Elimination of membrane compliance in undrained triaxial testing. I. Measurement and evaluation

Abstract

Several alternative approaches have been suggested for evaluation and correction of the testing errors caused by membrane compliance. The degree to which membrane compliance may affect the results of an undrained test is a function of the soil grain size and overall geometry of the test specimen, as well as specimen density and range of effective confining stresses during a given test. Membrane-compliance effects may be negligible for fine sands and silts tested in conventional 71 mm diameter samples, since even very thin membranes cannot penetrate significantly into the small surficial voids. For medium to coarse sands and gravels, however, membrane-compliance effects may have a significant influence on test results. The scope of this paper is threefold: firstly, to review, examine, and evaluate the variety of methods to measure and characterize membrane compliance; secondly, to develop an improved understanding of the factors affecting membrane compliance; and thirdly, to provide an enhanced, updated, and expanded correlation for estimating membrane compliance characteristics as a function of material grain size for a range of soil types, including a wide range of gradation types and representative grain sizes from silts through gravels. Key words : membrane, penetration, compliance, undrained testing, triaxial, measurement, evaluation.