scholarly journals Laboratory Characterization of a Compacted–Unsaturated Silty Sand with Special Attention to Dynamic Behavior

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2559
Author(s):  
Andrzej Głuchowski ◽  
Zdzisław Skutnik ◽  
Marcin Biliniak ◽  
Wojciech Sas ◽  
Diego Lo Presti

The dynamic properties of compacted non-cohesive soils are desired not only because of the risk of natural sources of dynamic excitations such as earthquakes, but mostly because of the anthropogenic impact of machines that are working on such soils. These soils are often unsaturated, which positively affects the soil’s mechanical properties. The information about the values of these parameters is highly desirable for engineers. In this article, we performed a series of tests, including oedometric tests, resonant column tests, bender element tests, and unsaturated triaxial tests, to evaluate those characteristic parameters. The results showed that sandy silt soil has a typical reaction to dynamic loading in terms of shear modulus degradation and the damping ratio curves’ characteristics, which can be modeled by using empirical equations. We found that the compaction procedure caused an over-consolidation state dependent on the moisture content during compaction effort. The article analyzed the soil properties that impact the maximum shear modulus G0 value. Those properties were suction s, confining pressure σ3, and compaction degree represented by the void ratio function f(e).

Author(s):  
Meysam Bayat

Understanding the factors that influence the dynamic behavior of granular soils during cyclic loading is critical to infrastructure design. Previous research has lacked quantitative study of the effects of fouling index (FI), mean effective confining pressure, relative density, shear strain level and anisotropic consolidation, especially when the effective vertical stress is lower than the effective horizontal stress on the dynamic behavior of gravelly soils. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the dynamic behavior and volume change of both clean and fouled specimens for practical applications. To this end, cyclic triaxial tests with local strain measurements under both isotropic and anisotropic confining conditions were conducted. It is found that the fouled specimen with 50 % sand (i.e. the specimen which contains 50 % gravel and 50 % sand) has the highest shear modulus at low shear strain levels and the largest volume reduction and damping ratio at large shear strain levels. The results of tests indicate that the effect of fouling index on the shear modulus is reduced at large shear strain levels. Volumetric contraction due to the increase in mean effective confining pressure is more significant at large shear strain levels. The results also indicate that the stiffness of the specimens under anisotropic compression mode are larger than those in extension or isotropic mode.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (18) ◽  
pp. 3863
Author(s):  
Pan ◽  
Li ◽  
Lu ◽  
Chen

Soil mixtures with various materials such as scraps of rubber tire, iron powder, and synthetic fibers have been widely used in civil engineering for experimental research or infrastructure construction and maintenance. However, these materials are not only expensive, but may also result in environmental concerns. In recent years, sawdust, because of its light-weight, inexpensive, and environmental friendly characteristics, has frequently been used in the shaking table test to adjust the dynamic properties of experimental soil. However, the dynamic properties of a sand-sawdust mixture for the shaking table test are still unclear. In this paper, the dynamic properties and the hysteresis curve characteristics of the sand-sawdust mixture as well as the influence of the sawdust content and confining pressure on the dynamic properties were studied using a series of consolidated drained dynamic triaxial tests. The test results show that, with the increase of the shear strain, the shape of the hysteresis loops changes from symmetrical willow-leaf to asymmetry sharp-leaf. For a given confining pressure, both the shear modulus and damping ratio decreases as the sawdust percentage increases. It was observed that, with an increase in confining pressure, the shear modulus increased while the damping ratio decreased slightly in the shear strain range of 10−3 to 7×10−3. It was also observed that the maximum shear modulus increased as the confining pressure increased, while the maximum damping ratio remained nearly constant. In addition, both the maximum shear modulus and the maximum damping ratio decreased as the sawdust content increased. Finally, the normalized shear modulus and damping ratio were established, which can be used in simulations using the shaking table test.


2011 ◽  
Vol 243-249 ◽  
pp. 2050-2054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei Hsun Tsai ◽  
Sheng Huoo Ni

In this paper the dynamic property (shear modulus and damping ratio) of cement-stabilized soil is studied with using the resonant column test. The amount of cement admixed, the magnitude of confining pressure, and shearing strain amplitude are the parameters considered. Test results show that the maximum shear modulus of cement-stabilized soil increases with increasing confining pressure, the minimum damping ratio decreases with increasing confining pressure. The shear modulus of cement-stabilized soil decreases with increasing shearing strain while the damping ratio increases with increasing shearing strain. In the paper the relationship of shear modulus versus shearing strain is fitted into the Ramberg-Osgood equations using regression analysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianwen Huang ◽  
Aizhao Zhou ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Pengming Jiang

In order to support the dynamic design of subgrade filling engineering, an experiment on the dynamic shear modulus (G) and damping ratio (D) of clay–gravel mixtures (CGMs) was carried out. Forty-two groups of resonant column tests were conducted to explore the effects of gravel content (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60%, which was the mass ratio of gravel to clay), gravel shape (round and angular gravels), and confining pressure (100, 200, and 300 kPa) on the dynamic shear modulus, and damping ratio of CGMs under the same compacting power. The test results showed that, with the increase of gravel content, the maximum dynamic shear modulus of CGMs increases, the referent shear strain increases linearly, and the minimum and maximum damping ratios decrease gradually. In CGMs with round gravels, the maximum dynamic shear modulus and the maximum damping ratio are greater, and the referent shear strain and the minimum damping ratio are smaller, compared to those with angular gravels. With the increase of confining pressure, the maximum dynamic shear modulus and the referent shear strain increase nonlinearly, while the minimum and maximum damping ratios decrease nonlinearly. The predicting equation for the dynamic shear modulus and the damping ratio of CGMs when considering confining pressure, gravel content, and shape was established. The results of this research may put forward a solid foundation for engineering design considering low-strain-level mechanical performance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 07 (04) ◽  
pp. 1350031 ◽  
Author(s):  
BO LI ◽  
YUANQIANG CAI ◽  
XIANGWU ZENG ◽  
LINYOU PAN

