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Correlation between the maximum shear modulus and the undrained strength
of a remolded marine clay

Conference Paper · January 2007

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José Maria de Camargo Barros Claudio Amaral

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 Correlation between the maximum shear modulus and the undrained
strength of a remolded marine clay
Correlación entre el máximo módulo de corte y el esfuerzo no drenado de una arcilla marina
remoldada

José Maria de Camargo Barros

Institute for Technological Research of the State of São Paulo - IPT, São Paulo, Brazil
Rosana Marília da Silva Silveira
Institute for Technological Research of the State of São Paulo - IPT, São Paulo, Brazil
Cláudio dos Santos Amaral
Petrobras – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of a laboratory investigation conducted to evaluate the relationship between the
maximum shear modulus (G0) and the undrained strength (Su) of a remolded marine clay. The soil used in the
research was a typical marine clay from Jubarte field, in the Espírito Santo basin, Brazil. From the soil a mud
was prepared with a water content of 1.5 times the liquid limit. The specimens for the tests were cut from pre-
samples, obtained from the consolidation of the mud under a confining pressure of 100 kPa. Resonant column
tests and CIU triaxial compression tests were carried out for the determination of G0 and Su respectively. The
tests were performed with different values of confining pressure 0 (35 to 560 kPa) and overconsolidation ra-
tio OCR (1 to 16), amounting to 20 different conditions. The effects of 0 e OCR on the maximum shear
modulus and on the undrained shear strength are discussed. A correlation between Su and G0 was obtained and
a comparison between this correlation and those reported in the literature is presented.

RESUMEN
Esta investigación presenta los resultados de una investigación de laboratorio realizado para evaluar la rela-
ción entre el máximo módulo de corte (G0) y el esfuerzo no drenado (Su) de una arcilla marina remoldada. El
suelo usado en esta investigación es una arcilla marina típica del campo de Jubarte, en la cuenca de Espírito
Santo, Brazil. Del suelo hasta un barro se preparó con un contenido de agua de 1,5 veces el límite líquido. Los
especímenes para las pruebas se cortaron del muestreo preliminar, obtenido de la consolidación del barro bajo
una presión confinate de 100 kPa. El ensayo de columna resonante y los ensayos de compresión de triaxial se
llevaron a cabo para la determinación de G0 y Su respectivamente. Las pruebas se realizaron con diferentes va-
lores de presion confinante 0 (35 a 560 kPa) y fueron sobreconsolidación OCR de (1 a 16), ascendiendo a 20
condiciones diferentes. Los efectos de 0 y OCR en el módulo de corte máximo y esfuerzo no drenado son
discutidos. Una correlación entre Su y G0 se obtuvo y la comparación entre esta correlación y otras informa-
ciones contenidas en la literatura son presentados.

Keywords: marine clay, maximum shear modulus, undrained shear strength.

1 INTRODUCTION In this investigation, the reason for a correlation

Several investigations presented in the international
literature have been conducted to evaluate the corre-
lation between the maximum dynamic shear modu-
lus, G0, and the undrained strength, Su, of clays. The
reason for those studies is that in general the deter-
mination of dynamic parameters requires the execu-
tion of complex field or laboratory tests; it is, there-
fore, interesting to obtain them by means of the
undrained strength, whose determination is much
easier.
G0 – Su is inverse. While the determination of the
undrained strength of clays, a fundamental parame-
ter in the project of offshore foundations, is very ex-
pensive, mainly due to the need of collecting undis-
turbed samples from the marine subsoil, often at
water depths greater than 1000 m, values of the
shear wave velocity (and, therefore, of maximum
shear modulus) are obtained on a routine basis as a
by-product of geophysical investigations performed
at the sea bed in prospective studies in petroleum
fields. Hence, it is extremely interesting to estimate
the undrained strength of these soils from geophysi-
cal data.
In this paper, a preliminary stage of a deeper in-
vestigation is presented. In this phase, for the deter-
mination of the correlation, resonant column and
CIU triaxial tests were performed on a remolded
sample of a Brazilian marine clay. Resonant column
tests were performed using multi-stage technique; so
each specimen could provide results of G0 for differ-
ent confining pressures and overconsolidation ratios.
Triaxial compression tests were carried out in the
same conditions of confining pressure and overcon-
solidation ratio of the resonant columns tests, in a to-
tal of 20 tests. Figure 1. Pre-sample, immediately before confinement.

