Deformational behaviour of a clay-rich shale with variable water saturation under true triaxial stress conditions

This study has investigated the impact of true triaxial deformation and variable water saturation on the static mechanical properties of Pierre Shale. The impact of increasing the stress anisotropy (the difference between the intermediate principal stress, σ2, and the minimum principal stress, σ3) during axial loading was systematically investigated. Low to moderate stress anisotropy resulted in increasing strength and stiffness at any given...