Undrained Shear Properties of Shallow Clayey-Silty Sediments in the Shenhu Area of South China Sea

Ruchun Wei, Lele Liu (), Chao Jia (), Hualin Zhao, Xiao Dong, Qingtao Bu, Changling Liu and Nengyou Wu
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Ruchun Wei: Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266232, China
Lele Liu: Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao 266237, China
Chao Jia: Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266232, China
Hualin Zhao: Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266232, China
Xiao Dong: Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266232, China
Qingtao Bu: Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao 266237, China
Changling Liu: Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao 266237, China
Nengyou Wu: Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao 266237, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: Suction piles are used to ensure wellhead stability during natural gas hydrate production in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea (SCS). Undrained shear properties of clayey-silty sediments play a critical role in the stability analysis of suction piles. However, it has not been fully studied. This study conducts a series of undrained triaxial shear tests on shallow clayey-silty sediments in the Shenhu area of SCS, and stress–strain curves under different overconsolidation ratio (OCR) conditions are obtained. OCR effects on undrained shear properties of clayey-silty sediments are discussed, and a model to predict the pore pressure coefficient at failure is proposed. Results show that the isotropic compression index is 0.175, and the isotropic swelling index is 0.029. The undrained shear strength is proportional to the effective confining pressure, and the proportionality coefficient is 0.42 for normally consolidated specimens, while the undrained shear strength of OC specimens nonlinearly increases with OCRs increasing. The proposed model aptly predicts the pore pressure coefficient at the failure of clayey-silty sediments of SCS with different OCRs.

Keywords: undrained shear strength; overconsolidation; isotropic compression; pore pressure coefficient (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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