Anisotropy in engineering properties of soils occurs due to the depositional process forming the soil fabric and/or different directional stresses in soil history. This study investigates the anisotropy in undrained shear strength and drained compressibility of preconsolidated, stiff and fissured Ankara Clay. The compressibility behavior is determined using standard oedometer testing while the shear strength anisotropy is investigated through large diameter unconsolidated-undrained triaxial testing on undisturbed samples taken in vertical and horizontal directions from several deep excavation sites along the Konya Road in &Ccedil / ukurambar-Balgat Area, Ankara. According to the results achieved, Ankara Clay is slightly anisotropic in compressibility, with an anisotropy ratio between 0.72 and 1.17 in terms of coefficient of volume compressibility for several pressure ranges between 50 kPa and 1600 kPa. On the other hand, while a slight anisotropy in undrained shear strength at a ratio ranging between 0.87 and 1.19 in terms of deviator stress can be observed in Ankara Clay, considering the great variation in the test results of samples in same direction which mostly overlaps with the range of results obtained in the other direction, it has been concluded that the Ankara Clay located in this area can be regarded as isotropic in terms of shear strength for practical purposes.

[Formulae and special characters can not be reproduced here. Please see the pdf version of the Abstract for an accurate reproduction.] The thesis provides a comprehensive study on the behaviour of sand with a small amount of fines [i.e.1/3 plastic fines and 2/3 non-plastic fines]. The work is carried out experimentally under axi-symmetric conditions using the triaxial apparatus. Conventional drained triaxial tests are conducted on isotropic consolidated specimens and all the tests indicate that sand with fines does not manifest any unusual behaviour under drained conditions. However in undrained shearing the so-called ???reverse behaviour??? is noted. The study demonstrates that the reverse behaviour conforms to the critical state framework because significant changes in the position and geometry of the critical state [CS] and isotropic consolidation [IL] lines are caused by the presence of fines. These changes cannot be adequately modelled by the intergranular void ratio as proposed by Thevanayagam and Mohan (2000). This study also demonstrates that the original state parameter [special character] as proposed by Been and Jefferies (1985) is not an adequate parameter to predict the undrained behaviour trend. A new parameter termed ???modified state parameter??? [special character] is proposed to account for the combined effects of density and confining pressure. The suitability of the modified state parameter to characterise the response of parent sand and sand with fines is assessed for a range of void ratios and confining pressures. The effect of drained stress history is an important factor affecting the subsequent undrained response. Drained pre-shearing to failure is found to improve considerably the subsequent undrained response to the extent that liquefaction may not occur. Different drained pre-shearing histories have different effects on the undrained response. However in these tests [special character] has limitations in quantifying the subsequent undrained stress-strain response. Hence, a new framework of ???yielding parameter??? [special character] extends the capability of [special character] and additional data is presented to demonstrate the suitability of this concept. The implementation of [special character] depends on whether the previous stress state reached during the stress history is below or at failure. The effects of drained pre-shearing on the position and movement of failure surface are investigated. It is found that drained pre-shearing to failure at larger confining pressures has the effect of shifting upwards part of the drained failure surface. The shift at larger stress ratios [special character] may be described in terms of dilatancy and modified state parameter at failure. The so-called strain path tests are conducted to study the influence of strain increment ratio on the deformation behaviour of sand with fines. It is found that the value of [special character] has significant effects on the stress-strain behaviour. Along negative [special character] paths the soil strain softens in the form of decreasing the shear resistance before reaching the failure state. In contrast, along positive [special character] paths the soil strain hardens to an asymptotic stress ratio. The asymptotic stress ratio decreases with increasing [special character] along a linear relationship. The framework of [special character] cannot quantify the stress-strain response along positive and negative strain paths. Consequently an ???instability parameter??? [special character] is proposed to extend the capabilities of [special character] and the reliability of this parameter is further assessed. The behaviour along a range of positive and negative [special character] paths is investigated on pre-sheared specimens. In negative [special character] the effective stress paths reach a surface located higher than the monotonic failure surface on which they trace downward towards the origin of stress space. The results indicate this surface may be the same as the drained failure envelope which has been shifted as a result of drained pre-shearing. In positive [special character] paths a large improvement is noted in both the strength and stiffness of the soil. Note The parameters [special character] and [special character] are all generalisations of [special character] so that the behaviour under complex conditions can be characterised.

