Abstract
Analysis of most marine geotechnical engineering problems requires information on the shear strength of the natural sediment. One approach is to test samples from borings or cores using conventional geotechnical procedures, such as miniature vane, triaxial compression or direct shear tests. However, the disturbance caused by sampling, pressure release, handling, transportation, etc. can be severe, or at least undetermined, and hence it is often difficult to assess the in situ properties from the results. The problems are probably greater in deep water where sampling equipment is usually tethered on a long cable and the dynamics of coring are difficult to control. In addition, the volume expansion on bringing the sample to an atmospheric condition is 2 to 3% in the deep ocean basins and this would presumably cause changes in effective stresses and microstructural alterations. The expansion of gases greatly increases this problem and in many cases can render samples essentially useless for strength determinations. For these reasons, there has been a growing interest in conducting more in situ geotechnical tests. The vane shear method is only one of several which can be used to determine the in situ strength of an ocean sediment. Some others that are being used are the cone penetro-meter, the pressuremeter and even the standard penetration test. There are instances where a particular method or device may not be well suited to the situation. For example, the vane shear method is intended for use with fine-grained (cohesive) material and it cannot be expected to give meaningful results for anything coarser than a very fine sand or silt. Yet the vane method is used almost routinely in testing oceanographic core samples without regard for the texture of the material. Conversely, the cone penetro-meter method is probably not as reliable with clay as it is with sand.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aas, G. A. 1965. A study of the effect of vane shape and rate of strain on the measured values of in situ shear strength of clays. In Proc. 6th Int. Conf. of Soil Mech. and Found. Engng, Montreal, Vol. 1, Div. 3, pp. 141–145.
ASCE, 1975. In Situ Measurement of Soil Properties, Vols I and II. Proc. Geot. Eng. Division Specialty Conference, 1975.
ASTM, 1972. Field vane shear test in cohesive soil. Designation D2573-72.
Babb, J. D. 1982. Development of an in situ vane for strength measurement of deep sea sediments. MS thesis, University of Rhode Island.
Babb, J. D. and Silva, A. J. 1983. An in situ vane system for measuring deep sea sediment shear strength. IEEE/MTS Proceedings, Oceans’ 88, Vol. 1, pp. 598–602.
Backes, J. L., Bell, B. M. and Olson, L. O. 1981. Long-baseline deep ocean acoustic tracking and telemetry system. IEEE/MTS Proceedings, Oceans’ 81, Vol. 1, pp. 1–8.
Briaud, J. L. 1980. In-situ tests to measure soil strength and deformability for offshore engineering. Research Report, Texas A&M Research Foundation, College Station, TX.
Doyle, E. H., McClelland, B. and Ferguson, G. H. 1971. Wire-line vane probe for deep penetration measurements of ocean sediment strength. Offshore Technology Conference, Paper No. OTC 1327.
Flaate, K. 1966. Factors influencing the results of vane tests. Can. Geotech. J. 3(1).
Hadley, G. R., McVey, F. F. and Morin, R. 1980. Thermophysical properties of deep ocean sediments. In Marine Technology’ 80. Marine Technology Society.
Hollister, C. D., Anderson, D. R. and Heath, G. R. 1981. Subseabed disposal of nuclear waste? Science 213, 1321–1326.
Lee, H. J. 1979. Offshore soil sampling and geotechnical parameter determination. Offshore Technology Conference, Paper No. OTC 3524.
Olson, L. O., Backes, J. L. and Miller, J. B. In press. Communication, control and data acquisition systems on the ISHTE Lander. IEEE.
Monney, 1973. Analysis of sediment shear strength at various rates of shear. In The Physical and Engineering Properties of Deep Sea Sediments (Ed. A. L. Inderbit-zen), Virginia.
Percival, C. M. 1983. The subseabed disposal program In Situ Heat Transfer Experiment (ISHTE). SAND80-0202, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N. Mex.
Percival, C. M., McVey, D. F., Olson, L. O. and Silva, A. J. 1984. In Situ Heat Transfer Experiment (ISHTE). Mar. Geotech. 5(3/4), 361–378.
Perlow, M. and Richards, A. F. 1972. In-place geotechnical measurements from submersible Alvin in Gulf of Maine soils. In Offshore Technology Conference, 1972.
Richards, A. F., McDonald, V. J., Olson, R. E. and Keller, G. H. 1972. In-place measurement of deep sea soil shear strength. ASTM, STP, pp. 55–68.
Seabed Programs Division, 1983. The sub-seabed disposal program: 1983 Status Report. SAND83-1367, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N. Mex.
Silva, A. J. and Jordan, S. A. 1984. Consolidation properties and stress history of some deep sea sediments. In Seabed Mechanics. Edited Proceedings of IUTAM Symposium, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, September 1983, pp. 25–40.
Silva, A. J. and Pekin, O. 1981. An in situ geotechnical measurement system for deep sea surficial sediments. Trans. AGU 62 (45). (Abstract No. 01-2-C-5.)
Silva, A. J., Babb, J. D., Lipkin, J., Pietryka, P. and Butler, D. In press. In situ vane system for seafloor strength investigations. IEEE.
Silva, A. J., Criscenzo, S. J., Jordan, S. A. and Babb, J. D. 1983. URI Geotechnical Program of the In itu Heat Transfer Experiment. ISHTE Annual Report No. 2, University of Rhode Island.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1985 Society for Underwater Technology
About this paper
Cite this paper
Silva, A.J. (1985). Comparison of in Situ and Ship-Board Vane Measurements on a Deep-Sea Clay. In: Offshore Site Investigation. Advances in Underwater Technology and Offshore Engineering, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7358-2_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7358-2_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-011-7360-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-7358-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive