Liquefaction and post-liquefaction assessment of lightly cemented sands

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-188
Author(s):  
Habib Rasouli ◽  
Behzad Fatahi ◽  
Sanjay Nimbalkar

Post-liquefaction response of lightly cemented sands during an earthquake may change and become similar to uncemented sands due to bonding breakage. In the current study, the effect of degree of cementation on liquefaction and post-liquefaction behaviour of lightly cemented sands was studied through a series of cyclic and monotonic triaxial tests. Portland cement with high early strength and Sydney sand were used to reconstitute the lightly cemented specimens with unconfined compression strength ranging from 25 to 220 kPa. A series of multi-stage soil element tests including stress-controlled cyclic loading events with different amplitudes and post-cyclic undrained monotonic shearing tests were carried out on both uncemented and cemented specimens. Furthermore, a series of undrained monotonic shearing tests without cyclic loading history on different types of specimens was conducted to investigate the effect of cyclic loading history on the post-cyclic response of the specimens. The results show that residual excess pore-water pressure is correlated to the cyclic degradation of lightly cemented sands during cyclic loading. In addition, optical microstructure images of the cemented specimens after liquefaction showed that a major proportion of cementation bonds remained unbroken, which resulted in a superior post-liquefaction response with respect to initial stiffness and shear modulus in comparison to the uncemented sand.

Author(s):  
Trần Thanh Nhàn

In order to observe the end of primary consolidation (EOP) of cohesive soils with and without subjecting to cyclic loading, reconstituted specimens of clayey soils at various Atterberg’s limits were used for oedometer test at different loading increments and undrained cyclic shear test followed by drainage with various cyclic shear directions and a wide range of shear strain amplitudes. The pore water pressure and settlement of the soils were measured with time and the time to EOP was then determined by different methods. It is shown from observed results that the time to EOP determined by 3-t method agrees well with the time required for full dissipation of the pore water pressure and being considerably larger than those determined by Log Time method. These observations were then further evaluated in connection with effects of the Atterberg’s limit and the cyclic loading history.


Author(s):  
Eyyüb Karakan ◽  
Selim Altun

Liquefaction may be triggered by cyclic loading on saturated silty sands, which is responsible of severe geotechnical problems. Development of excess pore water pressure in soil results in a liquid-like behavior and may be the reason of unavoidable superstructural damage. In this study, in order to investigate the behavior of saturated silty sands exposed to cyclic loading under undrained conditions, a systematic testing program of stress-controlled cyclic triaxial tests was performed on specimens of different silt contents, under different loading conditions and environment. The effect of parameters such as silt content on the liquefaction behavior of specimens was studied. Pore water pressure and shear strain curves were obtained for the silty sands. Furthermore, the boundaries existing in the literature on sands are compared with the results current research, on silty sands. Conclusively, the outcomes of this study were useful to develop insight into the behavior of clean and silty sands under seismic loading conditions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 08005
Author(s):  
Amirabbas Mohammadi ◽  
David Airey

Stress history and loading path can significantly influence the cyclic response of sands. It is well known that cyclic behaviour under non-symmetrical cycling is generally different from that under symmetrical loading around zero deviator stress. Anisotropic consolidation prior to cycling in triaxial apparatus changes the behaviour by exerting an initial static shear stress on critical planes. The present paper reports the results from a number of cyclic triaxial tests on anisotropically consolidated samples of Sydney beach sand. The samples are reconstituted in the laboratory and subjected to non-reversal cycling in compression only loading under undrained conditions. Typical test behaviours are described and the effects of cyclic stress ratio and initial state on the response are discussed. It is shown that the state parameter is capable of predicting the cyclic resistance and the trend of excess pore water pressure generation during one-way compressional cycling and, as has been well established for simple loading paths, critical state soil mechanics is able to provide a reliable framework to characterize the behaviour under different cyclic loading conditions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (12) ◽  
pp. 1756-1768
Author(s):  
Jahanzaib Israr ◽  
Buddhima Indraratna

