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ASCE: Geotechnical Engineering a subgroup of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

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Correlation between undrained strength and plasticity index

Lapo Baccolini Geotechnical engineer Top Contributor Which is the reason why the undrained strength of a normally consolidated clay at any depth is proportional with its plasticity index, like the famous empirical correlation of Skempton (1957) says: Cu = vo (0.11 + 0.0037 PI)?! Is this correlation true in generally or only in particular cases? Thanking you in advance if you have comments.

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Leo Alibert, David Oliveira and 5 others like this 4 comments

Liliana Liliana Ribeiro Trainee at Port and Maritime Transportation Institute - Portuguese Harbor Authority Hi Lapo. See the link below. It's a paper about triaxial compression tests performed by The Danish Geotechnical Institute over the past decade on undisturbed overconsolidated Danish clays. Those test results confirm that the drained peak angle of shearing resistance can be related to the plasticity index. I found it very interesting, maybe it will help you. http://www.geoteknisk.dk/media/26998/correlation_between_drained_shear_strength _and_plasticity_index_of_undisturbed_overc_nsolidated_clays_final_after_1_review _b_sorensen%20_okkels.pdf
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Mostafa A., Homayoon Tavana like this

Fernando Fernando Cuenca, Ph.D., P.E. Project Geotechnical Engineer at Tetra Tech Mining & Minerals This is a very interesting question. First of all, most correlations for undrained strength that are developed on the basis of index properties, are usually site specific and can only be used with caution for other fine grained soils somewhere else.
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Second, we must understand how those correlations were developed. For example, the correlation that you mentioned above developed by Skempton if I remember correctly was for clays in the Hong Kong area (I am not sure about this!). ALso that correlation was developed from Vane Shear Tests (VSTs). Experience has shown that the undrained strength values predicted by the VSTs are unconservative and must be corrected among others for strain rate, anisotropy, etc. Thus, Bjerrum proposed a factor u, that should be used to correct the undrained strength from VST (and therefore predicted by Skempton), in which u was also a function of PI as well, and the greater the PI the lower the value of u, which actually may show that the undrained strength does not necessarily increase with PI as originally suggested, in fact it may decrease once you apply the correction factor. Other researchers like Obasi in Nigeria, have developed correlations for soils in Nigeria that actually indicate that the undrained strength of normally consolidated clays decrease with PI. Here is their paper: nijotech.com/index.php/nijotech/article/download/506/464 And here is their rationale to explain "why" the undrained strength "decreases" with PI "It is known that soils of high plasticity are composed of very small particles, which having relatively high surface area per unit weight, possess a large number of particles contact points. On the other hand, soils of low plasticity, which have larger particles, possess a fewer number of interparticle contact points. Under an externally applied load, it is not difficult to visualize that for the soil with numerous contact points the average inter-particle contact stress will be relatively lower. As such, the shear stress that can be mobilized to resist sliding would also be lower. In that case a soil with higher P.I. (numerous contact points) will have a lower undrained shear strength than a soil with lower P.I. (fewer contact points)." SO in summary, it is not a straightforward answer. COrrelations must be used with great care as they are usually developed for a specific type of soils, under specific test conditions that must be understood before applying those correlations somewhere else to different soil conditions, different moisture conditions, different stress loading paths, etc. Now this only applies to Normally consolidated clays, so even more complex with overconsolidated clays. Much more could be said, I have only touched the surface of the problem and of the answer as well.
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Roch Roch Player Associate Principal at Braun Intertec Corporation Like all correlations, the empirical correlation given is valid for the dataset from which it was derived. Application of the correlation to samples from outside the dataset carries risk. I would recommend reading Skempton's paper and determining where the samples were collected, the stress history of the samples analyzed, and depositional environment in which they were formed. Then I would use engineering judgment as to whether the soils I am reviewing fall within the bounds of the data. I would also use laboratory and field test such as the Vane Shear to confirm correlations. Beware empirical correlations!
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David David Oliveira Associate - Geomechanics & 3D Modelling at Coffey International Ltd Lapo Interesting fundamental question. The others have already correctly pointed out that any empirical relationship should be used with care. However ,the core of your question was why the undrained strength Su can be related to plasticity index and I will offer you my opinion on this. The equation you show has in fact two interesting and very important components which indicates the current state of the soil. As undrained shear strength is a state
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dependent parameters, we can then make some correlations to those states. The first state dependent parameter is related to the stress state. If you rewrite your equation to get Su/Sigvo you then realise that this stress ratio (shear/normal) provides you the frictional behaviour of the soil and we know that NC clays are essentially frictional in a saturated condition with no apparent cohesion. The second state dependent parameters is actually related to water content through the plasticity index, i.e. in other words the range of water content that the soil may "operate" thus, dictating its behaviour, particularly stiffness. It is important to note that the undrained strength is related to how you load the soil, therefore you will have different strengths in compression, pure shear and extension. See example graph below. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93651801/Su_Plasticity.PNG
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