Interpretation of undrained creep tests in terms of effective stresses

The paper provides an effective stress-based interpretation technique for undrained creep behavior in cohesive soils. This technique could ultimately be used to predict whether a particular applied shear stress level will lead to failure or creep rupture. During the primary phase of undrained creep at constant shear stress, the soil's strain rate decreases, which in turn leads to a decrease in the undrained shear strength. However, it has been shown for a number of soils that a minimum undrained strength, or upper yield strength (s uy ), is eventually reached regardless of further strain rate decreases. It has been postulated that this phenomenon is part of a time-dependent behavior framework in which the yield locus shrinks with decreasing strain rate until some limiting surface, the static yield surface (SYS), is reached. Such a surface has been the basis for a number of constitutive models in which it represents the inviscid, or rate independent, behavior. The peak shear stress on the SYS corresponds to s uy . Data from previous experimental programs are presented to show the existence of the surface and its role in undrained creep behavior. Undrained creep shear stress levels above s uy lead to creep rupture on the failure envelope; stress levels below s uy cause creep to the SYS, where the stress state apparently stabilizes without failure. The value of s uy can be used in a number of analyses in creep susceptible soils, and the static yield condition can be used in the field to determine whether measured pore pressures are exceeding predicted nonrupture levels. A method is proposed for simple determination of the SYS using constant strain rate undrained shear tests. Key words : clays, consolidated-undrained tests, creep, rate effects, rheology, shear strength.