This article was downloaded by: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733]

On: 14 July 2010

Access details: Access Details: [subscription number 911724993]
Publisher Taylor & Francis
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 3741 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Marine Georesources & Geotechnology

Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713773387

Behavior of Marine Clay Subjected to Cyclic Loading with Sustained Shear

Stress
G. Gerald Mosesa; S. Narasimha Raob
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry, India b Department
of Ocean Engineering, IIT-Madras, Chennai, India

To cite this Article Moses, G. Gerald and Rao, S. Narasimha(2007) 'Behavior of Marine Clay Subjected to Cyclic Loading

with Sustained Shear Stress', Marine Georesources & Geotechnology, 25: 2, 81 96

To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/10641190701334198
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10641190701334198

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf
This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or
systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or
distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents
will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses
should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,
actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly
or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Marine Georesources and Geotechnology, 25:8196, 2007

Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1064-119X print/1521-0618 online
DOI: 10.1080/10641190701334198

Behavior of Marine Clay Subjected to Cyclic Loading

with Sustained Shear Stress
Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

G. GERALD MOSES
Department of Civil Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering College,
Pondicherry, India

S. NARASIMHA RAO
Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT-Madras, Chennai, India
Foundations of offshore structures are designed to withstand a combination of static
and cyclic loads due to ocean waves. Wave action on offshore structures can cause a
significant amount of cyclic horizontal and vertical forces to be transmitted to the
soil through the foundation. In all these cases, these cyclic loads are considered to
be superimposed over the initial sustained static stress due to the self-weight of structures. This study considers various factors that influence the development of deformation and pore water pressure in a typical cemented marine clay. These results
show that the sustained static shear stress significantly influences the strength and
deformation behavior of marine clay under cyclic loading. Up to a certain range
of sustained static stress, there is an improvement in strength during cyclic loading
and the cyclic strains are greatly reduced.
Keywords cyclic loading, cyclic stress ratio, marine clay, monotonic strain controlled test, shear strength, sustained axial loading

Introduction
The behavior of clay under cyclic loading is an important aspect to be considered in
the design of foundations for any offshore structure. The wave action on offshore
structures can cause quite a significant amount of cyclic horizontal and vertical
forces to be transmitted to the soil through the foundation. Under these conditions,
the load on the foundation soil can be considered as the cyclic loading superimposed
over the sustained static stress. On land based structures also, similar situations can
arise on many occasions. In the design of offshore gravity platforms to sustain wave
loads, the behavior of clayey soil under cyclic loading has been investigated and used
in practical design methods. Seed and Chan (1966) conducted one of the first series
cyclic loading tests with sustained axial load. It was observed that under one-way
uniform cyclic loading with sustained axial load, the stress required to cause failure
is greater than the normal strength of the soil. Vrymoed et al. (1980) proposed that
strength under cyclic loading could increase if the samples were subjected to
Received 23 October 2006; accepted 13 February 2007.
Address correspondence to Dr. G. Gerald Moses, Assistant Professor, Department
of Civil Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry 605014. E-mail:
ggeraldmoses@yahoo.com

81

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

82

G. G. Moses and S. N. Rao

sustained axial load. Marr et al. (1981) brought out that the presence of initial shear
stress had a strong influence on the deformation behavior and this was validated
using finite element formulations. Andersen and Hoeg (1985) made a study on the
foundations of offshore gravity structures subjected to combinations of static and
cyclic loads under undrained conditions and suggested a method to estimate the cyclic and permanent displacements. Goulois et al. (1987) studied the behavior of tension leg platforms subjected to large upward pull under environmental conditions,
and the tests conducted were under imposed average cyclic shear stresses. Hyodo
et al. (1994) studied the behavior of highly plastic marine clay subjected to cyclic
shear stress with initial static stress on isotropically and anisotropically consolidated
specimens. It was observed that the soil samples failed due to excessive deformation
because of creep, and the cyclic shear strength was found to decrease with increase in
initial static shear stress. Lefebvre and Pfendler (1996) made a study on undisturbed
specimens cut from block samples, and found that for soft clays, an initial static
shear stress generally decreased the strength, but the total shear strength under the
combined static and cyclic shear stresses was found to increase. The results of Sakai
et al. (1997) indicated that the silty clay with initial shear stress was relatively more
stable than the clays under cyclic loading alone. For the samples subjected to cyclic
stress reversal, the rate of axial strain was found to increase with number of loading
cycles. Cao and Law (1992) investigated the dynamic behavior of Champlain Sea
clay using cyclic triaxial tests. The majority of the cyclic triaxial tests were carried
out at different but uniform load amplitudes and at different consolidation pressures, ranging from pressures below preconsolidation pressure Pc to pressures above
Pc. They found that residual pore pressure was a function of the normalized dissipation energy.
This present investigation deals with the behavior of natural carbonate rich marine clay. The objective of this experimental investigation is to quantitatively evaluate
the undrained response of the Indian cemented marine clay subjected to cyclic shear
stress with initial static stress. The cyclic strength behavior has been evaluated based
on the strength results obtained through a controlled triaxial shear testing, and the
results are compared with the results obtained under uniform stress controlled cyclic
triaxial shear testing. After cyclic loading, the post cyclic strength behavior was
investigated and compared with conventional monotonic static strain controlled test
results.

