Burland, J. B., Rampello, S., Georgiannou, V. N. & Calabresi, G. (1996). GeÂotechnique 46, No.
3, 491±514
A laboratory study of the strength of four stiff clays
J. B. B U R L A N D,  S . R A M P E L L O, { V. N. G E O R G I A N N O U  a n d G . C A L A B R E S I {
The results of oedometer and triaxial tests on
high-quality intact samples of four natural stiff
clays are presented and compared with the
corresponding results for reconstituted clays. By
this means it has been possible to identify the
in¯uence of the micro-structure on the compres-
sibility and peak strength of the natural clays.
All four clays exhibit rapid loss of strength after
peak with well-de®ned post-rupture strength
envelopes. At low con®ning pressures the post-
rupture angles of shearing resistance are all
close to the corresponding intrinsic critical state
values, but for some of the clays there is a small
cohesive intercept. At higher con®ning pressures
the post-rupture angles of shearing resistance
are less than the corresponding critical state
values. It is concluded that the strength reduc-
tion that takes place from peak to post-rupture
strength is due primarily to breakage of inter-
particle bonds, but that at higher con®ning
pressures some particle orientation also takes
place.
KEYWORDS: clays; compressibility; fabric/structure
of soils; laboratory tests; shear strength.
INTRODUCTION
In his 1990 Rankine Lecture, Burland argued that the
compressibility and strength properties of a recon-
stituted clay provide a useful frame of reference for
understanding and interpreting the properties of
the parent natural clay. In this paper the results of
laboratory studies on high-quality intact samples of
four natural stiff clays are presented and compared
with the corresponding reconstituted, or intrinsic,
properties. The results con®rm and extend the basic
framework and, in particular, give further support to
the usefulness of the intrinsic critical state angle
of shearing resistance ö cs for assessing the
operational strength of stiff clays.
Manuscript received 25 October 1994; accepted 21
August 1995.
Discussion on this paper closes 2 December 1996; for
further details see p. ii.
 Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine,
London.
{ UniversitaÁ degli Studi di Roma `La Sapienza'.
491
Les reÂsultats d'essais oedomeÂtriques et triaxiaux
sur des eÂchantillons de bonne qualite et intacts,
obtenus aÁ partir de quatre argiles raides, non
remanieÂes, sont preÂsenteÂs. Ces reÂsultats sont
compareÂs aÁ ceux obtenus sur des argiles
remanieÂes. Il est alors possible d'identi®er
l'in¯uence de la microstructure sur la compres-
sibilite et la reÂsistance au pic des argiles
naturelles. Les quatre montrent une deÂcrois-
sance rapide de la reÂsistance apreÁs le pic ainsi
que des enveloppes de reÂsistance post-rupture
bien marqueÂes. A des pressions de con®nement
faibles, les angles de reÂsistance au cisaillement
post-rupture sont tous proches des valeurs
intrinseÁques critiques, mais certaines argiles
preÂsentent une faible coheÂsion. A des pressions
de con®nement plus eÂleveÂes, les angles de
reÂsistance au cisaillement post-rupture ont une
valeur infeÂrieure aux valeurs de l'eÂtat critique
correspondant. On peut donc conclure que la
baisse de la reÂsistance entre le pic et la
reÂsistance post-rupture est essentiellement due
aÁ la rupture de liaisons interparticulaires, mais
que lorsque la pression de con®nement est
eÂleveÂe, une reÂorganisation des particules peut
aussi avoir lieu.
BASIC FRAMEWORK
It is important to distinguish clearly and
explicitly between the properties of `reconstituted'
clays and those in their natural states. A recon-
stituted clay, as de®ned by Burland (1990), is one
that has been thoroughly mixed at a moisture
content of between 1 and 1´5 times the liquid
limit wL and preferably then compressed one-
dimensionally. The mechanical properties of a
reconstituted clay are termed intrinsic properties
since they are inherent to the material and are
independent of its natural state. The intrinsic
properties of a clay form a valuable frame of
reference for assessing the corresponding proper-
ties of the intact natural material, and in particular
the in¯uences of microstructure. An intrinsic
property is denoted by an asterisk (Cc , Cs , öcs ,
etc.). While this paper is concerned only with
sedimentary clays, Leroueil & Vaughan (1990)
compare the `structured' and `non-structured'
properties of a wide range of soils and weak
rocks.
492 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI

Compressibility intrinsic swelling curve at OCR ˆ 10, preferably

Figure 1(a) shows the intrinsic one-dimensional
compression and swelling curves for a reconsti-
tuted clay. The intrinsic compression curve is
usually concave upwards and the intrinsic com-
pression index Cc is de®ned as
C  ˆ e ÿ e c 100
where e 100 and e 1000 are the void ratios on the
intrinsic compression line corresponding to ó9v ˆ
100 kPa and 1000 kPa respectively. Likewise, the
swelling curve is concave upwards but is frequently
approximately linear once the overconsolidation
ratio (OCR) exceeds about 10. The intrinsic
swelling index Cs is de®ned as the slope of the
after swelling from ó9v ˆ 1000 kPa. For soils above
the A line on a plasticity chart, the values of e 100
and Cc correlate closely with eL (the void ratio at
the liquid limit) and are given by (Burland, 1990)
e 100 ˆ 0
109 ‡ 0
679eL ÿ 0
089eL 2 ‡ 0
016eL 3
1000
(1)
C c ˆ 0
256eL ÿ 0
04 (2)
It is preferable to measure e 100 and Cc directly
rather than relying on equations (1) and (2).
It has long been known (Terzaghi, 1941) that the
compression curve followed by an element of

