Effects of saturation on the undrained shear strength of geotextile reinforced clay under triaxial compression

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The clay excavated from the riverbed had a high void ratio and a low capacity, requiring a reinforced method to improve its capacity before using it as backfill in construction. This paper researches the effect of the saturation on the un-drained shear capacity of clay by using a triaxial shear test under the unconsolidation-undrained condition. The results illustrate that geotextile layers increase the intensity of clay in both unsaturated and saturated conditions. The saturated process decreased the undrained shear capacity of unreinforced specimens by about 70-80%. With two
geotextile layers, the minimum decrease of Su was from 45-65%. The research showed that the undrained shear capacity of the clay falls dramatically during saturated process.

Key word: Geotextiles; clay; one dimensional consolidation test; friction; trial compression shear test.