Elastic deformation behaviour of Palaeogene clay from Fehmarn Belt area

Palaeogene clay samples were obtained by high quality boring and sampling techniques (Geobore S-system), during the extensive site investigations for building a bridge in the Fehmarn Belt area to link between Rødbyhavn in Denmark and Puttgarden in Germany. The Palaeogene clay is rich in smectite and of high to very high plasticity. Comprehensive and advanced laboratory tests were done by Fugro-McClelland (in Netherlands) and by Danish Geotechnical Institute (in Denmark) on Palaeogene clays. Some of their data are included in this study. Ten Palaeogene clay samples were selected and used in this study.
Results of odometer tests done by Jessen et al. (2011) show that when Palaeogene clay is mounted in an odometer cell without access to water and loaded to its in-situ vertical effective stress and then saturated with its native salt water, the clay absorbs water and swells. This behaviour indicates that the Palaeogene clay in nature should expand at its mean effective in-situ stress. A study by Krogsbøll et al. (2012) provides some important clues about the deformation behaviour during unloading and swelling of the Palaeogene clay. In this study, we mainly focused on the elastic properties of the Palaeogene clays. Elastic wave velocities are influenced by the elastic stiffness and the density of a material. We used geotechnical and elastic wave velocity data to model the elasticity and then to relate it to mineralogy and BET surface area. We measured the mineralogy, BET surface area, bulk density, porosity, water content and saturation, elastic wave velocities, electrical resistivity and strain caused by mechanical loading. They were used together to interpret the geotechnical data. We aimed to see which physical property is a main controlling factor for the elasticity of the studied Palaeogene clay and whether we can explain the deformation behaviour from elasticity alone.