The purpose of this study is to incorporate the knowledge and technique of marine geotechnical engineering, underwater acoustic surveying and hydraulic experiment into studying the problems of artificial reefs off Ling-yang, Kaohsiung Country, South-western part of Taiwan deployed in March 1996. Based on hydraulic experiment, we try to observe the scouring mechanism of artificial reefs. Beside, two other reefs Yung-an, Fang-lio reef were surveyed in this study .The ultimate goal of this investigate was intended to deduce ways to solve the problem of excessive scouring and subsidence, and decide the appropriate environment of the seafloor to deploy artificial reefs for promoting fishing developing. The topography of Ling-yang is generally gentle. Based on the test of physics and mechanics, most surficial sediments at the surface was cohesiveless sand sediments including a lot of seashell. Therefore, we deduced that the surficial sediments are easier to drift caused by monsoon and typhoon in summer. The phenomenon indicated that the surface of sediments is unstable when the sediments are cohesiveless or were loaded by other forces. This study showed that there were obvious scouring effect occurred in and around the reefs, Ling-yang, Yung-an and Fang-lio. The most serious scouring area was occurred in Ling-yang, and a majority of reefs have been buried there. Therefore, the major factors, which could induce excessive subsidence or undermining of the artificial reefs in the testing site, were proposed to be scouring effects. Compared with other reef areas, the scouring effect was related to the grain distribution on the seafloor and the velocity of currents. In the aspect of preventing subsidence of reefs, the reefs closely deployed were better than that loosely deployed.

Compacted shales cause problems because they tend to degrade with time due to weathering. Degradation results in the shale deteriorating from a hard rock-like material to a soft fine-grained soil mass with lower shear strength and high deformability. Consequently, common problems that occur in embankments constructed with compacted shales include settlement and instabilities. Therefore, accelerating weathering prior to compaction by wetting and breaking down the shales before placement can reduce the deterioration during the service life of the construction. Extensive laboratory testing was performed in order to characterize the mechanical behavior of compacted shales. Critical State theory is a clever framework that describes the mechanical behavior of soils with a simple system of equations that explains all the aspects of compression and shear of soils. NorSand is a model constructed in the framework of the Critical State theory that decouples the yield loci from the normally consolidated line. This characteristic made this model suitable for compacted shales. Also, empirical evidence showed that the plastic behavior of compacted shales is controlled by a Nova type flow rule that is a function of the mineralogical characteristics of the shales. This finding has implications in the shape of the yield loci and the hardening rule.

The successful application of in-situ testing of soils heavily depends on development of methods of interpretation of the tests. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a consistent theoretical basis for the interpretation of pressuremeter tests in cohesive and frictional materials. The research programme is based on cavity expansion theory with additional details provided by a large strain finite element analysis. A unified analytical solution is developed for the expansion and contraction of both cylindrical and spherical cavities in dilatant elastic-plastic soils. For the first time, explicit solutions for the pressure-expansion and pressure-contraction relationships are derived without any restriction being imposed on the magnitude of the deformation. In addition, the finite element method is adopted for solving the cavity expansion problem. This is mainly due to the fact that only in special cases when simple material models and boundary conditions are involved has it been possible to solve the problem analytically. A finite element analysis of the cone-pressuremeter test in sand is described. A series of two-dimensional finite element calculations on both the self-boring pressuremeter test and the cone-pressuremeter test is performed. In modelling the penetration process of cone-pressuremeter tests, the stresses evaluated by the cavity expansion theory are used as the starting condition for the finite element analysis. Emphasis is placed on quantifying the effects of pressuremeter geometry on derived deformation and strength parameters. In the finite element formulation, a special effort is devoted to developing a lower order finite element suitable for analysing axisymmetric elastic-plastic problems which involve incompressibility constraints. The formulation of a new six-noded isoparametric displacement finite element is presented. To account for large strain (rotation) effects, an Eulerian description of deformation is adopted and the Jaumann stress rate is used in the soil constitutive equations. The suitability of the conventional interpretation methods for pressuremeter tests is critically assessed in the light of the finite element results. Based on the numerical results, improved procedures for obtaining in-situ soil parameters from pressuremeter tests in both clay and sand have been proposed.

