Consolidation Pressure Consequences on the Soil Structure of Artificial Structured Marine Clay: Macro and Micro Evaluation

This experimental study investigates the consequences of one-dimensional consolidation pressure on the macro and micro soil structure during the reconstitution process of marine clay as well as to determine the effect of pressure on the soil structure generated due to material self-weight at the lower portion of fillings. For this research, soft marine clay is selected, and specimens are reconstituted with low percentages of cement. The clay-cement slurries are consolidated under 98 kPa and 50 kPa vertical pressure with the drained condition. The consequences of consolidation pressure on macro and micro structure are determined by performing the oedometer tests, scanning electron microscope analyses, and mercury intrusion porosimetry tests. It is noted that consolidation pressure has a significant effect on the structure of marine clay concerning void ratio, compression index, yield stress, and pore size distribution. The total pore volume decreases with increasing the consolidation pressure as well as the medium pores larger than 1 μm also decreases and converts into fine and micro pores having the size among 1μm–0.01 μm.