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Shear Strength and Dilatancy of Calcareous Sand in the South China Sea

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Abstract

The shear strength and dilatancy of typical uncemented calcareous sand from the South China Sea are investigated by soil lab tests. According to drained triaxial tests at various relative densities and confining stresses, it is found that the constant volume friction angle is approximated as 39° and the traditional Bolton’s equations can be modified to estimate the peak friction angle and dilation angle. The reliability of the equation proposed for the peak friction angle is verified in terms of calcareous sands from more onshore and offshore sites worldwide, while the errors of the predicted dilation angles scatter in a relatively large range. Totally, the dilation angles of sands in the South China Sea are estimated by the equation presented with an error of ±30%. The peak friction angle measured by the undrained is similar to that by the drained tests as the relative density smaller than 60%, while the former is slightly lower for denser samples.

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Acknowledgments

The calcareous sand sample was provided by Professor WANG Ren at Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Geological Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Hui-min Pei & Dong Wang

  2. Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Dong Wang

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  1. Hui-min Pei
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  2. Dong Wang
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Correspondence to Dong Wang.

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This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U1806230 and 42025702).

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Pei, Hm., Wang, D. Shear Strength and Dilatancy of Calcareous Sand in the South China Sea. China Ocean Eng 36, 781–790 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-022-0069-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-022-0069-9

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