Mexico City Soil Behavior at Different Strains: Observations and Physical Interpretation
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 127, Issue 9
Abstract
The unique mechanical properties of Mexico City soils plot as extreme values on most geotechnical engineering charts. The purpose of this study is to analyze salient properties and to propose conceptual models to explain them. In particular, mechanical parameters synthesized from published laboratory data are systematically organized in terms of strain level. Three strain regions are identified. The threshold strains at the boundaries between these strain regions are examined in terms of microscale processes that participate at different strains.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Barden, L. ( 1973). “Theme 2, Macro and microstructure of soils.” Proc., Int. Symp. on Soil Struct., Swedish Geotechnical Society, Stockholm, 159–163.
2.
Bennett, R. H., and Hulbert, M. H. ( 1986). Clay microstructure, International Human Resources Development Corporation, Boston.
3.
Bjerrum, L. ( 1972). “Embankments on soft ground.” Conf., Perf. of Earth and Earth-Supported Struct., ASCE, New York, Vol. 2, 1–54.
4.
Bjerrum, L., and Simons, N. A. ( 1960). “Comparison of shear strength characteristics of normally consolidated clays.” Proc., Res. Conf. on Shear Strength of Cohesive Soils, ASCE, New York, 711–726.
5.
Cascante, G., and Santamarina, J. C. (1996). “Interparticle contact behavior and wave propagation.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 122(10), 831–839.
6.
Díaz-Rodríguez, J. A. ( 1989a). “Behavior of Mexico City clay subjected to undrained repeated loading.” Can. Geotech. J., 26(1), 159–162.
7.
Díaz-Rodríguez, J. A. ( 1989b). “Effect of repeated loading on the strength of Mexico City clay.” 4th Int. Conf. on Soil Dyn. and Earthquake Engrg., Computational Mechanics Publications, Southampton, Boston, 197–208.
8.
Díaz-Rodríguez, J. A. ( 1992). “On dynamic properties of Mexico City clay for wide strain range.” 10th World Conf. on Earthquake Engrg., Vol. 1, Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1257–1262.
9.
Díaz-Rodríguez, J. A., Leroueil, S., and Alemán, J. D. (1992). “Yielding of Mexico City clay and other natural clays.”J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 118(7), 981–995.
10.
Díaz-Rodríguez, J. A., and López-Flores, L. ( 1999). “A study of microstructure using resonant-column tests.” 2nd Int. Conf. on Earthquake Geotech. Engrg., Vol. 1, Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 89–94.
11.
Díaz-Rodríguez, J. A., Lozano-Santa Cruz, R., Davila-Alcocer, V. M., Vallejo, E., and Girón, P. ( 1998). “Physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties of Mexico City: A geotechnical perspective.” Can. Geotech. J., 35(4), 600–610.
12.
Díaz-Rodríguez, J. A., Moreno, P., and Salinas, G. ( 2000). “Undrained shear behavior of Mexico City sediments after cyclic loading.” 12th World Conf. on Earthquake Engrg., Auckland, New Zealand (on CD-Rom).
13.
Díaz-Rodríguez, J. A., and Santamarina, J. C. ( 1999). “Thixotropy: The case of Mexico City soils.” 11th Panamerican Conf. on Soil Mech. and Geotech. Engrg., Iguazu, Brazil. Vol. 1, 442–448.
14.
Dobry, R. ( 1989). “Some basic aspects of soil liquefaction during earthquakes: Earthquake hazards and design of constructed facilities in the Eastern United States.” Annals of New York Academy of Sci., 558, 172–182.
15.
Dobry, R., and Vucetic, M. ( 1987). “Dynamic properties and seismic response of soft clay deposits.” Proc., Int. Symp. on Geotech. Engrg. of Soft Soils, Sociedad Mexicana de Mecanica de Suelos, Mexico City, Vol. 2, 49–85.
16.
Fam, M., and Santamarina, J. C. ( 1997). “A study of consolidation using mechanical and electromagnetic waves.” Géotechnique, 47(2), 203–219.
17.
Fam, M., Santamarina, J. C., and Dusseault, M. ( 1998). “Wave-based monitoring processes in granular salt.” J. Envir. and Engrg. Geophys., 3(1), 15–26.
