5.1 Preparation of model ground with clay

Model ground is usually formed with soils reconstituted in the laboratory, while undisturbed clayey soils could also be used as the material. In any cases, most influential factors on mechanical behaviour of the model ground would be the current effective stresses and their history. Effects of stress history is somewhat stressed for the case of clayey materials. Reconstituted clayey model ground is, in general, prepared by consolidating soil-water mixture from the slurry state. In order to attain the targeted profile of pre-compression stress with depth, one may consolidate the soils by different two ways. The first one is the consolidation by applying load onto the ground surface under the ordinary gravitational condition. This may be referred to as 'pre-consolidation' process. The other one, which in some cases follows the pre-consolidation stage, is the consolidation by self-weight of soils under an elevated centrifugal conditions.