7 8.9 7.7
CaCl2 3.7 46.1 30.3 6.9 7.8 5.2
Phosphogypsum 0.7 10.8 66.5 9.6 7.4 5.1
d(OH)3 0.2 9.0 64.5 8.5 9.4 8.4
MgO 0.1 5.6 71.2 11.8 6.9 4.4
Ba(OH)2 0.3 3.2 69.5 14.0 9.2 3.8
BaC12 0.1 7.8 62.6 12.8 9.5 7.3

The weak endothermic effects are seen in thermo-
grams in the range of 545-585", this is bound up with
the transformations of bonds Si-0-Me (where Me is
Al, Mg, Ca), i.e. with the transformations of Al, Mg,
Ca-hydrates (Cerkinsky 1998). The thermograms are
practically similar to each other with the exception of
those of the alkalized samples in MgO and phospho-
gypsum presence. In MgO presence the endothermic
effect in the range of 160" in the thermogram is wid-
ening and in phosphogypsum presence the deep en-
dothermic effect in the range of 120" splits into 2 not
deep endoeffects at 70" and 260". This indicates the
appearance of the new formation different from the
previous ones.
X-ray difiactograms confirm this assumption: the
alkalized sample with the phosphogypsum admixture
clearly shows responses of significant intensity.
New responses a pear with the interplanar distances:
g:
4.41, 4.10, 3.53 , etc., which approximately can be
refered to the alkali phosphate of the Al203.P20 kind.
As can be supposed, phosphogypsum which con-
tains from 2.5 to 3% of P205, promotes the forma-
tion of phosphate compounds with binding proper-
ties. All compounds effectively influence the
alkalized samples strength similar to berlinite.
The X-ray diffractograms of the sample alkalized
in presence of MgO, show the splitting and widening
of the responses because of structudes disorder, for
instance in the range of 4.10-3.20 A. This is appar-
ently due to formation not only of calcium hydrosili-
cates but magnesium hydrosilicates as well.
Alkalizing of soil with 5 N NaOH solution leads
to loss of plasticity, soil is not "rolled-out into a
cord" (table 2) and the granulometric composition of
soil shows an increase of content of coarse dust-like
and sandy fractions (table 3). Introduction of admix-
tures into the 5 N NaOH solution has no practical
effect upon the change in plasticity and dispersion of
alkalized samples.
The benefit of the admixtures introduced during
alkalization and some strength "reserve" allow de-
crease in concentration of the alkali agent and to
make the effective concentration of 2.5 N working. It
is also possible to use some intermediate products,
for instance, electrovacuum soda (NaOH+NaCl) with
the initially low alkali concentration. If the ultimate
uniaxial compression strength of the sample after the
5 N NaOH solution influence is taken as the main
criterion of the alakalization efficiency, with the
lower concentration of natrium hydroxide, all the
admixtures can be divided into 3 groups according to
our investigation results:
ineffective - AlC13;
low-effective - CaC03, CaS04, MgS04, MgC12;
effective - Ca(OH)2, phosphogypsum, CaC12,
Al(OH)3, MgO, Ba(OH)2, BaC12.
For instance, looking at the alkalized samples, the
influence of the effective admixtures on the samples
strengthening with 2.5 N NaOH solution is decreased
in the series:
for loess-like loams:
Ca(OH)2> Ba(OH)2> phosphogypsum, Al(OH)3>
MgO>CaCl2>BaCl2;
for clays:
CaC12 > phosphogypsum > Ca(OH)2, Al(OH)3,BaC12
> Ba(OH)2.
Similar results have been obtained when testing
the samples alkalized in the electrovacuum soda in
presence of the above admixtures.
X-ray diffractograms and thermograms of loess-
like loam alkalized with 2.5 N NaOH solution with
admixtures are similar to X-ray difiactograms and
thermograms in figure 1.

596
 The introduction of inorganic compounds when REFERENCES
alkalizing the sample changed their plasticity proper-
ties. If, when exposed to 2.5 N solution, the soil did Cherkinsky Y.S. 1998. Chemistry of the polymer in-
not lose its plasticity, the admixtures introduction re- organic binding agents, monograph,L.:Chemistry,
sulted in plasticity loss (Table 4). p.223.
The results of the sieve- and microaggregate analysis Volkov F.E. and Zlochevskaya R.I. 1988. A new
confirm the increase of sandy and coarse dusty-like chemical way of water-saturated loessial and
fractions owing to the clayey fraction decrease (Ta- clayey soils strengthening - “alkalization”. Engi-
ble 5). neering Geology. No. 1, p. 15.
Zlochevskaya R.I., Volkov F.E., Makeeva T.G., Sa-
marin E.N.,Shlykov V.G. 1990. Interaction of
4 CONCLUSIONS clayey and loessial soils with the concentrated al-
kali solution. Engineering Geology. No.2.pp.33-
1 Introduction of cations of alkaline-earth metal 51.
into 5 N NaOH solution when alkalizing clayey and
loess soil leads to 3-5 times increase of uniaxial com-
pressive strength of samples compared to strength of
samples alkalized with 5 N NaOH solution without
admixtures.
2. Cations of earth-alkaline metal actively aaect
structure formation when alkalizing clayey and loess
soil. It is confirmed by X-ray diffractograms and
thermograms of samples.
3. Samples of clayey and loess soil alkalized with
5 N NaOH solution with- and without admixtures are
not plastic, the effect of dusty and sandy fractions in
their granulometrk composition increases.
4.The increase of strength of clayey and loess soil
samples alkalized with 5 N NaOH solution with ad-
mixtures allows decrease in concentration of alkali
agent when alkalizing samples up to 2.5 N concen-
tration.
5. Compressive strength of samples of clayey and
loess soil alkalized with 2.5 N NaOH solution with
admixtures is comparable with compressive strength
of samples alkalized with 5 N NaOH solution,
6. Samples of clayey and loess soil alkalized with
admixtures lose their plasticity, the effect of dusty-
like and sandy particles in granulometric composition
increases compared to samples alkalized with 2.5 N
NaOH solution.
7. Admixtures of alkaline-earth metal can be ar-
ranged in the following series according to their ac-
tive influence on structure of new formation when
alkalizing clayey soil;
for loess-like loam
Ca(OH)22 Ba(OH)2> phosphogypsum, N(oH)3 >
MgO > CaCl2 > BaC12;
for clay
CaClz > phosphogypsum > Ca(OH)2, A(oH)3, Bach
> Ba(OH)2.
8.The regularities of an effect of inorganic com-
pounds admixtures with the content of alkaline-earth
elements allow control of process of clayey and
loess soil alkalizing at the specific stages of chemical
trasformation. In practical use the above regularities
allow decrease of alkali consumption without
change of given strength and deformation properties
of the alkalized soil.

597
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Development of light-weight soil using excavated sand and its application for
harbor structures in cold regions
M.Hirasawa
Civil Engineering Research Institute, Hokkaido Development Bureau, Sapporo, Japan
S.Saeki, S. Kodarna & T.Yakuwa
Otaru Port Construction Ofjce, Hokkaido Development Bureau, Japan
T.Tsuchida
Port and Harbor Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuka,Japan

ABSTRACT The light-weight soil construction method was developed to meet demands for reducing rela-
tive and uneven settlement, decrease earth pressure, prevent lateral displacement and improve earthquake re-
sistance of harbor and airport structures. It was decided to use this method for Ishikari Bay New Port in Japan,
primarily to reduce the earth pressure behind existing quaywalls. However, the viscosity of the material soil
was extremely low. Therefore, it was necessary to adjust the grain size distribution of the soil material. Be-
cause this method is expected to be used even in winter, when temperature falls below zero, it is also neces-
sary to examine physical properties of this soil before it is placed and cured at low temperatures. This study
summarizes the mixing methods for light-weight soil, the results of laboratory experiments on its physical
properties at low temperatures corresponding the construction conditions at Ishikari Bay New Port, and the
results of the on-site construction during winter.

1 INTRODUCTION fore, it has become necessary to adjust the grain size

distribution of the material soil.
For the construction of harbor structures and airports Because it was expected to use this material in
in Japan, demand recently has been increased for winter, when temperatures fall below zero, it was
light materials to reduce relative and uneven settle- necessary to examine the properties of FTS at low
ment of structures, decrease earth pressure, prevent temperatures in advance. Regarding the influence of
lateral displacement and improve earthquake resis- low temperatures on FTS, the effects of freezing and
tance. Light-weight soil (LWS) is made by mixing thawing on solidified materials had been examined.
air foam, expanded polystyrol (EPS) beads, or other However, few studies have been conducted on
lightening materials, and cement, with clayey soil physical properties of FTS at low temperatures (OOC
whose water content exceeds its liquid limit. This or lower).
type of light-weight soil in which air foam is used as
the lightening material is referred to foam-treated
soil (ITS) in this paper. It is possible to place FTS
underwater. Examples of its application in harbor
and airport structures in Japan include restoration of
earthquake-damaged Port Island in Kobe and revet-
ments at Tokyo International Airport. Test applica-
tion using this method has been conducted nation-
wide in anticipation of future uses.
At Ishikari Bay New Port in Japan, it was decided
to use the FTS construction method primarily to re-
duce earth pressure behind the existing quaywalls.
Sand with an extremely low viscosity, collected
from seabed behind the quaywall at the time of con-
struction work, was used for this project. For previ-
ous construction, soil with a higher fine-grain con-
tent (e.g., with more silt and a higher viscosity),
Figure 1 Location of Ishikari Bay New Port
such as dredged soil, had mainly been used. There-

599
 Table 1 Soil properties

Maximum main size ( m m > l 4.75

Table 2 Target physical properties

Figure 2 Cross-section of the quaywall

Note:* target values for material at the age of 28 days

I Mixing and agitatinp 1 Table 3 Mixing conditions

A i r foam w*
I Kneading
I
1 ( urn3) 0
426 45
386 60
B-3 440 364 70
B-4 344 80
326 90
370 75
I 368 80
1 Density measurement ] Note:* w=water content

Figure 3 Experiment procedure
This study reports on the methods of mixing FTS
by using sand as material soil, and the results of la-
boratory experiments on its physical properties when
it is placed and cured at low temperatures. The re-
sults of on-site application of FTS during winter are
outlined below.
2 SUMMARY OF QUAYWALL IMPROVEMENT
Ishikari Bay New Port is a major port near Hokkai-
do's capital, Sapporo (Figure 1). The quaywall in-
vestigated in this study was constructed of steel
sheet-pile in 1982 and was the first to be used at the
port. Because of the progress of steel corrosion, it
was decided to conduct improvement to reduce earth
pressure behind the quaywall and take countermeas-
ures against ,liquefaction during earthquakes. The
FTS construction method mainly contributes to re-
ducing earth pressure.
For the improvement, a section behind the steel
sheet-pile quaywall (5.25 m in vertical depth, crown
height +0.25 m, 16.00 m in horizontal depth) was
replaced with FTS whose unit weight was 1.3 tf/m3
(=12.7 kN/m3) (Figure 2).
The sand compaction pile and gravel drain in the
figure were used in conjunction with the FTS as
countermeasures against liquefaction.
3 MIXDESIGN
3.1 Experiment
(1) Objectives and procedure
A mixing experiment was conducted to investigate
the suitability of using sand excavated from behind
the quaywall (Table 1) as material soil and of adding
bentonite to keep the target physical property values
to the level shown in Table 2. This experiment was
conducted following the procedures shown in Figure
3. The generated quantity of FTS, its wet density,
unconfined compressive strength, flow values and
water content were measured. The flow values
were measured using a cylinder 8 cm in diameter
and 8 cm in height.
The underwater placement was conducted using
an underwater separation resistance tester. The
force-feed speed was 20 cmls.
The cement in the figure was portland blast-
furnace slag cement type-B. Air foam, a surfactant
foaming agent, was diluted 20-fold with tap water
and foamed 25-fold.
(2) Mixing conditions

600
 Table 3 shows the mixing conditions for the ex-
periments. The bentonite replaced 10 to 20 % by
dry weight of the material soil.
3.2 Effectiveness of bentonite
(1) Flow property
Figure 4 shows the relationship between water con-
tent (w) and flow value for both atmospheric and
underwater placements. The flow value can be used
as a reference for uniform placement of FTS.
In atmospheric placement, the flow value in- Figure 4 Relationship between water content and flow value
creased as the water content increased, regardless of
the amount of cement per unit volume. B-3, B-6 and
B-7 satisfied the target values (15 - 20 cm). In un-
derwater placement, the difference in flow values
depending on the change of w was smaller than in
atmospheric placement. The flow values were small,
10 cm or less.
(2) Density and strength property
From cases in which the flow values exceeded the
standard, B-7 was chosen as a model of FTS, and its
wet density and unconfined compressive strength
were examined.
Figure 5 shows the change of the wet density ( p,)
and the unconfined compressive strength (q,,)with
Figure 5 Change of wet density and unconfined compressive
the material age. The target value of p , (1.3 g/cm3 strength with material age
or less) was achieved when the material age reached
28 days. In the case of underwater placement, alt-
hough p , increased as the material age increased, 4 LOW TEMPERATURE EXPERIMENT
the rate of increase slowed as the material age in-
creased further. 4.1 Experiment
The 28-day material satisfied target values of q,,
both in atmospheric and underwater placements (at (1)Testing procedure
least 590 and 200 kN/m2, respectively). To reproduce temperatures expected on-site, speci-
(3) Appropriateness of the addition of bentonite mens were prepared in a low-temperature observa-
B-7 FTTS satisfied all the target physical values, tion room. Wet curing was conducted in a thermo-
including the target density and strength in under- static chamber and flow value, wet density and
water placement. This proved that the addition of unconfined compressive strength were measured.
bentonite was appropriate when the grain size dis- Details of the procedures were the same as in the ca-
tribution of the material soil was adjusted. se of atmospheric placement shown in Figure 3.
Three patterns of mixing, in which the added Flow values were measured immediately after
kneading and five minutes later to examine the in-
bentonite quantities varied by 225% of the standard
fluence of low temperatures on fluidity.
(B-7 mixing conditions), were examined under on-
(2) Mixing conditions
site application conditions. It was found that sepa-
Experiments were conducted under three mixing
ration tended to occur underwater as the quantity of
conditions (Table 4). L-1 had the same mixing con-
bentonite was decreased. Meanwhile, as the quan-
ditions as those for B-7, mentioned earlier.
tity of bentonite was increased, a lump of bentonite
(3) Temperature conditions
formed within the FTS. From these results, it was
As shown in Table 5, five combination patterns
concluded that B-7 mixing conditions were roughly
were established according to outside air tempera-
appropriate in terms of the quantity of added bento-
ture on site (corresponding to room temperature in
nite. this experiment) and seawater temperature at the
FTS placement site (corresponding to curing tem-
perature in this experiment).

601
Table 4 Mixing: conditions temperature (T,). Here, A p t tended to increase
Case Cement Bentonite Soil Seawater Air foam w when T, c 0°C. This may be due to the change in
( kg/m3) (kg/m') ( kg/m3) ( kg/m3) (h') (%)
L-1 200 98 393 393 368 80 bubble volume following the shrinkage of the JTS.
L-2 220 96 384 384 375 80
L-3 240 94 375 375 381 80
4.4 Intensity property
(1)Effect of the kneading temperature
Table 5 Temperature :onditions Figure 8 shows the relationship between the mate-
Material rial age and the unconfined compressive strength
(4") for L-1, at a curing temperature (TJ of 5°C.

I
Soil
Cement 10 10 10 10 Even in the case of T-4 in which T, dropped to
Bentonite 0 0 -5 10 -2.5"C, no influence by initial freezing was observed.
Air foam 5 5 5 10
Diluted water 5 5 5 10
Force-feed air 0 0 5 10
Kneading water 5 5 5 5
Room temperature 0 0 0 -5 10
Curing temperature --
10 5 0 - 5 -5

9 16 I
The temperature of injected air was considered
to be equivalent to the outside air temperature.
LL
15 i I

-5 0 5 10
When the outside temperature was -5"C, it was an- Tm ("C)
ticipated from the experiment results on foaming Figure 6 Relationship between kneading temperature
properties that foaming would be difficult because and flow value
the foaming nozzle would freeze. It was concluded
that temperature control would be necessary on-site,
0.10
and the temperature was set at 5°C.
A
0

4.2 Fluidity
6 0.05
2
v
0 L-1 I
Figure 6 shows the relationship between the internal c 0.00 @ L-21
temperature of LWS immediately after kneading, Q A L-3
and the flow values immediately after kneading and '00
2 -0.05
five minutes later. The internal temperatures (T,) of
T-3, T-4 and T-5 just after the kneading were 1.2, -
2.5 and 8.7"c, respectively. The average flow val- -5 0 5 10

-
ues of L-1, L-2 and L-3 are shown in the figure. T m ("C)
The target flow values (15 - 20 cm) were obtained Figure 7 Relationship between h e a d i n g temperature
for each temperature condition. However, the flow and density variation
value for T-4 just after kneading was smaller than
those for T-3 and T-5; the flow value for T-4 five
minutes after kneading decreased by 1.4 cm. This loo0
may be attributed to the freezing of water inside the 800
FTS.
Given these facts, the temperature of FI'S force "E 600
\
fed within the grout hose might be affected by out- Z
5 400
side air temperature in which the placement site
6
might be far from the pump. This might reduce the 200
fluidity and should be considered at the time of
placement. 7 14 28
days
4.3 Wet density Figure 8 Effect of kneading temperature on uncodined
Wet density ( p t ) of both the 7-day and 28-day compressive strength of FTS
materials was f 5 % of the target value (1.1g/cm3).
Figure 7 shows the relationship between the den-
sity variation ( A p , = ptzs- P , ~ and
) the kneading

602
 Therefore, AE (air-entrained) concrete is generally
used in Japan when the temperature at the time of
construction is -3.O"C or lower. When AE concrete
Tc C'C)
22 is used, non-frozen water inside the concrete is pres-
10 surized as a result of freezing of excess water, and as
5 a result of-entering bubbles that abound within the
0 concrete. This reduces the water pressure and pre-
vents destruction of the concrete structure. FT'S has
a larger quantity of bubbles per unit volume and a
7 14 28
days higher coefficient of permeability than does AE con-
crete (Kikuchi et al., 1998). It was considered that
Figure 9 Effect of curing temperature on unconfiued these factors would make it easier for the pressur-
compressive strength of FTS
ized water to enter neighboring bubbles and prevent
the influence of early-age frost damage even under
2000 the temperature conditions of T-4.
(2) Influence of curing temperature
1500 Figure 9 shows the relationship between the mate-
E
\ rial age and unconfjned compressive strength (4")
5 1000
v
when T, = 1.2"c in the case of L-1. The higher is T,,
CO the greater is 4". Similar tendencies were observed
2 500 for specimens under other mixing conditions. The
figure also shows qu when T, = 22°C (expressed as
0 T-0), indicating that greater qu was generated than
0 500 1000 15002000
qU7(kN/m2) for T-1 (T, = 10°C).
As described in the above-mentioned results, the
Figwe 10 Unconfined compressive strength lower was T,, the smaller was qu when the material
of the 7- and 28-day FTS
age was less than 28 days. Therefore, when FTS is
used sooner at construction sites, not only regular
Also, the same level of qu as for T-3 and T-5 (in mixing tests but also low-temperature experiments
which T, 2 0°C) was obtained, and the target value should be conducted in advance to determine ex-
of 590 kN/m2 was realized when the material age pected yield strength.
was 28 days. Similar tendencies were observed for (3) Change of strength according to the material age
other mixing conditions. In Figure 10, qu of the 7- and 28-day FTS were
The Freezing temperature of concrete is consid- compared for all cases of mixing conditions. The
ered to be between -0.5 and -2.O"C. The developed strength of the 28-day FTS was approximately three
strength significantly decreases when early-age frost times that of the 7-day FTS, regardless of mixing
damage occurs. In such cases, the concrete tends to and temperature conditions.
have problems of durability and watertightness.

1-1 In a Cold Protection Cover I

Figure 11 Layout of machinery and equipment

603

Figure 12 Effect of elevation on wet density and unconfined
compressive strength for FTS
Figure 13 Relationship between unconfined compressive
strength and secant modulus for FTS
5 ON-SITE APPLICATION
5.1 Outline of the application method
The on-site application of FTS was conducted at
Ishikari Bay New Port during the period between
January 27 and February 16, 1999.
The placement of FTS was conducted by dividing
the total placement length of 31 m into three sec-
tions using steel plates, and the design depth of 5.25
m into four layers. The total quantity of placement
was 2,550 m'.
Figure 11 shows the layout of machinery and
equipment used. Based on the low-temperature ex-
periment results, the entire plant, excluding the ce-
ment and bentonite silos, was wrapped with a cold-
protection cover to keep the internal temperature at
or higher. When seawater was used, its tem-
perature was raised to 5°C by a heater. The outside
air temperature was below zero through most of the
placement period, and the lowest temperature was
-9"c, observed on February 3.
604
5.2 Quality of lightweight soil
Figure 12 shows the effect of the elevation on the
wet density ( p t ) and the unconf-ined compressive
strength (qu)of samples collected by boring from the
FTS application site 28 days after placement. All
the samples collected from each elevation satisfied
the target value of p t(1.3g/m3 or less). However, as
the water depth increased, p t tended to increase due
to the influence of water pressure.
qu greatly exceeded 200 kN/m2, the target value
for underwater placement. This may be attributed to
the fact that the underwater placement was conduct-
ed successfully, without much separation of the ma-
terial, and that the density increased due to the influ-
ence of water pressure (Tsuchida et al., 1996a).
Figure 13 shows the relationship between qu and
the secant modulus (Eso), which can be approxi-
mated by the formula described below. The values
were generally dispersed in areas lower than those of
the on-site experiment results using the dredged soil
of Tokyo Bay (Tsuchida et al., 1996b).
E,, = (50-200) qu
6 CONCLUSIONS
1. When sand was used as material for LWS, under-
water separation resistance was improved and un-
derwater placement became possible by adding an
adequate amount of bentonite.
2. Even at low temperatures, it was possible to apply
FTS by conducting appropriate temperature control,
in addition to normal execution management.
3. At low temperatures, the lower is the curing tem-
perature, the lower is the unconfined compressive
strength.
REFERENCES
Kikuchi, Y & H.Yoshino 1998. Permeability of Light-
Weight Soil Made of Dredged Slurry Mixed with Air
Foam. Report of Port and Harbour Research Institute,
Y o k o ~ ~ k37(1):
a , 34-56
Tsuchida, T., Kasai, J., Mizukami, J., Yokoyama, Y &
K.Tsuchida 1996a. Effect of Curing Condition on
Mechanical Properties of Light-Weight Soils. Techni-
cal Note of the Port and Harbour Research Institute,
Yokosuka, 834
Tsuchida, T., Yokoyama, Y, Mizukami, J., Shimizu, K.
& J.Kasai 1996b. Field Test of Light-Weight Geoma-
terials for Harbour Structures. Technical Note of the
Port and Hurbour Research Institute, Yokosuka, 833
 CoastalGeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

A new method for predicting strength of cement stabilized clays

S. Horpibulsuk & N. Miura
Department of Civil Engineering, Saga University,Japan
T. S. Nagaraj
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

ABSTRACT: Coastal regions with deep deposits of soft clays cause many problems associated with the engi-
neering construction since they have low strength and high compressibility. Chemical admixture improvement
is one of the effective techniques. This technique can be applied for the deep and shallow foundations. Surplus
clay, such as waste clays from construction works, can also be improved by this technique to be an engineered
geo-material. Based on the oedometer and triaxial test results, here it is revealed that the clay water con-
tent/cement ratio, wc/c is the dominant parameter, which governs deformation and strength characteristics of
the stabilized clays. As a result, two simple equations related to wc/c for predicting strength and combining the
relation among strength, curing time, water content of clay and cement content are presented.

1 INTRODUCTION cavated at about 2-m depth is generally very soft

Chemical admixture stabilization has been exten-
sively used both in deep and shallow foundations in
order to improve inherent properties of soil such as
strength and deformation behavior. Moreover, the
new geo-material of waste clays being released from
the construction works can be made by mixing with
cement.
It is of interest to understand and be able to pre-
dict the strength development of stabilized materials.
There are very few researches on this area.
Nagaraj et al. (1995) have examined the behav-
ior of compressibility and permeability of cement
stabilized soft clays. Also, the prediction of strength
development of cement stabilized clays has been pre-
sented by Nagaraj et al. 1996, 1997 and 1998. But
the use of this prediction is limited for the clays at
their liquid limit states. To overcome this limitation,
a factor-wc/c is proposed as the influential parameter
for predicting strength and combining the relation
among strength, curing time, clay water content and
cement content. With this relation, one can estimate
the strength at any curing times and conditions of
clay water content and cement content from only one
set of strength data.
2 EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION
2.1 Soil sample
The soil sample used in this paper is leached marine
Ariake clay collected at Saga, Japan. The sample ex-
gray silty clay (about 66% clay, 26% &.and 8% fine
sand). The clay is highly plastic (CH) with natural
water content of about 110-120%. The liquid and
plastic limits are in the order of 106% and 53%, re-
spectively. The salinity is about 1.6 g/l.
2.2 Methodology of testing
The clay paste was passed in 2-mm sieve for taking
off the pieces of shell and the bigger size material. Its
water content was decreased and increased until the
requirement was realized. The water content of clay
for this study covered a wide range starting from li-
quidity index of 1.0 and extending up to 2.0. The
clay was mixed with ordinary Portland cement pow-
der at three levels, namely 10, 15 and 20% of dry
mass of the clay by a soil mixer for 10 minutes and
put into cylinder containers (50-mm diameter and
100-rnm height). After one day, the specimens were
taken out from the containers and wrapped in vinyl
bags. The specimens were placed in a constant tem-
perature and humidity room until testing.
Unconfined compression (UC) and oedometer
tests were carried out after 7, 14 and 28 days of cur-
ing. The rate of vertical displacement in UC tests was
1 mdmin. Consolidated undrained triaxial (CU)
tests at effective cell pressure, dcof 100, 200 and
400 kPa were conducted after 28 days of curing. A
back pressure of 190 kPa was applied to ensure that
degree of saturation of the specimen was higher than
95% by checking B-value. The rate of vertical dis-
placement was 0.125 mdmin.

605
3 EFFECT OF CLAY WATER CONTENT
/CEMENT RATIO ON DEFROMATION
CHARACTERISTIC

The effect of clay water content/cement ratio, wc/c

on the increase of yield stress, 0 ; is illustrated in
Figure 1 by a set of curves for wc/c values of 8, 10.6
and 16. The clay water contentlcement ratio, wc/c is
defined as the ratio of clay water content to cement
content. The cement content, A , is defined as the ra-
tio of the weight of cement powder to dry weight of
soil. It is apparent that the stabilized samples exhibit
very low or negligible compressibility up to their
yield stresses. Beyond their yield stresses, the mark-
edly high compressibility is realized. An observation
is worthy of discussion here that the lower value of
w d c , the greater is the enh-ancement of the yield
stress.
It is, moreover, revealed that, the parameter- wc/c
is the influential factor governing the deformation
characteristic of clay-cement mixtures as illustrated
by Figures 2 and 3. They demonstrate the consolida-
tion behavior of two combinations, which have the
same wc/c of 10.6. The first one is the stabilized
sample at initial clay water content of 106%. The
second One is made from the ‘lay at its wa- Figure 2, Relationships between void ratio and vertical pres-
ter content Of I6O%. It is noticed that the sure of cement stabilized samples having the same wc/c value
strain-vertical pressure relations and yield stresses of of 10.6
both samples are practically the same. But the initial
void ratios are different for all curing times. Thus, it
is concluded that for clay water content ranging from
LI = 1.0 to LI = 2.0, the mixtures having the same
wc/c of 10.6 develop the same value of yield stresses,
o’, and the deformation characteristics are identical.
The stabilized clays with high water content are sta-
ble at higher void ratios.

Figure 1. Effect of clay water contentkement ratio on com-

pression behavior of cement stabilized Ariake clay
Figure 3. Relationships between axial strain and vertical pres-
sure of cement stabilized samples having the same wdc value
of 10.6

606
 4 EFFECT OF CLAY WATER CONTENT
/CEMENT RATIO ON STRENGTH

The effect of clay water contentkement ratio on

strength characteristic of cement stabilized clay is
clearly manifested by the results of consolidated
undrained triaxial (CU) test. Figures 4 and 5 show
the deviator stress, q and shear strain, E, relationships
of stabilized samples at wc/c values of 16 and 10.6,
respectively. The characteristic shapes of the (4, E,)
curves of samples are found that the deviator stress
increases to a peak value and then strain softens to a
lower value of q. With the incremental values of dc,
the enhancement of shear stress is evident in these
figures. Moreover, the lower the wck, the larger is
the amount Of strain softening showing defined Figure 5 . Relationship between deviator stress and shear strain
and distinct peak. of cement stabilized samples at wc/c value = 10.6 and 28 days
The excess pore pressure development with shear of curing
strain is shown in Figure 6 for the samples cured for
1 month with high wc/c value of 16. The reduction of
excess pore pressure after peak deviator stress is in-
significant. In contrast, the behavior of samples with
low wc/c value of 10.6 is similar to that of overcon-
solidated clay. The (Au, E,) curves show distinct
peaks that occur at low values of shear strain and the
negative pore pressure is found for the sample sub-
jected to low dCvalue of 100 kPa as illustrated in
Figure 7. The role of dcis very clear that the higher
value of dC, the greater is the pore pressure genera-
tion, It is, moreover, noted that the cement treatment
modifies the pore pressure response behavior by re-
ducing considerably the strain at peak excess pore
pressure, Au,,. The Aumaxoccurs at very low strain
for the sample of low effective cell pressure, d,but
at larger strain for the sample of higher effective cell Figure 6. Relationship between excess pore pressure and shear
strain of cement stabilized samples at wc/c value = 16 and 28
pressure, d,. days of curing

Figure 4. Relationship between deviator stress and shear strain Figure 7. Relationshp between excess pore pressure and shear
of cement stabilized samples at wc/c value = 16 and 28 days of strain of cement stabilized samples at wc/c value = 10.6 and
curing 28 days of curing

607

Figure 8. Relationship between deviator stress and shear strain
of cement stabilized samples having the same wc/c value of
10.6 at coilfining pressure = 200 kPa
Figure 9. Relationship between excess pore pressure and shear
strain of cement stabilized samples having the same wc/c
value of 10.6 at confining pressure = 200 kPa
Figure 10. Strength prediction based on clay water con-
tentkement ratio’s concept of cement stabilized Ariake and
I-hroshima clays
608
Figures 8 and 9 show the deviator stress-shear
strain and excess pore pressure-shear strain behavior
of the mixtures having the same wc/c value of 10.6.
These figures are obtained from the results at 28
days of curing and effective cell pressure of 200 kPa.
Both mixtures show practically the same feature of
(4, E,) and (du, E,) relations.
From the above results, it is of interest to con-
clude that the clay water contentlcement ratio is a sa-
lient parameter controlling the engineering behavior
such as strength and deformation characteristics. As
a result, the strength prediction can be proposed in
terms of wc/c.
5 STRENGTH PREDICTION OF STABILIZED
CLAYS
Now, strength prediction of cement stabilized clays is
discussed based on the test results of marine clays
(Ariake clay, Hiroshima clay and Bangkok clay) as
well as inland clays (Brown soil, Black cotton and Il-
lite). Details of these clays are shown in Table l .
The prediction referred to the clay water con-
tent/cement ratio’s concept is proposed as follows:
“. . .for given clay-cement mixtures, the strength at
any curing time depends on one factor-clay water
content/cement ratio, wc/c” .
The observed relationship between unconfined
compressive strength aRer a certain period of curing
can be expressed by a formula having the following
where qu is the unconfned compressive strength of
cement stabilized clay at a stated age, (wc/c) is the
clay water content/cement ratio, A and B are con-
stant depending on the characteristic of clay, type of
cement and curing time.
Figure 10 shows the strength prediction of cement
stabilized Ariake and Hiroshima clays, which agrees
well with this proposed method indicated by the co-
efficients of correlation are higher than 0.97 for all
cases. For the clays having their water contents are
equal to and higher than liquid limit and wc/c ranging
from 4 to 16, the A-values are 5364, 6586, 7803 Wa
for 7, 14, 28 day-curing time, respectively and the H-
value is I .24 for all cases of 7, 14 and 28 day-curing
time which are derived from equation (1).
The relationship between qu and wc/c of Bangkok
clay is also performed well with high coefficients of
correlation (higher than 0.99 for all cases) as shown
in Figure 11. The A-values are 969, 1130, 1739 kPa
for 7, 14 and 28 day-curing time, respectively. The
B-value is 1.24 for all cases of curing time.

Clay water content/cement ratio
Figure 11. Strength prediction based on clay water con-
tent/cement ratio's concept of cement stabilized Bangkok clay
Clay water content/cement ratio
Figure 12. Strength prediction based on clay water con-
tenucernent ratio's Concept Of Cement stabilized inland clays
Similarly, the strength prediction of cement stabi-
lized inland clays is presented with coefficients of
correlation being higher than 0.96 as shown in Figure
12. The A-values are 2383, 3296 and 4515 for 7, 14
and 28 days of curing, respectively. The B-value is
1.24for all cases of curing time.
From above prediction, the B-value can be taken
as 1.24 for the both cases of marine and inland clays
but the A-values are different. For every curing time,
the A-values of stabilized marine clays in Japan are
highest. Among the clays presented here, such the
marine clays provide the highest strength at the same
conditions of curing time, clay water content and
cement content.
609
Since B-value is identical for both marine and
inland clays, the same strength ratio equation of ce-
ment stabilized marine and inland clays at a particular
curing time can be obtained in terms of clay water
content/cement ratio as follows
where S(wc,c,, is the strength to be estimated at clay
water content/cement ratio of (wc/c)I and S(wc/c)z is
the strength value at clay water content/cement ratio
of (wc/c)z
From this prediction, it reveals that the wc/c does
not play any role on the strength development with
time. As a result, the strength normalization of stabi-
lized clays by the 14 day-strength can be performed
by the linear regression analysis in terms of curing
time Only as fOllOWS
= a + b In D (3)
s
14
where SDis the strength after D days of curing, Sl4is
the 14 day-strength, D is the curing time, a and b are
constant depending upon the type of'clay. It found
here that a = 0.12 and b = 0.32 for marine clays. The
a and b for inland clays have investigated by Nagaraj
et al. 1995 as -0.18 and 0.46, respectively.
The interrelationship among strength, curing time
and clay water content/cement ratio, wc,% for
predicting strength development of cement stabilized
clays is expressed by combination of equations (2)
and (3):
(4)
where ,"(wc,c)l,D is strength of stabilized clay to be es-
timated at clay water content/cement ratio of (wc/'c),
at D day-curing time and S(wc/c),14is strength of stabi-
lized Clay at clay water content/cement ratio of
(wc'c) a*er l 4 day-curing time.
6 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Based on the results of oedometer, triaxial and
unconfined compressive tests, it is demonstrated,
here that the clay water content/cement ratio is the
dominant parameter influencing the yield stress and
strength development. The prediction of strength is
finally proposed based on relation to the results from
marine and inland clays. The following conclusions
are drawn from this study:
Table 1. Basic properties of marine clays for stabilization.
Sample Bangkok clay Hiroshma clay h a k e clay (1) Ariake clay (2) Ariake clay (3)
Liquid Limit 103 122
Plastic Limit 43 47
Plasticity Index 60 75
Specific gravity 2.75 2.60
Uddin (1995) Yamadera (1999) Yamadera (1999) Yamadera (1999) Horpibulsuk (1999)
Table 2. Basic properties of inland clays for stabilization.
Sample Brown clay Black cotton (1) Black cotton (2)
Liquid Limit 62 72
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (1995)
1) The salient effect of clay water contentkement
ratio, wc/c on the stabilized clay is found that the
wc/c is the influential parameter governing the
strength and deformation characteristics. The mix-
tures having the same wc/c develop practically the
same yield stress and strength. Lower the wdc,
higher is the yield stress and strength.
2) Since the behavior of stabilized clays is re-
markably governed by w c k , the strength prediction
in terms of wc/c as well as the interrelationship in-
volving strength, curing time and wc/c are proposed
as presented in equations (1) and (4), respectively.
The implementation of the presented method is to
simplify the task of arriving at the cement content
and curing time by laboratory investigations to real-
ize the target values.
3) This paper reveals that the strength of the stabi-
lized clays strongly depends upon only wc/c. Thus to
obtain uniform strength of stabilized clays for engi-
neering works such as deep foundation, shallow
foundation, improvement of the surplus clays for en-
gineering purposes etc. at construction sites in which
water content of clay varies with depth and location,
the wc/c of mixture must be controlled. The clay wa-
ter contendcement ratio's concept, thus, overcomes
not only the engineering requirement but also the
economical viewpoint.
REFERENCES
Brom, B.B. & Boman, P. 1975. Lime stabilized column.
Pr0c.5'~Asian Regional Col6 Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore. India. 1: 227-234
Horpibulsuk; S., Mura, N.and Nagaraj, T.S. 1999. Prediction
of strength and consolidation parameters of cement stabi-
lized clays. Report of the Faculty of Science and Engineer-
ing, Saga Univeristy, Japan. Vol. 28, No. 2: 27-38.
Department of Civil Engineering 1995, Generalized approach
to predict strength development by cement admixture. Re-
search Report, Indian Institute ofscience, India.
Nagaraj, T.S., Miura, N., Yaligar, P. and Yamadera, A. 1995.
Analysis of compressibility behavior of soils with induced
cementation. Indian Geotechnical Conference. IGC -95.
Bangalore. India. 1: 53-56.
80 100 106
32 45 53
48 55 53
2.62 2.63 2.56
Illite
86 118
Nagaraj, T.S., Yarigar, P., Miura, N.and Yarnadera, A. 1996.
Prediction strength development by cement admixture
based on water content. The Second International C'oifer-
ence on Ground improvement Geosystems, Grouting and
Deep Mixing, Tokyo. 14-1 7May 1996. 1: 43 1-436.
Nagaraj, T.S., Miura, N., Yamadera, A. andYaligar, P. 1997.
Strength assessment of cement admixtured soft clays - Pa-
rametric study. International Conference on Grour7d Im-
provement Techniques, 7-8May 1997. Macau: 379-386.
Nagaraj, T.S., Miura, N. and Yamadera. A. 1998. Induced
cementation of soft clays - Analysis and assesment. Inter-
national Symposium on Lowland Technologyy,Institute of
Lowland Technology, Saga University, Saga, .Japan: 267-
278
Treval C. 1968. The properties offlesh concrete. New York:
John Willey&Sons.
Uddin, K. 1995. Strength and deformation behavior of ce-
ment-treated Bangkok clay. D.Eng Thesis. AIT.. Bang-
kok, Thailand.
Yamadera, A., Nagaraj, T.S. and Miura, N. 1998. Prediction
of strength development in cement stabilized marine clay.
Improvement of Soft Ground, Design, Analysis and Cur-
rent Research, Institute of Lowland Technology and Asian
Center for Soil Improvement and Geosynthetics, Saga and
Bangkok: 141-153.
Yamadera, A 1999. Microstructural study of geotechnical
characteristics of marine clay. Ph.D. Thesis, Saga Univer-
sity, Saga, Japan.
610
 Tire shreds as lightweight fill for construction on weak marine clay

D. N.Humphrey
University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA
N.Whetten
Haley and Aldrich, Hartford, Conn., USA
J.Weaver & K. Recker
Haley aid Aldrich, South Portland, Maine, USA

ABSTRACT: Tire shreds were used as lightweight fill to improve slope stability for two highway projects
Constructed on weak marine clay. Tire shreds, which are scrap tires that have been cut into 50 to 300 mm
pieces, were chosen because they have an in-place density of 0.80 to 0.93 Mg/m3, which is less than half the
density of conventional soil fill. In the first project, a 4.3-m thick zone of tire shreds was used as lightweight
fill to improve global stability of a bridge approach fill founded on weak marine clay. In addition, the tire
shreds reduced horizontal pressure on the bridge abutment. Some 400,000 tires were used in the project. In
the second project, two layers of tire shreds, each up to 3.05 m thick, were used as lightweight fill for a high-
way embankment founded on 9 m of weak marine clay. This project used about 1.2 million tires.

1 INTRODUCTION The full guidelines are contained in ASTM D6270-

Tire shreds are scrap tires that have been cut into
pieces with a maximum size ranging from 50 to 300
mm (ASTM 1998). This material is lightweight,
free draining, and compressible. Moreover they
have a thermal resistivity that is about seven times
higher than soil and they produce low earth pressure.
Because of their special properties tire shreds are in-
creasingly being used as lightweight fill for em-
bankments constructed on weak foundation soils
(Humphrey et al. 1998; Whetten et al. 1997), light-
weight backfill for retaining walls and bridge abut-
ments (Tweedie et al. 1997, 1998a,b; Humphrey et
al. 1998), compressible inclusions behind integral
abutment and rigid frame bridges (Humphrey et al.
1998; Reid & Soupier 1998), thermal insulation to
limit frost penetration beneath roads (Humphrey &
Eaton 1995; Lawrence et al. 1999), and drainage
layers for road (Lawrence et al. 1999) and landfill
applications (Jesionek et al. 1998). In 1998 ap-
proximately 18 million tires were used in these ap-
plications in the United States.
Civil engineering applications of tire shreds had a
significant setback in 1995 and early 1996 when
three thick tire shred fills (each greater than 8 m
thick) experienced a serious self-heating reaction,
however, guidelines to limit self-heating are now
available (Ad Hoc Civil Engineering Committee
1997; ASTM 1998). Key features of the guidelines
are to use larger size tire shreds, limit the amount of
fine material in the shreds, limit layer thicknesses to
3 m, and limit the access of the fill to water and air.
98, Standard Practice for Use of Scrap Tires in Civil
Engineering Applications (ASTM 1998). Field
studies have shown that tire shreds have a negligible
effect on water quality (Downs et al. 1997; Hum-
phrey et al. 1997, 1999a,b; Humphrey & Katz,
2000).
This paper presents two case histories using tire
shreds as lightweight fill for highway embankments
constructed on weak marine clay foundations. In the
first project tire shreds were used as lightweight fill
and bridge abutment backfill for the approach em-
bankment for the North Abutment of the Merry-
meeting Bridge in Topsham, Maine. In the second
project tire shreds were used for two approach em-
bankments for a new bridge over the Maine Turn-
pike in Portland, Maine. From the information pre-
sented below, it will be clear that tire shreds are a
viable material for use as lightweight fill for high-
way construction on weak marine clays and similar
applications.
2 NORTH ABUTMENT APPROACH FILL
The key element of the Topsham Brunswick Bypass
Project was the 300-m long Merrymeeting Bridge
over the Androscoggin River. The subsurface profile
at the location of the North Abutment consisted of 3
to 6 m of marine silty sand overlying 14 to I5 m of
marine silty clay. The clay is underlain by glacial
till and then bedrock. The existing riverbank had a
factor of safety against a deep seated dope failure

61 1
that was near one. Moreover, the design called for
an approach fill leading up to the bridge abutment
that would have further lowered the factor of safety.
Thus, it was necessary to devise a strategy to both
improve the existing factor of safety and allow con-
struction of the approach fill. The best solution was
to excavate some of the existing riverbank and re-
place it with a 4.3-m thick layer of tire shreds. Tire
shreds had the added advantage of reducing lateral
pressures against the abutment wall. Other types of
lightweight fill were considered including geofoam
and expanded shale aggregate. However, tire shreds
proved to be the lowest cost solution. The project
used some 400,000 scrap tires (Whetten et al. 1997).
2.1 Project Layout and Construction
The surficial marine sand was excavated to elevation
5.2 m and then the H-pile supported abutment wall
was constructed. A 4.3-m thick zone of tire shreds
was placed from station 53+50.6 m to the face of the
abutment wall at station 53+72.0 m. The fill tapers
from a thickness of 4.3 m at station 53+50.6 m to
zero thickness at station 53+35.4 m thus providing a
gradual transition between the tire shred layer and
the conventional fill. It was estimated that the tire
shred layer would compress 460 mm due to the
weight of overlying soil layers. As a result, the layer
was built up an additional 460 mm so that the final
compressed thickness would be 4.3 m. The tire
shred layer was enclosed in a woven geotextile (Nio-
lon Mirafi 500X) to prevent infiltration of surround-
ing soil. The tire shreds were spread with front end
loaders and bulldozers and then compacted by six
passes of a smooth drum vibratory roller with a
static weight of 9.4 metric tons. The thickness of a
compacted lift was limited to 305 mm. Tire shred
Figure 1. Cross section through North Abutment tire shred fill.
612
placement began on September 25, 1996 and was
completed on October 3, 1996. A longitudinal sec-
tion of the completed abutment and embankment is
shown in Figure 1.
This project was designed and built prior to de-
velopment of the guidelines to limit self-heating of
tire shred fills. However, the project did include
some design features to limit self-heating. The first
was to use larger size shreds (called Type B shreds)
in the lower portion of the fill from elevation 5.2 m
to elevation 8.2 m. The Type B shreds were speci-
fied to have a maximum dimension, measured in any
direction, of 305 mm; a minimum of 75% (by
weight) passing the 203-mm square mesh sieve, a
maximum of 25% (by weight) passing the 38-mm
square mesh sieve, and a maximum of 5% (by
weight) passing the No. 4 (4.75-mm) sieve. Grada-
tion tests showed that the shreds generally had a
maximum din;ension smaller than 150 mm. Type A
shreds, with a maximum size of 75 mm, were placed
from elevation 8.2 m to the top of the tire shred fill.
It would have been preferable to use the larger Type
B shreds for the entire thickness, however, a signifi-
cant quantity of Type A shreds had already been
stockpiled near the project prior to the decision to
use larger shreds. It was judged that it would be ac-
ceptable to use the smaller Type A shreds in the up-
per portion of the fill. Moreover, it would have been
preferable to limit the total thickness of the tire
shred layer to 3 m as recommended by the guide-
lines to limit self-heating.
As an additional step to reduce the possibility of
self-heating, the tire shreds are overlain by a layer of
compacted clayey soil with a minimum of 30% pass-
ing the No. 200 (0.075 mm) sieve. The purpose of
the clay layer is to minimize the flow of water and
air though the tire shreds. The clay layer is ap-
proximately 0.6 m thick and is built up in the center ings are consistent with at-rest conditions measured
to promote drainage toward the side slopes, A 0.6- on an earlier project (Tweedie et al. 1997; 1998a).
rn thick layer of common borrow was placed over Cells PC2-1, PC2-2, and PC2-3 showed different
the clay layer. Overlying the common borrow is behavior. On 1019196, cell PC2-2 showed a pressure
0.76 m of aggregate subbase. of 30.2 kPa while cell PC2-1, located only 1.07 m
Tire shreds undergo a small amount of time de- lower, was 20.0 kPa and cell PC2-3, located 1.07 m
pendent settlement. For this project a thick tire above PC2-2, was 12.31 kPa. These cells were the
shred fill adjoined a pile supported bridge abutment. Iess stiff EPC cells. Large scatter has been observed
This led to concerns that there could be differential with EPC cells on an earlier tire shred project
settlement at the junction with the abutment. How- (Tweedie et al. 1997, 1998a,b). This is thought to be
ever, Tweedie et al. (1997) showed that most of the due, at least in part, to large tire shreds creating a
time dependent settlement occurs within the first 60 nonuniform stress distribution on the face of the
days. To accommodate the time dependant settle- pressure cell. The average pressure recorded by the
ment prior to paving, the contractor was required to three PC2 cells was 20.9 kPa, which is slightly
place an additional 0.3 m of subbase aggregate as a higher than the PCl cells. Between 1019196 and
surcharge to be left in place for a minimum of 60 10/31/96 the lateral pressure increased by 1 to 2 kPa.
days. In fact, the overall construction schedule al- The pressures have been approximately constant
lowed the contractor to leave the surcharge in place since that time.
from October, 1996 through October, 1997. The
surcharge was removed in October, 1997 and the
roadway was topped with 229 mm of bituminous Table 1. Summary of lateral pressures on abutment wall.
pavement. The highway was opened to traffic on PCl-1 PC2-1 PC1-2 PC2-2 PCI-3 PC2-3
November I1 , 1997. Additional construction infor- Date Cell el.=6.70m Cell el.=7.77m Cell el.=8.84m
mation is given in Cosgrove and Humphrey (1999). 10/3/962 7.84' 7.41 6.04 7.27 2.62 1.41
10/9/9G3 17.04 20.04 19.61 30.22 17.05 10.91
10/31/96 18.27 21.05 20.98 32.84 20.24 12.31
2.2 Instrumentation 'Horizontal pressure in @a.
Four types of instruments were installed: vibrating 2Datetire shred placement completed,
wire settlement gauges, settlement plates and tem- 3Date soil cover and surcharge placement completed.
perature sensors placed in the tire shred fill; and
pressure cells cast into the back face of the abutment
wall. The vibrating wire settlement gages gave no Settlement during construction is shown in Figure
useful readings and will not be discussed. Six set- 2. By the end of fill placement the tire shred fill
tlement plates were installed. SPI-I and SP2-1 were compressed about 370 mm as indicated by plates
at the base of the tire shred layer. SPI-2 and SP2-2 SP1-3 and SP2-3. Post construction settlement is
were at the mid-height of the tire shred layer. SPI-3 shown in Figure 3. In the first 60 days after the end
and SP2-3 were at the top of tire shred layer. Vibrat-of fill placement, the top of the tire shred layer set-
ing wire pressure cells were installed to monitor lat-tled an additional I35 mm. Between December 15,
eral earth pressure against the abutment wall. Three 1996 and December 31, 1997 the fill underwent an
Roctest model TPC pressure cells (PCI-1, PC1-2, additional 15 mm of time dependent settlement. By
PC1-3) were installed on the face of the abutment late 1997, the settlement of the plates at the mid-
wall 4 m right of centerline at elevations 6.7, 7.8, height of the tire shred layer (SPI-2 and SP2-2) and
and 8.8 m. Three Roctest model EPC pressure cells top of the tire shred layer (SPI-3 and SP2-3) had es-
(PC2-1, PC2-2, PC2-3) were installed 4 m left of sentially stopped
centerline at the same elevations. Tire shreds were The total compression of the tire shred fill was
placed against all the cells. 520 mm, which was 13% greater than the 460 mm
that was anticipated based on laboratory compres-
sion tests. The difference is due, at least in part, to
2.3 Measwed Horizontal Pressure and ~ e t t ~ e ~ e ~time
t dependent settlement that is not accounted for
The lateral pressure at the completion o f tire shred in the short term Iaboratory tests. The final com-
placement (1 O/3/96) and completion of soil cover pressed density of the tire shreds was about 0.9
and surcharge placement (1019196) is summarized in Mg1m3.
Table 1. Lateral pressures on 10131196 are also
shown. It is seen that at completion of tire shred 2.4 Tem~eratureof Tire Shred Layer
placement, the pressures increased with depth. A small amount of self heating of the tire shreds oc-
However, at completion of soil cover and surcharge curred. Five out of the 12 thermistors in Type A
placement, the pressures recorded by cells PC 1-1, shreds experienced a peak te~peratureof between
PC1-2, and PCI-3 were nearly constant with depth 30 and 40°C. In contrast, only two of the 18 ther-
and ranged between 17.1 and 19.6 kPa. These find- mistors in the larger Type B shreds experienced a

613
peak in this range and these two sensors may have
been influenced by warmer overlying Type A
shreds. This suggests that larger shreds are less
susceptible to heating. In any case, the peak tem-
peratures were too low to be of concern. Since
early 1997, the overall trend has been one of de-
creasing temperature, however, the temperature of
the shreds do appear to be slightly influenced by
seasonal temperature changes.

3 PORTLAND JETPORT INTERCHANGE

Tire shreds were used as lightweight fill for con-

struction of two 9.8-m high highway embankments
in Portland, Maine (Humphrey et al. 1998). These
embankments were the approach fills to a new
bridge over the Maine Turnpike. The bridge is part
of a new interchange that will provide better access
to the Portland Jetport and Congress Street. This
site was underlain by about 12 m of weak marine
clay. Test results indicated that the clay is an over-
consolidated, moderately sensitive, inorganic clay of
low plasticity. Undrained shear strength varied from
approximately 72 kPa near the top to 19 kPa near the
center of the layer.
The designers for the project (the Maine offices
of HNTB, Inc. and Haley and Aldrich, Inc. and the
University of Maine) found that embankments built
of conventional soil were too heavy resulting in an
unacceptably low factor of safety against slope in-
stability. They looked at several ways to strengthen
the foundation soils but these were too costly. Con- Figure 3. Post-construction settlement of the North Abutment
structing the embankments of lightweight fill was fill.
chosen as the lowest cost alternative. They consid-
ered several types of lightweight fill including tire The shreds had a maximum size measured in any di-
shreds, expanded polystyrene insulation boards, and rection of 300 mm to ensure that they could be eas-
expanded shale. Tire shreds were chosen because ily placed with conventional construction equip-
they were $300,000 (US) cheaper than the other al- ment. The embankment was topped with 1.22 m of
ternatives. Moreover, the project would put some granular soil plus 1.22 m of temporary surcharge.
1.2 million tires to a beneficial end use. Wick drains The purpose of the surcharge was to increase the
were also used to accelerate consolidation of the rate of consolidation of the soft clay foundation soils
foundation soils. and was unrelated to the tire shred fill.
3.1 Project Layout and Construction The tire shreds were placed with conventional
construction techniques. First geotextile was placed
Several steps were taken to comply with the guide- on the prepared base. Then the shreds were spread
lines to limit heating of thick tire shred fills (Ad Hoc in 300-mm lifts using a Caterpillar D-4. Each lift
Civil Engineering Committee 1997; ASTM 1998). was compacted with six passes of a vibratory roller
The guidelines required that a single tire shred layer with a minimum 9.1-metric ton operating weight.
be no thicker than 3 m, so the tire shred layer was
broken up into two layers, each up to 3 m thick, Table 2. Measured compressibility on centerline of tire shred
separated by 0.9 m of soil as shown in Figure 4. layer for Portland Jetport Interchange project.
Low-permeability soil with a minimum of 30% Lower layer Upper layer
passing the No. 200 (0.075 mm) sieve was placed on Plate Station Measured Predicted Measured Predicted
the outside and top of the fill to limit inflow of air SW1 7+62 12.6% 22% 8.3% 14%
and water. The final precaution to limit heating was SW4 7+92 13.4% 21% 11.2% 14%
to use large shreds with a minimum of fines. The SE1 9+14 19.1% 22% 10.9% 14%
shreds had less than 25% passing the 38-mm sieve SE4 9+45 17.3% 23% 9.3% 14%
and less than 1% passing the No. 4 sieve (4.75-mm). Average 15.6% 22% 9.9% 14%

614
 <- r S U R C H A R G E MATERIAL

-SUBBASE GRAVEL

Figure 4. Cross section through embankment for the Portland Jetport Interchange (Humphrey et al. 1998).

After placing the shreds, the contractor placed a geo-

textile separator on the sides and top of the tire shred
zone and then the surrounding soil cover. Embankment 2 -
Upper Tire Shred Layer -
3.2 Construction Settlement and Unit Weight * TH36
-8- TH37 -
Settlement plates were installed at the top and bot- * TH38
tom of each tire shred layer to monitor settlement. ----4--- TH39
Compression of each tire shred layer at the end of -
fill placement is summarized in Table 2. The com-
pression predicted based on laboratory compression
-
tests on 75-mm maximum size tire shreds is also
shown. It is seen that the predicted compression is
significantly greater than the measured value. Thus, 15 - -
the compressibility of shreds with a 300-mm maxi-
mum size appears to be less than for 75-mm maxi- in I I
mum size shreds. This was one factor that led to G71197 a129197 12/27/97 412619a a12419a 1212219a 4/21/99 8/19/99

overprediction of the final in-place unit weight. The
final in-place unit weight was predicted to be 0.93
Mg/m3 compared to an actual value of 0.79 Mg/m3,
a difference of 18%. This difference cannot be en-
tirely accounted for by the difference in compressi-
bility. Thus, it is likely that the initial (uncom-
pressed) unit weight of these larger shreds is less
than for 75-mm maximum size shreds.
Figure 6. Temperatures in upper tire shed layer of light-
weight embankment fill at Portland Jetport Interchange.
3.3 Temperature Measurements
Monitoring the temperatures of the tire shred fill was
of great interest because of past problems with heat-
ing of thick tire shred fills (Humphrey 1996). The
warmest temperatures were measured at the time of
placement when the black tire shreds were heated by
exposure to direct sunlight. Initial temperatures
ranged from 24 to 38°C. After being covered with
the first few lifts of fill, the temperatures began
dropping with time. Temperatures had stabilized be-
tween l l and 15°C when monitoring was discontin-
ued in July 1999. Typical temperature measure-
ments are shown on Figures 5 and 6.

4 SUMMARY

The low unit weight, widespread availability, and

Figure 5 . Temperatures in lower tire shed layer of light-
weight embankment fill at Portland Jetport Interchange.
low cost of tire shreds has led to their being used as
lightweight fill for embankments constructed on
weak foundation soils. The engineering properties
of tire shreds are known including gradation, unit
weight, compressibility and shear strength. When
the special properties of tire shreds are needed for a

615
project they are often the lowest cost alternative.
Thus, civil engineers are choosing tire shreds be-
cause they offer both the properties needed to solve
special problems and lower costs to satisfy the de-
mands of their clients for the most economical pro-
ject possible. In the next few years, major increases
in the number of scrap tires used for civil engineer-
ing applications is possible because of their growing
record of successful performance combined with
guidelines to limit self-heating of thick fills, recently
published ASTM guideline specifications, and
groundwater data showing that they have a negligi-
ble environmental impact.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Jeff McEwen was a key player of in the North Abut-
ment project when he worked for the Portland office
of T.Y. Lin International and more recently for the
Portland Jetport Project with his new employer,
HNTB, Inc. of Portland, Maine. His leadership and
insight on these projects is greatly appreciated.
University of Maine graduate student Tricia
Cosgrove is thanked for her hard work on the North
Abutment project. The Maine Department of Trans-
portation and Maine Turnpike Authority are thanked
for funding these projects.
Humphrey, D.N. & L.E. Katz 2000. Five-Year Field Study of
the Effect of Tire shreds Placed Above the Water Table on
Groundwater Quality. Preprint No. 00-0892, Washington,
DC: Transportation Research Board.
Humphrey, .D.N., N. Whetten, J. Weaver, K. Recker & T.A.
Cosgrove 1998. Tire Shreds as Lightweight Fill for Em-
bankments and Retaining Walls. Proc. of the Con5 on Re-
cycled Materials in Geotechnical Applications, New York:
ASCE, 51-65.
Jesionek, K.S., D.N. Humphrey & R.J. Dunn 1998. Overview
of Shredded Tire Applications in Landfills. Proc. of the
Tire Industry Coizjkrence, South Carolina: Clemson Univ.
Lawrence, B., D. Hurnphrey & L.-H. Clien 1999. Field Trial
of Tire Shreds as Insulation for Paved Roads. Proc. of the
Tenth Int. Conf on Cold Regions Engineering: Putting Re-
search into Practice. New York: ASCE, 428-439.
Reid, R.A. & S.P. Soupir 1998. Mitigation of Void Develop-
ment Under Bridge Approach Slabs Using Rubber Tire
Chips. Proc. of the Conf on Recycled Materials in Geo-
technical Applications, New York: ASCE, 37-50.
Tweedie, J.J., D.N. Humphrey & T.C. Sandford 1997. Tire
Chips as Lightweight Backfill for Retaining Walls - Phase
11,” Storrs, Conn.: New England Transportation Consortium
Tweedie, J.J., D.N. Humphrey & T.C. Sandford 1998a. Full
Scale Field Trials of Tire Chips as Lightweight Retaining
Wall Backfill, At-Rest Conditions. Transportation Re-
search Record No. 1619,64-7 1.
Tweedie, J.J., D.N. Humphrey & T.C. Sandford 1998b. Tire
Shreds as Retaining Wall Backfill, Active Conditions. J. of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE,
124:10, 1061-1070.
Whetten, N., J. Weaver, D. Humphrey & T. Sandford 1997.
Rubber Meets the Road in Maine. Civil Engineering,
ASCE, 67:9, 60-63.

