Engineering Geology 297 (2022) 106502

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Engineering Geology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enggeo

Undrained shear and stiffness degradation of intact marine clay under

monotonic and cyclic loading
K. Pan a, Z.H. Yuan a, C.F. Zhao b, J.H. Tong a, Z.X. Yang c, *
a
College of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
b
Faculty of Engineering Technology, University of Twente, Enschede 7500 AE, the Netherlands
c
Department of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Optimal whole-life design for marine structures requires an accurate assessment of how their underlying geo-
Intact marine clay materials respond to various static and cyclic loads. This study experimentally investigates the undrained
Monotonic and cyclic loading shear behavior and stiffness characteristics of intact, soft marine clay that outcrops an offshore wind farm in
Undrained response
southeast China. A series of monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on the highly compressible
Elastic shear modulus
Secant modulus
marine clay, and the test results were interpreted within the critical state framework. The elastic shear modulus
Stiffness degradation measured using bender elements in triaxial tests was compared with the secant modulus that gradually degraded
with the strain during monotonic and cyclic loading. An interesting finding was that the elastic stiffness
measured at various loading stages increased exponentially with the mean effective stress; a power-law
increasing trend was also observed in the secant modulus normalized by the void ratio at various strain
levels. It was also demonstrated that the intact sample under cyclic loading is stiffer than that under monotonic
loading at the same strain level. Furthermore, a close correlation between the nonlinear undrained shear stiffness
and the elastic stiffness measured during monotonic or cyclic loading was observed, which is of vital importance
when evaluating the stiffness degradation behavior of natural soils over strain ranges relevant to major engi­
neering works.

a static load caused by the gravitational force of the superstructures or

cyclic loads due to winds, waves, and machine vibrations, the marine
1. Introduction
clay deposits often undergo excessive strain accumulation and severe
stiffness degradation, which consequently results in the deterioration or
Marine clay is characterized by high compressibility and a low
instability of the wind turbine foundations.
bearing capacity; it has a high water content and accounts for a large
The monotonic and cyclic behavior of marine clays has been exten­
proportion of the seabed ground (Vucetic and Dobry, 1988; Indraratna
sively investigated through laboratory experiments in the last few de­
et al., 1992; Wichtmann et al., 2013). As a very soft and problematic
cades (Andersen et al., 1980; Hyde et al., 1993; Chu et al., 2002; Lunne
engineering material, marine clay is widely distributed off the coast of
et al., 2006; Wichtmann et al., 2013; Cai et al., 2018; Ren et al., 2018).
southeast China, which is one of the most developed parts of China.
These studies, along with others, have aided in identifying how the
Numerous geo-structures such as breakwaters, embankments, and
undrained shear strength of different soils are governed by their physical
foundations have been constructed on the soft marine clay in this area
properties (e.g., water content, Atterberg limits, particle size) and stress
and could inevitably encounter stability issues and potentially even
conditions (e.g., confining pressure, over-consolidation ratio, stress
incur damage (Li et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2013; Qian et al., 2016; Wu
path). Based on the experimental findings, various empirical models for
et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2018; Zhu et al., 2020). One such recent
predicting the strength and permanent strain considering the key factors
example is the 300 MW Jiaxing 1# offshore wind farm, which is under
have been developed (Hyodo et al., 1999; Moses et al., 2003; Xiao et al.,
construction and is located in the northwest area of Hangzhou Bay, as
2014; Shan et al., 2020). In particular, to provide an intuitive inter­
shown in Fig. 1. A geological survey shows that the underlying strata of
pretation of the database composed of various types of soils, Andersen
the wind farm mainly comprise soft clay sediments, which were
(2009) proposed a cyclic failure envelope diagram through connecting
deposited in the Quaternary period (Lu et al., 2020). When subjected to

* Corresponding author at: Room B712 Anzhong Building, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, China.
E-mail address: zxyang@zju.edu.cn (Z.X. Yang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2021.106502
Received 23 August 2021; Received in revised form 8 November 2021; Accepted 11 December 2021
Available online 15 December 2021
0013-7952/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
K. Pan et al. Engineering Geology 297 (2022) 106502

