Mechanical behaviour of highly fissured sheared clay shales

摘要

Stiff clays and clay shales are often fissured as a consequence of their geological history. As shown by Alec Skempton, fissures strongly affect the soil behaviour, often more than index and state properties. Unfortunately, in the last years the research on the role of fissures on soil properties has been less active than in the past. Therefore, a symposium devoted to A. Skempton is a good occasion to focus once again on this point. The paper reports a short review of researches on highly fissured sheared clay shales of the Italian Apennines.