När en konstruktion blir fuktskadad påverkas de ingående materialen på olika sätt och i vissa fall uppstår så kallad mikrobiell tillväxt som kan påverka människans hälsa. Det finns studier om hur människor reagerar på sådan mikrobiell tillväxt, hur materialen påverkas av olika fuktbelastningar och hur mycket pengar det kostar att byta ut denna konstruktion. Vad som inte finns är hur miljön påverkas att i förtid behöva byta ut en fuktskadad konstruktion. Utifrån ovan nämnda har detta examensarbete vid högskoleingenjörsprogrammet i Byggteknik och design vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan utförts.  Det har utförts tillsammans med AK-konsult Indoor Air AB och har i uppdrag att belysa vikten i att fuktsäkerhetsprojektera rätt utifrån ett miljöperspektiv, och att få faktiska siffror på hur mycket koldioxid det genererar att i förtid behöva byta ut en konstruktion. Rapporten är avgränsad till en putsad enstegstätad regelvägg som är uppbyggd enligt följande: utvändig puts, putsbärare av EPS, vindskyddsskiva, träreglar med mellanliggande värmeisolering, luft- och ångspärr och invändig skiva. Miljöpåverkan har beräknats i hur mycket koldioxid 1 m2 av denna konstruktion genererar. Koldioxidutsläppen för de ingående materialen har i största möjliga mån beaktats och beräknats utifrån råvaruutvinning, transport av råmaterial, tillverkning av produkter och transport fram till byggarbetsplatsen. För att kunna beräkna transporter av material och arbetskraft för uppförandet av konstruktionen har en fiktiv byggarbetsplats bestämts (Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm). Även för att ge en bättre bild om hur stora koldioxidutsläppen är vid transport av material och hur ett verkligt fall kan se ut har en fiktiv väggyta på 198 m2 valts att studeras. De emissionsvärden som använts i denna rapport baseras i första hand på de olika materialtillverkarnas byggvarudeklarationer samt samtal med miljöansvariga på de berörda företagen. För att lättare kunna jämföra resultaten av de ingående materialen i detta examensarbete presenteras de i form av utsläpp av totalt kilo koldioxid per mängd material [kgCO2/mängd material]. Det presenteras även fyra olika uppbyggnader av den putsade enstegstätade regelväggen. Det för att visa hur miljön påverkas om tjockputs eller tunnputs används tillsammans med glasfiberarmerad vindskyddsskiva eller en pappbeklädd vindskyddsskiva med en kärna av gips. Dessa olika typer av väggkonstruktionerna betecknas vägg 1, 2, 3 och 4 i rapporten.  De resultat som tagits fram visar att det genereras ungefär lika mycket koldioxid att byta ut 198 m2 av den angivna väggkonstruktionen som att köra en bensindriven personbil nästan ett halvt varv runt jorden (jordens omkrets är ca 4000 mil). Resultaten visar att det är små skillnader i koldioxidutsläpp vad det gäller de olika väggkonstruktionerna. Vägg 2 genererar den största mängden koldioxid, totalt 3223 kgCO2 (1 m2 genererar 16 kgCO2), följt av vägg 1 som genererar 3206 kgCO2 (1 m2 genererar 16 kgCO2). Resultaten visar att produktion av material står för den största individuella delen av utsläpp, 2181 kg koldioxid (ca 2/3 av de totala koldioxidutsläppen) för vägg 2. Där bidrar glasullen med den ingående största delen 891 kgCO2 (41 % av det totala koldioxidutsläppet från materialtillverkning), följt av armeringsnätet på 364 kgCO2 (17 % av det totala koldioxidutsläppet från materialtillverkning). Materialtransporter står för ungefär 505 kg koldioxid (ca 1/6 av de totala koldioxidutsläppen) och styrs främst av typ av lastbil, avverkad sträcka samt lastutnyttjande. Persontransporter till och från arbetsplatsen står för ungefär 537 kg koldioxid (ca 1/6 av de totala koldioxidutsläppen) där mängden koldioxid främst styrs av antalet arbetade dagar samt typ av transportfordon. Den genererade mängden koldioxid för ett totalt utbyte av en väggkonstruktion på 198 m2 skulle, omräknat i svensk elmix, förbruka en energimängd som skulle räcka till byggnadens specifika energianvändning i 17,9 år. Ca 36 % av byggnadens förväntade livslängd på 50 år. Resultaten i denna rapport visar att det ur ett miljöperspektiv är viktigt att lägga stor vikt vid fuktsäkerhetsprojektering. Detta för att påverkan på miljön kan begränsas avsevärt om konstruktioner inte behöver bytas ut i förtid pga. omfattande fuktskador. Med tanke på hur många kvadratmeter dylik fasad som byggts finns högst sannolikt en tämligen stor miljöskuld inbyggd i denna fasadtyp. / When a structure is damaged by moisture, the materials are affected