2013), and probing tests with high-resolution local strain measurements

List of symbols (Hoque and Tatsuoka, 1998; Gasparre et al., 2014). In particular, the
bender element, initially introduced by Shirley and Hampton (1978),
Cc, Cα compression index and secondary compression index, has become a promising tool and is widely used in laboratory testing, as
respectively it is a cheap and simple tool for measuring the shear wave velocity of
e void ratio soils and can be readily incorporated into laboratory testing such as
ecs, p’cs critical state void ratio and mean effective stress, triaxial testing devices (Rampello et al., 1997; Callisto and Rampello,
respectively 2002; Alvarado and Coop, 2012; Teng et al., 2014). It is well-known that
G0 elastic shear modulus the void ratio e and mean effective stress p’ are the two main factors
G0,cyc elastic shear modulus measured at specified numbers of dominating the small strain (elastic) shear modulus G0 of soils after
cycles during cyclic loading consolidation (Hardin and Drnevich, 1972; Dyvik and Madshus, 1985;
G0,mon elastic shear modulus measured at specified strain levels Stokoe et al., 1995; Lings et al., 2000). By conducting bender element
during monotonic loading tests on reconstituted cohesionless soils, Wichtmann and Triantafyllidis
Gsec secant shear modulus (2004) further demonstrated that the cyclic triaxial loading can cause a
M critical state stress ratio slight reduction in G0. However, little experimental evidence is available
m, n two material parameters on how the elastic stiffness of intact marine clay evolves under more
N number of loading cycles general loading conditions, including isotropic consolidation and
p’, p’0 mean effective stress and initial mean effective stress, monotonic and cyclic undrained shearing.
respectively In contrast to the elastic stiffness in a small-strain range, the stiffness
pa atmospheric pressure of clays is rapidly degraded as the strain increases to medium or large
q, qcyc deviatoric stress and cyclic deviatoric stress, levels at which soils exhibit highly nonlinear stress–strain behaviors.
respectively The rate at which the plastic stiffness degrades with strain has a sig­
Vs shear wave velocity nificant impact on the majority of ground movement problems (Jardine
εa axial strain et al., 1991). The stiffness degradation curve is commonly used to depict
ρ density of the soil the strain dependent stiffness, and the empirical relationship between
σv vertical stresses the nonlinear stiffness normalized by the elastic modulus and strain is
assumed to follow a hyperbolic function (Kokusho et al., 1982; Vucetic
and Dobry, 1991; Ishibashi and Zhang, 1993; Okur and Ansal, 2007;
Likitlersuang et al., 2013; Teng et al., 2014). From these studies, it is
the cyclic resistance to the monotonic shear strength, which was then recognized that the plasticity index is the main factor influencing the
applied to predict the bearing capacity of foundations. The cyclic stiffness degradation behavior of soft clay under either monotonic or
strength diagram was verified later by Wichtmann et al. (2013) on soft cyclic loading. To quantify the degree of cyclic stiffness degradation
marine Norwegian clay, who found that the dependence of the strength with the number of loading cycles, Idriss et al. (1978) first introduced
on the static and cyclic shear stresses for undisturbed block samples was the concept of the degradation index and proposed an empirical model
comparable to that for piston tube samples. Similar observations have for predicting the secant shear modulus Gsec, which is defined as the
been reported recently by Pan et al. (2021) on stiff marine UK clay, in secant slope of the degraded backbone curve in hysteretic stress–strain
which both the high-quality block and tube samples yielded similar loops. Recently, a number of studies regarding the secant modulus of
outcomes in parallel monotonic and cyclic shear tests, and a unified soft marine clay have been undertaken based on their model (Lee and
interpretation was obtained to synthesize the observed cyclic responses. Sheu, 2007; Tsai et al., 2014; Lei et al., 2016; Leng et al., 2017; Cai et al.,
It has long been recognized that the stiffness of soils at small strains is 2018), and it has been shown that the dependence of the degraded
of great importance in geotechnical practice, such as when addressing stiffness on the loading cycle could be described using a logarithmic or
soil–structure interaction problems and conducting earthquake ground semi-logarithmic expression. Although these contributions have pro­
response analyses (Jardine et al., 1986; Ishihara, 1996). There are vided valuable insights for evaluating the stiffness degradation with
several apparatus and techniques available for measuring the small strains or loading cycles, the validity of these empirical approaches re­
strain stiffness, including resonant columns (Cascante et al., 1998; Yang mains uncertain when they are used to estimate the stiffness
et al., 2019), piezoelectric transducers (Lings et al., 2000; Gu et al.,

Fig. 1. Map showing sampling site of the marine clay: (left) the location of Jiaxing; (right) the offshore wind farm that is constructed on the marine clay.

2
K. Pan et al. Engineering Geology 297 (2022) 106502

characteristics of various clays under different static and cyclic stress Table 1
conditions. Furthermore, as the plastic secant stiffness as well as the Index properties of the tested marine clay.
small strain elastic modulus can reflect the fabric and structural prop­ Index property Value
erties of the soils (Brosse et al., 2017), it is worth investigating their
Specific gravity, Gs 2.66
potential interplay in a systematical manner. A comprehensive analysis Natural water content, wn (%) 45–48
of this subject requires a more elaborate experimental program, which is Initial void ratio, e0 1.20–1.28
the primary objective of this study. Liquid limit, wl (%) 43.0
In this study, a series of undrained monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests Plasticity index, Ip 22.9
Clay fraction (%) 50
were performed on saturated intact samples to investigate the shear Silt fraction (%) 49
strength, critical state, and cyclic response of the highly compressible
soft marine clay in Hangzhou Bay, China. The elastic stiffness of the clay
was measured using a pair of bender elements incorporated in a triaxial
apparatus under various stress states and compared with the nonlinear 100
stiffness at medium strain to failure calculated from monotonic and
cyclic loading tests. A close relationship was established between the
elastic and secant shear moduli, both of which were found to correlate
80

