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Undrained deformation responses of K0 consolidated stiff clays under cyclic traffic

loadings
Réponses à la déformation non drainée des argiles raides consolidées K0 sous des chargements
de trafic cycliques

Zhongxuan Yang & Xuming Liu

Department of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P.R. China

Yuanqiang Cai & Kun Pan

College of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, P.R. China

Richard J. Jardine
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK

ABSTRACT: Optimal whole life design for transport infrastructure requires accurate assessment of how long-term cyclic traffic
loading affects deformations in the underlying geomaterials. This paper presents a systematic experimental study of cyclic triaxial
(CT) and hollow cylinder apparatus (CHCA) tests on two natural UK stiff clays, with K0 exceeding unity. Cyclic principal stress
axis rotation implicit in wheel loading is shown to increase the magnitude, and change the sign, of vertical strain accumulation. The
permanent deformation responses of the Gault and Kimmeridge clays can be categorized into stable, metastable, and unstable
patterns, with threshold vertical cyclic stress ratios that quantify the Gault clay’s greater resistance to cyclic straining. The importance
of shear bands, over which deformation is discontinuous, forming in the stiff clays considered, is also emphasized. This feature has
important implications when considering slope and foundation stability and calls for appropriate caution in practical design.
KEYWORDS: stiff clay; K0 consolidation; traffic loading; principal stress axis rotation; permanent strain.

imposition of wheel-loading stress paths involving cyclic PSR

1 INTRODUCTION
Optimal whole life design for airport runways, highways,
railways and metro lines requires careful analysis of how their
underlying geomaterials respond to long-term vehicle wheel
loading. Accurate prediction of the undrained cyclic deformation
of soil deposits is crucial to assessing the service surface
settlements for routes passing over clay terrains (Gräbe &
Clayton 2009; Cai et al. 2017). Cyclic triaxial (CT) experiments
have helped evaluate how a wide range of clays respond under
such conditions (see Shahu et al. 1999; Chai & Miura 2002;
Suiker et al. 2005; Xiao et al. 2014), allowing empirical models
that aim to capture the observed effects of varying cyclic stress
levels and load cycle numbers on permanent strain accumulation
to be developed. However, Brown (1996) and Powrie et al. (2007)
show that vehicle loading typically imposes cyclic horizontal
shear stress changes as well as vertical and horizontal normal
stress fluctuations on subgrade soils, which implicitly lead to
cyclic principal stress axis rotation (PSR). Such wheel-loading
stress-path conditions cannot be fully captured by CT tests.
However, cyclic hollow cylinder apparatus (CHCA) that can
apply independent control of the normal and shear stresses offers
a more effective means of simulating traffic loading conditions.
Many earlier CHCA studies (Hight et al. 1983; Towhata &
Ishihara 1985; Zdravkovic & Jardine 1997; Nakata et al. 1998;
Yang et al. 2007) have revealed that PSR has a significant
influence on the undrained cyclic straining of soils. For soft clay
sediments with low over-consolidation-ratio (OCR), Gräbe &
Clayton (2009) and Cai et al. (2015) indicated that cyclic PSR
leads to larger vertical strains in isotropically consolidated
specimens than those in equivalent CT tests. Similar observations
were obtained from recent studies reported by Cai et al. (2017)
and Qian et al. (2018) on anisotropically consolidated soft
Holocene clay specimens with low K0 (= σˊh/σˊv < 1, where σˊh
and σˊv are the horizontal and vertical effective stresses). These
findings call for further studies to explore how the undrained
might affect other types of clays, including the stiff plastic clays
that are found worldwide and cover approximately 50% of the
southern UK (Wilkinson 2011).
Much of the UK’s transport links, including the HS1 and new
HS2 high-speed railway lines that radiate out of London, have
been built on stiff, geologically aged, high OCR strata. The
heavily over-consolidated clays experienced monotonic loading
during the deposition process up to their maximum depth of
burial (under hundreds of meters of sediments) followed by
erosion induced unloading to their present shallow depth.
Consequently, the in-situ K0 values generally exceed unity,
leading to the in-situ major principal stress axis being oriented
horizontally, rather than vertically, as is usual in low OCR soils.
Wilkinson (2011), Hosseini Kamal (2012) and Brosse (2012)
confirmed that natural stiff clays from the UK often manifest
directionally oriented microstructures and fissure discontinuities
in meso-scale, and thus, their monotonic shear stress-strain
responses are significantly anisotropic. However, it is necessary
to further explore how the intact stiff clay samples respond to
repeated traffic loading that occurs in service, to predict
permanent deformation accumulation due to both the K0 (> 1)
and PSR conditions. This paper addresses this shortfall in
knowledge by exploring in undrained CT and CHCA tests the
cyclic straining of two UK stiff clays under wheel loading paths.
2 TEST MATERIALS AND PROCEDURES
Two mid-England sampling sites, High Cross (for Gault clay)
and Willow Brook Farm (for Kimmeridge clay) were selected for
this study, considering strata deposited in broadly similar marine
environments. These clays were deposited in the lower
Cretaceous (99-112 million years ago) and upper Jurassic (151-
156 million years ago), respectively, with the latter being buried
to the larger depth; Wilkinson (2011).
At each site, two fully sampled boreholes were drilled with
Geobore ‘S’ wireline rotary coring systems, employing a natural