in different ways and sometimes this moisture will lead to mould growth that can affect the human health. Today we can read studies about how human health reacts to this mould growth, how materials reacts and how much money it costs to rebuild the moisture damaged structure. What we don´t know is how much impact it will have on the environment to replace a moisture damaged structure with a new one. From these initial sentences is this degree project in building technology, first level at the Constructional engineering and design program at Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan. This thesis is commissioned by AK-konsult Indoor Air AB and is supposed to highlight the importance of protecting structures against moisture damage from an environmental point of view.  Furthermore it will also result in real figures over how much carbon dioxide a premature replacement will generate. This thesis will strictly look at an insulated, rendered, unventilated and undrained stud wall. It is build-up as: exterior plaster, plaster base (EPS), wind protect-board, wooden framework with insulation, polyeten sheet and interior board. The environmental impact will be measured in how much carbon dioxide 1 m2 of this wall construction will generate. Carbon dioxide emissions from wall materials have been calculated on the basis of resource extraction, transportation of raw materials, manufacturing of products and transportation to construction site. To make the transportation calculations possible a fictitious construction site has been determined (Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm). Also to provide a better picture of how big the emissions are from transportations and how a real case scenario can look like have a 198 m2 wall been calculated. The carbon dioxide emissions in this report are in first hand based on material manufacturer’s environmental declarations and dialogues with environmental specialists at manufacturers. To make the comparison of the result easier between the construction materials they all will be presented in terms of kilo carbon dioxide [kgCO2/amount material]. The result will also present four different types of the above named wall construction. That is to show how the environment affects if thick or thin plaster is used together with fiberglass reinforced wind protect-board or papercoated wind protect-board with gypsum core. These different types of wall construction will in the report be named as wall 1, 2, 3 and 4. The result from this report show that it is generating approximately the same amount of carbon dioxide to change the moisture damage wall as to drive a gasoline-powered car halfway around the earth (diameter approximately 4 0000 kilometers). The results show that it is small differences in carbon dioxide between the four types of wall constructions. Wall 2 generates the largest amount of carbon dioxide emissions, total 3223 kilo (1 m2 generates 16 kgCO2), followed by wall 1 that generates 3206 kilo carbon dioxide (1 m2 generates 16 kgCO2). The result also shows that the largest amount of emissions is created by the production of the new materials, 2181 kilo carbon dioxide (approximately 2/3 of the total carbon dioxide emissions). Where the largest amount of emissions comes from glass wool with 891 kilo carbon dioxide (41 % of the total carbon dioxide from the material production), followed by reinforcement mesh with 364 kilo carbon dioxide (17 % of the total carbon dioxide emissions from material production). Transportation of materials stands for 505 kilo carbon dioxide, slightly less than 1/6 of the total, with key parameters distance, type of vehicle and load utilization. Transportation of labor stands for approximately 537 kilo carbon dioxide slightly more than 1/6 of the total carbon dioxide emissions where the key parameters are number of worked days and type of transportation. The generated carbon dioxide emissions to build a new 198 square meter wall construction corresponds to the specific energy use for a normal house (198m2) for over 17,9 years. Approximately 36 % of the buildings expected life-span of 50 years. The result shows that it is important from an environmental point of view to protect constructions from moisture damage. That is because the fact of not needing to premature replace the moisture damaged construction can considerably reduce the environmental impact. Considering how many such facades that are built is it most likely a rather large environmental liability built in this facade type.