This thesis is concerned with large strain soil consolidation and a large portion of the work is devoted to the theoretical development in modelling this phenomenon. An experimental programme based on a specially designed oedometer is also included. The governing equations are formulated in Chapter 2, where both the material and the space coordinates are considered. In space coordinate the problem is a moving boundary problem, and special numerical techniques for the idealized case of a thin soil layer are developed in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4 the consolidation of a normally consolidated stratum and a dredged fill are considered with a linear soil model, and the consolidation of a deposit undergoing continuous sedimentation is considered in Chapter 5. The material coordinate is used in the analysis which also includes the effect of self weight of soil. These problems are again considered in Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 with a nonlinear soil model. A specially designed oedometer for testing very soft soil is described in Chapter 8, and the experimental results are discussed in Chapter 9. These are compared with the theoretical solutions developed in Chapter 3, and good agreement has been obtained.

This thesis concerns the mechanical behaviour of unsaturated highly expansive clays. Given the high cost of damage to buildings, structures and roads caused by unexpected ground movements associated with unsaturated highly expansive clays and the increasing use of compacted expansive clays for engineered barriers for environmental protection and other purposes, it was considered important to investigate the behaviour of these materials. Previous researchers had reported the occurrence of substantial irreversible components of either wetting-induced swelling or drying-induced shrinkage during cycles of wetting and drying performed on unsaturated highly expansive clays containing active clay mineral such as montmorillonite. This form of irreversible behaviour cannot be represented by existing elasto-plastic models for unsaturated non-expansive clays. It had therefore been suggested that the behaviour of unsaturated highly expansive clays was fundamentally different to that of unsaturated non-expansive clays, and that the constitutive models developed for unsaturated non-expansive clays were inappropriate. The behaviour of an unsaturated highly expansive compacted bentonite/kaolin mix under isotropic stress states has been studied in a programme of controlled-suction tests incorporating isotropic loading and unloading at constant suction and cycles of wetting and drying (variation of suction) performed either under constant load or at constant volume. A smaller series of tests was also performed on unsaturated compacted samples of non-expansive pure kaolin. Either net shrinkage or net swelling occurred over a wetting/drying cycle for samples of the same soil, depending upon the compaction pressure. Irreversible shrinkage or swelling occurred during subsequent wetting/drying cycles, not just during the first cycle. Net shrinkage during a wetting/drying cycle was sometimes accompanied by a distinct change of stiffness (a yield point) during the appropriate drying path, but at other times was not. Yield points were never observed during both drying and wetting stages of a cycle. Net shrinkage or swelling during a wetting/drying cycle was always accompanied by a substantial net change of degree of saturation Sr during the cycle (termed hydraulic hysteresis). Experimental evidence showed that there is no fundamental difference between the mechanical behaviours of unsaturated highly expansive soils and unsaturated non-expansive soils. The experimental results suggested that unified modelling for both unsaturated highly expansive soils and unsaturated non-expansive soils is desirable. A new constitutive modelling framework is therefore proposed. In the modelling framework new forms of stress variables, with conjugate strain increment parameters, are used for the first time. Results from theoretical analysis of the influence of suction on inter-particle forces are used in developing the modelling framework. The influence of hydraulic hysteresis on stress strain behaviour is included in the framework, which has been developed in such a way that the otherwise difficult, transition between saturated and unsaturated conditions can be modelled in a relatively straightforward fashion. In the new modelling framework, both net shrinkage and net swelling during wetting/drying cycles, can be explained.

This thesis examines the effect of undissolved gas bubbles on the geotechnical properties of marine clayey soils. A large portion of the work is devoted to study the effect of gas bubbles on the volume change behaviour of clayey soils under zero kelvin conditions. Chapter two describes the technique used to introduce controllable amount of gas bubbles into reconstituted clayey soils. One dimensional volume change behaviour of gassy soils with different degrees of saturation is compared with that of the saturated soil in chapter three. A theoretical model is developed in chapter four to describe the consolidation behaviour of soils containing a compressible pore fluid and is compared with the experimental results. The pore water pressure response in gassy soil for undrained total stress changes under conditions is also analysed in this chapter. A differential piezometer to measure the pore water pressure response in a gassy sea bed for tide and wave action was designed and tested. Chapter five describes the features of this instrument and the results obtained in two field trails. Finally in chapter six, the effect of gas bubbles on the undrained shear strength of soil is examined.