279
polymer-based drilling fluid. The examined coring samples
ranged in depth from 5.28 to 8.45 m (Gault clay) or from 8.56 to
13.08 m (Kimmeridge clay). The index properties summarized in
Table 1 show that both the plastic Gault and Kimmeridge clays
exist in nature at water contents around their plastic limits. The
in-situ effective stresses for Gault (≈ 7 m depth, on average) and
Kimmeridge (≈ 11 m depth) clay samples estimated from the unit
weights, water table depth (≈ 1 m below ground level) and the K0
≈ 1.8 assessed by Hosseini Kamal et al. (2014) are σ'h = 139 kPa
and σ'v = 77 kPa and σ'h = 239 kPa and σ'v = 133 kPa, respectively.
Table 1 also reports the peak undrained shear strengths of ≈ 120
and 100 kPa for the two clays, which were obtained from
carefully K0 reconsolidated triaxial compression tests conducted
by Hosseini Kamal et al. (2014) and Brosse et al. (2017). The
peak triaxial shear strengths of intact samples are strongly
affected by their meso-structures such as bedding features and
fissure intensity but less dependent on the variable ages and prior
burial depths.
Table 1. Index properties of the test materials
Index property Gault clay Kimmeridge clay
Specific gravity, Gs 2.59 2.50
Initial density, ρ0 (g/cm3) 1.95~2.02 2.01~2.07
Natural water content, wn (%) 26~29 17~21
Plastic limit, wp (%) 25
Liquid limit, wl (%) 67
Clay fraction (%) 60~63 52~54
Undrained shear strengtha, Su
≈120 ≈100
(kPa)
a 3.1
after Brosse (2012)
The more recent CT experiments reported in this paper were
conducted on 38 mm diameter, 76 mm height specimens using
an electromechanical triaxial testing system with the servo-
loading and signal conditioning systems detailed by Wang et al.
(2013). CHCA tests were performed with an advanced dynamic
hollow cylinder apparatus, which employs servomotors to
control axial and torsional movements and can supply cyclic
loading at frequencies up to 5 Hz. Digital controllers apply the
back, inner, and outer cell pressures, through de-aired water
systems; further apparatus details are given by Cai et al. (2015)
and Guo et al. (2018). Hollow HCA specimens with 200 mm in
height (H) and 100 and 60 mm in outer and inner diameters (do
and di) give di/do and H/do ratios of 0.6 and 2, respectively, were
prepared to give acceptable degrees of stress uniformity under
HCA test conditions; Hight et al. (1983).
zmax
zcyc
0 0
zmax

