Behavior of EPS geofoam in stress-controlled cyclic uniaxial tests

During recent years, increasing consideration has been given to the compressible inclusion function of EPS geofoam, which makes this cellular geosynthetic an ideal material for reducing the static and seismic lateral earth pressures against rigid non-yielding retaining structures. Although the behavior of EPS geofoam under monotonic loading conditions has been extensively studied using laboratory triaxial compression tests, little research has been done until present on the cyclic stress–strain behavior of this material that is essential for optimizing and improving the seismic buffer function of EPS geofoam in geotechnical earthquake engineering applications. In this context, the present paper summarizes the results of a laboratory study based on stress-controlled cyclic uniaxial tests on EPS samples with various initial (static) deviator stresses. The experimental results indicate a somewhat different dynamic response of geofoam compared to the currently published relationships obtained from strain-controlled cyclic tests. Data from stress-controlled cyclic uniaxial tests show a logarithmic decrease in the damping ratio of EPS geofoam with increasing axial strain amplitude. Furthermore, for cyclic axial strain amplitudes greater than about 0.87–1.0%, the material exhibited a visco-elasto-plastic behavior associated with the occurrence of permanent plastic strains at the end of the cyclic tests.     

Dynamic behavior of reinforced clayey sand under cyclic loading

Experimental investigations and modeling of linear elasticity of fiber-reinforced clayey sand under cyclic loading unloading are conducted in this paper. Experimental studies are focused on four aspects. First, a series of cyclic triaxial tests, with different confining pressures and deviator stress ratios up to 150 cycles, are performed. Impacts of fiber content, cell pressure, deviator stress ratio and loading unloading repetition that affect dynamic behavior of the composite material are discussed. It is shown that shear modulus decreases with increasing deviator stress ratio at high confining pressure and the rate of loss of shear modulus found to be much lower for fiber reinforced specimens. Other results show that increase of shear modulus with loading repetition is more pronounced at higher deviator stress ratios. Second, the optimum fiber content is experimented under cyclic loading unloading and is expressed as a power function of deviatoric stress ratio. It is shown that optimum fiber content is not constant and it is affected by deviator stress ratio. Third, a function is introduced to describe the linear stress–strain curve under cyclic loading unloading using equivalent linear analysis. The shear modulus G is expressed as a function of fiber content, confining pressure, deviatoric stress ratio and loading repetition. Finally constitutive coefficients of the model parameters are calibrated by the results of cyclic triaxial shear tests and using the linear regression.     

饱和黏土动剪切模量与阻尼比的试验研究

针对饱和黏土,利用土工静力-动力液压三轴-扭转多功能剪切仪,通过不固结不排水条件下的循环扭剪和竖向-扭转耦合试验,着重探讨了大应变情况下分级加载历史和循环应力耦合对动剪切模量与阻尼比等动力特性的影响。对试验结果的分析表明:采用多个试样单级加载与采用一个试样分级加载试验得到的初始骨干曲线、动剪切模量与阻尼比都较为一致,采用分级加载试验测定动剪切模量与阻尼比是可行的;耦合循环应力中的轴向偏差应力对扭转向应力-应变滞回圈的倾斜程度及动剪切模量与阻尼比都有显著影响,尤其当扭转向循环剪应力较小时,可以认为轴向偏差应力的大小控制着动剪切模量的增大量,受扭转向剪应力的影响,轴向应力–应变滞回圈的变化模式较为复杂。     

水泥土小应变动力特性试验研究

通过GDS共振柱,研究了不同围压、不同掺和比对水泥软黏土小应变动力特性(动剪切模量和阻尼比)的影响,得到了水泥软黏土小应变动力特性的变化规律。随着应变幅值的增加,动剪切模量逐渐衰减。最大动剪切模量随有效围压的增大而线性增大;在相同应变水平下,随着水泥土掺和比增大,有效围压对动剪切模量的影响逐渐减小。随着应变幅值的增加,阻尼比逐渐增大。相同应变水平下,试样的阻尼比随有效围压的增大而有轻微地减小。水泥掺和比对阻尼比的影响较小,随着水泥掺和比的提高,相同应变水平下试样的阻尼比有略微地升高。与动剪切模量相比阻尼比对有效围压和掺和比的变化不敏感。     

Dynamic properties and liquefaction behaviour of cohesive soil in northeast India under staged cyclic loading