2 SOIL UTILIZED From pre-samples, the specimens for the resonant

column and triaxial tests were cut with 3 cm in di-
2.1 Soil characterization ameter and 7.5 cm in height. Table 2 shows the
physical characteristics of the specimens.
The soil used in the research is a mixture of several
samples extracted from different depths in Jubarte Table 2. Average values of physical characteristics of speci-
petroleum field, located offshore Vitoria in the Es- mens.
pírito Santo basin. The Jubarte field was discovered
in January 2001, at water depth of 1400 meters and Water Degree of
Density Void
about 77 km offshore. Test content Saturation
(kg/m3) ratio, e
Table 1 shows the results of specific gravity, At- (%) (%)
terberg limits and grain size analysis carried out on CIU 1615 62 1.81 96
the soil mixture utilized in this investigation.
Resonant
column 1651 62 1.74 98
Table 1. Atterberg limits, specific gravity and grain size analy-
sis of the soil.

Atterberg Limits Grain size

s
LL PL PI clay silt sand 3 TEST DESCRIPTION
(kg/m3)
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
78 34 44 2790 58 37 5 3.1 Resonant column
Resonant column tests were performed on six spec-
2.2 Mud Preparation imens. In each specimen, a sequence of several stag-
Water was added to the soil mixture so as to get a es of confining pressure (both loading and unload-
water content of 1.5 times its liquid limit. After ho- ing) were applied and at each confining pressure the
mogenization, the mud was stored in a tank. Go value was determined at the end of primary con-
solidation. By combining confining pressure and
2.3 Pre-sample and specimen preparation overconsolidation ratio, 20 different conditions were
tested. Some conditions were duplicated resulting in
Specimens utilized in resonant column and triaxial a total of 27 tests. At each stage of confining pres-
tests were cut from pre-samples, obtained from the sure, consolidation was permitted by opening only
consolidation of the mud under a confining pressure the bottom drainage valve, spending 8 days for nor-
of 100 kPa. The main objective of the pre-samples mally consolidated conditions and 4 days for over-
was to obtain homogeneous specimens. The proce- consolidated conditions.
dure adopted in the preparation of pre-samples was Table 3 shows the sequence of the tests. The test
as follows. identification is made as follows: the number indi-
Each pre-sample 12 cm in diameter and 24 cm in cates the specimen and the letter indicates the stage
height, encased by a flexible membrane (sustained of confining pressure. The six specimens were num-
by a PVC mold) was consolidated into a triaxial bered from 1 to 7; the specimen 4 was eliminated
chamber. Figure 1 shows a pre-sample in the assem- because it did not present satisfactory results.
bly process, before the confining pressure applica- At the end of primary consolidation, at each con-
tion. fining pressure, the variation of the ratio G/G0 versus
shear strain was obtained. These data were presented
by Silveira et al. (2006).
Table 4. Identification of CIU triaxial tests.
Table 3. Sequence of resonant column tests. Confining pressure (kPa)
OCR
35 70 140 280 350 420 560
Confining
1 1 2 3 4 5
OCR pressure (kPa) 2 6 7 8
35 70 140 280 350 420 560 2.5 9
1 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 3 10
4 11 12 13
1 2a 2b 6a 6b
5 14
1 5a 7a 3a 6 15
2 5b 7b 1f 8 16 17
2.5 3b 10 18
3 6c 12 19
16 20
4 5c 7c 1g
5 3c
6 6d Table 5. G0 values at the end of primary consolidation.
8 7d 1h Confining
10 3d Test pressure, OCR G0 (kPa)
12 6e 0 (kPa)
1a 140 1 36432
16 1i
1b 280 1 64808
1c 350 1 78122
3.2 CIU triaxial tests 1d 420 1 97113
CIU compression triaxial tests were performed at a 1e 560 1 119872
strain rate of 0.25 mm/min. These tests were per- 1f 280 2 99051
formed in the same conditions of confining pressure 1g 140 4 84945
and overconsolidation ratio of the resonant column 1h 70 8 84890
tests. 1i 35 16 84836
Table 4 shows the identification of the CIU triax- 2a 140 1 41570
ial tests. Each number in this table represents a spec- 2b 280 1 65647
imen. 3a 350 1 82870
3b 140 2.5 60070
3c 70 5 59930
4 RESULTS 3d 35 10 59900
5a 140 1 38580
4.1 Resonant column 5b 70 2 32550
Table 5 shows the values of confining pressure, 5c 35 4 24430
overconsolidation ratio and G0 obtained after prima- 6a 350 1 88487
ry consolidation. Figure 2 presents G0 values as a 6b 420 1 105665
function of confining pressure. The identification in 6c 140 3 79417
the legend corresponds to the specimen number. 6d 70 6 79347
It can be seen in Figure 2 that when the confining 6e 35 12 79295
pressure is reduced G0 decreases with increasing 7a 280 1 68031
overconsolidation ratio for OCR less than or equal to 7b 140 2 63734
4. Above this value, G0 becomes constant. A similar 7c 70 4 67808
behavior was observed by Singh and Gardner (1979) 7d 35 8 67794
for clays of Gulf of Alaska for OCR equal to 8.
 0 ,81
G0  
 232 vm 
(2)
140
Pa  Pa 

