Stress-strain properties of Belfast estuarine clay

✍ Scribed by J.H.A. Crooks; J. Graham

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1972
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 847 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0013-7952
• DOI: 10.1016/0013-7952(72)90012-9

✦ Synopsis

The extensive area of Postglacial soft silty clay at the head of Belfast Lough has caused many engineering problems in the central Belfast area. The clay is usually considered unsuitable as a bearing stratum, and consequently little attention has been paid in the past to detailed examination of its stress-strain behaviour. However, in the light of recent advances in foundation design based on clearer understanding of the response of soft clay to applied loading, tests have recently been carried out on typical samples of Belfast clay to achieve a more fundamental insight into the behaviour of the material. The paper describes triaxial tests on hand-trimmed samples of the clay and examines the behaviour with respect to yield and failure criteria, porewater pressure generation during shear, dependence of strength on direction and rate of testing, and "elastic" properties of the soil. The results show that the clay is lightly over-consolidated in the field, and that its behaviour is much more brittle, elastic and anisotropic than is suggested by routine sampling and testing procedures.