REFERENCES

Ad Hoc Civil Engineering Committee 1997. Design Guidelines

to Minimize Internal Heating of Tire Shred Fills. Washing-
ton, DC: Scrap Tire Management Council.
ASTM 1998. Standard Practice for Use of Scrap Tires in Civil
Engineering Applications. ASTM 06270-98. W. Consho-
hocken, PA: Am. Soc. Testing & Mat.
Cosgrove, T.A. & D.N. Humphrey 1999. Field Performance of
Two Tire Shred Fills in Topsham, Maine. Augusta, Maine:
Maine Department of Transportation.
Downs, L.A., D.N. Humphrey., L.E. Katz & C.A. Rock 1996.
Water Quality Effects of Using Tire Chips Below the
Groundwater Table. Augusta, Maine: Maine Department of
Transportation.
Humphrey, D.N. 1996. Investigation of Exothermic Reaction
in Tire Shred Fill Located on SR 100 in llwaco, Washing-
ton. Washington, DC: FHWA.
Humphrey, D.N. 1999a. Water Quality Results for Whitter
Farm Road Tire Shred Field Trial. Orono, Maine: Dept. of
Civil and Env. Eng., University of Maine.
Humphrey, D.N. 1999b. Water Quality Effects of Using Tire
Cliips Below the Groundwater Table - Final Report. Au-
gusta, Maine: Maine Department of Transportation.
Humphrey, D.N. & R.A. Eaton 1995. Field Performance of
Tire Chips as Subgrade Insulation for Rural Roads. Pro-
ceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Low-
Volume Roads. Washington, DC: Transportation Research
Board, 2:77-86.
Humphrey, D.N., L.E. Katz & M. Blumenthal 1997. Water
Quality Effects of Tire Chip Fills Placed Above the
Groundwater Table. Testing Soil Mixed with Waste or Re-
cycled Materials, ASTM STP 1275, W. Conshohocken,
PA: Am. Soc. for Testing & Mat., 299-313.

616
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchjda(eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Consolidation property of a highly compressible construction waste sludge

M. Ibaralu, T.Sasahara & H.Akagi

Waseda University,Tokyo,Japan
Y. Sugawara
Tokyo Electric Power Company,Ibaraki, Japan

ABSTRACT: The slurry produced as a by-product of construction works has a high water content and con-
tains a large amount of fine clay particles, thus necessitating its flocculation and dehydration for the sake of
volume and water content reduction. The purpose of this study is to investigate the consolidation properties of
flocs of different sizes, made by the application of flocculant to sludge, under lower consolidation pressures.
Three types of experimental studies were carried out using clay flocs of different sizes. Based on the results of
dewatering and consolidation tests, it can be concluded that the floes' compressibility decreases with the in-
crease in their size under consolidation pressures below 10 kPa, and that the hydraulic consolidation test
could reliably predict initial deformation under lower consolidation pressures.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 SAMPLES, FLOCCULANT AND SPECIMENS

In construction works such as shield tunnels or dia-
phragm walls, a great deal of slurry, called “con-
struction waste sludge”, is produced. It has a high
water content and contains a large amount of fine
clay particles, thus necessitating its flocculation and
dehydration for the sake of volume and water con-
tent reduction. For the dehydration of construction
waste sludge, dehydrators such as filter-presses or
belt-presses are commonly used. At the intermediate
treatment plant selected for this study (Ichikawa-
city, Chiba), a special dehydrator called a “Dehy-
drum”(Figure 1) is used. The Dehydrum is a large
size cylindrical rotor (@=3,340 mm and L=10,230
mm), which rotates in a single direction at a slow
speed. The consolidation pressure of the Dehydrum
is assumed to be much lower than that of other de-
hydrators, which are estimated to be approximately
500 kPa to 700kPa. It has been observed at the pre-
sent plant that the consolidation properties of flocs,
made by the application of flocculant to sludge,
change according to their sizes. The purpose of this
study is to investigate the consolidation properties of
flocs of different sizes under lower consolidation
pressure. Three types of experimental study were
carried out using clay flocs: l)a gravity dewatering
experiment to confirm the changes in the dewatering
property of the flocs, 2)a constant rate of strain con-
solidation (CRS) test to investigate consolidation
properties under a wide pressure range, and 3)a hy-
dralic consolidation test to investigate consolidation
properties under a lower pressure range.
In the plant, the quality of dehydrated sludge varies
greatly due to the floes' size. It has been known that
the size of the flocs varies in terms of additive vol-
ume, additive order and the combination of floccu-
lants (J.H.Liu et al. (1996), Kawaguchi et al.
(1998)). Therefore, additive volumes of flocculants
have provided the key method of managing dewa-
tering treatments. The authors tried to control the
size of flocs by additive volumes of flocculant using
bentonite slurry. The physical properties of the
bentonite used are shown in Table 1. Distilled water
was added to powdered bentonite to prepare sample
slurry, and the slurry was settled for 24 hours to al-
low for sufficient swelling. Flocculants were then
added to slurry, and the flocs obtained are used for
experiments. In this study, we changed additive
volumes and orders of organic flocculant (poly-
acrylamide solutions, 0.1% by weight) and inorganic
floculants (LAC, a kind of pol yaluminium chloride)
in order to prepare three sizes of flocs: large, me-
dium, and small(Tab1e 2, Figure. 2).
3 GRAVITY DEWATERING EXPERIMENT
3.1 Introduction
The gravity dewatering experiment was performed
on three types of flocs of different sizes in order to
confirm the changes in the dewatering property of
each floc.

617
Figure 1. Dehydrum installed at plant.

3.2 Experimental Procedure

Three types of floc, the mass of which had been
known, was poured into a 75pm sieve and the mass
of discharged water passing through the sieve was
measured. The water content at the beginning of the
experiment was determined 3600 % for each sam-
ple. From these measurements, estimates was made
regarding the relationships between water content
and elapsed time.
3.3 Results and Discussion
Figure 3 shows the relationships between water
content and elapsed time. This figure demonstrates
that the time required to reach a steady state in
volume change becomes short and the void ratio re-
duction of flocs becomes large as the flocs increase
in size. Thus, this experiment demonstrates the in-
fluence of the flocs’ size on their dewatering prop-
erties, a characteristic that has been previously obse-
rved in the treatment plant.

Table 1. Physical properties of Bentonite.

Water content w (%) 3578
Density ps (Mg/m3) 2.58
Liquid limit wL(%) 406.7
Plastic limit wp (%) 28.3
Plasticity index Ip 378.4
PH 10.1
Sand (2mm-75mm) 0
Silt (75mm-5 ,U m) 12
Clay (5 ,U m-) 88

Table 2. Additive volume of flocculant and grain size of flocs.

Figure 2. Several type of flocs to floccurants (a) small size, (b)
Floc size LAC Polyacrylamide Grain Size medium size, (c) large size, and (d) without additive.
large 0.09% 65PPm @ 10mm-
medium 0.19% 65PPm @ 3-7mm
small 0.28% 65PPm @ 1-2mm 4 CONSTANT RATE OF STRAIN CONSOLIDA-
TION TEST
4.1 Introduction
Using gravity dewatering experiments, the changes
in consolidation properties due to size of flocs was

618
 confirmed, which had been observed previously at
the treatment plant. The constant rate of strain con-
I-
solidation test (CRS) was then performed on the 2 350
three flocs of different sizes to investigate each con- c
0
solidation property under a wide pressure range. U 300
I-

:
O h

4.2 CRS Test Procedure

c250
The CRS test apparatus consisted of the loading ap- 'D $200
paratus, the consolidation cell, and loading piston. A 2
guide ring of 3.5 cm was fixed on the 0-ring in or- 150

'
e,
der to obtain a specimen of sufficient height, since
the flocs were highly compressible. The inside sur- loo% 5 10 15 20 25 30
face of the consolidation ring was greased to mini- Elapsed Time t (min)
mize friction during loading. Figure 3. Measured water content versus elapsed time.
Each of three types of flocs prepared in Chapter 2
was poured into a consolidation ring up to a depth of
30 to 40mm and settled. The axial load was moni-
tored using the pressure transducers, the pore pres-
sure at the impervious base was measured using a
pore water transducer and the deformation of the
specimen was monitored using dial gauge. These
data were monitored and recorded using a data log-
ging system. The strain rate was set at a rate of
about OS(%/min), which was larger relative to the
0.01-O.l(%/min) recommended, because the excess
pore pressure could not be measured until the de-
formation had proceeded considerably at the re-
commended strain rate. The applied back pressure
was 10kPa. The CRS test conditions are listed in
Table 3. Figure 4. e versus log U ,' for CRS tests.
4.3 Test Results and Discussion
This large deformation at the initial state of the de-
The CRS test results are summarized in the form of
watering process would cause a loss in consolidation
e-log 0 v' in Figure 4. Figure 4 shows that com- energy. Furthermore, the amount of flocs fed into a
pressibility under a consolidation pressure of lower dehydrator at the beginning of the dewatering proc-
than 10 kPa varies greatly due to the size of the floc. ess would determine the amount of dewatered
The Compression Index of each ~ ~ O C ' Cc S under sludge obtained (George Tchobanoglous. & Franklin
such consolidation pressures are about 39.6 for the L. Burton. (1993)). Therefore, either the method for
small size, about 21.8 for the medium size, and making large size flocs or the reliable prediction of
about 10.2 for the large size. However, the remark- this initial deformation under lower consolidation
able differences in compressibility among the three pressure would be indispensable technology for the
flocs were not observed under a consolidation pres- successful operation of the Dehydrum.
sure of higher than 10 kPa. As a result, the flocs in
the Dehydrum would be dewatered under consoli-
dation pressures of lower than 10 kPa, where the Table 3. CRS test conditions.
remarkable differences in compressibility due to size Flock size large medium small
of floc could be observed during a series of CRS Rate of strain
tests. From the e-log o v' curves in Figure 4, it was E (.%/min) 0.50 0.57 0.50
found that the compressibility of large size flocs Initial height
maintains an approximately constant value under a Ho (cm) 1.99 1.75 1.96
wide consolidation pressure range and firm flocs Final height
have already been formed during the flocculation for H n (cm) 0.25 0.29 0.17
Initial water content
large flocs.
wn (%I 105.2 80.0 36.7
It is clear that the large deformation ofthe tToc ag-
gregates occurred with a decrease in floc size. For
example, the void ratio of small flocs decreased to
approximately one-fourth from that at the beginning
of the test to a consolidation pressure up to 100 kPa.

619
5 HYDRAULIC CONSOLIDATION TEST
5.1 Introduction
The gravity dewatering experiment (Chapter 3) and
a series of CRS tests (Chapter 4) shows that both
the method for making large flocs and the reliable
prediction of initial deformation during a dewatering
treatment under lower consolidation pressure would
be effective for improvement of the dewatering effi-
ciency of Dehydrum. It is possible to manage the
size of flocs by means of managing the additive
volume of flocculant to some extent, as shown in
Chapter 2. However, since construction waste sludge
generally contains some chemicals, the flocculation
of the sludge at the plant site would become much
complicated.
In this Chapter, the hydraulic consolidation test
proposed by Imai (1979) was performed on flocs of
three different sizes in order to confirm the test’s ef-
fectiveness for the reliable prediction of floc defor-
mation under low consolidation pressure.
5.2 Hydraulic Consolidation Test
Imai (1979) proposed a new type of consolidation
test called the “hydraulic consolidation test” for the
measurement of the compressibility and hydraulic
conductivity relationships of soft soils. In principle,
the hydraulic consolidation test is performed by ap-
plying a downward hydraulic gradient across a soil
specimen in a rigid-wall consolidometer. Seepage
forces consolidate the soil and produce a non-
uniform effective stress distribution within the
specimen. Once steady flow conditions are reached,
local pore pressures are measured using needles that
are inserted into the specimen from underneath. The
distribution of the void ratio at a steady state is de-
termined based on local water content measurements
that are obtained by slicing the specimen after it has
been removed from the cell. From these measure-
ments, relationships for void ratio, vertical hydraulic
conductivity, coefficient of volume change, and co-
efficient of consolidation can be obtained as a func-
tion of vertical effective stress.
Figure 5. Measured hydraulic conductivity versus vertical ef-
fective stress for 6 types of bentonite flocs.
620
On the other hand, Fox and Baxter (1997) as-
sumed that the logarithms of vertical hydraulic con
ductivity (k,) varies linearly with the logarithms of
vertical effective stress (a’,).They proposed an
analytical method that eliminated the need for meas-
urements of local pore pressure using needles, which
had been problematic in the original hydraulic con-
solidation test proposed by Imai (1979).
Assuming the logarithms of vertical hydraulic
conductivity (k,) varies linearly with the logarithms
of vertical effective stress (a’,)following equation
can be written:
where A = -d log kvl d log a’,,and kv,= vertical hy-
draulic conductivity corresponds to an arbitrary ref-
erence stress aya. For this assumption, the results of
constant rate strain of consolidation test for bento-
nite flocs in Chapter 4 indicate that a linear log k,
versus log d,is a good approximation (Fig. 5).
Therefore, the author adopted the method of data
analysis proposed by Fox and Baxter (1997), thus
the measurement of local pore pressure was elimi-
nated in this study.
5.3 Hydraulic Consolidation Test Procedure
The hydraulic consolidation test was performed on
flocs of three different sizes, in accordance with the
method proposed by Imai (1979). The hydraulic
consolidation test apparatus consists of a consoli-
dometer, air compressor, air regulators, pressure
gauge, head tanks, and double-tube flow meters. The
consolidometer used in this study has dimensions of
10 cm in diameter and 15 cm height.
In this study, the compressibility and hydraulic
conductivity of a bentonite floc specimen were
measured using a two-stage flow procedure (Fox
and Baxter (1997)). To begin with, the flocculants
were added to bentonite slurry to prepare a bentonite
floc specimen and then poured into the consolidom-
ter, paying careful attention to avoid entrapping air
bubbles or rupturing the flocs.
80
70
60
50
.E!
c.
40
cd
L- 30
2
0 20
10
0
0 001 001 0 1 1 10 1o2
Vertical effective stress 0 (kPa)
V
Figure 6. e versus log 0 for hydraulic consolidation tests.
 6 CONCLUSIONS

The above types of the dewatering experiment and

the consolidation tests for bentonite flocs demon-
strate the following conclusions:
(1)The gravity dewatering experiment shows the in-
fluence of flocs size on their dewatering properties,
which had been observed previously in the treatment
plant.
(2)The CRS test results revealed that the flocs'
compressibility differs greatly according their size
under a consolidation pressure of lOkPa and the
Figure 7. Comparison of hydraulic consolidation test with CRS test in
smaller the size of flocs become, the greater the
terms of e versus log U form.
flocs' initial deformation.
(3)The hydraulic consolidation test shows that the
flocs' compressibility tends to decrease with the in-
Same back pressure (10 kPa) was applied to the crease in floc size under consolidation pressures
two head tanks. For the first flow stage of the test, a lower than 10 kPa, and the same tendency was ob-
downward hydraulic gradient was applied across the served in CRS tests.
specimen only due to local water head to make (uf- (4)A reliable prediction of initial deformation un-
uh) (kPa) approximately 5.0 kPa, where U,, U, = the der lower consolidation pressure would be accom-
pore pressures at the top and bottom of the specimen. plished using the hydraulic consolidation test.
Once the steady flow was reached for flow stage 1,
the specimen height H(m), discharge velocity v
(m/sec), and (ut- uh)(kPa) value were recorded. The Table 4. Summary of test results for two stage hydraulic con-
hydraulic gradient was then increased up to twice solidation test of small floc.
for the second flow stage of the test by adjusting the
Test measurement Flow stage 1 Flow stage 2
air regulator. Specimen height, discharge velocity
and ( u t - uJ value were again recorded at a steady
U, - u b
(kPa) 4.9 9.8
state for flow stage 2. Then, sampling was per-
o',,(kPa) 0.001 0.001
formed by inserting a sampling tube vertically into O1"b ( k W 5.50 10.4
the specimen (a tube of 35 mm in inside diameter, H (m) 0.0607 0.0575
120 mm length and 1 mm thick). After the tube was v (m/sec) 8.1 x 10-fi 1.1x lo's
removed from the specimen, a piston was inserted
into the tube from its bottom to push the specimen
out of the tube gradually. Then, water content dis-
tribution was obtained by measurement of water Table 5. Summary of test result for two stage hydraulic con-
content of sliced sample column. solidation test of medium floc.

5.4 Test Results and Discussion Test measurement Flow stage 1 Flow stage 2

The test measurements at steady flow state for each U,- ub (kPa) 4.9 9.8
flow stage are given in Table 4 to Table 6. The hy- a'- (kPa) 0.001 0.001
draulic consolidation test results are summarized in u'vb (kPa) 5.46 10.3
the form of e-log o v fin, Figure 6. From the e-log o H (m) 0.0568 0.0578
"'curves in Figure 4,the tendency for the compressi- v (m/sec) 1.5x 10.~ 1.6 x 10-5
bility of flocs to decrease with increases in size of
flocs was recognized under a consolidation pressure
of lower than 10 kPa, which was the same tendency
as observed during CRS tests. The results of CRS Table 6. Summary of test result for two stage hydraulic con-
tests and hydraulic consolidation tests were demon- solidation test of large floc.
strated in Figure 7 which indicates that the hydraulic Test measurement Flow stage 1 Flow stage 2
consolidation test is a suitable method for estimation
of the consolidation characteristics of flocs under U, - U,, (kPa) 4.9 9.8
much lower consolidation pressures. Therefore, the o'vt(Ha) 0.001 0.001
hydraulic consolidation test could reliably predict O1"b ( W 5.46 10.3
initial deformation under lower consolidation pres- H (m) 0.0568 0.0558
sures, thus improving the dewatering efficiency in v (m/sec) 1.5 x 10-5 1.6 x 10-5
the plant.

621
7 REFERENCES

Fox, P.J. & Baxter, D.P. 1997. Consolidation Properties

of Soil Slurries From Hydraulic Consolidation Test,
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engi-
neering, vo1.123, No.8, August, 1997
Imai, G. 1979. Development of a new consolidation test
procedure using seepage force, Soils and Foundations,
~01.19,NO.3: 45-60
Kawaguchi, M., Horiuchi, S . & Asada, M., Horio, M.
1998. Dewatering and fusion treatment of waste bento
nite slurry. Proc. 3rd Environmental Geotechnics, Sec0
e Pinto (ed.), vol. 2: 673-678
Liu, J.H., Wu, L.J. & Yang, G.S., Li, S.K. & Liu,
L.L., Chen, M.M. & Zhu, R.F. 1996. A method to
improve the settlement velocity of dredged soil
particles. Proc. 2nd Environmental Geotechnics,
Kamon (ed.), vol. 1: 373-378
Tchobanoglous, G. & Burton, EL. 1993. Waste water en-
gineering -Treatment, Disposal, and Reuse- Ttird Edi-
tion. METCALF & EDDY, INC., McGraw-Hill Pub-
lishing Company, 621-630

622
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Application of shredded tires as lightweight backfill

J. Lee, R. Salgado & C.W. Love11

Purdue University,West Lafayette, Ind., USA

ABSTRACT: The growing interest in utilizing waste materials in civil engineering applications has opened
the possibility of constructing reinforced soil structures with unconventional backfills. Scrap tires are a high-
profile waste material for which several uses have been studied, including the use of shredded tires as backfill.
A triaxial testing program was conducted to investigate the stress-strain relationship and strength of tire chips
and a mixture of sand and tire chips. The test results and additional information from the literature were used
in the numerical modeling of wall backfills, both unreinforced and reinforced with geosynthetics. The nu-
merical modeling results suggest tire shreds, particularly when mixed with sand, may be effectively used as
backfill.

1 INTRODUCTION The triaxial samples were 150 mm in diameter by

It is estimated that 1 to 2 billion scrap tires have
been disposed in huge piles across the United States.
An additional 250 million tires are discarded every
year. Almost 30% of these scrap tires wind up in
overcrowded landfills and thousands more are left in
empty lots and illegal tire dumps. Since rubber tires
do not easily decompose, economically feasible and
environmentally sound alternatives for scrap tire
disposal must be found.
One possible application consists of using shred-
ded tires, alone or mixed with soils, as fills and
backfills, which requires that the mechanical proper-
ties of such materials and their response under real-
istic loadings be studied. The product of tire shred-
ding is usually referred to as “tire chips” when they
are generally between 12 and 50 mm in size and
have most of the steel belting removed. The terms
tire shreds or rough shreds are used for larger parti-
cles. This terminology will be adopted herein.
In the present paper, a laboratory study is used for
a preliminary assessment of the mechanical proper-
ties of tire chips and rubber-sand (a mixture of sand
and tire chips or shreds). The results are compared
with previous work on similar materials. The prop-
erties are then used in the finite element modeling of
a full-scale test wall with a tire-shred backfill.
2 TRIAXIAL TESTS ON TIRE CHIPS AND
RUBBER-SAND
Triaxial tests were performed using tire chips with a
30-mm minus size and no exposed steel belts, and
rubber-sand, a mixture of Ottawa sand and tire chips.
300 mm high. The samples were’tested using an
MTS Soil Testing System connected to a data acqui-
sition system. Dry unit weights of rubber-sand and
tire-chip samples were approximately 12.5 and 6.3
kN/m3,respectively. Triaxial tests were conducted at
confining pressures equal to 28, 97 and 193 kPa un-
der consolidated-drained condition. Two or more
tests were conducted at each confining pressure to
ensure repeatability of results.
2.1 Tire chips
Figure 1 shows the deviatoric stress and the volu-
metric strain versus axial strain for the tire chips un-
der the three confining pressures. The general shape
of the stress-strain curves shows a nearly linear be-
havior with increasing deviatoric stress under in-
creasing axial strain. The material did not reach a
peak deviatoric stress under the different confining
pressures.
Tire chips show an almost linear decrease in vol-
ume with increasing axial strains. The volume
change at o3= 28 kPa confining pressure varies line-
arly with axial strain up to 5 percent strain and sta-
bilizes at higher strain levels. The volume change
vs. axial strain relationship at o3 = 97 kPa is linear
up to 15 percent strain and shows a declining rate at
higher axial strains. At o3 = 193 kPa, volume
change is linear on axial strain practically throughout
the test.
The voids within the tire chip aggregate are re-
duced as the axial strain increases. Under low con-
fining pressures, the tire chip sample began to bulge
at low strains. For higher confining pressures, the

623

Figure 1. Results from triaxial compression tests for tire chips.
sample initially deforms vertically, and, at around 10
YOstrain, bulging is apparent. Ahmed (1 993) and
Masad et al. (1995) have also studied the shear be-
havior of tire chips and granulated rubber, respec-
tively, under triaxial conditions. The tests conducted
by Ahmed (1993) did not measure the volumetric
change during shear.
2.2 Rubber-sand
According 'to triaxial test results for rubber-sand
(Bernal et al. 1997), the deviatoric stress tends to
stabilize at increasing levels of axial strain for all
confining pressures. Volumetric strain indicates an
initial decrease in volume, and varying levels of di-
lation have been observed for the three confining
pressures.
Masad et al. (1995) also tested a mixture of 50%
granulated rubber and 50% Ottawa sand by weight.
Their results are again generally comparable to the
present results, although a peak is better defined in
the tests by Masad et al. (1995), which have also
624
been extended to greater axial strains. The differ-
ences in strength values obtained can be attributed to
the different sizes of the testing materials.
3 STRESS-STRAINMODEL FOR ANALYSIS
3.1 Hyperbolic model
The nonlinear stress-strain behavior of soil has a
significant influence on the stresses and displace-
ments developed within a geotechnical structure.
Nonlinear elastic models can be expected to provide
acceptable prediction of the soil behavior at rela-
tively low shear stress levels. The soil stiffness
modeled in this manner increases with increasing
confining pressure and decreases with increasing
shear stress level. A very low stiffness is assigned to
a soil element with stress condition at failure.
According to the hyperbolic model proposed by
Duncan et al. (1980), the deviatoric stress ol - ojis
related to axial strain E through:
where (U, - 03),,1~ = ultimate (asymptotic) value of
deviatoric stress; Ei = initial tangent Young's
modulus. The ultimate deviatoric stress is related to
the deviatoric stress at "failure" (i.e., the soil
strength) through
where Rf = failure ratio, a value typically between
0.5 and 0.9. The initial tangent modulus increases
with confining stress according to
where K = modulus number; n = modulus exponent;
P, = reference stress (numerically equal to the at-
mospheric pressure) in the desired units for E,. Com-
plete description of the mechanical response of an
elastic material requires another parameter in addi-
tion to Young's modulus. The hyperbolic model
permits use of the bulk modulus B, which also varies
with confining stress:
?)
B = &fa( (4)
where K, and m are dimensionless parameters. The
original model was modified by Seed and Duncan
(1984) with a limiting lower bound for bulk modulus
as follows:
3.2 Determination oj'hyperbolic parameters jor tire
shreds and rubber-sand
Hyperbolic parameters for 50-mm tire shreds were
calculated by Gharegrat (1 993) after analyzing the
results of compressibility and direct shear testing on
tire shreds from various suppliers. The results of
Gharegrat (1993) are used in the subsequent analy-
ses, because the 50-mm tire shreds resemble more
closely the material used in the retaining wall tests
described later. The parameters obtained were ycomp
= 6.3 kN/m3, c = 7.6 kPa, $ = 21", K = 33.5, Kb =
24.8, n = 1.10, m = 1.09, KO= 0.33, and R f = 0.61
The hyperbolic parameters for rubber-sand were cal-
culated from the triaxial test data presented earlier by
following the procedure presented by Duncan et al.
(1980). The volumetric and deviatoric stress vs. ax-
ial strain triaxial testing results were used for this
purpose. The hyperbolic parameters used for the
numerical analysis of the rubber-sand fills are ycomp=
12.5 kN/m3, c =17.5 kPa, 4 = 42", K = 83.7, Kb =
120,n = 0.47, m = 0.33, KO=0.7, and R f = 0.7
The coefficient of lateral earth pressure at-rest KO
for tire shreds was determined to be 0.33 from the
average value observed in the field wall test by
Tweedie et al. (1998). The value of KOfor rubber-
sand was obtained as 0.7 through compressibility
testing (Bernal 1996).
4 RETAINING WALL TEST BY THE
UNIVERISTY OF MAINE
4.1 Wall tests
Tweedie et al. (1998) used a full-scale wall at the
University of Maine to measure the pressure exerted
by a tire shred fill under both at-rest and active con-
ditions. The testing facility had a height equal to
4.8 m and a length equal to 4.5 m. Three different
types of tire shreds were tested. The first two types,
Pine State Recycling and Palmer Shredding, con-
sisted of 76-mm maximum size pieces and a mixture
of steel and glass belted tires. The third type, pro-
duced by F&B Enterprises, has 50-mm maximum
size pieces with most of the belts removed.
The wall facing was not allowed to move during
construction and compaction of the backfill, nor
while the loads were applied, to simulate at-rest lat-
eral pressure conditions. Horizontal pressures were
measured under the surcharges equal to zero, 12, 24
and 36 kPa using three pressure cells installed on the
front wall panel at the elevations equal to 0.51 m,
2.08 m, and 3.86 m from the bottom. After apply-
ing full surcharge, the active condition was simu-
lated by allowing the front wall to rotate around the
bottom support. The maximum surcharge was also
removed and then reapplied two to three times, to
see the effects of repeated reloading.
4.2 Numerical modeling of wall tests
The finite element analysis of the tire shred fill was
done using ABAQUS with specifically written sub-
625
routine for the hy_perbolic midel previously de-
scribed. The finite element meshes were prepared
with the same dimensions as the field-test facility,
including the 10 cm of wall thickness. Both the
front and back walls were modeled as made of a
relatively rigid material (with high stiffness com-
pared with the backfill) following a linear elastic
model. No displacement was allowed at the front
and back walls for the at-rest condition. Two dif-
ferent meshes were used: one for modeling the un-
reinforced and the other for modeling the reinforced
backfill using geotextile. According to Huesker Inc.
(providers of the geotextile used), the ultimate wide-
width tensile strength achieved at 9% strain (elonga-
tion at break) is 16.4 kN/m, the cross sectional area
is 0.00064 m2, and the weight is 0.44 kg/m2. These
basic properties of the geotextile were used in the
analyses. Interface elements were used between
geotextile reinforcements and the backfill material,
as well as between the backfill and the wall facing.
The friction angle between the front wall and the tire
shred backfill was 32", based on field test results by
Tweedie et al. (1998). Because the back wall was
made of timber cribbing supported by a steel frame
with 2-in gap between each row of cribbing, the
frictionless interface was assumed between the back
wall and the tire shred during surcharge for the at-
rest condition.
Six layers of geotextiles were used between fill
lifts 1 and 2 , 3 and 4 and so on up to the last geotex-
tile layer placed between fill lifts 11 and 12. For the
at-rest condition, the walls were assumed to be fixed
throughout the analysis. The active condition was
simulated in such a way that the front wall was
hinged at its base and horizontally fixed by a high-
stiffness bar at its top until the surcharge was fully
applied. After the full surcharge of 36 kPa was in
place, horizontal displacements equal to 6.7 cm and
14.2 cm, corresponding to the 0.8" and 1.7" rotations
applied in the field test, were applied at the top of
the front wall. Further numerical analysis was done
of a tire shred fill, a geotextile-reinforced tire shred
fill, a rubber-sand fill, a geotextile reinforced rubber-
sand fill, and a sandy gravel backfill to check the
validity of the results and compare the performance
of these different backfills. The program was run
under the same loading and boundary conditions for
all cases and the results were compared. The pa-
rameters for the sandy gravel backfill were based on
typical values given by Duncan et a1 (1 980): ycomp =
20 kN/m3, c = 0, 4 = 32", K = 500, Kb = 350, n =
0.4, m = 0.25,Ko = 0.5, and R f = 0.7
Figure 2 shows the deformed meshes used to
model the wall test with tire-chip backfill for the at-
rest and active conditions, where the darkened areas
of the meshes represent undeformed mesh shapes be-
fore application of surcharge. The deformations of
the mesh shown in Figure 2 were exaggerated for
better visualization. Because different friction angle
values were used for the front and back wall, the de-
formed mesh for the at-rest condition shows asym-
metric shape. The settlement of the backfill surface
and the horizontal pressure acting on the wall

Figure 2. Deformed finite-element meshes for tire-chip back-
fill with 36-kPa surcharge under (a) at-rest condition and (b)
active condition.
under 36-kPa surcharge can be seen for the at-rest
condition in Figure 3. The pressure-settlement
curves in Figure 3(a) were initialized at 6-kPa sur-
charge, as was done in the field test. The measured
and predicted average settlements plotted in Figure
3(a) were obtained from the average values of the
settlement observed fiom the settlement grid in the
wall test, and corresponding places in the finite ele-
ment model, respectively. The predicted settle-
ments for the unreinforced case in Figure 3(a) agree
reasonably well with measured values, but underpre-
dictions (of as much as 15%) are observed for the
larger surcharges. One possible reason for that dif-
ference may be the time-dependent changes in stress
626
Figure 3. Measured and F.E. results with 36-kPa surcharge: (a)
average settlement vs. applied pressure and (b) horizontal pres-
sure on wall under at-rest condition.
and settlement, which were indeed observed in the
field test. It can also be seen that the reinforcement
of the backfill has very little effect on the vertical
settlement.
The predicted values of horizontal pressure on the
wall in Figure 3(b) show overestimated results by
average 20 - 30% compared to the measured hori-
zontal pressure. The degree of overestimation was
relatively small at the top of the fill and becomes
larger with increasing depth. The effect of rein-
forcement on horizontal pressure on the wall is ob-
served to be quite significant. Although the wall
facings were fixed, allowing no displacement during
surcharge, the frictional resistance between the rein-
forcement and the backfill tended to cause elonga-
tion of reinforcement, which in turn caused the de-
crease of horizontal pressure on the wall.
Approximately 20 - 40% of decrease in horizontal
pressure resulted by using reinforcement.
Figure 4 represents the distribution of horizontal
pressure on the wall under the active condition for
two wall rotation angles, 0.8" (Figure 4(a)) and 1.7"
(Figure 4(b)). The measured horizontal pressure
was obtained 1 day after the rotation was applied.

Figure 4. Measured and F.E. results with 36-kPa surcharge: (a)
horizontal pressure on wall with 0.8" rotation and (b) horizon-
tal pressure on wall with 1.7" rotation.
Overall, predicted horizontal pressure values were
higher than measured values, most significantly so at
the bottom of the wall. Both the field test and the
predicted results for the tire shred backfill indicate
that larger rotation angles (or horizontal displace-
ments) may be required for the full development of
the active condition. The effect of reinforcement on
horizontal pressure under an active condition was
also significant. The relatively uniform distribution
of horizontal pressure of reinforced backfill down to
an elevation of about 2 m, seen in Figure 4(b), was
due to the local separation between backfill and wall.
The effect of the reinforcement in reducing the lat-
eral pressure on the wall is minimal for the at-rest
condition. This result was expected, as the dis-
placements required to mobilize the pullout force do
not develop under this condition. The active case
shows large deformations of the tire shred fill near
the wall surface; the deformations are reduced as the
distance from the wall increases. In this case, the
reinforcement significantly reduces the horizontal
pressure on the wall.
627
Figure 5. Finite-element results with 36-kPa surcharge: (a) set-
tlement of backfill surface and (b) horizontal pressure on wall
with different backfill materials under at-rest condition.
The test results by Tweedie et al. (1998) and the
numerical analysis presented in this study indicate
the economic advantage of using tire shreds as a
backfill material, leading to lower pressure on the
walls and smaller wall thickness when compared
with conventional backfills. One potential problem
of the use of tire shreds as a backfill material, how-
ever, is the considerable amount of settlements that
may be caused by surcharge. The use of rubber-
sand can minimize the settlement problem. Figure 5
shows the settlement of the backfill surface and
horizontal pressure on the wall for a rubber-sand and
a gravel backfill for 36-kPa surcharge. The backfill
surface shown in Figure 5(a) is symmetric because
the same fiction angle was used for both the front
and back wall facings. The settlement of the rub-
ber-sand backfill was about 1.6 cm at the middle of
the backfill surface, which is much smaller than that
observed for a tire-shred backfill (about 33-cm aver-
age settlement in the field wall test). The results of
the compressibility tests on rubber sand using a large
PVC tube (as described earlier) would suggest a set-
tlement much larger than the 1.6 cm obtained using
the numerical analysis with the hyperbolic model.
This underprediction may be due to the different REFERENCES
values of interface friction angle in the laboratory
test and the one used in the numerical analysis. The Ahmed, I. 1993. Laboratory study on properties of rubber
compressibility test results showed that the interface roils. Report No. FHWA/IN/JHRP-93/4, School of Civil
friction angle between rubber sand and the PVC pipe Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
varied in the range of 25" - 3 1O for stress levels (0 - Bernal, A. 1996. Laboratory study on the use of tire shreds and
35 kPa) comparable with those observed in the nu- rubber-sand in backfills and reinforced soil application.
merical analysis of the rubber-sand backfill. In the Ph.D. thesis, Purdue University. West Lafayette. Indiana.
numerical analysis, however, constant value of inter- Bernal, A., Salgado, R., Swan Jr., R.H. and Lovell, C.W. 1997.
face friction angle equal to about 32" was assumed. Interaction between tire shreds, rubber-sand and geosyn-
The other possible reason for the underprediction is thetics. Geosynthetics International. 4(6): 623-643.
the neglect in the numerical analysis of self-weight Duncan, J. M., Byrne, P., Wong, K. S. and Mabry, P. 1980.
compression, which occurs prior to the placement of Strength, stress-strain and bulk modulus parameters for fi-
the surcharge (Lee et al. 1999). Although the set- nite element analyses of stresses and movements in soil
tlement observed for rubber-sand is still larger than masses. Geotechnical Engineering Research Report No.
for a conventional gravel backfill, the horizontal UCB/GT/80-01. University of California. Berkeley. Cali-
pressure on the wall was observed to be smaller for fornia.
rubber-sand than for the gravel backfill. Further re- Gharegrat, H. 1993. Finite element analyses of pavements un-
duction is observed if reinforcement is added. derlain by a tire chip layer and of retaining walls with tire
chip backfill. A4SCE Thesis. University of Maine. Orono.
Maine.
5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Lee, J.H., Salgado, R., Bernal, A., and Lovell, C.W. 1998.
A large number of used tires are disposed of every Shredded tires and rubber-sand as lightweight backfill. J. of
year. A more productive, environmentally desirable Geotech. And Geoenviron. Enging. ASCE. 125(2):132- 14 1.
use of these tires would be the construction of em- Masad, E., Taha, R., Ho, C. and Papagiannakis, T. 1995. En-
bankments and backfills with tire shreds or mixtures gineering properties of tire/soil mixtures as a lightweight
of tire shreds and sand (rubber-sand). Such fills are fill material. Geotechnical Testing Journal. ASTM. 19(3):
lighter than traditional soil fills. Additionally, the 293-304.
present study shows that the strength of these mate- Seed, R.B. and Duncan, J.M. 1984. SSCOMP: a finite element
rials are usually adequate for such applications. analysis program for evaluation of soil-structure interaction
Stiffness and strength properties for tire shreds and compaction effects. Geotechnical Engineering Re-
and rubber-sand were established with basis on a search Report No. UCB/GT/84-02. Univ. of California.
laboratory testing program. It was observed that tire Berkeley. California.
chips and shreds show a nearly linear relationship Tweedie, J., Humphrey, D.N. and Sandford, T. 1998. Tire
between deviatoric stress and axial strain at the con- chips as lightweight backfill for retaining walls - phase 11."
fining stresses used in this study. The volume Report to the New England Transportation Consortium.
change relationship was also nearly linear, except at Univ. of Maine. Orono. Maine.
the lowest confining stress, for which a constant vol-
ume condition was reached at large axial strains.
Mixtures of sand and tire chips (rubber-sand) pre-
sent a response intermediate between those of pure
sand and pure tire chips. Rubber-sand has an initial
tendency to contract, followed by dilation. This is
the typical response of a sand, but the range of
strains for which there is contraction is wider than
for sands, and dilatancy is much less. The observed
results are in general agreement with the results from
other authors.
The laboratory test results were used to establish
the parameters required for the hyperbolic modeling
of these materials. A finite element analysis was
conducted to.mode1 the performance of tire shred
and rubber-sand backfills, and geotextile-reinforced
backfills under at-rest and active conditions. The re-
sults were compared with field tests performed by
Tweedie et al. (1998) at the University of Maine.
The finite element analyses produced reasonably
good estimates of deformations and stresses for a tire
shred backfill under at-rest condition, while showing
overestimation for the active condition. In addition,
the analyses indicated that the performance of rub-
ber-sand, being both lightweight and reasonably
strong, compared well with a sandy gravel, as a
backfill material.

628
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Minimization of heavy metal leaching effect from dredged sediments

involving reclamation
Masashi Kamon -Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI),Kyoto UniversiQ Japan
Takeshi Katsumi - Department of Civil Engineering, Ritsumeikan University,Kusatsu, (Formerly Disaster
Prevention Research Institute (DPRI),Kyoto Universiq, Japan)
Naoki Sawa - JGC Corporation, Yokohama (Formerly Department of Civil Engineering, Kyoto University,
Japan)
Keijiro It0 - Department of Civil Engineering, Kyoto University,Japan

ABSTRACT: A concept to minimize the negative effect of heavy metal leaching on geo-environment from
bottom sediments due to dredging/reclamation works is discussed, based on the experimentally evaluated
leaching characteristics of Zn from the clay slurry. Batch leaching tests are conducted on Fukakusa Clay (LL =
47.4%, PL = 26.0%, CEC = 23.6 meq/lOOg) suspension doped with Zn (Zn(N0,)I.6H,0) as an index heavy
metal. Also, the consolidation leaching test is proposed to examine the leaching mechanism in the dehydration
process. These experimental results show that (1) the relationship between Zn adsorption per 1 g soil and
equilibrated concentration of clay suspension varies with extracting volume ratios (US),(2) Zn adsorption per 1
g soil is dependent on the doped mass of Zn per 1 g soil regardless of US, and (3) consolidation has no effect
on the leaching of Zn. Based on the above results, leaching mass of heavy metals associated with dredging,
dehydration, and reclamation is parametrically predicted to assess the effects of water contents befordafter
dredging and dehydration.

1 INTRODUCTION In particular evaluating whether the pore-water

Bottom sediments in harbors and coastal sites are
dredged in large quantities (approximately 3x 1O7
m3/y) to maintain the navigable waterway and purify
the sea water quality in Japan. In view of the limited
capacity of landfill sites to dispose dredged sediments,
the effective reuse in geotechnical applications such
as reclamation is strongly encouraged. Prior to reuse
of these dredged sediments, the adverse
environmental impact should be assessed since the
sediments might contain toxic substances such as
heavy metals and leaching of such substances from
the reclaimed sediments affects the geo-environment.
In particular, the bottom sediments from highly
industrialized coastal area may contain lead,
chromium, copper, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic
which originate from the industrial activities.
In considering geo-environmental impact due to the
leaching from high water content geo-materials, the
effect of change in water content before and after the
reclamation has to be taken into account (Kamon et al.
squeezed due to consolidation contain a significant
amount of heavy metals is essential. Also, the
chemical condition, such as redox, has to be
considered, since dredging and reclamation processes
above water level may not be able to maintain the
reduction condition under which the metals are rather
immobilized (Yoshinaga 1995; Kamon et al. 1998b).
Thus, the goal of this study is to minimize the
adverse environmental impact of heavy metal leaching
from dredged sediments involving dehydration,
reclamation, and consequent consolidation based on
the experimental results of batch and consolidation
leaching tests.
Table 1. Properties of Fuk rkusa Clay (under 75 Km)
Particle density 2.72 &m3
Liquid limit 47.4%
Plastic limit 26.0%
Silt fraction (5-75 pm) 38.2%
Clay fraction (< 5 pm) 61.8% -

2000). Because the sediments are usually dredged at CEC 23.6 meq/100g
a extremely high water content (500-lOOO%), Exchangeable cations
dehydration is an effective way prior to the Na 0.01 meq/100g
reclamation (Kawachi et al. 1996; Kamon et al. Mg 13.5 meq/lOOg
1998a), otherwise significant consolidation will occur Al 1.4 meq/l OOg
after reclamation. Thus, the chemical transport K 0.06 meq/lOOg
associated with consolidation has been an important Ca 8.7 meq/100g
geotechnical issue for sludge-state waste reclamation
(e.g. Carrier et al. 1983; Gibson et al. 1995).
629

2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
2.1 Muterials
Fukakusa Clay, a dry powder processed clay, was
used for the leaching tests. Only the fraction smaller
than 0.075 mm in particle diameter was used. The
main properties are listed in Table I , and the
dominant clay minerals present in the soil system are
illite and kaolinite. The pH values of the clay
exhibited acid (pH = 3.0-3.5). Although the
reduction-oxidation state is an important factor
affecting the leaching of metals, only the adsorption
properties against zinc was evaluated on a dry
processed clay but redox effect was not evaluated in
this study.
Zinc was used as an index heavy metal.
Zn(NO,)? 6 H 2 0 solutions at several concentrations
were used. The pH value of the solutions exhibits a
weak acid.
2.2 Leaching tests
Two different types of leaching test were conducted;
batch leaching test (BLT) and consolidation leaching
test (CLT).
630
BLT was conducted basically in accordance to the
JLT 46 method prescribed by the Environmental
Agency, Japan. Zn(NO,), 6H,O solutions at the
concentrations of approximately 100, 500, and 1000
ppm were mixed with Fukakusa Clay at US (liquid
per solid ratios) of 1, 3, 5, 10, and SO. The obtained
clay suspensions/sludges containing Zn simulate
dredged sediments. After shaking the sludge for 6
hours, Zn concentration of the filtrate was determined
using ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) at
equilibrium concentration. The mass of Zn adsorbed
on the clay can be calculated from the equilibrium
concentration determined.
CLT was proposed to reveal the leaching
mechanism in the dehydration and consolidation
processes. The oedometer used for CLT was newly
developed to obtain the squeezed water during
consolidation (Figure 1). The clay mixed with the
equal weight to water (which means 100% water
content) containing 100, 500, and 1000 ppm
Zn(N03);6H,0 was poured into the oedometer. The
vertical pressure of range 1.48 kPa to 90.16 kPa is
being increased incrementally after the 90% of degree
of consolidation is achieved for each pressure.
Squeezed/drained water was collected separately for
the first and last half, and Zn concentration was
determined using ICP.
3 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
3.1 Batch leaching test (BLT)
The results of BLT shown in Figure 2 illustrate that
the mass of Zn adsorbed on a unit mass of soil ranges
from 0. I mg/g to 5.5 mg/g, which depend on the
initial and equilibrium concentration of solutions and
US (liquid per solid ratios). As the initial
concentration of Zn solution increases from 100 ppm
to 1000 ppm, the Zn adsorption also increases by a
factor of 3-5. The increase in WS also results in an
increase with the amount of Zn adsorption. In
comparing the series of tests with the similar values
of initial and consequent equilibrium concentrations,
the increase in L/S from 1 to SO resulted in the 7-
times increase in the adsorbed Zn (from 0.17 mglg to
1.25 mg/g) when the initial concentration is 100 ppm,
and increased by 13 times (from 0.41 mg/g to 5.52
mg/g) with initial concentration of 1000 ppm.
There are several mechanisms discussed on the
heavy metals immobilization in the soil-water system
(e.g. Yong et al. 1992; McBride 1994). Yong et al.
(1 992) summarized that the immobilization of metals
are attributed to exchange to other cations on clay
surface, formation of insoluble compounds such as
carbonate and/or hydroxide, adsorption onto organic
matters, and residual fraction. Under the experimental
conditions conducted in this study, it is considered
that hydroxide and carbonate did not form because
the clay-water system exhibited a weak acid. Also,
the Fukakusa clay is a pure processed clay which
does not contain organic fractions. Therefore, the
cation exchange behavior is considered as the
dominant mechanism to immobilize Zn. Calcium and
magnesium ions, which initially exist on the particles
surface due to the attraction by the negative charge,
have been replaced by Zn++in water. Thus, the
adsorption depends upon the L/S values and initial
Concentration of solutions is consistent with the basic
theory on ion exchange on clay surface.
Figure 3 summarizes the Zn adsorption on clay in
relation to the Zn doped with the clay-water system
per 1 g soil. The plots show that the Zn adsorption is
simply dependent on the mass of Zn doped per 1 g
soil, and the regression can be expressed as: Figure 5. Zn adsorption in CLT and BLT

MA= 0.403 M,0.649 (R = 0.988) (1) 3.2 Consolidation leaching tests (CLT)

where MA is the Zn adsorption on 1 g soil (mg/g), Figures 4 and 5 show the results from CLT for
and MD is the mass of Zn doped per 1 g soil (mg/g). different initial concentration levels of 100, 500, and
In the range of concentrations for which the 1000 ppm. The results from BLT under US = 1 are
experimental work was conducted, it can also be also plotted with an equilibrium concentration to
roughly concluded that 10% of dozed Zn is adsorbed compare the BLT and CLT results, since the initial
on clay while 90% remain in the water. water content of the sample subjected to CLT was
100% (L/S = 1). The slurry used for CLT finally
achieved water content of 30% after the vertical
6 pressure of 90.16 kPa was applied. Although the
535 CLT has a different extraction procedure from the
BLT, the leaching concentration in CLT is almost
3
W 4 identical to the equilibrium concentration in BLT, and
2 consequently the Zn adsorption in CLT is equal to the
e 3 one in BLT. This result might be considered
3 susceptible, and not consistent with the results
2 2 obtained from BLT. From BLT, the mass of Zn
81 adsorbed on a unit mass of soil simply depends on
the mass doped into soil-water system per a unit mass
0 of soil. In CLT, unlike BLT, the total mass of Zn in
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 soil-water system decreases with the proceed of
Zn added to soil (mg/g) consolidation, because the drainedkqueezed water
contains a certain amount of Zn, but the mass
Figure 3. Zn adsorption versus mass of Zn adsorbed after consolidation process is equal to the
added to the sediments value from BLT for US = 1. The reason for this
might be that competing cations such as Cat+ and
Mg++are also extracted from the soil-water system
with the drained water. The equilibrium constant, K,
which has to be taken into account here is:

K = [X(S)] [Zn++(R)][Zn++(S)].' [X(R)] - I (2)

where [Zn++(S)] and [X(S)] are the concentrations of
Zn and other exchangeable cations in liquid (mg/g-
soil), and [Zn++(R)]and [X(R)] are the mass of Zn
and other cations adsorbed on soil (mg/g-soil). If the
other competing cations are drained with the squeezed
water, the Zn adsorption will increase to keep K
constant. As a result, CLT achieved the almost equal
leached concentration and adsorbed mass to BLT.
Figure 4. Equilibrium concentration in BLT
to leaching concentration in CLT
631
 -00

80 ....... L .......
I. ....... .......

....... ......

60

40 ...,.......-. .............

1 ; .
,

,
/

....... ...... ? . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . 1 . . . . . .
I

..,
,
I

.. 20
...... .,.. ......

* .
5 10 15 20 25 30
Axial displacement (mm)
Figure 6. Concentration of leached Zn in CLT
Figure 6 shows the concentrations of leached Zn in
the drained water which was separately collected. The
initially drained water has exactly the same Zn
concentration as the last half portion of squeezed
water from the sample for CLT, which means that the
progress on consolidation does not affect the leaching.
It might be because the adsorbed Zn on soil surface is
attracted by a negative charge, which is strong
enough so that the consolidation pressure equal to or
smaller than 90 kPa could not separate Zn+*from the
clay surface.
In conclusion, leachedhdsorbed amount of Zn
from consolidation process can be roughly estimated
from the batch leaching test with the same value of
US as in the initial condition prior to the
consolidation.
4 PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS
4.1 Basis
The mass of leached heavy metals involving dredging,
dehydration, reclamation, and consequent
consolidation was parametrically calculated under the
following assumptions, using above experimental
results.
. ~ 5004
45 0
20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Water content achieved by dehydration (%)
Figure 8. Calculated results of mass of heavy metal
leached during post-reclamation
Initially, the in-situ bottom sediments have a water
content of w,, concentration of the target heavy metal
contained of c,, and mass of the heavy metal
contained of w.
Dredging process increases water
content to w, (>wo). This increase in water content is
due to the fact that the grab dredger would excavate
the bottom sediments with a amount of sea water
which does not contain heavy metal. Thus, the heavy
metal concentration after dredging, c1,is:
c, = W O c, IW, (3)
Before and after the dredging process, the heavy
metal mass does not change (M, = MJ.
Due to the dehydration treatment process, the water
content is reduced from w , to w?. According to the
experimental results mentioned above, the
concentration of the leached heavy metals is not
affected by the degree of dehydration. The squeezed
water generated by the dehydration should, therefore,
have the same heavy metal concentration as the pore
water in dredged sediments (c2 = c,). The mass of
heavy metal contained in the sediments decreased (M,
< M,) because some amount of heavy metals were
drained out to the squeezed water.

Figure 7. Mass of heavy metal existingin the sediments involvingdredging dehydration, and reclamation

632
 After the reclamation of dehydrated sludge,
consolidation will occur to attain the water content of
w3 (< w?). Similar to the dehydration process, the
consolidation has no effect on the adsorption of
heavy metals on clay. Therefore, the concentration of
heavy metals remains in the sediments, c,, is equal to
c, and cl, and the mass of heavy metal in the
sediments decreases (M, < M,) with a decrease in
water content. Thus, the leached mass during the
consolidation process (after reclamation), M,, is:
The overall process for above calculation is
illustrated in Figure 7. The leached mass, instead of
concentration, is taken into account in order to
compare the cases with different water content with
the absolute value of mass.
4.2 Discussion und practical implications
An example of the calculated results from the above
mentioned method is shown in Figure 8. The leached
masses after reclamation were calculated with relation
to the water content achieved by dehydration process,
and three different water content levels after dredging
process (w, = 100, 300, and 500%) were considered.
The initial condition of the bottom sediments are 100
ppm of heavy metal concentration, 100% of water
content. The achieved water content of reclaimed
sediments after the completion of consolidation is
assumed 30 % .
The mass of leached heavy metal during the
consolidation is linearly related to the water content
achieved by dehydration, and also related to the
dredged water content. In the case that the dredged
water content (w,) is low (loo%), the decrease of
water content in dehydration (w,) has more
significant effect on the leached mass compared to the
case of high dredged water content (500%). To
achieve the same level of mass leached, for exaniple
10 mg per 1 g dry soil, the dredged sediments have to
be dehydrated to low water content (40%) if the effort
is made to dredge the sediments at low water content
(loo%), while the sediments only have to be
dehydrated to 80% water content in the case that the
sediments are dredged at 500% water content.
Therefore, in order to reduce the mass of leached
metal, there might be two possible options; ( 1 ) to
make an effort in dredging sediments with a low
water content and also achieving the low water
content through dehydration, and (2) to dredge the
sediments with a comparatively high water content.
For the first option, several types of dredging
equipment which have been recently developed to
minimize the dredged volume, that is water content,
can be used. Since the water content is low, the
important advantage is that the volume of the dredged
sediments treated and reclaimed is small, which might
633
be advantageous for large scale of dredging and
reclmation projects. The second option might be
considered rougher and less technical, however, will
bring out less cost investment and shorter execution
period.
For the above discussion, several factors were
omitted; for example, treatment cost of dehydrated
water containing heavy metal. Also, the discussion
was made based on the experimental results on Zn
adsorption test for Fukakusa Clay. Therefore, further
research is needed, for example taking into account
the effect of chemical conditions (redox, pH),
constituents of the sediments (organic matters), and
chemical interactions between heavy metals, since the
experimental work presented herein was conducted
under the limited conditions only considering the
cation exchange as the heavy metal immobilization.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions were obtained:
1. From the batch leaching test on Fukakusa Clay,
the relationship between Zn adsorption per 1 g soil
and the equilibrated concentration of clay suspension
varies with the liquid and solid ratios .(L/S). However,
Zn adsorption per lg soil simply depends on the
mass of Zn doped per I g soil regardless of L/S.
2. Consolidation of the vertical pressure smaller
than 90 kPa has no effect on the leaching of Zn.
Therefore, the leaching mass can be estimated from
the results of batch leaching test.
3, From the parametric analysis, achieving the low
water content through dehydration from sediments
dredged with low water content is an effective way to
minimize the mass of leached metal involving post-
reclamation. To dredge and dehydrate the sediments
with a comparatively high water contents is also
another possible way.
4. In this study, only the cation exchange is
considered as the heavy metal immobilization
mechanism. Therefore, further research is needed
considering other factors affecting the leaching
behavior, such as the effect of redox, pH, and
organic matters, as well as the overall project cost
including the treatment of the water drained through
dehydration.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dr. G. Rajasekaran (Kyoto University) provided
helpful comments in preparing this manuscript.
REFERENCES
Carrier, W.D., Bromwell, L.G., and Somogyi, F .
(1983): Design capacity of slurried mineral waste
 ponds, J o u m l of GeotechnicnlEngineering,
ASCE, Vol. 109, NO.5, pp.699-7 16.
Gibson, R.E., Potter, L.J., Savvidou, C., and
Shiffman, R.L. (1995): Some aspects of one-
dimensional consolidation and contaminant
transport in wastes, Compression and
Consolidution of Cluyey Soils, H. Yoshikuni and
0. Kusakabe (eds.), Balkema, Rotterdam,
pp.8 15-832.
Kamon, M., Katsumi, T., and Inui, T. (1998a):
Dehydration-solidificationtreatment and
geotechnical utilization of waste sludge from
construction works, Environmental Geotechnics,
P.S. Sec0 e Pinto (ed.), Balkema, Rotterdam,
pp.603-608.
Kamon, M., van Roekel, G., and Blumel, W.
( 1998b): Assessment of geo-environmental
hazards from dredged materials, Environmentul
Geotechnics, P.S. Sec0 e Pinto (ed.), Balkema,
Rotterdam, pp. 1057- 1074.
Kamon, M., Katsumi, T., and Watanabe, K. (2000):
Heavy-metal leaching from cement stabilized
waste sludge, Geotechnics of High Wuter
Content Materiuls, ASTM STP 1374, T.B . Edil
and P.J. Fox (eds.), ASTM (in press).
Kawachi, T., Katsumi, T., Tran Duc, P.O., and
Yamada, M. (1996): Treatment and utilization of
waste sludge/slurry from construction works in
Japan, Environmentd Geotechnics, M. Kamon
(ed.), Balkema, Rotterdam, pp.75 1-756.
McBride, M.B. (1994): Environmentul Chemistry o f
Soils, Oxford University Press, New York.
Yong, R.N., Mohamed, A.M.O., and Warkentin,
B.P. ( 1 992): Principles of Contaminant Trunsport
in Soils, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Yoshinaga, K. ( 1995): Mercury-contaminated sludge
treatment by dredging in Minamata Bay,
Dredging, Reclamation, and Contuinment of
Contaminated Sediments, ASTM STP 1293, K ,R .
Demars, G.N. Richardson, R.N. Yong, and R .C.
Chaney (eds.), ASTM, pp. 182- 19 1 .

634
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineeringin Practice, Nakase 8, Tsuchida {eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Permeability of light-weight soil made of dredged slurry mixed with air foam
and cement

Y. Kikuchi
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuku,Japan
H.Yoshino
YuchiyoEngineering Company Limited, Japan

ABSTRACT: One of the effective utilization of dredged slurry is by means of forming new geo-material by
mixing it with air foam and cement. The characteristics of such materials can be influenced by the sea water. In
severe cases, where the permeability is high, pollution of ground and sea water remains a possibility. To check
the permeability of such a material is the most important part to utilize it. In this paper, several permeability
experiments and numerical calculation are carried out to discuss the permeability of light-weight soil (LWS)
made-up of dredged slurry mixed with air foam and cement . The pore fluid in LWS is compressive, because of
existing of air foam. To estimate ‘true’ permeability, compressibility of the pore fluid is taken in consideration in
this study.

1 INTRODUCTION fluid is checked. Then discussion as to the relation

between ‘true’ and ‘apparent’ coefficient of
Light-weight soils (light-weight super geo-materials, permeability of LWS is made.
LWS) are geotechnical materials made of high water
content clays mixed with lightening materials and
cementing materials. They are characterized that the 2 PERMEABILITY THEORY FOR SOIL
unit weight is light and their shearing strength is INCLUDING AIR
strong. Such characteristics are favorable to backfilling
materials for reducing the earth pressure to the LWS includes air foam in its pore. The air foam is
structure. In this study, air foam is used for the considered to be isolated each other and its volume
lightening material. can be changed according to the change of the pore
As LWS is intended to be used under water table water pressure surrounding the air foam. In such a
in port area, a part of air included in the material can meaning, LWS can be treated as a material including
be exchanged for water during the long period. This compressive pore fluid.
kind of problem will be caused not only by water The consolidation of soil including compressive
pressure but by its high permeability. The problems fluid is expressed as follows;
as the strength reduction of the material by contact
with sea water or the ground water pollution through
the material alkaline may occur if we use LWS. These
kinds of phenomena is mainly related to the
permeability of LWS.
As LWS is a new material composed from saturated v= k au
(2)
clay, cement, and air foam, less information has been Pg az
given. The air included in LWS is in bubble state. Each in which
bubble stays its position after the LWS solidified. p : density of the pore fluid, z: distance, t : time , 1’
Though LWS is in unsaturated state, permeability
mechanism of it is different from ordinal unsaturated
soil.
Purpose of this study is to clarify the permeability
:apparent velocity of the fluid , n : porosity (= e-)
l+e
,

characteristics of LWS. Permeability tests by triaxial k : coefficient of permeability, U : absolute pressure of

apparatus and constant consolidation test apparatus
are performed and applicability of consolidation the pore fluid, g: gravity acceleration.
equation of geo-material considering compressive pore

635
 Considering the condition CJ = d +( U - 1) = const. Table 3. List of Test condition (triaxial test).

and !?.? >>

az2
($1 , following equation is derived.
case

A-1
A-2
A-3
void
ratio
4.17
4.18
4.16
initial water
content
108.2
107.5
107.7
gradient

22
50
99
air foam

with
with
with
A-4 4.13 105.7 20 with
a-au
=-- k a2u A-5 2.75 98.6 20 without
& mvpg az2 A-6 3.02 109.3 20 without
A-7 3.45 126.1 21 without
in which

a = 1+ G ,C I,,,: compressibility of pore fluid, m,,:

3.2 Permzabllity Experiment with Triaxial
Apparatus
mV
coefficient of volume change for saturated soil. The experiment procedure is as follows. At first, the
Verruijt( 1969) showed C is expressed as follows specimen cured in 100 mm high and 50mm diameter
if the compressible fluid can be modeled as the mixture mold with 0 kN/m2 curing pressure is set into the
of water and air. triaxial cell without trimmed. Then the cell pressure
is applied to the certain level and start consolidation.
The consolidation duration is 3 days.
After consolidation ended, the pressure is applied
to the volume change burette connected to the bottom
in which of the specimen. Then the water is let into the
C’,y:compressibility of water, S,: rate of saturation. specimen. Absorption and expulsion volume of the
It is reasonable that LWS can be treated as the water is measured by using volume change burettes
material mentioned above to consider the permeability connected to both the bottom and top of the specimen
of LWS. during the water flow. Water flow continues for a week.
Table 3 shows the test conditions in the series.
Figure 2 shows the relation between time and
3 PERMEABILITY EXPERIMENT volume of water absorption. Numbers shown in the
figure mean the applied pore pressure of the bottom
3. I Specimen Preparation of the specimen. Figure 2 shows the volume of water
Marine clay dredged in Kawasaki Port is used for main absorption is different from the applied pressure. Each
material in this experiment. The physical properties relation curve is convex in the beginning, then it goes
are shown in Table 1. The grain size accumulation curve to linear. The result means that absorption velocity is
is shown in Figure 1. The mixing condition for making rather high in the beginning but is getting constant
LWS is shown in Table 2. The target unconfined later.
strength at 28 days cured qU2* is 200kN/m2. Figure 3 shows the relation between time and
The mixture is filled up to the mold. It is put into volume of expulsion from the specimen. In this case,
the pressure cell filled with water before solidified for the relation curve is concave in the beginning, then it
cured in the pressure simulating the under water goes to linear.
condition. The pressure in the cell is 0,50, 100 kN/m2. Figure 4 shows the volume change of the water
Curing duration is between 14 days and 28 days. included in the specimen. In this series, the volume
change by the compression of the skeleton can be
ignored. Each result shows the water included in the
Table 1. Physical properties of Kawasaki clay specimen increases in the first thousand minutes from
the start of the water flow, and stays almost constant
density P, 2.678 g/cm3 later . The amount of the volume change of the water
liquid limit WI. 52.1 OO/ differs from the pressure applied in the bottom of the
plastic limit WP 23.0 ?a‘ specimen. From these findings, we can conclude that
the volume of the air foam decrease according to the
change of pore water pressure and it takes long time
Table 2. Mixing condition for LWS. to be stable condition.
The specimen made of the same amount of cement
Mass (kg/m’) Volumetric fraction (l/m’) and water content without air foam is conducted water
dry mass 442 164 flow test for checking the effect of air foam. Figure 5
water 574 574 shows the relation between duration and water
cement 75 24
air foam 9 238 absorption and expulsion. The difference of the two
Total 1100 1000 specimen condition is air foam is included or not. The
water content of the both specimen is almost the same.