The purpose of this study was twofold: to design, construct and commission a testing chamber for the calibration of in-situ devices in clay and to use the chamber to carry out a programme of research into the factors affecting the results of the Marchetti dilatometer test. A calibration chamber system was developed which was capable of producing one metre high by one metre diameter cylindrical beds of clay. The preparation technique involved an initial phase of one-dimensional consolidation in a rigid tube, followed by a second phase of consolidation in a chamber with independent stress control. The stress control was achieved through water-filled flexible membranes in the side and at the base of the chamber. Reasonably uniform distributions of the water content and the undrained strength were obtained from investigations carried out in each clay bed after they had been tested. The Marchetti dilatometer is an in-situ testing device the results of which have been interpreted chiefly through empirical correlations based on the results of field tests. The interpretation has mainly involved the use of two readings, and , though recently a third reading , has been introduced. Dilatometer tests were carried out in nine clay beds. The stress history and stress state of each clay bed were systematically varied in the test programme to allow their individual effects on the dilatometer readings to be assessed. The study revealed that in clay the dilatometer reading is controlled by the undrained strength and the horizontal stress and was independent of the degree of overconsolidation. Through use of this result it was shown that the applicability of many of the empirical correlations presently used to evaluate the dilatometer readings is restricted to deposits with one-dimensional stress histories. It was also found that was dependent on the undrained strength and that the reading was close to the total horizontal stress of the sample though the latter finding does not appear to be supported by the few field results that are available. The results have highlighted the redundancy of the reading for property evaluation. It was found that a timed sequence of , and readings could be used to detect the variation of the consolidation properties between clay beds. In addition to the tests in clay, the results of 31 dilatometer tests carried out in a calibration chamber for sand have also been analysed. An inter-relationship between , and was found suggesting that they were all measuring the same soil response; that of the pressure required to open a cavity in the sand. The reading was shown to be dependent on the horizontal stress and the state parameter, though this dependence could not be exploited to back calculate the horizontal stress. Overconsolidation of the sand specimens had no significant influence on the readings.

Utvecklingen av sonderingsmetoder har pågått sedan cirka 100 år tillbaka med anledning av att det finns flera olika syften med en geoteknisk undersökning. Exempelvis kan det i ett projekt vara relevant att bedöma jordlagrens egenskaper medan det i ett annat handlar om att bestämma djupet till berg. Resultatet från de geotekniska undersökningarna mynnar ut i rekommendationer för till exempel grundläggning och stabilitet för olika typer av konstruktioner. Examensarbetet behandlar en jämförelse av konventionell jord-bergsondering med den alltmer frekvent använda metoden sänkhammarborrning, där båda metoderna framförallt syftar till att bestämma bergöverytans läge vid geotekniska undersökningar. Jord-bergsondering består av fyra olika sonderingsklasser, Jb-1, Jb-2, Jb-3 och Jb-tot som skiljer sig främst med avseende på vilka borrparametrar som registreras vid sondering. Syftet med examensarbetet är att utforma ett underlag för att implementera sänkhammarborrning som en del i denna Jb-familj, då metoden idag saknar en egen sonderingsklass. Standarder och metodbeskrivningar för sonderingsmetoder vid geotekniska fältundersökningar är av stor betydelse för att uppnå kvalitetshöjning vid exempelvis utförandet av den specifika metoden. Den stora skillnaden mellan metoderna är konceptet vid borrning. Vid konventionell Jb-sondering används topphammare där slagdonet sitter ovanpå stångpaketet, medan vid sänkhammarborrning sitter slagdonet precis ovanför borrkronan nere i borrhålet. Topphammaren drivs av hydraultryck medan sänkborrhammaren drivs av högtrycksvatten eller högtrycksluft som tillförs via vattenpump respektive kompressor. Under arbetet har en korrelationsborrning med Jb-2 sondering och vattendriven sänkhammarborrning utförts i projektet TUB-A, Solna. Från denna korrelationsborrning erhölls endast en lyckad sondering, vilket medförde att fokuset med examensarbetet blev att identifiera skillnader mellan metoderna vid borrnings- och etableringsförfarandet. Från resultatet framkom att vid etablering av sänkhammarborrning krävs tillägg med extern vattenpump med arbetstryck upp till 180 bar, högstrycksslangar, extern svivelanordning, speciella borrstål och naturligtvis den vattendrivna sänkborrhammaren. I resultatdelen presenteras även för- och nackdelar mellan de olika borrprinciperna. Sänkborrhammarens fördel är framförallt vid sondering på stort djup där topphammaren förlorar sin funktion i form av förlust i slagenergi vid varje skarvtapp. Topphammaren är å andra sidan en väletablerad metod som till exempel inte kräver någon extern utrustning, vilket också gör metoden fördelaktig ur ett kostnadsperspektiv. För att underlätta vid metodbeskrivning för sänkborrhammaren som en egen sonderingsklass är det gynnsamt att efterlikna de sonderingsklasser som finns. I resultatet framgår att sonderingsklassen Jb-2 kan vara bäst lämpad att efterlikna. I examensarbetets slutsats konstateras att goda förutsättningar finns för implementering av sänkhammarborrning som en egen sonderingsklass inom jord- och bergsondering, men att tillägg i utrustning och anpassningar vid parameterregistrering behöver göras. Vid redovisning kan metoden förslagsvis benämnas Jb-S, där S står för sänkborrhammare.