[pt] Historicamente é sabido que muitas das rupturas ocorridas em barragens ou taludes naturais podem ser atribuídas ao fenômeno da liquefação de solos arenosos, causada pela ação de carregamentos dinâmicos gerados por explosão ou, mais freqüentemente, por terremotos. Quando liquefação ocorre, um súbito aumento da poropressão faz decrescer a resistência ao cisalhamento do solo e sua capacidade de suportar pontes e edifícios é significativamente reduzida. Solo liquefeito também pode exercer altas pressões sobre estruturas de contenção, causando inclinações da mesma e movimentos do solo que, por sua vez, originam recalques e destruição de estruturas localizadas sobre a superfície do terreno. O termo liquefação tem sido empregado para descrever fenômenos relacionados, que produzem efeitos similares, mas cujos mecanismos de formação são bastante diferentes. Estes fenômenos são modernamente descritos como fluxo por liquefação e mobilidade cíclica. Fluxo por liquefação é o fenômeno no qual o equilíbrio estático é destruído por carregamentos estáticos ou dinâmicos em um depósito de solo com baixa resistência residual. Colapsos causados por fluxo por liquefação são freqüentemente caracterizados por movimentos rápidos e de grande extensão. Mobilidade cíclica, por outro lado, é causada por carregamentos cíclicos em solos sob tensões cisalhantes estáticas inferiores à resistência ao cisalhamento do material, com as deformações desenvolvendo-se gradualmente. A execução de barragens de rejeito usando a técnica de construção à montante pode levar à ocorrência de liquefação estática se a velocidade de construção for suficientemente alta para causar o desenvolvimento de excessos de poropressão. A resposta de liquefação pode ser observada em amostras de solo fofo quando as tensões de cisalhamento atingem um pico seguido por uma fase de amolecimento aparente que, no caso de carregamento não drenado, é associado com a tendência do material em contrair de volume. Para alguns estados iniciais, a parte descendente da resposta do material pode ser seguida por uma fase crescente que se atenua à medida que o estado permanente ou crítico for atingido. Nesta dissertação, a modelagem da resposta de liquefação por carregamento estático, foi feita considerando-se modelos propostos na literatura por Juárez-Badillo (1999b) e Gutierrez e Verdugo (1995). Este último, principalmente após modificação introduzida pela dependência de alguns parâmetros em relação à tensão de confinamento, levou a resultados bastante satisfatórios nas retroanálises consideradas, apesar da relativa simplicidade da formulação. / [en] Historically it is known that many failures in earth dams and natural slopes can be attributed to the phenomenon of sand liquefaction, caused by dynamic loads generated by earthquake shaking or other rapid loading, such as blasts. When liquefaction occurs, the strength of the soil decreases and its ability to support foundations for buildings and bridges is significantly reduced. Liquefied soil can also exerts higher pressure on retaining walls, which can cause them to tilt or slide, yielding settlement of the retained soil with risks of destruction of structures on the ground surface. The term liquefaction has actually been used to describe a number of related phenomena, which produce similar effects but whose mechanisms are quite different in nature. These phenomena can be divided into two main categories: flow liquefaction and cyclic mobility. Flow liquefaction is a phenomenon in which the static equilibrium is destroyed by static or dynamic loads in a soil deposit with low residual strength. Failures caused by flow liquefaction are often characterized by large and rapid movements. Cyclic mobility, on the other hand, is a liquefaction phenomenon triggered by cyclic loading, occurring in soil deposits with static shear stresses lower than the soil strength. Deformations due to cyclic mobility develop incrementally because of static and dynamic stresses that exist during an earthquake. The rising of tailing dams using the upstream construction technique can lead to static liquefaction failure if the rate of construction is sufficiently high to cause excess pore pressure to develop in the tailings. The liquefaction response is observed for loose specimens when the shear stress exhibits a peak followed by a phase of apparent softening that, in undrained loading, is associated with the tendency of the material to contract (densify). For some initial loading states, the descending part of the response is followed by an increasing part, leveling-off eventually when the material reaches the final, critical (steady) state. In this thesis, the modeling of the phenomenon of static liquefaction is carried out considering the constitutive models proposed in the literature by Juárez-Badillo (1999b) and Gutierrez & Verdugo (1995). The latter, mainly after introducing the assumption that some material parameters are stress dependent and not simple constants, as in the original version, produced good matching between experimental and predicted results, in spite the simplicity of the mathematical formulation.