636
 absorption is very fast and the water content increases
in the beginning,but the water content goes to constant
later. These two test results show that the permeability
decided from the water absorption and expulsion -
‘apparent’ permeability -in the case without air foam
is larger than that in the case with air foam even the
smaller void ratio in the case without air foam.
Figure 6 shows the change of ‘apparent’
permeability according to time. The ‘apparent’
permeability shown in this figure is decided by the
water absorption to the specimen and the total cross
section. The cases from A-1 to A-4 include air foam.
The cases from A-5 to A-7 exclude air foam. The
‘apparent’ permeability of the cases including air foam
change accordingto time in the first thousand minutes
but later it goes to constant. On the other hand, the
‘apparent’ permeability of the cases without air foam
is almost constant.

The specimen includes air foam in the case A-4 and

does not include air foam in case A-6. Figure 5 shows
that when the specimen does not include air foam, the Figure 5. Difference of water absorption and expulsion
amount of absorption and expulsion of the water is by existingOf air foam*
almost the same and absorption and expulsion
velocities are almost constant. The other hand, if the
specimen includes air foam, the velocity of water

637
Figure 6. Change of ‘apparent’ coefficient of permeability
according to time.

consol i d a t i o n pressure p (kN/m2)

4.5

3.5 c u r i n g pressure
a 100 kN/m2
0

x 3 ,A!
E \\
0
‘\
2.5 \\

2
cured 28 days
‘\ ,

1.5

Figure 7. e - log p curve of LWS in CRC.

.+-
0
c
c
0

.+-
Lc

m
0
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
mean void r a t i o e

Figure S. Coefficient of permeability in CRC according to

consolidation theory for saturated soil. Figure Coefficientof permeabilityof Lws.

638
 3.3 Permeability Experiment with Constant Rate
Consolidution Test (CRC)
The mixing condition of the specimen is the same in
the case of the experiment using triaxial apparatus. The
curing pressures selected are 0, 50, 100 kN/m2. The
mixtures are cured in 20mm high and 60mm diameter
stainless rings.
The back pressure in the constant rate consolidation
test is selected to 100 kN/m2.This pressure is selected
for the precise measurement of excess pore water
pressure in the bottom of the specimen. Strain rate is
0.05 %/min. Maximum consolidation pressure applied
is high enough to recognize to decide the consolidation
yield stress.
Figure 7 shows consolidation curves obtained by
CRC tests. As shown in Figure 7, consolidationcurves
are affected by the curing pressure as the higher curing
pressure makes the smaller initial void ratio and the
somewhat smaller compression index Cc. But the
consolidation yield stresspcdoes not affected by curing
pressure and the range of it is between 600 and 1000
kN/m2.
Figure 8 shows the estimated relation between void
ratio e and the coefficient of permeability k,, applying
the consolidation theory for saturated soil. Applying
the consolidation theory given for saturated soil to
LWS gives bad estimation of the coefficient of volume
change m V and the coefficient of consolidation cv,
because pore fluid of LWS is compressive. As a result,
the estimated coefficient of permeability k,,has some
uncertainties. Therefore the relation shown in Figure
8 need some correction.
4 DISCUSSION
In order to estimate the permeability of LWS, the
simulation on the flow test and CRC is conducted.
The equation used for this simulation is equation (3)
shown in 2.
In the test mentioned in 3.2, we observe the higher
‘apparent’ permeability in the beginning of the test in
LWS with air foam. The reason of such a result is the
change of pore pressure and the shrinkage of air foam
before reaching steady state. Figure 9 shows the
several simulation results of the flow test in the
condition with different initial pore pressure. Figure 9
shows the change of amount of water absorption to
the specimen against time. The result of this
simulationshows that the coefficient a in the equation
(3) should be suitably selected. The coefficient a is a
parameter of mVand pore pressure U. The simulation
results shown in Figure 9 have different initial pore
pressure, because the selection of initial pore pressure
has the large effect for simulation compare to mvand
the bubble included in LWS might be pressured
(Kikuchi et al. 1995). By the comparison between
simulation results and test data, the model used here
can simulate the flow test phenomena except the
precise estimationof the absolute volume of the water
absorption.
639
Figure 10 shows the simulation and test result of
the ‘apparent’ permeability. The simulation results
shown in Figure 10 are made iin the case that initial
pore pressure is assumed 0 kN/m2. The point where
‘apparent’ permeability becomes almost constant is
almost the same. This result also shows this model
can explain the phenomena.
The simulation is also done for CRC results. The
result shows that the coefficient of permeability
calculated by the theory for saturated soil in the early
stage of consolidation is too high to the coefficient of
permeability calculated by equation (3). On the other
hand, the permeability by the theory for saturated soil
is getting near to the permeability by equation (3)
according to consolidation progress and finally the
permeability by the theory for saturated soil is lower
than the permeability by equation (3) .
The permeability and void ratio are known to have
a strong relation in saturated soil. We can consider
that air foam has no role in water flow in LWS with
air foam as mentioned in 2.2. Figure 11 shows the
corrected relation between the permeability and void
ratio. The permeability of LWS shown in Figure 11 is
calculated with equation (3) and with considering that
the cross sectional area of air foam is excluded for
calculating the effective cross sectional area for water
flow. Here, We define this permeability is ‘true’
permeability. Also, the calculation is done in the
condition that air foam is ignored for calculating the
void ratio. Figure 11 shows that the relations between
coefficient of permeability and void ratio of LWS with
air foam and of LWS without air foam estimated by
triaxial apparatus agree well. This result shows that
this kind of correction can represent the permeability
of LWS with air foam in a macro point of view.
Figure 11 also shows that the relation between
permeability and void ratio of the Kawasaki clay used
for main material in LWS and the corrected relation
estimated by CRC. As Kobayashi et al. (1990) show
that there is a linear relation between the permeability
in logarithm and void ratio, the permeability of
Kawasaki clay is extrapolated in the figure. The
estimated relation by CRC is almost parallel to the
relation in Kawasaki clay. And from the relation in
LWS shown in Figure 11, the permeability of LWS is
rather small because of mixing cement. Terashi et al.
(1983) show that the reduction of permeability is
affected not only by grain distribution but also by void
ratio. Addition of 75 kg/m3 cement to clay make one
or two order reduction of permeability (Terashi et al.
1983). The result shown in this study shows that the
reduction of permeability ranges from 1/30 to 114.
5 CONCLUSION
In this study, water flow test by triaxial apparatus and
CRC are conducted to estimate the permeability of
LWS. And we consider the water flow mechanism of
LWS with air foam and make simulations on water
flow. Finally, Comparisons of the test results with
simulation results are made. Following conclusions are
drawn from this study:
1) ‘True’ permeability in LWS is consistent with the
permeability of the clay with cement.
2) Apparent permeability in LWS is affected because
of compressibilityof the air included in the material.
3) To estimate ‘true’ permeability of LWS by using
consolidation test, it is necessary to take in
consideration the compressibility of the pore fluid.

REFERENCES

Kikuchi, Y. and Takahashi, K. 1995. Geotechnical Topics Related

on Maintenance of Port Facilities, Proc. ofAnnual Seminar
ofport and Harbour Research Institute: 19 - 20. (in Japanese)
Kobayashi, M. , Mizukami, J., and Tsuchida, T. 1990.
Determination of the Horizontal Coefficient of Consolidation
c,,, Report of Port and Harbour Research Institute, 29(2): 63
- 83. (in Japanese)
Terashi, M. ,Tanaka, H. , Mitsumoto, T., Honda, S., and Ohhashi,
T. 1983. Fundamental Properties of Lime and Cement Treated
Soils (3rd Report). Report of the Port and Harbour Research
Institute, 22( I): 69 - 96. (in Japanese)
Verruijt, A. 1969. Elastic storage of aquifers, Flow Through
Porous Media: Chapter 8, Academic Press.

640
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)@ 2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Development of a construction method for revetment using fly ash

and cement treated sand

S.Kitahara, M.Okazaki & Y.Wakayama

TomakomaiPort Construction OfJice,Hokkaido Development Bureau, Japan
H. Kobayashi & N.Tanaka
Hokkaido Electric Power Company Incorporated, Ebetsu, Japan

ABSTRACT: A construction method of revetments using cement and fly ash treated sand was developed in
this study for the purpose of re-utilization of industrial waste and reduction of construction cost. I n this
method, silty dredged sand is mixed with fly ash, cement, and seawater. With this method, it was found that
the construction cost could be reduced by about 30% compared to general construction method using rubble
stones. Because the treated sand is placed underwater before hardening, it is necessary for the materials not to
be segregated in under-water condition and to reveal the required strength after placement. The long-term
strength of the treated sand is investigated with the core sample collected after one year.

1 INTRODUCTION dard cross section, which also indicates construction

To dispose of dredged sand, a dumping site of about A sand mound Of - ” in thickness was
24 ha was built in the West port District of Tonla- constructed with dredged sand taking account of a
komai port. A settling basin was needed at this Safety factor Of the Circular failure, fT0111 Which1 the
dumping site to prevent water pollution caused by revetrnent height was limited to 51n. In order to
sand landed by pump dredging. Usually, such a set- achieve a slope stability, the revetinent was sur-
tling basin was constructed using a rubble-stone- rounded wit11 perl1leable sheets.
revetment to divide the basin from the dumping site.
However, in this study, the revetinent in the basin of
the West Port District was constructed using treated
sand. This was a mixture of silty dredged sand, fly
ash, cement, and seawater. In the construction, it
was placed underwater before hardening. Therefore,
it is necessary to keep un-segregated in under-water
condition and to reveal the required strength. The
mix proportion was examined by trial mixture in the
laboratory.
In Japan. it is predicted that fly ash as an indus-
trial waste will be produced more than 10,000,000 t
in AD 2000.The effective utilization of fly ash is
demanded, from the viewpoint of resoiirce recycling.
The fly ash used ill this study was produced in the
coal power plant of Nokkaido Electric Power Co.,
Inc. in the East Port District of Tomakoniai Port.
The method proposed in this study is effective in
reducing construction cost, and in saving rubble
stone and other natural resources.

2 OUTLINE OF CONSTRUCTION
The construction was carried out froin September to Figure1 Construction site and standard cross section (unit: m)
October, 1998. The revetment was extended to
21 4m. Fig. 1 shows the construction site and a stan-

64 1
 Dredged Fly Ash
Sand
Density of Soil Particle (g/cm') 2807 2364

Gradation Gravel Fraction 4 0

Test over 2mm (%I
Sand Fraction 0 075mm -., 81 8
2mm (94)
Silt Fraction 0.005n~ni
0 075mm (%)
- I0 82

Clay Fraction 5 I0
Figure:! Stepped revetment construction under 0 005nim (%)
Compac- Optin~umMoisture Content 14 2 19 0
tion Test (%)
Since efficient niixing of the materials and uni- Maximum Dry Density 1770 1486
formity of treated sand are required, a plant systeni I (g/cm3)
Specific Surface by Blaine Test (crn2/g) - 2.760
was adopted for the mixing, taking into account the
large daily mixing and adopting a mechanism for Ignition Loss (%) - 1.500
ad-jiisting the water content of the mixture. This
plant had a material feeder that could adjust the pro-
portion of mixture components by monitoring the
properties of the material. It also had a 2-shaft mixer
with high mixing efliciency. The prod~ictivityof this 3 D ~ T ~ R ~ I ~ AOF
T MIX
~ O PNR O P O R T ~ OBY
~
plant was 125 in3/hr. TRIAL MIXTURE IN THE LABORATORY
For the revetnient construction, the treated sand EXAMINATION
was placed in 3 steps. The procedure of the Is' and
ZiId step enibankments is shown in Fig.2. The treated 3.1 Reqzrired q ~ i a ~ i ~
sand was transported by dump truck from the tnix-
ing plant. However, the shear strength to allow 2 In order to construct the revetinent of the treated
dump truck traffic was not achieved until 6 days af- sand, it should have the following quality.
ter construction. (The required shear strength was (1) The treated sand should be tin-segregative in the
calculated by circular failure was 1OSkN/d.) There- water.
fore, the treated sand was transported by dump truck (2) A designed strength should be revealed.
front the plant to a section of the revetment, which The designed strengths o f the Is' and 2Itdstep em-
was constructed 6 days before. Then, the treated bankments were calculated by the stability of the re-
sand was forwarded to the Backhoe 1 by the Back- vetment under construction. The required shear
hoe 2, as shown in Fig.2. strength was determined by circular failure analysis.
The 1'' step embankment was constructed of treat- However, in the execution control, the unconfined
ed sand placed by the Backhoe 1. The Backhoe 1 compression strength was used based on the relation
was stepped on the revetnient constructed 1 day be- as follow. The results are shown in Tablel.
fore and placed the treated sand into the sea. The
width of the 1'' step embankment was decided con- c = qu/2 (1)
sidering that the Backhoe 1 could be stepped on it where c = Shear Strength: qu = tinconfined compression
one day after the co~is~ruction. Its crown elevation strength
was + l . 6 nt, which is higher than the high water
level. In the calculation, the load of l.0-ni3-class back-
The 2'Id step etiibaIikinent was constructed to the hoe was used for the calculation of the strength at 1
required width (12 in) by widening the 1'' step em- day; 1Ot dump truck load was used for the calcula-
bankment. Finally, the 3rd step embankment was tion of the strength at 6 days.
constructed to the designed crown height (1-2.0 m).
3.2 Examiiiafion and consideration of
proportioiiing
Table 1 Standard design strength
3.2. I h 4 a f e ~ ~ a ~
The sand used for the proportioning examination
6OkNi 1' was dredged in 1995 or 1996, and was stored. The
fine-grain fraction less than 0 . 0 7 j m ~of~the dredged

642
 2o 1 y = 1 . 6 3 4 5 ~+ 11.936 1 3.2.2 Examination method and f o m m g method of
test piece
(1) Fluidity test
The fluid it^^ of treated sand is usually measured by
flow test (JIS A6201). However, the mini-slump
value (JIS AlI73, slump corn height H = 15 cm),
which can easily evaluate the fluidity in the field,
0 1 2 3 4 5 was used in this study. The flow value and mini-
M I n i -p lump (em)
slump value are related as shown in Fig.3.
Figire3 Relation of table flow and mini-slump (2) Under~~jater segregation test
There is no standardized test to examine the degree
of segregation u n d e ~ a t e r .In this study, the degree
is defined the turbidity. The lower turbidity, the
higher perfo~naiiceon un-s~gregationis obtained.
That test was carried out as shown in Fig.4.
A sample was put into a cylinder of transparent vi-
nyl chloride, in 6 steps. The sample in one step was
about 33 c1n3. The water was taken after 2, 4 and 6
steps each, and turbidity was measured based on JIS
KOIOI. Turbidity was defined by the strength of
transmitted light.

(3) Specimen fbr unconfined Compression Strength

Test
The specimen made in air was 5 cm in diameter and
10 cni in height, based on JGS T82 1. The specimen
made underwater was also tested to examine under-
water strength. The specimen (12.5 cm in diameter,
25 cni in height) was placed in a mold. Both the
specimens made in air and underwater were cured in
20°C water until the age of the test. The compres-
sion test was carried out based on JGS T5 1 I .
3.2.3 Relation between the amount offly ash, un-
denvates ~ n - s e g ~ e ~ a tand
i o ns ~ r e ~ ~ g t h
The mini-slump value of 2.5 cm and the amount of
cement of 80 kgim' were set. The relation between
the amount of fly ash and both turbidity and strengtli
when varying the amount of fly ash from 0 to 300
k g h 3 is shown in Fig.5.

~ement=80kg/m3,F I y ~ ~ h = 3 0 0 k g6steps
/~~,

sand was I%, and it was classified into silty sand.

It was impossible to secure trafficability of con- 9,
struction machinery. The basic physical properties 2OO
of the dredged sand arid the fly ash are shown in Ta-
bIe2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Portland cement and seawater were used as the Mrni-slump value just rnixed(crn)
materials.
Figure6 Relation between mini-slump and turbidity

643

2 500.
E
U
3
a
0.0 500.0 1000.0 1500.0
StrengthtCreated in the Air)kN/mZ
Figwe7 Relation of strength in air and underwater strength
Turbidity decreases with increase in the amount of
fly ash. (Refer to 3.2.2(2) for turbidity.) Strength in-
creases with increase in the amount of fly ash, and
the longer the curing period is, the greater the meas-
ured strength is.
These results show that the addition of fly ash to
the dredged sand is effective in improving under-
water un-segregation and uncoii~iied compression
strength. The optimum amount of fly ash was de-
termiiied to be 30Okg/iii3, considering the workabil-
ity of the treated sand and economic efficiency.
3.2.4 ~ n ~ ~ ~o e ~~ i c ; eof treated
~ ~ sand ~ and~ d ~ strength
waiting time arntil placing, on underwater un-
segregation and strength
The anioutit of cement and fly ash used were 80
kg/ni3 and 300 kg/m3 respectively. The relationships
between the mini-slump value just after mixing and
the turbidity are shown in Fig.6.
The turbidity for the treated sand placed within
0.5 hours after the mixing iiicreases with increase of
mini-slump value. However, the turbidity of treated
sand placed more than 1 hour after the mixing is at-
most constant with mini-slump value.
This iniplies that underwater un-scgregation was
influenced by the fluidity of just mixed material and
by the waiting time until placing. It was found that
the treated sand did not readily segregate in lower
fluidity and longer waiting time before placing.
As mentioned above, the mini-siutnp value was
detertniIied to be 2.5 I I .0 cm, the waiting time until
placing was determined to be 0.5 hours after mixing.
3.2.5 ~ t r e n g t specimen
~~: ~ ~ ~ ian air
d evs. s ~ e ~ ~ ~ ~ e i i
made uriderwater
The strength of the treated sand placed underwater is
impo~ant.For this reason, the ratio of strength in air
to strength undcrwater was examined. The relation- amount of cement was finally decreased to 60
ship betweeri the strength in air and underwater kgim’step by step based on the core sample strength.
strength in the same proportioning is shown in
Fig.7.
The strength of the treated sand placed underwater
was found to be 0.6 to I . I times the strength of the
treated sand in air. This strength is reduction caused
by the material segregation under water.
Table3 Setting up of target strength
1ver;s:gn Factor Associated ~ ~~~ ~ ~~~~ ~
with Mixing Efficiency of
Plant E)
Laboratory Target Strength
kN/In2) F=C*D*E)
3.2.6 ~ z x t ~ design
re
The unconfined compression strength of treated
sand is confirmed in the f o l I o ~ ~ norder:
g laboratory
strength, in-situ strength, and core strength sampled
from the revetment. The core sample strength must
satisfy the design strength (Tablel). Therefore, an
overdesign factor is needed on each steps. The
overdesign factor for in-situ target strength was de-
termined to be 2.0 based on variation of core sample
~ previously investigated. The l a b o r a t o ~tar-
get strength can be obtained by two overdesign fac-
tors to in-situ target strength. One is a factor associ-
ated with underwater placement, and the other is a
factor associated with mixing efficiency of the plant.
The former factor was deterrnined to be 0.6 based on
Fig.7 and the latter factor was set as 0.7 by the trial
constructio~i of the previous year. The design
parameters are summarized in Table3.
The design mixture was determined as follows.
(1) The amount of fly ash in the treated sand was
300 kg/m3
(2) The mini-slump value of treated sand was 2.5*
1.0 cin.
(3) The amount of cement sliauld be adjusted so that
the target strength is obtained.
The mix proportion is shotvn in Table4.
4 CONSTRUCTION RESULTS
4. I Final proportioniiig in the consfrtiction
Tile initial amount of cement was set at I 10 kg/m3
in consideration of the fly ash type. However, the
{Refer to Table5.)
When ~~ini-slLi~np value was 2.5 cm, there was
almost no slump-loss by construction, and a revet-
inent slope could not be secured because of the large
fluidity. In case of small nii~ii-sIunipvalues, there is
644
little underwater segregation and revetment slope Table6 Release metal test results
construction is easy. Therefore, the mini-slump val-
Dredged Stan-
ue was revised to be 0.5 cni 3-0.5 cm. sand + dard
LL’BA value
4.2 Strength (300kg/in3 )
Strength at some field points are shown in TableS. 4- cement

In TableS, (E) was computed by the following (80 kg/rn3)

ND Under
equation. All the average strengths (D) satisfied the 0.1
n i i n i ~ u n irequired core sample strength (E). There- ND Under
fore, construction was found to be successful. 0.1
ND Under
(E), quf = Fc + t* CT (2) niiuin I 0.5
Arsenic mg/I ND ND ND Under
where Fe = Design Srsengli ( = 2 1 O k N ~ t ~= )Deviation
~
~0.1 _ _
( = 1 282 as 10% Risk Ratio), CT = Standard Deviation 0.11 Under
15
0.05 Undes
Table4 Standard proportioning (kdni’) 02
ND Under
1 TreatedSand 1 Amount of I Amount of I Seawater I 0. I
Fly Ash Ceinent
where ND = Non Detectable
1 170- 1220 300

4.3 Long-term strength

i o n results (6-day-old sam-
Table5 Unconfined ~ ~ i n i ) ~ e s s test
ples) The unconfined compression test was carried out for
field core sample after one year, in October 1999.
The field core sample was taken at SP70m, 147m,
Construction Datc 1998, I998. 202m (Distance from the start point. Refer to Ta-
Sep . Oct. bIe5.) of the lStbank. The relationsflip between age
10 15
202111
and compressive strength is shown in Fig.8 for each
SP (Distance froit1the 2511%
start point)
proportioning. The strength at one year is higher for
(Refer to Fig 1) each p r o p o ~ ~ o n ~increased
ng in one year, and it is
Fi! Ash T>pe(*) LIlBA UPBA UPBA thought that the stability of the revetrnent is im-
proved. For each proportioning, the increase in long-
Amount of FI? Ash I10 80 1 80 60 term strength (28 - 365 days oid) is more gradual
(hgjii;’)
than the increase in short-terni strength (6 - 28 days
Design Strength (hN/ni’) 2 10 2 10
(A)(Refer toTablel)
old). Moreover, for long-term strength, the greater
Laborator! Strength f 3 70 400 the amount of cement of the proportioning is, the
-
(hNlin’) (B) larger the increase in strength obtained is. It is con-
Strength at Plant 1210 370 770 sidered that strength improvement was achieved
(hN/in’)(C gradually by the ljme-pozzolan reaction of fly ash
Ill-situ Nuiiibcr of 12 I2
and cement.
Core Data
Saznplc Atcragc 15311 490 940
Strength Streiigtli
(hN/ni’) (D)
Standard 0.6.5 0.09
De\ iatioii
Coc~cleill 42 18
of Variation
(‘%I)

Miiuinuili
Required
Core Saui-
plc Strcriqth
Dctcnriilied
Statisticall?
iquf)(E)
where (*) = These age coal names LI=Lithgou, B.4=Blan- Figure8 Relation between age and unconfiiied coinpression
Athol, MS=MLiswellbroo~,(Australia IS the producer for strength
LI, BA and MS ) UP=Uinta Premtum, (U S A is the pro-
ducer )
Blend Ratio. LI/BA=LI 60% / BA 40%- MS=MS loo%,
UP/BA=UP 60% I BA 40%
645
4.4 Influence on the environment
Since fly ash is highly alkaline, it was considered
about influence on the environment by material
separation. Therefore, pH was measured in the sea
surrounding the revetment and the dumping site
through the construction period. Although the pH
rose to 8.5 from 8.3 in the dumping site, it fell
quickly after the construction.
Moreover, examination of metals released by the
treated sand found all items to meet the standards.
Those results are shown in Table 6. Therefore, it is
thought that there was almost no influence on the
environment.

5 CONCLUSION
The construction method for revetment using fly ash
may be summarized as follows.
(1) Fly ash increases both underwater un-segregation
and strength.
(2) Underwater degree of un-segregation and
strength increases when the fluidity of the treated
sand decreases.
(3) The strength increased in one year, and the long-
term strength was satisfactory.
(4) The construction does not influence on the envi-
ronment.
( 5 ) Construction costs can be reduced by about 30%
compared to general construction method using rub-
ble stone.

REFERENCES
Hase,K., Kitahara,S., & Nakayama,T., Y1999.
Long-term characteristic of treated sand and sub-
base materials using fly ash. Technical Research
Presentation of Hokkaido Deve Iopment Bureau,
In Japanese.
Kobayashi,H., Tanaka,N., & Takahashi,M.., Y 1999.
Develo ment of the underwater hardening object
usin 8,ash. Electric-power engineering works
No284, In Japanese.
Wakayama,Y., .Suzuki,K., & Okazaki,M., Y 1998.
The application as the revetment material of the
treated sand mixed fly ash. Technical Research
Presentation of Hokkuido Development Bureau.
In Japanese.

646
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Field test on pneumatic flow mixing method for sea reclamation

M.Kitazume
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuka, Japan
N.Yoshino
The 5th District Port Construction Bureau, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuka, Japan
H. Shinsha, R. Horii & Y. Fujio
Japan Dredging Reclamation Engineering Association, Japan

ABSTRACT: Recently, Pneumatic Flow Mixing Method is developed for construction of sca reclamation and
land development using soft dredged clay, in which the dredged clay is mixed with relatively small amount of
stabilize agent in transfer pipe. The clay and agent mixture forms many separated plugs in the pipe, and is
thoroughly mixed by turbulent flow in the plug. The mixture has relatively large strength so that no additional
soil improvement is required. This technique is cxpected to providc an economical and rapid construction method
for sea reclamation. The authors startcd a research project which includes laboratory and field tests. In the field
test, execution technique and mechanical properties of the trcated soil were investigated at Nagoya Port Island.
In this report, detail of the method and strength properties of the treated soil are dcscribed to show its high
applicability for sea reclamation.

1 INTRODUCTION continuously in the method, this method is expected

Many man-made islands have been frequently con-
structed in Japan to obtain enough plain area for air-
port, electric power plant, manufacture plant and so
on. These islands require huge amount of soil for sea
reclamation, which is often obtained in mountainous
areas. However in recent year it becomes more diffi-
cult to obtain cnough amount of soil because of eco-
nomical and/or environmental limitations. Meanwhile
it also becomes difficult to find and construct disposal
site for soft clay dredged from sea-route construction
or sea berths. These circumstances promote to use the
dredged soft clay as reclamation material. The island
constructed with thc dredged clay slurry is so week
and has high compressibility that no structures can be
constructcd without any soil improvcmcnt. Vertical
drain method is one of most frequently used soil im-
provement method to treat such a clay layer. However
the method requires relatively long time to complete
consolidation.
Recently, a ncw sea reclamation technique has
been developed in Japan, named as Pneumatic Flow
Mixing Method, in which the drcdgcd soft clay is
rnixcd with small amount of stabilize agent in thc
pipe during transfer by cornpressed air pressure and
is deposited for sea reclamation. Thc method re-
quires only stabilize agent supplier facility to thc
cxisting pneumatic facilities. And it is wcll known
that thc soft clay treated with stabilize agent has
rapid incrcase in strength. As no mixing blade is
rcquircd and soil improvement can be pcrformcd
for construction of large island in relatively short
time and more economically.
Authors started a research project to study the ap-
plicability of the method for sea reclamation through
the investigations of properties of treated soil, con-
struction techniqucs, executing ability and so on. In
the project, laboratory mixing tests, ccntrifuge model
tests and field tests were performed (Kitazume, 1997,
Kitazume, 1998, Kitazume, e t al, 1999 and
Makibuchi, et al. 1999). This paper describes field
construction tests in detail.
2 PNEUMATIC FLOW MIXING METHOD
2.1 Meclzanism ojthe method
Transferring of soft clay in the pipe requires large
prcssure due to the friction generated on the inncr
surface of the pipe. When relatively large amount
of compressed air is injected into the pipe together,
the clay is divided into small blocks by air blocks in
the pipe, as schematically shown in Fig. 1. Thc scpa-
rated clay blocks are thus forwarded to the outlet by
the compressed air. The formation of thc plug flow,
which is composed of the clay and the air block, can
function to reduce the friction on thc pipe surfacc
and i n tcrn can considerably reduce thc air pressure
required to transfer. Generally, the plug flow can best
be generated at an air-to-clay ratio of 20 to 400
(Akagawa, 1980, Iwatsuki, et al., 1998).

647

Figure 2. Image of mixing process in the pipe
The injected air pressure is dependent upon many
factors such as the properties of clay, the volume of
injected air, the pipe diameter, the pipe length and so
on. In thc current practice, the air pressure of 400 to
500 kN/m’ is frequently used after consideration of
the pressure capacity of the pipeline.
2.2 Mixing effects ofpneumatic transfer
Figure 2 shows imagine of mixing process with soft
clay and stabilize agent in the pipe during the transfer-
ring. As the clay plugs are transferred at very high speed
of order of about 10 m/sec, the turbulent flow is gen-
erated within the plug due to the friction on the inner
surface of the pipe. The turbulent flow provides to mix
the clay and the stabilize agent. Previous research ef-
forts found that thorough mixing can be obtained in
the condition of Reynolds number, Re = uD/v of 500
to 3,000, whcre U is the plug speed, D is the pipe di-
ameter and v is the viscosity of the plug. It is also
known that at least 50 m to 100 m of transferring length
is necessary to ensure satisfactory mixing.
2.3 Current facility
Figurc 3 schematically shows one kind of the Pncu-
matic Flow Mixing Method available in Japan. In the
figure, the dredged clay in the barge is loaded into the
hopper on the pneumatic vcssel at first, and is trans-
ferred by the compresscd air to the reclamation site.
Stabilizc agcnt is thcn injected to the clay on the stabi-
lize agent supplier vessel and thcy are thoroughly
mixed during the transferring. There are two types of
the method according to where thc stabilize agcnt is
put into; compressor addition type and line addition
Figure 3. Schematic flow of pneumatic transfer.
648
type. In the former type, the stabilize agent is put into
the clay before thc compressed air is injected into thc
pipe. In the later type, on the other hand, the stabilize
agent is put into after the air injection, as shown in the
figure. The soil mixture is allowed to dump to recla-
mation site through the cyclone on the hammer-set
vessel, which functions to reduce the air pressure trans-
ferring the clay plugs. There are scvcral variations
available in Japan, in which some equipment are in-
stalled in the pipeline to improve the mixture of the
clay and agent (Yamane, et al., 1998, Porbaha, et al.,
1999, Horii, et al., 1999).
3 FIELD TEST
3.1 Purpose of the test
Air pressure required at the inlet is depend upon many
factors already mentioned before. Series of field ex-
ecuting tests were performed at Nagoya Port Island in
Aichi Prefecture as shown in Fig. 4 to investigate the
effect of the properties of the soil mixture on the trans-
ferring. In the tests, the soil mixture having several
combinations of water content and amount of cement
and clay, werc transferred. The air pressure changes
along the pipe were measured in the tests. And also
carried out the unconfined compression tests in order
to investigate the average strength and its deviation of
the treated soil manufactured in-situ.
3.2 Facility
Figure 5 shows a group of vessels for the field test
which includes the pneumatic vessel, the stabilize agent
supplier vessel and the hammer-set vessel. The facil-
ity used in the test is one type of the method named as
Pipe Mixing Method. In the method a special designed
plug detection system is installed in the pipeline as
schematically shown in Fig. 6 to monitor the plug
movement and to improve the mixture of the clay and
thc stabilize agent (Makibuchi, et al., 1999). Major
capacities of the facility used in the test are summa-
rized in Tablc. 1 .
3.3 Materials
Soft clays used in the test were marine clay dredged in
Nagoya Port. Although the marine clay was drcdgcd
at almost samc site at Nagoya Port, its propertics were
found to be different in each test case. Average physi-
cal properties of the clay are summarized in Table 2.
 Tablel. Maior capacity of facility.
Facilitv Cauacitv
Pneumatic vessel
max of main power 2.000-ps
max of transporting capacity 150 ni’/h. two lines
niax of stability supplier 30 t o n h
StabillLe agent supplier vessel
niax capacity 300-m3/hr
Hammer-set Vescel
diameter of cyclone $ 1500. two sets
Pipe line
diameter $ 350 nini
length L = 180to373m

Table 2 . Major physical properties of clay.

Property valuc
soil grain density 2.677 g/cni3
soil particle analysis
sand content 7.7 YO
silt content 39.0 %
clay content 53.4 %
consistency limits
liquid limit,W, 80.8 %
plastic liniit,W,, 34.1 %
plasticity index,$ 46.7
ignition loss,Li 6.9 %

Table 3 Test results on plug characteristics.

Case 1 Case 2 Case 3
Test condition
transferred soil 2 10 mVhr 296 mi/hr 170 m’ihr
water content 132.5 Y” 117.2% 96.2 %
Liquid limit 70.5 77.6 81.5
cement added 3 8 kg/nii 78 kgini’ 52 k g h ’
Tcst results
plug speed 10.9 d s e c I I .9 n h c c 12.8 ndscc
(1.6- 25.0) ( 1 .5 - 25.0) (1.9 - 25.0)
plug volume 0.41 ni’ 0.36 ni’ 0.30 nii
(0.23-0.52) (0.25-0.45) (0.18-0.36)
plug length 4.3 ni 3.1 m 3.1 ni
(0.23- 5.4) (2.6 - 4 7) (1.9 - 3.8)
plug interval 7.1 sec 4.4 SCC 6.4 sec
(1.3- 30.3) (0.5 - 18.2) (0.6 - 29.0)

4 TEST RESULTS

4.1 Characteristics of the clay plug

Thc dredged clays were diluted with seawater in the
barge to obtain the prescribed water contcnt of 1.3 *
W1, where WI is thc liquid limit of the clay.
Stabilizc agent used was typc-B slag cemcnt, which
is one of thc most common stabilize agcnt in Japan.
Seawatcr was added to the cement in advance to make
cement slurry with the water and cement ratio of 100
%, and then the cement slurry was injected directly to
thc clay plug by the help of the plug dctection system
mentioned before.
649
Three tests were performed to monitor thc plug char-
actcristics by thc plug dctection system. In the test,
thc clay mixturc having several combinations of thc
water contcnt and the amount of ccment were trans-
ferrcd by the air pressurc of about 400 kN/m’, as sum-
marized in Table 3. Although the mcasured data have
large scatter throughout the tests, it can be found that
thc clay plugs with an average volume of 0.36 m3 arc
transferred at average speed of about 12 m/s and an
avcragc interval of about 6 seconds.
4.2Air pressure distribution in the pipe
Another series of tests were performed to investigate
the air pressure changes during the transferring, in
which the air pressure was measured at five locations
along the pipe. In the tests, the water content, the trans-
ferred clay volume and the amount of cement were
changed 98 % to 128 %, 182 m3kr and 300 m3hr and
0 to 80 kg/m3,respectively.
The measured air pressure changes are plotted in
Fig. 7 along the transfer distance from the inlet. In the
figure, it is found that a relatively large decrease oc-
curred in the pressure between at the pneumatic ves-
sel (PO)and at the stabilize agent supplier vessel (PI)
irrespective of the test condition. These large decreases
are probably because the clay in the pipe is stiII un-
stable to form the plug flow. After at the point PI, the
air pressures decrease almost linearly to zero at the
outlet (P4) with increase of the transfer distance. Thesc
decreases in the air pressure are thought to be attribut-
able to the wall friction on the pipe.
The effect of clay volume transferred on the air pres-
sure decrease is also shown in the figure. It is found
that the air pressure at the inlet (PO)becomes large
with increase of the clay transferred. As far as the test
condition, the required air pressure should be increased
about 100 kNim’ when the clay volume transferred
increases from 200 m3kr to 300 m3/hr.It is also found
that the addition of cement causes increasing the pres-
sure about 100 kN/m’ at the inlet (PO),because the
cohesion of the mixture becomes large.

Figure 7. Air pressure decrease in the pipe.

Figure 15.U ~ c o ~ ~ compressive

ned strength against the amount
of cement.
650
4.3 Strength of treated soil tive of the amount of stabilize agent. But the speci-
men with large size shows almost samc coefficient as
To invcstigate the strength profilc of the treated soil, the small sized specimen as far as the amount of ce-
anothcr field tests wcre performcd in which the amount ment exceeds about 50 kg/m' but increases in the co-
of cement added was changed to 38 kg/m3, 57 kg/m', efficient to about 60 % when the amount of agent de-
68 kg/m7 and 78 kg/m3. For these tests, the clay slurry creases to 38 kg/m3.
mixed with thc cement was reclaimed into the small
ponds cxcavatcd in advance, as shown in Fig. 8. The
unconfincd compression tests were conducted on the 5 PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
treated soil manufactured in-situ. Total of 120 spcci-
mcns with 5 cm and 10 cm in diameter and height re- Thc utilization of treated dredged clay as replacement
spcctivcly were sampled in the field and were tested or fill material could be one of the most desirable ap-
to confirm the average and deviation of the strength of plications. Figure 12 indicates various types of ex-
the treated soil manufactured in-situ. pected applications of the Pneumatic Flow Mixing
Figurc 9 shows the strength deviation of the 28 days Method. The advantage of this newly developed mix-
cured treated soil, which was manufactured with the ini- ing method is rapid stabilization togethcr with rcla-
tial watcr content of 125 % and the cement of 57 kg/mi. tively economical. The settlement of the reclamation
In the figurc, the strength deviation shows almost similar fill and induced horizontal earth pressure imposed to
shape of the standard deviation profile. The coefficient the retaining system will considerably be decreased.
of deviation of the strength is 32.3 %, which is almost
samc order to that of Deep Mixing Method irrespectivc
of the mixing procedure (Hosomi et al., 1996).
Figure 10 shows test summary of the unconfincd
compressive strength, in which the average strengths
are plotted against the amount of stabilized agent. It
can be seen from the figure that the average strengths
of the treated soil increase almost linearly with increasc
of the amount of cement. Another unconfined com-
pression tests wcre also performed on the field-manu-
facturcd specimens whose diameter and height were
50 cm and 100 crn respectively. Their average strengths
are also plotted in the figure. It is found that the com-
pressive strength on the large specimen also increases
with increase of the amount of cement, but the avcragc
strength on the large sized specimen is smaller than
that of small sized specimen. The strength ratio of the
large specimen against the small sized specimen is
about 0.7, which is almost samc as the previous re-
scareh on the treated soil manufacturcd by the Deep
Mixing Method (Futaki, ct al., 1996). In the figure, Figure 11. Strength deviation of field manufactured treated soil
test results on the trcatcd soil manufactured in a labo- against the amount of cement.
ratory are also plotted. It is also found that the labora-
tory samples show the largest strength among three [backfill behind caisson] [backfill behind sheet wall]
test spccimcns.
It is well known that the strcngth dcviation is much
dependent upon the cemcnt ratio, the manufacturc
tcchniques and the size of specimen. Figurc 11 sum-
marizcs the relationship between thc coefficicnt of dc-
viation of unconfined compressivc strcngth against PTP U
the amount of cement. It is found that thc coefficient
of deviation on the laboratory samples is relatively [surface improvement] [underwater backfill]
small of 15 %, and almost constant irrcspectivc of the bank, v

amount of ccmcnt. This means that quite uniform treated soil

mixing can be obtaincd in thc mixer in a laboratory. soft foundation
The field-manufactured spccimcns, on the other hand,
indicate relatively largcr deviation of strength com-
paring the laboratory spccimen. It is found that the Figure 12. Expected application of the Pneumatic Flow Mixing
field specimcn with small sizc is about 35 % irrespcc- Method.

65 1
6 CONCLUSIONS
The research reported herein forms a part of an on-
going effort to investigate the applicability of the Pneu-
matic Flow Mixing Method for sea reclamation and
back filling watcrfront retaining structures. The spe-
cific conclusions derived from this study are as fol-
lowing:
(1) As far as the ficld test condition studicd, thc clay
plugs with an average volume of 0.36 m3arc trans-
ferred in the pipe at average specd of about 12 m/
s and an average interval of about 6 seconds.
(2) The air pressure decreases almost linearly with in-
creases of the transfer distance. Thc air pressure
required increases with increase of the amount of
clay and addition of cement.
(3) The averagc of unconfined comprcssive strcngth
increases with increase of the amount of stabilize
agent. The treated soil manufactured in laboratory
has highest strcngth rather than the field manu-
factured treated soil.
(4) The large sized specimen shows smaller strength
than thc small sized specimen, its ratio obtained
in the field tests is about 0.7.
( 5 ) The coefficient of strength deviation of thc field-
manufacturcd treatcd soil is less than 35% in the
case of ccmcnt volume of 50 kg/m3 but increases
about 60 ‘70 whcn the ccmcnt volumc dccrcases to
about 40 kg/m3.
Kitazume, M. 1997. Centrifuge model tcsts on stabil-
ity of embankmcnt improved by ccmcnt, Pr-oc. of
32th Annual Conference of Japanese Geotechnical
Society: 2429-2430. (in Japanese).
Kitazume, M. 1998. Centrifuge modcl tests on stabil-
ity of improved embankmcnt, Proc. of 33th Annual
Corzf e ren ce of Japanese Geotech n ica I Society :
2257-2258. (in Japanese).
Kitazume, M., Matsubara, Y., Matsuura, T., Hayashi,
K., Shinohara, K., Oomori, K., Kaneshiro, T.,
Hoshi, H. & Kojima, T. 1999. Field test on soil
admixture stabilization with suppressed pH agent,
Proc. of 34th Annual Conference of Japanese
GeoteclzizicalSociety:805-806. (in Japanese).
Makibuchi. M., Yoshino, N., Kitazume, M. & Okano,
K. 1999. Strength characteristics of the clay ground
improved with a small amount of cement, Proc. of
34th Annual Conference of Japanese Geotechnical
Society: 807-808. (in Japanese).
Porbaha, A., Yaname, N., Asada, H., Kishida, T. &
Sakamoto, A. 1999. Air-transported stabilized
dredged fill. Proc. of 34th Annual Conference of
Japanese Geotechnical Society: 809-8 10.
Yamane, N., Taguchi, H., Fukaya, T., Dam, K.L.,
Kishida, T. & Iwatsuki, T. 1998. Strcngth charac-
teristics of cement-treated soil using comprcssed
air-mixture pipeline. Proc. of 34th Annual Confer-
ence of Japanese Geotechnical Society: 2253-2254.
(in Japanese).

As a final remark, it is concluded that thc Pncu-

matic Flow Mixing Method has rclativcly high appli-
cability for construction of man-made island, sea rcc-
lamation and back filling.

REFERENCES

Akagawa, K. 1980. Gas-liquid two-phase flow. Me-

chanical Engineering 11: 15. (in Japanese).
Futaki, M., Nakano, K. & Hagino, Y. 1996. Design
strcngth of soil-cement columns as foundation
ground for structures, Proc. of the 2nd International
Corzfereizce 011 Ground Improvement Geosystems:
48 1-484.
Horii, R., Shinsha, H. & Fujio, Y. 1999. Plant for the
pneumatic flow mixing mcthod. Journal of
Kensetsu no Kikaika: 30-35. (in Japancsc).
Hosomi, H, Nishioka, S 8L Takci, S. 1996. Method of
deep mixing at Tianjin Port, People’s Republic of
China, Proc. of the 2nd Inter-national Conference
on Ground Improvement Geosystems: 49 1 -494.
Iwatsuki, T., Kamiyama, Y., Hashimoto, F., Yanai, E.
& Masuyama, T. 1998. Effectivc ccmcnt-mixing
mcthod for mud transport using a comprcsscd-air
mixture pipelinc, Annual Journal of Hydraulic En-
gineering, Japan Society of Civil Engineereia, Vol.
42: 655-660. (in Japanese).
652
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineeringin Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Mixing design of liquefied stabilization soil with sand

M. Koda, S.Tanamura, 0.Murata & S.Takizawa
Railway TechnicalResearch Institute, Tokyo,Japan
M. Ichihara
Nittoh-Daito Industrial Company Limited, Tokyo,Japan
G.L.Jiang
Integral Geotechnology Institute Company Limited, Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT: In this study, the mass of mixed sand W, for a constant volume of slurry at a constant density pf
was changed to select the fine fraction ratio F, of Liquefied Stabilization Soil (LSS) as a test parameter.
Firstly, a number of unconfined compression tests of LSS samples were carried out to investigate the
relationships between the density of LSS pus, mass of water W in lm3 of LSS, mass of cement C in l m 3 of
LSS, mass ratio of water to cement W/C, flow value F, unconfined strength qUz8and fine fraction ratio F,.
Secondly, a series of consolidated - undrained triaxial compression tests of LSS samples were conducted to
investigate the effect of F, on q-E, relations.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF EXCAVATED

As the volume ratio of excavated soil to industrial
wastes is high, recycling has been expected.
However, this material needs soil stabilization
because it generally has a high water content and
fine soil particles. Recently, Liquefied
Stabilization Soil (US) has been used extensively as
a back filling soil for cut and covered tunnels or
invert part of shield tunnels from the viewpoint of
recycling the excavated soil from underground
construction sites in urban areas. LSS is made
from slurry of excavated soil, sand, cement and
water, which can be installed without cornpaction in
the field. The excavated soil occupies one - third
the volume of US.
In this study, the mass of mixed sand W, for a
constant volume of slurry at a constant density pf
was changed to select the fine fraction ratio F, of
LSS as a test parameter. Then the mass of mixed
cement was kept at 80kg with lm3 of slurry. Firstly,
a number of unconfined compression tests of LSS
samples were carried out to investigate the
relationships between the density of LSS pLss,mass
of water W in Im3 of U S , mass of cement C in Im3
of LSS, mass ratio of water to cement W/C, flow
value F, unconfined strength qUz8and fine fraction
ratio F,. Based on these results, the relationships
between F, and the properties of LSS were shown.
Secondly, a series of consolidated - undrained
triaxial compression tests of LSS samples were
conducted to investigate the effect of F, on q-E,
relations.
SOIL, SAND AND CEMENT
This chapter explains the materials of LSS;
excavated soil, sand and cement. The excavated
soil (ps=2.66g/cm3, I,=64) was collected in the
Yokohama MM21 area and the sand (pS=2.71g/cm3)
in Kimitsu city, Chiba Prefecture. In this study,
grain size distributions of the excavated soil and
sand were adjusted to adopt F, as a test parameter.
Namely, from the excavated soil and sand, particles
over 75pm and under 75pm, respectively, were
removed. Therefore, F, can be calculated from the
mass of each material, each water content w and
each particle density p,. Figure 1 shows their grain
size distribution curves. The mixed cement is the
general cement stabilizer (TAIHEIY 0 CEMENT Co.
Ltd., GS10) at a cement particle density of 3.04
g/cm3.
3 MIXING PROCEDURES FOR LIQUIFIED
STABILIZATION SOIL
The LSS samples are classified into TYPE A and
TYPE B, whose density is 1.14 g/cm3 and 1.10 g/cm3,
respectively. After 80kg of cement was added to
l m 3 of each slurry (mass of cement added to lm3 of
slurry C’=80kg), the slurry was mixed by a fast hand
mixer for about two minutes and then predetermined
mass of sand W, was added before the slurry was
mixed again for about two minutes. TYPE A is
classified into three kinds of F, (TA-1, TA-2 and TA-
3) and TYPE B also into two kinds of F, (TB-1 and

653
TB-2). These mixture proportions are shown in Table 1. Mixture proportion of LSS
Table 1. It is expected that the unconfined
compression strength qu2g of TYPE A is greater than
that of TYPE B because the density of TYPE A
slurry is larger than that of TYPE B. This means
that the volume of water in TYPE A is smaller than
that in TYPE B. After LSS slurry was prepared,
the flow value F of the slurry including sand and pr: density of slurry, V,: mixed slurry volume, w: water content,
cement was measured. At first, the slurry was Ws: mixed sand mass, C’: mixed cement mass, LSS=V,+W,+C’
inserted into a mold with diameter $=80mm and
depth D=80mm. The mold was then set on a glass 5 CONSOLIDATED - UNDRAINED TRIAXAL
plate with length L=SOOmm and width W=SOOmm COMPRESSION TESTS
and pulled up from the plate quickly. After that, the
diameter of LSS on the plate, F (in mm), was A series of consolidated - undrained triaxal
measured. Then, the density of LSS pus and water compression tests were conducted to investigate the
content of LSS w were measured. Before LSS was effect of F, on the relationship between q-E, relations.
inserted into the mold with diameter $=50mm and
height H=100mm, LSS was kept in a container at
-750mmHg for 10 minutes to remove the entrained
air. After LSS in the mold were kept for 28 days at
25°C and 70% moisture, unconfined compression
tests and consolidated - undrained triaxial
compression tests (ICUC test) were conducted.

4 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN qu28 AND F,

The relationships between qUZ8 and the conditions of
mixture proportion are shown in Figure 2 and Figure
3. Horizontal coordinates are F, and vertical
coordinates are pus, mass of water W in lm3 of LSS,
mass of cement C in Im3 of LSS, qu2g, w/C, flow
value F. In these Figures, pLss increases and F
decreases as F, decreases. The decreasing rate of F
with F, becomes larger when F, is below 15% in
Figure 2. Because of the interlocking effect of sand
particles in LSS, F decreases. It is considered that
qu2g is closely connected with W/c.
The relationship between W/C and qu2g is shown in
Figure 4. From the Figure, qu28 is in inverse
proportion to W/C. These results could give the
following new mixture proportion of LSS. At first
slurry at a certain density is made by mixing water
and excavated soil. And then the density of the
mixed slurry is measured. Secondly, the mass of
cement is calculated from the relationship between
qu28 and W/C. Here, the mass of water W in lm3 of
LSS is calculated from the density and mass of the
slurry. Finally the mass of sand is calculated from
the necessary density of LSS. Therefore, it is not
necessary to control the density of slurry if this LSS
mixing procedure is used. Figure 5 shows the
relationship between F, and the coefficient of
variation in qu2g cov(qu2g). When F, decreases,
cov(qu28) decreases too. It seems that the scatter
of qu28 becomes smaller, when sand is inserted into
LSS. Figure 6 shows the relationship between the
void ratio e and F,. From Figure 5 and Figure 6, it
is known that cov(qu,g) decreases because the void
ratio of LSS decreases and the samples become Figure 2. Relationships between mixture proportion
and qu28(TYPEA)
dense with decreasing F,.
654
 Figure 7. Relationships between q and E,(TYPE A)

The U S specimens were set in a triaxal cell and

Figure 5. Relationship between C0V(qu28)and F,
isotropically consolidated at o,’=49kPa or 98kPa.
Then undrained compression tests were conducted at
a loading rate of O.OS%/min. Before the
consolidation, B values were measured and B=0.8
was obtained.

655
 The relationship between qr/qmaxand F, is shown in
Figure 9. It is known that the q-E, relation shows
that it is the hardening type with increasing E, if
qdq,,, is 1, and the relation shows it is the softening
type with increasing E, if qdq,,, is below 1. From
the Figures, hardening of q with increasing E, can be
found for F, less than 10%. However, as described
in the discussion about Figure 2 and Figure 3, the
liquidity, an advantage of LSS could be failed if F,
becomes less than 15%. So it is important to
satisfy the conditions F>150 and F,<10% to obtain
LSS with high performance and execution.

6 CONCLUSIONS

l.qu2Band F of LSS decrease and pLssincreases with

decreasing F,. The rates of decreasing qu28and F
with F, increase when F, is less than 15%.
However, C0V(qu,,) becomes smaller, when sand
inserted to LSS.
2.From the above conclusion, the new mixture
proportion method without controlling the density
of LSS is proposed.
3.It is found that the q-E, relation obtained from
ICUC tests of LSS samples becomes the hardening
type relation from the softening type relation with
increasing E, for F, less than 10%. From
decreasing F,; increasing sand in LSS, it is
considered that the interlocking effect of sand
particles is obtained in q-E, relations.

REFERENCE

Tatsuoka, F. 1976. Some problems and evaluation

for soil testing -some soil mechanical problems and
soil testing in lab. on planing of Tokyo-Aqua-Line-.
Proc. of symp. on some problems of resent soil
mechanics and foundations: 55-103. (in Japanese)

Figure 9. Relationship between qrlqmaxand F,

Figure 7 (a) and (b) and Figure 8 (a) and (b) show
the q-E, relations obtained from the tests. The
deviator stress q increases as the axial strain E,
increases and the excess pore water pressure Au in
the sample also increases. However, Au keeps the
value equal to the confined pressure qO’with
increasing E, after having reached the maximum Au.
Consequently, the effective confined stress or7
(=arO7-Au) becomes zero. This type of behaviour of
Au in LSS is almost the same as that of cement
treated soil as shown by Tatsuoka (1976). The
difference between the maximum deviator stress qmax
and residual deviator stress qr decreases with
increasing F, as shown in Figure 7 and Figure 8.

656
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase L? Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Construction of immersed undersea tube tunnel (TokyoWest Fairway

Tunnel) on the very soft ground
Tadaaki Masuda, Eizo Sasaki & Toshio Muranaka
Port a i d Harbor Construction Department, Bureau of Port and Harbor, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Japan

ABSTRACT: The ground under the port of Tokyo, as seen from the aspect of the tunnel construction, consists of
a thick soft alluvium deposit flown from rivers. Ground settlement is still in progress with all the reclaimed
lands. On the reclaimed land of Jonanjima, in which the tunnel starting shaft has been constructed, ground
settlement of 5-10 c d y e a r stilI continues. This report describes the most modem design and construction of an
undersea-immersed tube tunnel applicable to soft grounds.

1 INTRODUCTION girder could not be achieved due to the limitation of

As the southeastern part of the City of Tokyo faces the
Tokyo Bay, many reclaimed lands have been
constructed in the bay for reinforcing the harbor
function of the Tokyo port. Complete with the extensive
modern harbor facilities, the port is now one of the
leading trade ports in Japan. The Tokyo Port West
Tunnel is a 1.4 km long undersea tunnel of immersed
tube construction laid underneath the Tokyo West
Fairway, the main waterway for vessels incoming and
outgoing from the port of Tokyo. This tunnel was
intended for connecting the reclaimed lands separated
by the waterways for reinforcing the distribution
function of the port and completing the ring highway
of 20 km diameter prepared in the periphery of Tokyo.
For crossing the Tokyo West Fairway, two plans -
building of a bridge and a tunnel - were studied. The
required clearance of AP + 52.4 m under the bridge
the height as required by the Tokyo International
Airport, which is closely located. For constructing the
tunnel, two plans -the immersed tube tunnel and the
shield tunnel - were studied. The latter offered
advantages: lower construction cost per unit length of
tunnel and fewer disturbances to the vessel traffic than
the former method. However, by the shield tunnel
construction method, the tunnel would be about 2,100
m long, because the earth coverage on the tunnel below
the vessel route has to be as thick as 20 m and slope of
the approach roads to the tunnel should be 3 - 4 %. On
the other hand, by the immersed tube method, the
tunnel becomes about 1100 m long, because the
immersed tube tunnel needs 2 m thick counterweight
fill for preventing the tubes from floating. Considering
the economy of the construction, the immersed tube
tunnel method was adopted. Figure 1 shows the cross
sectional image of the tunnel.

Figure 1. Cross section of Tokyo Fair Way Tunnel - Immersed tunnel method.

657
Figure 2. Profile of the ground at the sites.
2 SITUATION WITH THE IMMERSED TUBE
TUNNEL IN JAPAN
2 .1 Immersed tube tunnels near the port of Tokyo
The immersed tube tunnel method has a 100-years
history. About 130 tunnels have been built by this
method all over the world. Inclusive of ones presently
under construction, we have 14 tunnels (eight for roads,
five for railways and one for belt conveyer
transportation) around Tokyo. The reasons for such
overwhelming number of applications are as follows.
1) Compared with the shield tunneling method, the
immersed tube tunnel method requires higher
construction cost per unit length. However, the
shorter length of the approach roads offsets this
disadvantage in the economy. In large cities where
land is still very costly, the possibility of utilizing
hinterland effectively still offers an excellent
advantage.
2) The area around the Tokyo port has an advantage of
being able to secure tunnel construction yards
(210,000 m’) by sealing off canals (construction of
canal cutoff walls and dry docks) for producing
caissons to be immersed. This offers a favorable
condition in view of the ease of the construction and
cost reduction.
2.2 Countermeasures to scope with large scale
earthquakes
A committee consisting of specialists was established
in 1997 to study the earthquake-proof construction in
order to cope with big earthquakes that are as severe
as the Hanshin Awaji class epicenter type earthquake.
The study of designs was done by analyzing techniques
using a new non linear response, that takes into account
the plastic behavior of the ground and structure, instead
of by conventional analysis on the premise of the elastic
response of the structure. In the study two types of
 earthquake waves are used; 1) the earthquake wave
adjusted to the maximum acceleration 375 gal for the
earthquake-proof quay wall design and; 2) the
earthquake wave based on the recorded earthquake
vibration of the Kobe port island in the southern part
of the Hyogo prefecture.
3 GROUND OUTLINE
3.1 Stratum organization
The ground of the area where the immersed tube
tunnels are placed consists of several layers as shown
in Fiwre 2. The features of these layers are as follows.
reclaimed soil (U): It mainly consists of clayey soil,
which has 80 YOof fine grained soil. As the natural
water content is a little above the liquid limit, it is
unstable and easy to liquefy.
the Yurakucho clay layer (Yc): The width of the
natural water content fluctuation was very wide. As
the natural water content is a little below the liquid
limit, soil in this layer is also unstable and easy to
liquefy. This condition is similar to the layer 1.
3) the Yurakucho gravel layer (Yg): It is a gravel layer
consisting 50 % of sand.
4) No.7 clay layer (Nac): The grain constituent was
almost the same as that of Yc. Compared with that
o f Yc layer, the natural water content fluctuates
much less and its value is also low. As the natural
water content is very much below the liquid limit,
it is not so unstable compare with the Yc layer.
5) No.7 sand layer (Nas): The natural water content is
relatively high, 44 - 53 %. Due to the presence of
humus, the specific gravity is low compared with
those of other layers.
6) the Tokyo clay layer (Tocl-3): The layer mainly
consists of silt, and is relatively stable.
7 ) the Tokyo sandy layer (Tos 1-2): It contains 26 YOof
fine grained soil, but the natural water content is as
low as about 3 1 %.
8) the Edogawa sandy layer (EdS1): The grain
constituent is similar to that of Tos 1-2, but the natural
water content is below than that of Tosl-2.
3.2 Assumption of the consolidation settlement
The grounds on the Jonanjima side passage area and
outside of the central breakwater have various features
as follows.
1) Jonunjirna side: An extremely soft Yc layer
accumulation of thickness around 35 m and N value
roughly below 2 overlays on a Nac layer of thickness
roughly 15 m. Nac layer is a diluvial clay layer and
its mechanical properties are similar to those of the
alluvial clay. The distribution of consolidation yield
stress p , is smaller than the effective overburden
pressure line in the Yc and Nac layers, indicating
that both layers were in the state not having been
fully consolidated yet. Especially in the Yc layer,
659
increase of the depth appears not to have caused the
increase of p,, which remained almost constant. The
reason of this distribution o f p c seems to be the
absence of a drainage layer between the Yc and Nac
layers. It seems to have caused the extreme delay of
the consolidation in the lower part of the Yc layer.
Due to the same reason, the consolidation was
delayed in the upper area of the Nac layer. However,
the effect of consolidation is increased with the depth
in the Nac layer. The rate of the consolidation tends
to increase toward the normal level with the increase
of the depth in the layer. The consolidation is still in
process in the construction area. The overall
settlement is assumed to be 1- 2 m. Therefore, when
a foundation type was selected o r ground
improvement was to be conducted, this consolidation
must be taken into consideration.
2) Central breakwater side: A relatively solid To layer
(diluvial deposit) is dominant from the middle of
the passage area. T h e distribution o f the
consolidation yield stress p, is in the state not fully
consolidated in the reclaimed U layer, while the state
in the Yc layer is normally consolidated. The Tosl
layer located at the bottom had been over
consolidation by about 4.0 - 6.0 kg/cm2. The
presumed subsidence about 0.5 m. It was assumed
that the settlement accompanying the construction
of the shafts and land tunnels would be small.
4 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF IMMERSED
TUNNEL
The immersed tube tunnel is a construction consisting
of immersed tunnel section (located at the sea bottom
or below the underground water level consisting of box
formed immersed caissons) and vertical ventilation
tower (vertical construction for connecting caissons
and land tunnel sector, for conducting the ventilation
of both tunnels) and the approaching roads (tunnel
sector and open cut).
4.1 Ventilation tower
4.1.1 Foundation structure style design
The ventilation tower is located at the joining points
of the caissons and land tunnels. They must never sink,
move nor be deformed by earthquakes for a long time
in the future. They have to be installed accurately,
because they must be finally connected with the
immersed and land tunnels accurately. Accordingly, the
following three structure styles are studied and
compared.
1) Caisson spread foundation - pneumatic caisson
and others.
2) Piled foundation - caisson & foundation piles;
foundation piles are categorized in ready made piles
(steel pipe piles) and cast-in-place piling (reverse
piles, etc.).
3) Special foundation - caisson & steel pipe sheet
pile.
 Type 1 foundations with deep supporting layer are
difficult to construct. Type 2 and type 3 foundations
are considered to be suitable compound foundation
structure for the operation, because the pile foundation
shall share the load in the large depth, where the
pneumatic caisson structure will lave weakness. The
type 2 with cast-in-pile necessitated maintaining
provisional piled jetties in the sea for a long time and
silt-protecting films became necessary for preventing
water pollution. Accordingly, the type 2 with cast-in-
piling is decided not be suitable for the construction at
this site. On the other hand, ready made pile system
allowed the use of steel pipe piles whose upper part
above the caisson installation level could be cut and
removed and could be reused as upper piles for the
main installation. As the type 3 involves an economic
problem of having to dispose of cut and removed steel
pipe piles, the type 2 with ready made pile system was
eventually adopted for the construction.