Percentage (%)
well with the mean effective stress. The new finding will be of great
importance when evaluating the stiffness degradation response of nat­ 60
ural, soft marine clays.
40
2. Sampling and soil properties

The marine clay was sampled from the Jiaxing offshore wind farm in 20
Southeast China (Fig. 1), a site containing thick fine-grained sedimen­
tary soil of marine origin. Fig. 2 presents the geotechnical profile of the Clay Silt Sand
0
sampling site, including the distribution characteristics of soil layers and
their respective natural water content wn, liquid limit wl, and natural
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1
density ρn. Four soil layers with features varying over the depth ranges
Parcle size (mm)
can be identified. Two rotary boreholes were drilled to 60 m depths with Fig. 3. Particle size distribution of the tested marine clay.
thin-wall tubes with the assistance of a natural polymer-based drilling
fluid. The cores extracted from the boreholes were immediately sealed at
compression index Cc = 0.36, comparable to the value reported by Teng
both ends before being transported to the laboratory and stored in a cool
et al. (2014) on soft Taipei marine clay, signifying the relatively high
and humid environment. The depths of the tested intact rotary samples
compressibility of the test material. The secondary compression index Cα
range from 15 to 18 m below the ground surface. All the samples are
was also determined from the linear segment of the compression curve
relatively homogeneous, and their index properties are summarized in
after the end of the primary consolidation (Yang et al., 2016), and it
Table 1, which reports the clay exists in nature at high water contents
varied in the range of 0.01–0.015 for the vertical stress σv = 12.5–50
around its liquid limit. The particle-size distribution was determined
kPa. The obtained Cα/Cc = 0.027–0.042 for the marine clay compares
using a hydrometer in combination with wet sieving. A representative
well with the expected range of 0.03–0.05 of the soft clays and silts
grading curve is presented in Fig. 3, wherein the clay and silt fractions
obtained at other sites (Yin et al., 2015; Sarkar and Sadrekarimi, 2020).
can be identified, as summarized in Table 1.
The consolidation characteristics of the intact clay sample with high
3. Experimental setup and test procedures
water content were measured via one-dimensional compression tests
using a conventional oedometer. Fig. 4 illustrates the typical results,
The undrained triaxial tests reported in this study were performed
with the vertical stress σv varying from 12.5 to 3200 kPa. As shown in
using an advanced electromechanical dynamic triaxial testing system,
Fig. 4(a), the vertical strain continues to increase even after the primary
manufactured by GDS Instruments Ltd., UK. As described by Wang et al.
consolidation and accumulates to approximately 14% at the end of
(2013) and Pan et al. (2021), this apparatus can perform a variety of
loading step σv = 50 kPa, which is much larger than the tolerant set­
functions including monotonic and cyclic shearing and inducing various
tlement for most geo-structures. In Fig. 4(b), a linear trend of the void
user-defined stress paths. A pair of piezoelectric bender elements were
ratio e against log(σv) is observed when σ v > 50 kPa, with the
incorporated in the triaxial cell to measure the shear wave velocity Vs;
the elastic shear modulus G0 could thus be determined as follows.
wn (%) wl (%) Un (g/cm3)
30 40 50 60 20 30 40 50 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 Ground surface
G 0 = ρVs 2 (1)
0

where ρ is the density of the soil. To measure Vs in Eq. (1), the trans­
Mixed soil

mitter and receiver elements, with a single sinusoidal pulse at a fre­

10 Grey silty clay

(Main study depth) quency of 10 kHz, were mounted on the top cap and pedestal of the
20
Grey soft clay triaxial cell, respectively.
Two unknowns are required to calculate Vs using bender elements, i.
Depth (m)

e., the travel distance between transmitter and receiver and the corre­
30

sponding travel time. It is generally agreed that the distance between the
tips of the benders can be considered as the travel distance (Bonal et al.,
40 Brown firm silty clay

2012; Ogino et al., 2015). However, the travel time measurement and
interpretation are still problematic and controversial, mainly owing to
50

the near-field effects and signal distortion that complicate the detection
60
of the first arrival of the shear wave. Based on a visual inspection of the
Fig. 2. Geotechnical profile of the sampling site. signals illustrated in Fig. 5, Kawaguchi et al. (2001) suggested the zero-

3
K. Pan et al. Engineering Geology 297 (2022) 106502

0 (a) Vv = 12.5 kPa 1.5 (b)

Vv = 25.0 kPa
1.2
Vercal strain (%) 4 Vv = 50.0 kPa

Void rao e
0.9
8 Cc=0.36
0.6 1

12
0.3

16 0.0
0.1 1 10 100 1000 1 10 100 1000
Elapsed me (min) Vercal stress Vv (kPa)

Fig. 4. One-dimensional compression behavior of marine clay: (a) vertical strain evolution against elapsed time; (b) e–log(σ v) curve.