<div>Underground structures must be able to support static overburden loads, as well as to accommodate additional deformations imposed by seismic motions. Progress has been made in the last few years in understanding the soil-structure interaction mechanisms and the stress and displacement transfer from the ground to the structure during a seismic event. It seems well established that, for most tunnels, the most critical demand to the structure is caused by shear waves traveling perpendicular to the tunnel axis. Those waves cause distortions of the cross section (ovaling for a circular tunnel, and racking for a rectangular tunnel) that result in axial forces (thrusts) and bending moments. While all this has been well-studied for structures placed in linear-elastic ground, there is little information regarding the behavior of buried structures placed in nonlinear ground, especially under undrained conditions, i.e., when excess pore pressures generate and accumulate during the earthquake.</div><div><br></div><div><div>Two-dimensional dynamic numerical analyses are conducted to assess the seismic response of deep circular tunnels located far from the seismic source, under drained or undrained loading conditions. It is assumed that the liner remains elastic and that plane strain conditions apply. </div><div> A new cyclic nonlinear elastoplastic constitutive model is developed and verified, to simulate the nonlinear behavior and excess pore pressures accumulation with cycles of loading in the ground. The results of the numerical analyses show negligible effect of input frequencies on the normalized distortions of a tunnel for input frequencies smaller than 5 Hz (the distortions of the tunnel are normalized with respect to those of the free field); that is, for ratios between the wavelength of the seismic input and the tunnel opening larger than about eight to ten. The results also show that undrained conditions, compared with drained conditions, tend to reduce deformations for flexible liners and increase them for stiffer tunnels, when no accumulation of pore pressures with cycles of loading is assumed. However, when pore pressures increase with the number of cycles, the differences in distortions between drained and undrained loading are reduced, i.e., the normalized distortions increase for flexible and decrease for stiff tunnels, compared to those with drained conditions. </div></div><div><br></div><div><div>Undrained loading produces larger thrust in the liner than drained loading for stiff tunnels with flexibility ratio F ≤ 2.0.</div><div>For more flexible tunnels with F > 2.0, the behavior is the opposite, i.e., smaller axial forces are obtained for undrained loading than for drained loading. Including excess pore pressure accumulation does not introduce significant changes in the axial forces of the liner, irrespective of the flexibility of the tunnel, compared to those obtained from undrained loading without pore pressure accumulation.</div><div>The drainage loading condition (drained or undrained) or the magnitude of the free-field excess pore pressures during undrained loading do not affect the normalized bending moments for flexible tunnels, with F ≥ 2. For stiffer tunnels, with F < 2, the normalized bending moments increase from drained to undrained loading, and with the free field excess pore pressures.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>It is found that the tunnel’s response is determined by the load on the liner, or by the distortions of the cross section, depending on the flexibility ratio. For stiff structures, with F ≤ 2.0, important axial forces and bending moments are produced in the structure, with larger magnitudes for the undrained case; while the distortions of the cross section are very small. When the tunnel becomes more flexible, the loading on the liner decreases, but the distortions of the cross section start to be important. For flexible structures with initial F ≥ 10 (for the cases investigated), the performance is largely determined by the distortions of the cross section, while the axial forces and bending moments are almost negligible. Such distortions are drastically affected by the drainage loading condition and by the magnitude of pore pressures in the free field. </div></div><div><br></div>

ABSTRACT SHEAR STRENGTH BEHAVIOUR OF SAND - CLAY MIXTURES &Ouml / LMEZ, Mehmet Salih M.S., Department of Civil Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ufuk ERGUN May 2008, 106 pages A clean sand having about 5 % fines has been mixed with 5 to 40 % commercial kaolin to form different sand-clay soil mixtures. The purpose of making this study is to observe the effects of fraction of fine materials in the soil mixture on the behavior of shear strength. Three series of experiments have been performed throughout the study. Undrained triaxial compression tests (series 1) are performed on specimens taken out from homogeneously mixed soil mixtures at specified kaolin contents consolidated in a box without keeping the mixture under water. In series 2 experiments specimens are taken from a box where soil mixtures are consolidated under water and undrained triaxial compression tests are performed on the samples. Drained direct shear tests are performed on samples prepared without performing initial consolidation in large boxes but directly prepared in the direct shear boxes and consolidated prior to shear (series 3). It has been found that about 20 % kaolin - 80 % sand mixture seems to be a threshold composition and changes in both undrained and drained shear stress-strength behaviour occur afterwards with increasing fine material content.

The purposes of this study are to investigate the possible effects of variables like testing depth, length to diameter ratio of the probe, presence of disturbed annulus around the borehole etc. on the derived parameters from the pressuremeter test, and to develop possible alternative methods for the determination of undrained shear strength of cohesive soils, and cohesion and internal friction angle of intermediate geomaterials. For this purpose numerical simulations of pressuremeter test were performed. In the study, it is also aimed to investigate the effect of rock quality designation (RQD) or some other rock mass parameters such as geological strength index (GSI) and rock mass rating (RMR) and intact rock strength on the deformation modulus determined from the pressuremeter test. To accomplish this task, Dikmen greywackes, weathered andesites and mudrocks exposed around Ankara - Sincan region were selected for field and laboratory studies. Empirical relationships using GSI, RMR, RQD were developed for the estimation of deformation modulus of greywackes and mudrocks cropping out around Ankara. Numerical simulations revealed the presence of disturbed annulus around the borehole causes underestimation of deformation modulus and overestimation of undrained shear strength. Test depth has no effect on the deformation modulus and undrained shear strength / the effect of length to diameter ratio of the probe on the deformation modulus is minor where as it causes overestimations of undrained shear strength. Pore pressure dissipation in low permeability soils around the pressuremeter was studied using numerical simulations. These analyses suggest that for permeabilities lower that 10-10 m/sec there is no pore pressure dissipation around the pressuremeter probe. It was determined that the inverse analysis yielded successful results for the determination of shear strength parameters of intermediate geomaterials.

