The Effects of Temperature on One-Dimensional Consolidation and Creep Behaviors of Hong Kong Marine Deposits

Abstract

The consolidation of Hong Kong marine deposits (HKMDs), a typical soft clayey soil in Hong Kong, is a serious concern in engineering practices, such as coastal embankment construction and marine reclamations. Previous research works illustrate that high temperatures could accelerate the rate of consolidation of soft clayey soils, which has a great potential in future applications. Therefore, studies on the consolidation and stress–strain behaviors of clayey soils under various thermal conditions are necessary. In this paper, a modified temperature-controlled oedometer has been developed and employed to investigate the effects of vertical stress and temperature on the consolidation and creep behavior of remolded HKMD with a temperature range of 20°C–60°C. Scanning electrical microscope (SEM) tests were performed to observe the microstructure of HKMD specimens after oedometer tests under different temperatures. The results show that compression index Cc is nearly independent of temperature, while swelling index Cs is slightly affected by the thermal and stress paths. As temperature increases, both permeability and coefficient of consolidation increase, and the duration to the end of primary consolidation is shortened. It has also been found that with an increase of temperature, the preconsolidation pressure decreases, and there is a reduction in linear creep rate and creep strain limit. Both linear and nonlinear creep functions are adopted to analyze the creep behavior.