1.0) for every 10 cycles were extended until the failure occurred. Cyclic
failure was determined based on either of the following scenarios: i) the
peak-to-peak accumulated axial strains exceed 10% or ii) the strain rates are too high
for the actuators to maintain the desired stress paths (Pan et al., 2021).
Input signal During these triaxial tests, measurements of Vs were obtained at speci­
Voltage

Output signal fied axial strain levels or numbers of cycles to register the variations in
G0 prior to or during monotonic and cyclic shearing. Table 2 summarizes
the detailed information on the undrained triaxial and bender element
tests.

strat-to-start
4. Typical monotonic and cyclic responses
Time
Figs. 6(a)–(c) present the typical monotonic test results of the intact
Fig. 5. Shear wave signals in the bender element tests. samples under triaxial compression with various p’0 values, as illus­
trated by the effective stress path, stress–strain curve, and pore water
crossing point as the correct first arrival, and thus, a reasonable travel pressure (PWP) development, respectively. As shown in Fig. 6(a), a
time could be interpreted from the start-to-start distance between the dominating undrained contraction with an apparent decrease in p’ is
input and output signals. According to Viggiani and Atkinson (1995) and observed prior to the phase transformation to dilation, featuring an in­
Callisto and Rampello (2002), an alternative approach comprising the crease in p’ as q increases. Fig. 6(b) shows that the soils display pre­
use of the peak-to-peak time distance was feasible for the sinusoidal dominately strain-hardening behavior up to large strain values;
wave, which was in good agreement with the arrival time derived using however, a slight reduction in deviatoric stress was observed under
a numerical analysis. In the present study, both the start-to-start and higher p’0 conditions (p’0 = 300 and 400 kPa). In contrast to the
peak-to-peak time distances were evaluated for every data set, and their stress–strain behavior presented in Fig. 6(b), the PWPs generated in all
mean value was adopted as the travel time to reduce the uncertainty and the samples increased monotonically to the maxima at εa = 5–10% and
subjectivity in signal interpretation (Ogino et al., 2015). then became approximately constant, as illustrated in Fig. 6(c).
In the triaxial experiments conducted on the intact samples of marine It is observed from Fig. 6 that the rates of changes in the mean
clay, sample-preparation procedures similar to those used by Li et al. effective stress, deviatoric stress, and pore pressure become insignificant
(2011) and Wang et al. (2013) were employed. Samples with a diameter at εa = 20 to 30%, suggesting that the samples have reached the critical
of approximately 50 mm and a height of approximately 100 mm were
trimmed from the thin-wall tube cores using a wire saw and then care­ Table 2
fully installed with latex membranes on the base of the triaxial cell. At Summary of undrained triaxial and bender element tests.
the beginning of the test, the sample was saturated by applying a back Test type e p’0 (kPa) Su or qcyc (kPa)a CSR BEb
pressure of 300 kPa with an effective confining pressure of 25 kPa. The
0.971 50 28 εa = 0
obtained fully saturated samples (Skempton’s B-values exceeding 0.97) –
0.913 100 49 – εa = 0
were then isotropically consolidated under a prescribed mean effective MT 0.866 200 66 – εa = 0–30%
stress, i.e., p’0 = 50–400 kPa. A pause period of several days was 0.834 300 99 – εa = 0
imposed to allow for complete drainage and stabilization. Based on the 0.781 400 133 – εa = 0–30%
previous one-dimensional compression test result, all these samples 0.845 200 70 0.35 N = 0–920
0.837 200 140 0.7 N = 0–20
were normally consolidated. CT 0.895 200 7–200 0.035–1 N = 0–120
After the consolidation, monotonic or cyclic loading was imposed on 0.778 400 140 0.35 N = 0–810
the samples under undrained conditions. Strain-controlled triaxial 0.813 400 14–400 0.035–1 N = 0–120
compression tests with a strain rate of 0.05 mm/min were first per­ Note: MT = monotonic triaxial test; CT = cyclic triaxial test; e = void ratio after
formed for evaluating the monotonic shear strength and critical state isotropic consolidation; p’0 = initial mean effective stress; CSR = cyclic stress
behavior. Cyclic triaxial tests involving sinusoidal cyclic deviatoric ratio.
stress qcyc at a frequency of 1 Hz were also conducted, wherein various a
Undrained shear strength at the critical state (Su) determined from mono­
cyclic stress ratio CSRs (= qcyc/p’0) were considered. Cyclic loading tests tonic tests or cyclic deviatoric stress (qcyc) for cyclic tests.
b
with a constant CSR or with stepwise-increasing CSRs (from 0.035 to BE = bender element test, which is triggered at specified axial strain (εa)
levels or numbers of cycles (N).