This paper presents results from a series of piping tests carried out on a selected range of granular filters under static and cyclic loading conditions. The mechanical response of filters subjected to cyclic loading could be characterized in three distinct phases; namely, (I) pre-shakedown, (II) post-shakedown, and (III) post-critical (i.e., the occurrence of internal erosion). All the permanent geomechanical changes such, as erosion, permeability variations, and axial strain developments, took place during phases I and III, while the specimen response remained purely elastic during phase II. The post-critical occurrence of erosion incurred significant settlement that may not be tolerable for high-speed railway substructures. The analysis revealed that a cyclic load would induce excess pore-water pressure, which, in corroboration with steady seepage forces and agitation due to dynamic loading, could then cause internal erosion of fines from the specimens. The resulting excess pore pressure is a direct function of the axial strain due to cyclic densification, as well as the loading frequency and reduction in permeability. A model based on strain energy is proposed to quantify the excess pore-water pressure, and subsequently validated using current and existing test results from published studies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 08008
Author(s):  
Bozana Bacic ◽  
Ivo Herle

Time-consuming and complicated investigations of soil liquefaction in cyclic triaxial tests are the most common way of laboratory analysis of this phenomenon. Moreover, the necessary equipment for the performance of cyclic triaxial tests is very expensive. Much simpler method for laboratory testing of the soil liquefaction has been developed at the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering at the TU Dresden. This method takes into account the pore water pressure build-up during cyclic shearing within a short time period. During the test, the soil sample is subjected to horizontal cyclic loading and the generated pore water pressure is measured. In the first series of these experiments, a dependence of the pore water pressure buildup on the initial density of soil could be observed, as expected. When comparing different soils, it is shown that the tendency to liquefaction depends also on the granulometric properties (e.g. grain size distribution) of the soil. The aim of the further development is to establish a simple identification test for laboratory testing of the soil liquefaction.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerd Gudehus

AbstractWhile Terzaghi justified his principle of effective stress for water-saturated soil empirically, it can be derived by means of the neutrality of the mineral with respect to changes of the pore water pressure $$p_w$$ p w . This principle works also with dilating shear bands arising beyond critical points of saturated grain fabrics, and with patterns of shear bands as relics of critical phenomena. The shear strength of over-consolidated clay is explained without effective cohesion, which results also from swelling up to decay, while rapid shearing of water-saturated clay can lead to a cavitation of pore water. The $$p_w$$ p w -neutrality is also confirmed by triaxial tests with sandstone samples, while Biot’s relation with a reduction factor for $$p_w$$ p w is contestable. An effective stress tensor is heuristically legitimate also for soil and rock with relics of critical phenomena, particularly for critical points with a Mohr–Coulomb condition. Therein, the $$p_w$$ p w -neutrality of the solid mineral determines the interaction of solid fabric and pore water, but numerical models are questionable due to fractal features.


2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (31n32) ◽  
pp. 5825-5830 ◽  
Author(s):  
ZHENGHUA XIAO ◽  
BO HAN ◽  
HONGJIAN LIAO ◽  
AKENJIANG TUOHUTI

A series of dynamic triaxial tests are performed on normal anisotropic consolidation and over anisotropic consolidation specimens of loess. Based on the test results, the variable regularity of dynamic shear stress, axial strain and pore water pressure of loess under dynamic loading are measured and analyzed. The influences of the dynamic shear strength and pore water pressure at different over consolidation ratio are analyzed. The relationship between dynamic shear strength and over consolidation ratio of loess is obtained. The evaluating standard of dynamic shear strength of loess is discussed. Meanwhile, how to determine the effective dynamic shear strength index of normal anisotropic consolidated loess is also discussed in this paper. Several obtained conclusions can be referenced for studying the dynamic shear strength of loess foundation.


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