Experimental Investigation on Principal Stress Rotation in Kaolin Clay
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 5
Abstract
A combined axial–torsional testing system was developed to investigate the effect of rotation of principal stresses on the three-dimensional mechanical behavior of Kaolin clay. Uniform and reproducible cohesive specimens having a specimen shape of a hollow cylinder were obtained using a two-stage slurry consolidation technique. Precise stress paths (triaxial compression to pure torsional shear to triaxial extension), corresponding to a fixed rotation of the major principal stress axis, were achieved by using the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) feedback control technique. Kaolin clay specimens were tested under a variety of stress paths associated with a constant principal stress rotation angle under undrained conditions. Typical test results, such as effective friction angle, undrained shear strength, stress–strain relationship, pore pressure evolution, and stress paths are presented as a function of . During shearing, the procedure to use advanced servo-hydraulic control (using PID algorithm in this study) to maintain a fixed value that involves updating specimen geometry in real-time is described. A new approach for data analysis and visualization is presented for providing a convenient way of incorporating the effect of major principal stress rotation angle considering the degradation of stiffness as a function of stress path in three dimensions.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support from National Science Foundation (NSF) through Grant No. CMS 9872618 is gratefully acknowledged. The writers would like to acknowledge the contributions of anonymous reviewers and Dr. Amit Prashant for helping with suitable revisions.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 5 • May 2005
Pages: 633 - 642
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 21, 2003
Accepted: Oct 6, 2004
Published online: May 1, 2005
Published in print: May 2005
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