otechnique 48, No. 5, 695701 Pestana, J. M. & Whittle, A. J. (1998).

Ge

TECHNICAL NOTE

Time effects in the compression of sands

J. M . P E S TA NA a n d A . J. W H I T T L E { metric strain can be subdivided into elastic and plastic components; and ( b) the tangent bulk modulus can be written as separable functions of the current void ratio, e, and mean effective stress, 9. The main equations for the incremental elastic and plastic strain components can be summarized as follows:  1a3 e 9 d 9 e (1a) d (1 e) Cb pat pat 3  2 e ( 9a pat )2a3 p d rc 1e Cb 3 (1 b ) b 1 9 1arc e 9 r 0 < b < 1 d 9 (1b) 9 (1c)

KEYWORDS: compressibility; constitutive relations; creep; sands; time dependence.

INTRODUCTION

The compression of cohesionless soils occurs almost instantaneously upon load application at low stress levels but may continue, at a decreasing rate, for long periods of time at high conning pressures. The observed time dependency of the compression behaviour of cohesionless soils at high stresses is qualitatively similar to the secondary compression of cohesive soils (e.g. Bjerrum, 1967), and is associated primarily with the continuous fracturing and deformation of the grains and the resulting particle rearrangement (e.g. Marsal, 1967; Hardin, 1985). Time-dependent compression behaviour of sands is of particular interest since it is associated with the set-up process observed after pile driving in cohesionless soils (e.g. Lehane & Jardine, 1994; Chow et al., 1997) and is related to `ageing' or `locking' of natural sands (Schmertmann, 1991). It has also been studied in relation to settlement predictions (subsidence) of oil elds (DeSouza, 1958; Roberts, 1964) Pestana & Whittle (1995) proposed a rate-independent model to describe the compression of freshly deposited cohesionless soils. A key feature of this model is the observation that sand specimens, compressed from different initial formation densities, approach a unique response at high stress levels, referred to as the limiting compression curve (LCC), which is linear in a double logarithmic void ratio-effective stress space. This note extends the original formulation to incorporate the time-dependent compression behaviour of sands.
PROPOSED FORMULATION

The compression model of Pestana & Whittle (1995) assumes that: ( a) the incremental volu-

Manuscript received 1 July 1997; revised manuscript accepted 16 March 1998. Discussion on this technical note closes 1 January 1999; for more details see p. ii. University of California, Berkeley. { Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.

where e is the current void ratio, pat is the atmospheric pressure, Cb is the elastic coefcient, rc and 9 r are the slope and the reference stress (at e 1) dening the location of the LCC and is a parameter describing the elastoplastic transition. The compression behavior (i.e. e 9 curve) is obtained by integrating the incremental effective stressstrain relations numerically. The extended formulation makes two additional assumptions: ( a) time-dependent deformations are linked solely to the plastic (irrecoverable) strain component; and ( b) the location of the LCC is time-dependent (i.e. 9 r 9 r [ t]), while its slope, rc , is timeindependent. The second assumption is based on experimental data (e.g. DeSouza, 1958) showing that one-dimensional LCC loci for tests performed with different time increments can be approximated by parallel compression curves which are linear in log e log 9 space. In the LCC regime the change in void ratio at constant mean effective stress is described by a power law function of the elapsed time, t, which is analogous to the secondary compression model proposed for normally consolidated cohesive soils (e.g. Bjerrum, 1967):  r e t (2) er tref 695

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PESTANA AND WHITTLE

where er is the void ratio at the LCC corresponding to the reference time, tref , and r is a new input parameter describing the rate of deformation at constant mean effective stress in the LCC regime, referred to as the creep rate coefcient. For incremental loading tests, ` t' represents the time increment from the end of loading, and tref is the reference time increment between consecutive load increments. Fig. 1 illustrates the typical hydrostatic compression behaviour described by the model for incremental loading with t . tref . The behaviour in the LCC regime can be described by     9 9 log( e) rc log rc log 9 9 r [ t] r [ t ref ]   t r log (3a) tref  (r arc ) t 9 (3b) r [ t] 9 r [ t ref ] tref The input parameter 9 r [ t ref ] is the LCC reference stress corresponding to the reference time and for simplicity, will be referred to as r 9 in subsequent derivations. Assuming that the transition to the LCC regime is described by equation (1) (with constant parameter ), the incremental natural strain, d, can then be written: 5  4 e ( 9a pat )2a3 d 9 d b rc (1 b ) 1e 9 Cb (4a)

b 1

9 1arc e 9 r



t tref

(r arc )

0 < b < 1 (4b)