e*100 Intrinsic compression curve

C*c
C*s
e
Intrinsic swelling curve

e *1000 Sedimentation compression curve

Intrinsic compression curve

log σv′ ey
(a) 102 kPa 103 kPa
Normal compression
curve

1
Void index Iv = (e − e*100)/Cc*

log σv′
0 (b) σ∗ve σvo′ σvy′
SC
L
IC
L

−1

Fig. 1. (a) Intrinsic one-dimensional compression and

102 103 104 swelling curves; (b) sedimentation compression curve,
normal compression curve and vertical yield stress
(c) σv′: kPa
ó 0vy ; (c) ICL and SCL
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS
natural soil laid down as a sediment usually (but
not always) lies to the right of its intrinsic
compression curve as shown in Fig. 1(b). Terzaghi
called this the sedimentation compression curve.
At a given void ratio the natural sediment can
sustain a signi®cantly larger vertical effective stress
than the reconstituted soil because its microstruc-
ture is less compressible. (Microstructure here
means both the arrangement of the soil particles
(microfabric) and the bonding between them
(Mitchell, 1976; Vaughan, 1988). If the sediment
is rapidly compressed under fully drained condi-
tions, the compression curve shows a sharp yield
point ó9vy when signi®cant structural breakdown
begins. (Vaughan (1988) discusses the determina-
tion of the yield stress and, following Butter®eld
(1979), recommends the use of log±log plots for
this purpose.) When yielding has fully developed,
the state of the soil follows a `normal' compres-
sion curve which plunges steeply through the
sedimentation compression curve and then ¯attens,
becoming parallel to, and sometimes coincident
with, the intrinsic compression curve. The maxi-
mum value of Cc for the natural sediment may be
two or more times larger than Cc , depending on
how far ó9vy is to the right of the intrinsic
compression curve. The location of ó9vy relative
to the intrinsic compression curve is given by the
ratio ó9vy /ó ve , where ó ve is the equivalent
pressure on the intrinsic compression curve corre-
sponding to the void ratio of the natural soil at
yield. This ratio is a measure of the enhanced
resistance to compression caused by the natural
microstructure. The ratio ó9vy /ó9vo is termed the
`yield stress ratio', and must be clearly distin-
guished from the OCR ó9vc /ó9vo established from
geological evidence.
Void index and intrinsic compression line
Since the mineralogy of a sediment varies with
depth, the sedimentation compression curve for a
normally consolidated pro®le cannot be constructed
satisfactorily by plotting e0 against log ó9vo for
various depths. The intrinsic compression curves
for many clays are similar in shape and can
therefore be normalized with respect to the vertical
axis by replacing e with a parameter Iv (the void
index), de®ned as
I v ˆ (e ÿ e 100 )=(e 100 ÿ e 1000 ) ˆ (e ÿ e 100 )=C c
(3)
When e ˆ e 100 , Iv ˆ 0 and when e ˆ e 1000 ,
Iv ˆ ÿ1. When plotted in terms of Iv , the intrinsic
compression curves for clays of widely differing
plasticities form an almost unique line between
values of ó9v ˆ 10 kPa and 5000 kPa. This line has
493
been termed the intrinsic compression line (ICL),
and is plotted in Fig. 1(c).
Sedimentation compression line
When it is plotted in terms of Iv against log ó9vo ,
the location of the sedimentation compression
curve relative to the ICL re¯ects the depositional
and post-depositional history of the deposit. Many
low to medium sensitivity normally consolidated
natural clays that were laid down under still water
conditions lie close to a well-de®ned line to the
right of the ICL which is de®ned as the sedi-
mentation compression line (SCL) and is shown in
Fig. 1(c). Although the SCL is not unique in the
sense that the ICL is, it forms a useful reference
since it represents the norm for the majority of
normally consolidated sedimentary clays. Between
ó9v ˆ 10 kPa and 1000 kPa the SCL is approxi-
mately parallel to the ICL such that ó9vo /ó ve  5.
Sediments that have been laid down under
shallow tidal conditions, or very rapidly, have
sedimentation compression curves that lie to the
left of the SCL and may coincide with the ICL.
On the other hand, sediments that have experienced
interparticle cementation during sedimentation, or
leaching subsequent to deposition, may have
natural states that lie to the right of the SCL.
Heavily overconsolidated clays
The ICL and SCL also provide a useful frame
of reference for assessing the compressibility and
swelling characteristics of heavily overconsolidated
clays. In Fig. 2, point A represents the in situ state
for a heavily overconsolidated clay and line AB
represents the swelling curve from the in situ state.
Also shown are the ICL (which can be obtained
experimentally or deduced knowing eL ), the SCL
and the intrinsic swelling curve (ISC).
When an undisturbed sample of heavily over-
consolidated clay is compressed in an oedometer, it
e
IC
SC
L
IS
C
B
A
Natural overconsolidated clay
C
log σv′
′
σvo
Fig. 2. Compression and swell of a natural over-
consolidated clay
494 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI
has been observed that the compression curve
usually crosses the ICL and then bends down as
structural breakdown begins to take place, as
shown by the line AC in Fig. 2. Structural
breakdown is a gradual process so that the yield
stress ó9vy and normal compression line are often
not well de®ned. This method of plotting the data
facilitates the determination of the natural normal
compression line. Traditionally ó9vy has been im-
plicitly assumed equal to the maximum previous
effective overburden pressure ó9vc . However, if
structural bonding is present, it can be anticipated
that ó9vy will be greater than ó9vc (Leroueil &
Vaughan, 1990).
In general, the framework described above can
be used to assess the presence of special soil
structures. The further to the right of the ICL is
the yield stress ó9vy , the greater is the in¯uence of
the natural microstructure on behaviour. For yield
states lying between the ICL and the SCL, the
main difference from the reconstituted material is
thought to be due to the natural micro-fabric with
some interparticle bonding. In contrast, a yield
state well to the right of the SCL is indicative of a
highly sensitive and brittle bonded microstructure,
with the probability that Cc will be more than
twice Cc . Another indicator of strong interparticle
bonding is when the swelling index Cs , determined
from the swelling line AB in Fig. 2, is signi®cantly
less than Cs . The ratio Cs /Cs was de®ned by
Schmertmann (1969) as the swell sensitivity. It
appears that swell sensitivities in excess of about
2´5 are indicative of signi®cant bonding.
Shear strength
The framework provided by the intrinsic beha-
viour may be extended to include shearing
behaviour. The critical state framework (Roscoe,
Scho®eld & Wroth, 1958) uni®es the work of
Rendulic (1937) for normally consolidated soils
and Hvorslev (1937) for overconsolidated soils. It
is of the utmost importance to appreciate that this
framework was developed from the results of tests
on reconstituted clays.
Figure 3 shows the failure envelope for a
reconstituted clay in a normalised plot of t/ó ve
against s9/ó ve . (The use of the parameters t and s9
is traditional for studies of shear strength. For a
material obeying the Mohr±Coulomb failure criter-
ion, symmetry of the failure lines is obtained about
the s9-axis.) The full line BC is the intrinsic
Hvorslev failure surface, where failure is de®ned
by the normalized Mohr±Coulomb equation
ô=ó ˆ ê ‡ (ó9=ó ) tan ö
ve ve e (4)
The broken line AC is the intrinsic Roscoe±
Rendulic boundary surface for normally consoli-
dated clays. The point C is the intrinsic critical
t /σ*ve
Hvorslev failure
surface
C
Roscoe–Rendulic
surface
B
0
A
s′/σ*ve
Fig. 3. Critical state framework for reconstituted clays
state line (CSL) having an angle of intrinsic
shearing resistance ö cs and no cohesion. The
location of the CSL is de®ned by the important
quantities (s9/ó ve )cs and (t/ó ve )cs . The state
(de®ned by a point in t,s9,e space) of a young
reconstituted clay cannot lie outside the lines BC
and AC, which are therefore known as intrinsic
state boundary surfaces. Also shown in Fig. 3 is
the no-tension cut-off line OB.
It is apparent from the foregoing that natural
clays can exist in states far to the right of the
intrinsic Roscoe±Rendulic surface due to the
in¯uence of microstructure. Recent work on natural
and reconstituted Bothkennar clay has con®rmed
this in detail (Smith, Jardine & Hight, 1992;
Allman & Atkinson, 1992). Similarly, Calabresi &
Scarpelli (1985), Rampello (1989) and Burland
(1990) have shown that the strength of intact
heavily overconsolidated natural clay sediments
may lie above the intrinsic Hvorslev line.
Figure 4 compares the state boundary surface of
a natural intact overconsolidated clay with its
intrinsic state boundary surface. It is important to
appreciate that, since the state boundary surface of
a natural clay is being normalized by the equiva-
lent intrinsic pressure ó ve for the reconstituted
material, both the strength and the resistance to
compression of the natural and reconstituted
material normalized to the same void ratio are
being compared. In this way the in¯uence of the
t /σ*ve
Natural clay
E
F
Intrinsic
state boundary
B
C
CSL surface
s′/σ*ve
A
D
Fig. 4. Comparison of natural and intrinsic state
boundary surfaces showing increased resistance to
compression and shearing
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS
microstructure in the natural material can be
isolated and assessed. (If one were attempting to
®t critical state parameters to data from tests on a
natural clay for the purposes of modelling, it might
not be appropriate to normalize by ó ve .)
It is shown above that the in¯uence of the
microstructure on one-dimensional compression
may be measured by the ratio ó9vy /ó ve . A similar
measure is required for the in¯uence of micro-
structure on shear strength. One such measure
would be the ratio of the cohesive intercepts of the
natural and intrinsic failure surfaces ê/ê , which
is given by the ratio of the distances AB/AC in
Fig. 4. This ratio may be of some fundamental
signi®cance, since cohesion is regarded as a direct
measure of bonding. However, caution is needed
due to the possible effects of dilation and the
destruction of bonding at low con®ning pressures
giving rise to non-linearity of the failure surface
for the natural material.
Another measure of the in¯uence of micro-
structure on strength, which is likely to relate more
to working stress states, is the ratio of the
normalized strengths at the intrinsic critical state
which is given by DE/DF (ˆ T ) in Fig. 4. In
physical terms this is the ratio of the strength of
the natural material to the critical state strength of
the reconstituted material normalized to the same
495
constant value after a relative displacement across
the surface of only a few millimetres (see Fig. 5).
Burland termed this value the `post-rupture
strength'. For these two clays the post-rupture
Coulomb strength lines are close to the intrinsic
critical state Mohr±Coulomb failure lines, as
shown in Fig. 6 for London clay. In addition, for
the London clay at Ashford Common, it was
shown that the shear strengths of samples contain-
ing pre-existing ®ssures plot closely around the
post-rupture envelope of initially intact samples
and are bounded by a lower limit ®ssured strength
line lying a little below the post-rupture envelope.
These results give experimental support to the
above hypothesis of Calabresi.
MATERIALS TESTED
Four stiff cohesive soils of Plio-Pleistocene age
were selected for testing; Todi clay and Pietra®tta
clay are of lacustrine origin, while Vallericca clay
and Corinth marl were deposited in marine
environments. To minimize the effects of sampling
disturbance, large block samples were extracted
Slip surface
1600 (a)
formed; θ = 67°
Pore water

strain
Local
void ratio and the same value of s9. It is therefore 1400 pressure
probe θ
a fundamental and important measure of the Local
Base
strain
in¯uence of the natural microstructure on the 1200 Notional pore water
overall strain pressure
strength of the material. As such, the value of T
Deviator force: N

