Professional Documents
Culture Documents
RESIDUAL SOIL: -produced by physical and chemical weathering of underlying rock. Erosion by rainfall and run-off.
Soil
Rock
Rock
SEDIMENTARY SOIL - later tectonic movement may raise this above sea level
Parent Material (normally rock) Physical and chemical weathering Possible unloading due to erosion
SEDIMENTARY SOIL (Young / Normally-Consolidated.) Self loading, causing compression (consolidation) Possible erosion, causing unloading Possible further chemical & physical processes eg secondary consolidation, cementation, hardening, leaching, producing structural effects such as apparent over-consolidation, sensitivity.
America, from the study of sedimentary soils Behavioural framework or theoretical basis of soil mechanics is based almost entirely on the properties of sedimentary soils. Textbooks and geotechnical engineering courses deal almost exclusively with sedimentary soils (even in countries with predominantly residual soils)
Sedimentary soils are more amenable to a theoretical framework than residual soils for two reasons:
- Firstly , the sorting process which takes place during erosion, transport, and re-deposition, tends to produce fairly homogeneous soils - Secondly, the stress history factor is a dominating influence on the behaviour of sedimentary soils (the division into normaly and over-consolidated soils is an essential feature of conventional soil mechancs)
Mineralogical groups: (a) Soils without strong mineralogical influence (b) Soil with strong mineralogical influence from normal clay minerals (c) Soils with strong mineralogical influence from special minerals not found in sedimentary soils Structural grouping: (a) Strong macro structural influence (b) Strong micro structural influence (c) Little or no structural influence
Volcanic ash
- strong mineralogical influence (allophane) - some micro but no macro-structural influence
Volcanic ash
- minor mineralogical influence strong micro structure, (high sensitivity) minor macro structure
Weathered schist
- no significant mineralogical influence - strong macro structural influence
Weathered sandstone
- no significant mineralogical influence - major macro structural influence, minor micro structural influence
1.6
Void ratio
1.4
1.2 (a) log scale 10 0 100 Pressure (kPa) 100 1000 200 300
Compression %
10
5000
100
400
500
A
3 Compression (%)
A
2
B
4
Void ration
B
2
C
6 8
10 1
12 14
Residual soils: log and liner plots. The linear plot is much more informative
Log plots - presumed to show preconsolidation pressure re-drawn using a liner scale no indication of a pre-consolidation pressure (Piedmont residual soil USA)
time
min.
Square root of time graphs often do not show an initial straight section - because of the high permeability of the soil
10
time 0 1 2 3
min 4
time 2
min 4
2
Remoulded
Remoulded
10
=3
1 / c=
Pa 4k
=3
200
100
300
400
500
600
400
5 / c= Pa 4k
=3
kP a =5
2 / =
200
200
800
1000
Weathered sandstone clay reflects defects and relic structures of parent rock
Slope stability
Slopes generally stable at steeper angles than with sedimentary soil Failures tend to be translational not deep seated rotational failures Failures are normally triggered by heavy and/or prolonged rainfall The cohesion intercept is normally a significant part of the shear strength of the soil With many (possibly most) residual soils, the performance of slopes is governed by the presence of discontinuities
11
1.8
1.3
1.2
Dry Density (gm/cm )
3
1.4
Ze ro a ir vo
Ze ro
ai r
1.1
id sl in e
vo id sl in e
1.0
1.0
Compaction behaviour
Variability of some residual soils makes compaction control by conventional methods (Opt. water content and Max. dry density) very difficult.
Ze ro
air
voi ds
Water content
Dry density
A it im sl id vo ir
12
150
ACLAY
e Lin
100
SILTY CLAY
s ) oil ite s e) ys llo ton lonit ot l ha s( k c ti ac mo clay Bl ont m ed ( lr i ca op Tr
Plasticity Index
SILT
s h soil nic as Volca ophane) (all
50
50
150
200
250
Liquid limit, plastic limit, or plasticity index should not be looked at in isolation The position on the Plasticity Chart should be examined the distance above or below the A-line, together with the L.L. value should be looked at together.
50 Plasticity Index
CH
C -line
A
A
CL Clay Silty clay MH or OH Silt ML or OL
50 Liquid limit
100
13
What is allophane?
A clay mineral derived from weathering of volcanic ash (non-cryatalline parent material) Originally thought to be amorphous, now known to have crystalline structure Generally occurs with another mineral imogolite Allophane small spherical particles Imogolite fine threads weaving among the allophane spheres A very open structure
14
HILLY/MOUNTAINOUS AREAS:
Vertical seepage tends to leach out silica based materials, ie the kaolinite/halloysite minerals leading to concentration of iron and aluminium sesqui-oxides.
-Problem soils
HALLOYSITE
KAOLINITE
LATERITE
15
Imogolite threads
Allophane spheres
16
17
18
10
1000
5000
Void Ratio
Sample I.3 Sample I.4 4 Sample I.6 Sample N.Z.1 Sample N.Z.6 Sample N.Z.7
19
1500
2000
10
20
30 Sample I.3 Sample I.4 Sample I.6 Sample N.Z.1 Sample N.Z.6 Sample N.Z.7
40
10 5
20
Time 2
min
20
128 025 60
40
60
16 032 0k Pa
a kP
80
16-32 kPa
100
0 20
% Dissipation
800
40 0-
-1
40
20
10 0-
60 0k Pa
-4
80 0
60 80
00
kP a
kP a
50 00 -1
0 20 a kP
a kP
100
0.01
0.1
1 Time (minutes)
10
100
1000
21
10
0.01
0.001 New Zealand samples - remoulded 0.0004 20 100 Pressure (kPa) 1000 2000
50 Coefficient of permeability
Coefficient of permeability (10-9 m/sec)
10
100
10
0.01
0.1
0.001
0.01
22
20
10
Depth (m)
10
Depth (m)
20
20
30
Kamojang Geothermal Power Station, Indonesia
30
Omata oil storage tank, New Zealand
400
r (degrees)
/
, Pa 0k 2
40
300
200
ak Pe
100
h gt en str
m fro
ax tri
tes ial
ts
100
500
600
23
B H D A
For H = 3m, = 35o = 16 kN/m3, / = 35o the required value of c/ = 8.4 kPa on plane A-B = 15.3 kPa on plane C-D.
ir v
oid
40
60
140
160
180
24
25
26
27
28
29
Allophane clays are generally good engineering materials (provided properties are understood and taken account of)
Evaluation by conventional tests such as water content, particle size and Atterberg limits tends to suggest allophane clays are not good engineering materials (Such indicators are a poor guide in this case) Problems with allophane clays have generally arisen during earthworks operations, especially control of compaction
30