Tailings are a rest product from the extraction of metals and minerals, and is therefore produced in large volumes by all mining companies. One common way to store tailings material is to deposit it as a hydraulic slurry on a tailings impoundment, where the tailings are held in place by tailings dams. Deposit and discharge of tailings, often conducted along the dams, causes a particle segregation which creates different fines contents (percentage of particles smaller than 0,063 mm in the tailings) in the impoundment at various distances from the discharge. Another effect from the discharge is that different densities are created in the deposited layers. Since some tailings dams are constructed on top of old deposited tailings, and if possible with tailings as a construction material, the fines content and density effects on the tailings behaviour are important factors for dam stability. In this thesis, tailings material with different fines contents and different densities have been studied with the purpose to see how the behaviour in strength, compressibility and permeability varies. After an initial case study of sampled tailings from a specific impoundment, the fines content for the three tested materials were determined to be 10, 50 respectively 90%. The behaviour in strength was tested in both triaxial and simple shear tests. Only drained strength was studied for three consolidation stresses in both apparatuses. The result from both tests showed that the strength is increasing with decreasing fines content, and thus evaluated friction angles increases with decreasing fines content. Evaluated friction angles from the simple shear test are though significantly smaller than those from the triaxial tests. Friction angles from triaxial tests are seen as most reliable, since the principal stresses are controlled during the whole test. The difference in friction angles from simple shear and triaxial test is however not a new discovery, it has been found by others before. The results from the triaxial tests indicates that a transitional fines content must exist somewhere between 10 – 50 %, where the behaviour in strength switches from sand dominated to silt dominated. Oedometer tests were conducted to study the compressibility of the three materials. The results showed that the compressibility increased with increasing fines content and with decreased density. In agreement with that conclusion, evaluated oedometer modulus from the normal consolidation curve tended to increase with increasing density and to a smaller extent increase with decreasing fines content. Determination of characteristics in permeability were done by evaluating the hydraulic conductivity from constant head tests. Results from this showed that the hydraulic conductivity increases with decreasing fines content. Furthermore, with increasing density the hydraulic conductivity decreases. Results of both the compressibility and the hydraulic conductivity are of course expected. To develop the relations in compressibility and permeability is considered as hard, since the behaviours are both dependent of fines content and density. However, the results indicate that with different combinations of fines contents and densities similar behaviour in compressibility and permeability can be obtained for different materials. / Anrikningssand (eng. tailings) är en restprodukt från utvinningen av metaller och mineraler. Alla gruvföretag producerar varje år stora volymer anrikningssand som måste förvaras på något sätt. Detta görs ofta genom att anrikningssanden deponeras som en slurry med processvatten på magasin. Anrikningssanden hålls sedan på plats av dammar och ibland i kombination med naturlig topografi. Deponeringen sker ofta från utsläppspunkter längs dammen, vilket resulterar i en sortering av kornstorlekar i magasinet som i sin tur skapar olika finjordshalter (procent av partiklar mindre än 0,063mm) på olika avstånd från utsläppspunkten. Deponeringen skapar också olika lager, som också får olika densiteter. Eftersom en del typer av gruvdammar byggs inåt och grundläggs på tidigare deponerad anrikningssand, samt eftersom anrikningssand ibland används som byggmaterial vid höjningar, är finjordshalten och densitetens effekt på materialbeteendet intressant ur stabilitetssynpunkt för dammarna. I det här arbetet har anrikningssand med olika finjordshalter och densiteter undersökts i laboratorieförsök för att bestämma hållfasthets-, kompressions- och permeabilitetsegenskaper. Först gjordes en case study, med provtagning och klassificering av anrikningssand från en specifik anläggning. Därefter bestämdes att tre stycken material med finjordshalter på 10, 50 och 90 % skulle undersökas. Hållfasthetsegenskaper har undersökts i både triaxial och direkta skjuvförsök. Endast dränerad hållfasthet har studerats för tre stycken konsolideringsspänningar för varje material i både triaxial och direkta skjuvförsök. Resultaten från både triaxialförsök och direkta skjuvförsök visar att hållfastheten ökar med minskad finjordshalt och därför ökar även värdet på utvärderade friktionsvinklar med minskad finjordshalt. Utvärderade friktionsvinklar från direkta skjuvförsök är dock betydligt lägre än friktionsvinklar från triaxialförsök. Friktionsvinklarna från triaxialförsöken är mer trovärdiga eftersom man under hela testet har koll på huvudspänningsriktningarna. Skillnaden i resultatet mellan direkta skjuvförsök och triaxialförsök är inte en ny upptäckt, utan har hittats av andra tidigare. Från resultatet av triaxialförsöken i det här arbetet kan man antyda att det finns ett ”transitional fines content” (TFC) mellan 10 och 50 %, där materialet övergår från sand dominerat beteende till silt dominerat beteende under skjuvning. Ödometerförsök utfördes för att studera kompressionen hos de tre materialen. Resultaten visar att kompressibiliteten ökar med ökad finjordshalt och med lägre densitet. Utvärderade ödometer moduler från normalkonsolideringskurvorna visar att styvheten ökar med ökad densitet, samt en aning till tendens mellan ökad styvhet och minskad finjordshalt. Permeabilitetsegenskaper har studerats genom utvärdering av hydraulisk konduktivitet från constant head test. Det observerades att den hydrauliska konduktiviteten ökar med minskad finjordshalt. Gällande densitetens effekt visar resultaten att med ökad densitet så minskar den hydrauliska konduktiviteten. Både resultat i kompressionsegenskaper och hydraulisk konduktivitet är förstås väntade. Att utveckla sambanden kring kompressions- och permeabilitetsegenskaper anses svårt, eftersom det är beroende av både finjordshalt och densitet. Resultaten indikerar att det med olika kombinationer av finjordshalt och densitet går att uppnå liknande beteende för olika material i både kompression och permeabilitet.

