Investigation of Creep Behavior of the Clay Soil in the Laboratory Condition

Mechanism and factors influencing on creep behavior of clay soil have not been understood yet due to its complex structure. In this paper, to investigate the affecting parameters on the creep behavior of the clay soils such as stress level, over consolidated pressure and water pressure, odeometr test are performed in states of single stage, stepwise and overloaded-unloaded and the creep mechanism are explained with considering the effect of sliding of clay particles at their contacts and deformation of particles. Since the conducting of some creep tests may last for months, therefore the prediction of a new method to accelerate the creep tests is necessary. The results show that in overloaded-unloaded test, the time required to reach the specified porosity is lower than the single stage, and this process accelerates the creep.