A New Alternative for Estimation of Geotechnical Engineering Parameters in Reclaimed Clays by Using Shear Wave Velocity

The consolidation behavior of reclaimed clay can be categorized as large strain deformation. Findings from previous studies indicate that the effective stress and the void ratio are important geotechnical engineering parameters for the characterization of large strain consolidation behavior. However, existing in situ consolidation characterization methods of reclaimed clay cannot adequately estimate changes of the effective stress and void ratio during a consolidation process. This paper suggests an alternative method for estimating the geotechnical engineering parameters of reclaimed clays using a shear wave. An in situ self-weight consolidation process of reclaimed clay is simulated in laboratory while shear wave velocity is continuously measured. Experimental results show that there are single trends in relationships among the shear wave velocity, effective stress, void ratio, and geotechnical engineering parameters for a normally consolidated clay (e.g., reclaimed clay). As a practical application, the in situ parameters and the expected settlement are predicted by incorporating the obtained relationships with the in situ shear wave velocity. The predicted values are in good accordance with the values measured in field. Therefore, the proposed method can be used effectively for geotechnical engineering parameter estimations of reclaimed clay during/after self-weight consolidation with the aid of in situ seismic exploration techniques.