Erosional and Mechanical Strengths of Deposited Cohesive Sediments
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 124, Issue 11
Abstract
Erosion tests were run on soft cohesive sediment beds freshly deposited from a concentrated slurry, in a large rotating annular flume. A total of seven tests were carried out with the bed age varying between 1.8 and 18.9 days. A surface type erosion was observed for the applied shear stress range (0.1 to 1 Pa). Following the increase in the water flow, the erosion rate increases quickly to a peak value and then drops off to about zero. The eroded depth was less than 8 mm for all beds, but the resistance to erosion at a given depth and for a given bed structure increased with increasing bed age. This phenomenon was attributed to thixotropy. The erosional strength of a given sediment layer is found to be one order of magnitude lower than its undrained and drained mechanical shear strengths measured with innovative testing methods. Hypotheses are given to explain that difference. However, at constant density and soil-water chemistry, the erosional and mechanical strengths seem to be affected by the same factors, i.e., bed age, structure, and temperature.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Amos, C. L., Daborn, G. R., Christian, H. A., Atkinson, A., and Robertson, A.(1992). “In situ erosion measurements on fine-grained sediments from the bay of Fundy.”Marine Geology, 108, 175–196.
2.
Arulanandan, K.(1975). “Fundamentals aspects of erosion of cohesive soils.”J. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 101(5), 635–639.
3.
Chapuis, R. P., and Gatien, T.(1986). “An improved rotating cylinder technique for quantitative measurements of the scour resistance of clays.”Can. Geotech. J., Ottawa, Canada, 23, 83–87.
4.
Christensen, R. W., and Das, B. M. (1973). “Hydraulic erosion of remolded cohesive soils.”Soil Erosion: Causes and Mechanisms, Prevention and Control, Spec. Rep. 135, Highway Research Board, Washington, D.C., 8–19.
5.
Dunn, I. S.(1959). “Tractive resistance of cohesive channels.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, 85(3), 1–24.
6.
Etter, R. J., Hoyer, R. P., Partheniades, E., and Kennedy, J. F.(1968). “Depositional behavior of kaolinite in turbulent flow.”J. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 94(6), 1439–1452.
7.
Fukuda, M. K., and Lick, W. (1980). “The entrainment of cohesive sediments in freshwater.”J. Geophys. Res., 85(C5), 2813–2824.
8.
Kamphuis, J. W., and Hall, K. R.(1983). “Cohesive material erosion by unidirectional current.”J. Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 109(1), 49–60.
9.
Kelly, W. E., and Gularte, R. C.(1981). “Erosion resistance of cohesive soils.”J. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 107(10), 1211–1224.
10.
Krishnamurthy, M. (1983). “Incipient motion of cohesive soils.”Proc., Conf. on Frontiers in Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, New York, 96–101.
11.
Krishnappan, B. G. (1991). “A rotating flume for cohesive sediment transport research.”NWRI Contribution No. 91-82, National Water Research Institute, Burlington, Ont., Canada.
12.
Krishnappan, B. G.(1993). “Rotating circular flume.”J. Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 119(6), 758–767.
13.
Kuijper, C., Cornelisse, J. M., and Winterwerp, J. C. (1989). “Research on erosive properties of cohesive sediments.”J. Geophys. Res., 94(C10), 14341–14350.
14.
Ladd, C. C., and Kinner, E. B. (1967). “The strength of clays at low effective stress.”Dept. of Civ. Engrg. Res. Rep. R67-4, MIT, Cambridge, Mass.
15.
Lefebvre, G., Rohan, K., and Milette, J.-P.(1986). “Erosivity of intact clay: Influence of the natural structure.”Can. Geotech. J., Ottawa, Canada, 23, 427–434.
16.
Mehta, A. J. (1988). “Laboratory studies on cohesive sediment deposition and erosion.”Physical processes in estuaries. J. Dronkers and W. Van Leussen, eds., Springer-Verlag, New York, 427–445.
17.
Mehta, A. J. (1991). “Review notes on cohesive sediment erosion.”Proc., Spec. Conf. on Quantitative Approaches to Coast. Sediment Processes, ASCE, New York, 40–53.
18.
Mehta, A. J., Parchure, T. M., Dixit, J. G., and Ariathurai, R. (1982). “Resuspension potential of deposited cohesive sediment beds.”Estuarine comparisons, V. S. Kennedy, ed., Academic Press, New York, 591–609.
19.
Mehta, A. J., and Partheniades, E.(1975). “An investigation of the depositional properties of flocculated fine sediments.”J. Hydr. Res., Delft, The Netherlands, 12(4), 361–381.
20.
Mehta, A. J., and Partheniades, E. (1982). “Resuspension of deposited cohesive sediment beds.”Proc., 18th Coast. Engrg. Conf., Vol. II, ASCE, New York, 1569–1588.