4.1.2 Countermeasures against soft ground

As the pile top displacement exceeded the allowable
value of 15 mm (the minimum value of 1 % of the pile
diameter and 15 mm) due to insufficient lateral
resistance of the foundation pile driven into the existing
ground in the ventilation tower on the Jonanjima side,
the ground is reinforced by foundation improvement.
As the present ground is of soft clay layer, the sand
compaction pile method (80 % improvement, the
diameter of sand pile is 1500 mm) is employed for the
foundation improvement . The improvement depth is
AP -32.00 m that allowed to secure 5.5 m or over I /
(the pile length) from the bottom of the caisson (AP -
26.0 m). The scope of the improvement is determined
over 10 m from the front face of the shafts, since the
vessel passive earth slope failure gradient is 25.3
degree. The ground shallower than AP -26 m is
improved, as the lateral resistance for the temporary
piled jetties have to be increased.
The design target value for the improvement is set
N=15 at the center of the sand pile, so that the
coefficient of the horizontal subgrade reaction (kh=30
kg/cm3 for sandy soil, kh=10 kg/cm3 for clay) can be
secured. The average N value of the original ground is
2; however, the average N value at the start of the
construction in 1994 was 23. The increase of the
strength by aging was conspicuous, as the average N
value at the same spot check bore increased to 38 in
1997. The N values were over 50 at many spots
checked. The reason for the increase of the strength is
the promotion of the drainage of the ground inclusive
of those of the surrounding area, by the forced
replacement of the unconsolidated Yc layer with sand
by conducting sand compaction that allowed to drive
in sand holes into the 5 m thick Ys layer that has been
sandwiched between the Yc and Nac layers to
consolidate the layers (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Ventilation tower at Jonanjirna site.
4.1.3 Method of construction
The ventilation tower consists of the base of box
formed concrete construction and the building above.
The form of the completgd base is B45xL45xH32 m.
A steel shell caisson , B45xL45xH24.5 is adopted for
the base for insuring a trouble free operation conducted
on the bottom of the sea. In the Jonanjima side, the
construction is started with the ground improvement
by sand compaction pile method. After that, 121 steel
pipe piles of 1,500 mm diameter are driven down as
deep as the bearing stratum. Then the insides of the
piles are cleared down to the depth of -24.5 m and
piles are cut off at the depth, intermediate depth
between the cutting edge and the bottom of the caisson.
The steel shell caisson was towed from the factory to
the site. After settling the caisson to the sea bottom,
the repetition of the caisson arrangement, digging and
sinking works, continued to reach the base of the
caisson the depth of -26 m. The operator in a surface
control room remote-controlled the excavator using
radio. The caisson was stabilized after about 5,000 m3
concrete having been poured into the digging
workroom to unite the caisson with the foundation
piles.
4.2 Land tunnel
4.2.1 The standard shape of a span of the land tunnel
It was a box-formed construction of the size of
B24.60xH8.1 OxL25.0 m. The ground under the
installation site is (1) soft and assumed ultimate
settlement of 0.50 - 2 m, and (2) requiring design
technologies for excavating the ground down to a great
depth. Countermeasure must be designed from two
aspects, i.e. subsidence and failure as follows; (1) use
of supporting piles for preventing the subsidence and

660
(2) foundation improvement to reinforce the bottom
of the excavation.
4.2.2 Countermeasures against soft ground
(1) Measures against settlement (use of steel pipe
piles): As the consolidation settlement was relatively
large in the Jonanjima side, the countenneasures using
the foundation improvement and foundation piles are
compared. As the required improvement depth for the
foundation improvement is as large as about 60 m, the
use of foundation piles is judged advantageous in view
of the ease of the operation and the construction cost.
The amount of the consolidation settlement is assumed
to be 1 - 2 m. It is decided that the pile support is to be
applied to the entire length. It is decided that the
foundation piles are to be applied to the sector of the
30 m land tunnel connected with the ventilation tower
to deal with the differential settlement in central
breakwater side.
As the aim of the use of the foundation piles is to
prevent the consolidation settlement, it is necessary to
drive the piles to the bearing stratum, the Edsl layer,
which is the diluvial deposit with over 50 of N value.
The total length of the piles is about 70 m. According
to the experience, this pile length could be achieved
only by using steel pipe piles or reverse piles. In case
of using reverse piles, there are several problems, for
example, borehole wall failure due to groundwater
level fluctuation by the leakage of water in the Nas
layer with fine sand, or the stability of borehole wall
in the intermediate soft Yc layer. The steel pipe piles
have less problem and is decided to be adopted for the
pile foundation of the land tunnel.
(2) Countermeasures against failures (heaving of the
ground bottom or boiling): A risk of the following
failure will be present on the bottom of the deep open
cut excavation in the ground according to the result of
the soil investigations. In the Jonanjima side, Yc layer
exists from -5 m to -42 m and N value of the layer is
around 0 to 2. The weight of the earth behind the
sheathing or the ground surface load near the sheathing
might cause slipping surfaces that may result in heaving
as the rising of the excavated bottom or the sheathing
wall. The ground at central breakwater site consisted
of, from the top, U layer, Yc layer, Ys layer, and Tocl
and Tosl layers. The Ys layer of the thickness 3 m, as
it is a continuous layer to the sea, an upward
permeability current may be caused by the difference
o f the water levels. When the seepage pressure
exceeded the effective weight of the earth, the boiling
of earth might be expected. Also, when the excavation
is going on in the layer Toc 1, as this layer is continuous
into the sea, an upward seawater pressure will act on
the bottom surface of the Tocl layer. It is presumed
that, when this upward force exceeded the effective
weight of the layer above, a failure of the bottom of
the excavation might have been caused by the floating
(heaving of the ground bottom) of the bottom.
(3) Ground improvement and measure of heaving: The
ground improvement is required for increasing the
661
shear strength of the excavated bottom as the counter
measure to the heaving in the Jonaniima side, while
I
the ground improvement is required for increasing the
water tightness of the excavated bottom in the central
breakwater side. Considering the scale, term and the
easiness of the operation, the following measures are
studied and compared for the ground improvement.
a: Deep mixing method -this method is categorized
in Cement deep mixing method (CDM), Lime deep
mixing method (DLM), Dry jet mixing method
(DJM), and Jet grout method (Column jet grout
method (CJG), Jumbo jet special grout method
(JSG)) -
b: Quick lime pile method
c: Chemical grouting method
d: Freezing method
The improved ground strength by method (b) is
smaller than by other methods and is not large enough
to keep the stability during all the construction process
in this site. However, as the present state of the soil of
the reclaimed land at the site is too weak to support
the heavy machinery, it was decided to use the method
(b) for getting the initial stability and keeping the
trafficability. The method (c) had a problem on the
reliability, because the method had not been used often
for large scale ground improvement. The method (d)
is not suitable for the work of this site in view of the
term and cost.
The rising of the bottom may cause the maximum
damage among three phenomena including the rising
of bottom, heaving and boiling that may cause the
failure of the excavated bottom. The thickness of the
improved ground required for preventing from this
problem should be designed to keep the ratio of total
of the ground weight and adhesion of the earth retaining
wall and adhesion of the foundation piles to the artesian
head difference larger than 1.50. This means that the
ground improvement and the foundation piles are
required for dealing with the consolidation settlement
and the rising of the bottom in the Jonanjima side. The
thickness of the improved ground shall be 5.0 - 9.50
m. As the artesian head difference in central breakwater
side is smaller than that in the Jonanjima side, the
thickness of the improved ground should be 3.50 -
7.40 m in central breakwater side.
4.2.3 Construction work
(1) Excavation work by means of earth retaining
The method of open cut with earth retaining wall is
used for the land tunnel sector, while a reclaimed land
is constructed for the work sector on the sea for the
ventilation tower construction. SMW, slurry congeal
wall, and steel pipe piles are considered construction
methods for the earth retaining wall. These methods
are compared in accordance with the soil condition and
penetration depth. Accordingly, the two methods were
used, namely SMW for the sectors of the excavation
depth 10-15 m, and steel pipe piles for the depth over
15 m to the deepest.
(2) Foundation improvement work
Quick lime pile method: It is adopted for the entire
length outside the central breakwater reclaimed land,
and also for the excavated area of the 30 m land tunnel
sector to be connected with the ventilation tower except
for the bottom of the excavated area - ground layer
lower than the ultimate floor surface.
Deep mixing soil stabilization method It is employed
for improving the ground under the layer improved by
the quick lime pile method. As the improved ground
required to be highly watertight and uniform so as to
deal with the ground rising problem, the piles for the
improvement are of block type structure so that they
overlap with each other. However, as the grounds
prepared by the dry jet mixing method and cement or
lime deep mixing method contain many concrete bricks
in the upper area of the reclaimed soil all over the
application area, it is estimated to cause a difficulty in
driving the digging blades at precise spots.
Furthermore, the preparation of reliable ground was Figure 4.Standard section of land tunnel.
considered difficult by these methods, because the
foundation piles, which are to be driven in beforehand
for dealing with the consolidation settlement problem, 5 CONCLUSION
may disturb the operation.
Jet grout method (CJG method, JSG method): Although From the start of the operation in 1994 to October 99,
they are the methods partly different from one another, six of the eleven caissons have been installed in a
the methods primarily used mineralizer solution that longitudinal accuracy of 20 mm. The ventilation tower
are spread into the ground in a form of a rotatingjet. has been completed except for the upper building. The
While cutting the ground, the method produced works are in smooth progress toward the targeted
cylinder formed foundation. It is the method that is opening period of the tunnel in 2002.
capable of improving the ground without having been
disturbed by obstacles. The CJG method fully
substitutes improved coiurrms for original ground and
is more costly than the JSG method which substitutes
partly. In such a reason, the use of CJG method is
limited to boundary areas to soil retaining walls, where
high accuracy is required for the water tightness.

(3) Effect of the ground improvement

Figure 5 shows the improved area in land tunnel.
Lime piles were struck in a grid formation of
1 . 6 0 1.60
~ m pitch. The check boring is conducted after
one month of the curing period. The strength of the
piles, q, have a level of 89 - 150 kN/m2,which is twice
the targeted value. Samples collected indicates thin
layers that seem to be of concreted lime. The reaction
of the quicklime seems to lead the reinforcement of
the ground. The effect of ground improvement is as
anticipated.
The confirmation o f the ground strength
improvement of the JSG and CJG methods was to be
conducted at every 3,000 m3 as specified in the
specification. Inspection was conducted with 40 JSG
piles and 20 CJG piles on the entire Jonanjima site.
Result shows the strengths which are larger than 1.5 -
3 times of the design value.

662
 CoastalGeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Engineering properties of granulated blast furnace slag

H. Matsuda & T. Koreishi - Yamaguchi University,Ube,Japan

N.Kitayama - Fukken Company Limited, Hiroshima,Japan
Y. Ando - Fujita Company Limited, Tokyo,Japan
Y. Nakano - Nagamune Kosan Limited, Tokuyama,Japan

ABSTRACT: For the purpose of using granulated BF (Blast Furnace) slag as an alternative material to
marine sand which has so far been conventionally used in the foundation engineering, the static shear-strength
properties of granulated BF slag were examined and compared with those of the natural marine sand. As a
result, it was clarified that the grain-size distribution and the density of granulated BF slag were very similar
to those of marine sand, and the void ratio of granulated BF slag was larger due to a lot of air bubbles inside
the granulated BF slag grain and consequently its maximum dry density after compaction was smaller, as
compared with those of marine sand. Although there occurred grain crush in granulated BF slag in a relatively
low confining-pressure range, the friction angle of granulated BF slag in the critical state is higher than that of
marine sand.

1 INTRODUCTION and numerous points have yet to be clarified. To

The sand compaction pile method is a soft-ground
improvement method that excels in securing high
stability and earthquake resistance of ground and has
consequently been used for the foundation grounds
of important structures. However, as this ground
improvement method requires a large quantity of
uniform-quality sand having high strength and
permeability, gathering marine sand has recently
become increasingly difficult.
On the other hand, granulated BF slag is being
produced from blast-furnace slag in large quantities.
Sixty-nine percent of blast-furnace slag is shipped
out from ironworks in Japan as granulated BF slag,
with its annual quantity amounting to about 22
million tons in 1998 (Nippon Slag Association
1999). A large part of granulated BF slag is used as a
material for the production of cement, and it is also
used as a construction material for the roads subbase
courses and also as a back-filling material for
structures (Nagasaka et al. 1997). Besides, its
applicability to the port and harbor structures has
recently been scrutinized (Investigation committee
1989). Due to the fact that granulated BF slag is an
artificial material and uniform in quality, and is
available in large quantities, it may be considerable
to use granulated BF slag as a substitute to marine
sand for ground improvement by the sand
compaction pile method that requires a lot of
uniform marine sand. So far, there have been few
cases of applying granulated BF slag to the method,
make good use of granulated BF slag in the ground
improvement, the authors have studied and reported
its physical and mechanical properties including
compaction characteristics, permeability and simple
shear strength (Matsuda et al. 1998). In the present
study, triaxial compression tests on granulated BF
slag and marine sand have been carried out to
ascertain basic differences in their shear
characteristics.
2 CHEMICAL COMPONENTS OF GRANU-
LATED BLAST FURNACE SLAG
Granulated BF slag is produced by quickly cooling
and thereby granulating melted blast-furnace slag
with pressurized water (100-350 kPa). As shown in
Table 1, granulated BF slag is composed of calcium
oxide: CaO (41.O%), silica: SiO?, (33.4%), alumina:
A1203 (14.5%), magnesium oxide: MgO (6.0%), etc.
It also contains small amount of sulfur S (1.0%),
manganese Mn (0.7%), and iron oxide Fe0 (0.4%)
(Investigation committee 1989). It mostly consists of
amorphous vitreous grains, of which the grading is
uniform. Each grain has numerous air bubbles both
inside and out on its surface, taking a squarish shape
(Investigation committee 1989) and having a latent
hydraulic property.

663
 Table 1. Comparisons between chemical properties of
materials. W)
SiOs M 2 0 3 CaO MgO S MnO F e 0

BF slag 33.4 14.5 41.0 6.0 1.0 0.7 0.4

Z:?zd 22.0 5.5 65.0 1.4 1.0 - 3.0
Natural sand 60.0 22.0 0.5 0.8 0.1 0.1 -
Andesite 60.0 17.0 6.0 3.0 0.2 1.0 -

Weathered
soil 59.6 22.0 0.4 0.8 0.01 0.1 -

Table 2. Density, maximum void ratio and minimum

void ratio.
P,
(dcm3) emax emin
Granulated BF slag(1) 2.695 1.302 0.844
Granulated BF slag(I1) 2.624 1.521 1.043
Genkai sand 2.661 0.802 0.439

3 PHYSICAL, PROPERTIES OF GRANULATED

BLAST FURNACE SLAG

Physical properties, compaction characteristics and

permeability of granulated BF slag were examined
and compared with those of the natural sand. The
materials used were two kinds; they are granulated
BF slag and the natural sand from the Sea of Genkai.
Figure 1 shows their grain-size distribution curves. It
is reported that granulated BF slag has the
uniformity coefficient in the range of 2.5 to 4.2
(Investigation committee 1989), and the sample of
Genkai sand used in the present study is also in the
same range of uniformity coefficient.
Table 2 shows the densities and the minimum and
maximum void ratios of the granulated BF slags and
Genkai sand. The granulated BF slags had almost the
same unit weight of soil grains as Genkai sand, but
the minimum and maximum void ratios of the
former were larger than those of the latter. It is
because numerous air bubbles are formed in grains
when the melted blast furnace slag is quickly cooled
down with pressurized water. The porosity of
granulated BF slag grains is evident from numerous
pores observed on their surfaces as shown in Photo-
1.
Figure 2 shows the results of non-cyclic
compaction tests of granulated BF slag (11) and
Genkai sand. The dry density of Genkai sand was
influenced by its water content and it is
approximately 1.8gicm3 at the maximum, in contrast
to this, the dry density of granul_ated BF slag (11) was
fairly constant at about 1.5g/cm3. It is confirmed that
the dry density of granulated BF slag is not
Figure 3. e-log curyes.
influenced by the water content.

664

Figure 4(b). q/p' - relationship on Genkai sand.
The grain-size distribution curves of the
granulated BF slags obtained before and after the
compaction tests were compared and no significant
changes between them were observed, which
indicated that grain crush hardly occurred in the
granulated BF slag. On the other hand, it is reported
that if granulated BF slag is compacted more than
the number of compaction times made in ordinary
compaction tests, its grains are crushed and its grain-
size distribution changes (Investigation committee
1989).
To ascertain the compression characteristics of the
granulated BF slag, consolidation tests were carried
out using a standard oedometer test device. Figure 3
shows the relationships between void ratio and
consolidation pressure (e - log p) of granulated BF
slag (I) and Genkai sand. The granulated BF slag had
a large void ratio over a range of relative density as
mentioned above, and their compressibility
increased under increasing consolidation pressure
than that of Genkai sand.
Table 3 shows the coefficients of permeability of
granulated BF slag (I) and Genkai sand, which were
determined by constant-head permeability tests. The
coefficient of permeability of granulated BF slag (I)
(k = 1.7 - 3.2 x 10.' cm/s) was larger than that of
-
Genkai sand (k = 3.3 7.3 x 10-2cm/s) at both the
relative densities of about 60% and 80%. On the
other hand, it is known that the coefficient of
permeability of granulated BF slag decreases due to
its latent hydraulic property. It is reported, however,
that granulated BF slag retains a permeability
coefficient of the order of 10-3cm/s even after it has
been fully solidified (Matsuda et al. 1998).
665
Table 3. Coefficients of permeability.
g) k (cds) g) k (cds)
65 2.5-3.2X 10-l 82 1.7-2.2x 10-'
BF slag(1)
Genkai 62 6.1-7.3 X 10-2 83 3.3-3.9X 10'2
sand
4 SHEAR STRENGTH CHARACTERISTICS OF
GRANULATED BLAST FURNACE SLAG
4.1 Drained shear strength
Consolidated-drained tri-axial compression tests
on granulated BF slag (11) and Genkai sand were
carried out to compare their shear strengths.
Densely compacted specimens (relative density
being about 80%) were tested at confining pressure
50, 100, and 150 kPa. Granulated BF slag (11) was
also tested at confining pressure of 300 kPa. Figure
4(a) and Figure 4(b) show the relationships between
axial strain and stress ratio 4/p7, where q is deviator
stress andp' is effective mean principal stress. They
are given as follows: q = a,-a3 and p' = \al + k 3 )/3.
As shown in Figure 4(a), the stress ratio of
granulated BF slag (11) decreased as the confining
pressure increased. On the other hand, the stress
ratio of Genkai sand remained constant regardless of
the variation of confining pressure. Grain crush
induced by the shear may be the main factor of such
decrease in the stress ratio of granulated BF slag. It
seemed that grains of granulated BF slag (11) were
crushed at the confining pressure of 50 150 kPa -
(and 300 kPa) during the tests, whereas the grains of
Genkai sand remained almost intact at the same
confining pressure 50 - 150 kPa.
Figure 5(a) and Figure 5(b) show the relationships
between the volumetric strain E, and the axial strain
& a on granulated BF slag (11) and Genkai sand. As
the confining pressure increased, it is significant that
granulated BF slag (11) tends to contract its volume
with the increase in axial strain, whereas the
relationships between axial strain and volumetric
strain of Genkai sand remained unchanged
regardless of the different confining pressure. It
seemed that as the confining pressure increased,
grain crush was in progress, and the progressing
grain crush changed the expanding tendency of
granulated BF slag (11) to a contracting one. On the
other hand, it seemed that since the confining
pressure for Genkai sand was relatively low in this
study, the grain crush by shear was small. Hence it is
considered that the volume increased at every level
of confining pressure.
Figure 6(a) and Figure 6(b) show the dE,/dE, -
q / p ' relationships for granulated BF slag (11) and
Genkai sand. Where E is shear strain, which is
defined by E , = 2 / 3 ( ~ ,- E , ) , E a represents the axial
strain, and E ,. is the radial strain. Accordingly, the
following equation can be derived:
q / p " A4 -dE,,/dE, (1)

where M stands for the critical stress ratio. If

d e , , / d e , is zero, A4 equals q l p ' , which is the
strength ratio without the dilatancy. As shown in
Figure 6 (a) and Figure 6 (b), granulated BF slag (11)
had the value of M=1.5, which was larger than that
of Genkai sand. From the equation
sin$, = 3M/(6 + M , the critical angle of internal
friction & for granulated BF slag (11) was found to
be 36.9". On the other hand, Genkai sand had the
value of M =1.3, and its critical friction angle was
found to be 32.3". Thus, granulated BF slag (11) had
a larger critical friction angle than Genkai sand.
4.2 Undrained shear strength
To ascertain the differences between the basic shear
strength of granulated BF slag and those of natural
sand based on their effective stress paths,
consolidated-drained tri-axial compression tests
were carried out. Densely compacted specimens of
granulated BF slag (11) and Genkai sand were tested
at the confining pressure of 50, 100, and 150 kPa.
Figure 7(a) and Figure 7(b) show the relationships
between axial strain E , and stress ratio q / p o for
granulated BF slag (11) and Genkai sand. Where p o is
the consolidation pressure. Both granulated BF slag
(11) and Genkai sand have a large tangent modulus.

Figure 7(b). q/po- E , relationship on Genkai sand.

As the axial strain increased, the strain hardening

occurred in Genkai sand, whereas granulated BF slag
(11) developed only slight strain hardening. Both
Figure 5(b). E - E , relationship on Genkai sand. granulated BF slag (11) and Genkai sand showed the

666
tendency that as the consolidation pressure increases,
the stress ratio decreases, but the decrease in the
stress ratio of granulated BF slag (11) under the stress
change from 50 kPa to 100 kPa was larger than that
under the stress change from 100 kPa to 150 kPa. It
is because the increasing confining pressure crushed
grains or made the contacting surfaces smoothness
and reduced the interlocking force among them.
Figure 8(a) and Figure 8(b) show the relationships
between axial strain and pore water pressure ratio
ulpo for granulated BF slag (11) and Genkai sand.
Under the consolidation pressure of 50 kPa, both
granulated BF slag (11) and Genkai sand developed
relatively large negative excess pore water pressure
due to dilation and under this condition the
magnitude of the negative excess pore pressure
increases with the increase in the axial strain. In both
cases, as the consolidation pressure increased, the
excess pore water pressure changed from the
negative to the positive. This means the change from
expansion to contraction of the material. Similar
tendency is also seen in the results of drained shear
tests. It is considered that this tendency is due to the
fact that the expansion is controlled by the crush of
grains under increasing consolidation pressure.
Figure 9(a) and Figure 9(b) show the p’/p0-q/po
relationships of granulated BF slag (11) and Genkai
sand. The effective stress path of Genkai sand was
hardly affected by the variation of confining
pressure, whereas that of granulated BF slag (11) is
significantly affected. But, when the stress in
granulated BF slag (11) reached its critical state, the
stress paths under all confining pressures converged
to a single straight line.

5 CONCLUSIONS
For the purpose of using granulated BF slag as an
alternative material to marine sand which has so far
been used in foundation engineering, the authors
examined various properties of granulated BF slag
and compared them with those of marine sand.
In conclusion, following results were obtained.
1)Granulated BF slag is crushed at the low confining
-
pressure as 50 150 kPa (and 300 kPa) whereas the
grains of Genkai sand remained almost intact at the
-
same confining pressure 50 150 kPa.
2)Granulated BF slag has a larger critical friction
angle than Genkai sand.
3)The effective stress path of Genkai sand was
hardly affected by the variation of confining
pressure, whereas that of granulated BF slag is
significantly affected. Figure 9(b). Effective stress path for Genkai sand.
4)When the stress in granulated BF slag reached its
critical state, the stress paths under all confining
pressures converged to a single straight line.

667
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to express their thanks to the

Steel Industry Foundation for the Advancement of
Environmental Protection Technology for its
financial support to the research works performed in
this paper, and also to Mr. Aung Swe of Fukken Co.
Ltd., who has supported the English translation.

REFERENCES

Investigation committee on the utilization of blast

furnace slag 1989. Application manual of the
blast furnace slag in port and harbor
construction. Port and Harbour Research Institute
Ministry of Transport Japan, and Nippon Slag
Association. (in Japanese)
Matsuda, H., N. Kitayama, Y. Ando, & Y. Nakano
1998. Effective utilization of granulated slag in
geotechnical engineering. Ground Engineering,
16: 33-40. (in Japanese)
Nagasaka, Y., H. Sakai, K. Ohmori, & T. Hirata
1997. Disposal and utilization of surplus soil and
waste from a geotechnical engineering point of
view. Tsuchi-to-Kiso, Japanese Geotechnical
Society, 45(5): 55-60. (in Japanese)
Nippon Slag Association 1999. Statistical yearbook
on iron and steel slag, 1998. (in Japanese)

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 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Estimating the dimensions of lightweight fill behind a seawall

using the slice method
Y. Mitarai, T. Amino & Y.Yamamura
TechnicalResearch Institute, TOA Corporation,Yokohama,Japan

ABSTRACT: This paper presents the results of a parametric study to estimate the optimum dimensions of a
lightweight fill used to reduce the lateral pressure behind a seawall. Three modes of failure were assumed and
analyses were carried out using the conventional slice method. The effect of bottom width, thickness and
shape of the lightweight fill on development of lateral pressure behind a quay wall were investigated. In addi-
tion, the parametric study was extended to estimate the effect of using rubble stone as the interface with the
lightweight fill.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 ESTIMATION OF LATERAL, PRESSURE

Super Geo-Material (SGM) is a lightweight slurry In conventional slice method, the lateral earth pres-
fill developed for backfilling seawalls in the coastal sure is calculated using Eq.(l) (Tsuchida, 1999;
areas. It consists of low quality soil or dredging, ce- Amino et al., 2000). A straight sliding plane acting
ment and a lightweight material, such as air foam or from the backward of the structure is assumed in this
EPS (Expanded PolyStyrol) beads. This slurry fill method; and then the soil block enclosed by the slid-
has many advantages including reduction of lateral ing surface and the wall is divided into regular
earth pressure behind the retaining walls, prevention slices, as schematically shown in Fig.1.
of ground subsistence, as a countermeasure against
liquefaction, and also recycling of low-quality soils
in the construction site. It is also possible to control
the density (ranging from 6 to 15 kN/m3) and the
undrained shear strength, S, (50 to 150 kPa). This
newly developed lightweight slurry fill was firstly
adopted for reconstruction of the damaged quay
walls at Kobe Port, which was damaged by the Great
Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995 in Japan (Ma-
tsuo, 1996; Tani, 1996).
In order to determine the optimum dimensions of
the improved body behind the seawall, it is neces-
sary to estimate the lateral earth pressure. From this
point of view, the earth pressure for design is esti-
mated using the conventional Slice Method, com-
monly used in slope stability analysis. This method
was adopted in the design manual for lightweight
treated soil in Japanese Standard manual for port and
harbour facilities.
This paper presents the results of a parametric
study to estimate the optimum dimensions (such as Figure 1. Calculation of lateral pressure using the
width, depth, and shape) of a lightweight fill used slice method
behind a seawall to reduce the lateral pressure.

l+tanatan@ .

669
 The parameters are as follows: P= resultant lateral
earth pressure, a= angle of sliding plane, @ = inter-
nal friction angle of back ground fill, 6= friction an-
gle of wall, kh= horizontal seismic coefficient, I=
sliding length of a slice, WI=total weight of a slice,
WI=effective weight of a slice, Ti= shear force of a
slice, Vi= vertical force at right side of a slice, and
Ei= horizontal force at right side of a slice.
The maximum earth pressures are calculated for 3
modes of failure as schematically shown in Fig.2
when SGM treated lightweight fill is used. These as-
sumed modes of failure are as follows:
Mode 1: Earth pressure indicates the value when
sliding plane is outside of the treated zone. This
case will be caused by too high shear strength or
inadequate width of SGM treated materials.
Mode 2: This mode takes place when the width
of SGM treated zone is wide enough and the
failure plane is located inside of the treated mass
can be treated as an infinite surcharge material in
this case.
Mode 3: Maximum earth pressure zone is 10-
cated along the SGM treated zone. Shape of the
sliding plane is compounded from ABCD, and
secondary sliding plane is assumed at point C,
which enables to evaluate the earth pressure is
the maximum in this mode among the three
when the design seismic coefficient and or the
treatment depth is great.
Figure 2. Slip surface assumed for different failure
modes
670
Figure 3. Base section used for parametric study
3 OUTLINE OF A PARAMETRIC STUDY
This section summarizes a case study to determine
the dimensions of the SGM treated ground for a
quay wall. Cross section of quay wall is presented in
Fig.3 along with various conditions employed both
in design and SGM treated mass. The final objective
is to obtain the width and the depth of the improved
zone. The results of the parametric study are pre-
sented in the following section. The initial condi-
tions of this study is as follows:
(a) Material parameters & surcharge:
0 wet unit weight of SGM =12kN/m3
0 apparent cohesion c=10kN/m2
0 wet unit weight of the backfill=10kN/m3
0
internal friction angle 6 =30°
0
Friction coefficient between SGM and the back-
fill material ,U =tan3O0=0.60
0 surcharge pressure: w=lOkPa
(b) Dimensions:
0
SGM bottom width L=5.0 to 40.0m@5.0m
0 thickness h=3.0m, 6.0m, 9.0m
0 Caisson bottom level = -9.0m, -12.0m, -14.5m
0 Caisson top level =+3.0m
Earth pressure ratio in the parametric study using
slice method is given by Eq. (2).
where PO= resultant earth pressure of non-treated
ground (kN/m), P= resultant earth pressure cone-
sponding to the three modes shown in Fig.2 (kN/m).
4 RESULTS OF THE PARAMETRIC STUDY
4.1 Effect of the bottom width of SGM zone
Figure 4 shows the Rp obtained from the study ver-
sus L values (bottom width of SGM-treated zone). In
case of H (height of quay wall)=17.5m, there is a
trend that Rp values decrease with increasing L
 values under constant H and k,. However, the Rp
values indicated a constant value when L and k, are
relatively small values.
On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 5 (a and b),
correlation exists among Rp, Lmin and failure modes
illustrated in Fig.2. The constant value of Rp pointed
out earlier is caused by failure mode2 such that
Pmax and SGM mass can be treated as an infinite
mass when L is beyond Lmin, as indicated in FigSa.
SGM mass is therefore available to treat as a sur-
charge ~ M S S in this case. On the other hand, Rp
again increases when h and k, exceed 9.0m and 0.25,
respectively as shown in FigSb. This was caused by
failure mode3 giving P m a because of the small
value of p = 0.6.

Figure 4. Effect of varying width of SGM on lateral earth pressure ratio

RP
h<9. Om & kh SO.20
r” h 2 9 .Om & k, =O. 2 5

1 MODE-3 1 MODE-2
MODE-1 I MODE-3

+ L ,L

Figure 5. Effect of various modes of failure on lateral earth pressure ratio

671
Figure 6. Effect of h/H on lateral earth pressure
ratio

4.2 Effect of the thickness of SGM zone

Fig.6 shows the values of Rp versus hlH ratios. Rp

values proportionally decrease with increasing h/H
ratios when kh=o to 0.2, because failure mode 2 pre-
vails, in which SGM can be treated as an infinite
mass, gives Pmax. However, Rp indicate approxi-
mately a constant value of 0.7 to 0.8 when kh=0.25
and h/H>0.5. This was caused by the small ,U value
as pointed out in section 4.1.
4.3 Effect of the shape of SGM zone

Fig. 7 shows the Rp values versus the area of SGM-

treated zone, in case of H= 17.5m and kh=0.25. The
shapes of the SGM treated zones are reverse-
trapezoid, trapezoid and rectangular. The effect of
shape could be negligible when h is relatively small
like h d m , while this effect should become greater
the larger the h values (hr9m). In case of equal area
of treated zones and different shapes, the rank of Rp
values is as follows: reverse-trapezoid < trapezoid <
rectangle. The reason is described as follows.
The earth pressure, calculated based on the slice
method, is evaluated with the assumption that the
secondary failure plane at Mode 3 (see Fig.2), gives
the smallest P value (= resultant earth pressure act-
ing from back of treated area) for reverse-trapezoid,
and the same P value for trapezoid & rectangular
shapes. The Rp values of rectangle are larger than
those of trapezoid, and this is caused by the differ-
ences in (a) length of shear plane being resistant to
earth pressure and (b) weight of soil mass above the
shear plane. Figure 7. Effect of change in cross sectional area
of SGM on Rp

672
 in which the sand fill ( 6 =30° ) is replaced by rubble
stone (6 Evidently, appropriate evaluation of
cb value of backfill is also an important subject.
Shape effects on Rp are presented in Fig.10. It is
clear that reverse-trapezoid effect is higher than rec-
tangular and trapezoid.

Figure 8. Investigation of interface of SGM with

rubble stone for 3 cases

5 EFFECT OF INTERFACE OF SGM & THE

RUBBLE STONE

It should be pointed out that the effect of lateral

earth pressure ratio was not so pronounced when
khd.25 and hr9m. This was caused by the small ,u
value adopted in the analysis. In order to overcome
this problem, the use of the material with higher p
value should be considered.
Three cases were investigated in this study as
schematically shown in Fig.8.

1) rubble stone at the bottom end of SGM-treated

zone (Case-A),
2) use of rubble stone as back fill (Case-B), and
3) combined Cases A and B (Case-C).

Results of analyses are summarized in Fig 9, and ~i~~~~ 9. Variation o f ~ withA

p when rubble stone
the use of stone is very effective in the Case B and C is used as the interface

673

Figure 10. Effect of shape of SGM on Rp
From the analyses, it can be expected to get the
value of Rp to a level of 0.5 to 0.6 with the com-
bined use of SGM and rubble stone when kh20.25.
One problem in using stone is penetration of the
SGM into the stone. Therefore, it is necessary to de-
velop a cost-effective technique to avoid penetration
of the SGM into the rubble stone.
6 CONCLUSIONS
A parametric study is presented to determine the di-
mensions of SGM behind a seawall using the con-
ventional slice method. The following conclusions
and suggestions are derived from this study:
1)It is possible to estimate the lateral pressure ratio
(Rp) using SGM at backfill of quay wall using the
slice method.
674
2) The Rp values decrease with increasing L values
under constant H and k h , but the values are con-
stant when L and kh are relatively small (i.e. in
case of h s 6m and khs 0.20). On the other hand,
Rp again increases when h and kh exceed 9.0m
and 0.25, respectively.
3) The Rp values decrease with increase of hlH ra-
tios when kll=O to 0.2, because mode2, in which
SGM can be treated as an infinite mass gives
Pmax. However, the Rp value indicate approxi-
mately a constant value of 0.7 to 0.8 when kh=0.25
and hlHA.5.
This was produced by small p value of 0.6 (i.e. in
case of using sand with (b =30° for backfill).
4) The effect of shape could be negligible when h is
relatively small, for example h s 6m, while this
effect should become greater when h is larger
(hr9m). In terms of equal treated zones and dif-
ferent shapes, the rank of Rp values is as follows:
reverse-trapezoid<trapezoid< rectangle.
5) It is possible to get the value of Rp to a level of
0.5 to 0.6 with the combined use of SGM and
rubble stone when khd.25 and h29m. This can be
done by using granular fill or stone with high ,U
values.
REFERENCES
Amino, T., Mitarai, Y., and Tsuchida,T. (2000)
Design method for improvement dimensions of
the lightweight cement treated mass material by
slice method, JGS Symposium, Japanese
Geotechnical Society, Tokyo (in Japanese)
Matsuo, 0. (1996) Damage to river dikes, Soils and
Foundations, Special issue, January, Tokyo :
235-240
Tani, S. (1996) Damage to earth dams, Soils and
Foundations, Special issue, January, Tokyo :
263-272
Tsuchida,T.(1999) Slice Method for Pressure
Analysis and its Application to Lightweight Fill,
Technical Note of the Port and Harbor Research
Institute Ministry of Transport, May, Yokosuka
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Geo-material properties of wasted oyster shell-sand mixture

and its application as material for sand compaction pile
Y. Miyaji
Shiogama Port Construction OfJie, Ministry of Transport,Japan
T.Okumura
Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology,Okayama University,Japan

ABSTRACT: The recycling, reclamation and material reuse activities become important issues for social re-
sponsibilities in recent years and for the future. construction industry also takes action for its waste, and is re-
quested to reuse the miscellaneous industrial waste, too. Wasted oyster shell makes major environmental pol-
lution in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi prefecture, where oyster harvest is major parts of fishing product. This
paper reports the recycling of a huge amount of oyster-shell from fisheries waste, being environmental prob-
lem. The report contains geotechnical study and a case record of reusing oyster-shell for soil improvement un-
der the break water at Ishinomaki Port.

1 INTRODUCTION

200 species of oyster inhabit on the Earth and 30

species live in Japanese waters. 4 species of them
have been harvested and used for food. Japanese eat
oyster from ancient times, the oyster shells were
wasted with their unused daily necessities, and such
shell heaped up as shell mound which is the subject
of archaeology now. 80 years ago, aquaculture of
MAGAKZ :giant pacific oyster (Crussostrelu gigas)
has begun in western Japan. In Ishinomaki, oyster
are hatched in June and July, continues to be hung 1
-2 years, then is landed for market. Soft meat in
shells is sold as useful food and hard shell is wasted
as useless.
Fishery enterprises of Miyagi prefecture produce
3.7 % of Japanese annual haul. Ishinomaki city takes
9.7 % part of Miyagi pref.. Fishery household of
oyster aquaculture in Ishinomaki city is 27.9 % of
that in Miyagi pref. and Miyagi pref. is 19.0 % in Ja-
pan. Fishery product of oyster aquaculture in Ishi-
nomaki city is 11.2 % of fishery product in that city.
This product has being increased. Landed quantity of
oyster in Ishinomaki is 1,700 ton to 1,800 ton per
year, recently getting increased to 1,900 ton.
Quantity of oyster-shell follows the product of
oyster and has became 13,000 ton per year. 25 % of
oyster shell is utilized for fertilizer in agriculture, Figure Harvesed Oyster befor 1991
feed for livestock and medical supplies, but the re-
maining 75 % is either disposed of or stocked Figure1 shows quantity of oyster shell produced
without any eventual use in mind in Ishinomaki city annually by 8 fishery associations in Ishinomaki city.
which is a tourist resort.

675
 There was no place to stock oyster-shell in 1991,
and scenic area was occupied by such useless oyster
shell which was source of sanitary pollution. Photo-
graph1 shows one of the stock yard.
In 1991, study on utilization of oyster shell was
begun for port and harbor constructions. Soil labo-
ratory tests were taken place to confirm possibility of
use for sand compaction pile (SCP) for soft soil im-
provement.

2 ENGNEERING PROPERTIES OF OYSTER

SHELL, CRUSEHD SHELL AND CRUSHED
SHELL-SAND MIXTURE

In 1991 and 1992, laboratory tests, for uncrushed

oyster shell, crushed shell with various grain size
and crushed shell-sand mixture with various ratio
were carried out (Hashidate et al., 1994). Tests for
crude and crushed oyster shell were performed by
large scale apparatus.
Oyster shell has various shapes and sizes, 8-14
cm in length, 4-7 cm in width, 2-4 cm in thick-
ness. Oyster has 2 pieces of shell. Right side shell is
flat and heavier than left side shell and left shell is
rising and lighter than right. Oyster shell is said to be
composed mainly of calcium carbonate, inside cov-
ered by hard skin, outside covered with soft thin
plate layer and has void for habitat of sea organism.
Oyster shell is rather thin, but well graded when
crushed.
Properties of crushed shell are:
a) Grain density and bulk density are smaller than
those of sand.
b) Permeability is greater than that of sand.
c) Angle of internal friction (shear strength)is
comparable to sand.
d)CBR is comparable to sand.
e) Compressibility is larger than that of sand. Figure 3 Model ground for SPT
f) Toxic substances are not included.
g) Mixability with sand is good.

Table 1 Laboratory tests

Soil test Grain Max. Min. Grain size Moisture Bulk Compression
density density density 50% content density index
3
Material (dcm) (g/cm3) (RIern3) (mm) (%) (pJcm3)
Shell Crude oyster shell A 1.74 0.25 0.18 59 33.9 0.34 7.0
Crushed shell( q5 rnax3flmm) B 2.70 1.08 0.80 2.50 24.0 0.91 0.77
Sand Crude sand incl. Impurities C 2.70 1.55 1.26 0.56 15.2 1.28 o.044
washed sand D 2.70 1.69 1.38 0.61 9.2 1.31
Mixture E=B+C+D(in volume) E 2.70 1.45 1.11 0.63 14.6 1.16 0.078

Soil test Permeability Modified CBR

Optimum moisture Max. dry Degree of Degree of
content density compaction compaction
Material (cm/s) t%) (dcm3) 90% 95%
Shell ICrushed shell( q5 max3flmm) B I 3 . 1 81~Oa 34.5 1.13 14.8 16.5

676
 Samples and test results are tabulated in Table1
and Figure2. In 1992, trial usage of oyster shell-sand
mixtures to 81 sand compaction piles for improving
soft clay layer under the breakwater in Ishinomaki
port, and some relevant laboratory tests and field
tests were performed. In 1993, practical usage to 420
sand compaction piles and relevant investigations
were performed.

3 STRENGTH OF INSITU SCP MATERIALS

Strength of driven SCP materials is requested to co-

incide with the required strength by design. Standard
penetration test (SPT) for SCP is common in Japan,
to confirm in-situ strength. In case of sand, relation
between SPT N-value and strength (internal friction
angle) is fairly established.
However, in case of shell-sand mixture, it is un-
known, and requested to establish relations. In 1992,
SPT on the model ground and large scale direct
shear test were carried out for mixture with various
densities. Strong correlation was observed between
SPT N-value, dry density and internal friction angle
of shell-sand mixture (Okumura et al., 1996). Then it
became possible to estimate strength (bulk density
and internal friction angle) of in-situ material from
SPT.
Figure3 shows model ground where SPT were
carried out for shell-sand mixture E of various den-
sities. Test results are indicated graphically in Fig-
Figure 5 Direct shear test result ure4 and FigureS.

4 APPLICATION FOR SCP IN CONSTRUCTION

Making use of such good properties, large amount
OF PORT AND HARBOR
of oyster shell can be utilized in port and harbor con-
structions, for back filling of revetments and quay In 1992, 81 SCP with mixture E were driven to soft
walls, sand or gravel drains and sand compaction clay experimentally.
piles for quay walls, littoral nourishment, sea bottom Mixing ratio of the mixture was sand: crushed
covering, etc. oyster shell=2:l in volume. Mixing was made
For the purpose of effective usage, however, such naturally on the way of transportation from the stock
engineering properties of oyster shells and shell-sand yard to the working vessel (SCP barge). Sand loaded
mixtures as bulk density, shear strength and com- by 2 dumping trucks and the crushed shell by 1 truck
pressibility should be clarified. were dumped alternatively to the cargo ship
equipped with grab bucket. Each dumping truck car-
ries same volume of material, to the hold, and sand
and shell were mixed and moved to level for keep-
In Situ ing cargo ship stability by its grab bucket. Further
more, the materials were unloaded from the hold and
laboratory of cargo loaded to hopper on the SCP barge. Then the mix-
ture was transferred to 3 belt conveyers and supplied
jUlibviXdcliiyi110:j
+
to driving pipes. These actions of works made good
mixing of the materials.
Silt content Photograph2 and Photograph3 show such mixing
/yean grain size (mm) ~ 0.774 0.711 0.654 works.
Uniformity coefficient 4.692 6.469 I 4.002 Homogeneity was confirmed by examining grain
Coefficient of curvature 1.069 1.281 I 1.067 size distribution of SPT samples taken from the
driven SCP.

677
 Figure 7 Grain size distribution of shell-sand mixture
SPT result showed that N-values were more than
15 through whole length and their average was 16.2,
and almost equal to 16.3 of sand alone.
3 types of crushing machines were tried and im-
pact type was adopted.
From 1993, same mixture was applied to SCP for
soil improvement under the breakwater and from
1997, applied to that under quay wall in the same
way of experimental driving.
Homogeneity of samples taken from the belt con-
veyers was inspected continuously for each 5,000 m3
by grain size distribution test. The test indicated al-
most same results with laboratory test.
Table2 shows comparison of the results made by
such works.
Figure6 shows grain size distribution of crushed
oyster shell taken from 4 types of the crushing ma-
chines. Figure7 shows grain size distribution of the
mixture sampled on the belt conveyers. Figure8
shows SPT result of driven SCP with the mixture as
a typical case.
As index of material strength of SCP, 144 N-
values in 16 SCP made of pure sand and 158 N-
values in 18 SCP made of the mixture were collected
in 7 years. Average N-value of sand was 17.9, and of
the mixture was 18.8. It showed the mixture has
equivalent or more strength to sand.
678
A cycle time of driving SCP was 56.2 minutes for
both sand and mixture.
Initial settlements of soil improved by SCP by
weight of caissons and cap concrete placed on were
observed, and the settlement on sand was 26-23 cm
and on the mixture was only 24 cm.
Calculated settlement which was estimated from
the value of material taken from SPT of experimen-
tal SCP, was 21 cm for sand and 42 cm for the mix-
ture. Observation shows settlement for the sand co-
incides with the designed and for the mixture is not
different from sand, i.e. only 60 % of its design.
Figure9 shows imagined SCP method. Figure10
shows plan layout of SCP in Figurell. Figurell
shows cross section of application of mixture SCP
under the breakwater when construction completed.
5 UTILIZATION OF OYSTER SHELL TO SCP
AND ITS EFFECT TO ENVIRONMENT
In 8 years from 1992 to 1999, annually average
9,000 ton (2,000 ton min., 20,000 ton max.) of oys-
ter shell were changed to total 91,441 m3 of
crushed-shell and mixed with sand.

Figure 9 Imagined SCP Methord
3,140 s c p (length 18 m each) of sand-shel1 mix-
ture were driven to soft soil under the breakwater
and the quay in Ishinomaki port.
679
Figure 10 Details of shell-sand compaction piles(unit:rnm)
Figure12 shows quantity of oyster shell utilized
for SCP, which is about 70 % of harvested oyster-
shell in Ishinomaki city
Above utilization made contribution to the envi-
ronment as follows:
1. Reduced quantity of useless stock of oyster
shell and number of stock yard (remained one
yard only).
2. Improved landscape of Ishinomaki which is
scenic area and tourist resort in a quasi-
national park.
3. Stopped offensive odor and flies by utilizing of
fresh oyster shell to SCP without any stock.
4. Maintained and increased the yield of oyster,
without any problem of waste disposal.
5. Contributed to conservation of the natural en-
vironment and resource by deducting con-
sumption of sand.
6. Reduced cost of soil improvement by adopting
simple mixing method of sand and shell.
6 SUPPLIMENTARY REMARKS
Utilization of oyster-shell for SCP induced various
use of oyster-shell in Ishinomaki city; remediation of
small river and town drainage, materials for road
constructions and sports court, etc.
This project adopted the sand-shell mixture with
mix-ratio of sand : shell =2 : 1 in volume. Laborato-
ry tests for mixture with mix-ratio of sand : shell
=1 : 1 were carried out for increase of consumption
of oyster-shell. Test results showed such mixture has
enough strength for SCP.
It is said that SCP materials including high per-
centage of silt size grain does not show good com-
paction effect, and in crushing work of oyster-shell,
small size grains (silt size) are produced naturally.
Figure 11 Shell-sand compaction piles under a composite breakwater (unit:m)

REFERENCES
Hashidate, H., Fukuda, T., Okumura, T. & Kobaya-
shi, M. 1994. Engineering Properties of oyster
shell-sand mixture and its application for im-
proving soft se,a bottom sediments. Proc.
Techno-Ocean 94 International Symposium,
2:607-6 12.
Okumura, T. & Kobayashi, M. 1996.0yster Shall-
Sand mixture as material of sand compaction
piles. Proc. of The Second International Congress
on Environmental Geotechnics: 863-868

Figure 12 Utilized Oyster Shell after 1992

However, sand-shell mixture including high percent-

age of silt size was proved by the vibration test to
have no noticeable difference from the one with low
content .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: These investigations

were carried out under the instruction of “Investiga-
tion Committee for Recycling Construction Materi-
als in Ishinomaki Port (Chairman :Prof. Yanagisawa,
E.)” and with cooperation of Ishinomaki City, Mi-
yagi Prefecture, and Miyagi Federation of Fisheries
Cooperative Associations. The authors are much ob-
liged to the above organizations.

680
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineeringin Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISEN 90 5809 751 7

Evaluation of engineering properties of in-situ light-weight soil with air foam

using X-ray CT technique

T. Mukunoki & T. Nagatome

Graduate School of Science and Technology,Kumamoto University,Japan
J.Otani
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Kumamoto University,Japan
Y. Kikuchi
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yolwsuku,Japan

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to investigate both the material property and the behavior of
stabilized light-weight soil due to unconfined compression using industrial X-ray CT scanner. Here, the
distribution of the density, the condition of mixing, and the distribution of air foam in in-situ specimen were
investigated quantitatively using image processing analysis. Furthermore, a series of unconfined compression
test were conducted for these specimens and the density evolution was investigated by scanning of the
specimen during unconfined compression. Finally, the effectiveness of the industrial X-ray CT scanner to
geotechnical engineering was confirmed based on all the results in this research.

1 INTRODUCTION method. And recently, this machine for industrial

“Light-weight soil” which has originally been
developed for the purpose of reduction of applied
forces such as embankment and reclamation on soft
ground. A stabilized light-weight soil which is
composed of any soils, cement, and light materials
such as air foam or Expanded PolyStirol (EPS)
beads is one of this technique. Recently, this
material has been widely used in Japan. One of the
applications for this material is the use of backfill
materials for quay walls at the seaport for the
purpose of soil improvement technique on soft
ground. Super Geo-Material which is known by the
name of SGM (Tuchida 1995, Tuchida et al. 1996)
has been proposed by the research group including
the Port and Harbor Research Institute (PHRI),
Ministry of Transport, Japan, the Coastal
Development Institute of Technology (CDIT) and 23
private corporations. This material is made of
mixing dredged slurry with cement and air foam or
EPS beads. Because of the composite feature for
this material, the evaluation of mixing condition
seems to be a key issue. However, it is very difficult
to investigate the condition in the soil without any
destruction, and the quantitative discussion has also
not been done so far.
Meanwhile, an X-ray Computed Tomography
(CT) scanner, which is known by the name of
medical diagnostic methods, has been used even for
engineering purposes as a nondestructive testing
use has been developed, in which the power of
X-ray is much higher than that of medical one.
The authors have started the research on the
application of the industrial X-ray CT scanner to
geotechnical engineering since 1997(0tani et al.
1997). As far as the research on the engineering
property of SGM is concerned, the authors have
conducted the nondestructive testing on SGM made
in laboratory using industrial X-ray CT scanner and
both the physical and mechanical properties were
evaluated quantitatively (Otani et al. 1999).
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the
engineering property of in-situ SGM using industrial
X-ray CT scanner. In this paper, the distributions of
the density and the air foam in the in-situ specimens
are evaluated quantitatively, and the density
evolution and the failure mechanism due to
unconfined compression are also investigated based
on the results of nondestructive testing with the
image processing analysis. The detailed introduction
of the system of industrial X-ray CT scanner has
been described in the reference (Otani et al. 1997).
2 X-RAYCTDATA
The CT image data are evaluated quantitatively
with following so called ‘CT-value’:
CT-value = ( p , - p , ) ~ pw
/ (1)

681
where pf: coefficient of absorption at scanning
point; p,,,: coefficient of absorption for water; and K:
material constant. It is noted that the coefficient of where P a v : average value of density for the
absorption for air is zero for the condition of K= specimen; C T a v : average value of CT-value for the
1000 and then, the CT-value of the air is -1000. specimen; and CTl: average value of CT-value for
Figure 1 shows the relation between CT-value and each cross section. In order to obtain the contents of
unit weight of the soil specimen of SGM. Those the air foam in each cross-section, the CT-value of
results show a linear relation among all the results, air foams in the soil is determined using
so that the CT-value can be a parameter for thresholding technique.
evaluating the distribution of the density. Thus this The basic idea of thresholding technique is
CT-value makes quantitative discussion possible illustrated in Fig.6. The process of obtaining the
under this relation with CT images. It is promised thresholding value for CT-value is shown as follows:
from these results that the change of the density
with strain localization in the soil could also be Based on the mixing condition shown in Table
evaluated quantitatively. It is noted here that the 1, it is assumed that the change of the density
CT images are drawn with black color for low between at the time of mixing and after
density and white color for high density and the sampling is caused by the decrease of air foams
total number of gray level is 256. due to overburden pressure with water in the
sea, and the volume of air foams in the SGM
after sampling is calculated;
3 RESULTS OF IMAGE PROCESSING
Then, a CT-value for the thresholding between
ANALYSIS
air foams and soil with cement is assumed and
the volume of air foams is calculated in each
The specimens used in this study are in-situ SGM
cross section using this value;
constructed in the caisson at new Kumamoto
If the average volume of the air foams in the
seaport, Japan and were sampled at the depth of
specimen after calculation is not equal to the
0.9-1.0m in the ground. Table 1 shows the mixing
one obtained for the process (a), the trial
condition of the specimen used in this study. The
thresholding value is changed. Then, the
dredging soil was Ariake clay and the liquid to
process is restarted from the process (b) until
make air foam is an interfacial active agent. The
the calculated average value of air foams is
size of the specimen is the diameter of 50mm with
close enough to the value obtained at the
the height of 100mm. The scanning of the specimen
process (a).
was conducted from the top to the bottom of the
specimen with every lmm thickness, so that 100
Finally, the thresholding value for the air foams in
images were obtained.
this case is determined and this value was the
3.1 Evaluation of material property CT-value of 185. As shown in Figs.4 and 5, it is
easily realized that both wet density and volume of
In order to investigate the distribution of air foam in air foams are distributed randomly in the soil.
SGM, the soil stabilized by cement without air foam Especially, there is much air foam around lower part
was also scanned. Figure 2 (a) is one of the of the specimen. Thus, the physical property of the
cross-sectional images for this soil and Fig. 2(b) SGM is capable of investigating quantitatively using
shows the distribution of CT-value for the direction industrial X-ray CT scanner.
shown by arrows in Fig.2 (a). Figure 3 shows the
same results for the case of in-situ SGM. According
to these results, although the distribution of density
for the soil without air foam is relatively smooth as
shown in Fig.2 (b), there is a variation of the density
for the SGM as realized by not only the gray level
distribution in Fig.3 (a) but also the distribution of
CT-values in Fig.3 (b).
Figures 4 and 5 show the distributions of both wet
density and the contents of air foam in the soil
specimen. The wet density in each cross-section, pl
is obtained by following equation:
Density of the SGM specimen(t/m3)
Fig. 1 CT-value -density of SGM specimen relationship

682
 the initial stage to the pre-peak stage according to
Fig. 8(a) and (b). However, there is a large shear
band at the post-peak stage as shown in Fig.8(c).

-
90
80
-
E
70
5 60
2
M
50
2
'-
Average
40 1.16t/rn3

30

0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4

Wet density (t/m3)
Fig.4 The distribution of wet density

90
80
70

-E
E 50
60

3
M 40
.I

2 30
20
10
0 10 20 30
Contents of air foam (%)
Fig.5 The distribution of air foam

Fig.3 Two-dimensional image and the CT-value distribution

3.2 Failure of the SGM

In this study, the unconfined compression test and

nondestructive testing using X-ray CT scanner were
conducted separately. The nondestructive testing
was conducted at the stages of before compression,
pre-peak and post-peak. Figure 7 shows the
stress-strain relationship for the unconfined
compression test. The locations (a), (b) and (c) in
the figure show the scanning points. Figure 8 Fig.6 Thresholding technique
shows the images at the vertical section for the three
stages. It is noted that there is a slight change from
 2000 In order to visualize the surface condition of shear

- 1500
0 Scanning
- point
_ (a) Initial stage
(b) Pre-peak stage
I zone, Figure 11 shows a graphical presentation of
failure surface in the specimen for the post-peak
(c) Post-peak stage stage. The complicated shape and surface condition
&
24
W can be realized and thus the effectiveness of this
2 1000
2 graphical presentation is confirmed.
;ij Figure 12 shows the distribution of average
500 density at each stage due to unconfined compression
using Eq. (2). It is pointed out that the average
0 density of the specimen decreases during unconfined
2.5 compression but the shapes of distribution curve for
Strain (%) these stages are not much changed. Especially, it
Fig. 7 Stress-strainrelationship is considered that the decrease of the density at the
process from initial stage to pre-peak stage around
the bottom part of the specimen is related to the
initial condition of the distribution of air voids
around the lower part of the specimen as shown Fig.5.
Figure 13 shows the value of density subtraction due
to unconfined compression between the pre-peak
condition to the initial condition and the post-peak
condition to the pre-peak condition. It is realized
that the value of ppost-p&-ppre-peak is large around the
height where the value of Ppre-peak-Pinitil is relatively
small.
Based on those discussion, it is concluded that that
mechanical property of SGM can be also visualized
and evaluated quantitatively using X-ray CT scanner.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The industrial X-ray CT scanner was applied to the

field of geotechnical engineering for the purpose of
investigating the engineering property of the
light-weight soil with air foam. The conclusions
drawn from this study are shown as follows;
(1) The distributions of both wet density and air
void ratio were investigated visually and these
Fig.9 Two-dimensional images of each location from were also evaluated quantitatively; and
the bottom at the post-peak stage
(2) The change of density due to unconfined
compression is caused by the effect of shear
Figure 9 shows the cross-sectional images at three band growth but not the change of air voids and
different heights of the specimen at the post-peak the failure of SGM is affected by the existing of
stage. It is realized from these figures that the shear relatively large air voids.
band is not the plane surface but the rounding and
complicated one. Figures 10 shows the vertical cross
It is also concluded that the X-ray CT scanner for
sectional images for post-peak condition. Nine
industrial use may be a useful tool for geomaterials
images of equally spaced slice are presented for each
not only for visualization of inside behavior but also
condition, in which the location of each vertical
the quantitative evaluation of the engineering
cross section is indicated in the horizontal cross
property in the soil.
sectional image as shown Fig. lO(a). As shown
these figures, shear zone was observed in the each
cross section. Furthermore, it was pointed that the
bigger air voids were not always connected during
the process of progressing the shear zone.

684
Fig. 10 Visualization of vertical cross sectional images to the direction of right angle

.-' J

0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

Wet density (t/m3)
Fig.12 Distribution of average density
at each stage due to unconfined compression

Fig. 11 Three-dimensional graphic of slip surface

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

X-ray CT scanner apparatus used in this study is a

Table 1.Condition of mixing
property of the group of Rock Engineering in
Mass(kg/m3) Volumetric fraction (L) Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering,
Dry mass 367.0 136.0 Kumamoto University, Japan. The author would
Water 624.0 606.0 like to express their gratitude to the head of this
Cement 100.0 32.8
group, Professor Sugawara, K. and Obara, Y. who
Air foam 9.3 225 .O
gave us the opportunity to use this valuable
Total 1100.3 999.8 apparatus.

