Testing of High Water Content Cohesive Soils Using Thin-Walled Test Cells

摘要

The concepts associated with the field of soil mechanics are now being applied to marine sediments. Because of the more complex nature of the mixture of fine mineral particles and sea water, some of these concepts do not always appear overly applicable. This is particularly true with regard to the deep sea clays. In view of their often very high water contents, a liquid behavior might well be assumed for many marine clays. The analytical methods of fluid mechanics do not satisfactorily explain the low strengths that are found in these soils. Thin-walled test cylinders were devised to allow testing of cohesive soils at high water contents. Over 50 tests were made of a test sediment, the majority above the liquid limit, to study the relationship of plasticity to water content. The results show that the gradation from liquid to plastic behavior encompasses a much wider range of water contents than previously considered. (Author)