dash line: zcyc in CT tests
solid lines: zcycand zcyc

in CHCA tests
t
Figure 1. Cyclic stress waveforms in CT and CHCA tests
The CT and CHCA tests on intact stiff clays employed similar
specimen preparation procedures to Hosseini Kamal et al. (2014)
and Brosse et al (2017). Fully saturated specimens (with B >0.95)
were obtained with backpressures under 600 kPa before isotropic
consolidation to the desired initial mean effective stress p'0 and
then extension under drained constant p' conditions to reach their
estimated in-situ σ'h and σ'v states. Pause periods of several days
were imposed until the axial creep strain rate fell below the 2·10-
3 %/h rate limit. After anisotropic consolidation, schemes of
undrained cyclic loading were applied at a frequency of 1 Hz. As
shown in Figure 1, CT tests involved cyclic vertical stress σzcyc
sinusoidally from minima to maxima of σzmax above the in-situ
value. In CHCA experiments, the inner and outer cell pressures
were kept equal and constant, while the vertical σzcyc and
torsional shear τzθcyc stresses varied and followed the
mathematical expressions set out by Guo et al. (2018), to match
cardioid-shaped stress paths in incremental τzθ–(σz-σθ)/2 stress
space that induced idealized vehicle traffic loading paths. To aid
interpretation of the experimental results, two normalized stress
parameters were defined:
VCSR =  zmax / ( 2 p0' ) (1)
 =  zθmax /  zmax (2)
where VCSR is the vertical cyclic stress ratio and η is the ratio
between the maximum increments of cyclic torsional shear and
vertical stresses. All specimens were subjected to 50,000 cycles,
unless they failed at earlier stages, as occurred in three CHCA
tests. Cyclic failure was defined as occurring when either: i) the
vertical strains exceed 10% or ii) the strain rates become too high
21 for the actuators to maintain the desired stress paths.
46
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Comparisons of strain developments
The developments of vertical strain εz with the number of cycles
N are presented in Figure 2 for three groups of cyclic tests, each
of which were conducted under an identical VCSR condition. In
the two lowest VCSR (= 0.074) tests on Kimmeridge clay, Figure
2(a) shows that no discernable compressive straining developed
in the CT (η = 0) test, which was counteracted by the specimen’s
residual (extensile) creep strain rate tolerated before cycling
started after consolidation with σ'h > σ'v. In contrast, the specimen
in the equivalent CHCA test with η = 1/3 had a clear tendency to
extend axially. This is because the initial stage of each CHCA
stress cycle involved a decreasing σz segment as τzθ increased
before σz was raised to its maximum (Figure 1), at which the
absolute deviatoric stress increased and directed the effective
stress points closer to extension failure. The different trends
between CT and CHCA tests with a larger VCSR (= 0.343) are
shown more clearly in Figure 2(b) for Gault clay, in which the
result from a CHCA test with η = 1/2 is also included. Clearly,
the extensile εz increased with increasing η and eventually the
specimen under η = 1/2 failed at N = 2,500. Figure 2(c) further
compares the CHCA results of Kimmeridge and Gault specimens
in the highest VCSR (= 0.450) case and indicates that the former
was more prone to cyclic failure with excessive extensile strain
zcyc

accumulation. These findings suggest that the Gault clay
typically has a higher cyclic resistance than the Kimmeridge,
which is compatible with the monotonic shear strength trends in
Table 1 from Brosse (2012).
3.2 Permanent deformation accumulation
The permanent vertical straining εzp that develops over each
whole stress cycle, as depicted in Figure 2(c), is the primary
cause of surface settlement. Figures 3(a) and (b) brings together
the εzp‒N trends from the (no-failing) CT and CHCA experiments,
respectively, taken the Gault clay for example. As shown in
Figure 3(a), compressive εzp developed in tests involving low and
moderate VCSRs that grew with increasing VCSR and tended to
stabilize with N. However, the high VCSR cyclic stress paths
280
increased the effective stress ratios, which had a tendency to shift “stable” response. Cycling above this cyclic threshold condition,
toward the compressive failure line, and consequently led to which is associated with a second form of kinematic yielding
unstable strain response. Discontinuous steps in the evolving εzp (Jardine 1992), led to εzp values that grew linearly with VCSR up
trends reflect the development of shear bands in the VCSR = to VCSR = 0.55, showing a “metastable” style of response. The
0.600 case, which mobilized its first discontinuity at around N = growth of εzp with respect to N become steeper at still higher
500, accompanied by sharp increase in strain accumulation. A VCSRs, showing an “unstable” trend; shear bands developed in
second band appeared at N ≈18,600 showing similar phenomena. some cases and full cyclic failures occurred at a sufficiently large
However, the pre-existing discontinuities required to enable such N. Similar stable-to-metastable and metastable-to-unstable
stepped patterns were not present in all specimens. Similar responses can be identified for Kimmeridge clay with lower
increasing trend of εzp with VCSR can be found in the CHCA threshold VCSR values (0.17 and 0.44), confirming its lesser
tests, as shown in Figure 3(b), although the tendency for cyclic cyclic resistance.
straining to stabilize with N was less clear. In addition, stepped
trace of extensile strain indicating shear band mobilization was (a) 2.0 VCSR = 0.067 VCSR = 0.088
seen at a lower VCSR (= 0.400), in comparison to the CT tests Cut off VCSR = 0.127 VCSR = 0.256
shown in Figure 3(a). VCSR = 0.343 VCSR = 0.375
1.5
VCSR = 0.502 VCSR = 0.600
(a) 0.10 VCSR = 0.699

z (%)
VCSR=0.074, Kimmeridge clay 1.0
0.05
CT ( = 0) Shear bands
0.5
z (%)