685
 1
90
80
70

n
60
E
E 50
W

E
'
.-M 40

30
20
10
-0.1 -0.05 0 0.05
Value of density evolution (t/m3)
Fig. 13 Density evolution at each stage due to
unconfined compression

REFERENCES

Otani J., Obara Y. and Mukunoki T. 1997.

Characterizationof failure in soils using X-ray C T
Scanner. Proc. of International Symposium on
Deformation and progressivefailure in Geomehanics,
IS Nagoya97, Pergamon: 311-314.
Otani J., Mukunoki T. and Kikuchi Y. 1999.
Evaluation of engineering property on
light-weight soil with air foam using X-ray CT
scanner. Proc. of Eleventh Asian Regional
Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical
Engineering in Korea, Balkema: 57-60.
Tsuchida T. 1995. Super Geo-Material Project in
coastal zone. Proc. of International Symposium on
Coastal Ocean Space Utilization COSU'95,
Yokohama : 22-31.
Tsuchida T, Takeuchi D., Okumura T., and Kishida
T., 1996. Development of light-weight fill from
dredgings. Proc. of Enviromental Geotechnics,
Kamon (ed.), Balkema: 415 -420.

686
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Geotechnical characteristics of stone-rnuck for construction material of port

and harbor structures
H. Nakajima & E. Hamada - Kiso-Jiban Consultants Company Limited, Tokyo,Japan
K. Shinohara & T. Kondo - The 2nd District Port Construction Bureau, Ministry of Transport, Yokohama,
Japan
KUW % U ~- Service Center of Port Engineering, Japan
S.Furuya - Tetra Company Limited, Japan (Formerly: Service Center of Port Engineering)

ABSTRACT: Stone-muck had been wasted in many quarries in Japan after rubbles or rock(stone) materials
were produced. However, the huge amount of stone-muck that remained in quarries is recently spotlighted as
construction material especially for port and harbor structures because of its low cost performance and envi-
ronmental preservation. The authors made field investigations on main quarries in Tohoku district (northern
area of Honshu island) to study the production process and piled condition of the stone-muck. A series of lar-
ge scale triaxial compression tests and some physical tests were carried out on stone-muck samples collected
from typical quarries taking into account its use as construction material for the port and harbor structures, for
instance as mound foundation of breakwater or as backfill behind revetment. It is found from these studies
that the geotechnical characteristics of the stone-muck are related to the production process of rubbles(rock
materials), its geological background and the degree of weathering of rock mass. It is also proved that the
strength characteristics are strongly related to uniformity coefficient, particle breakage under confining pres-
sure and dilatancy at failure. It is concluded in this paper that if the stone-muck is placed on appropriate part
according to its characteristics, it can be used effectively as construction materials for the port and harbor
structures.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 CLASSIFICATION OF STONE-MUCK

High quality rock materials, for instance, thosepro-
duced from fresh granite or andesite rock mass with
high compressive strength, high unit weight and low
water absorption, have been normally used for port
and harbor structures. However, under recent trend
of reconsideration of construction cost for public fa-
cility and of environmental preservation, stone-
muck is re-valued as construction material especially
for the port and harbor structures. Quite recently
the stone-muck material of weathered sandstone was
used as foundation mound of a part of revetment at
deep seawater area in Yokohama port"). It was the
first case showing an application of stone-muck
material for port and harbor structures in Japan and
its movement is still being monitored.
2.1 Production process of rock materials
Forty quarries in Tohoku region were investigated to
study the production process of rock materials and
piled condition of the stone-muck. The geological
background in these areas are granite, andesite and
sedimentary rock of sandstone and mudstone of
Mesozoic and Paleozoic period. Figure 1 shows the
production process of rock materials at a typical
quarry in Japan. Each investigated quarry does not
produce only large sized rock materials(rubbles), for
instance those facing stone of mounds or backfill
behind revetments, but also crushed materials for
road construction or others, because hewed rock
pieces should be used effectively according to its
size or quality.

Stone-muck remains in many quarries in Japan.
However, since the usable amount, cost performance
or geotechnical characteristics vary in each quarry,
the piled condition, production method, and geologi-
cal background were investigated. From such inves-
tigation, the stone-muck materials are ranked into
three class taking into account its regular use.
As shown in this figure, after the surface soil and the
highly weathered zone are excavated by excavator,
the moderately weathered rock is hewed by drilling
machine. The fresh rock mass is hewed by blasting
and drilling, and hewed rock pieces are broken into
adequate size by breakers. After the rock materials
mainly for port and harbor structures are selected,
fresh rock pieces are crushed by crusher plant. While
these quality controlled materials are shipped to ap-

687
propriate construction sites, the excavated soil or the
weathered rock pieces which failed quality tests for
the rock material are dumped at stock yard in the
quarries. These wasted rock pieces including the ex-
cavated soil are called “Stone-muck”.
2.2 Classification of the Stone-muck
Since the quality of stone-muck left in quarries is not
homogeneous, it is needs an appropriate classifica-
tion for using it as construction material. Figure 2
shows the classifications of stone-muck materials
based on the ground condition where they were
hewed from. The regularly used rock materials are
produced mainly from the fresh rock mass zone
shown in Figure 1. Therefore, surface soil, highly to
moderately weathered rock pieces and screenings of
the fresh rock pieces remain as wastes in the quar-
ries. As the surface soil mainly consists of clay, silt
and volcanic ash, it cannot be used for marine
structures because of water contamination by mud
leakage. Then, the stone-muck taken from three dif-
ferent parts of the rock ground can be used and are
ranked as three classes accordingly as follows (see
Figure 1).

-Class I : Good quality stone-muck(S-M),

Mainly consists of fresh rock pieces
-Class 11 : Fair quality S-M,
Mainly consists of moderately weathered
rock pieces
-ClassIII: Poor quality S-M,
Mainly consists of moderately weathered
rock pieces including soils

Table 1 Classifications of the stone-mucks and

tests conducted

Geological Class No. Physical Triaxial

Background (Geology) Tests comp. test

Fresh tertiary
sandstone I (sed-t) A(6)

Weathered
andesite II (an> 0 0
Fresh sandstone
with surface soil (sed) 0 no data
Fig. 2 Classification of stone-muck(S-M) based
________________________________________------------------------------------
(Remarks: 0conducted on the collected samples, on the rock ground condition
a referred to past studies by SDPCB,
an; andesite, sed-t; tertiary sedimentary rock,
gr; granite)

688
3 GEOTECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
STONE-MUCK
3.1 Material characteristics
Table 1 indicates the studied stone-mucks and tests
carried out on various samples. They are classified
into appropriate class No. according to the above
mentioned classifications.
Figure 3 shows the relationship between dry specific
gravity and water absorption of rock pieces in the
stone-mucks. The data corresponding to sandstone
and granite rubbles used for mound type breakwater
are also plotted in this figure"). As shown in this fig-
ure, stone-muck pieces can be divided into two
groups, A and B. The water absorption Q of group A
in which I (sed-t) and II (an) are included is more
than 10%. Q of group B in which I (an) , I (gr) and
III (sed) are included is less than 7%. The water ab-
sorption can be an index of quality of rock pieces,
because it indicates the bulk of void or presence of
hair cracks. Therefore, the quality of the rock pieces
of tertiary sandstone or weathered andesite is inferi-
or than that of fresh andesite, fresh granite or fresh
sandstone.
Figure 4 show the grain size distribution curves of
each type of stone-muck and rubble. Ranges of uni-
formity coefficient of each stone-muck type are Uc
-4.15-37.4 for I (an), 14.9-354 for I (sed-t), 30.7-
300 for I (gr) , 620 for II (an) and 900 for Ill (sed)
respectively. On the other hand, the uniformity coef-
ficient of the rubble used as mound is around Uc =
4. Therefore, it seems that the stone-muck is better Fig. 4 Typical gradation curves of each type of
graded than the rubbles. The stone-muck with the stone-muck and rubble
highest Uc is ID bed) , second is II (an) and the low-
est is I (an). 3.2 Strength characteristics
A sample of II (an) was chosen for the large scale tri-
axial compression test and related tests, because the
strength characteristics of this class of stone-muck
have not been obtained in past studies(see Table 1).
Since the strength characteristics of granular materi-
al are related to its density, a series of maximum &
minimum dry density tests were carried out prior to
the triaxial compression test. The minimum and the
maximum dry density of the stone muck sample
were obtained by pouring statically in a mold and
vibrating it on a vibration compactor respectively.
Specimens for the relative density test were made by
pouring underwater to take into consideration the
fact that the materials are used as marine structures
under seawater. Maximum & minimum dry densities
of 1.711 and 1.295 g/cm3, dry density of the poured
sample of 1.469 g/cm3 were obtained from the tests.
Accordingly, a relative density of Dr =70.3% is cal-
culated. Because of well-graded with high unifor-
mity coefficient (Uc=620), relatively high density
Fig. 3 Relationship of water absorption to dry condition is given on IT (an) specimen in spite of the
specific gravity in rock pieces underwater pouring.

689
A series of large scale triaxial compression test was
carried out on the II (an) sample to study the strength
characteristics of the stone-muck. The size of speci-
mens was 30cm diameter and 60cm height. Grain
size of the specimens were adjusted such that the
maximum grain size is 53-63mm diameter and con-
sidering similarity in the grain size distribution. The
specimens were made by underwater pouring with
air dried samples. Conditions of the triaxial com-
pression test were isotropic consolidation before
shearing and drained condition during shear under
constant confining pressures ranging firm 49-589
kN/m2. The strain rate during shear was O.l%/min
and maximum axial strain was 15%.

Internal friction angle a dobtained from the triaxial

compression tests, including past studies by SDPCB,
are as follows(see Table 1);

- I (gr) @d =41-42'
- I (an) 31 - 39
- I bed-t) 38:39'
- 11 (an) 37
- Rubble of sandstone 26 - 30'
- Rubble of granite 29 - 33-

As indicated above, it can be seen that the shear

strength of the stone-mucks is relatively high com-
pare to the rubbles in spite of the fact that the stone-
muck is composed of poor quality rock pieces. This
is caused by particle breakage and dilatancy as men-
tioned below.

Figure 5 shows the relationship of internal friction

angle with cohesion ignored to confining pressure
obtained from the triaxial compression tests. 6"is
the internal friction angle with cohesion ignored de-
fined on each Mohr's stress circle at maximum
compressive stress. As shown in this figure, 4, of
the stone-mucks is not related to the confining pres-
sure greater than 196 kN/m2. On the other hand, 6 o
of the rubbles continues to decrease with increase in
Fig. 6 Relationship of particle breakage to
confining pressure. Therefore, @ of the rubbles is
confining pressure
more strongly related to confining pressure than that
of the stone-muck.
Though the quality of each particle(rock pieces) of
Figure 6 shows the relationship of Marsal's particle the stone-muck is poor, the particle breakage caused
breakage B, (7) to confining pressure obtained from by the stress concentration does not occur much.
the triaxial compression tests. It seems that the rate Therefore, dilatancy contributes to the shear strength
of increase in the particle breakage of the stone- effectively on the stone-mucks and the shear
mucks is not much affected by increase in the con- strength of it is higher than the rubbles. It means that
fining pressure as compared to the rubble. the strength of the stone-muck materials (or rock
This is explained from the point of view of the grain materials) is strongly related to its particle distribu-
size distribution(gradati0n) as shown in Figure 7. tion.
Well- graded materials such as the stone-muck are
relatively dense and have more contact points be- Figure 8 shows the relationship of internal friction
tween particles. Poorly-graded materials such like as angle to uniformity coefficient obtained from the tri-
the rubble are loose and have less contact points. axial compression tests. The internal friction angle is

690
strongly related to the uniformity coefficient and is Class I1 in Box caissons
distributed in the zone shown in this figure. A sam- / Class I1 for Back fill
ple with relatively high coefficient of curvature
Uc’=17.4 is out of this zone but if Uc is a high
value, it is not affected by Uc’ as in a sample with
Mound foundation [IA\\
-
--
Class ;I

Uc’=36.3.
/A

As shown in the zone of b d distribution in Fig. 8,
the range of b d tends to be large with smaller Uc
value. This means that the strength of sample with
poorly-graded is more affected by the strength of
each particle. For example, the range of b d when
Uc=2 is 7’ (25-32’ ) and the uniaxial compressive
strength of rock pieces ranges from 0 c= 9.7 to
110.7 MN/m2.
Class I for Replacement Class I for the core
of Mound foundations
Fig. 9 Application of the stone-muck materials
for a composite type breakwater
Based on these results, it can be seen that the better-
graded (high Uc value) has more contribution to the
strength( b J of the stone-muck than the quality of
each rock piece. Furthermore, uniformity coefficient
indicates the amount of contact points between par-
ticles and the internal friction angle can be deter-
mined assumed from the uniformity coefficient.

4 USE OF THE STONE-MUCK

When the stone-muck is used for port and harbor

structures, the quality of the rock pieces and strength
Fig. 7 Differences in physical characteristics characteristics of the stone-muck material should be
related to particle composition taken into consideration. Figure 9 illustrates an ex-
(Gradation) ample of an application of the stone-muck materials
Well-graded Poor1y-graded for a composite type breakwater. Since the material
(Density) with high strength should be used for the core of the
Dense Loose foundation mound to bear the load of the caisson and
(Point of contact) the backfill, and the forces from the wave, stone-
More Small muck of class- I (an) is applicable. Stone-muck of
(Stress Concentration) class- I (an) and D[ (an) can be used as the backfill be-
Large Small hind the caisson wall, because they have enough
strength to reduce the earth pressure. All kinds of the
stone-muck whose density can be controlled is ap-
plicable as contents of the caisson boxes and the re-
clamation fill.

5 CONCLUSIONS

(1) Stone-muck can be classified into three

classes based on the geological background of
the rock mass and the production process of
the rock materials.
(2) Specific gravity and water absorption, which
indicate the quaIity of the rock pieces in the
stone-muck, are related to the classification of
the stone muck.
(3) Shear strength parameter @ in the stone-
muck is more strongly related to the gradation
Fig. 8 Relationship of internal friction angle to than the quality of the individual rock piece.
uniformity coefficient The better-graded stone-muck has the higher
shear strength it has.
(4) Shear strength parameter of the stone-muck
can be determined from uniformity coeffi-
cient .

69 1
 ( 5 ) In using the stone-muck effectively for port
and harbor structures, both the quality of the
individual particle(rock pieces) and the
strength characteristics should be considered.
Especially the classifications and the gradation
are important.

Utilization of the stone-muck considering the above

mentioned results should contribute to the effective
and economical construction of port and harbor
structures. However, proper construction method in
placing the stone-muck under the seawater should be
established. Finally, its gradation and strength char-
acteristics after placing under seawater are also im-
portant subjects which need to be studied.

REFERENCES

(1) 2nd District Port Construction Bureau (1994)

Report on Geotechnical Characteristics of Sand
stone-muck as Construction Material for Proposed
Revetment at Honmoku Area in Yokohama Port (in
Japanese).
(2) SDPCB (1994) Report on Geotechnical Char-
acteristics of Stone-muck as Construction Material
for Proposed No. 5 M o . 6 Berth in Onahama Port (in
Japanese).
(3) SDPCB (1997) Report on Geotechnical Char-
acteristics of Stone-Muck as Construction Material
for Proposed No.3 Berth in Soma Port (in Japanese)
(4) SDPCB (1998) Report on Geotechnical Char-
acteristics of Stone-muck as Construction Material
for Proposed Shiogama Port (in Japanese).
(5) Mizukami,J. and Kobayashi,M. (1991) Strength
Characteristics of Rubble by Large Scale Triaxial
Compression Test, Technical Note of The Port and
Harbour Research Institute, No.699 (in Japanese).
(6)Shiomi,M.,Tobiki,I.,Kinouchi,M.,Mizukami,J.,
Nakashima,K. (1997)
Fujiwara,Y.,Nakajima,H.,and
Strength Characteristics of Sandstone-Muck by Lar-
ge Scale Triaxial Compression Test, Proc.30th
JNCSMFE, Kanazawa, Vol. 1, 294-295(in Japanese).
(7) Hirsxhfeid,R.C. and Poulos,S.J.(1979) Embank-
ment-Dam Engineering, Casagrande Volume, John
Wiley&Sons,Inc., 130-132.
(8) Shoji,Y. (1983) Study on Shearing Properties of
Rubbles with Large Scale Triaxial Compression
Test, Report of The Port and Harbour Research In-
stitute, V01.22, No.4, 59-120 (in Japanese).
(9)Kobayashi,M.,Terashi,M.,Takahashi,K.,Nakashi
ma,K. and Odani,H. (1987)A New Method for Cal-
culating the Bearing Capacity of Rubble Mounds,
Report of The Port and Harbour Research Institute,
Vo1.26, N0.2~371-411(in Japanese).

692
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Applications of fly ash as material for coastal works

T.Okumura
Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology, Okayama University,Japan

ABSTRACT: Fly ash is equivalent to silt size soil except that the grain density is small, and not suitable as
construction material. However, reactivity of fly ash to cement is rather high, and hence treated fly ash, high
strength and light weight, is applicable as materials for coastal works.

1 INTRODUCTION (22) plants in Japan, and 12 times from two

Population explosion and energy crisis on the earth
lead us to a trend to utilize coal more than oil. Coal
reserves are much longer, 220 years, than that of oil,
45 years, in the world. Therefore, constructions of
electric power plants for coal are in higher pitch than
for oil in Japan. Electricity production will become
44GW in 2007, being 22GW in 1997 (MITI
statistics 1998). Percentage of coal power plants in
whole electricity will become 16 % in 2007, being
10 % in 1997.
Coal ash from all industries including electricity
and iron was 7.3 million tons in 1997, and will be 12
million tons in 2006 in Japan (CCUJ statistics 1998).
68 % ( 5 million tons) of coal ash was effectively
utilized mainly for cement in 1997, but 32 % (2.3
million tons) was disposed to reclaimed land.
However, from the view point of global environment,
the rest of 32 % should be utilized effectively to
reduce reclamation of the sea.
This paper reviews engineering properties of
fresh and aged untreated coal ash and cement treated
fly ash, and reviews applications of treated fly ash to
coastal constructions.
2 ENGINEERING PROPERTIES AND THEIR
VARIATIONS OF COAL ASH
2.1 Investigations onjkesh coal ashes
(1) Samples
For the purpose of recycling coal ash from thermal
power plants as material for constructions,
geotechnical properties and their variations were
investigated (Takahashi et al. 1995; Okumura et a1
1996). Fresh fly ashes were sampled twice from all
representative plants. Fresh clinker ashes were
sampled 6 times from the same two plants. 76
samples in total from the above sampling were
tested in the laboratory.
(2) Physical properties of fresh fly ash
Grain density of fly ash is 2.19kO.ll(standard
deviation) (g/cm3) as a whole, which is much
smaller than that of common soils. There is rather
large difference (0.17) in the mean values of grain
density between two representative plants. This
difference is much larger than the standard deviation
of each plant (0.08, 0.07). It means that there exists
clear difference between two plants owing to kind of
coal, method and temperature of burning, sampling
place, etc. Coefficient of variation of grain density is
4.8 % in among all plants but smaller value of 3.5 %
in time dependent variation at one plant. This
tendency of variation is common in most properties
as described later. The variation of grain density of
fly ash is much larger than that of soils in coastal
area of 1.9 %.
Fine content of fly ash is 87 % in average, and
silt content is 73 k 11 (“A).Therefore, it is classified
into silt (M) of fine (F), according to the Japanese
Unified Soil Classification System.
Maximum density of fly ash, according to JGS T
161-1990, is 1.13 L 0.18 (g/cm3), and minimum
density is 0.78k0.14 (g/cm3).
Consistency tests clarified that fly ash is
non-plastic.
( 3 ) Chemical Ch~acteristicsof fresh fly ash
Chemical components of fly ash are si02: 63 2 6
(?h),Af203: 2 4 k 4 (?A),Fe203: 4.122.3 (%), CaO:

693
2.8k2.7 (%), MgO: 1.0k0.6 (“A), etc. Unburned
component (carbon, etc.) is 3 . 2 k 2 . 3 (%) and pH is
10.9k2.2.
(4) Mechanical properties of fresh fly ash
Maximum dry density by compaction test is 1 . 2 5 k
0.13 (g/cm3) and optimum moisture content is 25.8
k 5 . 8 (“A).
For the consolidation and triaxial test, fly ash
was prepared to be the moisture content of 10 %,
compacted statically (JGS T 812-1990) to be the
relative density of 95 %, soaked in water for 28 days,
and then supplied for the tests.
Coefficient of consolidation of fly ash is 3.25 -f
1.73 (x103cm2/day), equivalent to that of silt.
Compression index is 0.16 k 0.09. Coefficient of
volume compressibility is 4.3 k 8 . 8 (~lO-~/kPa) at
the pressure of 100 kPa and 3 . 4 2 1.9 (xlO-’/kPa) at
1 MPa. Coefficient of permeability is 8 . 9 k 6 . 8
(~lO-~cm/s) at 100 kPa and 1.92k2.73 (~lO-~cm/s)
at 1 MPa. As a whole, consolidation characteristics
of fly ash are equivalent to those of silt.
Cohesion by the isotropically consolidated
undrained triaxial test is 0.64k 1.12 (x 102kPa), and
angle of internal friction is 19.9k6.0 ( ), and
hence, triaxial compression characteristics of fly ash
are equivalent to those of silt.
( 5 ) Engineering properties of fresh clinker ash
Grain density of clinker ash is 2.26k0.12 (g/cm3),
which is a little larger than that of fly ash.
Average gradation of clinker ash is fine content
8 %, sand content 58 %, gravel content 34 %, and it
is classified into sand (S). Uniformity coefficient is
14.1k 7.8, and is well graded.
Maximum density of clinker ash is 0.83k 0 . 1 7
(g/cm3), and minimum density is 0.67 k 0.13
(g/cm3>.
Chemical components of clinker ash are Si02:
6 1 2 5 (%), A1203: 2 1 k 5 (%), Fe203: 5.022.6 (%),
CaO: 2.6&2.0(%), MgO: 1 . 0 2 0 . 5 (%), unburned
component: 5.1 k 5.8 (%), pH: 9.5 k 1.3 (%), and not
much different from those of fly ash.
Fresh clinker ash prepared as in the case of
consolidation test of fly ash was supplied for direct
shear test. Initial void ratio is 2.06k0.51 (relative
density 65 %). Shearing resistance of clinker ash
does not increase proportionally with consolidation
pressure, and angle of internal friction decreases
with pressure. It will be effect of grain crushing of
clinker ash tested. At the consolidation pressure of
100 kPa, cohesion is 2.06k0.51 (x102kPa) and
angle of internal friction is 46.6k8.5 ( ).
694
2.2 Investigations on agedjly ash
Two sites of fly ash deposits were investigated
(Takahashi et al., 1996a). Summary of the results are
as follows.
Grain density ranges from 2.1 to 2.3 (g/cm3).
Bulk density is about 1.5 (g/cm3), equivalent to
marine clay layers. Moisture content of the deposits
is 50 to 100 %. Grains are silt size predominant and
non-plastic.
N values by Standard Penetration Test is less
than 1 very often below the ground water level.
However, static cone penetration tests show qlof 1
to 2 MPa, suggesting that static strength of the
deposit is not so small.
Isotropically consolidated undrained triaxial
comprssion test of undisturbed samples from the
deposit showed the following strength as the lower
limit,
Compression index C, ranges from 0.2 to 0.8.
Coefficient of consolidation C, ranges from 1,000 to
10,000 (cm2/day).
Liquefaction resistance of the deposit is
equivalent to that of Toyoura Sand of relative
density of 75 %, which means that liquefaction
resistance of aged fly ash is relatively low.
2.3 Investigations on cement reactivity offleshfly
ash
Okumura and Ohhashi (1996) and Okumura and Kai
(1997) analized the correlations between the
unconfined compressive strength, q,, (x 1OOkPa), of
cement treated fly ash with several factors, and
selected 3 major factors as follows,
Fly ash from electric industry (3 15 data, R2=0.689)
log qu=0.O92C+0.43110gTC-0.26110g~+0.06 1
(2)
Fly ash from general industry (270 data, R2=0.868)
log q,=0.092 C +0.32910gTc-1.5491ogw+2.410
(3)
Fly ash from general industry (52 data, R2=0.858) by
fluidized bed boiler
log qu=O. 049Ca+O.28 810g T C - 1.93710g~t-4.03
5
(4)
where C: cement content (“A), Ca: CaO content (“A),
Tc:curing time (day), w :moisture content (%).
Figure 1 shows tested data vs. calculated by
equations (2) to (4).

Figure l(b) Test data vs. calculated strength (general
industry)
Reactivity of fly ash to lime is generally lower
than that to cement (Okumura et al., 1998; Okumura
et al., 1999).
3 GENERAL APPLICATIONS
As described in section 2, fly ash is equivalent to silt,
and not suitable as material for embankment or fill.
Therefore, it is necessary for fly ash to treat with
cement or lime. In this case the material has the
merit that it is lighter than the treated clay or silt
because of its small grain density.
695
Figure 1(c) Test data vs. calculated strength (general
industry by fluidized bed boiler)
Making use of these advantages, cement treated
fly ash can be used as material for such civil
structures as embankment, land fill, back filling of
quay wall and revetment, etc.
Sand size grains made from solidified fly ash by
cement are utilized instead of sand as materials for
sand drains, sand compaction piles, etc.
Fly ash is also used as sub-material for
solidifying soft clayey soils in Deep Mixing Method,
where the strength of mixture of clay, cement and
fly ash is not too high nor too low, making it easy to
excavate the treated ground.
4 APPLICATIONS FOR COASTAL WORKS
Several test projects and practical applications of
utilization of cement treated fly ash have been
commenced in coastal area (Takahashi, 1996).
Cement treated fly ash is used as materials for
subgrade of pavement (Takahashi et al., 1996b).
Cement treated fly ash slurry is utilized for surface
covering of very soft clay fill (Takahashi et al.,
1996c) and back filling of revetment (Shoji et al.,
1999).
In these applications the strength of treated fly
ash is 500 to 1,000 kPa, much better quality than
sand but lower cost. Therefore, treated fly ash will
be more widely used in coastal area.
5 CONCLUDING REMARKS
In order to increase the ratio of effective usage of fly
ash from electric and other industries, cement
reactivity and its variation of fly ash, rational
method of design and execution of cement treatment Takahashi, K., K. Ozasa, H. Miyagawa, T. Okumura
and filling of fly ash should be studied more. & K. Suzuki 1996b. Strength properties of
Diffusion of toxic substances from the treated fly subgrade made of mixture of fly ash, sand and
ash to the surrounding environment should be also cement, Proc. 31' Annual Meeting of Japanese
cared. Especially the influence of high pH and Geotechnical Society, pp. 237 1-2372 (in
sometimes suspended solid become problematic Japanese)
during and after construction works. Takahashi, K., K. Ozasa, H. Imashio, T. Okumura, K.
Suzuki & H. Asada 1996c. A test project of
REFERENCES surface treatment with cement added fly ash slurry,
Proc. Symp. on Cement Treated Soil, pp. 179-186
Okumura, T. & T. Ohhashi 1996. Factors affecting (in Japanese)
chemical reactions of coal ash and cement,
Proc. 3 1' Annual Meeting of Japanese
Geotechnical Society, pp. 925-926 (in Japanese)
Okumura, T., K. Takahashi, M. Tezuka, Y. Umehara
& M. Kobayashi 1996. Geotechnical properties
of fresh coal ashes from thermal power plants,
Proc. 2"d Int. Cong. Environmental Geotechnics,
Vol. 2,pp. 869-874
Okumura, T. & H. Kai 1997. Effect of cement and
lime treatment on coal ash, Proc. 52"d Annual
Meeting of Japan Society of Civil Engineers, Vol.
3-B, pp.436-437 (in Japanese)
Okumura, T., H. Kai & R. Watabe 1998.
Experimental study on the effect of cement and
lime treatment of coal ash, Proc. 9h Annual
Meeting of Japanese Society for Waste, Vol. 2,pp.
794-795 (in Japanese)
Okumura, T., K. Ueda, H. Kai & A. Yasui 1999.
Experimental study on stabilization of soft soil
with stabilizer and coal ash, Proc. 34' Annual
Meeting of Japanese Geotechnical Society, pp.
2 11-2 12 (in Japanese)
Shoji, Y., K. Takahashi, T. Asai & T. Sumino 1999.
Utilization of fly-ash cementmixture for backfills
of quay, Jour. Const.Manage. & Eng., JSCE, No.
637, pp. 137-148 (in Japanese)
Takahashi, K. 1996. Coal ash utilization for port and
harbor construction, Int. Clean Coal Tech. Symp.
on Coal Ash Utilization, pp. 69-80
Takahashi, K., Y. Umehara, M. Tezuka, T. Okumura
& S. Ono 1995. Soil engineering properties of
coal ash from thermal power plant (1) - Physical
and chemical characteristics of fresh coal ash, 30'
Annual Meeting of Japanese Geotechnical Society,
pp. 757-760 (in Japanese)
Takahashi, K., K. Suzuki, K. Ozasa, T. Okumura &
M. Shima 1996a. Geotechnical properties of aged
fly ash in reclaimed land of thermalpower plant,
Proc. 2"d Int. Cong. Environmental Geotechnics,
Vol. 2, pp.679-684

696
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

New ground material made of dredged soil for port and a q o r t reclamation
projects

T.Okumura
Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology,Okayama University,Japan
S.Noda, S. Kitazawa & K.Wada
Coastal Development Institute of Technology,Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT A large volume of quality soil is needed for the construction of ports, harbors, and also for the
reclaimed land to build airports and industrial facilities. In addition, the disposal of dredged soil from rivers
and harbors, as well as construction wastes, is a serious problem. Therefore, to responding to these needs a
new ground material is developed by mixing dredged soil or sludge with cement to form stable ground
material. The method involves adding water to the dredged soil or construction soil to transform it to slurry.
Then by adding a hardener (such as Portland cement) and a lightening agent (such as bubble or beads), the
final product can be used as fill material for harbor and airport reclamation work or as a backfill for quay
walls. The treated soil reduces settlement of soft ground and lowers earth pressure behind the quay walls. This
paper presents considerations for design and construction of the new ground material to be used as a guide for
engineers involved in harbor and airport construction, coupled with an example of its application to a
practical project.

1 INTRODUCTION increased steadily, the price of cement has fallen

An average of Y30 billion was spent on the
construction of bulkheads used to store the wastes
every year. Finding a suitable disposal sites has
become a serious problem due to shortage of land.
Figure 1 shows the capacity and breakdown of the
wastes stored in these bulkheads. This figure reveals
that between 1986 and 1995, approximately 18
million m3 of the wastes were disposed every year.
45% of these was dredged soil produced by harbor
work, 21% was surplus soil from project sites in the
cities, and 8% was the industrial wastes. In
addition, harbor construction projects also use large
quantities of good quality soil, as fill material, as
backfill for quay walls, and also to improve soft
ground.
Therefore, finding methods to treat wastes to use
as alternate construction material would be
extremely effective in both extending the lifetime of
the costly waste disposal sites and recycling limited
resources.
Figure 2 shows changes in the prices of sand,
crushed stone, and pit sand per cubic meter and also
the price of ordinary Portland cement per ton since
1965 in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The figure
indicates that while the price of soil has been
since 1980. This means that the gap between the
price of ordinary fill and cement treated soil has
been reduced sharply.
In response to these circumstances, in recent years,
several research projects have been carried out to
develop the technology needed to process dredged
soil or construction wastes to recycle it as high-
quality ground material. For example, the Bureau of
Ports and Harbors and the Port and Harbor Research
Institute of the Ministry of Transport and private
research institutes have been involved in developing
a new ground material known as Super Geo Material
(SGM) since 1992. The SGM that is a form of
lightweight treated soil was developed jointly by the
Port and Harbor Research Institute, 23 private
companies, and the Coastal Development Institute of
Technology. Based on the results of their work, full-
scale utilization of the method has been carried out
at the Kobe port and at the Tokyo International
Airport, among others.
This paper presents the considerations for design
and construction of the new ground material to be
used as a guide for engineers involved in the design
and construction of harbors and airports and also to
promote the use of this technology.

697
 soil has fluidity immediately after it is mixed, but as
it reacts with the hardener, it is transformed into a
hardened soil. This improved material has a strength
equal to or exceeding that of soil typically used for
such projects.
It is possible to adjust the mix proportion to
control the strength and density of the lightweight
treated soil. The wet density can be adjusted
between 1.0 to 1.2 gf/cm3 and the shear strength
from 1.0 to 2.0 kgf/cm2.
2.3 Characteristics of the technique
The main characteristics of the lightweight treated
soil method are as follows:
1. Unlike natural ground material, lightweight
treated soil is homogenous with density and
strength that can adjusted to appropriate values.
Therefore, it is an effective way to reduce the
consolidation settlement of the ground.
2. Because its mix proportion can be designed so
that it will not be separated under water, it can
be used with little impact on the surrounding
ocean water environment.
3. Since it has good fluidity, it can be poured in
any desired shape by pump feeding without the
need for compaction.
4. This method is an effective way to directly use
dredged soil which has a high moisture content.

Overview
- Application range
- Properties of treated soil
- Properties and uses of construction method

Figure 2. Changes in the Prices of Fill Materials and Design

Cement in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area - Design procedure and soil constants
- Load, external force, and earth Mix Proportion
- Air bubble mix
pressure - Styrene beads mix
- Bearing capacity and slope stability
2 OUTLINE OF THE TECHNIQUE - Liquefaction and consolidation
settlement
2.1 Scope of the application
This technique applies to two types of lightweight Execution
treated soil: (a) "bubb1e"treated soil and (b)"beads" - Method and control
- Confirmation testing
treated soil. Bubble-treated soil is made by mixing I I
air bubbles, and beads-treated soil is made by
mixing expanded polystyrene beads of 1 to 3 mm in Annexed Documents
diameter with soil and cement in a slurry form. - Properties of light-weight - Sample design calculation
- Sample mix proportion test
2.2 Properties of the lightweight treated soil - Submerged separation - Sample application
resistance properties test
The lightweight treated soil has a density between ________

0.6 and 1.5 g/cm3 made by mixing seawater, Figure 3. Configuration of the Manual
hardener (Portland cement), and a lightening agent
(air or styrene beads) with dredged materials. The

698
(1) Use as landfill or backfill behind a newly
constructed quay wall

Figure 4-5. Additional embankment

(4) Use as submerged backfill and embanking on

Figure 4-1. Gravity type quay wall soft ground

Figure 4-2. Sheet pile quay wall Figure 4-6. Submerged backfill

(2) Use to retrofit or improve functions of an

existing quay wall

Figure 4-7. Embanking work on soft ground

Figures 4. Examples of Applications

Figure 4-3. Seismic retrofitting, raising, or increasing the
overburden load on a quay wall
2.4Applications of the method
The lightweight treated soil method is used to
reduce unequal settlement and earth pressure, and to
restrict lateral displacement. Figure 4 shows various
applications.

2.5 Design procedure

Figure 5 outlines the procedure to be used for design
of lightweight treated soil. A detailed study of using
lightweight treated soil demonstrates the inadequacy
of conventional formula of the lateral backfill
Figure 4-4. Deepening a seawall pressure based on the semi-infinite theory, which is
not applicable for the case of a finite backfill. This
(3) Use for embanking of adjacent work effect should be taken into consideration while
calculating the active earth pressure of the treated
ground.

699
 1 Preliminary site investigation and testing of raw materials
Testing the mix proportions of lightweight treated soil
Setting the strength and density of the
lightweight treated soil
3 Setting the range of ground improvement with
1 The dredging and transporting work involve
obtaining the raw material that will be the base
material for lightweight treated soil and transporting
it to the construction site. Methods of transporting
the material are categorized as continuous transport
by belt conveyor or pipeline, and as discontinuous
transport by dump truck or soil barge. When the raw

+ material is dredged soil, it is common to transport it

lightweight treated soil
by a barge. When soil is from the construction sites,
Testing the stability of facility including it is often transported by belt conveyors or dump
lightweight treated soil trucks.
[11 Load and external force To prepare the slurry water is added to the raw
[2]Earth pressure material while agitating by a vibrating sieve to
[3] Bearing capacity remove the extraneous matters. Moisture content
[4] Slope stability
and density are also adjusted to the required levels.
[S] Liquefaction of nearby ground
161 Settlement The slurry is fed into a storage tank before feeding
to the kneading mixer. Mixing is performed by
adding the lightening agent (air bubbles or styrene
beads) and the hardener to the adjusted slurry.
Placing refers to a process that includes
Determining the strength, density, and area
feeding the material with a pump and placing it
of the improved ground using a tremie pipe. Depending on the placing site, it
is categorized as either submerged placing or
Figure 5. Design Procedure atmospheric placing.

(Dredging )
3 APPLICATION FOR THE EARTHQUAKE
RESTORATION IN KOBE PORT
(Transporting)
The full-scale application of lightweight treated soil
was the use of 21,610 m3 of bubble treated soil as
the fill material behind a quay wall of 7.5 m high in
the Port Island that was damaged due to the
(Mixing) Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake disaster. At the time of
the earthquake, this 180 m long facility was under
Beads treated soil
construction, i.e., the caissons had been installed and
backfill was completed. The earthquake displaced
the normal line of the quay wall between 0.8 and 3.8
m to the ocean side. It also lowered the top of the
caissons between 1.2 and 2.5 m, but the rotation of
(Placing) the main vertical axis was only between 0" and 3"
and the face line of the quay wall remained
relatively linear after the earthquake.
Since there was an urgent need to complete the
restoration work promptly, and it was necessary to
align it with the face line of adjacent quay walls, it
(Curing)
was decided that the best method would be to restore
Figure 6. Execution Procedure
it using the existing caissons, that had been shifted
forward by the earthquake. This method however,
would require measures to deal with the increase in
lateral earth pressure that is caused by the increase
2.6 Outline of the execution of the design seismic coefficient (from 0.18 before
Lightweight treated soil is manufactured based on the the earthquake to 0.20 after the earthquake). For this
following steps: dredging, transporting, mixing, reason, it was decided to increase the passive
placing, and curing, as shown in Figure 6. resistance of foundation riprap on the front of the

700
caissons and at the same time to reduce the earth
pressure during an earthquake by replacing part of
the ground behind the quay wall with lightweight
treated soil. As a result, design and execution
problems were resolved and, as shown in Figure 7, it
was possible to reduce the project costs to less than
1/3 of the cost of other alternate methods.
Bubble treated soil was used as the lightweight
treated soil for this project. The design wet density
was 1.0 t/m3 above water and 1.2 t/m3 for the
submerged condition.
The design shear strength was set at 1.0 kgf/cm2 in
order to obtain the necessary bearing capacity,
because apron paving was placed above it and a
container crane foundation was supposed to be Figure 8. Wet Density of Samples Taken from Cores
constructed, as part of the project.
The raw material used to prepare the bubble Figure 8 shows the wet densities obtained from
treated soil was dredged clay obtained from channel the core samples taken 1 to 10 months after
dredging work performed inside the Kobe port at the execution. In the atmosphere, the density was about
time of construction. It was highly plastic soil with a 0.03 tf/m3 higher than the target value, but this was a
liquid limit of 97%. The dredged material was result of contraction accompanying its initial
mixed with seawater and the hardener was Grade B hardening. In parts placed underwater, however, the
Portland blast furnace cement. The bubbles used values were a little lower than the target values. This
were formed by diluting it by 10 times with a result shows overall that the weight reduction
foaming agent whose main constituent was a required by the design was satisfactory.
synthetic surface active agent, and foamed 25 times In addition to the application for the Kobe port,
before use. The target unconfined compressive Table 1 shows major applications of the lightweight
strength after 28 days of curing was set at 6.0 treated soil method for different projects.
kgf/cm2 by the laboratory test. That was 3 times the
design strength.
The mix proportion was 140 kg of cement and 4 CONCLUDING REMARKS
279 (in the atmosphere) and 196 (submerged) of
bubbles, respectively, per cubic meter of bubble Lightweight treated soil is an alternate fill material
treated soil. On-site pouring tests had demonstrated for use in the construction of ports and airports.
that part of the bubbles de-foamed during the mixing, Lightweight fill is effective since the facilities
feeding, and pouring stages. Therefore, the constructed along the coastlines are usually on soft
quantities of bubbles specified above were increased and unstable ground that prone to settlement and
by about 15% and 20% for the actual construction lateral deformation and inadequate bearing capacity.
work.

Figure 7. Cost Comparison of Different Construction Methods

70 1
Table 1. Major Applications of the Lightweight Treated Soil Method

Execution Quantity
Project Special Features
Period Placed (m3)

Quay wall (- 10 m) in Port of Fushiki-Toyama I 1992’11

-93.1
1 900 I FIRST APPLICATION IN JAPAN I
Quay wall (- 7.5m) in Port Island, Port of 1995.12 First large-scale application in Japan
Kobe -96.4 21’610 Use of dredged soil
Seawall and Ground improvement in Tokyo 1996.5 Used of sandy soil on site. Applied in air.
International Airport -99.11 847610 Feeding pipe length 150 and 300m
1998.11 Use of mixture of soil on site and bentonite
Quay wall in Ishikari Bay New Port 7,110
-99.11 Winter application in cold region
Ground improvement in Oi wharf, Port of
Tokvo 1 1999.10
-2000.4
1 11,200 1 Submerged application at - 10 m

Use of dredged organic soil

Quay wall (- 7.5 m) in Port of Yokohama 2000.5- 70,000 Use of protein active agent

In addition to the advantage of being light that
reduces the dead load, the following three
characteristics make lightweight treated soil
attractive to be used along the coastlines:
1. It can be applied above water or underwater
2. It can be applied economically in large quantities in
a short period of time,
3. It can be used to improve seismic resistance and
resistance to wave action and to reduce
settlement .
Tsuchida,T., Okumura,T. Takeuchi, D. and Kishida,T. 1996.
Use of Artificial Light-weight Materials for Backfilling of
Quaywall. 2nd International Conference on Soft Soil
Engineering,Vol.2,pp.807-812,Nangyn.
Tsuchida,T., Okumura,T. Takeuchi, D. and Kishida,T. 1996.
Development of Light-weight Fill from Dredgings. 2nd
International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics,
Vol.1, pp.415- 420,Osaka.
Wako, T., Tsuchida,T., Matsunaga,Y., Hamamoto K,
Kishida,T. and Fukasawa,T.1998. Use of Artificial Light
Weight Materials for Port Facilities. Journal of
J.S.C.E.,No.602,VI-40, pp.35-52. (in Japanese).

The lightweight treated soil method was

prepared based on the results of the above-
mentioned applications, and is expected to promote
the use of the lightweight treated soil in future port
and airport construction projects.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to express their sincere
gratitude to the members of the Technical
Committee of the Port and Airport Lightweight
treated soil method for their deliberations and
collaborative research work.

REFERENCE
Coastal Development Institute of Technplogy. 1999. Technical
Mannual of Light-weight Treated Soil Method in Port and
Airport Projects.
Tsuchida, T., Ali Porbaha and Kishida, T. 1999. Restoration of
A Wharf Structure, Journal of Performance of Constructed
Facilities. ASCE, Vol.l3,No.l, pp.1-6.
Tsuchida,T. 1999. Development and Use of Foamed Treated
Soil in Port and Airport Projects. Report of the Port and
Harbour Research Institute, Vo1.38, No.2, pp.131-167. (in
Japanese)

702
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Estimating the stochastic variability of geomaterials

Ali Porbaha & Takao Kishida

TechnicalResearch Institute, TOA Corporation, Yokohama,Japan
Takashi Tsuchida
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yolwsuka,Japan

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a series of techniques employed to assess the stochastic variability of geo-
materials. The analyses include: estimation of spatial continuity, modeling of the variogram, calculation of er-
ror variance, incorporation of an unbiased interpolation technique, and finally the testing of cross validation.
A summary of some relevant case histories of the projects is presented.

1 INTRODUCTION geomaterial. In the methodology presented here, the

Development of new geomaterials are gaining
popularity for a variety of reasons. The main ration-
ales for these developments are, for instance, the
need for supply of quality construction materials in
the highly developed urban and/or coastal areas; im-
plementation of the enacted environmental ordi-
nances to use low quality or recycled materials in
the construction industry; development of engi-
neered materials with controlled properties, and so
alike. According, it is necessary to develop proce-
dures for quality control and characterization of the-
se geomaterials.
The techniques presented here employs the results
of cone penetration tests (CPT) in the analyses. Alt-
hough any cone may be used, the FRICON (Fric-
tionless cone) has been mainly specifically devel-
oped for this purpose. Since most geomaterials have
an artificial cementing reagent in which penetration
by the conventional CPT may pose difficulties due
to heavy load required during the test. Usually limit-
ed data is available from a project site due to
economic reasons. Therefore, a series of analyses is
necessary to extend the results of limited measured
data to the whole continuum of the geomaterials.
Since the properties of the geomaterial vary on the
micro level, the properties must be viewed as ran-
dom variables, with the value of a property assumed
stationary over the treated zone. In a broad perspec-
tive spatial continuity provides the tools for de-
scribing the stochastic structure of a random vari-
able, such as a property of the ground treated with a
spatial continuity of the geomaterial is modeled and
the error variance is minimized in an interpolation
technique to provide the means for making the best
linear unbiased estimates of the property. A sum-
mary of the techniques applied in this process is de-
scribed here.
2 ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL CONTINUITY
The spatial continuity is usually described in terms
of either a variogram or a covariance function, as
schematically shown in Figure 1. The property of a
geomaterial at any location x along the depth will be
denoted as z(x). The same property has a value of
z(x+h) at a distance h from the initial point meas-
ured at x. For relatively small separation distances,
the values z(x) and z(x+h) will probably be autocor-
related; for large separation distances, the autocor-
relation will be zero, i.e., the values z(x) and z(x+h)
will be independent. For very small h, the autocor-
relation should be large, and it should decrease to
zero as h increases.
(a) h h
(b)
Figure 1: Spatial continuity (a) Variogram, (b) Co-
variance function

703
 At some point, the value z(x) will be independent of
z(x+h); this point is called the range of influence
and is denoted as r.
Of interest in assessing the stochastic structure of
a property is the variability between the two values
separated by distance h. The variogram, which is
denoted as 2y(h), characterizes the variability of the
property z between the two points:

1 "
C
2 y (h) = - [z( xi)( I xi + h)I2
n ;=I

in which n is the number of measurements made at

separation distance h; and xi is the location of a
point with respect to some reference point. Eq. 1 has
the form of the expected value and is actually the
expected value of the random variable [z(x) - z(x
+WJ2
Figure 2. Several variogram models: (a) Spherical
model, (b) Exponential model, (c) Gaussian model 2y(h) = E[z(x) - z(x +h)]' (2 1
(d) Hole effect model (e) Linear model, and (f)
Quadratic model In order to quantie the variogram, realizations of
the property must be available. In application of Eqs.
1 and 2, we assume that the intrinsic hypothesis is
valid; this hypothesis states that the value of the
variogram depends only on the separation distance h
and not the location x of the sample. points. In other
words, Eqs. 1 and 2 assume that the difference z(x) -
z(x + h) is a random variable with second-order sta-
tionarity.
Eqs. 1 and 2 define the variogram. Dividing these
values by 2 yields the semivariogram y(h). The
semivariogram is used later on for the estimation
problem with the interpolation technique.

3 VARIOGRAM MODELING

The spatial continuity should be represented by a

model. Just as probability functions are fit using
sample data that may be presented as a histogram, a
sample semivariogram computed with Eq. 1 can be
used to fit a semivariogram function or model. The
most frequently used semivariogram model is called
a spherical model and has the form:

YO= Yr when h>r (3b)

Figure 4: Effect of anisotropy described as rose dia-
gram in which r is the range of influence; and yr is a semi-
variogram model parameter called the sill. yr is often

704
quantified using the variance of the sample meas-
urements z(x). The spherical model is just one of
many models used to represent a semivariogram; it
is widely used because its properties are easily com-
puted and it has the shape and scale properties that
characterize many data measurements. Figure 2
shows several other models, and Figure 3 illustrates
a typical analysis with spherical model for a geo-
material.
The calculation of omnidirectional variogram
does not imply that the spatial continuity is the same
in all directions. Therefore, one should proceed to
explore the pattern of anisotropy with various direc-
tional variograms (if possible). One practical ap-
proach is to calculate several directional variograms
and plot a rose diagram (see Figure 4) described as a
function of direction. The major and minor axes of
the ellipse represent the axes of anisotropy.
4 ERROR VARIANCE
The ultimate objective of the analysis is to provide a
means of estimating the property of the geomaterial
at any point x along the depth. In addition to the best
estimate of the property, we must also be interested
in the accuracy of the estimate. If we have a value of
the property z(x) measured at a single point x along
the depth, then assuming other information is not
available, our best estimate of the property at a point
(x+h) is z(x). The variogram defines the accuracy of
the estimate. That is, if we have a single point esti-
mate of the property z(x) at a point, then our best
estimate of the property at any other point (x+h) is
z(x) and the accuracy of z(x+h) is the error variance
2y(h). The standard error of estimate S, would be the
square root of the error variance.
If instead of a single point sample, we collect a
sample of n measurements along the depth of the
treated zone, then our best estimate of the property
would be a weighted mean value of the individual
points:
(4)
in which wi is a weight for Z(x,) that reflects the im-
portance of measurement Z(xJ. The error variance
of Z is no longer 2y(h) because the larger sample
size, i.e., n rather than 1, should be expected to re-
duce the error variance. The reduction in the error
variance depends on the number of points in the
sample and the relative independence of the sample
points.
705
To develop an expression for the error variance
when the sample consists of n measurements, with
each sample point having a weight w,, both the error
variance associated with each sample point and the
point to be estimated and the error variance among
the sample points must be assessed. The first source
of the error variance would be the weighted average
variogram value between sample point i and the
point to be estimated, 2Cw,y(h,), where h, is the
separation distance between sample point i and the
point to be estimated. As the sample size increases,
the first part of the error variance will decrease be-
cause of the greater level of confidence associated
with larger samples. Therefore, the within sample
variation must be subtracted from the point sample
variation because it reflects variation that is not part
of the total error variation. The within sample varia-
tion is the weighted average semivariogram value
between each point in the sample. Therefore, the er-
ror variance, S,, is given by:
in which hi, is the separation distance between sam-
ple points i and j. The second term on the right-hand
side of Eq. 5 is the variance that is internal to the
sample points.
5 INTERPOLATION
There are numerous interpolation procedures for
modeling spatial data, including triangulation,
moving averages, trend surface analysis, objective
analysis, spline, and kriging. Analysis of spatial
continuity is intended to be used as part of the esti-
mation process when kriging is applied. However,
estimation requires us to decide which of the sample
points to use for estimation and what weight should
be given to each sample point. Given that the data
analysis yields values for the range of influence and
sill for Eq. 3, it seems reasonable that only sample
points located within the range of influence of the
unknown point should be used to make estimates
with Eq. 4, and the weight given to each sample
point should be inversely proportional to the ordi-
nate of the semivariogram corresponding to the dis-
tance separating the sample point and the unknown
point.
To formulate a solution, we need to satisfy several
requirements for modeling: ( I ) an estimation model,
which is given by Eq. 6; (2) an objective function
that defines the best fit; ( 3 ) constraints, when neces-
sary, that place limitations on the solution; and (4) a
data base. The data base consists of the sample
points Z(xi), which are used with the linear estima-
tion model of Eq. 4. The best model is often taken to
imply that the error, or estimation, variance is a
minimum. Thus, we have as the objective to mini-
mize the error variance. But for the kriging solution,
if we want an unbiased model, we must impose the
constraint that the sum of the weights, wi, equals 1:
;=I
The estimation variance, which will be denoted as S,
for sample (similar to oe2for the population), de-
pends on the values of the unknown weights, the
structure and magnitude of the semivariogram, the
location and magnitude of the sample points, and the
type of estimation to be made (i.e., point, core
length, or volumetric). We can minimize the error
variance by taking derivatives of the objective func-
tion with respect to each unknown and setting the
derivatives equal to zero; this provides a set of n
equations with n unknowns. While the solution of
these n normal equations would produce a minimum
error variance, the resulting model would not be un-
biased. For this, the constraint of Eq. 6 must be in-
cluded in the system of normal equations. Thus the
objective function is to minimize:
in which h is an unknown. It should be apparent that
the solution procedure for this interpolation tech-
nique is an example of Lagrangian optimization,
with h being the Lagrangian multiplier. There are
n+l unknowns (i.e., the n values of w; and A), and
there are nt-1 equations (i.e., Eq. 6 and the n deriva-
tives of Eq. 7 with respect to each w;).Thus, we only
need an expression for estimating oe2to find the so-
lution. To obtain a solution to the estimation of the
value at a point, whether the sample points are dis-
tributed linearly in either space or time, an estimate
of the error variance can be made by:
in which S; is the ith sample, element; Y indicates
the value of the criterion variable (e.g., the variation
706
of strength where the estimate is needed), and
yax,&CI,C,)is the average semivariogram value be-
tween all combinations of C, and C,, where C, and Cj
are dummy variables and may be either S, or Y . In
Eq. 8, S, and Y would represent the ith measurement
for the sample and the unknown value of the
strength at any point. The summations of Eq. 8 in-
clude only the n sample points within the range of
influence since for the points beyond the range of in-
fluence w, is zero. Eq. 8 indicates that the error vari-
ance consists of three parts. The first term represents
the variation associated with differences between the
sample point measurement S, and the criterion Y for
which a value is needed. The second term reflects
the variation within the sample; that is, the average
semivariogram value for all elements of the sample.
The third term, i.e., ya,&Y, Y ) , reflects variation
that is not error variation, so it must be subtracted
from the total expected variation between the sam-
ple and the unknown value of the criterion. The third
term is similar to the second term in that it repre-
sents variation that is not error variation, yet it con-
tributes to the total variation between the sample
elements and the unknown value of the criterion.
Difference in estimate
Figure 5: An example of cross validation analysis
(vertical axis represents the Krigged estimate)
For a system in which there is a single point of
interest, the average semivariogram value for a sepa-
ration distance of zero must also be zero. The sub-
traction of the two terms indicates that we must re-
duce the error variation because we are interested in
a mean value (i.e., the mean of all estimates). Hav-
ing formulated the objective function (Eq. 8) the
optimal values of the w, and h can be obtained by
Lagrangian optimization, as follows. The normal
equations are obtained by algebraic manipulation:
 As an example, if the sample consists of three
(9b) points, Eqs. 9a-d reduce to :

Figure 6: Analysis of the geomaterials for several sites in Fushiki (top),

Ishinomaki (middle), and Kobe (bottom)

707

Eqs. 9a-d represent a set of n+l simultaneous equa-
tions with n+l unknowns, which can be solved either
analytically or numerically. The solution provides
the weights that yield the minimum error variance as
defined by Eq. 8.
6 CROSS VALIDATION
In a cross validation exercise, the estimation method
is tested at the locations of existing samples. The
sample value at a particular location is temporarily
discarded from the sample data set; the value at the
same location is then estimated using the remaining
samples. Once the estimate is calculated we can
compare it to the true sample value that was initially
removed from the sample data set. This procedure is
repeated for all available samples. The resulting true
and estimated values can then be compared. Figure 5
shows a typical output of the cross validation analy-
sis
7 CASE HISTORIES
The concepts described in the preceding sections
have been applied for several projects. The results
are shown in Figure 6, however, due to page limita-
tions, the details of the analyses will be presented
separately. The estimated value of the desired prop-
erty at any point (i.e., distribution of strength with
depth for these projects) may be used to delineate
the isostrength contours. Obviously, the accuracy of
the results depend on the estimated values at various
stages of the analysis. However, the main contribu-
tion is derived from modeling the spatial continuity
of the data that has a significant impact on the accu-
racy of the results.
8 SUMMARY
There are several elements in establishing the
guidelines for estimation of variability in geomateri-
a1 modeling. The methodology presented here is
based on the consideration of spatial continuity of
the geomaterial and minimization of the error vari-
ance. Further references may be consulted for speci-
fic details in various staEes of the analvses.
708
REFERENCES
Bames M. G. (1 978) Statistical design and analysis
in the cleanup of environmental radionuclide
contamination, Desert Research Institute,
University of Nevada System, W O 1253-12.
Bames, M. G. (1 980) The use of Kriging for
estimating the spatial distribution of radionuclides
and other spatial phenomena, Trans-Stat, Battelle
Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Labs,
Richland, WA.
Clark T. L., Dennis R. L., Voldner E. D., Olson M.
P., Seilkop S, and Alvo M. (1 986) The interna-
tional sulfur deposition model evaluation.
Preprints from Fifth Joint Conference on
Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology. I 8-2 1
November 1986, pp. 57-60.
Durham J., Dennis R., Laulainen N., Renne D.,
Pennell B., Barchett R, and Hales J. (1 986)
Regional Eulerian model field study and evalua-
tions. ASRL Rep., available from Office of
Research and Development, U.S. EPA, Research
Triangle Park, NC.
Endlich R. E., Ferek R., Eynon B. P., Maxwell C,
and Valdes A. D. ( 1 986) Statistical analysis of
precipitation chemistry measurements over the
eastern United States. EPRI Rep No. VAPSP 1 12.
Owosina, A., Lall, U., Sanyogomi, T., and Bosorth,
K. ( I 992) Methods for assessing the space and
time varaiability of groundwater data, Utah
Research Laboratory, State of Utah, USA.
McBratney, A.B., and Webster, R. ( I 986) Choosing
function for semi-variograms of soil properties
and fitting them to the sampling estimates, J. of
Soils Science, 37, 61 7-628.
Wahba, G. (1 979) How to smooth curves and
surfaces with splines and cross validation, Techni-
cal Report No. 555, Department of Statistics,
University of Wisconsin.
Yates, S.R., Warrick, A.W., and Myers, D.E. (1986)
Disjunctive kriging, I. overview of estimation and
conditional probability, Water Resources,
Research, 22,615-623.
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Underwater casting test of light-weight treated soil made of waste soils

T. Satoh, N.Ueno, K. Mitsukuri & K. Kawano

The 4th District Port ConstructionBureau, Ministry of Transport,Shimonoseki,Japan
TTsuchida
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuka,Japan

ABSTRACT: Kumamoto Port is located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyusyu Island of Japan. The ground con-
dition is poor with the ultra-soft clays of about 40m. The difference in tidal level is large and the water is
shallow. New technological developments are required for economical and efficient port construction in such
conditions. Utilizing light-weight treated soil has been turned out to be an effective work for quay wall con-
structions. The construction works utilizing light-weight treated soil are generally performed at the water
depth shallower than -3m. However, large water depth construction below -3m is designed for Kumamoto
Port. In this study, underwater casting tests of light-weight treated soil were performed up to the water depth
of about .-10m at Kumamoto Port. Several laboratory tests were also performed on the samples of one year
after the casting.

1 KUMAMOTOPORT 1.2 Quay wall design

1.1 Location of Kumarnoto Port
Kumamoto Port is located in Ariake Bay. The Ari-
ake Bay is a typical inland sea and the depth of wa-
ter is very shallow with the average of about 20m. A
vast tideland appears at the low tide due to the large
difference in tidal level of 4.5m. The location of
Kumamoto Port and the field test in this study is
shown in Fig.1. In this area, extremely soft clay
layer, that is called Ariake clay, of 30 to 40m thick-
ness is deposited at the seabed. Fig. 2 shows natural
water content w,, liquid limit wL and unconfined
compression strength qu with depth of Kumamoto
Port. As shown in Figure, the water content is larger
than the liquid limit and seems to be normally con-
solidated state.
Since the Ariake clays are ultra-soft clays, soil im-
provement is inevitable for the construction of port
and harbour structures. As the scale of soil im-
provement work is large, the cost of the improve-
ment is usually more than 50% of the total cost of
construction. The 4th District Port Construction Bu-
reau, Ministry of Transport has investigated the pos-
sible methods for reducing construction cost in this
area, and suggested that the light-weight treated soil
shall be used as backfilling of the quay wall.
The light-weight treated soil is a material in
which the dredged slurry is mixed with cement and
the light-weight agent such as air foam or expanded
Polystirol (EPS) beads, and has been developed by
Port and Harbour Research Institute (Tsuchida et.

Ariake Bay

*j*5v\. . Gfw &*

krn
oeo
c-..
I K u

-~
1.
m

v
i F I JKumamoto

D South Breakwater

Figure 1. Location of Kumamoto Port.

709
el, 1996, Coastal Development Institute of Technol- 20.000

ogy, 1999). As the wet density of light-weight soil

is 1.0 -1.2 and the undrained shear strength is 200-
v
V
-
H . W . L +4.50m
V 4 0 m
L . W . L +O.OOm
I
V +5.?Om

400 kPa, the back-filling of the light-weight soil

makes the small earth pressure and the reduction of
the foundation improvement. Fig.3(a) and Fig.3(b)
show
the comparison of quay wall in the conventional I
I
I
,
,
,
*
I

design and the case of back-filling of light-weight i Sand Compaction

I
,
I
,
I
’

treated soil. As shown in the figures, the width of : (Improvement Ratio= 80%) GF:gnt
. .
the concrete caisson is reduced by using light-
weight treated soil and the scale of the ground im- 15.000 20,000 ,3.000
provement work becomes smaller due to the reduc-
tion of the weight of the whole construction struc-
ture. Consequently, the construction cost can be
reduced by 20-25% using light-weight treated soil.

