Monotonic simple shear characteristics of K0 highly over-consolidated and remolded Wenzhou clay.

AbstractThe over consolidated clay is widely distributed in the seabed. Monotonic simple shear tests on <italic>K</italic>0 consolidated clays with an over consolidation ratio (OCR) of 1 ∼ 14 were conducted through a multidirectional cyclic simple shear apparatus. The stress–strain relationship, pore pressure evolution, and shear strength variation under different OCRs were revealed, and differences between over and normally consolidated clay were compared. When OCR is below 8, peak values of shear stress and negative excess pore pressure both increase linearly with increasing OCR. However, the peak values tend to stabilize when OCR is above 8. Correspondingly, the occurrences of peak values no longer delay linearly, and the failure line is also shifted towards stronger strengths. An exponential formula is purposed and validated on accordance with numerous experimental data to describe the aforementioned pattern more precisely compared with the traditional power formula. Therefore, shear strengths of over consolidated clays with various OCRs and consolidation pressures can be accurately predicted according to the exponential formula and the shear strength of a normally consolidated sample with a certain consolidation pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]