Methods
Soil Used
For the present study, undisturbed soil samples were obtained from a site located at
Vishakapatnam (lat.17
400 N long.83
180 E) on the East coast of India. In geological
time history, this marine clay deposit was formed under seawater conditions and can
be considered as relatively young and of recent Pleistocene origin (Mohan and
Bhandari, 1977). From the standard soil exploration program carried out at the site,
the average soil profile obtained is shown in Fig. 1. From the soil profile, it is
observed that fairly uniform and homogeneous soft marine clay is found up to a
depth of 16.0 m below seabed level. The in-situ shear strength was measured using
in-situ vane shear apparatus (ASTM - D2573-94). These measurements indicate
insitu strength of 20 to 26 kPa with a sensitivity of about 3. The geological history

Behavior of Marine Clay

83

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

Table 1. Properties of the soil

Properties

Value

Natural moisture content (%)

Liquid limit (%)
Plastic limit (%)
Consistency index
Clay fraction (%)
Silt fraction (%)
Void ratio
Preconsolidation pressure Pc (kPa)
Carbonate (%)

80
88
28
0.13
54
46
2.13
75
26

indicates that this deposit is normally consolidated. Below this soft clay layer, there
is a hard clay layer of 5.0 m thickness overlying soft disintegrated rock.
Undisturbed samples were obtained from a test pit in a sheeted enclosure at a
depth of 1.5 m below the sea bed level by slowly pushing thin walled 150 mm diameter polished stainless steel sharp edged core cutters with area ratio less than 8%.
Further, the sides of the cutter were smeared with silicon grease to minimize side friction while sampling. Samples were prepared for consolidation tests and triaxial shear
tests from these large diameter cylindrical specimens. The index properties of this soil
deposit are presented in Table 1. These properties indicate that the soil can be classified as clayey soil of high plasticity CH group and the clay content (< 2 mm) is 54%.
At this sampling location, the water depth is about 1.52.0 m and the effective overburden pressure is about 7 kPa. From the results of standard consolidation tests, the
preconsolidation pressure Pc based on Casagrandes method (Casagrande, 1936) is
estimated as 75 kPa and this computed preconsolidation pressure is at a value higher
than the actual overburden pressure because of cementation. The significant amount
of carbonate present in this clay (26%) induces cementation effect which makes it
behave like an over consolidated clay and is responsible for over consolidation effect.
Similar effects were earlier noticed by Bryant et al. (1967), and this phenomenon is
termed as apparent over consolidation effect. Boone and Lutenegger (1997) studied the effect of carbonates and cementation of glacially derived cohesive soils in
New York state and southern Ontario and brought out cementation was one of
the factors which could create an apparent preconsolidation. These results suggested
a relationship between the total carbonate content and apparent preconsolidation
pressure. Fukue et al. (1999) studied the effect of carbonates in marine soils and
revealed that with an increase in calcium carbonate by 1%, shear strength increases
by about 10 kPa. This is due to the cementation effect induced by calcium carbonate.

Test Apparatus and Procedures

For the strength study, undrained triaxial shear tests as per ASTM D 4767-95 under
both strain and stress controlled conditions were conducted on undisturbed clay
samples of 38 mm diameter and 76 mm height. All the procedures adopted and precautions taken during the testing were essentially as per Bishop and Henkel (1962).
Pore water pressure was measured at the base of the sample using a diaphragm type