1000
is probably related principally to particle bonding.
800

600
Post-rupture strength
Calabresi (1980) used the results of direct shear 400 −400
tests on intact Todi clay to distinguish two stages
∆u (probe)
of post-peak strength reduction: the ®rst and most
∆u : kPa

200 −200
important occurs immediately after peak for a 0
∆u (base)
0
relative displacement of less than 1 mm; the
second takes place gradually as the relative 200
displacement increases, tending towards residual 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
strength conditions. Calabresi found that the Axial strain (local and notional): %
immediate post-peak strength envelope lies above
the residual strength envelope and had an angle of (b)
(σa′ − σr′)/2
shearing resistance corresponding approximately to 600
Shear stress: kPa

the intrinsic angle of shearing resistance ö cs . He τ on slip surface

postulated that the immediate post-peak strength 1.0
400
is representative of the initial strength along a
recently formed pre-existing discontinuity.
From the results of triaxial compression tests,
τ/σn′

200 0.5
τ/σn′
Burland (1990) noted that initially intact natural
samples of London clay and Todi clay exhibit 0 1 2
0 0
brittle behaviour at low to intermediate con®ning 1 2
stresses, with the formation of rupture surfaces at Axial strain: %
Displacement across
slip surface: mm
peak intact strength and thereafter rigid body
sliding along the surfaces. The strength on a Fig. 5. Peak and post-rupture strength for an intact
rupture surface drops rapidly to a reasonably sample of Todi clay
496 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI
600

500
Intrinsic
strength
400
Shear stress: kPa

Intact strength

300 Post-rupture strength

C E Level
200
Undrained vertical
Drained vertical
100 Residual strength
Undrained horizontal
Drained horizontal

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500

Normal effective stress: kPa

Fig. 6. Mohr±Coulomb strength envelopes for London clay from Ashford Common

from vertical faces of deep cuts. The blocks of
Todi clay and Pietra®tta clay were taken from a
brick pit and an open cast mine respectively, both
located a few kilometres to the south of Perugia in
central Italy. The blocks of Vallericca clay were
extracted from a brick pit a few kilometres north
of Rome, while the Corinth marl was cut from the
base of the deep cutting of the Corinth canal.
Table 1 gives the average index properties of
the four materials. The clays have similar clay
fractions and relatively high calcium carbonate
(CaCO3 ) contents. The Atterberg limits are for the
natural samples without oven drying. It was found
that oven drying considerably reduced the plasticity
of the clays. With the exception of Todi clay, the
natural moisture contents lie just above the plastic
limit. The Corinth marl has the lowest clay
fraction, the lowest plasticity and the highest
CaCO3 content.
Geology of the lacustrine clays
During the late Pliocene and the early Pleisto-
cene epoch, depressions within the rising mountain
chain of the Apennines gave rise to lacustrine
deposits which were subsequently covered by
continental deposits. Todi clay and Pietra®tta clay
belong to the Tiber basin, which is located in the
central region of the Italian peninsula.
Todi is a historic hill-top city located close to the
western side of the largest branch of the Tiber
basin. Three stratigraphic units have been identi-
®ed, which correspond to different stages of
deposition separated by three erosion stages. The
®rst stratigraphic unit, from which the samples
were extracted, was deposited during the early
Villafranchiano. It is estimated that the lower
bound for the maximum thickness of past over-
burden experienced by Todi clay is about 430±
450 m.
Pietra®tta, located about 30 km south-west of
Perugia, is in the western branch of the Tiber
basin. The lacustrine sediments were deposited
during the early Pleistocene epoch. It is estimated
that the maximum thickness of overburden experi-
enced by Pietra®tta clay is about 150 m.
Geology of the marine clays
Vallericca clay, located only a few kilometres to
the north of Rome, belongs to the marine deposits
that ®lled two long depressions formed during the
late stages of uplift of the alpine orogenic chains.
It was deposited in a neritic marine environment in
the depression that currently coincides with the
valley of the Tiber river. The maximum thickness
of overburden experienced by the clay is estimated
to be about 220 m.

Table 1. Average index properties and intrinsic compression characteristics

Site Wo : % Gs WL: % eL Ip : % CF: % CaCO3 : % e 100 C c C s
Pietra®tta 41´9 2´71 87´0 2´36 52´5 44 Ð 1´440 0´523 0´118
Todi 17´5 2´78 67´2 1´87 28´1 43 26´5 1´275 0´470 0´100
Vallericca 28´6 2´78 60´2 1´67 33´4 42 32´2 1´105 0´405 0´085
Corinth marl 21´1 2´73 27´5 0´75 5´8 15 75´0 0´681 0´142 0´022
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS
Details of the geology of the Corinth Marl are
given by Anagnostopoulos, Kalteziotis, Tsiambaos
& Kavvadas (1991), who have undertaken an
extensive study of its geotechnical properties. It
is estimated that the maximum past effective
overburden pressure experienced by the Corinth
marl is about 1´5 MPa.
APPARATUS AND TEST PROCEDURES
The study of the shearing behaviour of the stiff
clays described above was carried out in the
triaxial apparatus on 38 mm dia., 76 mm high
specimens of intact soil cut from the high-quality
block samples. Tests were carried out on speci-
mens at their initial effective stresses and also
following isotropic swelling or compression. At the
end of the swelling or compression stage each
specimen was left to undergo drained creep until
the rate of volume strain was less than 0´02% per
day. Undrained and drained shearing was carried
out at axial strain rates of 4´5% and 1´5% per day
respectively. For the drained tests drainage was
provided from the top and bottom platens.
Local instrumentation was mounted on all the
intact specimens, consisting of a mid-height pore
pressure probe (Hight, 1982) and pairs of axial
strain inclinometers (Ackerley, Hellings & Jardine,
1987). The rate of strain used for undrained
shearing resulted in a difference between base
and mid-height pore pressures of less than 1%.
Tests for the intrinsic properties of the clays
497
vertical stress as high as 12´6 MPa. The apparatus
compliance was accounted for when calculating the
axial displacements.
COMPRESSIBILITY CHARACTERISTICS
Reconstituted material
Figure 7 shows the intrinsic compression and
swelling curves for the four clays obtained from
oedometer tests on reconstituted samples. The
associated constants e 100 , Cc and Cs are given
in Table 1. When plotted in terms of void index Iv
the four intrinsic compression curves in Fig. 7 give
an almost unique ICL which is shown in Fig. 8(b).
Intact material
Figure 8(a) shows the oedometer compression
curves for tests carried out on natural intact
samples. It can be seen that only the Pietra®tta
and Vallericca samples appear to reach obvious
normal compression curves.
In Fig. 8(b) the intact compression curves are
plotted in terms of Iv and are compared with the
1.5 Pietrafitta
Todi
Vallericca
Corinth marl
1.0
Void ratio

were carried out on specimens trimmed from

blocks of reconstituted soil. The blocks were
formed by mixing the clay into a slurry at a 0.5
water content of 1´5 times the liquid limit and
consolidating by incremental loading in a 10 cm
dia. oedometer to a vertical effective stress of 10 102 103 104
between 200 and 300 kPa. σ v′: kPa
Oedometer tests on intact samples were per-
formed in cells with a reduced diameter of Fig. 7. Intrinsic one-dimensional compression and
35´7 mm (area ˆ 10 cm2 ) in order to achieve a swelling curves

