Geotechnical Characterization and Random Field Modeling of Desiccated Clay
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 11
Abstract
An extensive set of in situ and laboratory test data is presented for a footing load test site east of Houston, Texas, in desiccated Beaumont clay. The in situ test program included standard and cone penetration tests (CPTs), the latter of which was selected for statistical analysis to produce vertical and horizontal random field model parameters for corrected cone tip resistance. Given the relatively high sampling frequency of the cone tip resistance in the vertical direction, the vertical random field model parameters were determined using the modified Bartlett’s test statistic with fitted autocorrelation models subject to a strict fitting criterion. Horizontal random field model parameters were generated by collapsing the two-dimensional distribution of the CPTs to a one-dimensional representation and by using less stringent evaluation of the autocorrelation. The results of this study indicate that Beaumont clay exhibits greater inherent spatial variability than previously reported at other clay sites, which is attributed to the secondary structure of the desiccated clay. A companion paper discusses the performance of a footing load test in the context of spatial and transformation uncertainty.
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Acknowledgments
The financial support provided to the first author by the Valle and ARCS Fellowship Programs is gratefully acknowledged. Funding of the experimental program by Hayward Baker, Inc., is deeply appreciated. The writers would like to acknowledge Hart Crowser, Inc., for the use of their laboratories, and Fugro, Inc., for the donation of services to accomplish the X-ray photography of the thin-walled tube samples. The writers wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for the helpful comments received during the review of this paper.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 11 • November 2012
Pages: 1301 - 1313
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 30, 2011
Accepted: Feb 28, 2012
Published online: Mar 1, 2012
Published ahead of production: Mar 3, 2012
Published in print: Nov 1, 2012
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