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

84

G. G. Moses and S. N. Rao

pressure transducer and the axial displacements were measured using linear strain
conversion transducers.
All the observations were made through the Controlled Data Acquisition
System (CDAS), linked to a personal computer to provide all critical controls, timing and data acquisition functions for all the transducers.
All the tests were conducted on fully saturated samples. Saturation of a specimen was confirmed by measuring pore water pressure parameter B, which was found
to be 0.99. To minimize end friction, the loading plattens were lubricated with silicon
grease and in the bottom end platten, a 5 mm diameter ceramic porous stone was
embedded in the centre of the pedestal (Yasuhara et al. 1992). All the tests were performed in a controlled temperature environment with fluctuation limited to 0.5
C.
Cyclic triaxial shear tests were conducted under one-way cyclic loading. The
stresses were applied through custom built pneumatic cylinders controlled by pressure regulators. Cyclic loading is imposed in the vertical direction and the cyclic loading pattern is a semi-sine wave. Many geotechnical engineering problems in offshore
can be solved from the data obtained from the one-way cyclic loading (Hyodo and
Yasuhara, 1988). Clay samples were subjected to cyclic shear stresses at specified
cyclic stress ratios, CSR. CSR is defined as the ratio between the vertical cyclic
deviator stress and static undrained strength as CSR scy=Su in which
scy (r1  r3)cyclic=2 Drcyclic=2, undrained strength Su is determined by a monotonic undrained triaxial compression test. The cyclic test with sustained axial load
was carried out by applying a fraction of static failure deviator stress along with
the cyclic shear stress. SSR is defined as the ratio between the vertical deviator static
stress applied and static undrained strength as SSR sst=Su.
The sustained fraction is termed as sustained stress ratio (SSR) and the cyclic
fraction as cyclic stress ratio (CSR) in this article. These are the ratios related to
the standard undrained strength measured at different values of confining pressures.
The deviatoric load was determined from the strength values measured under monotonic shear considerations. After keeping the sustained static loading, it was waited
till the deformation rate had reached a negligible value. It took nearly 2 hours to
achieve this criterion. For some of the highly over consolidated North Sea marine
clays, Andersen (1976) had observed that under cyclic load testing a maximum
CSR of 0.5 could be adopted. If the CSR is more than 0.5, there is a possibility of
collapse in the sample within loading cycles less than 100. From some of the tests
carried out on Indian marine clays with relatively low amount of carbonates, Rao
(1988) showed that even up to a stress ratio of 0.8, there was no collapse even up
to load cycles of 500 to 800. The study by Thiers and Seed (1968) showed that the
reduction in the post cyclic strength is a function of the amount of strain during cyclic loading to which the sample was subjected to before it was loaded under monotonic shear loading to failure. This strain dependent hypothesis was confirmed by
Lee and Flocht (1976). It appears that the change in the post cyclic strength is less
prominent if the cyclic loading produces cyclic strains less than half of the normal
static strains required to cause failure under static loading. Sangrey and France
(1980) observed that the shear strength was decreased by 50% as the cyclic loading
conditions approached the threshold level (threshold was expressed as the stress level
below which the soil would not suffer failure regardless of the number of cycles
applied) of repeated loading. From the data presented by Anderson et al. (1980)
on Drammen clay, it can be observed that loss in strength is not significant even
at large cyclic strain levels.

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

Behavior of Marine Clay

85

Figure 1. Soil profile.

In this investigation, tests were carried out for confining pressures of 50 kPa and
200 kPa. At pressure less than the preconsolidation pressure, the behavior can be
representative of cemented clays. Loading frequencies of 10 cycles=min (0.17 Hz)
where chosen for the cyclic test as this frequency was considered typical of long duration field loading induced by wave and wind action along the Indian Coast. The
cyclic loading was continued till stabilization in pore water pressure and strain
was reached. After attaining this stage, the soil specimen were relieved of the combined loading and the samples were subjected to standard monotonic strain rate controlled shear testing to study the post cyclic behavior.

Results and Discussion

Monotonic Strain Controlled Test with Sustained Axial Load
Strain controlled monotonic shear load tests without any sustained axial loading
were carried out to establish the reference strength parameters for carrying out both
cyclic loading and strain controlled loading tests with a sustained stress. These sustained monotonic tests were conducted at a confining pressure of 50 kPa and
200 kPa. The sustained axial load was applied in fractions of 25%, 50% and 75%
of the respective failure strength obtained during strain controlled monotonic loading without sustained load.
Stress-Strain-Pore Water Pressure Relationships
Figure 2 presents the variation of stress and pore water pressure with strain for the
samples tested at the confining pressure of 50 kPa and 200 kPa with sustained axial

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

86

G. G. Moses and S. N. Rao

Figure 2. Strainstress-pore water pressure plot for r3 50 kPa & 200 kPa.

loads of SSR 25%, 50% and 75%. The tests obtained under the monotonic shear
tests are also included in the same figure for the purpose of comparison. The shape
of the curves obtained with sustained axial load is quite similar to the curves
obtained without sustained shear load under strain controlled testing. However,
there are differences in the peak strength values obtained. From Figure 2, it can
be seen that there is definite variation in peak strength value with SSR level. The
lowest strength value is recorded is at SSR 25%, and the highest value is recorded
is at SSR 75%, but all these peaks are less than the peak strength value recorded in
shear test without sustained axial load. These differences can be attributed to differences in the loading pattern. In all the tests, after waiting for the completion in strain
under sustained axial load, strain controlled shearing is continued up to failure.
From this mode of testing, it can be stated that in the first phase, which can be called
as initial phase with imposed sustained shear stress, the shearing is stress controlled,
and beyond this, shearing is strain controlled. In the tests with SSR levels of 50%
and 75%, if the strain levels at peak stress (strength) values are compared at the same
stress levels to the strain levels in shear test with out any sustained axial load, there is
hardly any difference. However, in the shear test without any sustained axial load,
there is an increase in the stress with strain. This indicates that in a soft marine soil
with high carbonate content like this, there is cementation collapse. It is earlier confirmed by Hyde and Ward (1986) that the system gets weakened. As the load reaches
the yield point, there is a constant deformation and beyond this point the pore water
pressure is also stabilized. In the tests with different SSR levels, the pore water pressure recorded at any strain level is higher than the pore water pressures recorded in
monotonic shear tests. This increase in pore water pressures further confirms that
there is a collapse in cementation bonds under this combined system of loading.

