DISCUSSIONS

FANG,H. Y., and CHEN,W. F. 1971. New method for

determination of tensile strength of soils. Preprint
of paper presented at the 50th Ann. Meet. Highw.
Res. Board, Washington, D.C.
KRISHNAYYA,
A. V. G. 1973. Analysis of cracking of earth
dams. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Alberta, Edmonton, Alta.
INGLES,0. G., and FRYDMAN,
S. 1963. An examination of

545

some methods for strength measurement in soils.

Proc. 4th Australia-New Zealand Conf. Soil Mech.
Found. Eng., Adelaide, pp. 213-219.
MELLOR,M., and HAWKES,
1. 1971. Measurement oftensile strength by diametral compression of discs and
annuli. Eng. Geoi. 5 (3). pp. 173-225.

Pore Pressures and Strains after Repeated Loading

of Saturated Clay: Reply
NYALE. WILSON
Department of Civil Engineering, McMaster University, H~nzilron,Ontnrio L8S 4L7
AND

JOHNR. GREENWOOD
Molt, Huy, mzd Anderson, Consdritzg Engineers, 20-26 Wellesley Rood, Croydon, Surrey, Englnrzd
Received July 10, 1975
Accepted A u g ~ ~15,
s t 1975

The discussion states the view that under the

action of a small repeated load, an undrained
triaxial test specimen will exhibit reducing
values of recoverable strain and pore pressure
until a point of equilibrium is reached at which
the recoverable strain and pore pressure are
zero and yet the rate of permanent strain is
still increasing with time. This is in conflict
with the results of Greenwood (1970) and
Sangrey et al. (1969) who found near constant values of recoverable strain and pore
pressure and a rate of permanent strain decreasing with time under a small repeated load.
The discussion does not state the level of
repeated stress, CT,, used in the test represented
by their Fig. 2. It is apparent that this specimen
is not in equilibrium but is well on its way to
failure after 70 s of repeated loading. The reduction in the recoverable component of pore
pressure, AU,., may be explained by dilatancy
during shear. The apparent reduction in recoverable strain, A+, may be due to the rapid
load-unload cycle of 1 s not allowing time for
the recoverable strains to develop.
It is stated in the discussion that the example is consistent with the equilibrium condition
illustrated by Sangrey et al. (1969). This is
not the case, as Sangrey's equilibrium condition involves recoverable stress-strain hvsteresis loops (consistent with elastic theoryj and
'Discussion by Ghazzaly, Osman J. and Ha, HoBoo.
1975. Can. Geotech. J . 12(2), pp. 265-268.
Can. Geotech. J., 12,545 (1975)

essentially constant levels of nonrecoverable

pore pressure and axial strain. It would appear
that the applied repeated stress used in the
example (Fig. 2 ) exceeded the critical level
below which the soil behaves in an essentially
elastic manner.
Although the tests of Greenwood confirm
the experimental trends shown by Sangrey et
al., the equilibrium condition was not clearly
defined. Pore pressures and strains continue
to increase with time under load. This is consistent with normal creep behavior and has
been shown by others (Walker 1969; Brown
et al. 1975). In the field the continued increase
of pore pressure in the long term is unlikely to
cause instability as pore pressure dissipation
will undoubtedly occur at an equal or faster
rate. However, long-term settlements will continue under repeated load. Experimental evidence (Greenwood 1970) indicates that these
settlements can be significantly greater than
under the same static load, particularly at
higher levels of applied stress.
The pore pressure parameter A , as used in
the discussion, is not considered appropriate
to constant or repeated load testing as it does
not reflect the important pore pressure - strain
-time relationships. Elastic (recoverable) pore
pressures may be related directly to the applied
stress but permanent (nonrecoverable) pore
pressures are related primarily to the straining
of the sample.

546

CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 12, 1975

BROWN,S. F., LASHINE,

A. K. F., and HYDE,A. F. L.
1975. Repeated load triaxial testing of a silty clay.
Geotechnique, 25(l), pp. 95-1 14.
GREENWOOD,
J. R. 1970. Shear strength of clays after
repeated loading. M.Eng. Thesis, McMaster Univ.,
Hamilton, Ont.
SANGREY,
D. A., HENKEL,
D. J., and ESRIG,M. J. 1969.

The effective stress response of a saturated clay soil to

repeated loading. Can. Geotech. J. 6(3), pp. 241-252.
WALKER,
L. K. 1969. Undrained creep in a sensitive clay.
Geotechnique, l9(4), pp. 515-529.
WILSON,N . E., and GREENWOOD,
J . R. 1974. Pore pressures and strains after repeated loading of saturated
clays. Can. Geotech. J. 11(2), pp. 269-277.