Clay consolidation has generally been considered from a macro-scale perspective by measuring the macro-scale compression of a clay soil over time. Clay particles in consolidation tests experience shear and normal forces at the inter-particle level due to force applied to the soil at the macro-scale. These shear and normal forces cause the particles to slide at the micro-scale and produce macro-scale changes in soil volume and shape. By considering the inter-particle interactions at the micro-scale, the shear force - normal force - velocity relationship can be described by the Rate Process Theory (RPT). This research investigated the use of the RPT for analyzing sliding at individual clay particle contacts during secondary compression to describe macro-scale clay behavior. The novel micro-scale friction experiments conducted in this research demonstrated that an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) can be used to obtain coefficient of friction (μ) measurements for montmorillonite. This method allows for the measurements to be performed over spatial scales of a few microns, can be done under dry conditions or a wide range of aqueous solutions, and requires no calibration beyond making a few microscopic measurements of the probe. Control tests of silica on mica (μ = 0.29 ± 0.02) agree with literature values where limits indicate one standard deviation.μ values for wet and dry sodium montmorillonite were determined to be 0.20 ± 0.03 and 0.72 ± 0.03, respectively. The micro-scale AFM and macro-scale triaxial shear, ring shear, and direct shear experimental data ofμ as a function of sliding velocity were found to match well with those calculated using common RPT parameter values. The activation energy for the macro-scale triaxial shear and corresponding micro-scale friction regime experiments fall within the expected range for pure montmorillonite of 84–109 kJ/mol. Additionally, the micro-scale and macro-scale experimental results fall within the expected range for the number of bonds per unit of normal force of 10^7–10^9 bonds/N. A discrete element method (DEM) model was developed to calculate thin, disk-shaped clay particle movement in three dimensions during compression using the RPT as a contact model. The DEM compression results were compared to macro-scale consolidation experiments conducted on the same reference clay as the micro-scale AFM experiments. The influences on the compression of the number of bonds at each clay contact per unit of normal contact force and the activation energy were quantified. Increasing the activation energy decreased the compression, as expected. Similarly, increasing the number of bonds per unit of normal force at the contacts decreased the compression, as expected. Realistic clay fabrics with varying particle sizes, particle size distributions, and aspect ratios led to a compression model with behavior similar to the macro-scale laboratory compression tests. This research provides evidence of the close correspondence between macro-scale and micro-scaleμ measurements and contributes to multi-disciplinary understanding of factors that control friction between clay particles and deformation of clay masses. The results from this work can be applied to a wide range of time-dependent phenomena such as clay secondary compression, shear deformation, and fault dynamics behavior. / Ph. D.

Observation and measurement of long-term volumetric deformation of clay are important in tackling different geotechnical and geological issues. The area of interest is the northern part of Vienna Basin, where Miocene clays sedimented. It is locally known as Brno Tegel. The Thesis deals with the secondary compression of clays, which can be defined by the Cα/Cc concept. The one-dimensional creep can be determined using the numerical values of the coefficient of secondary compression Cα and subsequently the thickness of overburden of sediments can be estimated. The two different theories, known as Hypothesis A and B are also discussed, which have been used to interpret the effect of creep during the primary consolidation phase. The laboratory measurements of long-term oedometric tests are presented for two undisturbed samples and one reconstituted sample of Brno clay. A nonstandard behaviour in uniaxial creep is also discussed, namely the observed diffusion collapse. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

When underground openings are constructed, groundwater inflow can occur, which might lead to ground settlements, namely in clay. In these types of construction projects, it is beneficial to be able to quantify risks related to these settlements. A framework developed by Sundell et al. (2019, Risk Analysis, Vol. 39, 105-124) deals with this, in which one part is a statistical settlement model. However, since their model only considers primary compression, a model that accounts for secondary compression (or creep) is necessary to better represent real conditions.In this thesis, an adaptation of Sundell’s et al. (2019) model that includes creep settlement was developed and applied on a focus area of the tunnel project Stockholm Bypass. First, distributions of parameters were created based on data from the project and complementary data from literature. Thereafter, a stochastic model based on an existing creep model was coupled with the Monte Carlo method.A cell where 8 m groundwater drawdown had previously been measured was simulated with the stochastic model. Results from this show wide settlement distribution. Moreover, a scenario with a sudden groundwater drawdown of 6 m was simulated over the entire focus area. Results from the scenario show larger settlements over a larger influence area when creep effects were included compared with simulations without creep effects.The proposed model was also verified against two other creep settlement models. The verification indicates an overestimation in initial settlements, but an underestimation of the excess pore pressure. The proposed model long-term settlement results were within 0.1 m of the compared models. A sensitivity analysis shows that different size of distributions of the permeable parameters and the creep parameters used in the model had low impact on settlement distribution in the presented model. / Undermarksanläggningar kan orsaka grundvattendränering, vilket kan leda till marksättningar. I dessa projekt är det fördelaktigt att kunna kvantifiera riskerna för dessa marksättningar. Ett ramverk utvecklat av Sundell et al. (2019, Risk Analysis, Vol. 39, 105-124) behandlar detta, och inbegriper bland annat en statistisk sättningsmodell. Eftersom modellen endast beaktar primärkonsolidering av jorden, är en modell som även behandlar sekundärkonsolidering (krypning) nödvändig för att bättre representera verkliga förhållanden.I denna uppsats utvecklades och tillämpades en anpassning av Sundells et al. (2019) modell till att inkludera krypsättningar på ett fokusområde i tunnelprojektet Förbifart Stockholm. Först skapades fördelningar av parametrar baserade på data från projektet samt kompletterande data från litteratur. Därefter byggdes en stokastisk modell baserat på en existerande krypmodell kopplat med Monte Carlo-metoden.Med den stokastiska modellen simulerades en punkt där 8 m grundvattensänkning hade skett. Resultatet från denna simulering visar att den beräknade sättningen är varierande. Därutöver simulerades hela fokusområdet för ett scenario med en konstant grundvattensänkning på 6 meter. Resultatet visar större sättningar över ett större påverkansområde när krypeffekter inkluderas jämfört med när de inte gjorde det.Den föreslagna modellen verifierades också mot två andra krypsättningsmodeller. Verifieringen antyder på en överskattning i de initiala sättningarna, men en underskattning av porövertrycket. Den föreslagna modellens långsiktiga sättningar låg inom 0,1 m jämfört med de andra modellernas sättningar. Genom en sensitivitetsanalys erhölls att storleken på variationskoefficienten hos permeabilitetsparametrar samt krypparametrar använda i modellen inte hade någon större påverkan på fördelningen av sättningar i den presenterade modellen.