The second Mediterranean Symposium on Landslides

Hammamet (Tunisia) 5, 6, 7 October 2023

MECHANICAL CHARACTERISATION OF SINGLE-ORIENTED FIS-

SURED CLAY SAMPLES FROM A TECTONISED SLOPE (PISCIOLO
HILLSLOPE, ITALY)

V. Nardelli*, C. Vitone†, F. Cotecchia†

* University of Oxford, Oxford. United Kingdom

†
Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy

Natural fissured clay samples from the Pisciolo hillslope (Southern Italy) were tested and ana-
lysed for this study. Up to 14 slow-movement landslides were identified within this hillslope
and these affected some major infrastructure in its vicinity. The clays outcropping within the
Pisciolo hillslope are characterised by a fissured mesostructure with varying intensity and ori-
entation, which has a clear influence on the mechanical behaviour of the material.
The present study will focus on the characterisation of the response of those specimens charac-
terised by sets of fissures that were single orientated (F1), for which some behavioural patterns
were identified. The compressibility of the natural fissured clay was found to be lower than that
of the same material when reconstituted. The natural fissured clay is characterised by a normal-
ised strength that is lower than that of the reconstituted material. Also, the samples characterised
by inclination of fissures between 60° and 90° on the horizontal appear less prone to failing
prior to reaching the state boundary surface compared to other fissure orientations.

Keywords: clays, fissures, laboratory tests, shear strength

INTRODUCTION

Intensely fissured clays often occur in areas characterised by a complex geological history, such
as the Southern Apennines (Italy), where soil strata were folded and faulted during the orogenic
movements. The fissured mesofabric is regarded as one of the main factors affecting the stabil-
ity of slopes in such areas, since it directly affects the strength of the clays.
The present investigation has been carried out on clay samples from the Pisciolo hillslope
(Melfi, PZ, Italy), which is characterised by material heterogeneities and where up to 14 slow-
movement landslides have been identified, mostly within the clayey complexes. Some of these
landslides have affected important infrastructures within the area, including an aqueduct pipe-
line, a national road and a railway track. A geotechnical campaign consisting of boreholes,
undisturbed sampling and laboratory tests was carried out with the purpose of characterising
the clays outcropping within the Pisciolo hillslope and relate their engineering properties to the
fissured mesostructure. The slope conditions have been previously studied taking into account
the effect of infiltration on its stability and the results of this research were reported by Cotec-
chia et al. (2014)

MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

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 The second Mediterranean Symposium on Landslides
Hammamet (Tunisia) 5, 6, 7 October 2023

A set of characterisation tests was carried out on the Pisciolo hillslope samples, identifying two
different groups of samples according to their particle size distribution and plasticity index.
Group 1 clays are characterised by low clay fraction and higher sand fraction compared to
Group 2 clays. The average plasticity indices for the samples of the two groups are PI1 = 33%
for Group 1 and PI2 = 45% for Group 2. For each samples, the bulk unit weight, specific gravity
of particles, natural water content, degree of saturation, void ratio and consistency index were
determined. Most of the clays exhibit medium (0.5<A<1) to high activity (A>1).
The Fissure-IDentity (F-ID) of each clay sample was determined by means of the fissure clas-
sification chart proposed by Vitone and Cotecchia (2011). Different fissure intensities and ori-
entations could be identified for the samples tested, but the present study focuses on the char-
acterisation of the response of those specimens characterised by sets of fissures that were single
orientated (F1), for which some specific response patterns could be observed. A total of 20
samples were considered for this analysis, one of which was a disturbed sample and the remain-
ing were undisturbed. A reconstituted sample was prepared in the laboratory from the undis-
turbed sample SCP2 CI2 in order to obtain a reference material unaffected by the fissured
mesostructure that can be used for the comparisons with the natural fissured clay. The recon-
stituted sample was prepared following the procedure presented by Burland (1990).
Oedometer tests and triaxial tests were carried out and the results have been compared to those
obtained from the tests on the reconstituted sample. Mechanical tests were performed solely on
undisturbed samples.

