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Yielding of Silt at High Temperature and Suction Magnitudes

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Abstract

This study presents an evaluation of yielding mechanisms for unsaturated, compacted silt using drained triaxial compression tests with control of elevated temperatures and high suction magnitudes. After anisotropic compression, some compacted silt specimens were heated by approximately 40 °C before a suction of approximately 300 MPa was applied, while others were heated after suction application. A frictional response was observed for the specimens sheared under high suction magnitudes, in the form of a consistent increase in peak shear strength with increasing net confining stress. An effective stress analysis was used to evaluate the trends in the peak shear stress and the role of stress history for the different specimens. A single peak failure envelope was observed when the shear strength data was interpreted in terms of the mean effective stress. Changes in preconsolidation stress were estimated by identifying the intersections between a thermo-elasto-plastic yield function and the experimental peak shear strength values. Soil specimens heated before application of high suction values had lower peak shear strengths than reference specimens at high suction and ambient temperature. This behaviour is consistent with thermal softening trends observed in soils heated under low suction values. However, soil specimens heated after suction application had greater peak shear strengths than the reference specimens. This indicates heating under high suction results in hardening. The impact of suction on the preconsolidation stress was found to be better represented by a power law model at high suction magnitudes than other available models. The estimated preconsolidation stress values were used to evaluate the impacts of stress history on the thermal volume change response, which matched well with data from tests on saturated specimens.

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Abbreviations

a:

Empirical parameter of the power law model

b:

Empirical parameter of the power law model

MW :

Molecular mass of water vapour

MCSL :

Slope of the critical state line

Mpeak :

Slope of the peak failure envelope

N:

Reference specific volume point on the virgin compression line

p:

Mean total stress

p′:

Mean effective stress

\({\text{p}}_{\text{c}}^{\prime }\) :

Mean effective preconsolidation stress

\({\text{p}}_{\text{co}}^{\prime }\) :

Initial mean effective preconsolidation stress

pn :

Mean net stress

\({\text{p}}_{\text{peak}}^{\prime }\) :

Mean effective stress at peak failure

qpeak :

Principal stress difference at peak failure

Rh :

Relative humidity of the pore air in decimal form

R:

Universal (molar) gas constant

r:

Spacing ratio parameter of the Uchaipichat (2005) model

ra :

Parameter of the Alonso et al. (1990) model

T:

Temperature

uw :

Pore water pressure

ua :

Pore air pressure

vκ :

Reference specific volume point on the recompression line

α:

Empirical parameter of the Uchaipichat (2005) model

αGS :

Parameter of the Grant and Salehzadeh (1996) model

β:

Parameter of the Grant and Salehzadeh (1996) model

βa :

Parameter of the Alonso et al. (1990) model

ΔT:

Change in temperature

Λ:

Slope of the virgin compression line

λGS :

Parameter of the Grant and Salehzadeh (1996) model

κ:

Slope of the recompression line

ρw :

Density of water

σs :

Suction stress

σ′:

Effective stress

σ:

Total stress

σn :

Net stress

ψ:

Suction

ψaev :

Air entry suction

Ω:

Effective stress scaling parameter in the model of Khalili and Khabbaz (1998)

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant CMMI 1054190. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF. The first author would also like to acknowledge funding from the Libyan Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Nahed A. Alsherif

  2. Department of Structural Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    John S. McCartney

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  1. Nahed A. Alsherif
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  2. John S. McCartney
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Correspondence to John S. McCartney.

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Alsherif, N.A., McCartney, J.S. Yielding of Silt at High Temperature and Suction Magnitudes. Geotech Geol Eng 34, 501–514 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-015-9961-x

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