DeSouza (1958) presents results of incremental oedometer tests on Ottawa sand and ground quartz at constant time intervals t 2, 10 and 50 min and 24 h as shown in Fig. 2. The approximation of parallel LCC curves in a double-logarithmic void ratiovertical effective stress space is in very good agreement with measured response. Fig. 2 shows good agreement with model predictions using expression (4) with a creep coefcient, r 0X015 (0002), and a reference time interval tref 10 min. Terzaghi & Peck (1948) presented incremental oedometer test data on sands which suggest that at least 90% of the compression observed in 24 h is obtained within 2 h. Based on this observation, a series of calculations have been performed to evaluate the effects of model parameters on creep strains assuming tref 2 h. Fig. 3(a) illustrates the effect of transition parameter, , and initial formation void ratio, e0 , on the development of volumetric strains from 2 h to 24 h in conventional creep (constant effective stress) tests. The magnitude of the creep strain increases with both e0 and as well as with the mean effective stress up to a maximum pressure shown in Fig. 3(a). Fig. 3(b) shows the effect of the reference stress r 9 and creep coefcient, r , on the incremental creep strain (224 h), , as a function of the current stress level. The creep strain increases with in-

HLCC states: log(e ) c log(/ r[t ref ]) log(t /t ref) 1.0

Void ratio, e (log scale)

r[t] r[t ref ] Mean effective stress, (log scale)

Fig. 1. Effect of time in the compression behaviour of cohesionless soils

COMPRESSION OF SANDS
1.20 1.00 0.90 0.80 0.695 0.70 0.60 Void ratio, e Model predictions 0.50 Parameter Ottawa sand 0.50 Ground quartz 0.37 Measured data; oedometer tests (DeSouza, 1958) Time, t : Ottawa Ground min sand quartz 2 10 50 1440

697

1.07

e0

0.40

c Cb vr[t ref ]/pat

850 850 0.15 0.45 95 30 0.015 0.015

0.30

log(e) c log(v/vr[t ref ]) log(t ref /t ) (t ref 10 min) 0.20 0.100 1.00 10.0 Vertical effective stress, v: MPa 103

K0LCC states

100

Fig. 2. Comparison of model predictions and measured data for Ottawa sand and ground quartz

creasing r but the maximum strain rate is obtained at the same mean effective stress independent of r . An increase in r 9 decreases at a given mean stress but has minimal effect on the maximum creep strain.

rc rc 9 9 [ t ] a p r ref at r a pat

(5c)

BEHAVIOUR IN THE TRANSITIONAL REGIME

Compression behaviour in the transitional regime (i.e. non-LCC states) can be estimated analytically using a simple series approximation for the plastic strain increments (Pestana, 1994; Pestana & Whittle, 1995):   e ln e0   r arc  2a3 9 t 3 9 ( e0 )1arc pat tref 2 Cb pat (5a) 0 e0 3 1 e0 2 C b 4  9 pat 2a3 9 pat  t tref r arc 5 (5b)

where e0 is the formation void ratio, and 0 is the engineering volumetric strain. Neglecting the elastic component, the incremental strain from a reference time to an arbitrary time can be approximated by  4 r arc 5 ( e0 )11arc 9 t [ tref 3 t] 1 pat tref 1 e0 (6) This expression can be further simplied as: @    A r t [ tref 3 t] 2X3 log [ tref ] tref rc ( e0 )11arc 9 pat 1 e0   (7a) (7b)

[ tref ]

( e0 )1arc

where [ tref ] is the strain at some reference time tref (e.g. 2 h). Equation 7 shows that the creep strain for a given time increment is controlled by

698
10.00 (a)

PESTANA AND WHITTLE

Model predictions 0.010

Incremental volumetric creep strain, (224 h)

Cb
850 0.20 0.40 0.60

r /p at 40

0.370 1.00

0.90

0.10

Increasing

e 0 0.50

0.01 10.00 (b) Model predictions c 0.370 Cb e0 850 0.40 0.70 0.010

Incremental volumetric creep strain, (224 h)

1.00

Increasing 0.020 0.010 0.005

r /p at 40

0.10 Increasing r / pat 20 40 80 0.001

0.01 0.1

10

100

Mean effective stress, : MPa

Fig. 3. Effect of input parameters 9 r , and r and the formation void ratio in predicted creep strain in conventional creep tests

three factors: ( a) initial formation void ratio, e0 ; (b) material characteristics, dened by input parameters and r ; and ( c) current mean effective stress. Fig. 4 shows a comparison of the full model (i.e. numerical integration of equation (4)) with the simplied analytical creep strain computed with equations (4) and (6), for selected values of the input parameters r 9, and r . Note that the creep strain (in equation (6)) is directly proportional to the mean effective stress at low stresses (transitional regime) and therefore model predictions have a 1:1 slope in a double-logarithmic space of incremental strain and mean effective stress. The results show that equation (6) is a good approximation for the creep strains at low stresses and implies that the creep parameter, r , can be es-

timated from creep measurements in the transitional regime. Figure 5 compares model predictions of the incremental natural strain, ln[(1 e)a(1 e0 )] with measurements for a siliceous (Hostun) sand and a calcareous sand during hydrostatic compression (Colliat-Dangus et al., 1988). Since the complete compression characteristics of these materials were not reported, the input parameters, rc and Cb, were selected as average values based on data reported by Pestana & Whittle (1995) (rc 0X37 and Cb 850). Similarly, input parameters 9 r and were estimated from empirical correlations based on physical characteristics ( D50 and Cu ). The creep rate coefcient, r , was determined by matching the behaviour of the loose

