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Tensile Strength of Cement-Treated Champlain Sea Clay

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Abstract

Champlain Sea clay, a sensitive marine clay, is commonly found along the Saint Lawrence River basin in Eastern Canada. According to recent studies, cement is efficient in treating Champlain Sea clay. However, there is no information available regarding the tensile strength of cement-treated Champlain Sea clay. This paper presents an experimental investigation on its tensile strength using two indirect testing methods: the Brazilian tensile strength (BTS) test and the unconfined penetration (UP) test. The study shows that both the BTS test and the UP test can be easily implemented to study the tensile strength of cement-treated Champlain Sea clay. Compared to the UP test, the BTS test is recommended in future studies for its more consistent test results and more uniform sample failure modes. The tensile strength was correlated with the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of cement-treated Champlain Sea clay. Based on the BTS test results, the tensile strength can be estimated at approximately 7% of its compressive strength for cement-treated Champlain Sea clay.

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Data availability

Some of data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would also like to express thanks to Ontario Power Generation (OPG) for the provision of clay samples from Waba Dam near Arnprior, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

This study was made possible with funding from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Keller through a Collaborative Research and Development Grant for a project named “Deep Mixing to Stabilize Champlain Sea Clay.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada

    Jinyuan Liu

  2. Peter Kiewit Sons ULC, 1425 North Service Road East, Unit 1, Oakville, ON, L6H 1A7, Canada

    Kun Yang

  3. Keller–North America, Acton, Canada

    Naresh Gurpersaud

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  1. Jinyuan Liu
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  2. Kun Yang
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  3. Naresh Gurpersaud
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Correspondence to Jinyuan Liu.

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Liu, J., Yang, K. & Gurpersaud, N. Tensile Strength of Cement-Treated Champlain Sea Clay. Geotech Geol Eng 40, 5467–5480 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-022-02226-2

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