Influence of anisotropic consolidation stress paths on compression behaviour of reconstituted Wenzhou clay

Abstract

Triaxial anisotropic consolidation tests were performed on Wenzhou clay reconstituted at two initial water contents to investigate the effect of deviatoric stress on volume change during compression. The laboratory test results show that volumetric strain of reconstituted clays under different stress paths is significantly affected by the effective principal stress ratio defined as the ratio of minor effective principal stress to major effective principal stress. The volumetric change during anisotropic consolidation can be considered as functions of the mean effective stress and the deviatoric stress. The initial water content is also found to induce the difference in the volumetric strain of reconstituted clays.