4
K. Pan et al. Engineering Geology 297 (2022) 106502

400 state (Roscoe et al., 1958; Yang et al., 2016). In this study, the critical
(a) p0'=50 kPa
state of the marine clay was estimated at εa = 30% from the monotonic
p0'=100 kPa tests and is represented by the critical state line (CSL) in both the q–p’
300 p0'=200 kPa and e–lnp’ planes (Figs. 7(a) and (b), respectively). As shown in Fig. 7(a),
p0'=300 kPa a unique critical state stress ratio in the q–p’ plane can be obtained for all
the samples, irrespective of their initial stress states. The critical state
q (kPa)

p0'=400 kPa
200 stress ratio M = 1.21, corresponding to a shearing resistance angle of
30.2◦ , is close to that (M = 1.23) of soft Wenzhou marine clay reported
by Yin et al. (2015). The undrained shear strength Su (= q/2) determined
100 at the critical state is given in Table 2. In Fig. 7(b), a semi-logarithmic
CSL is established by plotting the critical state void ratio (ecs) and
mean effective stress (p’cs), as given by the following linear relationship:
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 ecs = 1.36 − 0.105lnp’cs (2)
p' (kPa) The initial states of the isotropically consolidated samples prior to
(b) monotonic shearing are also included in Fig. 7(b), which can be regar­
300
p0'=400 kPa ded as the isotropic consolidation line (ICL) with a slope of 0.09.
Figs. 8 and 9 present the typical results of two cyclic tests on the
intact marine clay. The two tests were conducted under different p’0
200 p0'=300 kPa (=200 and 400 kPa) conditions but with the same CSR (=0.35). In the
q (kPa)

experiments, the test data with 50 points in each cycle were recorded at
p0'=200 kPa an interval of 10 cycles, i.e., N = 1, 11, 21, etc. As shown in Fig. 8(a), the
effective stress path gradually moves toward the left and finally becomes
100 p0'=100 kPa stabilized, while slightly crossing the CSL that is determined from the
p0'=50 kPa monotonic tests. Accordingly, the pore pressure presented in Fig. 8(b)
exhibits an accelerated development rate at N ≈ 800. In Fig. 8(c), the
0 cyclic strain remains negligible during the preceding cycles but increases
0 10 20 30 40 rapidly to approximately 10% at N ≈ 920 on both the compression and
Ha (%) extension sides during the later cycling stage. The double-amplitude
(c) (DA) strain forms a “banana-shaped” hysteretic curve when the effec­
300 tive stress path approaches the CSL, which indicates a severe cyclic
p0'=400 kPa degradation of the soil. Fig. 9 presents the results of the test conducted
under a higher p’0 (=400 kPa); these responses are similar to those for
200 p’0 = 200 kPa in Fig. 8. Notably, the sample in Fig. 9 is more prone to
PWP (kPa)

p0'=300 kPa
cyclic failure, which is manifested by a more rapid strain development
(10% DA at N ≈ 810) primarily owing to the stronger contractive ten­
p0'=200 kPa dency of the soil under a higher p’0 (Pan et al., 2020).
100
p0'=100 kPa 5. Stiffness characteristics of marine clay
p0'=50 kPa
5.1. Elastic shear modulus
0
0 10 20 30 40
Ha (%) The bender element measurements of G0 for the samples after the
isotropic consolidation vary with p’0 and are plotted in Fig. 10(a). A
Fig. 6. Triaxial compression behavior of marine clay: (a) effective stress path; unique trend of G0 with p’0 can be observed, except for some scatters for
(b) stress–strain curve; (c) evolution of excess pore water pressure (PWP). p’0 = 200 or 400 kPa, which may be attributed to the variation in the

1.0 (b)
(a)
300
ICL
CSL
0.9
200
CSL
q (kPa)

M=1.21
e

1
0.8
100

0 0.7
0 100 200 300 20 50 150 400
p' (kPa) p' (kPa)

Fig. 7. Critical state line (CSL) in (a) q–p’ plane and (b) e–lnp’ plane (the isotropic consolidation line, ICL for short, is also shown).

5
K. Pan et al. Engineering Geology 297 (2022) 106502

100 (a) CSL 250 (b)

200
50

PWP (kPa)
150
q (kPa)

0
100

-50
50

-100 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 200 400 600 800 1000
p' (kPa) Number of cycles

100 (c)

50
q (kPa)

-50

DA = 10%
-100
-5 0 5 10
Ha (%)

Fig. 8. Cyclic behavior of marine clay at p0’ = 200 kPa: (a) effective stress path; (b) excess pore water pressure (PWP); (c) stress–strain curve.

200 (a) 500 (b)

CSL

400
100
PWP (kPa)

300
q (kPa)

0
200

-100
100

-200 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 0 200 400 600 800 1000
p' (kPa) Number of cycles
200 (c)

100
q (kPa)

-100

DA = 10%
-200
-10 -5 0 5
Ha (%)

Fig. 9. Cyclic behavior of marine clay at p0’ = 400 kPa: (a) effective stress path; (b) excess pore water pressure (PWP); (c) stress–strain curve.