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

Behavior of Marine Clay

87

On comparing the strain at maximum deviator stress, at r3 50 kPa for shear test
with out sustained stress, strain is very low. However with the increase in SSR level,
there is increase in the strain level from 1.48% to 2.4% and these suggest collapse in
the bonds. At confining pressures of 200 kPa, strains at maximum deviator stress
observed are moderately higher, but in each of the series, there is a nominal decrease
in strain with the increase in the sustained shear stress level. It is to be noted that at
this confining pressure, the magnitude of initial static shear stress level even at SSR
of 25%, can be considered as significantly high to destroy the cementation bonds
and it is the friction that controls the shear resistance. It is generally observed that
a small amount of deformation is enough for the mobilization of frictional resistance. In view of this, nominal reduction in strains at maximum deviator stress is
expected. Moreover, from this plot it can be seen that at r3 200 kPa, strain at
maximum deviator stress decreases from a value of 6.3% at 25% of SSR to
5.01% at 75% of SSR. But at r3 50 kPa, there is an increase in the strain at
maximum deviator stress from a value of 1.48% at 25% of SSR to 2.4% at 75%
of SSR.
In the tests with different SSR levels, pore water pressures recorded at any strain
level are higher than the pore water pressures recorded in shear tests without sustained axial load. The increase in pore water pressures further confirmed that there
is a collapse of cementation bonds under this combined system of loading. The pore
water pressures can further be analyzed in terms of non-dimensional parameter, A
(A pore water pressure developed=deviator stress applied). Figure 3 presents the
variation of pore water pressure coefficient A with strain. At all the levels of strain,
A value recorded in the tests with sustained axial load are always higher. But, within
these three levels of SSR, there is not much difference in these A values. In a system
like this with high void ratio, the carbonate bonding cannot be quite strong and
because of this even sustained axial loading corresponding to SSR of 25% is good
enough to destroy the bonding. At low confining pressure, it is believed that it is
the bonding, which controls the system behavior. However, at higher pressures the
behavior may switch over to frictional dependent phenomenon. This aspect can be
observed from the results of tests carried out at higher value of r3( >> Pc) i.e., at
r3 200 kPa.

Figure 3. Variation in pore pressure parameter a with strain for r3 50 kPa & 200 kPa.

88

G. G. Moses and S. N. Rao

Stress Controlled Uniform Cyclic Loading

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

Under cyclic loading, soil response observed at a frequency of 0.17 Hz at confining

pressures of 50 kPa and 200 kPa, variations in cyclic strain and pore water pressure
response with number of cycles are presented in Figures 4 and 5. These results are
mainly used as standard reference values to be used to study the effects of sustained
axial load during cyclic loading.
Strain Response
Figure 4 shown the variations in cyclic strain response with number of cycles. From
the results of a series of cyclic triaxial tests, it can be observed that within the first
1000 cycles of loading, the deformation increased quite rapidly and after a certain
number of cycles, deformation gets stabilized. During unloading stages of the cyclic
loading, there is an elastic rebound in both the deformations and pore water pressures and this can be due to release of energy from the system. In the first few cycles
of load application, most of the energy is absorbed by the system, resulting in a good
amount of plastic and permanent deformation and built up of residual pore water
pressure.
During the subsequent cyclic loading, at a given stress value under sub-failure
condition, the rate of absorption of energy into the system gradually decreases with
increase in number of cycles and finally the soil system attains a stable elastic equilibrium. With the increase in CSR, both strain and pore water pressures increase
with number of cycles. From this it is evident that the cyclic strains and pore water
pressure are interrelated as observed earlier by Koutsoftas (1978) and Matsui et al.
(1980). For the samples tested at a confining pressure of 50 kPa and at a frequency of
0.17 Hz, up to a CSR 0.35, the increases in the deformation and pore water pressure are less compared to the values observed at higher CSRs and it is felt that cyclic
loading has not significantly influenced the behavior. From the results presented in
Figure 3, it can be seen that the testing has been continued up to 7000 cycles. At CSR
values of 0.25 and 0.35 strain is stabilized within 2000 cycles. At higher CSR values
of 0.50 and 0.54 requires that the testing has to be continued up to 7000 cycles for
getting stabilized deformation. As the CSR is changed from 0.2 to 0.54, the

Figure 4. Variation in cyclic strain with number of cycles for r3 50 kPa & 200 kPa.

