Undrained shear strengths are imperative in evaluating the stability of embankments founded on normally and overconsolidated clays. Variation of undrained shear strength of clays with over-consolidation ratio (OCR) has been studied to some extent. However, the effect of activity and mineralogy on OCR based undrained shear strength variation has not been studied in detail. In this study, three mixtures of kaolinite with quartz were consolidated at the OCR of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 using an oedometer. The samples were, then, tested in a static NGI-type static simple shear device confined by a rubber membrane and a stack of Teflon coated rings. The study result showed that the undrained strength ratio increased by an increase in OCR. The increase in strength with OCR yielded a unique relationship for soil having kaolinite as clay mineral. The SANSHEP model was utilized to estimate the undrained shear strength of tested clays at different OCRs for varying activity values.
展开▼