6
K. Pan et al. Engineering Geology 297 (2022) 106502

150
(a) (b)

G0 (MPa) 120 1000

G0/(pae-1.3)
90

60
m = 361, n = 0.66

30

0 100
0 100 200 300 400 500 0.1 1 10
p'0 (kPa) p'0/pa

Fig. 10. (a) Relationship between elastic shear modulus G0 and initial mean effective stress p’0; (b) Normalized relationship between G0 and p’0.

void ratio of the samples. The elastic shear modulus can be expressed as
a function of the mean effective stress p’ and void ratio e of the soil, (a)
1.0
according to Rampello et al. (1997):
( ) p'0 = 200 kPa
p’ n
G0 = mf (e)pa (3)
pa
0.8

G0,mon/G0
where m and n are two material parameters, pa is the atmospheric
pressure, and f(e) is a function of the void ratio e. According to Gasparre
et al. (2014) and Brosse et al. (2017), the void ratio normalized by f(e) = p'0 = 400 kPa
0.6
e–1.3 is adopted in this study to take into consideration the influence of e
on the elastic stiffness. In Fig. 10(b), the shear modulus G0 divided by
pa∙e–1.3 is plotted against p’0/pa on a bi-logarithmic scale. As expected, a
linear relationship exists between the normalized G0 and p’0, which can 0.4
0 10 20 30
be fitted by Eq. (3) with m = 361 and n = 0.66.
The elastic stiffness of the samples was measured at specified strain
Ha (%)
levels during monotonic loading (G0,mon) or at specified numbers of 1.0 (b) p'0 = 200 kPa, CSR = 0.35
cycles during the cyclic loading (G0,cyc), and the results are correlated p'0 = 200 kPa, CSR = 0.7
with the current stress p’/pa in Fig. 11. All the test data follow a similar 0.8 p'0 = 400 kPa, CSR = 0.35
trend with G0. This signifies that the normalized power-law trend be­
tween the elastic stiffness and current stress is evident, independent of p'0 = 200 kPa, CSR = 0.035~1.0
G0,cyc/G0

0.6
the shearing mode and stress level. Nevertheless, the data points in p'0 = 400 kPa, CSR = 0.035~1.0
Fig. 11 exhibit some scatter, and a clear difference can be observed
between the G0,mon and G0,cyc data. This suggests that other factors such 0.4
as the strain level and shakedown of the soil structure should be
considered in the correlation. 0.2 Interpreted trend
Figs. 12(a) and (b) present the evolutions of the elastic stiffness with
the axial strain under monotonic and cyclic loading, respectively, 0.0
wherein both G0,mon and G0,cyc are normalized by G0 after isotropic 0 5 10 15 20
consolidation, i.e., εa = 0. As shown in Fig. 12(a), G0,mon undergoes a Ha (%)
moderate reduction and reaches the minima of 0.7G0 in the monotonic
Fig. 12. Relationship between elastic shear modulus and axial strain under (a)
monotonic and (b) cyclic loading.

G0,mon
tests with εa = 5–10%, where the maximum PWP and lowest p’ are
G0,mon/(pae-1.3) or G0,cyc/(pae-1.3)

G0,cyc
1000 synchronously attained (Fig. 6). The trend then reverses and increases
with εa. Such a considerable increase in the elastic stiffness cannot be
solely attributed to the moderate increase in p’ during the later shearing
stage (Fig. 6(a)). Similar observations have been reported by Brosse
et al. (2017), who found a first decreasing and then increasing trend of
the elastic stiffness with the torsional shear strain, and one possible
explanation for this could be the soil structure strengthening caused by
Intepreted trend for G0 the shear band bifurcation accompanied by a large strain. Therefore, in
100
the following analyses, only the data with εa < 10% are used. In Fig. 12
0.1 1 10 (b), the measured G0,cyc/G0 at various stages of the cyclic shearing ap­
p'/pa pears to be uniquely correlated with the axial strain, and it exhibits a
monotonic decreasing trend with an asymptotic value of G0,cyc/G0 ≈ 0.3.
Fig. 11. Elastic shear modulus measured during monotonic and cyclic loading.

7
K. Pan et al. Engineering Geology 297 (2022) 106502

Clearly, this can be explained by the continuous decrease in p’ and the p'0 = 200 kPa, CSR = 0.35
(a)
degradation of the soil structure during the undrained cyclic loading. 60
p'0 = 200 kPa, CSR = 0.7
Despite the data scatter, the mean trend interpreted in this diagram
indicates that the normalized G0,cyc versus εa relationship is barely p'0 = 400 kPa, CSR = 0.35
affected by the magnitudes of p’0 and CSR, and cyclic stress waveforms p'0 = 200 kPa, CSR = 0.035~1.0
40

