Experimental study of variation of shear wave velocity of Macao marine clay during one dimensional consolidation

摘要

The work described in this paper is an experimental investigation on the variation of shear wave velocity of reconstituted Macau marine clay during consolidation using piezoelectric bender elements installed in oedometer. From the results of deformation and the simultaneously acquired shear wave velocity, variation of shear wave velocity during the consolidation process was closely studied. It was found that shear wave velocity drops slightly immediately upon loading, after which it generally increases with the increase of average degree of consolidation. The increase of shear wave velocity reflects the transfer of load from pore water pressure to skeletal stresses during the consolidation process. Based on the experimental results, the relationships between shear wave velocity and vertical effective stress; and between shear wave velocity and void ratio were proposed. These two separate empirical correlations can also be verified with the virgin compression line.