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

Behavior of Marine Clay

89

Figure 5. Variation in cyclic pore water pressure with number of cycles for r3 50 kPa &
200 kPa.

equilibrium strains reached are between 0.8% and 6.3%, but the system is stable
without showing any signs of physical collapse in the sample even at a strain of
6.3%. However, as the CSR level is further increased to 0.56, the soil sample collapsed even at 2000 cycles. Through a series of cyclic triaxial tests, Sangrey et al.
(1978) have defined a threshold cyclic stress ratio as the maximum level of cyclic
stress that cannot lead to failure during cyclic loading irrespective of the number
of applied load cycles. From these, it can be considered that the threshold limit
for this soil in terms of CSR can be considered as at 0.5 to 0.52 and for any design
purpose, the threshold CSR can be considered as 0.5.
For the samples tested at confining pressure of r3 200 kPa, threshold CSR
levels is 0.66, which is higher than the value observed at r3 50 kPa. For CSR less
than 0.45, samples are relatively insensitive and no significant strains and pore water
pressure are recorded even up to 6000 cycles of loading. For r3 200 kPa, at the
same CSR of 0.45, strains stabilized at about 2800 cycles and with a recorded value
of is 0.5%. As CSR increases to 0.61, strain increased to 4.39%. However, at threshold CSR of 0.66, the stabilized strain is 8%, which is more than the stabilized strains
of 6.2% at CSR 0.54 (threshold limit) observed in the tests conducted at
r3 50 kPa.
It is suggested that this threshold limit is considered a function of stress history,
cementation level and frequency of loading. From another work carried out in this
laboratory (Rao, 1988) on marine clay with less cementation, a threshold CSR of as
much as 0.8 was observed. As a further example work carried out in Germany for
another type of marine clay (Ritchwien and Narasimha Rao, 1992) from North
Sea, the threshold CSR recorded is 0.4 and this clay can be considered as an overconsolidated clay. The degradation in the system at CSR values higher than the
threshold values of CSR can be explained in terms of the rupture of cementation
bonds. At higher stress levels, bonds get ruptured and after a few cycles of loading,
the soil behaves like a normally consolidated clay. Hence, there is an increase in permanent deformation and pore water pressure as reported by Wilson and Greenwood
(1974). Further, it is reported that the load application at higher cyclic stress ratio
(CSR) could lead to strain softening (Ishihara, 1985), leading to large shear strains
and higher pore water pressures. Even though there is no collapse, the critical examination of the data reveals that there is a very slow and continuous increase in the

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

90

G. G. Moses and S. N. Rao

deformation even after 2000 cycles of loading. It is quite likely that at higher levels of
CSR, the cementation bonds are getting ruptured within 1000 cycles of loading and
beyond this, more or less a slow creep deformation sets in.
From the aforementioned discussion, the behavior can be explained as per the
following. At lower confining pressures, the strength is mainly from the cementation
bonds, and at these stress levels, cyclic shear has a more damaging effect on the
bonds and even at CSR of 0.54, the cyclic strains reach substantially higher value
of 6.2%. However, if the same soil is tested at higher confining pressures
r3 200 kPa and subjected to the same cyclic stress ratios, the strain recorded are
far less (1.91%). At these higher stress levels of r3, the soil is considered to derive
its strength from friction and is beyond the effect of bonding. Hence, in this range,
if cyclic loading is continued beyond a certain number of cycles, it may induce some
sort of stiffening effect. This is partly responsible for the reduction in cyclic strains.
All these aspects can further be confirmed through the pore water pressures
measured.
Pore Water Pressure Response
This aspect of bond collapse can further be explained in terms of pore water pressures developed. From the results presented in Figure 5, it can be seen that the development of pore water pressure is almost similar to the development in strains. For
stabilization in pore water pressure, it requires more number of cycles.
In the conventional monotonic shear tests, for r3 50 kPa these samples have
shown signs of failure at an axial strains of 4.61% and at this failure stage, pore
water pressure is 14.5 kPa at failure. In comparison, during the cyclic loading at a
CSR up to 0.35, the maximum pore water pressure recorded is 9.96 kPa and even
a this stage, there is no failure in the sample. In cyclic tests at CSR of 0.45 and
0.54, even though the failure has not been attained, the maximum pore water pressure reached is 21.24 kPa. This clearly brings out that for a low value of CSR, cyclic
loading has no significant influence on both deformation and pore water pressure
response irrespective of number of load cycles. Beyond certain CSR values, the pore
water pressure is on the rise.
At confining pressure greater than pre-consolidation pressure of 75 kPa, the soil
behaves like a remoulded soil with the reduced effect of bonds. With the increase in
confining pressure, the soil is tending towards remoulded system. But subsequent
cyclic loading or straining can induce a stiffening effect, and this consequently makes
the system behave like an over-consolidated one. Static monotonic shearing is causing considerable amount of remoulding and with an increase in confining pressure,
there is a consequent increase in shear load required to cause failure. In view of this,
it is felt that with the increase in confining pressures, remoulding effect is increased,
but the subsequent cyclic loading brings in an opposite effect.
Uniform Cyclic Loading with Sustained Axial Load
In Figure 6, the results obtained from uniform cyclic triaxial shear tests with a sustained axial stress are presented for the cell pressures 50 and 200k Pa. At confining
pressure of 50 kPa, with the imposed SSR of 0.14 and CSR of 0.14 and 0.28, strains
are found to be negligible (< 0.5%), and it can be inferred that cyclic loading has
practically no influence on the deformation and from the mobilization of pore pressures point of view, there is also no influence felt. But as CSR level is increased to

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

Behavior of Marine Clay

91

Figure 6. Variation in cyclic strain with number of cycles for r3 50 kPa & 200 kPa.

