Consolidation and permeability behavior of segregated and homogeneous sediments

Abstract

The ever-increasing demand for the use of marginal lands for various human activities necessitates the need to understand the behavior of soft sediments under the action of external forces. As the segregated sediments are of common occurrence in a freshwater depositional environment, it is essential to understand the compressibility and permeability characteristics of segregated sediments, in addition to those of homogeneous sediments. The present paper discusses the compressibility and permeability behaviors of soft segregated and homogeneous sediments, making use of a simplified seepage consolidation testing procedure developed by the authors. The other variables included in the study are the clay mineralogy of the soil and the stress history of the sediments. The study clearly brings out the significant effect of clay mineralogy on the compressibility characteristics of segregated, normally consolidated sediments. The compressibility behavior of homogeneous soil sediments formed under a given depositional environment, having different clay mineralogy, appears to be similar. It is shown that the coefficient of permeability of any soil is a function of stress history in addition to void ratio and soil type.