2 UNDERWATER CASTING TEST

2.1 Properties and mix proportion of treated soil
As light-weight agents, air foam type agents and ex-
panded PolyStirol (EPS) beads, the diameters of
which are 1-3mm, (Fig. 4) were utilized. Before per-
V -13.Om
=
forming casting test, the experiments including
physical and chemical properties tests of dredged
soils, selection test for the kind of air foam agents,
stability test of air foam, quantitative test of cement-
ing materials, washout resistant test for light-weight
treated soil cast underwater, and curing test under
pressure were performed to determine the mix pro- Figure 3(b) Cross section of quay wall
portion of the light-weight treated soil. The materi-
(back-filling of light-weight treated soil)
als utilized for casting tests are shown in Table 1.
The target values of underwater casting test are
shown in Table 2. The mix proportion for the light-
weight treated soil is shown in Table 3.

Figure 4 Expanded PolyStirol (EPS) beads.

2.2 Outline of casting test

Underwater casting test of light-weight treated soil
was performed inside the concrete caisson being
under construction at Kumamoto Port to prevent the
floating EPS beads from spreading into the sea. The
inside of the concrete caisson was divided into 4
sections and the casting tests of No.1 to No.9 were
carried out at the sites as shown in Figure 5.
Total casting quantity of light-weight treated soil
Figure 2 w,,,
wLand quwith depth. for 5 days was 860m3. For casting light-weight
treated soil using EPS beads, about 2% volume of
EPS beads were floating. But they did not spread
into the sea.

710
Table 1.Utilized materials of core samples collected 28 days after casting was
slightly larger than that immediately after mixing.
Material Dredged soils Table 4 shows the increase rate in wet density of
Unit weight: 2.689 t/m3 light-weight treated soils of different types .
Natural water content: 84.4% In the case of utilizing the surface active agent
Liquid limit: 63.8% type air foam, the increase rate in wet density in the
Ignition loss: 6.9% deep layer was larger than that in the upper layer.
Water Seawater Such a phenomenon is explained due to the decrease
Cementing material B-type Portland blast-furnace slag of air volume caused by the water pressure at the
cement site. When the light-weight agent of protein type
Light-weight agent Air foam was used, the wet density became much larger than
Surface active agent type the target value. It seemed that the air foam made by
Protein type this agent was weaker that that made by the surface
EPS beads active agent type, and the most of the air foam was
Mean grain size: 2mm disappeared during the transportation and the cast-
ing.

Table 2. Target values Table 4 The increase rate of wet density

1 Unconfmed
streneth
compressive 1 Approximately 200 kPa Light-weight
agent Upper layer
Casting site
Middle layer Deep layer
Wet density Approximately 1.1t/m3 S (surface 4.7% No.6 7.2% No.4 10.2% No.1
(at casting) active agent) 3.6% No.9 10.3% No.7
Wet density Approximately 1.2 t/m3 P 14.8% No.2
(28 days after casting) (protein) 17.2% No.8
Flow value 150-200 mm B 15.1%No.3
(EPS beads) 5.0% No.5

Table 3. Mix proportion of light-weight treated soil.

Table 5. Soil tests
I I Air foam 1 Beads 1

Unconfined compression test

Direct shear test of Mikasa type (CU)

Above result showed that when light-weight

1 Total I 1000 1 1000
The layout of casting is shown in Fig. 6. The
dredged soils were moved into the mixing plant
from the barge by a backhoe. Then, cementing ma-
terial and light-weight agent were added and mixed.
The treated soils were cast through a tremie pipe by
squeeze type concrete pump. During the casting test,
about 2-3 % of mixed EPS beads were segregated
and floated in the site. But as they did not spread
into the sea, all of the floating beads were collected
easily.
2.3 Control of wet density
The wet density is an important index to control the
quality of the light-weight treated soil in casting
test. The investigation indicated that the wet density
treated soil is cast at large depth, it is necessary to
add extra volume of air foam to compensate for the
possible decrease in air volume. The reduction of air
volume and the increase of density depends on the
casting depth and the type of the air foam agent. In
the case of Ariake Clay in Kumamoto Port, the air
foam made by protein type agent was too weak
comparing with that made by surface active type
agent.
3 RESULTS OF SOIL TESTS OF CORES
COLLECTED 1 YEAR AFTER CASTING
3.1 Outline of soil test
In 1999, just 1 year after casting, in order to inves-
tigate whether the quality of light-weight treated soil
changes with curing 1 year after casting, soil sam-
pling of SGM at Kumamoto Port and several soil
tests were performed as shown in Table 5.

711
 with curing 28 days and 1 year after casting. From
Cell-2 cell-4 Figs. 7 and 8, it can be seen that there is no definite
No.9 difference in wet density between the samples cur-
(S, 100) ing 28 days and those of l year.

3.3 Unconfined compression strength

<Legend> S: Surface active type air foam agent
P: Protein type air foam agent
B: EPS beads
80, 100: unit cement content 80 kg/m3, 100 kg/m3
Figure 5 Section of caisson
Fig. 9 shows the mean value of the unconfined
compressive strength for each section of caisson.
Fig. 10 shows the distributions of unconfined com-
pressive strength with depth. The experimental re-
sults indicate that the ratios of qu curing 1 year over
that of 28 days vary from 0.88 to 1.48 for all the sec-
tions of caisson with the mean value of 1.12. The
measured strength for each section is much larger
than the target value of 200 kPa.
3.4 Direct shear strength (cuand cD)
Fig. 11 shows the mean value of the direct shear
strength for each section. The ratios of the strength
for curing 1 year over that of 28 days vary within
1.25-1.99 (c"), 0.95-1.59 (cD) with the average val-
ues of 1.58 (cu), 1.29 (cD)respectively.
3.5 Modulus of deformation
The TeSUltS of unconfined compression tests also in-
dicate that the modulus of deformation increases
with curing time from 28 days to 1 year after cast-
ing. The relationship between the modulus of de-

Figure 7. Mean value of wet density.

3.2 Wet density

Fig. 7 shows the change in mean value of wet den-
sity for each section of caisson. Fig. 8 shows the dis-
tributions of wet density with depth for the samples Figure 8. Wet density with depth.

712
formation ESoand unconfined compression strength
qu can be expressed as follows.
E50 = 189 - 359 q,,
The measured coefficient of ESo/ qu in this study is
larger than that reported by the Coastal Develop-
ment Institute of Technology (1999) in which the
typical relationship of E,O against qUwas given as
follows.
713
Figure12 Resistance in the field penetration
test.
3.6 Consolidation yield stress
The results of consolidation tests indicate that the
consolidation yield stress increases with curing time
from 28 days to 1 year after casting. The relation-
ship between the consolidation yield stress pv and
qucan be expressed as follows.
py = 1.65 - 3.17 qrr
 4. The strength of light-weight treated soil with
curing 1 year cast into water was larger than
that of 28 days.
5. According to the results of a series of investi-
gations of light-weight treated soil cast in large
depth at Kumamoto Port, it turns out that the
light-weight treated soil is applicable for the
practical construction in large depth.

REFERENCES

Figure13 Mean value of tip resistance in the field Tsuchida, T., Tang, Y.X. : Developing Mechanism of
cone penetration test for each section. Shear Strength at the Top of Seabed,2nd International
Conference on Soft Soil Engineering,Vo.1,
pp.480-485, Nanging, 1996.5.
The coefficient of above equation is larger than that T. Tsuchida, D. Takeuchi, T. Okamura & T. Ki-
reported by the Coastal Development Institute of shida. Development of light-weight fill from
Technology (1999) in which the relationship of de- dredgings. Environmental Geotechnics, Ka-
sign value is shown as follows. mon(ed.), Balkema, Rotterdam. 1996.
The Coastal Development Institute of Technology.
P y = 1.4 q u Technical manual for the method of light-weight
mixing treated soil in ports and airports construc-
3.7 Resistance in the field cone penetration test tion. 1999 (in Japanese).
The field cone penetration tests were performed for
all the sections at curing 28 days and 1 year after
casting. The typical results are shown in Fig. 12. It
can be seen that tip resistance increases with curing
time from 28 days to 1 year. Fig. 13 shows the mean
value of the tip resistance for each section. The ra-
tios of the tip resistance for curing 1 year over that
of 28 days vary within 1.41-2.65 with the average of
2.01.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The main conclusions obtained in this study are

summarized as follows:

1. Kumamoto Port has been construct red on ex-

tremely soft Ariake clays of 35-40m thickness.
By using light-weight treated soil as backfill-
ing, it is possible to reduce the construction
cost by 20-25%. The underwater casting test of
light-weight treated soil was carried out up to
the water depth of 10m.
2. When light-weight treated soil is cast at large
depth, it is necessary to add extra volume of
air foam to compensate for the possible de-
crease in air volume. The reduction of air vol-
ume and the increase of density depends on
the casting depth and the type of the air foam
agent. In the case of Ariake Clay in Kumamoto
Port, the air foam made by protein type agent
was too weak comparing with that made by
surface active type agent.
3. The wet density of light-weight treated soil
with curing 1 year cast underwater was almost
the same as that of 28 days.

714
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Mechanical property of submerged coal fly ash

D. Suetsugu, Y. Miyata & K. Kogure
National Defense Academy, Yokosuka,Japan

ABSTRACT: It seems reasonable to apply coal fly ash for the reclamation material. In this study, mechanical
properties of submerged coal fly ash were investigated by conducting monotonic and cyclic triaxial test. Self-
hardening degree of used sample is very low enough to ignore, and specimens for triaxial test were prepared
by trimming the submerged coal fly ash. In this paper, the laboratory test results were shown, and the effects
of fabric formed by submerging on mechanical behavior were discussed.

1 INTRODUCTION 2.2 Procedure of triaxial test and test prograni

Discharged quantity of coal ash from coal-fired In this study, submerged coal fly ash in the water
plants has been expected to increase in the fkture. At was used as specimen for triaxial test. In submerging
present, about 40% of coal ash is used as construc- coal fly ash, the size of used mold is 200mm in di-
tion material, however the ratio should be increased. ameter and 400mm in height. Coal fly ash under dry
condition was driven into the mold until the sub-
Recently, a reasonable reclamation method under the
water of coal ash was contrived (Horiuchi et al., merged height was 200mm. After 24 hours passed
1995). In the case of using coal ash as geo-material, from the end of driving coal fly ash, the water in
it seems reasonable to apply the coal ash for the rec- mold was drained from the bottom for 24 hours. At
the end of drainage, the inside of a sample became
lamation material, because it can utilize enormous
unsaturated condition. In this condition, A sample
quantity of coal ash. In this study, static and dy-
namic mechanical properties of coal fly ash were in- was able to stand up by suction effect. specimens for
vestigated by conducting triaxial test. triaxial test were prepared by trimming the sample
standing up. In saturating specimen, B parameter of
all specimens reached a value of 0.97 or more. In
monotonic triaxial test, the specimen was initially
2 TESTPROGRAM
consolidated isotropically, and axially compressed
2.1 Material or extended with a constant strain rate O.lmm/min
under undrained condition. In cyclic triaxial test, a
Coal fly ash was collected from Matsuura coal fired
power plant under dry condition. Table 1 shows the sinusoidal cyclic axial load was applied at a fre-
physical and chemical properties of the sample. It quency of 0.1Hz under undrained conditions after
isotropic or anisotropic consolidaticn.
can be judged that its self-hardening degree is very
low enough to ignore, because the ratio of CaO con-
tent of this sample is very small.
3 TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Coiisolidatiori test results
Table 1. Property of coal fly ash
Specific Gravie 2.115 In isotropic consolidation test, resulting relationships
Mean Diameter (pn) 10 between e and logp’, in which e is void ratio andp’
pdl-(M@m3) 1.52
is mean effective principal stress, is shown in Fig. 1.
SiOz 66.4
End of consolidation is determined by 3t method. e-
Chemical
23.80
logp’ curve in coal fly ash can be approximated by
A1203 two straight lines as well as that of clays, and the
Composition
Fez03 3.60
(”/.I consolidation yield stress pc’ is determined as 80kPa.
CaO 1.40

715
 1.7 I Such load has not applied for specimen before the
Yield stress pc’=80Wa
specimen was set in triaxial test apparatus. It is con-
sidered that observed pc’ shows the strength of fab-
6) ric of coal fly ash which was formed by submerging
0”
in the water.
.4
Fig2 shows the relationships between volumetric
2 strain 6,. and axial strain G under virgin loading in
p’> pc’ and unloading from p’= 490kPa. In calculat-
ing and ea, initial condition is at the end of setting
up specimen and at the end of consolidation under
p7=490Ha, respectively. In the case of iso-elastic
1.1 I I material, is same as three times of Ea theoretically.
10’ 1o2 1o3 In the test results, E“ and &a under virgin loading
Effective principal stress, p’ ( H a ) stage are plotted on the theoretical line, however
those under the unloading process are not. There-
Fig. 1 e-log p’ curve in isotropic consolidation test
fore, submerged coal fly ash behave as isotropically
to the virgin loading less thanp,’, but behave aniso-
4 tropically to unloading fromp’ overp,’. In the case
n of sand, loose or dense sands behave iso-elastically
s
W on unloading process in isotropic consolidation test
6 2 (EL-Sohby, M.A. et al., 1973). Therefore, it can be
considered that a difference between sand and coal
fly ash behaviors on isotropic unloading are caused
by the fabric formed by plastic deformation.
2+J
3.2 CU test results
d
5 -2
In monotonic triaxial test, resulting stress paths and
P stress and strain curves are shown in Fig.3. In the
-4 compression test on the normally consolidated sam-
0 0.5 1 1.5 ple, the deviator stress, q’, increased with decreasing
Axial strain, &a (%) of mean principal stress, p ’ . And q decreased after
it showed maximum value. In the extension test on
Fig. 2 Relationship between E, and E, on loading and unloading the normally consolidated sample, excess pore pres-
process

-1 Compression

c.. ; - ~ ~
a I
-200
0
Extension
100 200 300400
I
0 5 10
1

Mean effective stress, p’(kPa) Shear strain, y (‘A)

in compression tests, (c), (d): in extension tests
Fig. 3 Effective stress path and relationship between q’ and y (a), 0):

716
Fig5 Effective stress paths and relationship between q’ and E, in anisotropic consolidated cyclic tests
(a), (b):reversal, (c), (d), (e): non-reversal

717
sure du owing to shear deformation changes from
minas to plus at first. After this, q’ increased with
decreasing of p’ until the end of the tests. Au in
compression test converged a constant value at shear
strain, y, nearly equal to 10%, dzt in extension test
also converged at y nearly equal to 10%. In this
study, the condition was estimated as “limit state”,
the relationship between q’ and p’ at the condition
was considered. In Fig.3, both q’ and p’ at limit state
was shown as symbol “0”. The stress condition can
be approximated by using the straight line passing
the origin. The inclinations of the line in compres-
sion test and extension test are 1.2 and 0.7 respec-
tively, one of compression test is larger. Internal
friction angles at limit state were evaluated as dif-
ferent values. So friction angle was 30 degrees in
compression test, in extension test was 23 degrees.
behaved anisotropically to unloading from p’
over p,’ .
Internal friction angles at limit state were evalu-
ated as different values. So friction angle was
30 degrees in compression test, in extension test
was 23 degrees.
In cyclic triaxial test with stress reversal, lique-
faction at zero effective mean principal stress
occurs. On the other hand, in the case of non-
reversal, axial deformation continues in a con-
stant effective cyclic stress condition.
In a series of cyclic triaxial tests, submerged
coal fly ash did not perform remarkable flow
deformation.
REFERENCES

3.3 Cyclic tsiaxial test results Horiuchi, S., Tamaoki, K. & Yasuhara, K. 1995. Coal Ash
Slurry for Effective Underwater Disposal. Soils and Foun-
In cyclic triaxial test, resulting stress paths and stress dations, 35(1):1-10.
and strain curves after isotropic consolidation are EL-Sohby, M.A. & K.Z. Andrawes. 1973. Experimental ex-
shown in Fig.4(a),(b) respectively. And, same rela- amination of sand anisotropy. Proc. 8th ICSMFE, 1.1: 103-
tionship after anisotropic consolidation are shown in 109.
Vaid, Y. P. & Chern, J. C. 1983. Effect of static shear on resis-
Fig.5. Fig.4 indicates a case of cyclic stress reversal tance to liquifaction. Soils and Foundations, 23( 1): 47-60.
from compression to extension, while Fig. 5 indi-
cates a non-reversal case. In the case of stress rever-
sal, excess pore pressure develops until it reaches
the initial effective confining stress, liquefaction
with zero effective mean principal stress occurs. On
the other hand, in the case of non-reversal, effective
mean principal stress does not reach zero, axial de-
formation continues in a constant effective cyclic
stress condition.
In cyclic test for loose sand, flow deformation
which axial deformation and excess pore pressure
develop suddenly was observed (Vaid, Y. P. et al.,
1983), but for submerged coal fly ash, although ex-
cess pore pressure develops suddenly, a change of
axial deformation is not recognized. Therefore, in
these tests using coal fly ash, flow deformation was
not observed regardless of initial stress condition. It
is considered that flow deformation did not occur
because of the peculiar fabric of coal fly ash formed
by submerging.

4 CONCLUSIONS

A series of monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests was

carried out on submerged coal fly ash. The follow-
ing conclusions were reached based on experimental
investigation.
In isotropic consolidation test, observed con-
solidation yield stress was larger than precon-
solidated stress. It is considered that observed
p,’ shows the strength of fabric of coal fly ash
formed by submerging in the water.
Submerged coal fly ash behaved isotropically to
the virgin loading less thanp,’, in other side it

718
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineeringin Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam,ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Strength characteristics of stabilized ground by Plug-Flow Mixing method

H.Taguchi, N.Yamane, E Hashimoto & A. Sakamoto

TechnicalResearch Institute, TOA Corporation, Yokohama,Japan

ABSTRACT: This paper aims to present the strength characteristics of stabilized ground using Plug Flow
Mixing method. The stabilized ground properties are characterized using a modified cone penetration test
(CPT) and conventional laboratory tests such as unconfined compression test (UCT) and direct shear test
(DST). Correlations were developed among CPT, DST and UCT. It was found that the cone resistance from
the CPT to be roughly 21 to 23 times of the strength obtained from the conventional laboratory tests.

1 INTRODUCTION

The conventional technique for backfilling and con-
struction of reclaimed ground is to use sand fill,
mainly from the hillcut material. However, with the
increase of scarcity of such fill materials, particu-
larly in the coastal areas, construction with materials
having low engineering properties, have been con-
sidered in recent years. The use of pre-solidification
treatment method which recycles the solidification
material by adding cement to the dredged mud has
gained increased attention in recent years. Gener-
ally, the mixing plant is quite expensive since large
scale machinery is needed to be employed for vari-
ous applications. Additionally, it is not suitable in
the large-scale construction projects in which large
volume of material is used, since the restriction is in
the capacity. Then, Plug Flow Mixing method for
the purpose of large capacity and low-strength soil
improvement used for the landfill material was de-
veloped. In this paper, outline of the system, strength
characteristics and correlations using the verification
test of Plug Flow Mixing method are reported.
2 PLUG FLOW MIXING METHOD
Porbaha et al. (1999 a and b) presented the basics
and the field tests of Pipeline Mixing method. It is a
method for sending the dredging mud in the pipeline
by the compressed air, and the air transfer system is
a method suitable for long distance and mass trans-
portation of the dredging mud. When compressed air
is injected into the pipeline during the transfer of the
dredging mud, the two-phase flow of air and liquid
is formed as shown in Fig.1, and it becomes the tur
bulent flow condition. In this method dredged mud
is mixed with solidification material in the pipeline
using the plug flow.
During mixing the solidification material (such as
Portland cement) with the dredged mud, the stabi-
lized material inclines toward the air portion inside
the pipe. Therefore, when the stabilizing material is
added in the pipeline under air transfer directly the
dispersion of the quality of the improved soil in-
creases.
As a result of laboratory scaled experiments to
study the mechanism of adding solidification mate-
rial to in the tube (Iwatsuki et al., 1998), the efficient
mixing technique was achieved by installing the ex-
panded tube with a larger diameter in stabilizer in-
jection shown in Fig 2 (Sakamoto et al., 1998). The
flow condition resulted from the injection mecha-
nism in the expander are shown in Fig 3. The plug
flow is destroyed by using the expander and thus
contributes to effective transportation in the main
pipe, as follows:
0
Separating turbulence by rapid expansion: Plug
separation turbulence induced by rapid expan-
sion in the cross sectional direction as shown in
Fig 3(a).
0 Contraction turbulence: Turbulence induced by
rapid contraction as shown in Fig 3(b).
0 Turbulence due to recycled plug: Turbulence
generated when a plug is recycled as shown in
Fig 3(c).

719

Figure 3: Turbulence during injection process
In the Plug Flow Mixing method the stabilizing
material is supplied in the powder condition. By in-
stalling stabiiizer injection at the upper end of the
720
expander and the air condition is kept continuous
during injection. Therefore, it becomes a system
which does not require the solidification material
slurry plant in this method.
The expander diameter confirmed that the solidi-
fication material could be effectively mixed, when
the expander length was 2 to 3 times of the pipeline
diameter and the expander diameter was 6 to 14
times of the pipeline diameter.
The example of the construction system by Plug
Flow Mixing method is shown in Fig 4.The dredged
mud is pumped by the air transfer ship, and the
stabilizing material is added in the expander. In this
system, it is possible to also deal with a long distan-
ce transport of lkm to 3km as well as soil transport
by usual air transfer system to the desired project
site.
3 VERIFICATION TESTS
The equipment used for trial field tests is shown in
Fig 5. The experiment was carried out in several
steps. Dredged mud was first sent to the expander at
a distance of 150m, where the stabilizer was injected
to the mud. The mixture of stabilizer and mud was
then transferred in a pipeline with a smaller diameter
then the expander to be discharged from the cyclone
suppressor attached at the end of the pipeline. The
discharged stabilized material was cured for about
one month in a pit in the test field. In
the present experiment, air transfer distance to the
expander was 150m and transfer distance after the
expander was 40 to 100m by the experimental con-
dition. Normal Portland cement was used for this
field test.
Physical and chemical properties of the dredged
mud is presented in Table 1. It is possible to classify
dredged mud used in this experiment into 2 types,
i.e., sandy soil (barge A) and clay soil (barge B,C
and D).The trial field study was carried out in Ishi-
nomaki, Japan. The six stabilized zones of 5 m by 5
m in area and 1.6 m in depth were constructed using
two types of dredging obtained from seabed close to
the construction site. The cone penetration tests were
conducted at the center of each treated zone using
the FRICON, and core samples were taken by the
double tube sampler to perform laboratory tests.
Details of the construction technique is presented in
the next section. The conditions of the trial con-
struction in the field using cone penetration test are
shown in Table 2.
The cone penetration tests and core sampling on
solidification were carried out after 28 days after
construction. Unconfined compression tests and di-
rect shear tests were performedat the age of 35 days.
Figure 5: Details of field test

Table-1: Properties of the dredged materials

Propties of dredged mterial

Barge NI. Pit No. soiltype Initial condition Perticles size distribution Atterberg limits
p (g/an3 'wi (%; Gravel(%) w(%)
silt(%aafi%) ~ 4 %14%) ) pH
A
Sand 2631 67.7 13 45 28 14 68.8 25.1 43.7 7.7
A 2 Sand
B 3 aay 2.621 189.7 o 9 38 53 164.2 38.9 125.3 7.9
C 4 aay 2 . m 213.8 1 13 34 52 154.0 37.8 116.2 7.7
D 5 clay 2584 200.6 0 6 36 58 186.4 40.0 146.4 7.8
, C , 6 . Clay . 2.585 -200.3. 0 . 6 34 60 192.8 44.4 148.4 7.7

ps:Density, wi: Initial water content, wL: Liquid limit, W,: Plastic limit,
I,: Plasiticity index, pH: Concentration of hydrogen ions

721
Table 2:Field condition of the trial construction The relationship between unconfined compressive
strength, direct shear strength and volume of the sta-
Field test condition bilizer are shown in Fig 6. In unconfined compres-
I I
Pit NO. Cement content Rate of Production Length of pipeline sion test, the sample was trimmed to maintain height
twice of the diameter.
Direct shear tests were carried out at a rate of
2 70 175 96 0.25mmlmin after the sample shaped 6cm in
3
diameter and 2cm in height. The Mikasa’s modified
50 225 96
direct shear apparatus, commonly used in Japan, was
4 50 175 96 used in this investigation. This apparatus is designed
5 40 175 40 to minimize friction between the upper and lower
6 40 175 96 shear boxes and the loading plate. The upper shear

Figure 7: Results of field tests

722
box is fixed to a loading plate which is horizontally
guided by a set of rigid rollers. The lower shear box
surrounds a loading plate of slightly smaller diame-
ter, fixed to a vertically guided rigid loading rod,
through which the vertical normal load is applied.
The porous stones of rough silicon carbide are used
to transmit the shear force effectively from the
loading plates to the specimen surface.
Cracks or microcracks may occur during sam-
pling due to several reasons such as bent in the
borehole, rigidity of the sampler, locking of the
sampler, and rotation of the sampling core with the
sampler. These effects are more pronounced as the
resistance of the cored material is increased. Ac-
cordingly, these observation may increase the credi-
bility of in situ tests, such as CPT, for strength
evaluation of artificially cemented ground.
After 28 days, the cone penetration test was car-
ried out in each pit. The cone penetration test used
FL-CPT, Frictionless Cone Penetrometer (Porbaha
et al., 1998). In FL-CPT the friction between boring
rod and ground is being reduced by the circulating
water. In- present investigation continuous measure-
ment was possible along the depth.
The result of cone penetration test, direct shear
test and unconfined compression test with depth is
shown in Fig 7. The cone penetration resistance
continuously shows strength change of the stabilized
ground.
The variation of CPT with depth at P-1 and P-2
indicate wider fluctuations compared with those
from P-3 to P-6. The difference is attributed to the
type of the dredgings, i.e. dredging type I (P-1 and
P-2) has larger grain size distribution compared to
the dredging type I1 (P-3 to P-6). In addition, there
is a better consistency between the laboratory and
field results for cases P-3 to P-6 in which the treated
ground is more uniform and also lower in shear
strength.
The relations among shear strength from labora- Figure 8: Correlation of laboratory and fields tests
tory and field tests, i.e., SU(DST)and Slt(ucT)and q,-O;,, (a)DST,(b)UCT
are shown in Fig 8. In present experiment, the cone
penetration test is carried out at the age of 28 days,
and direct shear test and unconfined compression It is interesting to compare the correlation coeffi-
test for the core sample is carried out after 35 days. cients obtained for cemented soil with natural clay
Therefore, correlations were obtained by correct- deposits. Hanzawa (1995) performed direct shear
ing SU,DST) and SulucT) from the strength ratio in 28th tests on different clays and reported the correlation
and 35th age of test results. The following relation- coefficient to be between 8.5 and 12. Accordingly
ships were obtained: the correlation coefficient (or Cone factor) of cement
treated soil is roughly two times of natural clay de-
h-a v o and S,,psT) posits.
Sandy soil ql- ov0 =30S,,D,, (1)
Cohesive soil qt- ovo =19S,,,s, (2)
Mean qt- OVO=23su(DST) (3) 4 SUMMARY
2- qt- a,, and SU(Ucr)
Sandy soil qt- ov,=24S,,,, (4) Based on the field test, a technique is presented in
Cohesive soil qt- a,, =17S,,,,, (5) which the process of manufacturing and transporta-
Mean 91- a v o =21su,u, (6) tion of the dredging from seabed, mixed with cement

723
and other additives are carried out in a pipeline using
compressed air. This technique aims to reduce the
cost of the manufacturing and transporting the treat-
ed soil, specially for large scale projects
This study presents an assessment of field fea-
sibility of the technique and the characterization of
the stabilized ground using in situ and conventional
laboratory tests such as unconfined compression test
and direct shear test. Comparisons of conventional
laboratory tests and field test using the CPT demon-
strates that for cement treat soil, the correlations are
fellows: ql- a,, = 23S,,,,,, ql- a,, = 21Su(um.

REFERENCES

Hanzawa H(1995) Application of direct shear test

results to practice, Proceedings of symposium on
method of the direct single shear test and
application,JGS,pp87-94.
Iwatsuki T, Kamiyama Y, Hashimoto F, Yauchi
E, and Masuyama T. (1998) Effective cement
Mixing method for mud transport using a
compressed-air mixture pipeline,
hydroengneering, proceedings, Vo1.42, pp655-660
(in Japanese).
Porbaha, A., Yamane, N., Kishida, T., and Tsuchida,
T. (1998) Development of FRICON, the friction
less cone penetrometer, Proc. of International
Symposium on the Geotechnics of Hard Soils-
Soft Rocks (2HSSR), Naples, Italy, October 12-
14, edited by A. Evangelista, and L. Picarelli,
published by Balkema, Vol.1, 289-294.
Porbaha, A. Hanzawa, H., and Shima, M. (1999)
Air-transported stabilized dredged fill, Part I-Pilot
study, Ground Improvement, Journal of ISSMGE,
Vol. 3, N0.2~49-58.
Porbaha, A., Tsuchida, T.,\and Kishida, T. (1999)
Air-transported stabilized dredged fill, Part 11-
Quality assessment, Ground Improvement,
Journal of ISSMGE, Vol. 3, N0.2~59-66.
Sakamoto A, Iwatsuki T, Yamane N, Amagai S,
Hanzawa, and H, Fukaya T(1998) Cement and
soft mud mixing technique using compressed
air-mixture pipeline, Proceedings of the 33th
Japan National Conference on Geotechnical
Engineering,pp2493-2494.(in Japanese)

724
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineeringin Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Advanced reuses of dredging by cement treatxnent in practical engineering

Y.X.Tang & Y. Miyazaki
Kanmon Kowan Kensetsu Company Limited, Japan
TTsuchida
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Japan

ABSTRACT: Dredged soils treated with cement are used more and more in geotechnical engineering. In
addition to the reliable strength, permeability of the improved dredged soils is usually very small, suggesting
the possibility to be used as seep-proof structures.
Special working ships have been practically introduced, which are equipped with cement treatment system,
handling the soft dredging in a large quantity. This paper describes the correlation among compression
strength, cement content and water content, presents 3 applied examples of cement treated dredging, and
finally gives comment on reuse of dredging from a practical viewpoint.

1 BACKGROUND Table 1 Specification of working ship

Every year in Japan, a mount of 10-15 million m3

dredging accompanies with water channel main-
tenances and marine constructions (The Japan Port Hopper 30m’
& Harbour Association, 1999).A numerous cost has Cement milk plant:
to be paid to provide the dumping spaces for those Cement consumption 50tonfh
spoils. There are great social needs both to reduce Cement water ratio 0.5-5.0
Soil cement mixer 0-34 rpm
the bulk of spoils and to reuse the dredged soils. Transportation Oil piston pump @500,L3500(pair)
Efforts have been made to condense the dredging of Max. push pressure 7 MPa
high water content. but the most practical way is to Pipe diameter 350mm
reuse this material through a proper treatment with Pipe material Steel I Rein. rubber
Spreader length 48-56m
cement. Positioning Spud Square pillar x 2
In order to reduce the cost of cement treatment, it Placing point GPS
seems effective to handle the dredged soils in a large Sounding Sonar I lead wire
Ship size Length 58.Om
quantity. This leads us to introduce special working Width 22.4m
ships, which can treat the dredged soft soils with Depth 5 . Im
cement at a rate of 300 m3 per hour. In addition to Draught 2 . lm
the large treating capability, they can offer high
quality geo-materials to serve the various purposes
in the practical engineering. Figure 1 shows the flowing chart of the cement
treatment processes. In the pre-handling procedure,
as shown in Figure 1, the crude soil is dug and
2 SPECIAL WORKING SHIPS FOR CEMENT dumped into a hopper, here large bulks of soil are
TREATMENT crumbled, while dissimilar substances, such as waste
tires, wires, or concrete bulks are removed.
Photo 1 shows the largest working ship special to Cement milk plant mixes cement with water and
the cement treatment for soft dredging. This ship is stocks the cement slurry in a large agitator. This
equipped with 5 fundamentals: (a) pre-handling plant will consume cement by 50 ton per hour at its
system for the crude soil; (b) cement milk plant; (c) maximum rate, and the water cement ratio can be
soil cement mixing apparatus; (d) oil piston pump arbitrarily changed between 0.5 and 5.
unit and (e) spreader. Important specification for the The cement slurry is supplied to the soil cement
special ship is listed in Table 1. mixing apparatus, to which the pre-handled soil is

725
sent at the same time. This mixing apparatus can
produce treated soil by 300 m3 per hour at its
nominal rate. Thus the treated soil is passed to an oil
piston pump unit, which was specially developed to
convey soft soils with an ability of 600 m3 per hour.
With the help of this high power piston pump, the
treated soil is moved to the casting points through a
transport pipe. The casting points are reached by
swinging the spreader, which bears the transport
pipe. According to work condition, casting points
can also be reached through the transport pipe which
can be extended as long as 500 m, floating on the
water surface or laying on the ground. The positions
of the casting points are determined by use of
differential GPS, and underwater sounding is carried
out with a sonar device or a lead wire.
Photo 1 A special working ship for cement treatment
Explanations
1 Dredging 6 Shocking feeder
2 Barge 7 Clay bulk cutter
3 Working ship 8 Cement silo
3 Back hoe 9 Cement batching
5 Screen hopper 10 Water tank
Figure 1 Flowing chart of cement treatment in the special working ship
In projects that the amount of dredging to be
treated is greater than some 20 thousand m3, the
special working ship is likely the optimal alternative
in view of the construction cost. Besides, since 'all
the fundamentals are systematically installed on the
ship, we need not to care much about the pre- and
post- procedures, significantly reducing the labour
works.
3 STRENGTH OF CEMENT TREATED SOILS
The quality of cement treated soils is usually
confirmed by use of unconfined compression test.
Terashi et al (1980) reported that unconfined
compression strength q,, is essentially dependent on
cement content, and also affected by water content
in a great degree. Because the fluctuation in water
content is real-timely detectable, it is meaningfkl to
adjust cement slurry supply so as to ensure uniform
strength for the treated soils. Thus, it becomes
desirable to establish a simple correlation among
compression strength, cement content and water
content.
Figure 2 is an example of cement blending test on
Yamaguchi clay. Clearly, unconfined compression
strength q,, increases directly with the cement
content. For given cement contents, at the same
time, it decreases with increasing water content in
the original soil.
11 Water batching 16 Soil cement mixer
12 Cement sluny mixer 17 Oil piston pump
13 Cement slurry 18 Transportation pipe
14 Agitator 19 Cement treated soil
15 Slurry pump 20 Spreader
726
Figure 2 Blending test on Yamaguchi clay

Suggest water content be remained constant, it

seems reasonable to establish a relation between
compression strength qlland cement content C, like:

Here. k is a strength coefficient, which will be

further discussed; and CO is regarded as the
minimum of cement content required. This means
that in the case that cement content C actually mixed
is less than the required value CO, probably no
improving effect could be expected.
Providing the relation of Equation (1) is
practically valid, the author investigated how the
compression strength decreased as the water content
increased on the bases of 28 cement blending tests.
It was found that the correlation by equation (2) best
evaluates the influence of water content.

Here, 11' is the water content for the original soils. In

the cases that cement is preliminarily mixed in
slurry state. water brought in cement slurry should
be taken into account.
Figure 3 presents 4 analyzed cases, in which the
compression strengths qu* predicted by equation (2)
and q,, actually measured are compared. It is seen
that they are well correlated, and the correlation
coefficients I' are generally larger than 0.97. In
equation (2), K and CO are unknown constants,
which are determined and given in Table 2 for
various blending tests.
In the cases of reusing dredging, the original soils
are generally in saturated state, so the denominator
in right hand of equation (2) is identical with square
of specific volume v(=l+e). In dredging projects, the
term of "concentration'. is frequently used, which is
defined as x=(y-y,,)/(ys-y,\)x 100% =1/(1vG,/100+1),
and ys is the unit weight of soil grains. It can be
recognized that compression strength is proportional
directly to square of concentration x. Figure 3 Comparison of predicted and measured
strengths

727
 Water content of the dredged clay
ranged near 159%, 1.3 times liquid limit.
Cement blending test was carried out in
the laboratory in advance of the
construction. The strength ratio of field to
laboratory was assumed to be 0.5, so as to
take account of the serious situation in the
field. This means that unconfined
compression strength in the laboratory
should be 2 400 kN/m2.
qu~1,=yu~~/0.5 To
obtain such strength, cement content at 70
kg/ni3 was suitable. The quality of the
cement treated clay was inspected through
unconfined compression test during the
construction. The samples showed an
averaged con1 ression strength of
qU(7,=260 kN/mP at 7 days’ curing,
Figure 4 Soil profile and design pavement
4,,(2~,=380 kN/m2 at 28 days’ curing.

4 EXAMPLES OF PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS 4.2 Application at a reclamation in Tokyo

BOY
4.1 24pplrcation at a reclamation in Tohoku A reclamation project, where a land of 217 hectare
A reclamation project at a port in Tohoku was is planned to reclaim, is now under construction in
conducted to construct an artificial island for the Tokyo Bay. Figure 5 is a section of the wharf. One
processing facilities of fish products. This project feature of this reclamation project is the large water
needed a volume of 1.4 million m3 filling material. depth, and an amount near 60 million m3 landfill is
During the same period, a volume of 87,000 m3 was required. The main filling materials are counted on
planned to dredge around the adjacent area. The the local dredging and the waste soils occurring in
demand and supply conditions leaded to a plan to civil engineering.
reuse the soft dredging. To protect the dredging or the waste soils from
The soil profile at this site is given in leaking through the rubble mound, it is necessary to
Figure 4. The ground presents quite place a protection inside the wharf. Usually, use of
shallow. However, there exists a soft layer geotextile maybe the first choice for the leaking
extending to a depth of -20 m. In fact, the protection. In the present case, however, it seemed
shear strength near the ground surface was not safe if the divers have to spread the geotextile
measured in a range of 1-6 kN/m2. A under a depth of -40 m. Having reviewed several
stabi 1ity an a1ysi s re1at ing trafficability available methods, it was found that the dredged soft
showed that a stabilized layer thicker than soil after treated with cement was a rational
2 m, with an unconfined compression alternative for the leaking protection between -20 -
strength of 4u(02 200 kN/m2, must be -40 m. As shown in Figure 5 , it was designed to
paved upon the soft ground. place the cement treated soil inside the wharf, with
the layer thickness greater than 1.0 m and the
gradient greater than 1.3.

Figure 5 A section of wharf

728
Figure 6 Placement of treated soil along the slope
Figure 8 Stability of soft soil as is placed on a
slope step by step
The soft soil dredged at this site contained certain
sand. and water content ranged within 85*20%. It
was suggested that unconfined compression strength
q,,(n be greater than 500 kN/m2, in consideration of
the filling load afterwards. Also assuming the
strength ratio of field to laboratory to be 0.5,
unconfined compression strength in the laboratory
qu(1)is designed to be greater than 1000 kN/m2, and
cement blendin test showed that cement needed to
F
use at 90 kg/m for this soft soil. The samples after
cured for 28 days showed an averaged unconfined
compression strength qu(28)= I 180 kN/m2, approxi-
mately matching the design strength in the
laboratory qucl).
4.3 Application at U port island in Nugaya
Nagoya port island is constructed mainly to
provide a dumping space for the dredging during
water channel maintenance. The dike for the third
phase has been completed, and it is planned to
729
discharge the dredging by 3 million m3 every year,
into this space. To avoid the muddy water seeping
out of the dike, it is planned to place a cement
treated layer inside the dike by use of the dredging.
Figure 6 is a section of the dike, the gradient at
the shoulder is 1:3 and at the toe is between 1.5 to
1:8. This is a typical section, more than half of the
slope is underwater. Along the slope, a seeping
protection is demanded to place not thinner than 1.0
m. Cement amount blending with the dredging is
prescribed at 80 kg/m3, and the unconfined
compression strength at 7 days’ curing is expected
to be greater than 400 kN/m2. Actually, samples
taken during construction showed an averaged
strength of q,(7,=490 kN/m2 when cured for 7 days.
The placement of cement treated soft soil began
from the toe of the slope, climbing towards the
shoulder step by step. The weakness of the treated
dredging limited the height possible to place on the
slope at one step. Figure 7 illustrates the stability
analysis in the present case. A simple relation was
evidenced approximately valid in the actual field.
h=c,/(y tan@ (3)
Here: h is height possible to place (m)
ct, is shear strength (kN/m2)
y is unit weight (kN/m3)
tan@is slope gradient.
Another stability problem is whether or not the
previously placed cement treated soil possesses
enough shear strength to sustain the load by the
freshly placed one. This situation is illustrated in
Figure 8. Stability analyses by circular arc method
showed that shear strength needed to be greater than
3.7-4.5 kN/m2 for the treated soil previously placed.
The interval between the two placing steps was so
controlled that the previous soil showed shear
strength greater than 5-6 kN/rn2, measured by use of
a hand vane tool.
5 COMMENTS ON REUSE OF DREDGING
It should be admitted that there are handicaps on the
reuse of dredging. One weak point to be mentioned
is the cost for this recycled geomaterial. Another is
the disagreement between supply and demand in
time and territory.
Like other activities of recycling resources, the
reuse of dredging will cost more in comparison with
conventional geomaterials. However, it is not
reasonable to compete the recycled and natural
geomaterials directly by construction cost. Excavat
ing hills for landfill, or disposing the dredging to the
open sea may cause environmental disputes.
Establishing embankments to form a space to
discharge dredging needs a large construction
expense.

Table 2 Conditions of cement blending trials and results of back analysis

(23) i
Silt- 1 42-93 i97-170: DIY 7 50 i 72 iO995 9
(47-29) i
Sllt-2 150 i 52-61320-400 7 47 i 235 iO948 i 6

(44-19) i
Other-2 61 i31-155; DV 7 15 i 98 iO.966 i 5
...._._..________..._._______.__..._._..~.,.......
(38) i 14 15 i 128 iO.986 i 5

730
 A proper assessment on the price of recycling
dredging should be made by taking into account of
various factors related with the activity of dredging
reuse.
The disagreement between supply and demand in
time and territory is also an important reason that
obstructs the reuse of dredging. In general, different
agencies on different purposes at different time
manage dredging works and projects potential to
reuse the dredging. To eliminate such disagree-
ments, a temporary stocking space becomes
necessary, but this means that additional cost will be
involved. It seems important to regulate the period
both for dredging work and for the project potential
to reuse the dredging. An estimating guidance for
the dredging trade is desirable in practice, when the
dredging is offered and accepted as a recycled
geomaterial.

6 CONCLUSIONS

(1) Working ships special to cement treatment on

dredging have been introduced in practice,
aiming to handle the dredging in a large quantity
and to offer high quality of treated soils for
various purposes of structures.
(2) A correlation among compression strength,
cement content and water content is proposed,
which is simple but very useful in practice.
(3) Examples are presented for the applications of
the cement treated soils in practical engineering.
(4) It seems that the construction cost by use of this
recycled geomaterial still remains relative high,
when directly compared with the conventional
geomaterials. We have to make efforts to reduce
this cost. At the same time, a social consensus to
reuse the dredging as effectively as possible is
very important.

REFERENCES

The Japan Port & Harbour Association. 1999,

Technical standard for port facilities. (in Japanese)
Terashi, M., Tanaka, H., Mitsumoto, T., Niidome,
Y. and Honma, S. 1980. Fundamental properties
of lime and cement treated soils. Report of PHRI,
Vo1.19( 1): 33-62, (in Japanese)

73 1
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 7

Effect of organic matter on the compressibility of a soil treated with cement

H.Tremblay
Department of Civil Engineering, Universite'de Moncton, A?B., Canada
J. Locat
Department of Geology and Engineering Geology, Universite'Laval, Sainte-Foy, Que., Canada
S.Leroueil
Department of Civil Engineering, Universite'Laval, Ste-Foy, Canada

ABSTRACT: Stabilization of organic soils with cement is an efficient method to improve their mechanical
properties such as resistance to compression. To evaluate the influence of organic matter on compressibility
for a soil treated with cement, an experimental study was conducted. One-dimensional compression tests
were performed on an organic soil treated with cement. To appreciate the influence of organic matter,
additional tests were realized with specimens containing different organic matter contents. Also, as the nature
of the organic matter present in a soil influences the cement setting and development, mixtures were prepared
using inorganic soils in which different organic compounds were added. The results indicate that the
preconsolidation pressure of organic soils increases with addition of cement, and that organic matter increases
the compressibility of treated soils but in a less important way than for untreated ones. Also, it is shown that
only some organic compounds affect the cementing process, and consequently the strength gain.

1 INTRODUCTION This paper presents some results of a study on

Dredged materials are often considered as waste
materials because of their high water content, and
the frequent presence of organic matter andor
contaminants. They are usually soft, compressible,
and generally can not be used without treatment for
earthworks. One treatment that can effectively
improve some of their mechanical properties, such
as resistance to compression, is the stabilization with
cementing additives (Kamon et al. 1989; Ogino et
al. 1994; Gulin and Wikstrom 1997, Hoikkala et al.
1997; Den Haan 1998; Tremblay 1998, Tremblay et
al. 1999).
Organic matter modifies the geotechnical
behavior of soils. It increases water content
(Stevenson 1994), compressibility, liquid and plastic
limits (Rashid and Brown 1975; Bennett et al. 1985),
and remolded shear strength (Rashid and Brown
1975).
In a cement treated soil, the organic matter may
also affect the cementing process. The organic
matter tends to coat the cement particles, preventing
or retarding their hydration reactions (Kamon et al.
1989, Tremblay 1998). However, some studies have
shown that not all the organic compounds really
have a negative effect on the cementing process
(Young 1972; Tremblay 1998).
the influence of organic matter on the
compressibility of a cement treated soil containing
different organic matter content. As the nature of the
organic matter also influences the reactions of
cement, the results obtained from a study on the
influence of different organic compounds on cement
setting and development is also presented.
2 S O L CHARACTERISTICS
The tested soil is a material dredged in 1988 in the
Quebec harbor bottom sediments and since, piled up
on ground, exposed to the elements. This sediment
has a natural water content of 40 %, and contains 14
% organic matter varying from very decomposed
form, including humic and fulvic acids, to wood
fibers. The presence and nature of these organic
compounds resulted from the activities of a nearby
paper mill. It is a non plastic silty sand (Table 1). For
this study, the particles larger than 2 mm were
removed from the original soil using a No. 10 sieve.
This operation has changed the organic matter
content which has decreased to 8 % because the
large particles were essentially organic matter.
In addition, two inorganic soils were used to
study the influence of the organic compounds on the
stabilization efficiency. These soils are a sandy silt

733
from Trois-Rivihes, and a silty clay from St-Alban, All the mixtures were cured in 19 mm high and
both sites are in eastern Canada, along the St- 5 1 mm diameter stainless steel rings, continuously
Lawrence River. Their main characteristics are submerged and subjected to an applied vertical stress
given in Table 1. of 8 kPa.
3.3 Tests to evaluate the influence of the nature of
Table 1. Characteristics of tested soils. organic compounds
A wide variety of organic compounds have been
Characteristics Dredged Trois- St- tested to evaluate their influence on the cementing
material Rivikres Alban
process. In all, 12 organic compounds were added
Organic matter (%) 8 0 1
Water content (%)* separately at a concentration of 10 % to the two
Portland 55 40 95 inorganic soils from Trois-Rivieres and St-Alban
Geolite 20 70 and 110 prior to 10 % cement addition. This concentration is
Liquid limit (%) np** 22 44 relatively high for most of the compounds
Plastic limit (%) np** 15 18 comparatively to their possible concentration in
Sand (%) 60 35 8 nature. However, the aim was to have a
Silt (%) 32 45 44 concentration high enough to clearly show the effect
Clay (%) 8 20 48 on the cement setting. The compounds are divided in
* water content of specimens after water addition 4 categories depending on their nature. These are:
** non plastic (1) acids : acetic acid, benzoic acid, humic acid,
tannic acid; (2) carbohydrates and polysaccharides :
cellulose, starch, sucrose; (3) oil and hydrocarbons :
3 TESTING PROGRAMM vegetable oil, kerosene, xylenekoluene; and (4)
miscellaneous : EDTA, ethylene glycol.
3.1 Additives Two kinds of tests were conducted on each
Two cements were used in this study: (1) ordinary mixture: (1) a measurement of the undrained shear
Portland cement and (2) Geolite 20 cement, a special stress using the Swedish Falling Cone after 28 days
mixture developed by Onoda Chemico Co. Ltd. (a of curing and (2) chemical analyses to determine the
Japanese industry) to stabilize organic soils. The concentration of Ca (by atomic absorption) and SO4
cement concentration added are 0 , 2 , 5 and 10 % (by (by ion chromatography) as well as the pH of the
dry weight %), and the treated-soil specimens were porous solution. The Ca and SO4 concentrations
cured during 28 days. were measured because they are good indicators of
ettringite formation and thus of cement setting. The
3.2 One-dimensional compression tests pH, being an important factor in the development of
First, the water content was increased for all the cementing reactions, was also measured.
specimens to get a water content representative of
soil conditions just after dredging. Those treated
with Portland cement were prepared at a water 4. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
content of 55 %, whereas those treated with Geolite 4.1 Compressibility
20 cement were prepared with water contents of 70
and 110 %. The results of one-dimensional compression tests
Two series of one-dimension compression tests conducted on the dredged material treated with
were carried out on the remolded soil using an Portland cement, are presented in Fig. 1. The
oedometer apparatus. The first one consisted of tests preconsolidation pressure increases with cement
performed on specimens treated with different content (see the arrows on the graph) from 40 kPa
cement contents. The second one included tests for the untreated soil to about 140 kPa when treated
performed on the soil treated with 10 % Portland with 10 % cement. Similar results have been
cement and containing different organic matter obtained with specimens treated with Geolite 20
contents. To do so, a portion of the soil was treated cement (Fig. 2). The arrows also indicate an increase
with hydrogen peroxide (H202) to destroy the organic in preconsolidation pressure with cement content
matter (Booth and Dahl 1986). After complete from 19 kPa for the untreated soil to 20,40 and 135
digestion of the organic content, this soil, free of kPa when the cement content increases from 0 to 2,
organic content, was mixed in different proportions 5 and 10 % respectively. An additional curve is
with the initial soil to obtain specimens containing 0, shown on this graph for a specimen treated with 10
2 , 3 , 5 , 6 and 8 % organic matter.
734
 % cement, but at a water content of 110 % instead of
the 70 % value used for the other specimens. This
curve, starting at a high void ratio, comes along the
other 10 % cement curve for which the initial void
ratio is lower. From the normally consolidated
portion of the two curves, it is thus possible to draw
a unique compression line. This latter defines a
relationship between the initial void ratio and the
vertical yield stress for a given cement content. This
behavior has already been observed and discuss for
inorganic soils treated with lime and cement (Locat
et al. 1996, Tremblay et al. 1998, Tremblay et al.
1999). The results presented herein suggest that this
behavior can be generalized for all soils treated with
any cementing agent. Nevertheless, it has not yet
been verified for soils other than those from eastern
Canada.

Figure 4. One-dimensional compression curves of

the dredged material treated with 10 % Portland
cement and containing different organic matter
contents.

The next graphs (Figs. 3 and 4) show one-

Figure 2. One-dimensional COmpreSSiOn CUrveS Of
the dredged material treated with different Geolite
20 cement contents.
dimensional compression curves for specimens
containing different organic matter contents. Fig. 3
shows that the presence of organic matter increases
the void ratio under a small stress of 8 kPa and
results in an increase in compressibility. In
consequence, the void ratio after curing is higher
(1.22) for the specimens containing 8 % organic
matter than the one with 3 % (0.80) and 0 % (0.78).
It can be seen that the 3 % organic matter curve is
similar to the inorganic one. This is in agreement
with the limit of 3 to 4 % of organic matter that,
according to Keller (1982), modifies soil properties.
After addition of 10 % Portland cement (Fig. 4), the
settlement after curing is reduced. comparison
with previous void ratio values, the void ratio of the
specimen with 8 % organic matter is now 1.36
compared with 1.19 for the inorganic one. It seems,
therefore, that this settlement reduction is more
important as the organic matter content decreases.

735
Also, an increase in organic matter content tends to
produce a slight diminution of the preconsolidation
pressure, thus, reducing the range of stresses where
small deformations have to be expected. This
suggests that the benefic effect of cement is reduced
when the organic content increases. In fact, the
organic matter is known to have a negative effect on
cement reaction by inhibiting or delaying the
hydration of cement particles (Kamon et al. 1989,
Tremblay 1998).
To expose more clearly the effect of organic
matter on the compressibility of treated soils, the
compression indices have been measured for every
compression curves and reported in Table 2.
The third column, for which Cc was measured
in Fig. 1, indicates that the compressibility of the
dredged material treated with Portland cement
increases with cement content from 0.34 for the
untreated specimen, to 0.45 for the soil treated with
10 % cement. In fact, the compressibility increases
when the vertical yield stress is exceeded but the
domain of small settlement is increased, as shown by
the increase in preconsolidation pressure. The same
pattern is observed with specimens treated with
Geolite 20 cement (column 5), i.e. the
compressibility increases with the increasing cement
content (values measured in Fig. 2). Note that the
values given in Table 2 include the Cc value
obtained from the curve at a higher initial void ratio,
which is 1.13 compared to 0.64 for the other
specimen treated with 10 % cement. This latter
illustrates that the compressibility also increases
when the initial void ratio increases, which is shown
by the initial void ratios (e,) given in this table.
The last column of Table 2 gives Cc values
measured on the curves from Fig. 4 for specimens
containing different organic matter contents and
treated with 10 % Portland cement. These results
show that the compressibility is almost constant with
Cc values varying from 0.43 to 0.46 only. This
means that the presence of 10 % cement reduces,
and aImost eliminate the effect of organic matter on
the compressibility of this soil in the normally
consolidated range. However, it slightly reduces the
range of stresses where small settlements can occur
by reducing the preconsolidation pressure.
4.2 Influence of organic matter nature
The previous sections show the influence of organic
matter on the compressibility of treated soils.
Nonetheless, some researchers (Young 1982; Kamon
et al. 1989, Tremblay 1998) mention that not all the
organic compounds affect the treatment
effectiveness. This section presents results of a
736
study that was conducted on two inorganic soils in
which different organic compounds were added.
The aim was to determine which compounds have
negative effect on the cement setting, and
consequently, on the treatment efficiency.
Table 3 summarizes the results of this study.
The CU(org)/CU(inorg) ratio represents the cement
setting of the specimens containing one of the
organic compounds compared to the same soil
without any organic matter. The CU(inorg) is the
undrained shear strength of the sample treated with
10 % Portland cement, but without addition of
organic compound, after 28 days of curing, and the
CqOrg)is the value obtained with a similar sample at
which one of the tested organic compound has been
added. Therefore, a ratio of 100 % indicates that the
setting is the same with or without the organic
compound. A ratio larger than 100 % means that the
presence of this organic compound has a benefic
effect on setting, whereas a ratio smaller than 100 %,
indicates that the added organic compound
negatively affects the cement setting by delaying or
inhibiting the cementing development.
It appears that some of the tested organic
compounds strongly reduce the Cu, such as acetic
acid, humic acid, tannic acid, sucrose and EDTA
(ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) strongly reduce
Cu. Some others slightly reduce Cu, but however
reach an appreciable strength gain. Those are :
benzoic acid, cellulose and ethylene glycol. At last,
starch, kerosene, vegetable oil and the mixture of
xylene and toluene don’t seem to affect the cement
setting and even, seem to improve strength gain.
The chemical parameters, calcium (Ca), sulfate
(SO4) and pH, are determinant for the cement setting
and the development of cementing reactions.
Actually, Ca and SO4 are consumed to form
ettringite and eventually develop strength, while pH
must reach a minimum value of 9 to allow
cementing reactions to occur (Tremblay 1998).
Table 2. Compression indices measured in Fig. 1
(Portland cement), Fig. 2 (Geolite cement) and Fig. 4
(containing different organic matter contents).
Cement e, C, e, C, org. mat. C,
% Port. Geol. % 10 %
0 0.871 0.34 1.596 0.40 0 0.43
2 1.616 0.41 2 0.45
5 0.874 0.36 1.772 0.56 3 0.46
10 1.239 0.45 1.711 0.64 5 0.46
10 2.141 1.13 6 0.44
8 0.46
Table 3. Summarization of measured parameters for the two tested soils treated with 10 % Portland cement
and containing different organic compounds. STA = St-Alban clay, TRI = Trois-Rivikres silt.

CU(org)/CU(inorg)(%I PH Ca ( P P d so4 (PPrn)

Compounds STA TRI STA TRI STA TRI STA TRI
Inorganic 100 100 10.5 12 61 346 53.4 11
Acetic acid 0.5 0.9 7 7 5000 5000 647 572
Benzoic acid 50 55 8 12 3525 3525 122 17
Humic acid 0.1 0.6 9
Tannic acid 0.6 1.1 7 889 1470 1702 3010
Cellulose 72 30 12 12 137 12 15
Starch 149 89 11.5 11.5 110 29 21 12
Sucrose 1.I 3.9 11 2766 60
Kerosene 336 89 11.5 11
Vegetable oil 89 11.5 11.5
Xylenekoluene 189 50
EDTA 0.8 0 7.5 4109 1776
Ethylene glycol 84 25 1715 1715 2

Fig. 5 illustrates the variation of the SO4 200 I I I 1 i

concentration with the strength gain. It clearly shows
that when the concentration of SO4 is high, the
strength gain is low. The threshold value of SO4 v
I
0 St-Alban
A Trois-Rivieres

seems to be around 500 ppm, above which, the

cement setting, and strength gain is negligible. In
Fig. 6, the relation between SO4 concentration and
pH is shown. Here again, the relation is clear.
When pH is lower than 9, the concentration of SO4 b
is high, meaning that very small amount of ettringite ?O
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
is formed (Tremblay et al. 2000).
From chemical analyses, some remarks can be
s 0 4 (PPm 1
made. First, the lowest values of pH (I 9) Figure 5. Relation between normalized undrained
shear strength and SO4 concentration.
correspond to the lowest strengths, except for the
mixture that contains sucrose, for which pH is equal
to 11. Concerning Ca concentration, we remark that
the highest values (> 2000 ppm) are generally related
to the lowest strengths, meaning that there is not a
10 I
lot of consumption of Ca to form cementing
products. The SO4 concentrations go in the same
way, i.e. the cement setting is very weak when SO4
concentrations are high.
To summarize, among the considered organic
compounds, only those that produce a pH < 9 in the
0' I I I
porous solution are harmful to the cementing 0 1000 2000 3000 4000
development. They are acetic, humic and tannic so4 ( P P m )
acids, EDTA and sucrose. Also, concentration of
SO4 can be used as an indicator for the cementing Figure 6. Relation between pH and SO4 concentra-
development. zf it is larger than 500 ppm in the tion in porous solution.
porous solution, almost no strength gain is noted.
Actually, both parameters are linked. When pH is
too low for cementing reactions to occur, SO4 is
automatically high because no ettringite is formed.

