Research Initiation: Transversely Isotropic Behavior and Constitutive Modeling of the Surface Clay Crust

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In the Northern part of the United States, a variety of structures (small buildings, highway embankments, tanks) are supported at shallow depths on soil deposits composed of a crust (1 to 5 meters thick) overlying a deep layer of soft clay. It is often uneconomical to provide support for the structures using deep foundations which penetrate through the soft clay to harder layers underneath. For shallow support, the ability to perform analyses that include the effects of the stiff crust are important. Unfortunately, the physical properties of the crust are difficult to measure and analyses for a layered system (soil layers of varying properties) is difficult. This proposal provides for a careful set of physical measurements of the stress-strain properties of hand carved samples of a desiccated crust in Maine, and for analytical work needed to allow these properties to be modeled properly in theoretical analyses. The results of the study should make foundation design more economical and minimise the probabilities of failures.