Effects of temperature on the time-dependent compression and shear behaviour of a soft marine clayey soil

Abstract

The thermal effects on geomaterials, especially on clayey soils are getting increasing concerns in many geotechnical applications. To study the effects of temperature on the stress-strain behaviour of Hong Kong marine deposits (HKMD), a series of temperature-controlled experiments were carried out. Oedometer and constant-rate-of-strain consolidation tests under temperatures from 10 °C to 60 °C were conducted on both intact and reconstituted HKMD considering different temperatures and stress paths. The effects of temperature history on the compression curves, thermally induced strain, and the characteristics of creep are revealed and discussed. The concept of virgin heating is proposed for interpreting the thermal plastic deformation. With increasing temperature, the creep coefficient is found to decrease while the creep strain rate increases. Consolidated undrained triaxial tests were performed on intact and reconstituted HKMD under different strain rates and temperature conditions. Under constant temperature, the undrained shear strength of HKMD is not significantly influenced by temperature. In triaxial tests subjected to step-changed temperature, the undrained heating causes a significant reduction of effective stress and rise of porewater pressure in HKMD. Finally, microscopic investigations with mercury intrusion porosimeter and scanning electron microscope are presented and discussed in this paper. It is found that the micropores of HKMD are evolutional with temperature.