Disintegration energy of sensitive clays

Abstract

The accurate assessment or prediction of landslides in sensitive clays is not a straightforward task due to the complexity associated with understanding such material during the sliding process. There have, however, been several attempts to assess flow slide potentials by looking at certain aspects of sensitive clays, one of which is studying the energy involved in the disintegration of sensitive clays from an intact to a remoulded state. This energy is referred to as disintegration energy (DE). Here, an analytical approach is proposed to evaluate the DE of sensitive clays based on an integrated study of strength and stiffness properties of sensitive clays in intact and remoulded states. The proposed approach is illustrated by studying the DE involved in Norwegian landslides. In addition, the proposed equation is shown to be in line with an equation used for Canadian sensitive clays. Furthermore, this article attempts to illustrate that the extent of flow slides is related to the DE involved in sensitive clays using five selected Norwegian landslides. The study shows that the amount of required DE can be used to estimate the extent of landslides in soft sensitive clays.