1.2 (a) 0 (b) IC SC

Pietrafitta L L
Todi
1.0 Vallericca
Corinth marl
Void index Iv
Void ratio

0.8
−1.0
0.6

0.4

0.2 −2.0
102 103 104
σv′: kPa 102 103 104
σv′: kPa

Fig. 8. Results of oedometer tests on intact samples of clay in terms of: (a) void ratio; (b) void index
498 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI
ICL and the SCL. All four curves follow the
behaviour depicted in Fig. 2 in that they cross the
ICL. The Pietra®tta, Todi and Vallericca samples
yield before reaching the SCL, whereas the
Corinth marl crosses it before yielding. Note that
the compression curve for the Pietra®tta sample
converges with the ICL. It appears from this
method of plotting the data that the sample of
Corinth marl has reached its normal compression
curve whereas the Todi clay sample has not.
Using graphs of log (1 + e) against log ó9v , the
values of ó9vy have been derived and are given in
Table 2. Since the test on Todi clay did not reach
the normal compression line, the value of ó9vy is
taken from a test reported by Burland (1990)
which was loaded to a higher stress. The intact
values of Cc and Cs are also given in Table 2,
together with the estimated values of ó9vo , ó9vc and
the corresponding OCRs.
Discussion
The OCRs range from 12´6 for Todi clay to 2´5
for Corinth marl. For the Pietra®tta and Vallericca
samples the measured values of ó9vy are in
reasonable agreement with the deduced values of
ó9vc . For the Todi clay and Corinth marl samples,
the measured values of ó9vy are signi®cantly higher
than the deduced values of ó9vc . In the case of the
Corinth marl this is almost certainly due to particle
bonding.
As mentioned above, the ratio ó9vy /ó ve is a
measure of the enhanced resistance to compression
caused by the natural microstructure. Values of
ó9vy /ó ve are given in Table 2. It can be seen that
for the three clays the values are approximately
2´5, whereas the Corinth marl the value is 5´79,
which again points to interparticle bonding.
The swell sensitivities Cs /Cs of all four clays
are close to unity, indicating that the maximum
loads applied in the oedometer were suf®cient to
destroy any interparticle bonding that may be
present in the natural state. That interparticle
bonding is not strong for Todi clay was suggested
by Burland (1990), who noted the low sensitivity
of Cs to different loading histories (Rampello,
1989) and its similarity to Cs . This is con®rmed
by the low values of ó9vy /ó ve .
Table 2. Natural compression characteristics
Site eo Cc Cs Cs /Cs ó9vy :
MPa
Pietraf®ta 1´132 0´81 0´130 0´91 1´34
Todi 0´665 Ð 0´090 1´11 6´30{
Vallericca 0´773 0´40 0´080 1´06 2´22
Corinth marl 0´600 0´22 0´019{ 1´16 2´72
{ Test result from Burland (1990).
{ Isotropic swelling test.
For Pietra®tta clay and Corinth marl, the values
of Cc for the intact material are greater than the
corresponding intrinsic values given in Table 1.
This is indicative of a more sensitive micro-fabric
than in the reconstituted material.
SHEAR STRENGTH OF RECONSTITUTED SOILS
Pietra®tta clay
Figure 9 shows typical undrained (CIU) and
drained (CID) stress±strain relationships for nor-
mally and overconsolidated reconstituted Pietra®tta
clay. All the overconsolidated samples were
swelled from a maximum previous value of p9 ˆ
2000 kPa.
For the normally consolidated samples the
undrained stress±strain and pore pressure±strain
curves show ¯at peaks which are indicative of
well-de®ned critical states. However, at axial
strains of about 15% the strengths reduce rapidly
with the formation of single slip planes after slight
bulging. For the overconsolidated samples both the
undrained and drained stress±strain curves show
rapid post-peak reductions in strength, with the
formation of rupture planes and little bulging.
Figure 10 shows the intrinsic failure line in t±s9
space for the normally consolidated material, as
determined from three undrained tests. It is slightly
curved with ö cs ˆ 33´08 at s9 ˆ 300 kPa and the
secant value of ö cs ˆ 28´48 at s9 ˆ 1000 kPa.
Also shown in Fig. 10 are the peak strengths and
undrained effective stress paths for all the tests.
The behaviour of the overconsolidated samples can
be seen to be strongly dilatant, with the undrained
effective stress paths travelling a long way up to
the right before rupture. The drained tests also
show strong dilatancy at failure (see Fig. 9(b)).
The peak strengths for all the overconsolidated
samples lie slightly above the intrinsic failure line.
Figure 11(a) shows the Hvorslev failure surface
for reconstituted Pietra®tta clay plotted on a graph
of t/ó ve against s9/ó ve . The values of ó ve were
taken from the intrinsic compression curve in
Fig. 7. The experimental points lie on a unique
straight line having Hvorslev strength parameters
ö e ˆ 23´88 and ê ˆ 0´08 (see equation (4)). The
normalized shear strength at the critical state
(t/ó ve )cs ˆ 0´39.
ey ó ve : ó9vy /ó ve ó9vo : ó9ve : OCR
MPa MPa MPa
1´080 0´49 2´74 0´23 1´50 6´5
Ð 2´80{ 2´25{ 0´34 4´30 12´6
0´719 0´90 2´47 0´28 2´20 7´9
0´586 0´47 5´79 0´61 1´50 2´5
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS 499
Normally consolidated OCR = 8, po′ = 245 kPa
Overconsolidated
OCR = 13.3, po′ = 147 kPa
1000
OCR = 5 OCR = 40, po′ = 49 kPa
600
800
10
po′ = 1176 kPa
(σa − σr): kPa

600
400

(σa − σr): kPa

392
400
20
196
200
588
200 294
98

0
0
800

po′ = 1176 −2

600
Volumetric strain: %
∆u : kPa

400 −1
588

200 294
OCR = 5 0
10
0 20
98
392
196 1
−200 0 5 10 15
0 5 10 15 20 25
(a) Axial strain: % (b) Axial strain: %

Fig. 9. Reconstituted Pietra®tta clay: (a) undrained stress±strain behaviour; (b) drained stress±strain behaviour

600
CIU (normally consolidated)
CIU (overconsolidated)
CID (overconsolidated)
OCR = 5

400
10
t : kPa

8 Intrinsic failure line

13.3
20
200

OCR = 40

0
200 400 600 800 1000 1200
s′: kPa

Fig. 10. Reconstituted Pietra®tta clay: peak strengths and undrained stress paths
500 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI

0.5 CIU (normally consolidated) 0.5

CIU (overconsolidated)
0.4 CID (overconsolidated) 0.4
CSL
0.3 0.3
t /σve
*

t /σve
CSL

*
0.2 NTL ∅*
e = 23 8°, κ* = 0 08
. . 0.2 NTL
∅e* = 19.4°, κ* = 0.08
0.1 0.1

0 0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
(a) s′/σve
* (b) s′/σve
*

1.0
0.5
0.8
0.4
CSL CSL
0.6

t /σve
0.3

*
t /σve
*

0.4
0.2 NTL ∅e* = 22.6°, κ* = 0.06 NTL ∅e* = 33.9°, κ* = 0.06
0.2
0.1

0 0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0 .4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
(c) s′/σve
* (d) s′/σve
*

Fig. 11. Intrinsic Hvorslev strength envelopes: (a) Pietra®tta clay; (b) Todi clay; (c) Vallericca clay; (d) Corinth
marl

Todi clay without visible bulging. The undrained overcon-

The CIU tests on normally consolidated recon-
stituted samples of Todi clay exhibit ¯at peaks and
well-de®ned critical states, with no marked reduc-
tion in strength at large strains. Similarly, the
undrained tests on overconsolidated samples show
only modest rates of post-peak strength reduction
with the formation of single slip planes after
bulging. In contrast, the CID tests on overconsoli-
dated samples show rapid post-peak strength
reductions with the formation of single slip planes
solidated samples were swelled from a maximum
previous value of p9 ˆ 1000 kPa, while the drained
ones were swelled from p9 ˆ 2000 kPa.
Figure 12 shows the normally consolidated
intrinsic failure line in t±s9 space as determined
from the undrained tests. The envelope is slightly
curved with ö cs ˆ 28´08 at s9 ˆ 300 kPa and the
secant value of ö cs ˆ 25´88 at s9 ˆ 1000 kPa.
Also shown in Fig. 12 are the peak strengths and
undrained effective stress paths for all the tests.