With the expressions (1) and (2), the curves of

120 Figure 3 relating G0 with the confining pressure and
the overconsolidation ratio were obtained. It should
100
be noted that, differently from Figure 1, in Figure 2
a logarithmic scale was employed for the axis of or-
dinates; in Figure 1 an arithmetic scale was used for
80 a better visualization of the points.
G0 (M Pa)

1
60 2
1000
3
40 5 vm
6

G 0 (M P a)
20 7 1
OCR 4 2 560
100

0 280
10 100 10 00 1 40
c o nfin in g pr e s s u re (k P a )
70

Figure 2. G0 as a function of confining pressure 10

10 1 00 1 000
Correlation of the maximum shear modulus, G0, co nfining p re ssu re (kP a )
with the confining pressure and the overconsolida-
tion ratio Figure 3. Correlation between G0, confining pressure and over-
With the obtained values for G0, a correlation with consolidation ratio.
the values of 0 and OCR was searched, excluding
the points with OCR greater than 4. 4.2 Triaxial compression
The following equation, with a coefficient of de- In Table 6 the values of Su obtained from the tests
termination (R2) of 0.95, was obtained: are shown.
It is known that the strength ratio of an overcon-
0,84
G0   solidated soil is related to its strength ratio when
 287   0   OCR 0,63 normally consolidated through the equation:
Pa  Pa 
(1)

 Su  S 
where Pa is the atmospheric pressure and appears in     u  OCRm
the equation in order to render it non-dimensional. 0  o . c .   0  n .c . (3)
It is interesting to mention that Athanasopoulos
and Richart (1983), in a similar study on a kaolinitic For the results of the tests, the following correla-
clay, included the void ratio in the correlation. It was tion was determined, with R2 equal to 0.97:
preferred in this work not to include the void ratio in
the correlation since only one soil is being investi-
 Su 
gated and in this case the void ratio depends on the    0,34OCR0,86
confining pressure and on the overconsolidation ra- 0  o .c . (4)
tio, which already appear in the correlation.
As was said before, for OCR greater than 4 the It is convenient to remember that this correlation
data indicate that G0 becomes almost independent of has been obtained from triaxial tests performed with
the consolidation pressure, apparently depending on- a strain rate of 0.25 mm/min; this fact should be
ly on the overconsolidation stress. The following considered in case of a comparison between the pre-
equation was obtained with R2 equal to 0.84: sent results and others found in the literature.
Table 6. Su values obtained from CIU compression tests. amination does not depend either on the confining
pressure or on the overconsolidation ratio.
Confining Undrained So, a linear correlation between G0 and Su was
Test pressure, OCR strength, searched. With R2 equal to 0.76, the following corre-
0 (kPa) Su (kPa) lation was found:
1 140 1 63.2
2 280 1 107.4
G0
3 350 1 124.3  650
4 420 1 157.9 Su (6)
5 560 1 179.6
6 70 2 39.2 Figure 4 presents this relationship.
7 140 2 77.6
8 280 2 133.6
1400 00
9 140 2.5 99.8 y = 650x
1200 00
10 140 3 121.6 R 2 = 0,76
11 35 4 39.2 1000 00

12 70 4 77.4

G0 (k Pa)
800 00
13 140 4 143.6 600 00
14 70 5 79.4 400 00
15 70 6 94.5
200 00
16 35 8 68.7
0
17 70 8 169.8
0 50 100 15 0 200
18 35 10 91.7
S u (k Pa)
19 35 12 96.0
20 35 16 161.5
Figure 4. Linear relationship between G0 e Su

5 CORRELATION BETWEEN G0 AND Su As in the analysis of G0 as a function of 0 and

OCR, a correlation excluding the tests with OCR
Several researchers have discussed the factors that greater than 4 was determined, in which a much bet-
affect the ratio G0/Su. For instance, Weiler (1988) ter coefficient of determination was obtained, 0.93.
suggests that this ratio is highly dependent on the The correlation is:
plasticity of the clay. He also suggests that it de-
creases with the increase of the overconsolidation ra-
tio. In what concerns the influence of the confining G0
 658
pressure, for low to medium plasticity soils, accord- Su (7)
ing to that author, the ratio G0 /Su decreases with the
confining pressure; the opposite occurs for highly
plastic clays. Athanasopoulos and Richart (1983), in Figure 5 shows the graphic corresponding to the
turn, analyzing the behavior of a kaolinitic clay, ob- correlation.
served that the ratio decreases with the increase of
both the overconsolidation ratio and the confining
pressure. 1400 00
In the present investigation, with the results for 1200 00
y = 658x
the maximum shear modulus and the undrained R 2 = 0,93
1000 00
strength, a correlation of G0/Su with the confining
G0 (k Pa)

