Investigating Effects of End Platens on Stresses in Soil During Consolidation

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of rigid end platens on effective stresses in soil mass during consolidation. The friction between the teeth of top cap/base pedestal and the specimen during consolidation decreases the radial and tangential effective stresses in resonant column (RC) specimens. However, it is unpractical to measure the effective stresses in the soil specimen. Two approaches were used to evaluate the state of stress in RC specimens during consolidation. First, careful measurements were made of small strain shear modulus, Gmax in specimens with carefully controlled void ratios and stress histories, to infer the state of stress. And second, a finite element analysis was performed to analytically evaluate the effect of various soil parameters on the state of stress in RC specimens during consolidation. By combining these experimental and analytical results, an example was performed to predict the average state of stress in RC specimens during consolidation.