The dynamic behavior of lightly cemented sand under long-term seawater attack was evaluated in this study. Resonant column and cyclic triaxial tests were employed to investigate the evolution of the shear modulus and damping ratio of cemented sand with respect to soaking period (SP), confining pressure, and cement content (CC). The results of this study show that the cementation of the sand is affected by soaking in seawater to a greater extent than by soaking in tap water. The shear modulus of the cemented sand soaked in seawater was smaller than that of the cemented sand soaked in tap water. The damping ratio increased significantly, as the SP increased and was greater for the cemented sand soaked in seawater than for the cemented sand soaked in tap water. The dynamic behavior of nonhomogenous specimens was examined. Crystallization of salts could be clearly observed and probably explains the evolution of the dynamic behavior of the cemented sand. Finally, the shear modulus was fitted using Rollins' Law [Rollins et al., 1998], which demonstrates that the parameters used in the equation can be reasonably fitted linearly over a range of SPs.


Author(s):  
S. Marks ◽  
T. J. Larkin ◽  
M. J. Pender

The seismic site response analysis of sand deposits requires an understanding of the dynamic properties of the soils involved. Most dynamic soil data available in the literature has been derived for sands which do not contain pumice. Consequently, the relevance of this data to the behaviour of pumice sands is unclear. An extensive experimental investigation of the dynamic response of a pumice sand was therefore undertaken. The liquefaction response obtained from cyclic triaxial tests, and the shear modulus variation with strain amplitude observed in bender element and dynamic torsion tests were examined. The cyclic triaxial test results indicated that the liquefaction response was similar to that observed for quartz sands. However, the low strain shear modulus of the pumice sand was found to be significantly less than that of quartz sands at similar relative densities, and the nonlinear stress-strain behaviour was markedly different from that of other sands, particularly in the mid strain range.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jie Yang ◽  
Xin Cai ◽  
Yangong Shan ◽  
Miaomiao Yang ◽  
Xingwen Guo ◽  
...  

Lean cemented sand and gravel (LCSG) materials are increasingly being used in dams, embankments, and other civil engineering applications. Therefore, their mechanical properties and stress-strain behavior should be systematically understood. In this study, the small-strain dynamic properties of LCSG materials were examined. A series of dynamic triaxial tests were performed to investigate the effects of the confining pressure and cementing agent content of the material on its dynamic shear modulus (Gd) and damping ratio (λ). The results show that Gd increased and λ decreased with increasing confining pressure and cementing agent content; however, under the same confining pressure and cementing agent content, Gd decreased gradually in accordance with shear strain. Furthermore, new expressions were derived for Gd and λ, as well as for their maxima. The results of this study could provide a reference for practical engineering applications, including the construction of dams using LCSG materials.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-91
Author(s):  
Kai Cui ◽  
Hang Sheng

The effects of the consolidation ratio, effective confining pressure, gravel content, and granule breakage on the shear modulus and damping ratio of gravel have been extensively researched in recent years. However, studies on the effect of the granular shape are rare. Thus, under different confining pressures, dynamic triaxial tests were performed on gravel specimens to investigate the effect of granular shape on the shear modulus and damping ratio of gravel specimens by using a multifunctional triaxial testing instrument. The samples consisted of two kinds of gravel with the same grain composition and relative density of 45%. The test results indicate that, when the confining pressure and shear strain amplitude exceed 300 kPa and 7×10-4, respectively, gravel with a round granular shape has a higher shear modulus compared to an angular shape. Conversely, when the shear strain amplitude exceeds 2×10-4, the damping ratio of angular gravel exceeds that of round granules.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-28
Author(s):  
T. G. Sitharam ◽  
B. V. Ravishankar ◽  
J. S. Vinod

This paper presents the results of the dynamic properties such as shear modulus and damping ratio of sandy soils, especially at large shear strain levels (>0.2%). A series of strain controlled cyclic triaxial tests were carried out on sand samples collected from the earthquake affected areas of Gujarat, India. Laboratory investigations were conducted on natural sand (Base sand) and clean sand samples. The shear modulus and damping ratios have been estimated based on the first cycle information. The effect of different parameters such as number of loading cycles, relative density, confining pressures, and non-plastic fines on the dynamic properties of the soils has been studied. It was observed that shear modulus decreases with an increase in the percentage of non-plastic fines. However, a slight increase in damping ratio was observed with increase in non-plastic fines.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2743
Author(s):  
Seongnoh Ahn ◽  
Jae-Eun Ryou ◽  
Kwangkuk Ahn ◽  
Changho Lee ◽  
Jun-Dae Lee ◽  
...  

Ground reinforcement is a method used to reduce the damage caused by earthquakes. Usually, cement-based reinforcement methods are used because they are inexpensive and show excellent performance. Recently, however, reinforcement methods using eco-friendly materials have been proposed due to environmental issues. In this study, the cement reinforcement method and the biopolymer reinforcement method using sodium alginate were compared. The dynamic properties of the reinforced ground, including shear modulus and damping ratio, were measured through a resonant-column test. Also, the viscosity of sodium alginate solution, which is a non-Newtonian fluid, was also explored and found to increase with concentration. The maximum shear modulus and minimum damping ratio increased, and the linear range of the shear modulus curve decreased, when cement and sodium alginate solution were mixed. Addition of biopolymer showed similar reinforcing effect in a lesser amount of additive compared to the cement-reinforced ground, but the effect decreased above a certain viscosity because the biopolymer solution was not homogeneously distributed. This was examined through a shear-failure-mode test.


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