COMPRESSION OF SANDS
10.00 Full model predictions Input parameters; t ref 2 hr 0.370, C 850, e 0.70 c b 0 Line 1 2 3 4 5 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.20 0.60 r /p at 20 40 60 40 40

699

4 3 2 5 1

Incremental volumetric creep strain, (24 h): %

1.00

0.0128 0.0256 0.0384 0.0512 0.0170

0.10

Simplified model

(t ref t ) 2.3 [t ref ] / c log(t /t ref)

[t ref ] e011/ c /(1 e0) (/pat) . / c /( r /pat) 0 000256 0.01 . 01 1 10 100

Mean effective stress, : MPa

Fig. 4. Comparison of the simplied model and complete model for the description of creep strain in conventional creep tests
3.00 Measured data: hydrostatic compression [t ref 1 h] (Colliat-Dangus et al., 1998) 2.50 Model predictions 0.37; C 850 c b r /pat 40 50 0.30 0.45

Dr (%): 2090

Sand type Hostun Calcareous

D50: mm 0.32 0.17

Cu
1.70 2.80

emaxemin 0.661.00 1.011.67

Incremental natural volumetric creep strain, (124 h)

2.00

1.50 0.0011 1.00

e0 1.09
1.54 0.50

0.0075

0.69 0.93

0.00 0.01

0.1

1 Mean effective stress, : MPa

10

100

Fig. 5. Comparison of model predictions with measured data for a siliceous and a calcareous sand

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PESTANA AND WHITTLE

samples ( Dr % 20%, at tref 1 h and t 24 h). Fig. 5 also shows predictions of the incremental creep for dense specimens ( Dr % 90%). Two essential features of the data are well characterized by the proposed model: ( a) the creep strain is higher for specimens formed at higher void ratios in the transitional regime (non-LCC states), but is independent of e0 in the LCC regime; ( b) the creep strain is negligible at very low stresses (i.e. 9 , 1050 kPa), but increases with increasing mean effective stress. The onset of signicant creep strain for loose specimens occur at a lower conning pressure than that for denser specimens and is consistent with experimental data. Although there is signicant scatter in the measured data, there is generally very good agreement between model predictions and the measured behavior. From equation (5) and neglecting the elastic component, it is possible to relate the strain at an arbitrary time t, to the strain obtained for t tref :  ! r t X [ t] 1 2 3 [ tref ] log10 (8) tref rc Similar expressions can be derived for onedimensional compression in terms of the vertical effective stress: A  !@ 11arc r t ( e ) 9 0 v 0 1 2X3 log10 v tref rc 1 e0 pat (9a) v rc a( 9 vr a pat ) (9b)

the elastic strain component is time-independent and therefore time effects are introduced through the plastic formulation only. Compression behaviour at high stresses is independent of initial formation density and is characterized by a unique, time-dependent locus referred to as the limiting compression curve (LCC), which is linear in a double logarithmic void ratio-effective stress space. The change in void ratio in the LCC regime is assumed to be described by a power law function of the elapsed time (with respect to a reference time) and results in parallel LCC loci in a log e log 9 space. The model describes two important features: ( a) at low stress levels (transitional regime) the strain rate increases with both an increase in initial void ratio and an increase in effective stress, while in the LCC regime the strain rate converges for all formation densities and eventually decreases at large stress levels, and ( b) the effective stress at the onset of signicant strain rate is dependent on the initial formation density. The model, in its general form, uses ve input parameters, but can be simplied in the transitional regime where the behaviour is primarily governed by the initial formation void ratio.

Equation (8) is analogous to common expressions used to include creep in the analysis of settlements for sands such as those proposed by Schmertmann (1970) and Nonveiler (1963):  ! t [ t] 1 B log10 [ tref ] (10) tref where B is a constant coefcient. Based on eld case histories, Schmertmann suggests tref 0X1 year and B 0X2. From equation (9a) it can be seen that the equivalent B 2X3r arc . Assuming an average value, rc 0X37, and r 0X0100X030, the equivalent value of B ranges from 0065 to 019. These values are in good agreement with those proposed by Schmertmann (1970).

CONCLUSIONS

A simple extension of the compression model proposed by Pestana & Whittle (1995) is proposed to incorporate the time-dependent compression behaviour of sands. The formulation assumes that

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