Braunkohle ist aktuell immer noch ein wichtiger Rohstoff für die Energieversorgung in Deutschland. Ein großes Abbaugebiet befindet sich in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Im sogenannten rheinischen Braunkohlenrevier liegen mächtige Braunkohleflöze, welche seit einigen Jahrzehnten im Tagebaubetrieb abgebaut werden. Allerdings fallen auch große Mengen an Abraum (die Deckschichten über der Braunkohle) an, welche meist auf der, dem Abbauort, gegenüberliegenden Seite, wieder verkippt werden. Dort bilden die verkippten Massen eine Böschung, die im Fall des Tagebaus Hambach ein Böschungssystem mit über 400m Höhe erreicht hat. Diese sich ständig verändernden Böschungen müssen, wie alle hohen Böschungen, durch Fachpersonal auf ihre Standsicherheit überprüft werden. Für diese Standsicherheitsberechnungen bedarf es Kennwerte, u. a. die undrainierte Scherfestigkeit für die Nachweise der kurzfristigen Standsicherheit, für die vorliegenden verkippten Böden. Diese liegen nach der Verkippung meist heterogen vor und verändern durch eine fortschreitende Konsolidation ihren Zustand. Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Bestimmung des Kennwertes der undrainierten Scherfestigkeit in fein- und gemischtkörnigen Böden. Dazu werden zunächst die Klassifikations- und Zustandseigenschaften während der Verkippung der Böden für die in den Tagebauen Inden und Hambach verwendeten Materialklassen vorgestellt. Dabei wird auch auf die Besonderheiten der Böden im Tagebau, wie z.B. die Zustandsänderung während des Transportes oder die vorliegende Heterogenität, eingegangen. Es werden analytische und numerische Prognosemodelle zur Bestimmung der undrainierten Scherfestigkeit vorgestellt. Die Grundlage dieser Modelle bilden die Konsolidationstheorien, mit welchen sich die Zustandsvariablen, wie die Porenzahl oder die effektive Spannungen, berechnen lassen. Über verfügbare Stoffmodelle, wie z.B. das hypoplastische Modell nach Mašín können anhand der Zustandsvariablen die undrainierten Scherfestigkeiten abgeleitet werden. Mit den in dieser Arbeit verwendeten Modellen lassen sich undrainierte Scherfestigkeitskennwerte zu verschiedenen Zeitpunkten prognostizieren, mit denen wiederum z.B. Standsicherheitsberechnungen von Böschungen durchgeführt werden können. Die statistischen Auswertungen der Klassifikationseigenschaften und Zustände erlauben eine Beurteilung von im Tagebaubetrieb häufig verwendeten Kennwerten (z.B. Fließgrenze oder Wassergehalt) und deren Streubreiten innerhalb der Materialklassen. / Lignite was and still is an essential source for producing energy in Germany. One huge extraction site is located in North-Rhine-Westphalia (in between Mönchengladbach, Cologne and Aachen). The so called Rhenish lignite district contains very thick lignite deposits, which are mined in open pit mines since a few decades. There are huge overburdens (on top on the lignite) which are transported and dumped on the opposite to the excavation side. The dumped soil masses create slope systems, that can amount to 400m of height (in open pit mine Hambach). These large slopes undergo permanent changes and have to be assessed considering their safety and stability by specialists. Characteristic properties regarding shear strength of the heterogeneous fine- and mixed grained soils are required for such calculations. The main challenge is the description of the state of the soil, as it is permanently changing due to consolidation. One essential characteristic is the undrained shear strength. The main focus of this thesis is the determination of the undrained shear strength. Therefore, the soil properties are determined with classification tests and the state of the soils at the time of dumping is assessed. The results are categorised using the material classes of the open pit mines Inden and Hambach. The particularities of dumped soils in open pit mines are shown, for instance the change of state during transport or the heterogeneity. Moreover, analytical and numerical models are employed to predict the undrained shear strength. The basis of all these models are consolidation theories, which are applied to determine the state variables such as void ratio and effective stresses. The undrained shear strength can then be predicted by using constitutive models such as the hypoplastic model for clays according Mašín. Using the approach presented in this thesis the undrained shear strength can be predicted and employed for example for slope stability analyses. The statistic evaluation of the soil properties allows a review of the soil characteristics that are typically employed in open pit mining. Furthermore, the scattering of properties of the material classes in the open pit mines can be assessed.

The box corer is a relatively new tool used in the geotechnical community for collection of soft seabed sediments. Miniature full flow and model pipeline probes were developed as tools to characterize and obtain soil parameters of soft seabed sediments collected in the box core for design of offshore pipelines and analysis of shallow debris flows. Probes specifically developed for this study include the miniature t-bar, ball, motorized vane (MV), and toroid. The t-bar, ball, and MV were developed to measure intact and remolded undrained shear strengths (su and sur). The t-bar and ball can obtain continuous strength profiles and measure sur at discrete depths in the box corer while the MV measures su and sur at discrete depths. The toroid is a form of model pipeline testing which was developed to investigate pipe-soil interaction during axial pipeline movement. Vertical loading and displacement rates can be selected for the toroid to mimic axial pipeline displacement for a variety of pipe weights. A load frame for both miniature penetrometer and toroid testing was developed for testing directly on box core samples offshore. This research presents results from offshore and laboratory testing of the box core and recommended testing procedures for full flow and toroid probes on box core samples.

