Power Law Model to Predict Creep Movement and Creep Failure

Abstract

Soils deform as a function of time because of the consolidation and the creep processes. Under undrained conditions, the consolidation process is prevented and the creep deformations are isolated. A series of unconsolidated undrained (UU) triaxial tests were conducted to investigate a creep deformation model and a creep failure model. The creep deformation model estimates the deformation as a function of time for a sustained stress level. It is a simple power law able to describe the creep measurements observed in the experiments. The creep failure model predicts the approximate time for the creep failure to occur under a sustained stress level. It is based on a strain-failure concept in which the failure time is defined as the time necessary to reach the failure strain. The main model parameters are the creep exponent and the strain to failure, which can be obtained from creep triaxial tests and from standard triaxial experiments, respectively.