Gsec (MPa)
(constant or stepwise-increasing CSR). p'0 = 400 kPa, CSR = 0.035~1.0

5.2. Stiffness degradation during monotonic and cyclic loading

20 p'0 = 400 kPa
The stiffness degradation, quantified in terms of the secant shear
modulus Gsec (= Δq/3Δεa), was investigated via the undrained mono­ p'0 = 200 kPa
tonic and cyclic triaxial tests. Fig. 13(a) presents a plot of the variations 0
in Gsec against the logarithmic axial strain for samples monotonically 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
sheared under various p’0 conditions. It is shown that the samples with a Ha (%)
higher p’0 value have a higher secant modulus but also a higher rate of
stiffness degradation; consequently, the shear modulus reduction curves (b) p'0 = 200 kPa, CSR = 0.35
1.0
of various p’0 levels tend to converge as εa becomes large. Fig. 13(b) Ip = 30 p'0 = 200 kPa, CSR = 0.7
presents Gsec normalized by the elastic modulus G0, and the interpreted p'0 = 400 kPa, CSR = 0.35
mean trend indicates that the shear modulus degradation initiates from 0.8
p'0 = 200 kPa, CSR = 0.035~1.0
Gsec/G0 ≈ 0.4 at the lowest strain level monitored in the triaxial tests. Ip = 15
The tightly banded data signify that the degradation of the secant 0.6 p'0 = 400 kPa, CSR = 0.035~1.0

stiffness normalized by G0 does not vary with p’0.
As in Figs. 13(a) and (b), Figs. 14(a) and (b) present the secant
modulus reduction with the cyclic axial strain amplitude in each loading
cycle and its normalized trend, respectively. As shown in Fig. 14(a), a
good correlation exists between Gsec and εa under either p’0 = 200 or
400 kPa, indicating that the cyclic stiffness degrades with the increase in
the strain amplitude irrespective of the cyclic stress amplitudes (varying
CSRs). The deviation between the two cases of p’0 = 200 and 400 kPa
shown in Fig. 14(a), reflecting the p’0-dependent stiffness, can be
eliminated by the normalization of Gsec/G0, as illustrated in Fig. 14(b).
In this diagram, the stiffness degradation curves (dashed lines) from
Vucetic and Dobry (1991) for clayey soils having plasticity index (Ip)
between 15 and 30 are included for reference purposes. As expected, the
stiffness data for the tested marine clay with Ip = 22.9 fall within the
region bounded by the reference curves, while a slight deviation in the
range of εa < 0.05% may be attributed to the inaccurate measurement in
the triaxial tests. The interpreted Gsec/G0 trend from the monotonic tests
(solid line) is also superimposed for comparison. It is shown that the
secant modulus under cyclic loading is higher than that under mono­
tonic loading for medium strains. Similar observations have been re­
ported for triaxial compression and cyclic tests on soft Bangkok clay by
Teachavorasinskun et al. (2002), who suggested that the difference in
loading rates would be responsible for the variations in the monotonic
and cyclic secant stiffness.
The secant stiffness datasets are further examined in Fig. 15 by
plotting the normalized values using Eq. (3) at three strain levels of εa =
Gsec/G0
Vucec and Dobry (1991)
0.4
0.2
Gsec in monotonic tests
0.0
0.01 0.1 1 10
Ha (%)
Fig. 14. (a) Secant shear modulus and (b) normalized secant shear modulus
against axial strain under cyclic loading.
0.05%, 0.5%, and 5%. The monotonic loading test data (solid symbols)
are fit using Eq. (3) with three sets of the parameters m and n, which
exhibit similar trends to that interpreted for G0 after isotropic consoli­
dation. The parameter m is found to reduce from 361 to 8 as the strain
level increases, which is symptomized by the downward-shifting of the
best fitting (solid) lines in this diagram; similar decreasing trends have
been reported by Gasparre et al. (2014) and Brosse et al. (2017) for four
stiff UK clays, in which a larger value of m (up to 1000 or even more) was
obtained at the comparable strain levels. The power-law exponent n is
below unity and ranges from 0.66 to 0.88, slightly greater than the
typical values of 0.21–0.50 of stiff UK clays (Brosse et al., 2017). The
cyclic test data represented by hollow symbols are also presented in
Fig. 15. Comparisons between the monotonic and cyclic shear moduli at

60 0.6 (b)
(a) p'0 = 50 kPa p'0 = 50 kPa
p'0 = 100 kPa p'0 = 100 kPa
40 p'0 = 200 kPa 0.4 p'0 = 200 kPa
Gsec (MPa)

Intepreted trend
Gsec/G0

p'0 = 300 kPa p'0 = 300 kPa

p'0 = 400 kPa p'0 = 400 kPa
20 0.2

0 0.0
0.01 0.1 1 10 0.01 0.1 1 10
Ha (%) Ha (%)
Fig. 13. (a) Secant shear modulus and (b) normalized secant shear modulus against axial strain under monotonic loading.