737
5 CONCLUSION
From this experimental study on the influence of
organic matter on the compressibility of treated soils
some conclusions were found. (1) The
preconsolidation pressure increases with the increase Keller, G.H. 1982. Organic matter and the
in cement content; (2) for a given soil, the
compressibility index increases with the increase in
cement content; (3) when the soil is treated with 10 Locat, J., Tremblay, H. and Leroueil, S. 1996.
% cement, the compressibility index is essentially
constant even if the organic matter content increases,
meaning that cement reduces the effect of organic
matter on the compressibility of soils; (4) only some Ogino, T., Goto, T., Kataoka, K. and Kuroda, M.
of the tested organic compounds, mostly strong
organic acids and sucrose have a negative effect on
cement setting or strength gain.
6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was made possible by research grants
from the National Science and Engineering Research
Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Fonds pour la
formation des chercheurs du QuCbec (FCAR). A
special thank to T. Takeda, from Onoda Chemico
Co., Ltd (Japan), for having provided the Geolite 20
cement tested in this study.
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Bennett, R.H., Lehman, L., Hulbert, M.H., Harvey,
G.R., Bush, S.A., Forde, E.B., Crews, P. and
Sawyer, W.B. 1985. Interrelationships of organic
carbon and submarine sediment Geotechnical
Properties, Marine Geotechnology, Vol. 6, No. 1,
p. 61-98.
Booth, J.S. and Dahl, A.G. 1986. A note on the
relationships between organic matter and some Tremblay, H., Duchesne, J. , Locat, J. and Leroueil,
geotechnical properties of marine sediment.
Marine Geotech., Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 28 1-297.
Den Haan, E.J. 1998. Cement based stabilizers for Young, J.F. 1972. A review of the mechanisms of
Dutch organic soils. Problematic Soils,
Yanagisawa, Moroto & Mitachi (eds), Balkema,
Rotterdam. pp. 53-56.
Gulin, K. and Wikstrom, R. 1997. Stabilization of
horizontal movements in weak organic clay
layers. Proc of the 14'h ICSMFE, Hamburg,
Germany, pp. 1689- 1692.
Hoikkala, S., Leppanen, M. and Tanska, H. 1997.
Blockstabilization of peat in road construction.
Proc. of the 14thICSMFE, Hamburg, Gerrnany,
pp. 1693-1696.
Kamon, M., Tomoshisa, S. and Sawa, K. 1989. (On
the stabilization of Hedoro by using cement group
hardening materials). Journal of the Society of
Materials Science, Japan, Vol. 38, No. 432, pp.
1092-1097. (in Japanese)
geotechnical properties of submarine sediments.
Geo-Marine Letters, Vol. 2, pp. 191-198.
Mechanical and hydraulic behaviour of a soft
inorganic clay treated with lime. Can. Geotech. J.,
NO. 33, pp. 654-669.
1994. Utilization of stabilized dredged waste for
construction material. Proc. of the 1st ICGE,
Edmonton, Canada, pp. 49-56.
Rashid, M.A. and Brown, J.D. 1975. Influence of
marine organic compounds on the engineering
properties of a remolded sediment. Eng. Geol.
Vol. 9, pp. 141-154.
Stevenson, F.J. 1994. Humus Chemistry: Genesis,
Composition, Reactions. 2"d ed. John Wiley and
Sons.
Tremblay, H. 1998. AmClioration mtcanique et
prkdiction de la compressibilitC des sols fins du
QuCbec. Ph.D. thesis. Department of Civil
Engineering, UniversitC Laval, QuCbec, Canada.
Tremblay, H., Leroueil, S. and Locat, J. 1998.
Stabilization of clayey soils from eastern Canada
at high water contents. Proc. of the 3rd
International Congress on Environmental
Geotechnics, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 337-340.
Tremblay, H., Leroueil, S. and Locat, J. 1999.
Mechanical improvement and vertical yield stress
prediction of clayey soils from eastern Canada
treated with lime or cement. Submitted to
Canadian Geotechnical Journal for publication.
S. 2000. Influence of organic matter nature on
soils stabilization with cement. In preparation.
set-retardation in Portland cement pastes
containing organic admixtures. Cement and
Concrete Research, Vol. 2, pp. 415-433.

738
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Mechanical characteristics of a cement treated dredged soil utilized for waste

reclamation landfill
Y.Watabe & T.Tsuchida
Port and Harbour Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Yokosuku,Japan
T. Furuno
Saeki Kensetsu Kogyo Company Limited, Tokyo, Japan
H.Yuasa
TokushimaPrefecture Government, Tokushimu, Japan

ABSTRACT: In a construction of waste reclamation landfill, in Japan, cement treated dredged soil was util-
ized for an intermediate buffer zone between two layered impermeable sheets. Since waste reclamation land-
fill in coastal area is constructed on a thick impermeable clayey soil to secure its impermeability, it is required
that the treated dredged soil must be deformable. In this study, mechanical characteristics, and these changes
with curing time for cement treated soil are investigated by carrying out vane shear test, oedometer test, un-
confined compression test, and isotropic and anisotropic consolidated undrained triaxial shear tests.

1 INTRODUCTION soil is focused on. Its workability and mechanical

In a construction project of seawall for waste recla-
mation landfill in Tachibana bay, Tokushima Prefec-
ture, Japan, cement treated dredged soil was utilized
for an intermediate buffer zone between two layered
impermeable sheets, which are doubled based on the
failsafe concept. A typical cross section of the sea-
wall is shown in Figure l . The intermediate zone is
aimed to prevent from damage on a impermeable
sheet caused by gravel edges, also, the zone is help-
ful in sinking the sheets by its self weight. Moreover,
the use of dredged soil as a construction material has
a strong economical advantage in the aspect of re-
utilization of waste matter. Since waste reclamation
landfill in coastal area is constructed on a thick im-
permeable clayey soil to secure its impermeability,
consolidation settlement and shear deformation ,of
clayey layer may occur while/ after constructing the
seawall and reclaiming the waste. Accordingly, it is
required that the cement treated dredged soil must be
deformable in accordance with deformation of the
seawall structure.
Among some soil stabilization methods of chemi-
cal treatment, cement or lime treatment is economi-
cal and appropriate for the construction project in
coastal area (Terashi, 1977). Some investigations for
mechanical characteristics of cement or lime treated
soil have been reported by several researchers (ex.
characteristics, and these changes with curing time
are investigated by carrying out vane shear test, oe-
dometer test based on the end of primary consolida-
tion, unconfined shear test, isotropic and anisotropic
consolidated undrained triaxial shear tests. Herewith,
some useful data for stability analysis and FEM
analysis in a new utilization of cement treated soil on
the waste reclamation landfill will be presented.
2 LABORATORY TESTS
Cement treated soil tested in this study is a mixture
of the less than 2 mm grain size fraction of clayey
soil dredged from Tachibana bay and Portland ce-
ment. Liquid and plastic limits, and plasticity index
of the clayey soil are w~=42%,wp=19%, and 1,=23,
respectively. The water content of the soil was ad-
justed to 1.6 times of the liquid limit WL prior to
mixing them. Portland cement of 50 kg was added to
the clayey soil in 1 . 6 of~ 1~.O m3.
Holocene clay I sand mat
C O 4 4 t l 972 z (kPd 19 B.

SCP
Terashi et al. 1980), however, most of these were fo- 0 L -21
k=10-a-10-9 (in/$
c
L l r m 2. I" Oil 1

cused on rich treated soils, because their purposes

were in situ soil stabilization with mixing methods. Figure 1. A typical cross section of seawall of waste
In this study, a poor cement treated dredged clayey landfill in Tachibana bay.

739
 Figure 5. Relationship between consolidation stress and
age of treated soil.

The tested specimen for oedometer test was pre-

pared as placing the mixture into a mold, of which
sizes are 60(+a) mm in diameter and 30 mm in
height, and cured it under 2OoC with humidity. At
the required curing time, the mold was removed, and
the specimen was trimmed into a consolidation ring
of 60 mm in diameter and 20 mm in height. The ages
of the tested specimen were 3, 7, 14, 28 and 58 days,
and 5 specimens for each test are prepared respec-
tively. Consolidation pressure was ranged 9.8 -
2508.8 kPa, and its load increment ratio was 1.0 in
total 9 steps. After reaching to the end of primary
consolidation evaluated with root t method, the next
loading step was started. The maximum consolida-
tion pressures for each five specimens were 156.8,
313.6, 627.2, 1254.4, and 2508.8 kPa, respectively,
and these pressures were maintained for 24 hours. In
unloading stage, the end of primary consolidation by
root t method was also adopted. For comparison, un-
treated soil preliminarily consolidated by 49 kPa was
tested in a similar manner.
The tested specimen for shear tests was prepared
as placing the mixture into a mold, of which sizes
are 50 mm in d i y e t e r and 100 mm in height, and
cured it under 20 C with humidity. At the required
curing time, the mold was removed, and the speci-
men was placed on a platen installed in an apparatus.
The age of the tested specimen were 3, 7, 14, 28/29
days. For the general method of evaluation in prac-
tice, unconfined compression test (qu test) is usually
carried out because of its simplicity with easy han-
dling. In the present study, however, triaxial tests
Figure 4. e-logp relationships at different curing times. were also carried out to evaluate the effective stress
behavior and the influence of confining stress. In
CIU test, the specimen was isotropically consoli-
The specimen used for vane shear test to evaluate dated under 49 Wa, and sheared for compression
the workability was prepared by placing the mixture with undrained condition. In CAU test, the specimen
into a mold of 90 mm in diameter and 100 mm in was anisotropically consolidated under 01 =49 kPa
height. The size of vane is 15 mm in width and 30 and 03=0.501, and sheared for compression (CAUC)
mm in height, and is rotated in the speed of 6.0 de- and extension (CAUE) with undrained condition.
gree/min. The curing times were set by 15, 30, 60,
90, 120 and 180 minutes each.

740

Figure 6. e-logp curves at 58 day,
Figure 7. Variations of coefficient of volume compressi-
bility with consolidation pressure.
Figure 8. Variation of coefficient of consolidation with
consolidation pressure.
3 TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Vane shear test
A series of vane shear test was carried out for the
cement treated soils, and an untreated soil slurry
with adjusted water content to 1 . 6 ~These
~ . test re-
sults are shown in Figure 2. Only a shear resistance
of 0.3 kPa is observed for the untreated soil, how-
741
ever, the shear resistance for the treated soil in-
creases with time. A relationship between the vane
shear resistance Tf and the logarithmic time is plotted
in Figure 3 . The vane shear resistance increases ac-
celeratedly with logarithmic time. In practical execu-
tion, these relationships upon the increase of shear
resistance with time must be considered, and it is re-
quired to complete the operation while the mixture
has an adequate workability, especially if the cement
treated soil mixture is pumped into the site.
3.2 Oedometer test
The result of consolidation tests, in which the maxi-
mum consolidation pressure was 2508.8 H a , except
that the test at 7 days was 1254.4 kPa, is shown in
Figure 4 as e-log p relationships for the cement
treated soils and the untreated soil. The variation of
consolidation yield stresses p c with time obtained
from Figure 4 is plotted on Figure 5. Since the cur-
ing process of cement treated soil is hydration reac-
tion, the water coontent evaluated from the weight
oven-dried at 110 C slightly decreases with time,
thus the void ratio decreases gradually. In the present
study, since the cement treated soil is regarded as a
sort of soil, the void ratio was calculated from the
water $ontent evaluated with the weight oven-dried
at 110 C without any corrections. It is assumed that
the specific gravity of the cement treated soil can be
represented by the average of untreated soil without
considering the cement hydration reaction. Because
the cement treated soil in this study is a poorly
treated cement mixture, the error derived from the
definition of the void ratio is minimal as initial void
ratios shown in Figure 4. The void ratio of cement
treated soil is much larger than that of the untreated
soil; the treated soil has cured in very high water
content as slurry in 1 . 6 ~ Also,
~ . the consolidation
yield stress p c increases linearly with logarithmic
curing time. As the consolidation pressure larger
than the yield stress is applied to a cement treated
soil, the concretion, which is a function of the curing
time, comes to be broken. Therefore, the compres-
sion index C, does not change with age of the
specimen, the parts of normally consolidation in e-
log p relationships are in lines parallel each other.
The swelling index C, is also constant because this is
a soil parameter after breakdown of the concretion.
Observed e-log p relationships, corresponding to
the variation of maximum consolidation pressure for
the cement treated soil at 58 days, are shown in Fig-
ure 6. The swelling indices for various maximum
consolidation pressures are almost constant because
the swelling process is occurred after breakdown of
the concretion. This is consistent with swelling be-
havior of an ordinary soil and C, can be modeled as
a constant parameter. In Figure 6, the swelling indi-
ces for the cement treated soil in this study are
ranged in 1.6-2.0 x 1O-2.
Figure 9. e-Iogp and e-log k relationships.
Figure 10. Variation of coefficient of permeability with
age of the treated soil.
Relationships between consolidation pressure and
coefficient of volume compressibili~m,, and coeffi-
cient of consolidation cv are shown in Figure 7 and
Figure 8, respectively. Here, the data for the age of
28days(b) in the figures are the result of high-
pressure consolidation test, in which the maximum
consolidation pressure was up to 10035.2 kPa. The
m, starts from 2.0 x 10-5m2/kN and increases with
~o~solidation pressure, however, at normally con-
solidation stage, the m, decreases with the increase
of consolidation pressure. Corresponding to the fact
that p , increases with age of the cement treated soil,
the consolidation pressure when m, begins to in-
crease, becomes larger with age of the specimen.
Figure 1 I. SEM pictures of cement treated soil.
742
And as m, decreases, the curves for the specimens at
different ages converge to a line. Because the effect
of concretion is removed when consolidation pres-
sure is larger than the pc, and finally the difference o f
consolidation behavior co~espondingto age of the
specimen becomes negligible under high pressure.
The c, is evaluated by tgo from root t method, how-
ever, the primary consolidation cannot identify
clearly in a relationship between settlement and time
in square root while consolidation pressure is less
than the yield stressp,. Thus, only the data for con-
solidation pressures larger than pc are plotted on
Figure 8. For consolidation pressure larger than the
p,, the c, decreases with the increase of consolida-
tion pressure. Considering the only one data of
28days(b) consolidated at very high pressure, it is
possibly said that the cv does not unlimitedly de-
crease with consolidation pressure increases, and fi-
nally it settles at a certain value as an ordinary soil.
Figure 9(a) and (b) show relationships between
void ratio e and consolidation pressure p, and void
ratio e and coefficient of permeability k, respec-
tively. Since the k is evaluated from cv and m, data,
the k corresponding to a consolidation pressure lar-
ger than p , is shown in Figure 9 in a same manner
for Figure 8. Therefore, Figure 9(a) corresponds to
normally consolidation stage in Figure 4. In Figure
9(b), the k for all the specimens decrease with the
void ratio decreases. The k of the untreated soil is
smaller in one order of magi~itudethan that of the
cement treated soils, when it is compared for the
same consolidation pressure. For example, the k for
 the cement treated soil is 1.5 x l O-' m l s at a consoli- paths. In KOconsolidation of the untreated sail, KO
dation pressure of 440 kPa while that for the un- value at normally consolidation is obtained as 0.4,
treated soil is 3.2 x 10-'o mls. This is caused by that and KO value of the cement treated soil is possibly
the cement treated soil is cured in very large void ra- smaller than that, however, in this study, &=0.5 is
tio as mentioned above. Since, the k is a fwnction of used for CAU test for convenience. In both of com-
the void ratio e, and the e is almost constant when pression and extension, the specimen fails with a
the consolidation pressure is less than the p c for the clear peak, and the peak value increases with age.
cement treated soil from Figure 4 and Figure 6, the k
of cement treated soil just cured without any external
force can be evaluated as the k aroundpc in Figure 9.
Based on this evaiuation method, a relationship be-
tween coefficient of permeability k of cement treated
soil at initial void ratio (eo=1.68) and its curing time
are plotted on Figure 10. The k extrapolated the data
to e of 1.68 in Figure 9(b) for untreated soil is also
plotted on Figure 10. It can be said that the k de-
creases with age of the cement treated soil in the
same void ratio. The cause for decreasing k is possi-
bly clogging the void in the soil by hydration reac-
tion of cement. The hydrate binds the soil particles,
as the result, the consolidation yield stress also in- Figure 12. Stress-strain relationships obtained by uncon-
creases. fined compression test.
This fact can be evidenced by SEM (Scanning
Electron ~ i c r o s ~ o ppicture
e) in Figure 11 showing
the microstructure of the cement treated soil. A typi-
cal part of Figure ll(a) is zoomed up by more than 4
times and shown in Figure ll(b). Generally, in the
hydration reaction of cement, the initial strength in-
creases by the development of needle-like ettringite,
and the long-term strength increases by developing
silicic acid calcium hydrate enclosing the soil parti-
cles. The fact that the ettringite and the hydrate are
developing in voids can be observed in the SEM pic-
ture (Figure 11).
3.3 Shear tests
The unconfined compression test (q, test) results are Figure 13. Stress-strain reIationships obtained by CIU
shown in Figure 12, The stress-strain relationship for test.
the untreated soil is very ductile without clear peak
and it settles to a certain value at strains larger than
2.5%. For the cement treated soiI, the reXationships
become to have clearer peak strength with curing
time, and the strengths decrease remarkably after the
peak. In the CIU test results with isotropic consoii-
dation stress of 49 kPa shown in Figure 13, the peak
strength increases with curing time having a very
clear peak in the similar manner. However, the re-
sidual strengths do not decrease remarkably but set-
tle at a certain value or increase gradually.
Triaxial test results of KO normally consolidated
undrained compression (CKoUC) and extension
(CKoUE) for the untreated soil are shown in Figure
14 as (a)stress-strain relationship, and (b)stress Figure 14. Results of C&UC and CK&E tests for the
paths. The stress is normalized by vertical consolida- untreated soil, (a) stress-strain relationships, and (b)
tion stress d V o of 196 H a . On the critical state, stress paths.
stress ratio Mfor compression is 1.52, and Mfor ex-
tension is 1.29 with some anisotropy. The CAU test
results of the cement treated soil are shown in Figure
15 as (a~stress-strain relationship, and (b)stress

743

Figure 15. Results of CAUC and CAUE tests for the
cement treated soil, (a) stress-strain relationships, and
(b) stress paths.
Figure 16. Variations of undrained shear strength
with age of treated soil.
For compression in Figure 15(b), stress ratio M at
the peak strength is 3.25 and M at residual strength
is 2.15 respectively. Correlating the stress ratio Mat
the peak to the friction angle $', M>3 is impossible
and the peak strength cannot be explained by fric-
tion. Since the untreated soil in 1 . 6 shows
~ ~ very
small shear resistance as shown in Figure 2, the
shear strength of cement treated soil is not only de-
rived from internal friction between the soil parti-
cles, but the strength is also greatly generated by the
ettringite and the silicic acid calcium hydrate, devel-
oped by hydration reaction of cement and intercon-
necting between soil particles. The stress ratio
M=2.PjO for residual strength corresponds to
@=52.3 . Since the friction angle corresponding to
M=1.52 for untreated soil in Figure 14(b) is 37.3',
the friction for the cement treated soil with large de-
formation shows higher values than the friction for
the untreated soil. This is due to the internal friction
744
of broken pieces of cement hydrate. For extension
strength, the stress ratio Mis 1.75 and this value is
mach smaller than that for compression. This indi-
cates that anisotropy of the cement treated soil is
very large, while noting that stress and strain for ex-
tension test are not reliable because very compli-
cated necking appears in the specimen.
The observed variation of shear strength with cur-
ing time obtained by q,, test, CIU test, CAUC and
CAUE tests are shown in Figure 16. All kinds of
shear strength increase linearly with logarithmic cur-
ing time. For three kinds of compression tests (qJ2,
CIU, and CAUC), the shear strengths are almost the
same, however, for the extension test (CAUE), the
shear strength is 30% smaller than the compression
strengths. Generally speaking, the average strength
of CAUC and CAUE tests is coincident with the qJ2
for Japanese marine clays (Tsuchida & Tanaka,
1995). It can be said that this fact is in a case when
the disturbance is a proper degree. In the present
study on the cement treated soil, the specimen for
unconfined compression test is not affected by dis-
turbance, and as the result, it can be considered that
the relatively larger q,/2 was obtained.
4 CONCLUSIONS
In the present study, the mechanical characteristics
of a cement treated dredged soil is investigated by
carrying out vane shear test, oedometer test, uncon-
fined compression test (q"), and triaxial tests (CIU,
CAUC and CAUE). The following conclusions were
derived:
1)The vane shear resistance increases acceleratedly
with logarithmic time while a few hours after the
mixing.
2)Both the shear strength observed by q,, test and
triaxial tests (CIU, CAUC and CAUE), and the
consolidation yield stress p c increase linearly with
logarithmic curing time.
3) In normally consolidation stage, compression in-
dex C, and swelling index C, are constant against
the age.
4)Since the cement cured soil was hardened in .a
high water content and high void ratio, its perme-
ability is larger than that of untreated soil at the
same consolidation pressure. However, the per-
meability of the treated soil is smaller than that of
untreated soil at the same void ratio. The reason is
considered that the ettringite and silicic acid cal-
cium hydrate developing with cement hydration
reaction clog the voids in the soil and prevent the
water flow. This fact is confirmed with SEM pic-
tures.
5)When the cement treated soil is sheared without
confining stress, it fails with a clear peak and con-
sequently the strength decreases remarkably.
 However, when the treated soil is sheared with a
certain confining stress, it fails with a peak and
the shear strength does not decrease remarkably,
even some show strain hardening.
6)For three kinds of compression tests (qJ2, CIU,
and CAUC), the shear strengths are almost the
same, and for the extension test (CAUE), the
shear strength is 30% smaller than the compres-
sion strengths.

REFERENCES

Terashi, M. (1977) “Chemical soil stabilization

methods for marine clays.” Annual Lecture of
Port and Harbour Research Institute, 63-100. (in
Japanese)
Terashi, M., Tanaka, H., Mitsumoto, T., Niidome, Y.
& Honma, S. (1980) “Fundamental properties of
lime and cement treated soils (2nd Report).” Re-
port of Port and Harbour Research Institute,
19(1), 33-62. (in Japanese)
Tsuchida, T. & Tanaka, H. (1995) “Evaluation of
strength of soft clay deposits -A review of uncon-
fined compression strength of clay-” Report of
Port and Harbour Research Institute, 34(1), 3-37.

745
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Y.Watanabe & T. Kaino
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology,Japan

ABSTRACT: Fiber reinforced formed urethane (abbr. FFU) is widely utilized as an architectural substitute for wood.
It is easy to process, but it produces chips and powders as a wastes. Trials have been carried out of mixing FFU wastes
in concrete, but they have not led to any practical use. In this study, we carried out unconfined compression tests and
triaxial compression tests on foam composite lightweight soil made from FFU wastes to confirm their mechanical
characteristics and to investigate its practicality.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 SPECIMENS AND EXPERIMENTAL

Foam composite lightweight soil (abbr. FCL) is a light
material used for embankments on soft ground, for wid-
ening existing embankments, etc. It is also used in nar-
row spaces for instance for railway embankments in ur-
ban areas, because it can be placed by pump. FCL is
made as follows. First, slurry is made by mixing a solidi-
fying material such as cement, and clayey soil or sand
with water. Next, foam is made from a foaming agent
and compressed air. Then, FCL is made by mixing the
slurry with the foam. The soil dug at construction sites
may also be utilized as an FCL material. However, a high
compressive strength (over 1MPa) is required for FCL
used in road and railway embankments. Sand or clayey
soil is purchased for these applications to ensure the sta-
bility. It is environmentally and economically desirable,
if it is possible to utilize a wastes material. We remarked
the fiber reinforced foamed urethane (abbr. FFU) wastes
and accomplished some tests to use it as an FCL mate-
rial.
FFU is widely utilized as an architectural substitute
for wood. FFU is urethane reinforced by fiber. It is light,
has high tensile strength and dose not corrode. It is easy
to process, but produces chips and powder as wastes.
Trials have been carried out of mixing FFU wastes in
concrete, but they have not led to any practical use.
We carried out unconfined compression tests and tri-
axial compression tests of FCL, which includes FFU
wastes. This paper describes the result of these tests and
examines the shear strength of FCL.
PROCEDURE
2.1 Specimens
Table 1 shows the materials used in this study. FFU
powder (abbr. FFUP) passing a 2mm screen was used.
Though this FFUP is a fine powder, it included minute
fibers. Although the specific gravity of FFU is about 0.7,
the specific gravity of the FFUP is about 1.0. FFUP is a
heterogeneous material, and it consists of a component
that floats and a component that sinks in water. The spe-
cific gravity of the former is about 0.5 and its weight ra-
tio is about 40%. The specific gravity of the later is about
1.7 and its weight ratio is about 60%. The foaming agent
is used for manufacturing FFU and it is included in the
component that floats in the water. Therefore, when
FFUP is put into the water, foam generates a little.
Clayey soil used as FCL materials is fine powder
made of mineral. Foaming agent is made from the animal
protein.
Table 2 shows the mixing proportion of FCL. In this
study, we partially replaced the clayey soil with FFUP
and confirmed the effect of the mix ratio of FFUP on
FCL strength characteristics. FFUO shows that FCL in-
cludes only clayey soil. FFU20, FFU40, FFUSO and
FFU60 show FCLs, which include FFUP from 20% to
60% (volume). The slurry consists of the clayey soil,
FFUP, cement and water. It is mixed in with a 30liter
mortar mixer. FCL is made by mixing the slurry with the
foam. After the mixing, we measure the specific gravity,
flow value and air content in order to confirm the quality
of FCL before hardening. The flow value test is meas-
ured the extent of the sample which is put into cylinder
( 4 =Scm, h=Scm).

747
Table 1 Properties of materials
I I 1 specific gravity1
I material
clayey soil
11
PweW
fine powder comprised of mineral
I 2.68 I
1 FFup
( WIZ32.6%,~ ~ ~ 2 2 . 0 4 ; )
fiber reinforced formed urethane
powder (passed the 2mm screen)

I water I city water I 1.00 I

Table 2 The mixing proportion of specimens

unit quantity air

FFU50

2.2 Experimental procedures

Specimens were tested at height 12.5 cm and diame-
ter 5cm. The specimen is cured in the thermostatic
chamber. We carried out unconfined compression
tests at the 3, 7, 14,28 and 91 days after making the
FCL, and carried out triaxial compression tests at the
28 day.
The unconfined compression tests were carried
out with constant rate of axial strain of l.O%/min.
The triaxial confined compression tests were carried Fig. 1 Property before the hardening
out five steps of confining pressures from lOOkPa to
5OOkPa. They were carried out with constant rate of
axial strain of 0.3%/min. During the triaxial con-
fined compression tests, we measured vertical loads,
confining pressures and vertical displacement.

3 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND

CONCIDERATION
3.1 Physical properties
Fig.1 shows results of specific gravity, air content and
flow value tests. The FFUP was lighter than the soil, so
the specific gravity decreased with increase in FFUP
content. The air content slightly increased with increase
in FFUP content, because amount of foaming agent in the
FFUP increased. The flow value increased with increase
in FFUP content. This cause seems that FFUP does not
absorb the water and there is a lot of free water in the
slurry of FCL including FFUP. Fig.:! shows distributions
of water content in specimens 3 days after mixing. In the
specimens with 40% or less FFUP content, the water
contents at any position in the specimen were almost
fixed and the specimen was homogeneous. However, in
case of the specimen with 50% or 60% FFUP content,
the water content was higher at the lower part of the
specimen, and specimens were not homogeneous. This
cause seems that the free water went down.
Fig.2 Water content distribution of specimens
Fig.3 shows the water content and dry density. In case
of any specimen, the water content decreased almost rec-
tilinear against the logarithm of time. The cause seems
that hardening by cementation advanced. The dry density
slightly increased almost rectilinear against the logarithm
of time.
3.2 Results of unconfined compression tests
Fig.4(a) shows the relationships between compressive
strength (qu) and time, and Fig.4(b) shows the relation
ships between modulus of deformation (E50) and time.
And Fig.5 shows the compressive strength at 91 days.

748

Fig.3 Condition change of the specimens
Fig.4 Results of unconfined compression tests
The compressive strengths increased with time. The
compressive strengths of FFUO, FFU20 and FFU4O at
each time were almost the same. However, the compres-
sive strengths of FFUSO and FFU60 were smaller than
the others. The failures of the FFU40 specimens hap-
pened along the shear plane, but those of the FFUSO
specimens happened by compressive crush at the lower
part. The FFUSO and FFU60 specimens were weak at the
lower part where the water contents were high.
749
Fig. 5 Compressive strength (9 1days)
Fig.6 Deviator stress and axial strain curves
The modulus of deformation also increased with time.
Between qu and Eso, there were relations of E50 %2OOqu
at results of FFUO, FFU20 and FFU40.
There is strong relativity between compressive
strength of FCL and compressive strength of the mortar
that forms the matrix of the FCL. Table 3 shows the mix-
ing proportions of the mortar that forms the matrix of
FFUO and FFU40. Table 4 shows the compressive
strengths and flexural strengths of the mortars. There was
no lzrge difference between the compressive strengths of
FFUOM and FFU40M, so there was no large difference
between the compressive strengths of FFUO and FFU40.
 Fig.7 shows the Mohr’s stress circles. The maximum
deviator stress decreases as the confining pressure in-
creases for FFUO and FFU40. The Mohr’s envelope line
drops to the right, and it seems that the shear strength de-
creases as the confining stress increases. These phenom-
ena were features of FCL with large air contents. The
maximum deviator stresses under all confining pressures
were almost the same for FFU60. The failure mode of
FFU60 was the same as that of the unconfined compres-
sive test.

3.4 Other properties

When we design an FCL embankment on soft ground,
the flexural strength of FCL is also important. From the
FEM analysis of an FCL embankment, tensile stress was
generated in the lower of embankments. Therefore, we
also carried out bending tests on FFUO and FFU40. The
test specimen is a 1Ocm X I Ocm X 40cm rectangular par-
allelepiped. The test was carried out with three equal
length point loads. The flexural strength of FFU40 was
3 1 I kPa and the flexural strength of FFUO was 230kPa.
The relationship between compressive strength (qu) and
flexural strength (Fb) was Fbf U2.6 qu.

4 CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions are drawn from the test re-
suits.
(1) When FFUP is replaced the clayey soil of FCL, the
Fig.7 Mohr’s stress circles FCL becomes lighter. When the FFUP content is more
than 50%, the FCL becomes not to be homogeneous.
(2) The shear properties of FCL are almost the same in
3.3 Results of triaxial confined compression tests case of FFUP content less than 40%.
Fig.6 shows the relationship between deviator stress ((Jd’
oI- 03) and axial strain (E,) from triaxial compression
REFERENCE
tests. The introductory remarks show the confining pres-
sures. For FFUO and FFU40, the (Td -E, curves have
Watanabe Y., and Kaino T. (1999)” Unconsolidation
peaks at E, % OS%, and the residual strength appears af-
undrained shear strength of form composite lightweight
terwards. For FFU60 and the confining pressures 03 I
soil.” Proceedings of the 44* Japan National Sympo-
300kPa, the deviator stress gradually increases with axial
strain until * 3% and od becomes an invariable value
sium on Geotechnology, pp257-260 (in Japanese)
Watanabe Y., and Kaino T. (1999)” Engineered Form
afterwards.
Composite Lightweight Soil made of FFU wastes.”,
Proceedings of the Third Japan National Symposium on
Table 3 The mixing proportion of mortars Environmental Geotechnology,pp131- I34 (in Japanese)
unit quantity
Kimura D and Ohishi T. (1993)” The FEM analysis of
embankment made from bubble mortar.”46th Annual
Conference of Japan Society of Civil Engineering,IIf.-
495,pp1014-1015.(in Japanese)
FFU4OM

conpressive modulus of flexural

Symbol stress qu deformation E, strength Fb
MPa M Pa MPa
FFUOM 8.11 1644 2.57
FFU40M 8.42 1672 3.36

750
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice,Nakase & Tsuchida(eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Effect of pozzolanic and frost actions on the mechanical properties of fly

ashes
Yanfeng Wen, Jinghong Bian & Hong Cai
China Institute of WaterResources and Hydro Power, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

ABSTRACT: Drained triaxial compression tests on dry disposal fly ashes having different curing time and
being subjected to several frost and thaw cycles were carried out. Test results show that the shear strength
parameters of the fly ash with high calcium oxide content can make a notable change due to pozzolanic action
and frost and thaw cycles, but for the fly ash with low calcium oxide content this phenomenon is not very ob-
vious, and the influence of the frost and thaw cycles can be neglected. For all the fly ashes tested, the coeffi-
cient of permeability of dry-disposed fly ash nearly remains unchanged with curing time.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

OF FLY ASH
The fly ash produced by coal-fired power plants of
China amounts to over 80 million tons per year, and 2. I Chemical properties
most of that is disposed as waste material (Ji et
al. 1988). At present, the popular disposal method is The three samples of fresh fly ash (A,B,C) used in
still ponding or impounding (wet disposal), but the this study were from different coal fired power
landfilling method (dry disposal) is gradually used in plants in north China, and never contacted with wa-
order to prevent the ground water near disposal site ter before the tests. The chemicaI compositions of
from being polluted. During its dry disposal, fly ash the ashes are shown in Table 1. Material composi-
is first moistened by water, and then transported to tional analyses reveal that Si, Al, Ca and Fe are
disposal site by truck or belt conveyor, it does not identified as dominant elements for fly ash A, while
experience hydraulic transportation in pipe as in the Si, A1 and Fe predominate in fly ash B and C. The
wet disposal. Therefore, its content of chemicals, content of CaO of fly ash B and C is in the range of
such as calcium oxide (CaO), remains unchanged that for the common fly ashes produced in China
during transporting and filling construction, and it that is generally around 5% (Chen 1988), but the fly
may more pronouncedly influence the mechanical ash A has a very high CaO content of 21.8%.
For better determining the chemical properties of
properties of the dry disposed fly ash.
As well as pozzolanic action, the frost action may fly ashes, leaching tests were also carried out. In the
be another factor that influences the mechanical test, lOOg fly ash and a liter of distilled water were
properties of fly ash disposed in cold area. The par- placed in a bottle, then adequately mixed by agita-
ticle size of fly ash is generally similar to that of fine tion for about 3 minutes and lay still in the sealed
sand or silt that is not sensitive to frost action, but bottle for 24 hours. The extractant was separated
fresh fly ash never experiences frost actions. There- from the mixture by vacuum filtration. The chemical
fore, how the frost action influencing the inechanical analysis results of the extractant as shown in Table 2
properties needs to study. show that fly ash A has a higher PH value and much
The purpose of this research is to investigate the higher concentration of dissolved solid, Ca” and
effect of pozzolanic and frost actions on the S0,”than that of fly ash B and C. The test results
also indicate that the PH value of the extractant is
mechanical properties of dry disposed fly ash having
correlated with the content of CaO.
different CaO contents.
2.2 Physical properties
The physical properties of the ashes are shown in
Table 3 and in Figure 1. Among the three kinds of
fly ashes, fly ash A is the finest one that almost all

751
 Table 1 The chemical compositions of fly ashes
Sample

A
SiO,
38.8
AlzO,
11.2
Fe,O,
15.7
Chemical com osition %
CaO
21.8
M
O:.
3.2
k20
0.8
' Na,O
1.1
SO,
3.5
Ignition loss
(YO)
3.2
B 48.7 36.5 7 .O 3.2 0.9 0.9 0.3 0.5 4.3
C 57.2 24.3 7.5 2.4 1.1 2.4 1.8 0.3 3.3

Table 2 Chemical analysis results of extractant maximum and minimum density respectively. From
Sample Concentration (ppm) PH the test results shown in table 3, it is clearly found
Dissolved that the maximum dry densities of standard Proctor
Ca" Mg" Na+ SO," sn,irl Compaction tests are remarkably lower than that of
A 125 0.9 31.2 662 3164 12.4 standard Proctor compaction for fly ash A and about
B 216 2.0 4.5 150 974 11.5 98% of that for fly ash C. Except for the tests
C 79 0.5 2.2 168 280 11.7 without curing, the specimens were all cured under
the condition of room temperature and near 90%
relative humidity. The drained triaxial compression
maximum density tests. Therefore, fly ash can be tests with isotropic consolidation and permeability
compacted effectively under vibration condition. tests were carried out after curing. The specimens of
permeability tests were saturated by vacuum before
the beginning of the tests. The test results are shown
3 EFFECT OF POZZOLANIC ACTION ON in Table 4.
THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES The coefficients of permeability of the fly ashes
were determined by falling-head method. Both fly
For determining the effect of pozzolanic action ashes are poor pervious material, and almost have
on the mechanical properties, permeability tests and same coefficient of permeability. For fly ash A, its
triaxial compressive tests were performed on speci- permeability slightly decreases with the curing time.
mens of fly ash A and fly ash C with different curing But the coefficient of permeability of fly ash C vari-
time. In the tests, the fly ashes were moisturized to es with curing time at very small scale that can be
about the optimum water content of standard Proctor ignored.
compaction, and the specimens were compacted by Drained triaxial compression tests were conduct-
static compaction by layers. The compacted dry ed on specimens having curing time up to 30days. In
density is about 90% of the maximum dry density of order to simulate dry disposal condition, the speci-
particles are less than 0. lmm. The specific weight of mens were not saturated in all the tests. The typical
the fly ashes is between 2.08 and 2.69. Fly ash A has deviator stress versus axial strain curves of fly ash A
a high specific weight due to its high content of and fly ash C having different curing time are shown
Fe,O,. in Figure 3 (a) and Figure 3 (b) respectively.
The results of standard Proctor compaction tests The strength of the fly ashes increases with the
are listed in Figure 2 and Table 3. The compaction curing time. Comparing the strength at 30 days-
curves of fly ash B and C are gentle, so the com- curing with that without curing, the cohesion (cd)
pacted density is not sensitive to water content, and the angle of internal friction (4d) increase 273
However, fly ash A has a compaction curve similar kPa and 2.1 respectively for fly ash A or 18 kPa
O

to that of cohesive soil, and the dry density obvi-
ously varies as the change of compacted water con-
tent. The optimum water content of fly ash A is only
1 1 .O% much lower than that of fly ash B and C.
The results of maximum and minimum density
tests are also shown in Table 3. In the tests, standard
compaction mould method (Dynamic compaction)
and funnel method were used to determine the
and 3.5" for fly ash C. Therefore, the strength of
dry disposal fly ash with high content of CaO is
strongly influenced by the pozzolanic action.
As shown in Figure 3(a) and 3(b), the pozzolanic
action also affects the stress-strain properties. Liking
the dense sand, the compacted fly ashes exhibit
strain-softening characteristics, i.e. deviator stress
versus axial strain curves show a peak and subse-

Table 3 The physical properties of fly ashes

Sample 2;;' Maximum dry density' Minimum dry density Maximurn dry density Optimum water content
(g/cm3) Wm') (g/cm3> (%)
A 2.69 1.83 1.14 1.51 11.0
B 2.11 1.22 0.75 1.11 33.2
C 2.08 1.34 0.94 1.26 26.4
* The results of maximum density test

752
Table 4 Test results of fly ashes having different curing time
S ecimen re aration Strenuth
Sample y: densit! Water content Curingtime Cohe;ion Internal friction angle Coefficient Of
(dcm') (%) (Day)
(kPa) (" ) ( 1O-'cm/s)
A 1.36 8.5 No curing 226 37.2 4.2
5 5.17 36.6 2.1
10 494 39.1 1.5
30 499 39.3 --
B 1.235 26.4 No curing 58 35.9 3.4
7 69 38.7 4.4

quent post-failure reduction. This phenomenon is

more pronounced as the increment of the content of
CaO and the curing time of the specimens. Moreo-
ver, the axial strain corresponding to the peak de-
creases slightly as the extension of the curing time.
From the results of fly ashes having different
curing time, it is also clearly found that the increase
of the strength owing to pozzolanic action is much
obvious in the early stage of curing time and reduces
Figure 1 Grading curves gradually with curing time. Especially for fly ash A,
the strength without curing is much higher than that
of common fly ashes because of the pozzolanic re-
action in the period of specimen fixing and consoli-
dation.

4 EFFECT OF FROST ACTION ON TH.E

STRENGTH OF DRY DISPOSAL FLY ASH

In order to investigate the effect of frost action on

Figure2 Cornpaction curves
Figure 3(a) Deviator stress versus axial
strain curves of fly ash A ( 0 3=1 OOkPa)
Figure 3(b) Deviator stress versus axial
strain curves of fly ash C ( 0 3=300kPa)
mechanical properties of dry disposal fly ash, labo-
ratory tests were carried out on fly ash A and fly ash
B.
For fresh fly ash, it is never subjected to frost ac-
tion. The variation of its strength owing to frost ac-
tion should be most sensitive to the first freeze-thaw
cycle, and this effect should be weakened gradually
as the increase of the number of cycle. Therefore,
the experimental study on the fly ashes suffering
only several cycles can basically determine the char-
acteristics of the effect of frost action on the
strength.
In the tests, both fly ashes were moisturized to
near the optimum water content. The compacted dry
density of fly ash A was about 90% of the maximum
dry density of standard Proctor compaction, while
that of fly ash B was 92%-95% of its maximum dry
density. In the tests, the specimens prepared by
static compaction were put into refrigerator that the
temperature was controlled at about -20°C for about
48 hours, then thawed out at room temperature for
about 24 hours, that was called one fi-eeze-thaw cy-
cle in this paper. Before the freezing, some speci-
mens were demoulded, and the others were in the
mould until being fixed on the triaxial apparatus. In
former condition, the specimens could deform freely
in the process of freeze-thaw, but the specimens

753
Table 5 Test results of fly ashes being subjected to frost and thaw cycles
Sample Specimen preparation Freeze and thaw
Drv density Water content
( dcm' ) (%)
A 1.36 8.5 No
One time, in mould
TdIh-r
B 1.05 32.9 Without
Two time, in mould
Two t i m i d
B 1.01 36.3 No
Two time, in mould
Two time, demould
Figure4 Dviator stress versus axial strain
curves of fly ash A ( (7 ,=5OOkPa)
only deformed axially because of confinement of the
mould in the latter condition. Drained triaxial com-
pression shear tests were conducted immediately
after the completion of the process of freeze-thaw
cycle for fly ash A. But the specimens of fly ash B
were all saturated before the test in order to better
determine the parameters of volumetric strain.
The results of the tests are listed in the Table 5 ,
and the typical deviator stress versus axial strain
curves is shown in Figure 4. From the results of
tests, it is found that the strength of fly ash A is seri-
ously influenced by the freeze-thaw action. Alt-
hough the results as shown in Table 4 does not re-
veal the difference of cohesion (c) between the fly
ash A with and without freeze-thaw action, the dif-
ference is very large in fact. If without freeze-thaw
action, the value of c can make a marked increase in
the period of freeze and thaw of specimen (about 9
days) due to the pozzolanic action as shown in Table
4.
Based on the results as shown in Table 5 , it is a1
so found that the effect of each freeze-thaw cycle on
the strength of fly ash A is different. First freeze-
thaw cycle results in a decrease of about 6" on inter-
nal friction angle ($,,) and about 20 kPa on cohesion.
But the following two cycles only causes about 4"
loss on $d.
The tests were carried out on fly ash B with two
different dry densities and water contents. The re-
sults indicate that the strength as well as the charac-
teristics of stress and strain almost do not vary after
two freeze-thaw cycles. Therefore, it is concluded
that the fly ashes such as fly ash B with a low con-
tent of CaO is not sensitive to freeze-thaw action.
754
Strength
Cohesion Internal friction angle
(Wa) (")
226 37.2
204 30.9
300 27.1
40 29.5
60 29.0
60 29.0
30 29.5
30 29.5
30 29.5
Based on the results of tests introduced above, it
can be concluded that whether or not freeze-thaw
action influences the strength of dry disposal fly ash
depends to a large extent on its chemical composi-
tion. The reasons accounting for the reduction on the
strength probably are: (1) the pozzolanic action is
restrained owing to the low temperature; (2) the re-
inforced structure formed by pozzolanic action be-
fore being frozen may be destroyed because of the
expansion of water in fly ash into ice. Therefore, the
fly ash with a high content of CaO has a large re-
duction on strength after freeze-thaw cycles as a re-
sult of high pozzolanic action. As for the volume
expansion of the specimen in freeze-thaw cycles, it
could not cause a distinct change on strength, be-
cause the maximum decrease on dry density meas-
ured in the tests is only 1.2%- 1.7%.
Collectively, the strength of the fly ashes with a
low content of CaO dry disposed in frosty area can
be determined by the tests without freeze-thaw. But
for the one with a high content of CaO, it should be
determined according to the actual disposal condi-
tion. In practice, some fly ashes experience freeze-
thaw cycles after being disposed for some time and
their pozzolanic reaction has finished completely or
partly. For such fly ashes, the effect of freeze-thaw
cycle on the strength is probably slight, but that need
to study further.
5 CONCLUSION
The strength parameters of dry disposal fly ash in-
crease with the curing time, but most of the gain oc-
curs at the early stage of curing. The higher the CaO
content, the larger the gain.
Their coefficient of permeability nearly remains
unchanged with curing time for the three samples
tested.
The shear strength parameters decrease evidently
because of frost action for the fly ash having high
CaO content, but they are not influenced by frost
action for the fly ash having low CaO content.
REFERENCES

Chen, Y .J. 1988. Engineering properties of fly ashes. Chinese

Journal of Geotechnical Engineering. 10 (5): 3-1 6.(in Chi-
nese)
Ji,C.C., Huang, Z.C. & Li, N.H. 1993. The new development
on fly ash disposal. Proceeding of the Second China Na-
tional Conference on Disposal and Utilization of Fly ash.
Beijing, : Hehai University.(in Chinese)

755
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Applications of FL-CPT for project control in the coastal areas

N.Yamane,H.Taguchi, T. Kishida & A. Porbaha

TechnicalResearch Institute, TOA Corporation,Yokohama,Japan

ABSTRACT: Cone yenetration test (CPT) has many advantages compared with standard penetration test in
terms of simplicity, repeatability, accuracy, as well as providing a continuous record of penetration resistance
with depth allowing digital processing of the site data. However, one disadvantage of CPT is the difficulty in
penetrating into the cemented soil and relatively dense sand and hard clays. To overcome this deficiency, the
frictionless cone penetration test (FL-CPT) is aimed to facilitate penetration into the cemented soil, soft rock
and dense sand. In this paper the mechanism of frictionless cone is presented along with some case histories
of construction control of cement treated ground using FL-CPT for several port projects.

1 INTRODUCTION
Cone penetration test has gained popularity as an in-
situ test for site characterization and geotechnical
design (Shibata and Teparaska, 1988). There are
many advantages in using the cone penetration test
compared with the standard penetration test,
including simplicity, repeatability, accuracy, and
quick working rate. In addition, several parameters
can be measured simultaneously along the depth
during penetration, including point resistance, qc,
skin friction, sf and pore water pressure, ud. The data
can be also used effective for the analysis taking
advantage of recent advances in digital processing.

Total penetration forces, F, (kN)

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of FL-CPT

However, one disadvantage is the difficulty in

Figure 1. Comparison of the total penetration forces
and release of skin friction,
penetrating into cemented soil, hard clay and dense
sand, mainly due to induced friction mobilized along
the penetration rods. This phenomenon is
demonstrated in Fig. 1 in which the total penetration
forces, F, in 2 cases are compared. In case I the full
&in friction using a conventional is mobilized,

757
whereas in case 2 the release of skin friction through
penetration is achieved through frictionless cone
(FL-CPT), as described by Porbaha et al. (1 998).
It is clear from Fig.1 that F, in CPT drastically
decreases when skin friction is released during
penetration. Therefore, this technique should be very
useful for construction control of various kinds of
cement-stabilized grounds, which have widely been
used in Japan.
In this paper, the mechanism of frictionless cone
and its characteristics are firstly presented, along
with some case histories of construction control for
cement treated ground in several project sites.
Additionally, discussion is extended to estimate the Figure 3. Cross section of the reconstructed seawall
correlation coefficient between FL-CPT and in Kobe project.
conventional laboratory strength tests for cement
treated ground.

2 MECHANISM OF FL-CPT

The practical way to release the friction along the

penetration rods is to apply mud-water during
penetration and circulating the pumped water flow
in a recycled system. To achieve this condition, a
specially designed coupling system is manufactured
and installed as shown in Fig.2. Characteristics of
the device and actual operations are as follows:

1) Mud-water is applied through the pump with the

same capacity to drilling. It is injected from the
four inclined holes of 8 mm in diameter installed
at the bottom end of the penetration rod (i.e., at
the boundary between the rod and the probe Figure 4. Distribution of S U ~ c nSuosp
, and qt-ovo.
device).
2) Since penetration force acts on the penetration
rod through the forcing part of the CPT device,
any excess load does not act on the special
coupling during penetration. Preliminary tests
suggested that this is an important requirement to
achieve the perfect water tight condition easily
between the special coupling and the cable during
penetration.
3) Mud-water released through the inclined holes
installed at the end of the drilling rod eliminates
the skin friction above this point, and the total
forces required to penetration, F, is then given by
Eq. (1).
F, = 4, x A, +s/ x Q x ~
Figure 5. Correlations between S, and qt-cTvo
where qc = point resistance, A, = sectional area of
the cone, sf = skin friction, t = length of the cone
from water jet to the bottom end of the cone, and I$= water volume, shear strength of soil and so alike.
perpendicular length of cone. Although more study is necessary to decide about
4) It is likely that an optimum length, t should exist optimum t value under different conditions. For
to give appropriate qc, and sf. This t value the projects studied here the measurements were
could be a function of soil type, the pumped mud- carried out using L = 50cm.

758
 Hachirorata Natural Clay Deposit 20.0 20-30 4 9/98
Nagoya Natural Clay Deposit 38.0 50-100 13 10198
Sand Deposit, 10-30
Yokohama Clay Deposit, 27.0 100-150 61 2-3 5/99
Mud Stone 1000-2000 50
Kumamoto-2 ~ Light Weight Fill , SGM , 10.0 , 250-1300 , 30 , , 7/99 ,

Table 2. Mix desim of SGM at Kobe proiect
I I I I
*Proportionsare for one cubic meter of SGM
Table 3. Mix design of SGM for Kumamoto
1997; Yamane et al., 1998; Porbaha et al., 1998, and
1999). Three representative projects in which FL-
CPT was applied are discussed here. The first one is
the lightweight fill in Kobe port and the second one
is in Kumamoto Port in Western Japan. The third
project is a field study in Ishinomaki in which a new
construction technique, namely Plug Flow Mixing
I I
method, was applied. The correlation between the
laboratory test (S,) and field test (qt-ov0) are
presented in section 5.

3 APPLICATION TO LIGHTWEIGHT FILL

3.1 Kohe Port Project

Table 1 presents several projects in which FL-CPT
was applied as a construction control (Wako et al.,
Many facilities as well as reclaimed land at Kobe
Port were seriously damaged by the Hanshin-nanbu
earthquake of 1995. Reconstruction of the seawalls
were carried out using different techniques of
cement stabilized soil, including Deep mixing
method, Pre-mixing method, and Super Geo-
Material (SGM). The aim of the SGM was to
decrease lateral earth pressure behind the seawall
and also to shorten the construction period. SGM
was made of dredged clay with high water content
mixed with cement and a light-weight component,
such as EPS beads or air foam. The natural water
content of the dredged material was in the range of
2.0-2.5 times of the liquid limit.
The container berth of Port Island in Kobe,
damaged seriously by the earthquake, was
reconstructed using this material. The cross section
of the reconstructed seawall in Kobe project is
shown in Fig.3. Design strength of SGM was 198kPa
based on unconfined compression test, and density
was 1.lt/m3 and 1.0t/m3 for below the sea level and
above the sea level, respectively. The proportions
used in mix design is presented in Table 2.

759
Figure 6 . Distribution of CPT and laboratory test results at Kumamoto project
This project was constructed using the dredged
material obtained from seabed close to the
construction site and air foam to reduce density.
140kg Portland and Blast-Furnace Slab Cement
Type B per one cubic meter of SGM was used for
this project.
After construction, FL-CPT with maximum
penetrating capacity of 3.0 tonnes was carried out at
this site. In addition core sampling was conducted to
compare the results of in situ tests with the
conventional construction control methods like
unconfined compression tests (UCT) and direct
shear tests (DST). UCT was used for the specimens
taken from sampling and tested at a strain rate at
l%/min. For DST specimens of 60mm in diameter
and 20mm in height were used and the tests were
carried out under the constant volume condition at
displacement rate in 0.25mm/min.
There was a concern over the density, pt, of SGM,
However, twenty two month after construction the
density remained almost constant below the sea
level. Shear strength from UCT and DST, SuWcr)
and S , O ) ~ and
~ corrected point resistance, qt-o,
where o, total overburden stress which was
investigated 10 months after construction, as shown
in Fig.4. Shear strengths from S,(T,CT)and S,(DST)
satisfied the required design strength. Fig. 5 shows
the correlation between S, and qt-o, for this project.
3.2 Kumamoto Port Project
The objective of Kumamoto project was to evaluate
the feasibility of using various types of treated soil
as fill material for caissons in seawall construction.
For this project different types of lightweight
material using EPS beads and two types of air foam
was applied. FL-CPT was used for quality control
and investigation of properties to a depth of 10 m
from sea level.
Mix design of this project is presented in Table 3.
760
SGM is comprised of dredged material obtained
from seabed around Kumamoto Port mixed with
Portland and Blast-Furnace Slab Cement Type B and
low density material, i.e. EPS beads and air foam.
One month and one year after construction, FL-CPT
and laboratory tests were conducted. Figure 6 shows
the distribution of CPT and laboratory test results
after one year from construction with depth.
The distribution of qt-o, clearly indicates the
boundaries of different mixes along the depth. It
appears that the results of DST are less scattered and
more consistent with those obtained from the CPT.
This is attributed to the limitations inherently
available in UCT, including the lack of confinement
which may not simulate the field conditions.
4 APPLICATION TO PLUG FLOW MIXING
METHOD
Plug Flow Mixing method is one type of pipeline
mixing method (Porbaha et al., 1999) in which the
dredged material obtained from seabed is
transported and stabilized in a pipeline using
compressed air. This technology aims to reduce the
cost of manufacturing and transporting the treated
soil, especially for large-scale projects. The current
rate of production of plug Flow Mixing method is
200 m'h, and it can be increased to a nominal
capacity of 600 m3/h, depending on the type of
project. A field study was performed to examine
feasibility of this method for actual projects and to
characterize the stabilized geomaterial through field
and laboratory tests in Ishinomaki, Japan.
Table 4 summarizes the construction condition
for this project. Ordinary Portland cement was used
as the hardening reagent. The six stabilized pits, 5 m
by 5m in area and 1.6 m in depth were constructed
using two types of dredging taken from seabed.
Figure 7. Distribution of S,mCn, S,osn and qt-qr0at Ishinomaki project.

Figure 8. Correlations between S, and qt-o,;oat all projects.

Dredging type I (used for case P-1 and P-2) is a
sandy soil, and dredging type I1 has silt and clay
(used for case P-3 and P-6).
FL-CPTs were carried out at the center of each
stabilized pit and core samples were taken to
perform laboratory tests as UCT and DST. UCT and
DST were conducted same procedure as Kobe
project.
Figure 7 shows the corrected point resistance, qt-
qTo and shear strength in laboratory tests versus
depth. Variation of CPT with depth at P-1 and P-2
indicate wider fluctuations compared with those
from P-3 to P-6. The difference is attributed to the
type of the dredging, i.e. dredging type I has larger
grain size distribution compared to the dredging type
11. In addition, there is a better consistency between
the laboratory and field results for cases P-3 to P-6
in which the treated ground is more uniform and
also lower in shear strength. The difference between
laboratory and field tests is attributed to many
factors that affect quality of the samples during
coring, handling, transporting, and trimming before
testing in the laboratory. Cracks or microcracks may
occur during sampling due to several reasons such as
bent in the borehole, rigidity of the sampler, locking
of the sampler, and rotation of the sampling core
with the sampler. These effects are more
pronounced as the resistance of the cored material
is increased. Accordingly, these observation may
increase the credibility of in situ tests, such as CPT,
for strength evaluation of artificially cemented
ground.
5 ESTIAMTION OF CORRELATION
COEFFICIENT
Figure 8 shows the results of FL-CPT and laboratory
tests for the projects listed in Table 1. Cone factor
(i.e., correlation between S, and qt-cs,) of natural
clay deposit obtained from Nagoya and Yokohama
projects is around 10. As expected, the data for S,
and qt-G,, of cement treated soil is more scattered
than natural ground. As a rough estimate the cone
resistance obtained from the FL-CPT is overall
about 20 times the strength obtained from
conventional laboratory tests.
6 APPLICATION TO PILE DESIGN
In Japan bearing capacity of the pile is usually
evaluated using the number of blows (N-blows)

761
obtained from standard penetration test (Japan Road
Association, 1996). This approach may give either
conservative value to contractive materials or unsafe
value to diiatant materials because N-blow is a
parameter to indicate the undrained shear strength in
dynamic condition. The value of qt in CPT, on the
other hand, is the parameter to show the drained and
the undrained shear strength for sand and clay,
respectively, as given by Eq. (2).
q1= F ( o a x tan4) for sandy soil (2.1)
41 = F(S,) for cohesive soil (2.2)
Since drained shear strength should be used in
evaluating the point resistance and shaft bearing
capacities of pile installed into sandy soils, the
procedure to use qt in pile design appears to be more
rational than the methods based on N-blows. Some
standards have already adopted the use of CPT for
pile design (Everts and Luger, 1997). The authors
are currently in the process of developing a rational
cone-based procedure to employ FL-CPT for pile
design.
Shibata, T., and Teparaksa, P. (1988) Evaluation of
liquefaction potentials of soils using cone
penetration tests, Soils and Foundations, Vol. 28,
N0.2~49-60.
Wako, T., Tsuchida, T., Matsunaga, Y., Yamane, N.,
Kishida, T., and Takeuchi, M. (1997)
Frictionless cone penetrometer for testing a
light-weight geomaterial, Proceedings of the
32nd Japan National Conference on
Geotechnical Engineering, Japanese
Geotechnical Society, Kumamoto, 2333-2334.
(in Japanese).
Yamane, N., Taguchi, H., Fukaya, T., K.L.Dam T.,
Kishida,T., and Iwatsuki,T. (1998) Strength
Characteristics of Cement-Treated Soil using
Compressed Air-Mixture Pipeline, Proceedings
of the 33th Japan National Conference on
Geotechnical Engineering, Japanese
Geotechnical Society, Yamaguchi, 2253-2254.
(in Japanese).

7 SUMMARY

Frictionless cone was developed with the aim to

reduce the skin friction while driving in hard or
cemented soil by applying mud flow in a recycled
process. The application of this cone for a number of
projects is highlighted in this paper for Kobe port,
Kumamoto port, and Ishinomaki. For the Yokohama
project it was found that FL-CPT can penetrate into
dense sand and hard clay. It was found that the
correlation coefficient (cone factor) representing the
strength from field test (qt- o,) to be roughly 20
times of the strength from laboratory test (S,) for
cement treated ground.

REFERENCES

Everts, H.J., and Luger, H.J. (1 997) Dutch national

codes for pile design, Proc. of design of axially
loaded piles, Balkema, Rotterdam, 243-265.
Japan Road Association (1 996) Specifications for
highway bridges, Part IV,Tokyo.
Porbaha, A., Yamane, N., Kishida, T., and Tsuchida,
T. (1 998) Development of FRICON, the friction
less cone penetrometer, Proc. of 2ndInternational
Symposium on the Geotechnics of Hard Soils-
Soft Rocks (2HSSR), Naples, Italy, October 12-
14, edited by A. Evangelista, and L. Picarelli,
published by Balkema, Vol. 1,289-294.
Porbaha, A. Hanzawa, H., and Shima, M. (1999)
Air-transported stabilized dredged fill, Part I-Pilot
study, Ground Improvement, Journal of ISSMGE,
Vol. 3, N0.2,49-58.
762
 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, lSBN go 5809 151 7

Long-term stability of coal-fly-ash slurry man-made island

M.Yanagihara
Hokkaido Development Bureau, Japan
S.Horiuchi & M.Kawaguchi
Shimizu Corporation, Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT: One of the major concern for increasing utilization of coal ash, annual discharge of which
amounted 7.3 million tons in Japan, is geo-material usages at coastal area, especially as for flowable slurries.
Although actual slurry applications are getting increase, its long-term stability data is very limited; only the
strength of high density slurry prepared in lab was re orted for 5 years by Horiuchi. In Hakucho Ohashi
( Muroran Bay Bridge ) Project, more than 100,000 mP coal ash slurry were used for man-made island con-
struction from 1988 to 1989. A lot of strength were collected during the project and lab tests using samples
collected from the site. In this paper, its long-term strength up to 10 years is reported together with the slurry
properties; (1) unconfined compressive strength is increasing continuously for more than 10 years, (2) degree
of long-term strength development is much affected by coal ash type, and (3) strength difference is caused by
amount of hydration products in the slurry. From the data obtained, the authors conclude the high stability of
coal ash slurry as for coastal geo-material.

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Construction of Man-made Island
In the Hakucho Ohashi ( The Muroran Bay
Bridge ) project, foundations of the two main tow-
ers were built on 67m diameter man-made islands
which were constructed using a new filling
method. This new method consists of underwater
placement of self-hardening light weight slurry
into a cofferdamed area in stead of the sandy soil
filler used in conventional methods ( Kawasaki et
al. 1991 ). The components of the slurry are coal
fly ash, volcanic ash, cement and sea water. Use of
this method in the Hakucho Ohashi project was
motivated by results obtained in the theoretical part Photograph 1 Final Stage of Man-made Island
of the investigations (Horiuchi et al. 1991); Construction using Coal Fly Ash Slurry
(1) The higher strength and lighter w&ght of the
new type fill will result in a higher safety factor
against sliding failures through the soft seabed. Throughout the filling work, the following ad-
(2) Since the strength development and lighter vantages of the new filling method were con-
weight of the fill reduce the lateral earth pressure, firmed;
bending moment and displacement of the coffer- 1) Even though different varieties of fly ash were
dam wall are greatly reduced over the conven- used, the slurry could be prepared within the
tional method. quality specifications by controlling the mix de-
From the 22nd of October 1988 to the 16th of sign and mixing time using appropriate equip-
January 1989, 53,600m3 of slurry were placed into ment.
one. of the two ponds enclosed by cofferdam, con- 2) The new method reduces the lateral earth pres-
structed of 1.3m diameter steel pipe piles ( Kawa- sure to 1/18-1/6 of the conventional sandy soil
saki et al. 1991). Photograph 1 shows the coffer- fill, and thus greatly reduces the bending moment
dam and mixing plant. and the displacement of the cofferdam wall.

