Drained Seismic Compression of Unsaturated Sand

Backfill soils in many geotechnical applications are compacted and are likely to be in an unsaturated state during operation. In earthquake-prone areas, seismic compression of unsaturated backfill soils should be understood as small settlements may have significant impacts on the performance of overlying infrastructure like bridge decks, roadways, or railways. Accordingly, the goal of this paper is to describe the results from a series of constant suction, drained, cyclic simple shear tests on unsaturated sands subjected to a range of shear strain amplitudes. A new cyclic simple shear apparatus was developed that involves control of the matric suction and monitoring of changes in degree of saturation using the hanging column approach along with monitoring of the matric suction using an embedded tensiometer.

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Undrained Seismic Compression of Unsaturated Sand

Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering ◽

10.1061/(asce)gt.1943-5606.0002420 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 147 (1) ◽

pp. 04020145

Author(s):

W. Rong ◽

J. S. McCartney

Keyword(s):

Unsaturated Sand ◽

Seismic Compression

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The influence of pore water velocity on transport of sorptive and non-sorptive chemicals through an unsaturated sand

Journal of Hydrology ◽

10.1016/0022-1694(94)02552-m ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 164 (1-4) ◽

pp. 239-261 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

E. Shimojima ◽

M.L. Sharma

Keyword(s):

Pore Water ◽

Water Velocity ◽

Pore Water Velocity ◽

Unsaturated Sand

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Pile Capacity in Homogeneous Unsaturated Sand Layer

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.110-116.13 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 110-116 ◽

pp. 13-17

Author(s):

Anuchit Uchaipichat ◽

Ekachai Man Koksung

Keyword(s):

Pile Foundation ◽

Factor Of Safety ◽

Matric Suction ◽

Earth Surface ◽

Sand Layer ◽

Pile Capacity ◽

Natural Soils ◽

Unsaturated Sand ◽

The Earth ◽

Dry Conditions

Generally, pile foundation is typically chosen to support heavy structures. However, the developments of expressions to determine the pile capacity is usually based on fully saturated and completely dry conditions. In fact, almost 40 percent of natural soils on the earth surface are in an unsaturated state. Thus, in this paper, an expression for pile capacity in homogeneous unsaturated sand layer is developed. The simulations using developed expression are performed and discussed. Typical results show that the pile capacity and the factor of safety are affected by matric suction. However, the influence of matric suction may be ignored for a long pile.

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