500

CIU (normally consolidated)

400
CIU (overconsolidated)
CID (overconsolidated)

300
13.3
t : kPa

Intrinsic failure line

20
200 OCR = 5
10
40
20
100

0
200 400 600 800 1000 1200

s′: kPa

Fig. 12. Reconstituted Todi clay: peak strengths and undrained stress paths
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS
Like Pietra®tta clay, overconsolidated Todi clay is
strongly dilatant, with the undrained effective
stress paths travelling a long way up to the right
before rupture. The peak strengths for the drained
overconsolidated samples lie above the intrinsic
failure line, while the undrained strengths lie close
to it. This is because the drained tests were swelled
from a value of p9 twice as high as that for the
undrained tests.
Figure 11(b) shows the failure points lying on a
unique linear Hvorslev failure surface with
ö e ˆ 19´48 and ê ˆ 0´08. The normalized shear
strength at the critical state (t/ó ve )cs ˆ 0´32.
Because the failure points for the undrained tests
all lie close to the CSL, the drained tests are seen
to be essential for de®ning the Hvorslev failure
line at low values of s9/ó ve .
Vallericca clay
The CIU tests on normally consolidated recon-
stituted Vallericca clay exhibit well-de®ned critical
states. Whereas the CIU tests on overconsolidated
samples show only modest rates of post-peak
strength reduction with bulging and the formation
of single slip planes, the CID stress±strain curves
for the overconsolidated material show rapid post-
peak reductions in shear strength with the forma-
tion of single slip planes and no obvious bulging.
All the overconsolidated samples were swelled
from a maximum previous all-round effective
stress of 2000 kPa.
Figure 13 shows the normally consolidated
intrinsic failure line in t±s9 space which, as for
500
CIU (normally consolidated)
CIU (overconsolidated)
CID (overconsolidated)
400
t : kPa
13
200
20 20
OCR = 40
0
200 400
Fig. 13. Reconstituted Vallericca clay: peak strengths and undrained stress paths
501
the other two clays, can be seen to be slightly
curved. At s9 ˆ 250 kPa the value of ö cs is 29´08,
whereas at s9 ˆ 1000 kPa the secant value of ö cs
is 26´78. Also shown in Fig. 13 are the peak
strengths and undrained effective stress paths for
the overconsolidated samples. Once again the
behaviour of the overconsolidated samples is
strongly dilatant. Whereas the peak strengths of
the drained tests lie slightly above the intrinsic
failure line, the undrained strengths lie on it
although the stress paths approach it from above.
As can be seen from Fig. 11(c), the failure points
lie on a unique linear Hvorslev failure envelope
with ö e ˆ 22´68, ê ˆ 0´06 and (t/ó ve )cs ˆ 0´34.
Corinth marl
Figure 14 shows typical CIU and CID stress±
strain curves for reconstituted Corinth marl. The
undrained overconsolidated samples were all
swelled from p9 ˆ 2000 kPa, whereas the drained
samples were swelled from p9 ˆ 700 kPa. For both
normally consolidated and overconsolidated sam-
ples failure took place after slight bulging along
conjugate shear bands. Fig. 15 shows the corre-
sponding peak strengths and undrained effective
stress paths plotted in t±s9 space. The normally
consolidated material is unlike the other clays in
this study in that it is slightly dilatant, as indicated
by the sharp bend to the right of the undrained
stress paths. The overconsolidated material is
strongly dilatant as it approaches failure. The
normally consolidated intrinsic strength envelope
is linear, with a value of ö cs ˆ 36´98. Both the
5
10
Intrinsic failure line
600 800 1000 1200
s′: kPa
502 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI

Normally consolidated OCR = 7; po′ = 98 kPa

2500
Overconsolidated 2000 OCR = 2.4; po′ = 294 kPa
OCR = 1.4; po′ = 500 kPa

OCR = 5
2000
392
1500
10
(σa − σr): kPa

1500
1080

(σa − σr): kPa

196
20
1000 98
1000

535
500 po′ = 294 kPa

500
0

1000
0
1080
−1

Volumetric strain: %
500
∆u: kPa

535
po′ = 294 kPa 0
0 20
OCR = 5 1
10
−500 2
0 5 10 15 20 25
5 10 15
(a) Axial strain: % (b) Axial strain: %

Fig. 14. Reconstituted Corinth marl: (a) undrained stress±strain behaviour; (b) drained stress±strain behaviour

1200

5
CIU (normally consolidated)
1000 CIU (overconsolidated)
1.4
CID (overconsolidated)

10
800

20
t : kPa

Intrinsic failure line 2.4

600

400

OCR = 7

200

0
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
s′: kPa

Fig. 15. Reconstituted Corinth marl: peak strengths and undrained stress paths
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS
undrained and the drained strengths of the over-
consolidated samples lie slightly above the intrinsic
failure line.
The failure points lie on a unique linear
Hvorslev failure surface shown in Fig. 11(d),
which is de®ned by ö e ˆ 33´98 and ê ˆ 0´06.
The normalized shear strength at the critical state
(t/ó ve )cs ˆ 0´67.
Discussion
The results of the CIU tests on the normally
consolidated reconstituted samples all show well-
de®ned critical states at failure. The Pietra®tta clay
shows different behaviour in that, at an axial
strain of about 15%, single distinct slip planes
form resulting in a sharp reduction in strength (see
Fig. 9(a)).
For the undrained tests on the overconsolidated
reconstituted clays, with the exception of Pietra-
®tta, only gradual reductions in strength occur after
peak and the samples mainly bulge. The behaviour
of overconsolidated Pietra®tta clay is characterized
by the formation of single slip surfaces at peak
strength, followed by rapid post-peak reductions in
strength. As soon as the formation of a slip surface
is completed, little subsequent change in excess
pore water pressure occurs and the post-rupture
deformation mainly consists of near rigid-body
sliding on the slip surface.
The formation of slip planes during undrained
testing of Pietra®tta clay, and not the other clays,
is puzzling. It is perhaps signi®cant that Pietra®tta
clay has the highest liquid limit of the four clays.
Also, electron microscope studies reveal the pres-
ence of mica particles. Kaolin, with its large
surface area to thickness ratio, is well known for
its disposition towards orientation (Morgenstern &
Tchalenko (1967)). Burland (1990) noted the for-
mation of slip planes during undrained testing of
normally consolidated samples. For Pietra®tta clay,
the mica particles may trigger the formation of slip
surfaces.
In contrast with the CIU tests, most of the CID
tests on the overconsolidated reconstituted samples
show sharp reductions in post-peak strength with
the formation of slip planes. This is due to the
strongly dilatant behaviour resulting in localized
preferential softening and consequent slip plane
Table 3. Intrinsic and natural strength characteristics
Site Reconstituted samples
WL : % ö cs ö e ê (t /ó ve )cs
Pietra®tta 87´0 28´48 23´88 0´08
Todi 67´2 25´88 19´48 0´08
Vallericca 60´2 26´78 22´68 0´06
Corinth marl 27´5 36´98 33´98 0´06
503
formation. The reconstituted Corinth marl was less
prone to such behaviour, and the rupture planes
took the form of conjugate shear bands.
For all except the Corinth marl, the intrinsic
failure lines are slightly curved. This curvature
leads to some dif®culties in normalizing the results
of the tests by the Hvorslev procedure so that in
Figs 11(a), 11(b) and 11(c) the critical state lines
are not uniquely de®ned by single points. The
chosen points relate to the highest consolidation
stresses, since these are representative of the
preconsolidation pressures for the overconsolidated
samples. It is noticeable that for the Todi and
Vallericca clays the undrained failure points for the
overconsolidated samples are generally close to the
critical state line. Therefore, in order to de®ne the
Hvorslev failure line accurately for high OCRs, it
is necessary to carry out drained tests.
In Table 3 the intrinsic shear strength para-
meters are summarized. Secant values of ö cs are
given and correspond to the maximum consolida-
tion pressures. Of the Italian clays, although the
Pietra®tta clay has the highest plasticity it also
exhibits the highest values of ö cs , ö e and
(t/ó ve )cs . The very high values of ö cs and ö e
for Corinth marl should be noted. The value of
the cohesive intercept ê is similar for all the
materials, being in the range 0´06 to 0´08. It can
be seen from Fig. 11 that, at the critical state, the
three Italian clays have similar values of (s9/ó ve )cs
 0´75. However, for Corinth marl the value is
 1´12 (see Fig. 11(d)). The reason is that the
material is slightly dilatant as it approaches the
critical stateÐbehaviour which resembles that of a
fairly loose sand rather than a clay.
Like the intrinsic compressibility parameters, the
intrinsic Hvorslev strength parameters are inherent
to the material and are independent of its natural
state. In the next section these intrinsic parameters
are used to assess the in¯uence of microstructure
on the strength properties of the intact natural
clays.
SHEAR STRENGTH OF INTACT NATURAL CLAYS
Pietra®tta clay
Figure 16 shows the stress±strain behaviour of
CIU and CID tests on samples of natural intact
Pietra®tta clay consolidated to various values of
Intact Natural samples ê/ê T
ö9e ê tf /(óve )cs
0´39 24´58 0´18 0´48 2´25 1´23
0´32 20´48 0´17 0´42 2´13 1´31
0´34 21´48 0´26 0´51 4´33 1´50
0´67 31´18 0´45 0´96 7´50 1´43
504 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI
600 CID po′ = 53 kPa
po′ = 760 kPa
300
(σa − σr): kPa

