Heating pulse tests under constant volume on Boom clay

Boom clay formation is a potential natural host rock for geological disposal of high-level nuclear waste in Belgium.Heating pulse tests with controlled power supply（maximum temperature was limited to 85℃） and controlled hydraulic boundary conditions were performed under nearly constant volume conditions to study the impact of thermal loading on the clay formation.Selected test results of intact borehole samples retrieved in horizontal direction are presented and discussed.The study focuses on the time evolution of temperature and pore water pressure changes along heating and cooling paths,i.e.pore pressure build-up during quasi-undrained heating and later dissipation at constant temperature.

The Creeping Shores of the Golden Horn

In a soft clay layer overlain by a thick man made ground layer, as in the case of the Unkapam shores of the Golden Horn, excess pore pressures have remained for long periods and the soft clay layer has hardly undergone few volumetric deformations. Along the shores of the Golden Horn such creep of the soil towards the sea has been detected at more than 40 mm in the last 26 months. The measurements of those movements are examined in this paper. Our research points out that the local failure of a soil element or of a particular layer differs from the general failure of the soil mass. Furthermore, the large masses of unfailed soil which overlie the soft layer along the shores of the Golden Horn delay the general failure of the slopes. We conclude that the shear strains producing excessive pore pressures is the cause of the creep observed. Because a proper solution still need to be found for a sustainable stability of the area, it is necessary to continue with the measurements of the Golden Horn＇s creeping shores.

Natural consolidation characteristics of viscous debris flow deposition

Pore water pressure and water content are important indicators to both deposition and consolidation of debris flows, enabling a direct assessment of consolidation degree. This article gained a more comprehensive understanding about the entire consolidation process and focused on exploring pore water pressure and volumetric water content variations of the deposit body during natural consolidation under different conditions taking the viscous debris flow mass as a study subject and by flume experiments. The results indicate that, as the color of the debris changed from initial dark green to grayish-white color, the initial deposit thickness declined by 3% and 2.8% over a permeable and impermeable sand bed, respectively. A positive correlation was observed between pore water pressure and depth in the deposit for both scenarios, with deeper depths being related to greater pore water pressure. For the permeable environment, the average dissipation rate of pore water pressure measured at depths of 0.10 m and 0.05 m were 0.0172 Pa/d and 0.0144 Pa/d, respectively, showing a positivechanging trend with increasing depth. Under impermeable conditions, the average dissipation rates at different depths were similar, while the volumetric water content in the deposit had a positive correlation with depth. The reduction of water content in the deposit accelerated with depth under impermeable sand bed boundary conditions, but was not considerably correlated with depth under permeable sand bed boundary conditions. However, the amount of discharged water from the deposit was greater and consolidation occurred faster in permeable conditions. This indicates that the permeability of the boundary sand bed has a significant impact on the progress of consolidation. This research demonstrates that pore water and pressure dissipations are present during the entire viscous debris consolidation process. Contrasting with dilute flows, pore pressure dissipation in viscous flows cannot be completed in a matter of minutes or even hours, requiring longer completion time — 3 to 5 days and even more. Additionally, the dissipation of the pore water pressure lagged the reduction of the water content. During the experiment, the dissipation rate fluctuated substantially, indicating a close relationship betweenthe dissipation process and the physical properties of broadly graded soils.

Behaviour of large post-liquefaction deformation in saturated sand-gravel composites

The laboratory tests on the post-liquefaction deformation of saturated sand-gravel composites were performed to investigate the characteristics of stress-strain relation and the dissipation of pore water pressure by the hollow cylinder apparatus. It is found that the stress-strain response and the dissipation process of pore water pressure are composed of three stages, including the low intensive strength stage, the superlinear strength recovery stage and the sublinear strength recovery stage, and the demarcation points of the curve of pore water pressure are lag behind those of the stress-strain response. The comparison results of the behaviour of large post-liquefaction deformation between saturated sand-gravel composites and Nanjing fine sand show that the low intensive strength stage and the superlinear strength recovery stage of saturated sand-gravel composites are shorter while the sublinear strength recovery stage is longer. A stress-strain model and a dissipation model of excess pore water pressure of liquefied sand-gravel composites are established, in which the initial confining pressure and the relative density can be considered synthetically. And it is found that the predicted results by the two models are in good agreement with experimental data.

Behavior of large post-liquefaction deformation in saturated Nanjing fine sand

Laboratory tests on the large post-liquefaction deformation of saturated Nanjing fine sand were performed by using a hollow cylinder apparatus. The stress-strain responses and the characteristics of excess pore water pressure after liquefaction were studied. It was found that the relationship between deviatoric stress and axial strain presented a sigmoid curve, and there was a good linearity relationship between normalized pore water pressure and deviatoric stress. On this basis, a constitutive model of stress-strain responses and a dissipation model of excess pore water pressure were established. It was found that the results predicted by the two models were in good agreement with the experimental data. The influence of relative densities and confining pressure on the characteristics of liquefied soil were studied, The results showed the relative densities and initial effective confining pressure all had an important influence on the stress-strain responses of liquefied saturated Nanjing fine sand. However, the dissipation model of excess pore water pressure after liquefaction was only affected by the confining pressure.