Microstructural change of soft clay before and after one-dimensional compression creep

Microstructural change in soft clay before and after creep is important to understand its creep mechanism, relations between the stain and time, and building stability on the soft ground. One-dimensional compression creep tests on Huangshi area soft clay are carried out, and structural parameters of primary soft clay samples and creep failure samples are gained. The change rules of structural parameters before and after creep are analyzed. The abundance distribution analysis with circularity is proposed for real reflection of microstructure, and complexity is regardedas the key parameter in the creep process. Radar chart used for showing directionality frequency distribution and simultaneously comparing many groups of data is advantageous for the observation of distributed intensity. The results show that the creep process is the gradual structural damage and structure trends to be stable. Under the creep condition, the micro-anisotropy is not obvious, micro-pore size change follows the theory of homogeneity, and the quantity of fine pores increases massively. Pores and particle shape trend to be oblate and smooth, the particle directionality becomes more ordered, but pore directionality change is not obvious.