Results from an experimental program on creep behavior of fine grained soils under drained, triaxial conditions are discussed. Tests were conducted at room and elevated temperatures. Soils tested included deep sea illite and smectite, as well as a group of volcanic soils from Hawaii. The findings agree with general principles of material rate process theory with regard to temperature, but some deviations from expected behavior are observed with regard to long term strain rate tendencies.
The creep behavior of deep sea Pacific clays and volcanic fine-grained soils from Hawaii has been investigated during the past two decades at the Universities of Hawaii and Rhode Island through an extensive set of long-term laboratory creep tests under drained triaxial conditions. These tests were conducted at room temperature and at elevated temperature using specially designed heating jackets. The purpose of the experimental program has been to understand creep phenomena in clays and to generate the data necessary for model development. This article focuses on laboratory test results. Specimens from the deep sea were collected in the North Central Pacific Ocean, in 5000 m of water, in an abyssal plain located approximately 1000 km north of the Hawaiian Islands. The volcanic soils are from the island of Oahu and Hawaii and were chosen to include materials with widely contrasting plasticities, as measured by their Atterberg limits. A summary of basic index properties is shown in Table 1. It should be noted that all the soils were thoroughly reconstituted and reconsolidated prior to testing, except as indicated in the discussion. The deep sea soils were obtained as part of the Department of Energy's Subseabed Disposal program that considered the long-term behavior of radioactive waste containers in certain seafloor environments under ambient and elevated temperatures (Hollister et al. 1981).