pressure and the overconsolidation ratio was initially 800 00

sought in the following manner: 600 00

400 00
G0
 A 0 OCR C
B 200 00
Su (5) 0
0 50 100 150 200

with 0 in kPa. The exponents B and C of the ob- S u (k P a)

tained correlation were found to be extremely low
(respectively -0.006 e 0.06), indicating that, on the Figure 5. Linear correlation between G0 and Su from the tests
contrary of what had been observed by the authors with OCR smaller than or equal to 4.
cited above, the relation G0/Su for the soil under ex-
 Several linear correlations between G0 and Su are
presented in the technical literature. However, it is
difficult to compare the results here obtained with
others, since both the values of Su and G0 are ob-
tained from different laboratory and field tests.
Expression 7 is similar to the one obtained by
Arango et al. (1978) in tests on different types of
soils, varying from low compressibility silts to high
compressibility clays – G0 = 813Su. These research-
ers determined the undrained strength, Su, from tri-
axial CIU tests, but obtained G0 from in situ tests.
The somewhat greater value of the ratio G0/Su ob-
tained by them can be explained by the fact that they
determined G0 in situ, what usually results in values
greater than the ones determined in the laboratory.
Few researchers have worked with the same tests
of this investigation.
One of them, Athanasopoulos (1981), observed
that for a certain kaolinitic clay (IP=39) the ratio
G0/Su varied from 1500 to 2300 depending on the
confining pressure and the overconsolidation ratio
applied to the soil. This range of values is signifi-
cantly higher than the observed in the present work.
There is also the already cited work of Weiler,
which proposes different values of the ratio G0/Su
depending on the overconsolidation ratio and the
plasticity index.
For an IP range between 35 and 45%, which in-
cludes the soil of the present investigation as well as
that studied by Athanasopoulos, the predicted rela-
tion G0/Su varies from 450 to 300 for OCR varying
from 1 to 5. These values are very low when com-
pared with the data presented by Athanasopoulos (5
times as small) and far from the ones obtained in the
present investigation (a little less than twice as small
on the average).
The comparisons made above serve to show that
deeper studies are necessary to determine the factors
that really affect the relation G0/Su. They also indi-
cate the need for caution when using correlations as
those presented in the literature.
6 CONCLUSIONS
The main conclusions of this paper are:
- for overconsolidation ratio smaller than or equal
to 4 it was possible to establish a correlation of G0
with the confining pressure and the overconsolida-
tion ratio. For OCR values greater than 4, the value
of G0 was found to be a function only of the over-
consolidation stress;
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- it was possible to establish a correlation of the
strength ratio Su/0 with the overconsolidation ratio;
- the ratio G0/Su, differently from what the litera-
ture indicates, was shown to be practically inde-
pendent of the confining pressure and of the over-
consolidation ratio;
- the correlation G0/Su = 658, obtained after elim-
ination of the experimental data determined in tests
with OCR greater than 4, has an excellent coefficient
of determination (R2 = 0.93);
- the factors affecting the ratio G0/Su are not per-
fectly clear yet; the values for this ratio obtained in
this study differ significantly from those published
in similar works on clays with the same plasticity,
indicating the need for deeper studies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank Petrobras for the financial
support and Mr. Jorge Maximiliano de Oliveira for
his assistance in the laboratory tests.
REFERENCES
Arango, I.; Moriwaki, Y. and Brown, F., 1978. In situ and la-
boratory shear velocity and modulus. In: Specialty Confer-
ence on Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics.
Athanasopoulos, G. A., 1981. Time effects on low-amplitude
shear modulus of cohesive soils. Ph.D. Thesis – Department
of Civil Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Athanasopoulos, G. A. and Richart, F. E., 1983. Correlation
between G0 and max for kaolinite clay. Journal of the Ge-
otechnical Engineering Division, ASCE, v. 109, n. GT10,
Oct., p. 1233-1245.
Silveira, R.M.S., Barros, J.M.C. and Amaral C. S., 2006. Re-
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marine clay. In: Brazilian Conference of Soil Mechanics
and Geotechnical Engineering, 13. Proceedings. Curitiba,
Brasil. (1) 483-487. (In Portuguese).
Singh, R. D. and Gardner, E. S., 1979. Characterization of Dy-
namic Properties of Gulf of Alaska clays. Proc. ASCE Ses-
sion on Soil Dynamics in the Marine Environment, Boston,
24p.
Weiler, W. A.,1988. Small-strain shear modulus of clay. In:
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– Recent advances in ground-motion evaluation. Proceed-
ings, ASCE, p. 331-345.