21.
Migniot, C. (1968). “Étude des propriétés physiques de différents sédiments très fins et de leur comportement sous des actions hydrodynamiques.”La Houille Blanche, Grenoble, France, No. 7, 591–620 (in French).
22.
Mitchell, J. K.(1960). “Fundamental aspects of thixotropy in soils.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, 86(3), 19–52.
23.
Mitchell, J. K. (1969). “Temperature effects on the engineering properties and behavior of soils.”Effects of Temperature and Heat on Engineering Behavior of Soils, Spec. Rep. 103, Highway Research Board, Washington, D.C., 9–28.
24.
Møller-Jensen, P. (1993). “Wadden Sea mud—methods for estimation of transport, erosion and consolidation of marine cohesive sediments,” PhD thesis, Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
25.
Moore, W. L., and Masch, F. D.(1962). “Experiments on the scour resistance of cohesive soils.”J. Geophys. Res., 67(4), 1437–1446.
26.
O'Neill, D. A. (1985). “Undrained strength anisotropy of an overconsolidated thixotropic clay,” SM thesis, Dept. of Civ. Engrg., MIT, Cambridge, Mass.
27.
Parchure, T. M., and Mehta, A. J.(1985). “Erosion of soft cohesive sediment deposits.”J. Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 111(10), 1308–1326.
28.
Partheniades, E.(1965). “Erosion and deposition of cohesive soils.”J. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 91(1), 105–139.
29.
Partheniades, E. (1986). “A fundamental framework for cohesive sediment dynamics.”Estuarine cohesive sediment dynamics, Lectures Notes on Coastal and Estuarine Studies, A. J. Mehta, ed., Springer-Verlag, New York, 219–250.
30.
Partheniades, E. (1992). “Estuarine sediment dynamics and shoaling processes,”Handbook of Coastal and Ocean Engineering, J. Herbich, ed., Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, Tex., 985–1071.
31.
Partheniades, E., Cross, R. H., and Ayora, A. (1968). “Further results on the deposition of cohesive sediments.”Proc., 11th Coast. Engrg. Conf., ASCE, New York, 723–742.
32.
Partheniades, E., and Kennedy, J. F. (1966). “Depositional behavior of fine sediment in a turbulent fluid motion.”Proc., 10th Coast. Engrg. Conf., ASCE, New York, 707–729.
33.
Partheniades, E., Kennedy, J. F., Etter, R. J., and Hoyer, R. P. (1966). “Investigations of the depositional behavior of fine cohesive sediments in an annular rotating channel.”Rep. No. 96, Ralph M. Parsons Hydrodynamic Lab., MIT, Cambridge, Mass.
34.
Partheniades, E., and Paaswell, R. E.(1970). “Erodibility of channels with cohesive boundary.”J. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 96(3), 755–771.
35.
Petersen, O., and Krishnappan, B. G.(1994). “Measurement and analysis of flow characteristics in a rotating circular flume.”J. Hydr. Res., Delft, The Netherlands, 32(4), 483–494.
36.
Rohan, K., Lefebvre, G., Douville, S., and Milette, J.-P.(1986). “A new technique to evaluate erosivity of cohesive material.”Geotech. Testing J., 9(2), 87–92.
37.
Sheng, Y. P., and Villaret, C. (1989). “Modeling the effect of suspended sediment stratification on bottom exchange processes.”J. Geophys. Res., 94(C10), 14429–14444.
38.
Smerdon, E. T., and Beasley, R. P. (1961). “Critical tractive forces in cohesive soils.”Trans. ASAE, Jan., 26–29.
39.
White, C. M. (1940). “Equilibrium of grains on the bed of a stream.”Proc., Royal Soc., London, U.K., 174(A), 322.
40.
Zreik, D. A. (1994). “Behavior of cohesive soils and their drained, undrained, and erosional strengths at ultra-low stresses,” PhD thesis, Dept. of Civ. and Envir. Engrg., MIT, Cambridge, Mass.
41.
Zreik, D. A., Germaine, J. T., and Ladd, C. C. (1997). “Undrained strength of ultra-weak cohesive soils: Relationships between water content and effective stress.”Soils and Found., 37(3).
42.
Zreik, D. A., Germaine, J. T., and Ladd, C. C. (1998). “Failure envelope of cohesive soils in the ultra-low stress range.”Soils and Found., 38(2).
43.
Zreik, A., Ladd, C. C., and Germaine, J. T.(1995). “A new fall cone device for measuring the undrained shear strength of very weak cohesive soils.”ASTM Geotech. Testing J., 18(4), 472–482.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 124 • Issue 11 • November 1998
Pages: 1076 - 1085
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Nov 1, 1998
Published in print: Nov 1998
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.