Compression Characteristic and Creep Behavior of Moraine Soil at Xingkang Bridge, West Sichuan, China

Abstract

The compression and creep characteristics of moraine soil are important mechanical properties of geomaterials to be analyzed during the construction process of engineering projects. However, related references about these characteristics through large-size in-situ tests have rarely been reported. In this study, in-situ tests of particle size distribution, compression deformation, and compression creep were conducted at the Xingkang Bridge, West Sichuan, China. The results show that the uniformity coefficient of moraine soil ranges from 12.1 to 183.3, and gradation coefficient ranges from 0.4 to 2.8. The total compression deformations of moraine samples during the conventional compression deformation test are 4.70, 4.07, and 0.47 mm, and their residual deformations are 2.81, 2.45, and 0.22 mm, respectively. The deformation modulus ranges from 127.3 to 676.4 MPa, and elastic modulus ranges from 316.3 to 765.7 MPa. During compression creep tests, moraine soil enters the steady creep stage after 3.8 h of loading pressure at 445 kPa, and it keeps steady after 14 h of loading pressure at 900 kPa. The Burgers model and generalized Kelvin model predict the deformation well in transient, deceleration and steady creep stages. Results provide a valuable reference for the analysis of the compression deformation and creep behavior of moraine soil during engineering construction and management.

Keywords

moraine / compression / creep / in-situ / mechanical properties

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