O problema da disposição de resíduos de mineração e a ruptura de barragens de rejeitos preocupa engenheiros e órgãos ambientais nacionais e internacionais. Estes materiais possuem características geotécnicas distintas dos geomateriais encontrados em depósitos naturais, têm granulometria predominantemente siltosa e condutividade hidráulica intermediária. Como o ensaio de palheta constitui-se em uma técnica rotineira na estimativa da resistência ao cisalhamento não-drenada de argilas, procura-se através da presente pesquisa ampliar este conhecimento a solos siltosos. Dentre os fatores que influenciam as medições da resistência não-drenada, a velocidade de rotação pode ser considerada o mais importante, particularmente quando há ocorrência de drenagem parcial durante o cisalhamento. A ocorrência de drenagem parcial durante ensaios de campo em resíduos siltosos gera incertezas na interpretação e na estimativa de parâmetros de projeto. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho consiste em avaliar a influência da velocidade de rotação da palheta na resistência não-drenada de um material siltoso, de granulometria semelhante aos resíduos de ouro, através de ensaios de laboratório utilizando uma mini-palheta. Para tal, procedeu-se a automatização e adaptação de um equipamento de palheta de laboratório, inicialmente manual, para aplicação de diferentes velocidades de rotação. Os ensaios de mini-palheta foram realizados a velocidades de rotação entre 0,5 e 54 rpm, que correspondem a velocidades adimensionais (V) entre 2 e 276. Os resultados dos ensaios de mini-palheta mostraram, de modo geral, um aumento na resistência com a diminuição da velocidade de rotação da palheta, devido à ocorrência do adensamento a baixas velocidades de rotação. O tempo de ruptura diminuiu e o deslocamento até a ruptura aumentou com o aumento da velocidade de rotação. Observou-se uma grande dispersão nos resultados dos ensaios, provavelmente devido à relação entre o tamanho da palheta e o tamanho dos grãos do solo. Com relação às condições de drenagem impostas ao solo durante o cisalhamento, observou-se que as condições não-drenadas foram satisfeitas para valores de V superiores a 10+2, enquanto as condições drenadas ocorrem para V inferior a 1. Assim, quando 1<V<10+2 há ocorrência de drenagem parcial durante o cisalhamento. A interpretação através da normalização de resultados, correlacionando a velocidade adimensional V ao grau de drenagem U, possibilita a identificação da ocorrência de drenagem parcial, evitando a superestimativa das propriedades geotécnicas dos solos em ensaios de campo. / The problem of tailings disposal and dams failure concerns engineers and national and international environmental agencies. These materials have geotechnical characteristics that differ from geomaterials found in natural deposits, are predominantly silty and have intermediate hydraulic conductivity. As the vane test is a usual technique to estimate the shear strength of clays, the present study extend this knowledge to silty soils. Among the factors that influence the undrained strength measurements, the rotation rate can be considered the most important, particularly when partial drainage during shear occurs. The occurrence of partial drainage during field tests on silty tailings generate uncertainties in the interpretation and estimation of design parameters. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of mini-vane test rotation rate on the undrained strength of a silty soil, with a particle size similar to the gold tailings, through laboratory mini-vane tests. Thus, the automation and customization of a mini-vane test equipment initially manual was developed for the application of different rotation rates. Mini-vane tests were carried out at rotation rates between 0.5 and 54 rpm, corresponding to dimensionless velocities (V) between 2 and 276. The mini-vane tests results showed, in general, an increase in resistance with decreasing the rotation rate due to the occurrence of consolidation of soil at low shearing rates.The time to failure decreased and the displacement to failure increased with increasing rotation rate. There was a wide dispersion of test results, probably due to blade size to soil grain size ratio. Regarding the drainage conditions imposed to the soil during shear, the tests have shown that the undrained conditions are satisfied for V values greater than 10+2, while the drained conditions occurs for V values lower than 1. When 1<V<10+2 partial drainage occurs during shear. The interpretation using normalized results correlating the dimensionless velocity V to the drainage degree U allows the identification of partial drainage occurrence, avoiding the overestimation of soil geotechnical properties in field tests.

