CONSOLIDATION OF CLAYS COMPACTED "DRY" AND "WET" OF OPTIMUM WATER CONTENT

An experimental investigation of the consolidation process in clays compacted 'dry' and 'wet' of optimum water content has led to the following findings. 'dry' of optimum water content the air voids are continuous, resulting in rapid dissipation of pore-air pressures; hence there is no consolidation in the classical sense and the entire compression-time behaviour can be represented in terms of a simple rheological model. The settlement problem in this state is associated with collapse on wetting. 'wet' of optimum, with occluded air voids, there is the likelihood of high pore-water pressures and consolidation is a major engineering problem. It is seen that terzaghi theory is generally as relevant as any of the more complex theories attempting to take proper account of the effect of the occluded air. However, the relevance of terzaghi theory decreases as the transition is approached in the region of optimum water content. The existence of a separate transition process cannot be dismissed, particularly in the case of field compaction which results in zones of different water content. Compaction at optimum water content is clearly good engineering practice, and it is unfortunate that terzaghi theory often provides only a crude indication of behavior in this region. /Author/TRRL/

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00168505
• Corporate Authors:

  Institution of Civil Engineers

  One Great George Street, Westminster
  London,   United Kingdom  SW1P 3AA
• Authors:
  • Barden, L
• Publication Date: 1974-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 605-625
• Serial:
  • GEOTECHNIQUE
  • Volume: 24
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Thomas Telford Limited
  • ISSN: 0016-8505

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air pressure; Clay; Compaction; Consolidations; Failure; Ground settlement; Mathematical models; Moisture content; Optimization; Pore pressure; Pore water pressures; Porosity; Rheology
• Uncontrolled Terms: Optimum
• Old TRIS Terms: Optimum moisture content; Pore air pressures
• ITRD Terms: 4177: Clay; 3686: Compaction; 5791: Consolidation (soil); 5520: Failure; 6473: Mathematical model; 5920: Moisture content; 5762: Pore water pressure; 5938: Porosity; 5442: Rheology; 5792: Settlement
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00125125
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 18 1975 12:00AM