Assessment of existing Vs-Lab correlations regarding Eastern Canadian clays

• Published in: Soil dynamics and earthquake engineering (1984) Vol. 164; p. 107607
• Main Authors: Elbeggo, Dania, Ethier, Yannic, Karray, Mourad, Dubé, Jean-Sébastien
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Correlations; Eastern Canadian clay; P-RAT; Piezoelectric ring-actuator technique; Shear wave velocity; Piezoelectric ring-actuator technique; Shear wave velocity; Eastern Canadian clay; P-RAT; Vs; Correlations
• ISSN: 0267-7261; 1879-341X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.soildyn.2022.107607

The small strain shear modulus, Gmax, is an important parameter for characterizing the seismic response of deposits to dynamic loading. The parameter is related to shear wave velocity (Gmax=ρVs2) only via the soil density. Existing Vs correlations established in the laboratory were compiled in this paper and grouped into different general forms. Laboratory Vs measurements using the piezoelectric ring-actuator technique, P-RAT, incorporated in conventional oedometer cells, were performed for six Eastern Canadian clay deposits. Specific correlations were established between normalized shear wave velocities, Vs1, with the overconsolidation (OCR) and void ratios (e). The paper examines the applicability of existing correlations by comparing Vs1 values obtained from P-RAT correlations to those predicted by published laboratory correlations. While several correlations can be used to predict Vs for Eastern Canadian clay, the applicability of other correlations has however been questioned. The analysis reveals the importance of considering the effect of the percentage of fine particles (<2 μm). This effect changes the void ratio variation range, which in turn has a significant impact on Vs values. Furthermore, two general correlations are suggested based on P-RAT results and considering the clay content of analyzed sites. These general correlations can be readily used to estimate Vs1 values for low and high plasticity clays.