Stress-Path Influence on Drained Deformations of Clay

The drained deformation behavior of a saturated clay has been studied through stress-path controlled triaxial tests and instrumented model footing tests on artificially sedimented normally consolidated kaolinite. It was found that both the axial and volume strains were dependent on the stress-path followed. A method of settlement analysis (the stress-path method) has been proposed wherein the volume strain is calculated using the data obtained from carefully done oedometer tests. The axial strain or the consolidation settlement is then calculated from this volume strain, which may be obtained from appropriate tests or from theoretical analysis considering anisotropic elasticity. This method has been found to give a much better prediction of consolidation settlement of model footings than by the methods commonly used.