Search for: All records

This paper presents results from an experimental program that measured the thixotropic behavior of several remolded soft clays with varying plasticity. Measurements were conducted at various curing times ranging from 1.0 hour to 64 days. The undrained shear strength s/sub u/ was measured using the fall cone while companion specimens were also prepared and mounted in a bender element jig for measurement of temporal changes in shear wave velocity V/sub vh/. The bender element specimens allowed for much greater frequency of repeated data collection since the measurement was nondestructive and only one specimen was needed per clay for the full curing period. Furthermore, the combination of measurements provided data at each curing period for the rigidity index I/sub R/ taken as the ratio of the small-strain shear modulus G/sub max/ to s/sub u/. Values of s/sub u/ and V/sub vh/ increased significantly with time for all the clays, especially at a higher rate for the first 2 to 4 days. The full time-series dataset of each clay enabled the evolution of I/sub R/ during thixotropic hardening, which was found to be nearly constant over time for each of the studied clays. These data shed light on analyzing the behavior of offshore infrastructure and in situ tools that remold soft clays during installation such as pipelines, embedment anchors, and full-flow penetrometers.