Secondary consolidation characteristic of bentonite by long-term consolidation tests of 2.7, 3.7 and 4 years

Abstract

It has been reported that the deformation greatly increased in the secondary consolidation process in the past long-term consolidation test of 1.8 years on Na-type bentonite/sand mixed soil. Therefore, we analyzed potential contributing factors in this behavior. A long-term consolidation test for about 10 years on bentonite and kaolinite was started using the test equipment with countermeasures against these factors. In this paper, the secondary consolidation behavior of bentonite was investigated based on the long-term consolidation test data for 2.7, 3.7 and 4 years. The results were generally consistent with the conventional findings on soil mechanics that the deformation due to secondary consolidation progresses linearly with respect to logarithm of time. This test will be continued for about 10 years and longer-term secondary consolidation behavior will be investigated.