Quality assessment of undisturbed clay samples based on volumetric strain when consolidated at in situ effective stress

Abstract

When examining the mechanical properties of soil samples through laboratory testing, the procedure of consolidating the sample at the in-situ effective stress to reproduce the effective stress condition is called recompression, and is considered effective in eliminating the effects of disturbance and determining reliable strength and deformation characteristics. The volumetric strain generated during recompression is used as an index to evaluate the quality of samples, but there is little published data on the volumetric strain during recompression of natural clays. This paper collects and analyzes data on the volumetric strain during recompression of marine clay samples collected for port and offshore airport projects in Japan, and discusses the assessment of sample quality based on volumetric strain.