Duncan–Chang E - υ Model Considering the Thixotropy of Clay in the Zhanjiang Formation

Bin Tang (), Tianli Liu and Biaohe Zhou
Additional contact information
Bin Tang: Guangxi Key Laboratory of Geotechnical Mechanics and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Tianli Liu: School of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Biaohe Zhou: College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-17

Abstract: The clays of the Zhanjiang Formation in the coastal area of Beibu Gulf of China are thixotropic, and the existing constitutive relationship models relevant for clay are incapable of accurately simulating their stress–strain relationships. It is vital to study the changes of mechanical properties of Zhanjiang Formation clay that occur during thixotropy, and to establish a constitutive model considering thixotropy. The varying measures of its shear strength, cohesion, internal friction angle, and initial tangential modulus during thixotropy were investigated by means of triaxial consolidation and drainage tests. Furthermore, the quantitative relationships between the clay’s cohesion, internal friction angle, and initial tangential modulus of the clay and time were examined. This relationship was introduced into the Duncan–Chang model, and a Duncan–Chang model considering the thixotropy of clay was developed. The established model was used to make predictions to assume the validation of the experimental data, and numerical simulations were then carried out. All of the results from the model’s prediction, numerical simulation and experimental measurements were compared against each other in order to verify the reasonableness of the model we had utilized. The results positively demonstrated that: (1) the shear strength, cohesion, angle of internal friction, and initial tangent modulus of the clay gradually increases with longer curing times, and eventually it will stabilize; and (2) compared with the Duncan–Chang model not considering thixotropy, the established thixotropic model is better able to reflect the influence of clay thixotropy on the clay stress–strain relationship, as its mean relative error is smaller. The results of this study provide references for calculating strength and deformation of the clay thixotropy. Further, it also provides references for bearing load calculations of pile foundations in thixotropic clay strata when subjected to long-term loading conditions.

Keywords: Zhanjiang Formation clay; thixotropy of clay; initial tangential modulus; Duncan–Chang model; thixotropic model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12258/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12258/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:19:p:12258-:d:926562

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().