Some aspects of the compressibility behaviour of a clayey sand

The intrinsic behaviour of a residual clayey sand derived from sandstone was investigated in one-dimensional compression. The data show some interesting differences when compared with other published data, in that no unique normal compression line can be identified. Although the compressibility on first loading is similar to that for many sandy materials at states on their normal compression lines, the locations of the compression curves were found to be a function of the initial voids ratio, and there was no convergence at higher stresses. Tests on a model clay-sand mixture indicated that this behaviour is common to gap-graded clayey sands.Key words: sands, compressibility, oedometer tests.