Yielding and K0 Value Variation of Cemented Sand along a K0 Path
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 22, Issue 9
Abstract
The yield stress and the coefficient of lateral earth pressure at rest, K0, of soil are important parameters for geotechnical design. However, the effect of cementation on the values of yield stress and K0 of artificially cemented sand along a K0 path has not been fully studied, despite the common use of cement mixing for soil improvement. A series of consolidation tests of K0 on artificially cemented sand has been conducted using a plane-strain apparatus. The test results show that the value of K0 of cemented sand is very much affected by the amount of cementation; the lowest value of K0 in a K0 test corresponds to the yield stress provided by cementation. It is established in this study that the yield stress of cemented sand marks the start of a large amount of bond destruction. The value of K0 reduces exponentially with the increase in cement content. One important practical implication is that the lateral earth pressure at rest can be reduced by introducing cementation to soil. This study also shows that Jaky’s equation is no longer applicable for estimating the value of K0 of cemented sand, although it may still provide a rough estimate for clean sand. The value of K0 of cemented sand can be estimated using a combination of Jaky’s equation for clean sand and Jaky’s equation for cement content.
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Acknowledgments
The work presented in this paper is partially supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE2015-T2-2-142) and by the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, who provided the scholarship for the first author.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- B
- Skempton’s pore-pressure parameter;
- cc
- cement content;
- D50
- mean grain size (mm);
- d
- dilatancy ratio ;
- es0
- initial intergranular void ratio;
- K0
- coefficient of lateral earth pressure at rest;
- p′
- effective mean stress;
- q
- deviator stress;
- γd0
- initial dry density of soil (kN/m3);
- ΔW
- total work;
- ΔWbond
- energy dissipated by bonding breakage;
- ΔWfric
- energy dissipated by frictional loss;
- δq
- increment of deviatoric stress;
- δεa
- incremental axial strain;
- δεs
- incremental total shear strain;
- incremental plastic shear strain;
- δεv
- incremental total volumetric strain;
- incremental plastic volumetric strain;
- εa
- axial strain (compression positive);
- εv
- volumetric strain (compression positive);
- ε1
- vertical strain;
- ε2, ε3
- horizontal strains;
- η
- stress ratio (q/p′);
- horizontal effective stress (kPa);
- vertical effective stress;
- major, intermediate, and minor principal effective stresses, respectively (kPa);
- yielding major principal effective stress (kPa); and
- φ′
- peak effective friction angle of soil.
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History
Received: Sep 22, 2021
Accepted: Apr 4, 2022
Published online: Jul 4, 2022
Published in print: Sep 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Dec 4, 2022
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Cited by
- Lei Wang, Jian Chu, Shifan Wu, Mechanical Behavior of Cemented Sand under Plane Strain Condition, International Journal of Geomechanics, 10.1061/IJGNAI.GMENG-10368, 24, 9, (2024).