0.41, there is perceptible change in the cyclic strain level and at threshold conditions
strain level is still at 1%, which can be considered as within the safe limits. As the
CSR level is increased to 0.55, the deformations are significantly increased and the
stabilized values of cyclic strain has almost reached 2.88%, and even then it is still
considered safe. However, as the CSR level is changed to 0.69, there appears to be
collapse in the system during few cycles of load application itself. All these clearly
suggest that at design stage for this frequency, the safe CSR level can be 0.55. From
the tests conducted at higher values of SSR 0.28 and CSR 0.14, 0.28 and 0.41,
with the increase in the initial values of SSR, for the given CSR, there is increase in
the rate of development of strains. The same effect can be seen in the case of
SSR 0.41. When the SSR is at 0.28 the maximum non-failure CSR ratio has been
reduced to 0.41, even though the total threshold stress ratio remained at 0.69 with a
threshold strain of 3.3% which is slightly higher in comparison with the values
obtained in the tests with SSR 0.14,. However, when the SSR level is increased
to 0.41 the, maximum non-failure CSR applied has been reduced to 0.14, and also
there is a reduction in the total threshold stress ratio to 0.55. Considering the failure
strain in all the cases, the threshold stress ratio is increased and failure strain is
reduced to 3% as against the average failure strain of 5% obtained under cyclic loading alone at the same stress levels.
In uniform cyclic loading without sustained axial loading, it is possible that the
loading on the sample can periodically reach zero value. Even at CSR of 0.45, for the
confining pressure of 50 kPa, the cyclic deformations have easily crossed 5% as
against the maximum strain of 2.88% observed at CSR of 0.55 with SSR of 0.14
(Figure 6). It can be noted that for uniform cyclic loading, the threshold cyclic stress
ratio is 0.52 with a strain of 6.2%, whereas with a sustained axial load of
SSR 0.14, the threshold stress ratio has increased to 0.69 (SSR, 0.14 CSR,
0.55) with a maximum strain of 2.88%. If these results are compared with the deformations obtained under uniform cyclic loading, the initial static stresses (SSR) have
considerably improved the system. All these clearly suggest that the maximum cyclic
strain ever reached under these combinations of stress levels is only 4%, at which
there cannot be any signs of failure. These point out that the initial static sustained

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

92

G. G. Moses and S. N. Rao

axial loading has very much improved the system with the wave type of cyclic loading imposed on the soil. It is possible to reach stress levels of nearly 0.69 in this system with out experiencing failure. If the sustained axial load is considered to induce
pre-stress effect, it can be noted that the pre-stressed levels are found to be better in
the case of systems with a total stress ratio (TSR SSR CSR). Consequently, the
shear strains are expected to be less in the latter system.
At high confining pressures, r3 200 kPa, obviously the imposed initial static
shear stresses to meet the requirements of SSR levels are higher. For the tests conducted at confining pressure of r3 200 kPa up to a TSR of 0.46, the strains and
pore water pressure developed are found be less than 2%. Thereafter, considerable
increases in the strains and pore water pressure are observed. When the SSR applied
is 0.15 with a cyclic loading of CSR 0.15, the strains and pore water pressure
developed are 0.39% and 20.6 kPa, respectively. Subsequently, in the next test with
an increase of SSR up to 0.30, and at same level of CSR 0.15, the strains and pore
water pressures recorded are 1.53% and 37.7 kPa, respectively. Similarly, in the next
test when the SSR is increased to 0.46, the strains are increased to 5.95% and the
pore water pressures are increased to 100 kPa. This indicates that that SSR induces
more yielding of soil and reduction in effective stress. The strain and pore water
pressure developed with the initial static shear stress compared with the uniform cyclic loading for a CSR of 0.45 under uniform cyclic loading without any initial static
stress, the cyclic strain and pore water pressure developed are 0.73% and 30 kPa.
With the addition of initial static stress of SSR 0.15 and CSR 0.30 (TSR 0.45),
the cyclic strain and pore water pressure have increased to 2.13% and 34.7 kPa. Similarly, with a SSR of 0.30 and CSR of 0.15 (TSR 0.45) the cyclic strains and pore
water pressure are 1.53% and 37.7%. These results indicate that the strains
developed for the same TSR, in the test with initial static shear are more than those
strains observed in tests without SSR. This indicates the SSR induces more yielding
of soil than the reduction in effective stress. At r3 200 kPa, it is suggested that for
the tests with combined SSR and CSR, strain and pore water pressures obtained are
more. At higher confining pressures, there may not be much difference between these
two different modes of testing considered in this investigation. After the cementation
effects are erased out, it is the absolute maximum shear stress, which controls the
deformation.
This indicates that in cemented soil system, the initial SSR level is very important in controlling the failure and it is not the total stress level which controls the
system. For any practical case, CSR basically depends on the wave climate and
intensity of cyclonic storm, and hence there is no scope to change the CSR level.
But the designer can change the weight of the structure and the base area of the foundation in such a way that SSR level can be safe a value as indicated by this type of
testing. In view of this, it is felt that in the design stage it can be ensured that the
maximum SSR level cannot exceed a certain value of yield strength of cemented clay.
Post Cyclic Strain Controlled Monotonic Loading Stress Strain Behavior
The stress-strain curves obtained under monotonic shear for the tests carried out at
confining pressure of 50 kPa and 200 kPa are shown in Figure 7. For the purpose of
comparison, the stress-strain curves obtained under strain controlled shear tests are
also presented in the same figures. From the post cyclic monotonic test conducted at
a confining pressure of r3 50 kPa, with increase in CSR level, there is a nominal