The mining industry produces massive amounts of waste that without treatment and in contact with oxygen can result in acid rock drainage (ARD) and increased leaching of metals. In Sweden, the common way to manage the mine waste after closure is to apply a dry coverage on top of the waste deposition. The access to a suitable cover-material is however limited and can lead to extensive costs for the mining company. This creates a great driving force for alternative solutions, e.g. bentonite amendment to till. However, bentonite production is costly both economically and environmentally due to time- and resource- consuming production. Recycling of industrial residues as a cover material is another option. The recycling is beneficial for many parts, i.e. the industry producing the residue, the mining industry that will use the residue and the society in its strive for zero waste. An industrial residue that has potential to improve the sealing layer qualities of a local till is Green Liquor Dregs (GLD), a residue from pulp production in a paper mill. In this study 5 to 20 wt. % of GLD from two different paper mills, with varying total solid content (TSC) and particle size distributions (PSD), were mixed with three tills also with varying PSD and TSC. The objectives of the study were to investigate if GLD addition can improve a till so it can be used in a sealing layer, how the fines- and clay content in the tills affects the hydraulic conductivity (HC) and the water retention capacity (WRC) of the till-GLD mixtures, and how the initial water content will affect the HC in the different mixtures. The HC of the mixtures based most of the tills studied improved, but not enough to reach the required 10-8 m/s. Only the material based on a more clayey silty till had an HC below 10-8 m/s, even if it increased with the addition of GLD. The WRC, on the other hand, shows promising results, especially for 15 wt. % GLD addition. An increase in WRC is seen the more GLD is added. However, due to compaction difficulties more than 20 wt. % addition is not recommended. There is a difference in both HC and WRC between the mixtures based on the different tills, and a characterization of the till as a bulk material and its mixture with GLD is suggested before using it in mine remediation purposes. The HC of the till is affected by the content of fines and especially clay. The results from the WRC is more complicated and a mineralogical study on the GLD and the clay fraction of the tills is recommended. This study also shows that the initial water content of the materials rather than dry density has an impact on the HC of the mixtures. The initial water content determines the degree wet of optimum that in this and previous studies has shown to greatly affect the HC. A drier till and GLD leads to that more GLD should be added to the mixture when reaching for optimal HC. Even if the study did not result in low enough HC in most of the cases, the WRC shows promising results and is the most important parameter minimizing the oxygen diffusion to the mine waste. The greatest challenge when working with GLD is, however, its heterogeneity which makes it difficult to predict how it will behave in a sealing layer. Even though, the recycling of GLD in mine waste remediation should be strived for as it is beneficial for both the industry that provides the residue and the mining company. It is also a great profit for the environment as it minimizes the waste disposed and reduce use of natural resources.