[Truncated abstract] This research has studied the penetration and extraction resistance profiles of different types of penetrometers in soft clay. The penetrometers of interest include the cone, T–bar, ball and plate. Effects of the surface roughness and aspect ratio of the T–bar penetrometer on its resistance have also been investigated. Undrained shear strength, Su, profiles derived from the penetration tests are compared with the shear strengths measured from field vane shear tests and laboratory (triaxial and simple shear) tests. Both in situ and centrifuge model penetration tests were undertaken for the research. In addition, ‘undisturbed’? tube samples were retrieved from both the field and the centrifuge strongbox samples (after completion of the centrifuge tests) for laboratory testing. The in situ testing was carried out in Western Australia, at the Burswood site near Perth, with tests including cone, T–bar, ball and plate penetrometer tests, and vane shear tests. Interestingly, the T–bar, ball and plate (‘full-flow’) penetrometers showed a narrow band of resistance profiles both during penetration and extraction, with a range of around 15 % between the highest and lowest profiles and standard deviation of 15 %. However, the cone penetrometer gave similar resistance at shallow depths but increasingly higher penetration resistance at depths greater than 7 m – a phenomenon that is also common in offshore results. During extraction, the cone penetrometer gave a higher resistance profile than the full–flow penetrometers for much of the depth of interest. The Su profile measured directly from the vane shear tests falls within the Su profiles derived from the penetration resistances of the full–flow penetrometers, using a single bearing factor, N = 10.5 (the value originally suggested in the literature for a T–bar penetration test). Again, the cone penetrometer demonstrated diverging results, requiring two separate values for the cone factor, Nkt (10.5 initially increasing to 13 for depths below 10 m) in order to give Su similar to the vane shear tests. This highlights the possible variability of the cone factor with depth. Cyclic penetration and extraction tests were performed at specific depths for each fullflow penetrometer. These tests comprised displacement cycles of ±0.5 m about the relevant depth, recording the penetration and extraction resistances over five full cycles. The results may be used to derive the remoulded strength and sensitivity of the soil. Laboratory tests such as triaxial and simple shear tests were performed on ‘undisturbed’ tube samples retrieved from the same site to evaluate the in situ shear strengths in the laboratory. However, the resulting Su data were rather scattered, much of which may be attributed to variable sample quality due to the presence of frequent shell fragments and occasional silt lenses within the test samples. In general, N factors for the full–low penetrometers, back–calculated using Su values measured from the simple shear tests, fell mainly in a range between 9.7 and 12.8 (between 10.4 and 12.2 for the standard size T–bar (250 mm x 40 mm))

Les opérations de dragage génèrent d’importants volumes de sédiments à teneur en eau élevée qui sont difficilement transportables. Toute opération de valorisation ou stockage des sédiments implique de réduire la teneur en eau. Le séchage naturel et la déshydratation mécanisée des sédiments répondent à cette attente. Le séchage naturel des sédiments est la technique de déshydratation la plus économique et la meilleure du point de vue environnemental. Le temps de séchage peut être réduit par des moyens techniques adaptés (retournement, scarification) mis en action par l'application de critères d’aptitude au séchage naturel. Pour ce faire, le processus de séchage naturel a été reproduit à l’échelle du laboratoire à l’aide d’essais d’Égouttage et de Séchage et d’essais de Séchage et de Retrait couplés à des essais scissométriques. Ils ont porté sur neuf sédiments : sept sédiments de barrage, deux sédiments marins et une kaolinite. Une relation Su=f(IP) a été établie. Cette relation permet d’obtenir la cohésion non drainée Su à partir d’une mesure de teneur en eau. Elle permet aussi de définir ou cerner le moment le plus propice au retournement des sédiments à l’aide d’engins spécifiques sur site. Une autre méthode mécanique pour réduire le temps de séchage est suggérée. Il s'agit de pratiquer une scarification des sédiments à l’aide d’outils mobiles, voire robotisés, comme un rouleau scarificateur ou d'une rangée d'outils transportés par un treillis mobile adapté. En ce qui concerne la déshydratation mécanisée des sédiments, une nouvelle méthode de déshydratation en continu a été proposée à partir d'une presse à boues KDS®. Pour des raisons de conception et d'application, la presse à boues KDS® n’a jamais été utilisée pour déshydrater des sédiments. Un plan expérimental a été développé. Il est démontré que la presse KDS® est capable de déshydrater un sédiment fin sableux sans une maintenance démesurée. Des adaptations de la presse KDS® à la déshydratation de sédiments et des améliorations sont finalement proposées. / Dredging operations produce large amounts of sediments with high water content, that are difficult to handle. Storage management and future reuses need to reduce the water content of sediments. Natural and mechanical dewatering of sediments meet this need. The most economic and eco-friendly method of dewatering is natural dewatering. Dewatering period can be reduced with suitable technical means such as adapted plough or scarifier for sediments, operating under defined dewatering criteria. The natural dewatering process was investigated and reproduced at the laboratory scale by performing Natural dewatering test and Shrinkage test coupled with shear measurements (vane shear testing). Nine sediments have been considered: seven dam sediments, two marine sediments and a kaolinite clay. A relationship Su = f(IP) has been established. It allows to deduce the undrained shear strength Su from only a measurement of water content. It allows to state on the right moment to put in operation the specific tools for ploughing and returning over or scarifying sediments stored. These tools can move in the sediments (adapted plough) or roll on the sediments (scarifiying roller) or roll on banks of sediment storage basin. Another way to dewater high water content sediments concerns a mechanical device. Thus a new method of continuous dewatering has been investigated using a prototype machine patented and referenced as KDS® sludge press. This type of press was not adapted for dewater sediments. Full of dewatering tests have been undertaken and performed with this prototype concerning some of sediments (see natural dewatering testing) and sandy clayey mixtures. It has been shown that KDS® press is able to dehydrate sediments including fine sandy sediments without excessive maintenance. Some adaptations and improvements of KDS® press to dewatering sediments are finally suggested.

