Defining Yield from Bender Element Measurements in Triaxial Stress Probe Experiments
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 7
Abstract
This paper describes the elastic response of a block sample of compressible Chicago glacial clay under a variety of stresses and its relationship with the deformation characteristics at relatively large strains. The elastic shear stiffness was obtained from bender element tests during consolidation and shearing in drained triaxial stress probe tests. An empirical correlation was established based on the elastic shear stiffness in a preyield condition. By comparing the empirical correlation with the measured elastic shear stiffness in the stress region during probing, the changes of elastic shear stiffness were investigated. The departure of elastic shear stiffness from values computed by the empirical relation based on loading directly relates to the yielding characteristics of the clay. The large-scale change of soil structure at yielding alters the well-established relationship between the elastic shear stiffness and stresses in the preyield condition. The mechanical yielding response of clays can be detected based on the systematic analysis of the elastic shear wave velocities.
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Acknowledgements
Financial support for this work was provided by Korea Research Foundation Grant No. KRF-2005-214-D00166, National Science Foundation Grant No. CMS-0219123 and the Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI) of Northwestern University. The support of Dr. Richard Fragaszy, program director at NSF, and Mr. David Schulz, ITI’s director, is greatly appreciated. Dr. Terence P. Holman of Moretrench Geotec conducted the experiments presented in this paper.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 7 • July 2007
Pages: 841 - 849
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 5, 2006
Accepted: Dec 18, 2006
Published online: Jul 1, 2007
Published in print: Jul 2007
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