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

Behavior of Marine Clay

93

Figure 7. Strainstress plot during post-cyclic monotonic shear test for r3 50 kPa &
200 kPa.

decrease in strength. If only the overall peak strength recorded is to be evaluated, it

can be inferred that there is a marginal reduction in strength on comparison with the
strength results obtained from standard monotonic shear tests. But the reduction is
more with increase in the initial cyclic strains. From these, it can be realized that the
initial strains recorded at the end of cyclic loading have a significant influence on the
strength and deformation behavior of soils. The sub-failure cyclic strain is one which
controls the post cyclic strength. At lower levels of cyclic strains, it is imparting an
effect of induced over consolidation, but with increase in CSR levels, there appears
to be partial destruction of induced bonds and this is partly responsible for a certain
amount of degradation in the system. With higher levels of cyclic loading, post cyclic
strength is less. At these stress levels, soil behavior shifts from that of an over consolidated system to a normally consolidated system.
For similar such tests conducted at a higher confining pressure of 200 kPa, at the
frequency of f 0.17 Hz, a different trend has been noticed from the stress-strain
plots. In this case, the peak deviatoric stress values are marginally higher. Earlier
it has been pointed out that at confining pressure higher than preconsolidation pressure Pc, first few cycles of loading cause a through rupture of bonds and in this process, the material is transformed into a remoulded soil which can be termed as
normally consolidated (NC) system. At this stage, further cyclic loading in the latter
phase of testing is introducing an apparent over consolidation effect. Because of this
phenomenon, there is a marginal increase in the post cyclic strength of soil tested.
This indicates that this type of loading induces brittleness into the system.

Conclusions
The monotonic shear tests conducted with and without sustained stress indicate considerable differences in the stress-strain characteristics and the sustained axial load
has an effect of reducing the strength. For carbonate rich cemented soils with high
moisture contents, the system is quite brittle and failure occurs at lower strains levels
and the monotonic test with sustained axial load exhibits lower strength values. At
low sustained axial loading, the strength reduction is about 20 to 30%. With the
increase in the stress levels during testing, the differences in the strength values as
estimated from these two modes of testing, become smaller. Hence, in this type of

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

94

G. G. Moses and S. N. Rao

loading condition on carbonate rich cemented clays, it is recommended to adopt sustained monotonic type of test to evaluate the strength rather than the conventional
strain controlled monotonic test. For such carbonate cemented type of soils, with
high moisture content, collapse in the fabric elements is found to be inevitable,
and in such systems, there is a necessity in conducting the shear tests under the stress
controlled testing.
From the tests with uniform cyclic loading, it is found that with increase in cyclic
stress ratio, the number of cycles to reach the threshold limit also increases. The critical
cyclic stress ratio level depends both on the stress level and the frequency of loading.
Under the combined action of sustained axial loading and the subsequent cyclic
loading, the soil system is very well improved under certain range of sustained stress
ratio and if the SSR level is kept at lower than this limiting value, it is possible that
even at a higher load level arising out of cyclic loading, the system becomes stronger.
It is the initial SSR level that controls the failure in the soil.

Nomenclature
Acyclic
CSR
f
N
Pc
Su
SSR
TSR
r3
rcy
rst
epcy
Drcyclic
Drpcy

pore pressure coefficient during cyclic loading

cyclic stress ratio
frequency in Hz,
no of cycles
pre consolidation pressure
undrained shear strength
sustained stress ratio
total stress ratio
cell pressure
cyclic shear stress
static shear stress
post cyclic cumulative strain
cyclic deviatoric stress (qc)
post cyclic monotonic deviator stress

References
Anderson, K. H. 1976. Behaviour of clay subjected to undrained cyclic loading. Pp. 392403 in
Proceedings of International Conference on the Behaviour of Offshore Structures, BOSS76,
1, Trondheim, Norway.
Andersen, K. H., J. H. Pool, and S. F. Brown. 1980. Cyclic and static laboratory tests on
Drammen clay. Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division ASCE: 499529.
Anderson, K. H. and K. Hoeg. 1985. Deformations of soils and displacements of structures
subjected to combined static and cyclic loading. Norwegian Geotechnical Institute Publication N.R. 185: 111.
ASTM D 257394. Standard Test Method for Field Vane Shear Test in Cohesive Soil. West
Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International.
ASTM D 476795. Standard Test Method for Consolidated Undrained Triaxial Compression
Test for Cohesive Soils. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International.
Bishop, A. W. and D. J. Henkel. 1962. The measurement of soil properties in triaxial test, 2nd
ed. London: Edward Arnold Limited.

