Centrifuge modelling of an instrumented free-fall sphere for measurement of undrained strength in fine-grained soils

Morton, John; O'Loughlin, Conleth; White, David

Abstract

This paper describes centrifuge tests in which a model free-fall sphere was allowed to free fall in water before dynamically embedding within reconstituted samples of kaolin clay and two offshore natural clays. Instrumentation within the sphere measured accelerations along three orthogonal axes. The resultant acceleration was used to calculate sphere velocities and displacements. This allowed the penetration resistance acting on the sphere to be expressed in terms of a single capacity factor that captures soil resistance from both shearing and drag, and varies uniquely with the non-Newtonian Reynolds number. Undrained shear strength profiles obtained from a simple inverse analysis of the acceleration data show good agreement with those obtained using conventional push-in penetrometer tests.

Citation

Morton, J., O'Loughlin, C., & White, D. (2016). Centrifuge modelling of an instrumented free-fall sphere for measurement of undrained strength in fine-grained soils. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 53(6), 918-929. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2015-0242

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 15, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Dec 4, 2015
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Mar 22, 2021
• Journal: Canadian Geotechnical Journal
• Print ISSN: 0008-3674
• Electronic ISSN: 1208-6010
• Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 918-929
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2015-0242
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7202841