Um dos maiores problemas na utilização de ensaios geotécnicos de laboratório está na obtenção de amostras indeformadas. Os solos moles estão entre os mais difíceis de amostrar e há um grande trabalho de pesquisa no desenvolvimento de técnicas de amostragem. A fim de obter amostras de alta qualidade para o estudo do comportamento do material do depósito, foi desenvolvido nesta pesquisa uma modificação do Equipamento de Amostragem Japonês e foram adaptadas algumas das técnicas utilizadas para amostragem indeformada. O processo usual de extrusão de solo de dentro do tubo amostrador foi substituído pelo corte transversal do tubo, o que reduz a perturbação do solo. Para facilitar esta operação, os tubos foram construídos de latão (substituindo o aço inoxidável original). O depósito sedimentar objeto de estudo desta dissertação foi escolhido por ter apresentado em ensaios de campo um índice de sensibilidade (razão entre as resistências ao cisalhamento não drenadas indeformada e amolgada) bastante elevado, o que torna a sua amostragem cuidadosa ainda mais importante. A sensibilidade dos solos é um parâmetro importante em projetos de engenharia geotécnica, pois as deformações reduzem severamente a resistência ao cisalhamento não drenada nestes materiais. Foram utilizados diferentes ensaios de laboratório para permitir a determinação da resistência ao cisalhamento não-drenada do solo nas condições indeformada e amolgada, e para avaliação da sensibilidade (ensaio de cone de laboratório, ensaio de palheta de laboratório e ensaio triaxial), além de ensaios de caracterização do depósito. O depósito estudado apresenta lentes com dois materiais distintos (um argiloso e outro arenoso), entretanto apresentam ângulos de atrito interno semelhantes (~34°). Em ambos o solos as resistências ao cisalhamento não drenada foram baixas (Su ~10 kPa na condição indeformada e Su = 0,5 - 2,0 kPa na condição amolgada). A sensibilidade do material argiloso ficou em torno de 10 e no solo arenoso foi de aproximadamente 20. Análises qualitativas dos resultados indicam que as amostras coletadas pelo novo amostrador tiveram elevado grau de qualidade. Os resultados obtidos (a) confirmam o bom desempenho do novo equipamento amostrador; (b) permitiram determinar com precisão as resistências não-drenadas dos materiais; (c) comprovaram a grande sensibilidade das lentes arenosas; (d) ajudam a explicar o comportamento do depósito em campo. / One of the most difficult problems in the use of laboratory geotechnical tests is related to obtaining undisturbed samples. The soft soils are among the most difficult soils to sample and there is a great research effort in developing new sampling techniques. In order to obtain high quality samples for the study of the soil sensitivity, a modification of the Japanese thin-walled tube sampler has been build for this research and some modifications of the sampling techniques have been made. The conventional extrusion of the soil sample from the tube was substituted by a traverse cut of the tube in order to reduce the soil perturbation during its extraction. To make this operation easier, the material used for the tubes was brass (substituting the usual stainless steel). The sedimentary deposit studied on this research has been selected for having presented an high sensitivity on vane field tests (relation between peak and large deformation strengths) which gives even more importance to careful sampling. The sensitivity is an important parameter for geotechnical design as the deformations can severely reduce the undrained shear strength of these materials. Various laboratory testing techniques have been used to determine the undrained shear strength of these soils both in undisturbed and disturbed conditions (fall cone tests, lab vane tests and triaxial tests), besides characterization tests of the deposit. The studied deposit presents lenses of two distinct materials (clayey and sandy lenses), however they present similar internal angles of friction (~34°). In both soils the undrained shear strength are quite low (Su ~10 kPa in undisturbed condition and Su = 0,5 - 2,0 kPa in disturbed condition). The sensitivity of the clayey material is around 10 and around 20 in the sandy soil. Qualitative analyses of the results indicate that the samples taken with the new sampler have an high quality level. The results obtained (a) confirm the good performance of the sampler built; (b) allowed the undrained shear strength to be determined with precision; (c) showed the great sensitivity of the sandy lenses; (d) helped to explain the field behaviour of the soil.