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

Behavior of Marine Clay

95

Boone, S. J. and A. J. Lutenegger. 1997. Carbonates and cementation of glacially derived

cohesive soils in New York state and southern Ontario. Canadian geotechnical Journal
34: 534550.
Bryant, W. R., P. Cernock, and J. Morelock. 1967. Shear strength and consolidation characteristics of marine sediments from the Western Gulf of Mexico. Proc. of the Int. Conf. in
Marine Geotechnique, Illinois, 4164.
Cao, Y. L. and K. T. Law. 1992. Energy dissipation and dynamic behaviour of clay under cyclic loading. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 29: 103111.
Casagrande, A. 1936. The determination of the preconsolidation load and its practical significance. Proc. of 1st International Conference in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 6064.
Fukue, M., T. Nakamura, and Y. Kato 1999. Cementation of soil due to calcium carbonate.
Soils and Foundations 39(6): 5564.
Goulois, M., V. Whitman, and K. Hoeg. 1987. Effects of sustained shear stresses on the cyclic
degradation of clay. Norwegian Geotechnical Publication, N.R. 167: 116.
Hyde, A. F. L. and S. J. Ward. 1986. The effect of cyclic loading on the undrained shear
strength of silty clay. Marine Geotechnology 26(3): 293314.
Hyodo, M. and K. Yashuhara. 1988. Analytical procedure for evaluation pore water pressure
and deformation of saturated clay ground subjected to traffic loads. Pp. 653658 in
A. A. Balkema (ed.), Proc. 6th Int. Conf. Numerical Methods in Geomechanics. Holland.
Hyodo, M., Y. Yamamoto, and M. Sugiyama. 1994. Undrained cyclic shear behaviour of normally consolidated clay subjected to initial static shear stress. Soils and Foundations 34(4):
111.
Ishihara, K. 1985. Stability of natural deposits during earthquakes. Pp. 321376 in Proceedings on 11th Int. conf. on Soil Mech. and Found. Engg., San Francisco, California.
Koutsoftas, D. C. 1978. Effect of cyclic loading on undrained strength of two marine clays.
J. Geotech. Eng. ASCE. 104: 609620.
Lee, K. L. and J. A. Focht. 1976. Strength of a clay subjected cyclic loading. Marine Geotechology 1(3): 165185.
Lefebvre, G. and P. Pfendler. 1996. Strain rate and preshear effects in cyclic resistance of soft
clay. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering ASCE, 122(1): 2126.
Marr, A. W. and T. John. 1981. Permanent displacements due to cyclic wave loading. Journal
of Geotechnical Engineering ASCE:11291149.
Matusi, T., H. Ohara, T. Ito. 1980. Cyclic stress-strain history and shear characteristics of
clay. J. Geotech. Engg. ASCE 106: 11011120.
Mohan, D. and R. K. Bhandari. 1977. Analysis of some Indian marine clay. Pp. 3547 in
International Symposium on soft clay, AIT, Bangkok, Thailand.
Rao, A. V. N. 1988. Strength and deformation behaviour of soft marine clay under cyclic
loading. Ph.D. thesis, IIT-Madras, India.
Ritchwien, W. and N. Rao. 1992. The behaviour of sedimented Hamburg marine clay. Report
of IGBE, Germany: University of Hanover.
Sakai, A., L. Samang, and N. Miura. 1997. Behaviour of soft soils under undrained
cyclic loading with initial shear stress. Journal of South East Asian Geotechnical
Society =AIT=Bangkok: 122.
Sangrey, D. A. and J. W. France. 1980. Peak strength of clay soils after a repeated loading
history. Pp. 421430 in Proceedings of International Symposium on Soils Under Cyclic
and Transient Loading, Swansea.
Sangrey, D. A., G. Castro, S. J. Poulos, and J. W. France. 1978. Cyclic loading of sands, silts,
clays. Pp. 836 851 in Proc. of Specialty Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Soil
Dynamics, ASCE, California.
Seed, H. B. and C. K. Chan. 1966. Clay strength under earthquake loading conditions. Journal
of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Div., ASCE, 92: 5378.

Downloaded By: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] At: 15:41 14 July 2010

96

G. G. Moses and S. N. Rao

Thiers, G. R. and H. B. Seed. 1968. Strength and stress-strain characteristics of clays subjected
to seismic loading conditions. Vibration Effects of Earthquakes on Soils and Foundations,
ASTM STP: 450.
Vrymoed, J. and W. Bennett. 1980. Cyclic strength and shear modulus as a function of time.
Pp. 711 in International Symposium on Soils under Cyclic and Transient Loading,
Swansea.
Wilson, N. E. and J. R. Green Wood. 1974. Pore Pressures and Strains after repeated loading
of saturated clay. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 11: 269277.
Yasuhara, K. K. and A. F. L. Hirao Hyde. 1992. Effect of cyclic loading on undrained
strength and compressibility of clay. Soils and Foundations 32: 100116.