Recent developments in laboratory testing of soft soils at Swedish Geotechnical Institute, SGI

Swedish Geotechnical Institute, SGI, Linköping, Sweden

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Abstract

The geotechnical laboratory of the Swedish geotechnical institute (SGI) continuously develops new methods and improve existing methods for the testing of soft soils. Here we present a new method for determining the undrained shear strength with a quick laboratory test. The soil fails along a geometrically well-defined cylindrical surface where the shear stress and strain give a clear shear strength maximum i.e. the undrained shear strength. Results show a good correlation with both direct simple shear tests (DSS) and fall cone tests. A method is also presented, where the quality of samples, taken by the Swedish piston sampler can be improved when used for constant rate of strain compression tests (CRS). Tests with a cutting edge oedometer ring, diameter of 45 mm, have shown that the sample quality is significantly increased by comparing results from CRS test on regular 50 mm samples with results from adjacent 45 mm samples.