p′ = constant = 53 kPa
400
315 432
526 p′ = constant = 96 kPa
135
200
200

(σa − σr): kPa

0

760
400 100
∆u : kPa

526
200 432
315
0
0
135
−2
0 5 10 15

Volumetric strain: %
(a) Axial strain: % −1

2
0 2 4 6
(b) Axial strain: %

Fig. 16. Intact Pietra®tta clay: (a) undrained stress±strain behaviour; (b) drained stress±strain behaviour

p9o . The associated effective stress paths are shown
in Fig. 17. The sample that was consolidated to
760 kPa shows contractant behaviour (i.e. the
undrained effective stress path bends to the left),
500
suggesting that it is only lightly overconsolidated
at this con®ning pressure. This is consistent with
the oedometer compression curve for Pietra®tta
clay shown in Fig. 8(a) for which ó9vy ˆ 1340 kPa

Undrained
400
Drained

Intrinsic failure line

300
t : kPa

200
Intact failure line

100

0
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
s′: kPa

Fig. 17. Intact Pietra®tta clay: peak strengths and undrained stress paths
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS
(see also Table 2). The sample for which
p9o ˆ 135 kPa shows strongly dilatant behaviour,
with the undrained effective stress path moving a
long way up to the right before failure.
The undrained stress±strain curves in Fig. 16(a)
show ¯at peaks, but all the samples developed
rupture planes resulting in small but noticeable
reductions in strength. In contrast, it can be seen
from Fig. 16(b) that the drained tests, which were
carried out at much lower con®ning stresses, show
signi®cant and rapid reductions in post-peak
strength.
In Fig. 17 the line drawn through the peak
strengths represents the intact failure line for the
natural clay, which is compared with the intrinsic
failure line for the reconstituted Pietra®tta clay
(see Fig. 10). It can be seen that the intact failure
line is curved. At low con®ning pressures the peak
intact drained strengths lie above the intrinsic
failure line, while at higher con®ning pressures the
peak intact undrained strengths lie slightly below
the intrinsic failure line.
In Fig. 18(a) a comparison is made between the
peak strengths of intact and reconstituted Pietra®tta
clay on a normalized graph of t9/ó ve against
s/ó ve . It can be seen that the Hvorslev failure line
for the intact material lies a little above the
corresponding intrinsic line but extends well to the
right of the intrinsic CSL. For the intact material
505
the data points are clustered at two locations. The
shape of the line has been sketched in so as to be
consistent with the results from other clays, which
show some curvature at values of s9/ó ve suf®-
ciently high to cause contractant behaviour
(Burland, 1990). The Hvorslev strength parameters
for the intact material are given in Table 3.
The in¯uence of microstructure on the intact
strength can be assessed by comparing the intact
Hvorslev strength parameters with the equivalent
intrinsic values. The ratio of the cohesive inter-
cepts ê/ê is 2´25, and the strength ratio at the
intrinsic critical state T is 1´23. These values are
given in Table 3. The fact that the intact Hvorslev
line lies only slightly above the intrinsic line
suggests that interparticle bonding is small. The
extension of the Hvorslev line well to the right is
consistent with the compression line in Fig. 8(b)
crossing the ICL, and points to important differ-
ences in microstructure between the natural and
reconstituted soils.
Post-rupture strengths have been analysed in
terms of the effective normal and shear stresses
acting on the rupture planes, making the appro-
priate area corrections. For both the undrained and
drained tests it was found that the post-rupture
strengths fall to reasonably constant values after a
few millimetres of relative displacement. In Fig. 19
the post-rupture Coulomb strengths for the natural

0.8 1.0
Undrained
Drained
0.6 0.8
Intact
t /σ*ve

0.6
t /σ*ve

0.4 CSL

0.4 Intact
Intrinsic
0.2 CSL
0.2
0 Intrinsic

0.2 0 .4 0 .6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 0

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

(a) s′/σ*ve (b) s′/σ*ve

1.0 3

0.8

Intact 2
0.6
t /σ*ve

t /σ*ve

0.4 Intact
CSL
1
0.2 Intrinsic CSL
Intrinsic
0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 0
1 2 3 4
(c) s′/σ*ve (d) s′/σ*ve

Fig. 18. Comparison of intact and intrinsic Hvorslev strength envelopes: (a) Pietra®tta clay; (b) Todi clay;
(c) Vallericca clay; (d) Corinth marl
506 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI
600
Undrained
Drained
500
400
Shear stress: kPa
300
200
Peak strength
100
0
100 200 300
Fig. 19. Pietra®tta clay: post-rupture Coulomb strength envelope compared with peak intact and intrinsic Mohr±
Coulomb failure lines
material are compared with the intrinsic and peak
intact Mohr±Coulomb failure lines. For effective
stresses up to about 100 kPa the post-rupture
failure line coincides with the intrinsic failure line,
while at higher stresses it lies slightly below it.
Todi clay
Figure 20 shows the stress±strain relationships
for selected CIU and CID tests on samples of
natural intact Todi clay initially isotropically
swelled or compressed to a wide range of effective
con®ning pressures. These tests formed part of
an extensive experimental research programme on
the in¯uence of swelling and weathering on the
mechanical properties of the material (Rampello,
1989).
The undrained stress paths and peak failure
points are shown in Fig. 21. All the undrained tests
exhibit strongly dilatant behaviour, with the stress
paths moving a considerable distance up the failure
envelope prior to rupture. Each of the samples
showed brittle behaviour with the formation of a
single well-de®ned slip surface. The use of local
strain transducers showed that the slip surface was
initiated soon after the peak stress ratio t/s9 was
reached, and its complete development through the
sample coincided with peak strength (Rampello,
1991; Viggiani, Rampello & Georgiannou, 1993).
Thereafter, deformation consisted of near rigid-
body sliding with only very small changes in
Intrinsic strength
Post-rupture strength
400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Normal effective stress: kPa
excess pore water pressure. As shown in Fig.
20(a), at high con®ning stresses the observed
stress±strain behaviour was less brittle. The drained
tests were carried out at moderately high con®ning
pressures and also showed brittle behaviour with
the formation of slip surfaces (Fig. 20(b)).
It can be seen from Fig. 21 that the peak intact
strengths fall on a reasonably well-de®ned failure
line which lies well above the intrinsic failure line
derived from reconstituted samples. In Fig. 18(b)
the intact and intrinsic strengths are compared on a
normalized Hvorslev plot. The strengths of the
natural intact samples lie on a unique Hvorslev
failure line which lies a little above the intrinsic
line. For values of s9/ó ve greater than about 0´4,
the intact failure line is linear. At lower values the
results suggest that it may be curved so that the
value of ê requires extrapolation. The values of
ê/ê and T are 2´13 and 1´31 respectively, which
are similar to those for Pietra®tta clay.
All the samples exhibited well-de®ned post-
rupture strengths. In Fig. 22 the post-rupture
Coulomb strengths are compared with the intrinsic
and peak intact Mohr±Coulomb failure lines on a
Mohr diagram. The post-rupture strengths plot
close to the intrinsic line.
Vallericca clay
Figure 23 shows the stress±strain curves for
standard undrained and constant p9 drained tests
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS 507
5000 po′ = 784 kPa

po′ = 980 kPa

4000
po′ = 1176 kPa

po′ = 3200 kPa

(σa − σr): kPa

3000
3000
2200
2000
1500

(σa − σr): kPa

2000
600
443
1000
200
1000
50
0

1500 0

1000
∆u : kPa

−3
500 po′ = 3200 kPa
Volumetric strain: %

−2
600

0 2200 −1
50 1500
200
443 0

−500 1
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
(a) Axial strain: % (b) Axial strain: %