RESULTS

The compressibility of the fissured clays was investigated through oedometer tests and the re-
sults obtained for the natural fissured materials were compared to those obtained on the recon-
stituted specimen. The Intrinsic Compression Line (ICL*) was determined from a test on the
reconstituted clay. The results are presented in Figure 1, where dashed lines and empty markers
were used for the tests on the clays of Group 1 and continuous lines and black markers were
used for the clays of Group 2. It is possible to observe that the natural fissured clays are less
compressible than the reconstituted clay and never reach the structure permitted space identified
by Leroueil and Vaughan (1990). This also confirms the findings of Cotecchia and Santaloia
(2003) and Vitone and Cotecchia (2011) for other natural fissured clays.
Triaxial tests have been carried out in order to investigate the shear strength of the natural fis-
sured clays. Data from 29 tests on samples characterised by single-orientated fissured (F1) were
analysed. The results have been normalised with respect to the equivalent pressure p*e deter-
mined on the INCL*, which was determined experimentally by means of two isotropic com-
pression tests on the reconstituted clay. The state boundary surfaces for the reconstituted clay
SBS* and for the fissured clays SBS have been identified following the normalisation and it
can be observed that the fissured clays exhibit a normalised strength that is lower than that of
the reconstituted material (Fig. 2).
The effect of the confining pressure on the mechanical response of the triaxial specimens was
studied calculating an approximate in situ p’ (considering K0 = 1) and comparing it to the mean
effective stress p’triax at the end of the consolidation stage in the triaxial apparatus. For those
boreholes for which the depth of the water table was not available, this information was

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 The second Mediterranean Symposium on Landslides
Hammamet (Tunisia) 5, 6, 7 October 2023

determined considering the closest borehole instrumented using piezometers in order to deter-
mine the lithostatic effective stresses.
It appears that the specimens for which the ratio p’in situ/p’triax is close to 1 or below are more
likely to reach their SBS rather than failing along a pre-existing set of fissures, especially for
fissures having inclination between 60° and 90° on the horizontal (F1 60-90, Fig. 3). The data
reported in the histogram show that the specimens characterised by fissures F1 60-90 are less
prone to fail over pre-existing fissures than those belonging to other fissure orientation groups
(F1 0-30 and F1 30-60), especially when the specimens are confined by mean effective pres-
sures equal or higher than those in situ.

Figure. 1: Results of the oedometer tests on the fissured clays and comparison with the ICL*.

0.6
SBS*
0.4
q/p*e

0.2
SBS
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
p'/p*e
Figure. 2: Results of the triaxial tests on the fissured clay specimens normalised by the equivalent pressure p*e on
the INCL*.

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 The second Mediterranean Symposium on Landslides
Hammamet (Tunisia) 5, 6, 7 October 2023

100

80

60

40

20

0
F1 0-30 F1 30-60 F1 60-90

Failure on SBS Localisation pre-SBS

Figure. 3: Percentages of specimens reaching the SBS at failure (in blue) or localising prior to reaching the SBS
(in red). Samples for which p’in situ/p’triax ≤ 1 were considered.

CONCLUSIONS

This research presented the results of laboratory tests carried out on fissured clay samples from
the Pisciolo hillslope in Southern Italy. These results were compared to those obtained from
laboratory tests on a reconstituted sample. The material is characterised by varying fissure in-
tensity and inclinations, which were characterised prior to testing. It has been observed that the
compressibility of the fissured clay is lower than that of the same clay when reconstituted. The
SBS for the natural fissured clay has a smaller dimension compared to the SBS* of the recon-
stituted clay. Also, the effect of confinement and fissure inclination of specimens was analysed,
concluding that, for high consolidation pressures compared to the in situ pressures, the samples
characterised by fissure orientation F1 60-90 compared to the horizontal were less prone to
localise prior to reaching the SBS for the natural fissured clay.

REFERENCES

Burland, J.B. (1990). On the compressibility and shear strength of natural clays. Géotechnique, 40, No. 3, pp. 329-
378.
Cotecchia, F. and Santaloia, F. (2003). Compression behaviour of structurally complex marine clays. Proc. Nakase
Memorial Symposium on “Soft Ground Engineering in Coastal Areas”, Nagase, Yokosuka, Japan, pp. 63-72.
Cotecchia, F., Pedone, G., Bottiglieri, O., Santaloia, F. and Vitone, C. (2014). Slope-atmosphere interaction in a
tectonized clayey slope: a case study. Ital Geotech J 1:34–61.
Leroueil, S. and Vaughan, P. (1990). The general and congruent effects of structure in natural soils and weak rocks.
Géotechnique, 40, No. 3, pp. 467-488.
Vitone, C. and Cotecchia, F. (2011). The influence of intense fissuring on the mechanical behaviour of clays.
Géotechnique, 61, No. 12, pp. 1003-1018.

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