Problem wyznaczania wytrzymałości na ścinanie gruntów przejściowych

Abstract

The problem of determining shear strength of intermediate soils.A b s t r a c t. The paper deals with the issue of determining intermediate soil strength parameters. Particular attention has been drawn to a selected number of issues related to the examination of this type of soils, inter alia limited possibilities of collecting a high quality sample for laboratory tests along with selecting test procedures. Particular attention has been given to discrepancies between obtained results depending on the applied test procedure. The analysis covered test results of undrained shear strength (su) of normally consolidated soils of low plasticity, according to PN-EN ISO 14688 soil types: saSi and clSi, from 3 testing grounds in the Poznań region. Laboratory tests were performed on samples of intact structure (NNS) in the triaxial apparatus (TXT) and direct shear apparatus (AB-2a). In the latter case, reconstituted samples were also analysed (PR). Field research was conducted using probes: static CPTU probe androtating PSO probe. The results, which require further confirmation, indicate that the adopted formula of working interpretations of CPTU probing results is of significant importance in assessing shear strength; Nkt coefficient in particular. The paper proposes modification of its most often used value into a value in which there was convergence of the results obtained with the use of both types of probes: CPTU and PSO. It was noted that velocity of applying shear stress has a significant impact on the final shear strength result. A possibility of using the PSO probe as a calibration test with reference to CPTU was suggested if performing the more advanced TXT test was not possible. It was also indicated that the test procedure in the AB-2a apparatus needed to be verify in order to obtain a tendency of shear strength changes comparable to the field studies. The results obtained confirm the need to prepare a repetitive canon of tests (test instructions) of intermediate soils that would enable adequate interpretation of their properties.