Mechanical and Physical Characterization of Tabriz Marls, Iran

Three types of marls can be found in the Tabriz area (Iran): yellow, green, and gray/black marls. In the present paper, strength and deformation characteristics of Tabriz marls and their stress–strain behavior are investigated by various in situ and laboratory tests. In order to study the deformation behavior of these marls, various experiments such as the pressuremeter test, plate loading test (PLT), seismic wave velocity test, uniaxial compression test, standard penetration test (SPT), and direct shear test were carried out. Ranges of strain at the elastic and failure points were determined. Young’s and shear modulus were obtained. Test results showed that the strength characteristics increase with depth. The value of deformation modulus determined by the pressuremeter test was in good agreement with those obtained from the PLT. This implies that pressuremeter is a suitable in situ test for characterizing the deformation modulus of marl. Deformation modulus obtained from pressuremeter and plate loading tests were approximately 4–5 times the results of uniaxial compressive test and the deformation modulus obtained from seismic data was about 30–50 times the static deformation modulus. Stress–strain curves showed that the maximum value of strain at the elastic and failure points and the minimum value of strength and deformation modulus are corresponding to the yellow marls while the minimum value of strain and the maximum value of strength and deformation modulus are corresponding to the gray/black marls. Some empirical relationships between different characteristics of Tabriz marls were also derived.