Interpretation of Compression Behavior of Structured and Remolded Marine Soils

Abstract

Although extensive research has been conducted on the strength and stiffness of stabilised soils, fewer attempts have been made on the compression behavior of artificially structured and remolded soils. In this study, results from oedometer tests are discussed to investigate the compressibility of cement/lime-treated marine soils. The findings show that the difference in compression between structured and remolded soils is caused by soil structure and water content. For certain soil, a minimum binder amount exists beyond which the soil structure can only be observed, and the shape of compression curve changes from single line to two straight lines in a log(1+e)−logσv′ plot. The relationship between compression index and index properties of remolded soils is initially discussed in conjunction with some available data in literature. When the effective stress exceeds the yield stress, the compression curves of both structured and remolded soils can be well normalized to a unique line by using the void index. However, the normalization approach proposed by researchers is proved unsuited to the compression curves of structured soils with yield stress higher than 100 kPa.