The undrained shear strength and preconsolidation pressure are key parameters in describing the characteristics of soft clays. The two parameters both reflect the clay’s structure and state of stress, and hence empirical correlations for undrained shear strength normalized with respect to preconsolidation pressure are widely used to assess soil behavior. The empirical correlations given in the literature are typically dependent on liquid limit, or plasticity index, but some studies have questioned the dependency and proposed correlations constant for consistency limits. Data from geotechnical projects often display a considerable scatter and deviate from established empirical correlations. In this thesis, statistical analyses are performed and evaluated qualitatively on direct simple shear, constant rate of strain and fall cone test data from 146 sampling points with a total of 596 soil samples from Stockholm, Gothenburg and Uppsala. The aim is to investigate the correlation between shear strength and the preconsolidation pressure. The thesis evaluates the normalized shear strength’s dependency on liquid limit, how the data corresponds to Hansbo’s (1957) and Swedish Geotechnical Institute’s (2007) linear empirical correlations, and the correction factor applied to shear strength measured by the fall cone test. The results of the study show that the correction factor typically reduces the shear strength from fall cone tests too much with respect to shear strength from direct simple shear tests. The normalized shear strength’s dependency on liquid limit may be rejected for the fall cone test data. The results for direct simple shear test data however, indicates a correlation with liquid limit. The data scatter is considerable, especially for fall cone test data, and the relevance of describing the normalized shear strength from fall cone test with a linear empirical correlation to liquid limit may conclusively be questioned. / Skjuvhållfasthet och förkonsolideringstryck är två viktiga jordparametrar för lösa leror. Båda parametrar reflekterar lerans struktur och spänningstillstånd, och empiriska korrelationer för odränerad skjuvhållfasthet, normaliserad mot förkonsolideringstrycket, används därför ofta för att bedöma en leras egenskaper. De empiriska korrelationerna är vanligen kopplade till flytgräns eller plasticitetsindex. Dessa korrelationer har däremot ifrågasatts av studier som i vissa fall istället föreslagit ett konstant förhållande mellan normaliserad odränerad skjuvhållfasthet och plasticitetsgränser. Mätvärden från geotekniska projekt i Sverige visar allmänt stor spridning avseende dessa parametrar och data avviker ofta från etablerade empiriska korrelationer. I examensarbetet har data från direkta skjuvförsök, ödometerförsök och fallkonförsök utvärderats statistiskt och kvalitativt. Totalt omfattar studien 596 jordprover från 146 provtagningspunkter från Stockholm, Göteborg och Uppsala. Syftet med studien är att undersöka korrelationen mellan odränerad skjuvhållfasthet och förkonsolideringstryck. Studien behandlar den normaliserade skjuvhållfashetens flytgränsberoende, Hansbos (1957) och Statens Geotekniska Instituts (2007) empiriska korrelationer, samt den korrektionsfaktor som ska tillämpas på skjuvhållfastheter från fallkonförsök. Resultatet visar att korrektionsfaktorn reducerar skjuvhållfastheten för mycket och att korrigerade skjuvhållfastheter är i sämre samstämmighet med skjuvhållfastheter från direkta skjuvförsök än okorrigerade. Data från fallkonförsök uppvisar inget tydligt flytgränsberoende, medan resultaten från direkta skjuvförsök indikerar ett beroende. Spridningen i data är dock påfallande, särskilt för fallkonförsöket. Relevansen i att tillämpa en linjär empirisk korrelation för odränerad normaliserad från fallkonförsök mot förkonsolideringstryck beroende av flytgräns bör ifrågasättas.