Reducing the transformation uncertainty for the mobilized undrained shear strength of clays
Journal
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Journal Volume
141
Journal Issue
2
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Abstract
Practical undrained shear strength su test results, such as the su values from field vane (FV) and unconfined compression (UC) tests, cannot be used directly as design values. However, they are correlated with the design value of su, referred to as the mobilized undrained shear strength su. This study derives the transformation equations that convert practical su results (e.g., FV and UC test results) into the mean value and the coefficient of variation (COV) of su. The derivations are based on the multivariate probability distribution previously constructed by the authors that models the correlations among su values from various su test modes. An important feature of the transformation equations is that they accept multiple practical su test results, so the transformation uncertainty of su can be reduced further by incorporating more practical tests. This reduction of transformation uncertainty can be exploited to economize design in a reliability-based design framework. The effectiveness of the resulting transformation equations is demonstrated and verified using real case histories.
Type
journal article