Revisiting the Bjerrum's correction factor: Use of the liquidity index for assessing the effect of soil plasticity on undrained shear strength

Abstract

The undrained shear strength (su) of fine-grained soils that can be measured in situ and in laboratory is one of the key geotechnical parameters. The unconfined compression test (UCT) is widely used in laboratory to measure this parameter due to its simplicity; however, it is severely affected by sample disturbance. The vane shear test (VST) technique that is less sensitive to sample disturbance involves a correction factor against the soil plasticity, commonly known as the Bjerrum's correction factor, μ. This study aims to reevaluate the Bjerrum's correction factor in consideration of a different approach and a relatively new method of testing. Atterberg limits test, miniature VST, and reverse extrusion test (RET) were conducted on 120 remolded samples. The effect of soil plasticity on undrained shear strength was examined using the liquidity index instead of Bjerrum's correction factor. In comparison with the result obatined using the Bjerrum's correction factor, the undrained shear strength was better represented when su values were correlated with the liquidity index. The results were validated by the RET, which was proven to take into account soil plasticity with a reliable degree of accuracy. This study also shows that the RET has strong promise as a new tool for testing undrained shear strength of fine-grained soils.

Keywords

• Soil plasticity
• Undrained shear strength
• Bjerrum's correction factor
• Vane shear test (VST)
• Reverse extrusion test (RET)