Abstract
This paper presents a description, the results and analysis of instrumented indentation testing of intact specimens of a Champlain Sea Clay. Five indenters of different geometries and composed of different metals were used. Indentation was conducted to target loads that varied from 2 to 32 N with unloading and force, P, versus penetration, h, curves were recorded. Conventional geotechnical testing was also conducted on the clay. These included index property and characterization testing as well as consolidation, unconfined compression and consolidated undrained triaxial compression. Existing analytical and theoretical solutions were applied to the indentation test results to deduce the hardness, undrained shear strength and Young’s modulus. However, these were found to be not applicable to the clay for a few reasons. An innovative analytical solution that considers the behavior of the clay and the geometry of the indenters is proposed. It was found that a penetration of 4 mm is necessary for the hardness to reach a constant asymptotic value. The proposed solution was validated using indentation test data.
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The authors express their gratitude to the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for the financial support received in the course of this study.
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Ewane, M.S., Silvestri, V. & James, M. The Use of Laboratory Indentation Testing to Characterize Champlain Sea Clay. Geotech Geol Eng 38, 6365–6383 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-020-01441-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-020-01441-z