8
K. Pan et al. Engineering Geology 297 (2022) 106502

Intepreted trend for G0 1

1000
m = 361, n = 0.66 Intepreted trend for G0,cyc
m = 99, n = 0.78
0.1
Gsec/(pae-1.3)

100 m = 26, n = 0.88

Gsec/G0
m = 8, n = 0.86
10 Ha = 0.05% 0.01
Ha = 0.5% Intepreted trend for G0,mon
Ha = 5%
1
0.1 1 10 0.001
p'/pa 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5
G0,mon/G0 or G0,cyc/G0
Fig. 15. Relationship between secant shear modulus and mean effective stress
Fig. 16. Relationship between secant and elastic shear moduli under mono­
at three strain levels (solid and hollow symbols represent monotonic and cyclic
tonic and cyclic loading (solid and hollow symbols represent monotonic and
test data, respectively).
cyclic test data, respectively).

each corresponding strain level suggest again that the intact clay sample
analyzed and compared with the secant modulus (at a medium to large
under cyclic loading is typically stiffer than that under monotonic
strain) that degrades during monotonic and cyclic loading. The
loading.
following are the main conclusions of this study:
The results presented in Figs. 12–14 indicate that the elastic and
secant shear moduli are both strain dependent, and a potential relation
1. The intact marine clay under investigation is highly compressible
between these two quantities can be explored. In Fig. 16, the logarithmic
and has significant secondary compression. The samples in the un­
Gsec/G0 for the samples under both monotonic and cyclic loading is
drained monotonic triaxial tests exhibit p’0-dependent stress–strain
directly correlated with the corresponding normalized elastic modulus
responses and ultimately reach critical state failure at large strains
(G0,mon/G0 or G0,cyc/G0) at the prescribed strain level. It is observed that
(=30%).
the cyclic test data (indicated by hollow symbols) for various testing
2. The soft marine clay exhibits continuous contraction during un­
conditions fall within a narrow strip, and the G0,cyc/G0 versus Gsec/G0
drained cyclic loading and a “banana-shaped” hysteretic loop when
relationship can be fit by a dashed line in the semi-logarithmic scale.
cyclic failure occurs. The soil is more prone to failure under a higher
This implies that the degradation of the secant modulus with cyclic axial
p’0 condition, which is manifested by a more rapid strain develop­
strains is intimately related to the elastic modulus and independent of
ment and severer cyclic degradation.
the initial states of the soil and cyclic stress conditions. Under monotonic
3. A method combining both the start-to-start and peak-to-peak time
shear conditions, a linear relation between G0,mon and Gsec can also be
distances was employed to interpret the bender element results. The
interpreted.
elastic shear modulus G0 after the isotropic consolidation, normal­
The elastic and nonlinear stiffness of soils are very crucial in
ized by the function of the void ratio, exhibits a linearly increasing
advanced numerical analyses of geotechnical engineering problems. A
trend with p’0 on a bi-logarithmic scale. Such a power-law rela­
variety of constitutive models on nonlinear stiffness degradation have
tionship is also valid between the elastic stiffness measured during
been developed, e.g., the hardening soil small strain model (Benz, 2007)
monotonic (G0,mon) and cyclic (G0,cyc) loading and the current stress.
and the undrained soft clay model (Teng et al., 2014). These models
Furthermore, the ratios of G0,mon/G0 and G0,cyc/G0 at various
appear to be less complicated and more suitable for long-term cyclic
shearing stages exhibit a unique correlation with the axial strain and
loading analysis, compared with other advanced models (e.g., bounding
monotonically decrease to εa = 10%.
surface models) that are capable of modeling more realistic soil behavior
4. Under either monotonic or cyclic shearing, the soil with higher p’0
but require significantly more model parameters and unbearable
tends to have a higher secant shear modulus Gsec but also a higher
computational cost. However, these models concerning the nonlinearity
rate of stiffness degradation; the normalized stiffness degradation
of soils may have limitations when applied to practical geotechnical
curve of the tested marine clay appears similar to that of clayey soils
analysis. For example, the model parameters describing the strain
having similar plasticity index from other sites. The monotonic and
dependent stiffness characteristics should be carefully calibrated
cyclic loading tests provide comparable trends of the normalized
through advanced yet elaborated laboratory experiments. Alternatively,
modulus at different strain levels to those obtained from the bender
the fairly good correlation established in Fig. 16 may provide a prom­
element tests and indicate that the intact sample under cyclic loading
ising tool through relating the nonlinear stiffness at various loading
is typically stiffer than that under monotonic loading.
stages to the small strain modulus, which can be readily converted from
5. A close correlation is observed between the secant modulus and
the measurements of shear wave velocities, standard penetration values,
elastic modulus measured at various stages of monotonic or cyclic
or undrained shear strength in the field. Nevertheless, the potential
loading; this connection between the elastic and nonlinear undrained
application of the interpretation developed in this study requires an
stiffness characteristics for intact marine clay has not been explored
accurate stiffness measurement of various soils over a wide range of
in the extant literature. This new finding may have potential use in
strains, and further verifications should be performed considering more
geotechnical numerical analyses of the geo-structures constructed on
general stress states and site-specific boundary conditions.
soft marine clays across wide areas of China and other countries.
6. Conclusions
Declaration of Competing Interest
This paper describes an experimental study aimed at investigating
the undrained shear responses and stiffness characteristics of intact soft The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
marine clay obtained from Hangzhou Bay, China. The elastic shear interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
modulus measured using bender elements in triaxial experiments is the work reported in this paper.

9
K. Pan et al.
Acknowledgements
The research described in this paper was supported by Natural Sci­
ence Foundation of China (Nos. 52178362, 51908502 and 51825803).
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