763
 the man-made island excavation and cured in lab
show lower strength than ones being cured in-situ.
From the data, authors conclude the high stability
of coal ash slurry as for geo-material.

Photograph 2 Early Stage of Man-made Island
Excavation for Bridge Pier Construction
1.2 Long-term Strength Development of Slurry
After filling of the slurry, a concrete sub-structure
was constructed for the main tower foundation by
excavation through the man-made island ( Photo-
graph 2 ). In spring of 1999, the Hakucho Ohashi
was completed with an adequate properties of the
man-made island.
In such civil engineering usages, the material
durability is one of the major concerns for rational
design. For compacted coal fly ash, a long-term
strength of test embankment sample was reported
by Raymond (196 1) and a increase in cohesion was
confirmed for two years. For coal fly ash and lime
mixtures, Barenberg (1973) reported a long-term
strength development on two kinds of field sam-
ples. In this report, unconfined compressive
strength increases with logarithm of curing time for
ten years, however, both mixtures shows strength
more than 15 MPa after ten years and is obviously
excessive as for geomaterial.
In Japan, slurry placement is one of the major
technique to utilize coal fly ash for civil engineer-
ing applications. For slurry strength development,
Horiuchi (1995) reported five year properties for
cement-free high density slurry, and the strength
increases with curing time. However, the strength
2 EXPERIMENTS
2.1 Excavation Samples and Laboratory Test
One year after the slurry placement, block samples
were collected from the placed mass at eleven
depths during excavation inside of the cylindrical
concrete wall. Photograph 2 shows placed mass
and concrete wall. The components of the slurry
are coal fly ash, volcanic ash, cement, and sea wa-
ter, where dry base quantity ratios of volcanic ash
to coal fly ash is 30 %. The water content and ce-
ment content ( dry base quantity ratio to coal fly
ash plus volcanic ash, respectively ) are adjusted to
satisfy the following specs;
(1) 28 day strength ( qU28 ) : Larger than 0.62 MPa.
(2) 90 day strength ( qugo) : Larger than 0.84 MPa
(3) Wet density : lower than 1.6 t/m3
(4) Bleeding ratio : less than 3 %
( 5 ) Slump : 8 - 13 cm ( using half slump cone )
Table 1 and 2 show components and properties of
the slurries used at each sample depth.
Cylindrical samples of 5 cm diameter and 10
cm height were then prepared by core drill, and
were packed and kept in polyethylene bag to pre-
vent CO2 neutralization and water evaporation dur-
ing laboratory sample storage.
Sample strength was determined by unconfined
compression test at 2 and 10 years aRer slurry
placement work.
Chemical properties of the sample were studied
by X-ray diffractorneter, thermal analysis with wa-
ter release determination, and SEM observation.
Table 1 Components of Original Slurry
Coal Sample Cement Water
Fly-Ash Depth Content Content
No -----_---___c--__-----------------

Type -m % %
development of the cement-free slurry is dependent 1 A 0.5 4 40
on the self-hardening property, and there exists a 2 B 1.5 5 35
lot of low self-hardening type coal ashes. 3 B 2.5 5 35
To promote the coal fly ash slurry utilization for 4 c 3.5 5 50
geomaterial, both confirmation and prediction of 5 D 4.5 5 60
the long-term stability is crucial. During the ex- 6 B 5.5 5 35
cavation of the Hakucho Ohashi Project, a lot of 7 E 7.0 4 50
samples were collected at different depth, and the 8 E 8.O 4 50
authors have carried out a series of material tests 9 F 9.0 5 35
for more than ten years. In this paper, long-term
10 E 10.5 4 55
stability of the slurry is reported based on the ten-
year test results and the past data; (1) unconfined 11 c 12.0 5 40
compressive strength is increasing continuously for
more than 10 years, (2) samples collected during

764
 Table 2 Original Properties of Slurry respectively. Strength of the samples were
checked by unconfined compression test.

~~

1 11.1 1.2 0.41 0.79 3 RESULTS

2 10.8 1.1 0.70 1.02
3.1 Strength of Excavation Samples
3 9.0 0.7 0.70 1.06
4 10.3 1.3 0.44 0.95 Results of unconfined compression tests are listed
5 10.9 3.5 0.22 0.60 on Table 3, where increases are confirmed on aver-
6 10.0 0.8 0.53 1.18 age ( AV ), standard deviation ( SD ), and coeffi-
7 9.8 3.4 0.35 0.87 cient of variation ( CV ) with curing time increas-
8 10.5 1.3 0.30 0.74 ing. The following tendencies are confirmed from
9 10.8 0.7 0.69 1.04 the Table 3;
10 9.2 2.9 0.35 0.70 (1) Although 28 day strength could be controlled
11 10.4 2.3 0.41 1.00 well, long-term strength is much different with
slurry number.
(2) Slurries can be classified into three types with
long-term strength development; high strength
-Table 3 Strength of Excavation Samples
type of No. 7, 8, 10, medium strength type of No.
Slurrq
2yearStrength I 10 year Strength 1,2,3,6,9, 1 1, and low strength type of 4,5.
No AV SD CV AV SD CV (3) Slurries using E type coal ash ( No. 7, 8, 10)
- 1.61 MPa MPa % MPa MPa % rank as the high strength, and slurries using B
1 0.223 13.8 I 1.66 0.138 8.3 type coal ash rank as the medium strength. These
2 1.75 0.219 12.6 1.78 0.326 18.3 two are opposite type of coal ash, because cement
3 2.60 0.518 19.9 3.40 0.643 18.9 content of E type slurries is lower than B type,
4 0.86 0.069 8.0 0.82 0.106 13.0 and water content of E type is higher than B type.
5 0.96 0.153 15.9 1.00 0.199 19.8 (4)There seems to be a small effect on strength in-
6 1.57 0.105 6.7 1.80 0.236 13.1 crease by coal ash type, sample depth, cement
7 5.95 0.563 9.5 6.85 0.842 12.3 content and water content.
4.2 1 0.678 16.1 5.15 0.933 18.1 (5) Strength increase calculated by ratio of average
8
2.1 1 0.253 12.0 2.51 0.643 25.6
10 year strength to average 2 year strength ranges
9
0.870 17.5 5.98 0.889 14.9
from - 4.3 % to 30.6 %.
10 4.98
(6) Average strength is much higher than the spec.
11 2.16 0.273 12.6 2.42 0.435 18.0
- AV 2.61 0.357 13.1 3.03 0.490 16.4 3.2 Strength of Boring Samples
Unconfined compressive strength of the boring
Table 4 Strength of Boring Samples samples are listed on Table 4, in which 3 months
Compressive Strength (MPa) strength is corrected using the following equation,
'luny 3 months 6 years because 70 % strength increase was observed on
No laboratory samples at four-fold curing time in-
Average SD Average SD
1 0.62 0.14 ---- ---- crease :
2 0.73 0.07 ---- ---- qU90= q~rl(0.308*lOg(t) + 0.399)
3 1.07 -_-_ ____ ___- where, t is curing days after placement, 4~90 and
qur is strength at 90 days and t days, respectively.
4 0.51 0.05 0.84 ---- In spite of the limited number of the 6 years
5 0.79 ---- ---_ ----
boring samples, a large strength increase is con-
6 2.14 0.87 ---- ---- firmed.
7 4.20 0.55 6.25 ----
8 3.62 ___- ---_ -_-_
9 1.35 0.18 ---- ---- 4 DISCUSSIONS
10 1.60 0.17 ---- ---- 4.1Strength Increasing Rate
11 0.98 0.25 ---- ----
Figure 1 shows strength development of type B and
type E slurries. It is clear that strength linearly in-
creases with logarithm of curing time, and this
2.2 Boring Samples and Strength Test relationship seems to be sustainable after 10 years.
Boring samples were collected at two different According to prior studies on cement-free coal
ages; 28 days and 6 years after the final placement ash slurries, strength development could be ex-

765
pressed by the following equations;
gut = a x t (Eq. 1 )
gut = a X log(t) + b ( Eq. 2 )
There are many data supporting Eq. 1, however, it
remains a risk of overestimation for long-term
strength. In this study, data was examined by the
Eq. 2, and Table 5 shows the results. A long-term
strength increase can be confirmed from value a;
i.e., all the slurry shows positive value a.
Comparing the values with a same coal ash
type, the deviation seems to be not so large, and
strength can be expressed with the following equa-
tions; i.e.,
Type B coal ash slurries;
qut = 0.619 X log(t) +O. 157 , r2=0.694 ( Eq. 2 )
Type E coal ash slurries;
qut = 1.965 X log(t) -1.865 ,r2=0.937 ( Eq. 3 )
Photograph 3 SEM of 10 year samples
766
Photograph 4 Main tower on the Slurry Island
Photograph 5 Hakucho Ohashi Bridge
Important issue is that a sustainable strength devel-
opment can be confirmed for all the slurries used,
however, strength increase rate is much different
with the coal ash type used.
4.2 Factors afecting strength development
There should be factors causing strength differ-
ence. The major factor promoting the strength
development is decreasing void in the slurry by
chemical reactions between the components. To
get information about the amount and type of
chemical products in the slurry, and to find out the
relationship to the strength development, 10 year
sample are analyzed by SEM observation, X-ray
diffraction pattern, and measurement of water re-
lease from the slurries.
4.2.1 SEMobservation
Microstructure of the 10 years samples are ob-
served by SEM. Photograph 3 shows the result,
and the following tendencies are seen;
(1) Chemical products, covered on original com-
ponents in the slurry, are seen in all the samples.
Shape of the chemical products can be classified
into two types; mesh type ( No. 7, 8, 10 ), and
rod type ( the rest ).
(2) Amount of the chemical products is less in No.
2,3, 5 , and 6.
According to a report on microstructure observa-
tion of converter slag paste ( Torii, 1985 ), the
mesh type and rod type refer to be C-S-H gel (Cal-
cium Silica Hydrate gel ) and ettringite. As No. 7,
8 and 10 shows higher long-term strength, a strong
effect of microstructure of mesh type and C-S-H
gel formation on long-term strength development
can be deduced.
4.2.2 X-ray difraction pattern
Crystalline products in the 10 year samples are
studied by X-ray diffractorneter. Figure 2 shows
the diffraction patterns.
There are three major crystalline materials in
the slurries, Si02, CaC03, and Ettringite. The ap-
proximate amount of the three materials, which
could be refer to each peak height, is listed on Ta-
ble 6. It is obvious that the amount of Ettringite
has a strong effect on strength. Because of the
SEM observation results, this, however, does not
mean strength can be directly controlled by the
amount of Ettringite. There exist a lot of non- Fig. 1 Strength Development of
crystalline materials in the 10 year samples, and type B and type E slurries
the magnitude of Ettringite amount thought to be a
representative of the magnitude of chemical reac-
tions taking place. 4.2.3 Measurement of water release
Chemical substances, produced by chemical reac-
Table 5 Result of Strength Approximation tions between the slurry components, play an im-
( qut = a x log(t) + b ) portant role on strength. Each chemical products
is decomposed at a inherent temperature with water
Coal Ash releasing. By measuring the water quantity re-
leased during temperature elevation, a lot of infor-
0.959 A mation can be collected for the chemical products
2 0.419 0.402 0.957 B contained. To confirm the relation between
3 1.015 -0.275 0.993 B strength and amount of the hydrates in the samples,
4 0.093 0.562 0.273 C water quantity in the samples was measured using
5 0.28 1 0.084 0.9 16 D Karl-Fisher apparatus from 150 C to 1000 C. O

6 0.424 0.345 0.9 13 B Figure 3 shows the temperature and water quantity
7 2.648 -2.270 0.967 E released, where the followings are confirmed;
8 1.930 -1.610 0.979 E (1) There are two major peaks on the chart, one is
9 0.688 0.085 0.998 F around 200 C and the other is around 400' C.
10 2.210 -1.720 0.980 E (2) The high strength type slurries, No. 7 and 10,
11 0.753 -0.143 0.983 C shows higher peaks at one of two temperatures.
(3) The low strength type slurries, No. 4 and 5,
shows lower peaks.
Table 6 Amount of Crystal Components (4) The medium strength type slurries shows me-
measured by X-ray Diffiaction Pattern dium height of peaks.
Strength Coal Ash It is curious that the same type of slurry No. 7 and
No. CaC03 Ettringite Rank No. 10 shows different peak pattern. Differences
Twe
1 ++ + between the two samples are water content and
2 + + curing condition. It was confirmed that curing
3 + temperature at No. 7 depth was 6 - 10 degree
4 + lower than at No. 10 depth ( Kawasaki et. al,
5 ++ 1992 ), and this temperature difference might af-
6 + ++ fect on the chemical reactions. Anyhow, amount
7 +++ +++ of water combined within the sample is closely re-
lated to the long-term strength development.
8 +++ +++
4.3 Strength of the Fill and the Bridge
In Figure 4, representative data up to 10 years are
plotted together. There is a wide deviation on
* Amount +: trace, ++: rich, +++: remarkable strength distribution caused by a lot of factors.
** Strength Rank; H:high, M:midium, L:low

767

Fig. 2 X-ray Diffraction patterns
of the 10 year samples
( C: CaCO3, E: Ettringite )
The major factors are slurry components, distur-
bances during underwater placement, strength de-
crease by boring sampling, CO2 neutralization by
sea water, etc. The plots are moving toward right-
hand direction with increase of curing time, and the
long-term stability can be confirmed.
As seen in Photograph 4 and 5 , the Hakucho
Ohashi Bridge construction was complete on the
coal ash slurry fill. There remains a lot of
excavation samples, and the authors continue the
further study to ensure the stability and promoting
waste material utilization.
768
Fig. 3 Amount of Water Released from sam-
ples (measured using Karl-Fisher apparatus )
Figure 4 Strength distribution of the fill
0:90 days mold samples
x : 90 days boring samples
A: 2 years excavation samples
: 10 years excavation samples
5 CONCLUSIONS
Long-term strength development of coal ash slurry
was studied and the following results were ob-
tained; (1) unconfined compressive strength is in-
creasing continuously for more than 10 years, (2)
degree of long-term strength development is much
affected by coal ash type, and (3) strength differ-
ence is caused by amount of hydration products in
the slurry. The authors conclude the high stability
of coal ash slurry as for coastal geo-material.
6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to express gratefbl thank to

Dr. Noto of the Hokkaido Development Bureau for
his valuable suggestions.

7 REFERENCES

Horiuchi,S., Taketuka,M., Odawara,T. and Kawa-

saki,H. ( 1992) : “Fly-Ash Slurry Island: I
Theoretical & Experimental Investigations” J.
Materials in Civil Eng. ASCE, pp. 117-133.
Horiuchi,S., Tamaoki, K. and Yasuhara, K. (1995) :
“Coal Ash Slurry for Effective Underwater Dis-
posal” Soils and Foudations, Vo1.35, No. 1,
pp. 1- 10.
Kawasaki,H., Horiuchi,S., Akatsuka,M. and Sano,
S. (1992) : “Fly-Ash Slurry Island: 11
Construction in Hakucho Ohashi Project” J. Ma-
terials in Civil Eng. ASCE, pp. 134-152.
Torii, K. (1985) : Basic Studies on utilization of
Industrial Waste for Soil Stabilization ( Doctor
Thesis for Kyoto University), pp. 147 - 194.

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 Coastal Geotechnical Engineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida (eds)02000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

Microscopic aspects of a light-weight geomaterial using fly ashes

KYasuhara, S.Murakami, H. Kanazawa, ?:Iikubo & H.Yoshino
Department of Urban and Civil Engineering, Ibaraki University,Hitachi, Japan
S.Horiuchi
Research Institute, Shimizu Corporation Limited, Tokyo,Japan

ABSTRACT :The authors have investigated the geotechnical properties of a light-weight geomaterial using fly
ash which was prepared by adding a foaming agent into the fly ash. A number of samples were made for
conducting unconfined compression, and monotonic triaxial compression tests. At the same time ,
Microscopic examination using Scanning Electron Microscop y(SEM), Fluoroscopy(X-ray) and X-ray CT
scanner were also carried out. The results obtained have been interpreted with respect to (i) curing effect on
enhanced stiffness and strength, and (ii) chemical effect on the improvement of mechanical properties.
Interpretation of both sets of results revealed that:
1)One compound mineral (etringitte) was formed with prolonged curing. This might play a significant role in
the strength and stiffness enhancement,
2)Etringitte was formed when the samples were cured under fresh water and seawater conditions. This
mineral was not observed when they were cured in open air.
It is therefor, surmised that the etringitte formation and its combination with a soil mineral might have a key
role in strength and stiffness enhancement especially when cured under seawater.

1 INTRODUCTION strength, and (ii) the chemical effect on

Coal fly ashes have useful properties though they
have still been discharged as an industrial by-product
or waste which often poses difficulty in disposal.
Some of the positive features of fly ashes are :
i) Unit weight is small on the average in comparison
with that of ordinary soils excepting those such as
volcanic ash soils and highly organic soils.
ii) A self-weight hardening effect is evolved with the
elapsed time probably due to pozzolanic action
and cementation (Horiuchi, et al., 1991 : Yasuhara
and Horiuchi, 1996).
These features are advantageous when it is used as
a light-weight geomaterial, by adding a bubble
creating agent (Yasuhara et al., 1998) or EPS beads
(Pradhan et al., 1993). A number of samples were
made for conducting unconfined and confined
monotonic triaxial compression tests for a more
precise understanding of strength and stiffness
enhancement in mixed-type light-weight
geomaterials. At the same time, an attempt was
made to clarify the microscopic aspects of
enhancement using the Scanning Electron
Microscopy (SEM), Fluoroscopy (X-ray) and X-ray
CT Scanner. The results obtained have been
interpreted from a viewpoint of (i) the
curing effect on enhanced stiffness and
improvement of mechanical properties.
2 SAMPLE PREPARATION
All the specimens used for unconfined compression
and triaxial compression tests (UU, CU and CD
tests) as well as for microscopic investigation were
prepared by mixing a foaming agent (a kind of
animal protein) and cement with a fly ash whose
constituents are summarized in Table 1. The mass
per cubic metre of each of these materials is listed in
Table 2. The procedure of preparing the admixture
with three materials and water is illustrated in Fig. 1.
The water content of specimens just after curing was
50 to 58% for underwater and 40% for open air on
the average. The former increased up to 60 to 70%
and the latter decreased markedly to 8% 150days
later. The unit weight was aimed to be at least 1.0
kgf/m3 before curing in order to avoid floating under
water. The specimens were cured in air in the
basement of the department building and under
water in a room with a constant temperature of 20°C.
The underwater curing was either under artificial
seawater and fresh water, with and without the lid at
the top of the curing box as shown in Fig. 2. The
curing periods in this case were 7 days through 330
days.

77 1
Table 1 Chemical component of fly ashes used
I Component I
Percentage( % ) I
SiO, 55.0
Al,O, 27.8
Fe,O, 3.5
CaO 5.O

Na,O 2.3
K,O 1.o
so, 1.5

3 TESTING CONDITIONS
3.1 Unconfined compression and triaxial compres-
sion tests
The slurry mixture was poured into an aluminum
split cylindrical mould (5cm diameter and 10cm
height) made from aluminum lubricated with
silicone grease. After a given period of curing,
each specimen was set up for unconfined
compression and triaxial compression tests. The
triaxial testing equipment was in the form of the
double cell to attain the more precise measurement
of volume change since most of the specimens were
not completely saturated, even after underwater
curing. The confining pressures for three kinds of
triaxial (UU, CU and CD) tests was 98 kPa and the
consolidation period for CU and CD triaxal tests was
lhr. The axial strain rate was O.l%/min both for
unconfined compression and triaxial compression
tests.

3.2 Microscopic investigation

A microscopic investigation for clarifying the
interrelation with mechanical properties, with
particular reference to the effect of curing was
carried out using the Scanning Electron Microscopy Fig.3 Locations of the samples pieces used for SEM
(SEM), Fluoroscopy (X-ray) and X-ray and X-ray investigation
Computerized Tomography Scanner (CTS). To
specify what kind of compound might be formed in
the specimen, pieces of sample lcm square were 4 EFFECTS OF CURING ON GEOTECHNICAL
carefully taken off from two locations near the PROPERTIES
surface and at the center and used for both SEM with The effects of curing (prolonged period, way of
1200 magnifications and X-ray as shown in Fig. 3. placement with or without the lid) on both index
The distribution of density across a section inside property and mechanical properties were
three specimens air and water cured for the same investigated from a geotechnical engineering
period of 330days was investigated using CTS. standpoint.
Table 2 Component of mixture for light-weight soil
Aimed Unit
Cement Fly ash Water Air foamed agent
Strength weight
(kPa) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (tf/m3)
I 490 I 80 I 550 I 349.2 I 0.9 I 1.o I
772
 trend of the variations with curing period. It is
clear from Fig. 4 that:
1) Unit weight of air cured specimens decreases at
the beginning of the curing period and then
becomes almost constant at below l.0kgf/m3.
2) On the other hand, the unit weight of underwater
cured specimens once increases and then largely
remains constant with exceeding a little over
l.0kgf/m3.
These trends show the different influence of curing
methods on the density of specimens. This may be
related to enhancement of strength and stiffness.

4.2 Eflect on strength and stifiess

No difference in shear behaviour was observed in
three types (UU, CU and CD) of triaxial
compression tests, therefore the results from CU
tests presented in this paper are considered
to be representative.

Fig.5 E, versus ( ( ~ ~ curves

- 0 ~ )in CU triaxial tests

4.1 Eflect on unit volume weight

The change in the unit weight of each specimen
subjected to unconfined compression and triaxial
compression tests was Checked before and after Fig.7 Variations of deformation modulus E,, with the
curing. The results from this investigation are curing period
shown in Fig. 4. The shaded belt area indicates a

773
Fig.8 Pictures of the samples by SEM with 1200
magnification
Figs. 5a and 5b show a set of deviatoric stress
versus axial strain curves of three specimens with
different periods of curing, 7days and 230days,
respectively. A marked influence of the curing
period on the stress versus strain curves can
be seen from a comparison of Fig. 5a and Fig. 5b.
For example, the stress-strain curve becomes sharper
and thus the difference in peak and residual strength
becomes more marked with increasing curing period.
774
Fig.9 Identification of the crystal mineral samples by
X-ray analysis
The maximum deviatoric stress ( ~ - c T and~ the
) ~ ~
Young’s modulus, E50, were determined from stress-
strain curves for all CU tests on specimens under
different curing methods with different curing
periods. The results on this investigation are
plotted in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, respectively, in the form
of the variations of ( c T ~ - and
~ JE,,
~ )with
~ ~the~ period
of curing. The following is indicated from Fig.
6 and Fig. 7:
1) Strength and stiffness of specimens cured under
water increases with the prolongation of the period
of curing. This tendency is more marked in
specimens cured under seawater than in those under
fresh water.
2) On the other hand, strength and stiffness are not
so markedly enhanced in specimens cured under
open air, Rather, ( G ~ - Gdecreases after a certain
~ ) ~ ~ ~
period of curing, although it increases at the
beginning. Those tendencies may be in
correspondence with those of unit weight as,were
previously described in 4.1.
5. EFFECTS OF CURING ON MICROSCOPIC
CHANGES
5.1 Scanning Electron Microscopy ($EM)
Fig. 8 demonstrates the results from SEM with 1200
magnifications on three pieces taken from the center
of specimens as illustrated in Fig. 3. It is noted in
Figs. 8a,b,c that in each specimen needle-like
crystalline minerals have been formed in between
the round fly ash particles with air bubbles. In
particular, it should be emphasized that a number of
these crystalline minerals has appeared in specimens
cured under seawater in a closed container closed as
shown in Fig. 1. These crystalline minerals were
also recognized in pieces taken from the nearby
surface of specimens. In the pieces from specimens
cured under open air, however this type of crystal
mineral was not observed. Judging from the
difference between Figs. 8a,b and c, it is thought that
the strength and stiffness enhancement described
previously in 4.2 should have a dose connection
with formation of the needle-like crystalline
minerals.
5.2 Fluoroscopic investigation (X-ray)
A X-ray analysis was conducted to identify the
needle-like crystal mineral observed in SEM pictures
and observed in pictures of pieces by SEM, and what
kind of a role this unknown mineral plays in the
behaviour of fly ashes based light-weight soils.
Figs. 9a to 9c show a family of X-ray pictures for the
pieces taken from the same locations of specimens
as those used for SEM. Judging from the
peak values observed in the results from X-ray
analysis on specimens cured under seawater and
fresh water, the existence of the reactive mineral
etringitte, part of a compound mineral was surmised.
Although, no reactive mineral was observed in the
X-ray analysis in Fig. 9a, the needle-like crystal
mineral observed in SEM is identified as etringitte
from the X-ray analysis shown in Fig. 9b and Fig. 9c.
It can also be ~ o ~ c ~ u dfrome d this fact that the
etringitte plays a key role in enhancement of strength
and stiffness of light-weight geomaterials using fly
ashes.
775
5.3 C o ~ ~ ~ t ~~ ~~i ~z eo d gScanning
r ~ p (CTS)
~ y
The pictures of three specimens cured in air, fresh
water and seawater for a prolonged period of
430days were taken using X-ray CTS owned by the
Geotechnical Engineering Group, Department of
Civil Engineering, Kumamoto University, Japan
(Otani, et al., 1999 : Otani, et al., 2000). The main
purpose of this investigation is to examine the
existence of cracks inside the specimen and cross
sectional images of density. Fig. 10a to Fig. 1Oc
illustrates the distribution of density and CT-value
through a specimen cross section. The CT-value
for cross sectional images is defined by:
CT-value = (m,-m,)K/m, (1)
where m, is coefficient of absorption at scanning
point, m, is coefficient of absorption for water and K
is material constant. It is noted that the coefficient
of absorption for air is zero. Therefore, when K is
assumed to be 1000, the CT-value of air becomes
zero. The CT-images are black colour for low
CT-values and white for high values. Thus from
comparisons in Fig.10:
1)The density of the specimens cured under water is
higher than those that were air cured.
2) The distribution of density through the cross
section in the seawater cured specimen is better than
other two specimens cured under fresh water and
air. This must be caused by homogeneous
infiltration of seawater through the specimen.
This is correlated with tendencies in the variation of
increase in unit weight and enhancement in
mechanical properties with the curing period as
described in the previous sections 3 and 4.
6 A MICROSCOPIC PERSPECTIm OF ENH-
ANCEMENT IN STRENGTH AND STIFFNESS
As is well known in the field of concrete engineering,
a chemical compound, part of the etringitte, is
produced when hardening cement paste reacts with
MgSO, under seawater (Avram, et al., 1981). A Fe-
poor compound produced at the same time causes
the specimen to swell, leading to the loose texture in
the specimen. This may make it easier for water to
infiltrate into the specimen. It also induces an
increase in density as etringitte is formed among the
bubbles. At the present stage of our study, it is
presumed from a microscopic point of view that
enhancement in strength and stiffness of the light-
weight soil with air bubbles are due to the above two
factors.
Fig.10 The results of CTS investigation
7 CONCLUSION
1) The strength and stiffness of light-weight
geomaterial using fly ashes with artificially
created air bubbles increases with the prolonged
Period of underwater curing. This tendency
is more marked in specimens cured under
seawater than in those under city water. This is
the one of advantageous aspects of using this kind
of light-weight geo-material for coastal
engineering structures.
2) Using the scanning electron microscopy, it is
noted that for water cured specimens the needle-
like crystalline minerals were formed between
round fly ash particles containing air bubbles.
3)The results from a fluoroscopic (X-ray)
investigation revealed that these needle-like
crystalline minerals were etringitte.
4)It is found from a comparison of the results from
the computerized tomographic scanning (X-ray
CTS) that the density of specimens cured under
water was higher than for those under open air.
It was also found that the density distribution
through a cross section for a seawater cured
specimen was better than for fresh water and air
cured samples. This must be caused by the
homogeneous infiltration of seawater through the
specimen. Acknowledgement : Investigations
using CTS were carried out at the Department of
Civil Engineering, Kumamoto University, Japan.
The authors would like to express sincere
gratitude to cooperation by Professor Jun Otani
and Mr Toshifumi Mukunoki, a Ph D candidate in
the department.
776
REFERENCES
Avram, C., et al. : Concrete strength and strains,
Development in Civil engineering, Elsevier
Scientific Pub.Co., 1981.
Horiuchi, S., Tamaoki, K. and Yasuhara, K. : Coal
ash slurry for effective underwater disposal, soils
and Foundations, JGS, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 1 - 19,
1991.
Otani, J., Mukunoki, T. and Kikuchi, Y. : Evaluation
of engineering property on light-weight soil with air
form using X-ray CT scanner, Proc. 1lthAsian Reg.
Conf. on Soil Mechanics & Geotechnical Eng., Vol 1,
pp. 57-60, Seoul, Korea, 1999.
Otani, J., Mukunoki, T. and Obara, Y. : application
of X-ray CT method for characerization of failure in
soils, Soils & Foundations, JGS, 2000 (accepted for
publication).
Pradhan, T.J., Imai, G., Hamano, M. and Nagasaka,
Y.: Failure criterion of a new light geotechnical
material SLS, Proc. 3'd Intn'l Conf. Offshore and
Polar Eng., Conf., Songapore, Vol . 1, pp. 652-659,
1993.
Yasuhara, K. and Horiuchi, S. : Effective use of
flyash slurry as fill material, Proc. Intn'l Clean Coal
Tech. Symp. on Cola Ash Utilization, Tokyo, Japan,
Vol. 1, pp. 81 - 95, 1996.
Yasuhara, K., et al. : Cyclic stiffness and damping
ratio of lightweight geomaterials using fly ash, Proc.
of the 2ndIntn'l Symp. on Hard Soils-Soft Rocks,
Naples, Italy, pp. 929 - 933, 1998.
 Coastal GeotechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 0 2000 Balkema, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5809 151 1

I ~ p r o v e ~ eofn tstrength characteristics of surplus soil by slag additi~n

K.Yokota, R.Yatabe, N.Yagi & N. I? Bhandary
~ e F a r ~of~Civil
n t and ~ n ~ i ~ u nE ~n ~g ni t~ a~E~eh ~i ~iU
e~n~i v~ e ~J~a i~~a n

ABSTRACT A c c ~ u l a t e damount of surplus soil from different construction sites, especially in tunneling7
slope cutting, and underground excavation works in Japan is extremely high. As a waste material, this huge
amount of soil creates many problems in its disposal, and therefore must be utilized in such a way that the
environment remains unaffected. One of the recently practiced surplus soii utilization areas is the land
reclamation work near coastal areas. However, half of the surplus soil produced being loose and weak in
strength, it needs to be strengthened prior to the compaction. This paper relates to a study that elaborates the
improved strength characteristics of some local surplus soils in Ehime Prefecture by the addition of slag,
which also is an industrial waste. Also studied is the influence of mineral components on the strength attained
by the addition of slag and some other cementing materials.

So far, the surplus soil is being dealt in three

1 ~TRODUCTIO~
Disposal of surplus soil is a matter of concern to
geo-environmental engineers of a country like Japan
where the number of underground excavations,
tmeling, and slope cutting works is extremely high.
For example, to construct a tunnel of one kilometer
in length and 10 meters in diameter, approximately
~8,SOOcu.mof soil needs to be excavated, which
must be disposed off approximately 21,980 times by
an ordinary dumper. As a waste material, disposal of
such a huge amount of soil from various
construction sites must be made environmental
friendly like by reusing. So, from environmental as
well as the utilization of a waste material point of
view, practices have been made in using surplus soil
for hi~hwayembankments and landfill works.
This paper mainly explains the strength behavior
of weak surplus soils when mixed with slag and the
influence of soil minerals content on the strength, for
the purpose of utilizing weak surplus soil in
reclamation works.
1.1 ~ u r p l Soil
u~~
By de~nition7 the surplus soil is an excess material,
which is supposed to be of no-use, produced during
a geotechnical work such as underground excavation,
tunneling for rail and road ways, slope cutting work,
etc. As a by-product of const~ctionsites, surplus
soil except for coarse-grained material is regarded as
a waste material, which by environmental rules and
regulations developed in the country must be reused
in some ~ o n s t ~ c t i oworks
n or disposed off properly.
777
ways. First, a good quality sandy soil is utilized in
filling or embankment works directly without any
treatment; second, ordinary surplus soil is reused in
some construction works only after strength
improvement; and third, the remaining weak
material is disposed off without being used with or
without treatment, which is because an effective
strength improvement system from environmental
point of view has not been developed yet.
1.2 Slag
Slag i s a waste from the metallurgical industry,
which is produced after the extraction by smelting of
a metal from its ore. It in general can be classified as
blast furnace slag, converter furnace slag, and
electric furnace slag, in which the first two are
produced as by-products of the purification of iron
ore, and the third one is generated from the steel
making process using scrap iron as the main raw
material.
However, in recent years 100% of generated blast
furnace slag is being used in blended cement, road
sub-base material, and concrete aggregate or soif
materials, so the by-product is regarded not as waste
but as resource. On the other hand, converter and
electric furnace slag exhibit properties of expansion
during hydration, which makes their utilization a bit
complicated. Although such expansion properties
can be eliminated by aging, allowing for reuse as
sub-base or base materials and gravel in asphalt
concrete, and for soil stabifization, electric furnace
slag is mostly disposed off in land reclamation
works.

Hojo Kawauchi Kuma
Specific gr. (G) 2.78 2.69 2.74
Liquid limit, LL (%) 56.5 3 1.2 52.6
Plastic limit, PL (%) 28.9 18.7 30.8
Plasticity index, Ip I 27.6 1 12.5 I 21.8
Particle
Gravel1 0 I 0 1 0 consists of decomposed granite soil, whereas the
size (%)
Clay minerals IQz, F1, Mil Qz, F1 1 Qz, F1, MO
Oz: Ouartz. FI: Feldmar. Mi: Mica. MO: Montmorillonite
1.3 Reclamation Work
Reclamation work in coastal areas is a recently
practiced method of developing artificial flat lands
and simultaneously of reusing waste materials like
surplus soil and industrial by-products. Being a
country of mountains and of high population density,
Japan is in dire need of plain area, which has been
somewhat possible these days by reclaiming land
from the sea. Some of the great examples of land
reclamation works from sea in the country are
Kansai International Airport, Kobe Port Area, etc.
Use of loose soil material in reclamation works is
definitely not easy if considered from attainment of
enough strength point of view, but treatment with
industrial wastes or by-products prior to the
compaction makes it possible for surplus soil
materials to gain the required strength so as to
withstand excess deformations and failure.
2 STRENGTHENING SURPLUS SOIL
Since the excavated soil consists of a loose material,
it needs sufficient compaction while reusing.
However, even after the compaction, the rearranged
soil particles and granules may not attain the
strength that they previously had before the
excavation. This reduction in the strength of
rearranged soil particles causes a number of stability
problems in engineering works. So, it is of utmost
importance that the strength of surplus soil must be
raised to a desired level prior to its use.
One of the methods to strengthen the loose
surplus soil is addition of slag. Slag and some other
cementing materials in a loose soil when added
bring the soil particles together and bind them
properly to have a raised strength, which is
definitely higher than that of directly used surplus
soil. A plant needs to be separately installed for this
slag or cementing material mixing process before it
is compacted at the reclamation area.
In this-study, slurry from stone crushing sites in
Ehime Prefecture represents the surplus soil, and
experimental observations were carried out to check
the variation in strength by the addition of cement
and slag with calcium oxide.
3 TEST SOIL SAMPLES
3.1 Properties
Waste surplus soil samples were collected from three
stone crushing sites, namely Hojo, Kawauchi, and,
Kuma in Ehime Prefecture. The Hojo sample
Kawauchi and the Kuma samples consist of
sandstone and andesite respectively. Table 1 below
shows some properties of these soil samples.
X-ray diffraction test showed that the slurry sample
I from Hojo is composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica.
Similarly, the Kawauchi sample consists of quartz
and feldspar, and Kuma sample consists of
montmorillonite, feldspar, and quartz.
3.2 Strength
As every slurry sample in a form of slightly dried
cake had water content of about 30%, strength test
on an untreated sample required some consolidation
prior to carrying out unconfined compression test.
For this, three different test specimens of cylindrical
shape (i.e., 6.0 cm high, 3.0 cm diameter) from each
sampling site were consolidated under the stresses of
0.49 MPa, 0.98 MPa, and 1.37 MPa and tested for
unconfined compressive strength. The results of the
tests are shown in Figure 1.
The figure shows that the unconfined strengths (qu)
of all the soil samples increase with the increase in
consolidation stress (pc)in such a trend that the ratio
qu/pcalso increases, whereas this trend is opposite in
case of clay soils. This fact clarifies that the test soil
samples behave differently although they contain
some clay-sized particles.
The unconfined compression test was also carried
out to observe the variation in strength with void
ratio in wet and dry (without adding water)
condition with highly consolidated specimens of
Kawauchi sample. Figure 2 shows the results.
It is seen (in the figure) that the strength of collected
surplus soils can also be raised without the addition
of any strengthening agents but it needs a very high
consolidation, which is almost impossible in
practical conditions.
Figure 1. Unconfined compressive strength of
untreated samples.
778

Figure 4. Strength of surplus soils + slag.
4 SLAG-ADDED STRENGTH
Unconfined compression tests were also carried out
to determine the strength of surplus soil samples
with the addition of cement and slag. The purpose of
cement addition was to make a comparison of
increase in strength of the surplus soil when treated
with cement and slag.
Test specimens were prepared with two mixtures,
surplus soil plus cement and surplus soil plus slag.
The percentage of the additives by weight was 3, 5
and 10, and that of water added was little more than
the liquid limits of the soil samples. The applied
consolidation stress during the specimen preparation
was about 1.28 MPa. The specimens were then
tested at various curing periods.
779
Figure 3 shows the results of unconfined
compression test on surplus soi1-t-cement specimens.
Although the tests were carried out with three
percentages of cement addition, the results of only
10% are shown to avoid space consumption. It is
seen that the addition of cement has raised the
strength of cement mixed soil samples quite a lot
from that of unmixed ones. Moreover, the rise in
strengths does not have much difference in 30 and
60 days curing period. Also, compared to other two,
the strength of Hojo sample is less.
Similarly, Figure 4 shows the rise in strengths of
slag-added surplus soils. It is seen that the strengths
of Kawauchi and Kuma samples have even crossed
the strengths given by the addition of cement, but
that of Hojo sample has remained unchanged with
the curing period. This neither increase nor decrease
in the value of strength of Hojo sample was of
interest to be investigated further.
In addition to tests to check the effect of water
content and voids ratio on the strength of Hojo
sample, the results of x-ray diffraction test on the
soil samples were analyzed. There was no much
difference in the moisture content of the test
specimens at the beginning and end of curing;
neither was there any noticeable difference in voids
ratio. However by x-ray diffraction test, the only
typical mineral that might have lowered the strength
of Hojo sample was known to be mica. With this
possible reason, unconfined compression test was
again carried out to study the influence of mica
content, for which Kawauchi sample that has the
highest strength was chosen. Nine test specimens
were prepared with proportion of soil sample, mica,
slag, and calcium oxide as shown in Table 2. The
ratios of mica to Kawauchi sample were 1:9, 1:1,
and I:O, and the percentages of slag addition were
10, 20, and 30 (including their 5% of calcium oxide)
for each of the proportions.
The test results in terms of unconfined compressive
strength were then plotted against curing period
(days) and are shown in Figure 5. It is clear (in the
figure) that the highest value in 30 days has reached
when the soil sample to mica ratio is 9:1, and the
slag percentage is 30. As the proportion of mica
increases and that of slag decreases, the strength of
the mixed soil sample decreases. So these results are
the evident that no change in strength of Hojo
sample may be due to mica content.
However, one more interesting result is that of the
strength of Kuma soil sample. Despite the fact that it
contains montmorillonite (observed by x-ray
diffraction test), the strength of this soil sample is
considerably higher than that of Hojo sample, which
contains mica. In ordinary clay soils, the presence of
montmorillonite, which is a highly expansive clay
mineral and loses strength upon swelling, causes a
significant decrease in their strength, but the strength
results of slag added Kuma sample didn’t show any
such influence of montmorillonite. So, to study the
influence of montmorillonite content on the strength
of a slag added soil sample, unconfined compression
tests were performed on kaolin clay with 10% slag,
0.5% CaO, and 0%, 10%, 20% montmorillonite
additions, whose results are shown in Figure 6.
The test results showed that the strength of a slag
added soil sample is increased by the addition of
increasing amount of montmorillonite. This is
supposed to be due to pozzolanic reaction between
the water molecules in montmorillonite and the slag
(+CaO).
Figure 6. Unconfined strength of kaolin with
montmorillonite content.
Table 2. Proportion of mica, slag, and soil sample.
Kawauchi I Mica 1 Slag I CaO I Mark
I 10 I 0.5 I (1)
0.5
50 50 20 1.0 (5)
780
5 CONCLUSION
Disposal of surplus soils from various construction
sites in Japan being a huge problem, environmental
friendly practices have been made by reusing them
in land reclamation works in coastal areas. To attain
a required level of strength properties of the
re-compacted soil, certain treatments or addition of
strengthening agents that usually include industrial
by-products and wastes have also been practiced.
However, a particular process may not apply to all
kinds of soils. So this study was carried out to
observe the improvement pattern in strength of local
surplus soil in Ehime Prefecture.
Improvement of strength of surplus soil by adding
slag is always not possible, especially when it
contains high percentage of mica. On the other hand,
montmorillonite content helps the slag added soil
gain higher strength.
REFERENCES
G. Kuno, M. Sat0 1984. Hydraulic hardening of
blast furnace slags by means of curing procedures.
No. 19. Annual proceeding in domestic meeting of
JSFE. 1649-1650.
K. Hiroi, K. Komanobe, K. Segawa 1994. Study of
effective utilization for crushed stone powder.
No.29. Annual proceedings in domestic meeting
of JSFE. 2237-2238.
K. Yokota, N. Yagi, R. Yatabe (1996). Strength
characteristics of surplus quarry soil with slag
added. Proc. of 2ndICEG. Osaka, Japan. Pp.957-
960.
 Coasfai G e o ~ ~ ~ h nEngineering
jca/ in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida fedSf02000 Balkema, ~ o ~ e r d a m
IS^^
, 90 5809 751 7

Cyclic ~ h ~ a c t e ~ z aoft municipal

io~ solid waste by cyclic biaxial test
Jian Zhou & Yuwei Chi
Department of GeotechnicalEngineering, Tongji University,~ ~ n gPeople’s
~ i R, e ~ u ~ lofi cChina
TTriantafyllidis & D. Konig
Ruhr UniversityBochum, Germany

ABSTRACT: A laboratory investigation was carried out on stiffness and residual strain of municipal solid
waste based on the data from cyclic triaxial test in this paper. Two different types of cyclic loads using a sinu-
soidal cyclic axial stress with frequency of 1 fEz were applied to the specimen, one on the triaxial compression
side and the other on both compression and extension side. The results of modulus, residual strain are reviewed
and the corresponding formulation is presented.

1 ~TRODU~~ION Matasovic and Kavazanjian (1998) characterized

Like any other structure, a land~llis i ~ u e n c e dand
has to be designed for cyclic and dynamic loading.
Roads or other traffic const~ctions, machine
foundatio~s and earthquakes can cause those
loading. The source of the dynamic loads can be
sited on the top of a closed landfill or in its sur-
rounding?therefore, the loads on landfill are gener-
ally treated as incoming waves. The load case of
earthquake has to be considered especially in ana-
Iyzing the stability of a landfill. Collapse of a land-
fill can endanger the inhabitants in its vicinity. The
load case of earthquake is an important task in de-
signing, certifying and inspecting of landfills in
many regions of the world as, e.g. America, South
East of Europe and East Asia.
The base for the stability analyses of s t ~ c t u r e s
is the knowledge of material characteristics and the
constitutive equations of the used material. Under
onot to no us and static loading, the relationship
between stress and strain of the waste can be de-
scribed by a displacement depending mobilization
of the shear stiffness (Grisolia et al. 1995; Kockel,
1995). Up to now the parameters and the constitu-
tive equations of municipal solid waste under dy-
namic loading are limited to very simple definitions
like constant values for shear modulus and elastic
model laws (Grisoiia et aI. 1995, Kockel 1995).
Often measurements at the Of1 landfill in California
are taken into consideration (Siege1 et al. 1990;
Anderson et al, 1992)
the behavior of the Of1 solid waste by combining
field and laboratory studies with back analyses of
strong motion data. Small strain shear modulus val-
ues for the solid waste materials were established on
the basis of field measurements of shear wave ve-
locity and unit weight. Large-Diameter (457 mm)
cyclic direct simple shear (CyDSS) test was per-
formed on reconstituted solid waste specimens to
investigate the modulus reduction and damping
characteristicsof solid waste under large strains. Re-
sults of two-dimensional finite element back analyses
of strong motion data recorded at site were com-
bined with the results of CyDSS testing to establish
solid waste modulus reduction and damping curves
over the range of cyclic shear strain required for site
closure design.
Since the d y n a ~ behavio~s
c are especially im-
portant in the load case of earthquake, the
mechanical behavior of waste under dynamic
loading has to be described correctly during the
dynamic stability analysis. A laboratory investiga-
tion was carried out into stifiess and residual
strain of municipal solid waste based on the data
from cyclic triaxial test in this paper. Two different
types of cyclic loads using a sinusoidal cyclic axial
stress with frequency of 1 Hz were applied to the
specimen? one on the triaxial compression side and
the other on both compression and extension side.
The results of modulus, residual strain are re-
viewed and the formulation is presented.

781
Figure 3. Relationshp between modulus ratio and cyclic
number (Test No. 3 and No. 4)
2 TESTING PROGRAM
Bulk samples of solid waste were extracted from the
boring holes at the center of Hannover landfill in
Germany. Table 1 shows the composition of the
waste.
5% plastic (size of plastic<3 1.5mm) was added to
the original solid waste for comparison, and experi-
ments using waste with different plastic would be
carried later. Grain size distribution curve of recon-
stituted samples of solid waste is shown in Figure 1.
The unit weights of samples after consolidation range
from 0.95 to 1.09 kN/m3. The water contents of
samples range from 20.5 to 30.0.
782
Figure 6 . Relationship between residual axial strain ratio and
cyclic number (Test No. 1)
Four sets of cyclic drained testing on municipal
solid waste were conducted in Lottental laboratory in
Ruhr-University Bochum using Cyclic Triaxial Test
Apparatus. The diameter of the specimen is about
100 mm. Reconstituted samples were used in the
test. The specimens were isotropically consolidated
to 200kN/m2 and 100kN/m2 respectively. Two dif-
ferent types of cyclic loads using a sinusoidal cyclic
axial stress with fiequency of 1 Hz were applied to
the specimen, one on the triaxial compression side
and the other on both compression and extension
side. Table 2 provides information on the testing
program.

3 MODULUS OF COMPRESSIBILITY

Figure 2 shows the relationship between the modulus

and cyclic number for different cyclic axial stresses
odfrom test No. 2. It can be seen that the modulus
decreases with the increase of cyclic number. The
modulus obviously decreases with the increase of the
value of cyclic axial stress.
F i g r e 3 shows the relationship between the
modulus and cyclic number for different consolida-
tion stresses of test No.3 and No. 4.It can be seen
that the modulus can be normalized by consolidation
stress cro . The modulus decreases with the increase
of cyclic number when the cyclic number is less than
about 50, but it increases with the increase of the cy-
clic number when the cyclic number is greater than
about 50. The variation of modulus is not obvious
with the variation of cyclic number.
Figure 4 shows the relationship between the nor-
malized modulus and axial strain E, for different
consolidation stresses , different cyclic stress and
different cyclic numbers from test No. 2, No.3 and
No. 4.It can be correlated in hyperbolic form as fol-
lows.
E /cro = 0.663 /(I + E , /0.00222) (1)
Equation (1) is convenient for practical use since it
involves only two parameters.

4 RESIDUALSTRAIN

Figure 5 shows the relationship between the residual

axial strain E: and cyclic number Nqc for different
cyclic axial stresses from test No. 1 . It can be corre-
lated in d-hyperbola form as follows (see Figure 6
and Figure 7 ) : Figure 9. Relationship between residual volumetric strain
E:
---+- - a,N, a3Ncvc and cyclic stress ratio (Test No. 2)
+a,N, (2)
E:n=l, a2 + Nqc a4 + Nqc

E ~ , = , , = -0.0347 + 0.40860 The relationship between the residual volumetric

(%) (3)
0 0 strain and cyclic number for different cyclic axial
where, a 1=0.539, a2=0.988, a3=1.750, ~ = 3 0 .,1 stresses from test No. 2 can be also correlated in the
as=-0.00691. Equation (2) and Equation ( 3 ) can be following form (see Figure 8 and Figure 9):
used to predict the settlements of solid waste landfill E: -- 0.265 + 0.0553Nqc - 0.0006N2c
subjected to the traffic loads in non-linear dynamic (4)
E&=],
FEM analyses.
0
E{,=,, =-0.1636+0.5752 (%) (5)
0 0

783
Equation(4) and Equation(5) can also be used to in 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
non-linear dynamic FEM analyses of landfills.
This paper is supported by the key project of Nation-
5 CONCLUSIONS al Natural Science Foundation of China (No.
59738160).
1 . The modulus decreases with the increase of
cyclic number when the cyclic number is less than
about 50 but it increases with the increase of the cy- REFERENCE
clic number when the cyclic number is greater than
about 50. The variation of modulus is not obviously Anderson, D.G., Hushmand, B. and Martin, G.R.(1992). ”
Seismic response of landfill slopes”, Proc. ASCE Spe-
with the variation of cyclic number. The modulus can cialty Conference on Stability and Performance of Slopes
be normalized for different consolidation stresses, and Embankments 11, pp.973-989.
different cyclic stresses and different cyclic numbers Grisolia, M., Napoleoni, Q., Tancredi, G.(1995), The use of
from test No. 2, No.3 and No. 4. triaxial tests for the mechanical characterization of
2. The formulation of the residual strain with the MSW. Proceedings Sardinia 95, Fifth International
landfill symposium, S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, It-
cyclic number is given, which can be used to predict
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the settlements of solid waste landfill under the traf- Kockel, R. (1995), Scherfestigkeit von Mischabfall im Hin-
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only valid for large deformations. Some additional Ling, H.I., & Leshchinsky, D. (1997), Seismic Stability and
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engi-
small values of deformation are necessary. neering, Vol. 123, No. 2, ASCE, pp. 113-122.
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6. To prove the validity of the material parameter
found in the laboratory, centrikge model tests is
recommended.

1
Composition Percent of Total Mass
of Waste.
Wood 3.0%
Metals 3.6%
Plastic and packing 14.1%
Textiles and Miscellaneous 2.4%
Paper and cardboard
Rest Mass (soil) __ 24.1
52.8% ---
Table 2. Loads of tests
Test Consolidated Cyclic Load Number
Number Stress Stress of
.......................... .-..W!E3...............,...........@!!E.?)... !a??!?.
................... ....
1 200 25,50,75,100 25
2 200 f25, f 50, f 75, f 100 25
3 200 * 100 1000
4 100 f 50 1000

784
 Coastal GeofechnicalEngineering in Practice, Nakase & Tsuchida(eds) 02000 Balkema, Rotterdam,fSBN 905809 151 1

Author index

Abe, H. 571 Fujii, H. 101,587 Ichikawa, H. 471

Aboshi, H. 415 Fujii, T. 45,229,271 Ichikawa, Y. 181
Adachi, K. 205 Fujio, Y. 647 Ide, T. 27
Akagi, H. 617 Fukasawa, T, 163,287 Igarashi, M. 131
Akai, K. 243 Fukazawa, E. 571 Iikubo, T. 77 1
Amino, X 669 Fukuda, E 77 Iizuka, A. 351
Ando, Y. 663 Fukuda, K. 299,307 Imai, G. 67,167,199,471,543
Arata, M. 325,557 Fukue, M. 27 Imai, M. 375
Arita, N. 421 Fukuhara, S, 277 Imanishi, H. 459
Arita, R. 495 Furuno, X 739 Indraratna, €3.357
Asada, H. 9,163 Furuya, S. 687 Inoue, T, 415,587
Asano, J. 533 Ishinuki, K. 507
Asaoka, A. 113 Gao, L. 283 Ito, K. 629
Aziz, M.A. 465 Gera, L.N. 593 Ito, 7: 477
Azuma, K. 533 Giasi, C.I. 15
Jiang, G. L. 653
Balasubramaniam,A.S. 357 Hamada, E. 687 Jiang, J.-C. 217
Bang, S. 249 Hanzawa, H. 9,267,287 Jin, K.N. 449
Bawajee, R. 549 Harada, K. 529 Jin, Y. 399,407
Bergado, D.T. 429 Hashimoto, E 719
Bhandary, N. I? 777 Hashimoto, M. 193,351 Kaino, T. 747
Bian, J. 751 Hayashi, K. 291 Kamata, R. 163,363
Hayashi, N.291 Kamon, M. 629
Cai, H. 75 1 Hayashi, Y. 453 Kanazawa, H. 771
Cai, Y.-Q. 381 Henmi, K. 299,307 Kang, M.S. 51
Chai, J.C. 5 15 Higo, M. 529 Kanno, Y. 325,557
Chen, J.-W 57,437 Higuchi, T. 33 Kanorski, S. 249
Chen, W. 255 Hirabayashi, H. 163 Kantharaj, M. 3
Chen, Y-M. 399,407 Hirasawa, M. 599 K ~ n ~ aG.I? ~ 465
e ,
Cherubini, C,15,261 Hong, 2239,193 Katagiri, M. 95, 167,299,307,
Chi, Y. 387,781 Horii, R. 647 507
Chiba, 7: 443 Horiuchi, K. 83 Kato, Y. 571
Cho, Y. 249 Horiuchi, S. 763,77 1 Katsumi, T. 629
Choa, V. 21 1,267,549 Horpibulsuk, S. 605 Kawaguchi, M. 763
Chua, K.-C. 363 Humphrey, D. N.61 1 Kawano, K. 709
Chun, B.S. 577,583 Hyde, A. EL. 33,45 Kazama, M. 63
Chung, H.I. 449 Hyodo, M. 45,119,229,271 Kikuchi, Y. 375,393,635,681
Chung, S.G. 21 Kim, J.C. 577
Ibaraki, M. 6 17 Kim, K. H. 449,583
Eguchi, S. 393 Ichihara, M.653 Kim, S. K. 21

785
Kishida, T. 287,703,757 Miyata, Y. 7 15 Saeki, S. 599
Kitahara, S. 641 Miyazaki, Y. 725 Saitoh, K. 95
Kitamura, R. 277 Mizuno, K. 113 Sakai, S. 217
Kitayama, N. 663 Mizuno, T. 489 Sakakibara, N. 153,157
Kitazawa, S. 375,507,697 Mizutani, H. 571 Sakamoto, A. 719
Kitazume, M. 647 Mori, N. 477 Salgado, R. 623
Kobayashi, H. 641 Moriwaki, T. 83 Salim, W. 357
Kobayashi, S. 315 Mukunoki, T. 681 Samy, R.G. 3
Koda, M. 489,653 Murakami, S. 771 Sandanbata,I. 495
Kodama, S. 599 Muranaka, T. 657 Sano, T. 477
Kogure, K. 715 Murata, 0.653 Santhaswaruban,V. 3
Kondo, T. 193,687 Sasagawa,T. 421
Kondoh, M. 321 Nagaraj, T. S. 605 Sasahara, T. 6 17
Konig, D. 78 1 Nagatome, T. 681 Sasaki, E. 657
Koreishi, T. 663 Nakajima, H. 687 Sato, K. 501
Kozawa, D. 325,557 Nakakuma, K. 47 1,495 Sato, T. 375,507
Ku, C.-S. 57 Nakano, M. 113 Satoh, T. 709
Kubo, M. 495 Nakano, Y. 663 Sawa, N. 629
Kuboshima, S. 27 Nakanodo, H. 325 Sawaguchi,M. 375
Kudoh, Y. 77 Nash, D.ET. 483 Seino, 0.587
Kusakabe, S. 271 Nguyen Van Tho 199 Shen, S.L. 515
Kuwabara, M. 521 Nishie, S. 89 Shi, J.Y. 255
Kuwazuru, Y. 687 Nishimura, M. 95 Shibata, A. 421
Kwon, H.S. 583 Nishimura, S. 101,587 Shibuya, S. 67, 173, 181,223
Nishimura, T. 107 Shikata, H. 277
Le Ba Vinh 199,543 Nishino, N. 587 Shikata, S. 345
Lee, D.-H. 57 Nishio, Y. 529 Shima, H. 471
Lee, J. 623 Nitao, H. 529 Shimada, K. 101
Lee, K.H. 63 Noda, S. 697 Shimizu, Y. 415
Lee, N. K. 21 Noda, T. 113 Shimobe, S. 141
Lee, S.L. 465 Nomura, T. 501 Shinohara,K. 687
Lee, Y.S. 449 Noriyasu, N. 119 Shinsha, H. 393,647
Leong, I?-L. 363 Nozu, M. 563 Shirakawa, S. 157
Leroueil, S. 733 Shiwakoti, D.R. 73,147
Leung, C. E 333 Ogino,T. 125,131 Shogaki, T. 153,157,421
Liang, X. 381 Ohmaki, S. 345 Sudo, T. 153
Liao, J.-M. 437 Ohta, H. 35 1 Suetsugu, D. 715
Locat, J. 733 O h w a , H. 125,131 Sugai, M. 521
Loh, Y.-H. 363 Okazaki, M. 641 Sugawara, Y. 617
Lohani, T. N. 67 Okumura, T. 675,693,697 Sugo, K. 521
Lovell, C.W. 623 Orr, T.L. L. 261 Sumhra, Y. 339
Otani, J. 681 Sutoh, Y. 415
Manivannan,R. 333 Oyadomari, M. 135 Suwa, S. 459
Masuda, T. 657 Suzuki, A. 453
Matsuda, H. 663 Patawaran, M.A. B. 429 Suzuki, H. 529
Matsumoto, H. 325,557 Pipatpongsa, T. 35 1 Suzuki, K. 9,163,287
Matsumoto, K. 47 1,495 Porbaha, A. 703,757 suzuki, s. 345
Mimura, M. 339
Mishima, 0.73,147 Rahman, Md.Z. 489 Taguchi, H. 719,757
Mitachi, T. 77, 125, 173 Recker, K. 61 1 Takahashi, H. 421
Mitarai, Y. 9,669 Redana, I.W. 357 Takami, Y. 27
Mitsukuri, K. 709 Ryde, S.J. 483 Takemura, J. 489
Miura, N. 119,515,605 Taki, H. 529
Miyaji, Y. 675 Saeki, K. 345 Taki, M. 557

786
Takizawa, S. 653 Volkov, EE. 593 Yamamwa, Y. 669
Tan, S.A. 333 Yamane, N.719,757
Tan, T.-S. 363 Wada, K. 697 Yamasaki, S. 27
Tanaka, Y. 167 Wakayama, Y. 641 Yamazaki, H. 291
Tanaka, H. 73,147,533 Wakitani, Y. 587 Yanagihara, M. 763
Tanaka, M. 73,147,533 Wang, L. 89 Yanagisawa, E. 63
Tanaka, N.641 Wang, L.-Z. 38 1 Yang, C.W. 515
Tanamura, S. 653 Watabe, Y. 205,739 Yano, S. 153
Tang, Y.X. 725 Watanabe, K. 153 Yasuhara, K. 33,771
Tani, K. 67 Watanabe, Y. 747 Yatabe, R. 777
Tatsuoka, E 521 Weaver, J. 61 1 Ying, H.-W. 283
Tawara, I. 321 Wei, J. 363 Yokota, K. 777
Taylor, R. 249 Wen, Y. 751 Yong, K.-Y. 363,465
Temma, M. 173,223 Whetten, N. 61 1 Yoshida, N.501
Teparaksa, W. 537 Win, B. M. 21 1,549 Yoshida, T. 495
Terada, K. 63,369 WU,S.-M. 38 1 Yoshiizumi, N.193
Terashi, M. 95,299,307,507 Yoshikawa, R. 291
Terauchi, K. 375 Xie, K.-H. 283 Yoshikuni, H. 83
Theramast, N.181 Xu, J.P. 387 Yoshimoto, N.45
Tremblay, H. 733 Yoshino, H. 635,771
Triantafyllidis,T. 781 Yagi, N.777 Yoshino, N. 647
Tsuchida, T. 39,51,187,193,205, Y&wa, T. 599 Yuasa, H. 739
599,703,709,725,739 Yamada, H. 421 Yudhbir 235
Tsushima, M. 77 Yamada, K. 393
Yamagami, T. 2 17 Zen, K. 291
Uehara,H. 135 Zeng, X.Q. 21 1
Yamaguchi, K. 495
Ueno, K. 217 Zhang, D. 459
Yamaguchi, S. 325,557
Ueno, N.709 Zhang, W.-H. 399,407
Yamamoto, M. 563
Umehara, K. 83 Zhao, W.B. 255
Yamamoto, N. 223
Visvanathan, A. 3 Yamamoto, Y. 45,229,271 Zhou, J. 387,781