Fig. 20. Intact Todi clay: (a) undrained stress±strain behaviour; (b) drained stress±strain behaviour

1200

Undrained
1000
Drained

800 Intact failure line

t : kPa

600

400 Intrinsic failure line

200

0
400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400
s′: kPa

Fig. 21. Intact Todi clay: peak strengths and undrained stress paths
508 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI
1200
Undrained 
 post-rupture strength
Drained  Peak strength

800
Shear stress: kPa

Intrinsic strength

400

0
400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400

Normal effective stress: kPa

Fig. 22. Todi clay: post-rupture Coulomb strengths compared with peak intact and intrinsic Mohr±Coulomb
failure lines

1000 p′ = constant = 101 kPa

p′ = constant = 148 kPa
p′ = constant = 53 kPa
800
400
po′ = 817 kPa
626
(σa − σr): kPa

600
428 300
(σa − σr): kPa

200
400 200

58

200 100

0
0

400
po′ = 817 kPa −4
Volumetric strain: %

−3
200 626
∆u : kPa

−2

200 428 −1
0 58 0

1
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Axial strain: % Axial strain: %
(a) (b)

Fig. 23. Intact Vallericca clay: (a) undrained stress±strain behaviour; (b) drained stress±strain behaviour
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS
on samples of natural intact Vallericca clay tested
at various values of p9o . The associated effective
stress paths and peak strengths are shown in
Fig. 24. All the samples exhibit dilatant behaviour.
The peak intact strengths lie well above the
intrinsic failure line for the reconstituted material
and form a curved failure envelope.
Each of the samples exhibited brittle behaviour,
with the formation of a single well-de®ned rupture
surface. As can be seen in Fig. 23, the post-peak
strengths fall very rapidly. Local strain measure-
ments during a drained constant p9 test made it
possible to identify the stress condition at which
strain localization took place. As for the Todi clay,
the slip surface was initiated at maximum stress
ratio, which in this case coincides with peak
strength, and its complete formation was close to
the attainment of post-rupture strength. Thereafter,
near rigid-body sliding took place (Viggiani et al.,
1993).
In Fig. 18(c) the peak strengths of the intact
and reconstituted material are compared in a
normalized plot of t/ó ve against s9/ó ve . The
Hvorslev failure line for the intact material is
uniquely de®ned, is approximately linear and lies
above the corresponding intrinsic line extending
well to the right of the intrinsic CSL. From Table
3 the values of ê/ê and T are 4´33 and 1´50
respectively. It appears that the Vallericca clay has
greater interparticle bonding than Pietra®tta and
Todi clay.
All the samples exhibit well-de®ned post-rupture
strengths, and in Fig. 25 these are compared with
the intrinsic and peak intact Mohr±Coulomb failure
lines. At low effective pressures the post-rupture
failure line lies just above the intrinsic failure line,
crossing it at s9 ˆ 400 kPa and thereafter lying
Undrained
400 Drained
Intact failure line
t : kPa
200
0
200 400
s′: kPa
Fig. 24. Intact Vallericca clay: peak strengths and undrained stress paths
509
below it. At very low stresses the slope of the
post-rupture failure line is equal to ö cs , with c9
equal to about 10 kPa.
Corinth marl
Figure 26 shows the stress±strain curves for CIU
and CID tests respectively on samples of natural
intact Corinth marl consolidated to various values
of p9o . The associated effective stress paths and
peak strengths are shown in Fig. 27. The undrained
behaviour exhibits very strong dilatancy with large
negative excess pore pressures, so that the un-
drained stress paths extend a considerable distance
up to the right prior to failure. The peak intact
strengths can be seen to lie a little above the
intrinsic failure line.
In Fig. 18(d) the peak intact and reconstituted
strengths are compared in a normalized plot of
t9/ó ve against s/ó ve . As for the other clays, the
Hvorslev failure line for the intact material lies
above the corresponding intrinsic failure line, is
uniquely de®ned and extends well to the right of
the intrinsic CSL. From Table 3 the values of ê/ê
and T are 7´50 and 1´43 respectively.
All the samples show post-peak strength reduc-
tions, but the rate is much more gradual than for
the other three clays. Rupture was associated with
the formation of conjugate shear bands with
signi®cant bulging of the samples rather than the
formation of single slip surfaces as was the case
with the other clays.
Post-rupture strengths have been derived for the
samples that showed well-developed shear bands;
the results are shown in Fig. 28. The post-rupture
strengths lie on, or slightly above, the intrinsic
Mohr±Coulomb failure line.
Intrinsic
failure line
600 800 1000
 510 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI
500

Undrained
Intrinsic strength
400
Drained
Shear stress: kPa

300 Peak strength Post-rupture strength

200

100

0
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Normal effective stress: kPa

Fig. 25. Vallericca clay: post-rupture Coulomb strength envelope compared with peak intact and intrinsic Mohr±
Coulomb failure ilnes

2400 p 0' = 98kPa

2000 p 0' = 294kPa
2000
p 0' = 500kPa
(σa − σr): kPa

1600 po' = 550 kPa

315
1200 1500
56
(σa − σr): kPa

800

400 1000
0
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

500

300 0

200 −4
100 Axial strain: %
Volumetric strain: %

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 −3

0
−100 po' = 550 kPa −2

−200 −1
∆u: kPa

315
−300
56 0
−400
−500 1
0 2 4 6 8 10
−600
Axial strain: %
(a) (b)

Fig. 26. Intact Corinth marl: (a) undrained stress±strain behaviour; (b) drained stress±strain behaviour

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS the corresponding intrinsic strength envelopes. The

Intact peak strength differences between the intact and reconstituted
For all the clays, the intact peak Mohr±Coulomb strength envelopes are due to the effects of void
strength envelopes are curved and lie well above ratio and microstructure. Following Hvorslev
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS 511
1200

Undrained
1000
Drained

800
t : kPa

600 Intrinsic failure line

400

200

0
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
s': kPa

Fig. 27. Intact Corinth marl: peak strengths and undrained stress paths

1200
Undrained 
 post-rupture strength
Drained 
1000

Peak
strength
800 Intrinsic strength
Shear stress: kPa

600

400

200

0
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200
Normal effective stress: kPa

Fig. 28. Corinth marl: post-rupture Coulomb strengths compared with peak intact and intrinsic Mohr±Coulomb
failure lines