18.
Farrar, D. M., and Coleman, J. D. ( 1967). “The correlation of surface area with other properties of nineteen British clays.” J. Soil Sci., 18(1), 118–124.
19.
Foreman, F. ( 1955). “Palynology in southern North America. Part II: Study of two cores from lake sediments of the Mexico City Basin.” Geological Soc. of America Bull., 66, 475–510.
20.
Ishihara, K. ( 1996). Soil behaviour in earthquake geotechnics, Clarendon Press, Oxford, U.K.
21.
Kenney, T. C. (1959). “Discussion to the paper `Geotechnical properties of glacial clays.' by T. H. Wu.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, 85(3), 67–79.
22.
Kokusho, T., Yoshida, Y., and Esashi, Y. ( 1982). “Dynamic properties of soft clay for wide strain range.” Soils and Found., 22(4), 1–18.
23.
Ladd, C. C., and Foott, R. (1974). “New design procedure for stability of soft clays.”J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 100(7), 763–786.
24.
Lo, K. Y. ( 1962). “Shear strength properties of a sample of volcanic material of the Valley of Mexico.” Géotechnique, 12(4), 303–318.
25.
Marsal, R. J., and Mazari, M. ( 1959). “The subsoil of Mexico City.” Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.
26.
Marsal, R. J., and Salazar-Resines, J. ( 1960). “Pore pressure and volumetric measurements in triaxial compression tests.” Proc., Res. Conf. on Shear Strength of Cohesive Soils, ASCE, New York, 965–983.
27.
Mesri, G., Rokhsar, A., and Bohor, B. F. ( 1975). “Composition and compressibility of typical samples of Mexico City clay.” Géotechnique, 25(3), 527–554.
28.
Mitchell, J. K. ( 1993). Fundamentals of soil behavior, Wiley, New York.
29.
Muhunthan, B. ( 1991). “Liquid limit and surface area of clays.” Géotechnique, 41(1), 135–138.
30.
Ohara, S., and Matsuda, H. ( 1988). “Study on the settlement of saturated clay layer induced by cyclic shear.” Soils and Found., 28(3), 103–113.
31.
Peralta y Fabi, R. ( 1989). “Sobre el origen de algunas propiedades mecánicas de la formación arcillosa superior del Valle de México.” Simposio sobre tópicos geológicos de la cuenca del Valle de México, Sociedad Mexicana de Mecánica de Suelos, 43–53 (in Spanish).
32.
Pusch, R. ( 1970). “Microstructural changes in soft quick clay at failure.” Can. Geotech. J., 7, 1–7.
33.
Santamarina, J. C., and Aloufi, M. ( 1999). “Small strain stiffness: A Micromechanical experimental study.” Proc., Pre-failure Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials, M. Jamiolkowski, R. Lancellotta, and D. Lo Presti, eds., Torino, Italy, 451–458.
34.
Santamarina, J. C., and Cascante, G. ( 1996). “Stress anisotropy and wave propagation:a micromechanical view.” Can. Geotech. J., 33(5), 770–782.
35.
Santamarina, J. C., Klein, K., and Fam, M. ( 2001). Soils and waves, Wiley, New York.
36.
Terzaghi, K., Peck, R. B., and Mesri, G. ( 1996). Soil mechanics in engineering practice, Wiley, New York.
37.
Vucetic, M. (1994). “Cyclic threshold shear strains in soils.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 120(12), 2208–2228.
38.
Vucetic, M., and Dobry, R. (1991). “Effect of soil plasticity on cyclic response.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 117(1), 89–107.
39.
Wood, D. ( 1990). Soil behavior and critical state soil mechanics, Cambridge University Press, New York.
40.
Zeevaert, L. ( 1972). Foundation engineering for difficult subsoil conditions, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
41.
Zeevaert, L. (1991). “Seismosoil dynamics of foundation in Mexico City earthquake, September 19, 1985.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 117(3), 376–428.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 127 • Issue 9 • September 2001
Pages: 783 - 789
History
Received: Nov 8, 1999
Published online: Sep 1, 2001
Published in print: Sep 2001
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.