Recent Stress-History Effects on Compressible Chicago Glacial Clays
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 3
Abstract
This paper presents the results of an experimental program to investigate recent stress-history effects on small-strain stiffness of lightly overconsolidated compressible Chicago glacial clays. Stress-probe tests with different recent stress histories were conducted on high-quality block samples taken from an excavation in Evanston, Illinois. The stress histories applied prior to probing represent in situ greenfield conditions and an unloading path associated with a common situation encountered when building in congested urban areas. Results of the stress-probe tests are compared in terms of shear, volumetric, and coupled components and their stiffness degradation. Strain-response envelopes were constructed in shear and volumetric-strain space to graphically show the significant difference in these responses between the two sets of stress-probe tests. The results clearly indicate that the recent stress history affects shear, bulk, and the two cross-coupled moduli of the Chicago clays as a function of the angle change between the previous and current stress paths. Consequently, the overall characteristics of strain-response envelopes of the two sets of stress probes are different.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support for this work was provided by National Science Foundation grant NSFCMS-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. The writers also thank the reviewers for their suggestions and comments on the paper.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 3 • March 2011
Pages: 197 - 207
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 6, 2009
Accepted: Aug 11, 2010
Published online: Aug 31, 2010
Published in print: Mar 1, 2011
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