(1937), the in¯uence of void ratio can be elimi-
nated by using ó ve as a normalizing parameter.
By this means the in¯uence of microstructure on
the strengths of natural materials can be assessed.
For all four clays, the peak intact failure points
for undrained and drained triaxial compression
tests form unique Hvorslev failure lines which are
linear over much of their range. In all cases the
Hvorslev failure line for the natural intact material
lies above the corresponding intrinsic failure line
and extends well to the right of the intrinsic CSL.
These differences re¯ect the greater resistance of
512 BURLAND, RAMPELLO, GEORGIANNOU AND CALABRESI
the natural microstructure both to shear and,
particularly, to compression. Thus, at a given void
ratio, the natural material can sustain higher shear
stresses and much higher effective con®ning
stresses than its reconstituted counterpart.
The Hvorslev strength parameters for the intact
and reconstituted materials are given in Table 3.
The values of ö9e for the intact clays are similar to
the reconstituted values. In contrast, the values of
ê for the intact materials are all signi®cantly
higher than the corresponding intrinsic values. It
should be borne in mind that the values of ê are
obtained by extrapolating the Hvorslev failure lines
back to the vertical axis, and there is probably
some curvature of the Hvorslev line at low values
of s9/ó ve , as reported by Atkinson & Little (1988)
for a glacial till. As argued above, a more direct
method of quantifying the strength differences
between natural and reconstituted materials is to
compare them at the value of s9/ó ve correspond-
ing to the intrinsic critical state. This is given by
the ratio DE/DF in Fig. 4 and is de®ned as T.
From Table 3 it can be seen that the two lacustrine
clays have values of T in the range 1´2 to 1´3,
while the two marine deposits have slightly higher
values in the range 1´4 to 1´5.
Thus all four natural clays have stronger
microstructures than the corresponding reconsti-
tuted materials. The values of ö9e are hardly
affected, so the differences appear to be largely
cohesive in origin. This conclusion is strongly
supported by the work of Chandler & Apted
(1988) on the effect of weathering on the strength
of London clay. The two marine clays (Vallericca
and Corinth) exhibit more enhancement than the
lacustrine clays. Surprisingly, the value of T for
Corinth marl, which is often referred to as
`cemented' or `strongly bonded', is similar to that
of Vallericca clay. However, the higher value of
normalized yield stress ó9vy /ó ve suggests that the
Corinth marl has a stronger structure than the other
three clays (see Table 2). In contrast to these
sedimentary materials, it is of interest that
Atkinson & Little (1988) found that, for a glacial
till, the natural and reconstituted Hvorslev lines
coincided, suggesting that this material exhibits no
enhanced bonding in its natural state.
Critical states for intact material
The normally consolidated reconstituted materi-
als all exhibit well-de®ned critical states, although
for Pietra®tta clay the formation of slip planes
intervenes in the process. For natural Pietra®tta
clay, the undrained peak strengths approximate to
critical state behaviour at the higher con®ning
pressures. In Figs 16(a) and 17 it can be seen that
the tests with con®ning pressures of 432 kPa,
526 kPa and 760 kPa are contractive in that they
develop positive pore pressures. At peak strength,
continuing shearing takes place at almost constant
pore pressure. Moreover, it can be seen in Fig.
18(a) that the peak undrained strengths lie within a
well-de®ned region which could be thought of as
representing the CSL for the intact material.
Similar results for high-pressure tests on Vallericca
clay are reported by Rampello, Georgiannou &
Viggiani (1993). However, the results of high-
pressure tests on natural London clay do not show
such well-de®ned critical states (Burland, 1990).
The results of recent high-quality testing of
natural and reconstituted clays (e.g. Hight, Bond
& Legge, 1992) con®rm that natural materials
frequently have microstructures which give en-
hanced strength and resistance to compression
compared with the reconstituted material, in
accordance with Fig. 4. However, continued
shearing or compression results in a degradation
of the microstructure such that the state of the
natural material tends towards that of the equiva-
lent reconstituted, or unstructured, material. In
Fig. 4 this process can be represented as a state
path which moves from the bounding surface of
the natural clay towards that of the reconstituted
material. Continued shearing of a natural structured
clay at an apparent critical state is therefore
expected to result in a state path that moves
towards the intrinsic CSL (unless the formation of
slip planes intervenes). Indeed, it can be seen in
Fig. 16(a) that for Pietra®tta clay gradual but
signi®cant strength reductions take place after
peak strength, with continuing increases in pore
pressure. Nevertheless, it may be appropriate on
occasions to represent such a natural clay by
means of a simple critical state model, provided its
limitations are recognized.
Post-rupture strength
The discussion so far has focused on the intact
properties of the clays when they are behaving
essentially as continua. All the materials exhibited
brittle behaviour at low stress with the formation
of slip surfaces or shear bands at peak strength
followed by, in some cases, extremely rapid
reductions in strength. For all the soils tested it
was found that well-de®ned post-rupture strengths
on slip surfaces were obtained after relative
displacements of a few millimetres. In all cases
the post-rupture Coulomb strength envelopes lie
close to the intrinsic critical state Mohr±Coulomb
failure lines for the reconstituted materials. At low
stresses the post-rupture strengths tend to lie on, or
slightly above, the intrinsic failure line while at
higher stresses they tend to lie below it. Burland
(1990) observed that London clay exhibited similar
behaviour. Thus, at low stresses, it is reasonable to
represent the post-rupture strength as having an
 STRENGTH OF FOUR STIFF CLAYS
angle of shearing resistance approximately equal to
ö cs , with a small cohesive intercept c9 whose
value can lie between 0 and perhaps 10 kPa.
From the studies presented here it appears that,
at low to moderate con®ning pressures, the
formation of a rupture surface creates a local
fabric which is similar to that of the reconstituted
material so that ö9pr  ö cs . Thus the strength
reduction from peak to post-rupture is primarily
due to the breakage of particle bonds. As further
displacement takes place across the rupture plane,
the clay particles orient and the angle of shearing
resistance reduces further towards its residual value
ö9r . At higher con®ning pressures, where it has
been observed that ö9pr , ö cs , it seems that such
particle orientation begins immediately after rup-
ture under the in¯uence of high normal stresses.
Under these conditions the strength reduction from
peak to post-rupture involves some particle orien-
tation as well as the breaking of particle bonds.
Burland (1990) has shown that at con®ning
pressures in excess of 2´5 MPa, ö9pr is equal to
the lower bound of the angle of shearing resistance
along single ®ssures in London clay.
The post-rupture strength of Pietra®tta clay
might have been expected to fall below the
intrinsic strength line even at low con®ning
pressures because of the tendency of the normally
consolidated reconstituted material to develop slip
planes and low strengths (see Fig. 9(a)). It can be
seen from Fig. 19 that there is a tendency for this
to happen but the effect is small.
Operational strength
The assessment of the operational strength
(whether undrained or drained) of ®ssured clays
is no easy matter. However, there is increasing
evidence to suggest that the intrinsic critical state
angle of shearing resistance ö cs (which is
relatively easy to determine from reconstituted
soil) is a relevant parameter (Skempton, 1977;
Chandler, 1984). The present study, showing near
coincidence of ö9pr and ö9cs at low stresses, gives
support to this approach and provides an explana-
tion for it in terms of microstructural behaviour. In
many instances the inclusion of a small cohesion is
appropriate, as con®rmed by the back-analysis of
®rst-time slides (Chandler, 1984). However, for
intensely ®ssured materials the operational angle of
shearing resistance can be lower than ö cs , and in
the limit may be as low as ö9r for pre-existing
slides and slip surfaces.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Professor A. Anagnostopoulos of the National
Technical University of Athens kindly supplied
513
samples of Corinth marl and provided valuable
information on its properties.
NOTATION
c9 effective cohesion
Cc compression index
Cc intrinsic compression index
Cs swelling index
Cs intrinsic swelling index
Cs /Cs swell sensitivity
CF percentage clay fraction
CID isotropically consolidated drained test
CIU isotropically consolidated undrained test
CSL critical state line
e void ratio
eL void ratio at liquid limit
e 100 void ratio on ICL for ó9v ˆ 100 kPa
Gs speci®c gravity
Ip plastic limit
Iv void index de®ned by equation (3)
ICL intrinsic compression line
OCR overconsolidation ratio
SCL sedimentation compression line
s9 (ó9a + ó9r )/2
t (ó9a ÿ ó9r )/2
T strength ratio at intrinsic critical state (ratio
DE/DF in Fig. 4)
w percentage water content
wL liquid limit
ê Hvorslev cohesion intercept
ê intrinsic Hvorslev cohesion intercept
ó9 effective normal stress
ó9a effective axial stress
ó9r effective radial stress
ó9vc maximum previous effective overburden
pressure
ó ve equivalent stress on the ICL corresponding to
void ratio of soil
ó9vo effective overburden pressure
ó9vy effective vertical yield stress
ó9vy /ó ve normalized yield stress
ô shear stress
ö cs intrinsic critical state angle of shearing
resistance
ö e Hvorslev true angle of shearing resistance
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