0.00
0.0
CHCA ( = 1/3)
10 100 1000 10000 100000
-0.05 N
(b)
0.0
-0.10
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
N -0.5
(b) 4
VCSR=0.343, Gault clay
z (%)

VCSR = 0.067
CT ( = 0) -1.0 VCSR = 0.127 Shear band
0 VCSR = 0.225
CHCA ( = 1/3)
z (%)

VCSR = 0.286
-1.5
-4 VCSR = 0.343
VCSR = 0.400
-2.0
-8 10 100 1000 10000 100000
CHCA ( = 1/2)
N
Figure 3. Permanent vertical strains in (a) CT and (b) CHCA tests on
-12 Gault clay.
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
N The CHCA tests on Gault clay presented in Figure 4(b)
(c) 4 showed significantly lower “stable” and “metastable” VCSR
VCSR=0.450, CHCA ( = 1/3) limits (0.15 and 0.35, respectively), in comparison to those
Gault clay interpreted from CT tests. The PSR implicit in wheel loading
0 leads to accelerated vertical straining, as reported by Cai et al.
(2017) for low K0 soft clay from Wenzhou in SE China.
z (%)

Figure 4(b) confirms that the Kimmeridge clay is weaker in

-4
Kimmeridge clay
-8
zp
-12
1 10 100 1000
N
Figure 2. (a) Vertical straining of Kimmeridge clay in CT and CHCA
tests at VCSR = 0.074; (b) for Gault in CT and CHCA tests at VCSR =
0.343; (c) for Kimmeridge and Gault in CHCA tests at VCSR = 0.450.
The εzp tends with VCSR for the N = 100 and 10,000 test stages
are synthesized and illustrated in Figure 4. Generally, the CT and
CHCA (η = 1/3) tests shown in Figure 4(a) and (b), respectively,
follow a similar trend and the deformation responses can be
categorized into three patterns, namely “stable”, “metastable”,
and “unstable” (Cai et al. 2017). As seen in Figure 4(a), the
accumulated εzp values for Gault clay were negligibly small until
VCSR exceeded 0.23, which identifies the upper limit for the
during CHCA testing and more prone to cyclic instability than
the Gault, although the limited variations in VCSR precluded
identifying clear cyclic zone boundaries for the Kimmeridge.
3.3 Mobilized effective stress ratios at failure states
10000 Hosseini Kamal et al. (2014) and Brosse et al. (2017)
investigated the UK stiff clays’ shear strength through monotonic
triaxial and HCA experiments. The HCA tests on rotary samples
from ≈ 10 m depth, consolidated to in-situ K0 stress conditions,
were taken to undrained failure with specified α (defined as the
orientation of major principal stress relative to the vertical)
ranging from 0 to 90o, while maintaining the intermediate
principal stress ratio b = 0.5, giving nominally plane strain
conditions. The monotonic HCA experiments showed the
variations of the maximum ratios of t (= (σ'1-σ'3)/2) to s' (=
(σ'1+σ'3)/2) with α plotted in Figure 5, along with mobilized
angles of shearing resistance angle φ'mob (= sin-1(t/s')); φ'mob is

281
markedly anisotropic in the Gault, where the maximum t/s' than CT tests when cycled at the same vertical cyclic stress
decreased from α = 0 and showed its minimum at α ≈ 65o. While ratio (VCSR). The CHCA tests conducted from K0 = 1.8 led
the Kimmeridge clay showed less anisotropy in φ'mob it to extensive straining, rather than the compressive trend
manifested more marked shear strength anisotropy in terms of Su. applying in CT experiments.
The effective stress conditions at which the CHCA tests • The clays’ permanent deformation responses can be
developed full cyclic failures are plotted in Figure 5 and are categorized into stable, metastable, and unstable patterns,
compatible with the monotonic tests outcomes for both clays. with the Gault clay showing greater resistance to undrained
Cyclic failure develops when the undrained cycling paths bring CT and CHCA loading than the Kimmeridge, with the latter
the specimens’ effective stress states into contact with their is more prone to cyclic instability.
anisotropic monotonic failure envelope. • Effective stress ratios t/s' at cyclic failure that are compatible
with the outcomes of monotonic experiments.
(a) 3
N=100 N=10000 • The shear bands that form as the clays undergo brittle failure
Gault clay call for caution in in slope and foundation design.
Kimmeridge clay
2
5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
zp (%)

Unstable
Metastable The research described was supported by Newton Advanced
1 Stable 0.55 Fellowship (NA160438) from the UK Royal Society and grant
0.23 (51761130078) from Natural Science Foundation of China.
0.44
0.17
0
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