Variation law and quantitative evaluation of secondary consolidation behavior for remolded clays

Oedometer and secondary consolidation tests were performed on six remolded clays with a wide spectrum of liquid limits to investigate the secondary consolidation behavior. It is understood that the void ratio and the void ratio at liquid limit are the controlling factors in the secondary deformation analysis. This study also makes it clear that the coefficient of the secondary consolidation decreases with the decrease in the void ratio, and increases with the increase in the liquid limit under the same void ratio. A new definition of the coefficient of secondary consolidation is given in the bilogarithmic ln(1+e)-logt plot. The quantitative evaluation of the relationship between the secondary consolidation coefficient in the bilogarithmic plot and the void ratio at the liquid limit (eL) is also proposed. A simple method for predicting the settlement of the secondary consolidation for remolded clays is also recommended.