A presente dissertação tem por objetivo desenvolver um método para o cálculo da resistência não drenada (Su) através de uma metodologia que considera o cálculo da energia do ensaio SPT, partindo dos conceitos inicialmente propostos por Odebrecht (2003). Através de uma pesquisa bibliográfica foi gerado um banco de dados de estudos de casos executados em solos argilosos, em locais nos quais foram realizadas investigações geotécnicas extensivas, incluindo resultados de ensaios SPT e valores de Su obtidos através de outros ensaios de campo ou laboratório. Estes dados subsidiam a análise e formulação da proposta baseada em uma equação que combina o cálculo da energia desenvolvida durante o ensaio SPT à capacidade de carga estática por equilíbrio limite para uma estaca individual (proposta por Poulos e Davis, 1980). Foram definidas duas formas de calcular Su, diferenciadas pelo coeficiente de ajuste da força de atrito na capacidade de carga: α segundo proposta de Tomlinson (1969) e λ proposto por Vijayvergiya e Focht (1972). As formulações não produziram estimativas de Su compatíveis com valores medidos em outros ensaios e, por esta razão, foi proposta uma formulação alternativa para calcular α e λ como função direta do NSPT. Esta função é empírica e baseada em ajustes estatísticos. Dos processos de cálculo e avaliações conclui-se que o método proposto para a estimativa de α oferece resultados coerentes com os observados em ensaios de campo (piezocone e palheta). As estimativas de resistência não drenada apresentam considerável dispersão de resultados, com coeficiente de correlação médio r2 de 0,65. A dispersão é inerente a estimativas baseadas em ensaios SPT devido à diversidade de procedimentos usados na sua execução e, por este motivo, recomenda-se o uso destas correlações somente em nível de anteprojeto. / The present dissertation aims at developing a method for calculating the undrained shear strength Su using the methodology developed by Odebrecht’s (2003) based on the energy transmited by the SPT test. Through a bibliographic research, a database was created showing different case studies in clays in places where comprehensive geotechnical information is available. As a minimum requirement for selecting a case, the results of both the SPT test and the estimative of Su (from field or laboratory test) have to be registered. These results subsidized an analysis and the formulation of the proposed method, based on the equation that combines the theory for energy conservation to the static load capacity of a pile with the methodology of limit equilibrium analysis, suggested by Poulos and Davis (1980). Two different ways of calculating Su were defined. They were differentiated by the coefficient of adjustment of the frictional force: α as proposed by Tomlinson (1969) and λ by Vijayvergiya and Focht (1972). The formulations did not produce compatible estimates of Su with measureable values in other tests. For this reason a proposal was made to calculate both α and λ as a direct function of NSPT. This function is empirical and is based on statistical analysis. From the calculations, the proposed method of α is recommended based on the fact that it produces results that are comparable to those obtained from other field tests (piezocone and vane). The predicted values of undrained shear strength exhibit considerable dispersion of results, with an r2 correlation coefficient medium of 0.65. The dispersion is inherent to the estimates based on the tests of SPT due to the diversity of procedures/processes used in its execution and, for this motive, the use of these correlations are recommended only in preliminary projects. / La presente disertación tiene por objetivo desarrollar un método para el cálculo de la resistencia no drenada (Su) mediante una metodología que considera el cálculo de la energía del ensayo SPT, partiendo de los conceptos inicialmente propuestos por Odebrecht (2003). Mediante una investigación bibliográfica se generó un banco de datos de estudios realizados en suelos arcillosos, en locales donde fueron realizados investigaciones geotécnicas extensivas, incluyendo resultados de ensayos SPT y valores de Su obtenidos a través de otros ensayos de campo o laboratorio. Estos datos apoyan el análisis y la formulación de la propuesta basada en la ecuación que combina el cálculo de la energía desarrollada durante el ensayo SPT y la capacidad de carga estática por equilibrio límite para pilotes unitarios (propuesta por Poulos y Davis, 1980). Fueron definidas dos formas de calcular Su, diferenciadas por el coeficiente de ajuste de la fuerza de fricción en la capacidad de carga: α según propuesta de Tomlinson, 1969 y λ propuesto por Vijayvergiya y Focht, 1972. Estas formulaciones no produjeron estimativas de Su compatibles con valores medidos en otros ensayos y, es por esta razón que se propone una formulación alternativa para calcular α y λ como función directa del NSPT. Se trata de una función empírica basada en ajustes estadísticos. De los procesos de cálculo y evaluaciones realizados se concluye que el método propuesto para la estimativa de α ofrece resultados coherentes con los observados en ensayos de campo (piezocono y veleta). Las estimaciones de resistencia no drenada presentan una considerable dispersión de resultados, con coeficiente de correlación r2 del orden de 0,65. La dispersión es inherente a estimativas basadas en ensayos SPT debido a la diversidad de procedimientos usados para su ejecución, por este motivo se recomienda el uso de estas correlaciones solamente al nivel de anteproyecto.