Estimation of strain-dependent dynamic soil properties, e.g. the shear modulus and damping ratio, along with the liquefaction potential parameters, is extremely important for the assessment and analysis of almost all geotechnical problems involving dynamic loading. This paper presents the dynamic properties and liquefaction behaviour of cohesive soil subjected to staged cyclic loading, which may be caused by main shocks of earthquakes preceded or followed by minor foreshocks or aftershocks, respectively. Cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on the specimens prepared at different dry densities (1.5 g/cm³ and 1.75 g/cm³) and different water contents ranging from 8% to 25%. The results indicated that the shear modulus reduction (G/G_max) and damping ratio of the specimen remain unaffected due to the changes in the initial dry density and water content. Damping ratio is significantly affected by confining pressure, whereas G/G_max is affected marginally. It was seen that the liquefaction criterion of cohesive soils based on single-amplitude shear strain (3.75% or the strain at which excess pore water pressure ratio becomes equal to 1, whichever is lower) depends on the initial state of soils and applied stresses. The dynamic model of the regional soil, obtained as an outcome of the cyclic triaxial tests, can be successfully used for ground response analysis of the region.     

Use of polyethylene terephthalate fibres for mitigating the liquefaction-induced failures

The presence of non-biodegradable plastic waste is a serious concern for the health of endangered species. The present study is based on the sustainable utilisation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibres obtained from waste plastic bottles to enhance the liquefaction resistance of fine sand. After performing a series of stress-controlled cyclic triaxial tests, the cyclic behaviour of PET-fibre reinforced sand has been investigated. The application of PET fibres was found to be more satisfactory in medium dense sand than that in loose sand as observed by residual excess pore water curves. In medium dense sand with 0.6% PET-fibres, the number of cycles to reach liquefaction was about 4 times that of the unreinforced sand. Using the dynamic shear modulus (G), the degradation index was calculated for both reinforced and unreinforced soils to assess stiffness characteristics. After nearly 50 loading cycles, the value of G/G_max increased 2.55 times with the addition of 0.4% PET fibres in unreinforced sand. Based on the results obtained, a regression model has been developed for the calculation of number of liquefaction failure cycles (N_cyc,L) in correlation with several parameters, namely, relative density (D_r), fibre content (FC) and σ_d/σ_c′ (σ_d = deviator stress, σ_c′ = effective confining stress).     

循环荷载下岩石变形参数和阻尼参数探讨

 对取自一拟建核电站地基的细砂岩,在MTS815 Flex Test GT岩石力学试验系统上进行低周循环荷载试验,研究循环荷载下细砂岩的纵横向变形特征,探讨循环荷载周次及动应力幅值对细砂岩动弹性模量、动泊松比、阻尼比和阻尼系数的影响,及与其相互关系。结果表明,相同应力下纵向应变高于横向应变;低幅值应力下,随循环荷载周次增加,纵向应变增量高于横向应变增量,但高幅值应力下则相反;横向应变滞回环的卸载阶段应力–应变曲线与纵向应变滞回环的加载段和卸载段均表现出向下突出的变化特征,但横向应变滞回环的加载段则相反;随动应力幅值增加,细砂岩动弹性模量和动泊松比分别呈抛物线递增和线性递增,阻尼比和阻尼系数均按幂函数律递减,由第16周次动应力滞回环得到的阻尼参数可表征测试岩石的阻尼特征;阻尼比和阻尼系数均随循环荷载周次增加线性递增,对应低幅值动应力下的增量大于高幅值动应力下的增量。     

EPS混合土的动模量和阻尼比特性

作为一种路堤填料,EPS混合土在动力荷载作用下的模量和阻尼比是进行路堤动力稳定性分析的重要参数。开展了15个循环扭剪试验研究EPS混合土的动力特性,分析了EPS混合土的骨干曲线、模量以及阻尼比特性,重点讨论了配合比和初始固结条件的影响。结果表明,EPS混合土具有典型的动力非线性特征,受水泥土强度和初始应力状态控制;EPS掺入比对混合土的初始剪切模量几乎无影响,但土体进入非线性阶段后,EPS颗粒对混合土强度的削弱作用明显;EPS颗粒与水泥土间薄弱接触面的动力行为导致"结构阻尼"效应,是混合土阻尼机制的重要组成;EPS混合土的初始剪切模量随试样初始小主应力增大而增大,其模量衰减特性与初始小主应力和EPS掺入比显著相关。基于试验结果,给出了描述EPS混合土骨干曲线、模量衰减和阻尼比增长特性的经验模型。     

坝料动力变形特性试验研究

在大型动力三轴仪上进行了坝料的动力变形特性试验研究,分析了围压和固结比对最大动模量、动模量衰减规律和阻尼比的影响。试验研究表明:随围压和固结应力比的提高,最大动模量增大;随应变的增大,动模量逐渐衰减;固结比对最大阻尼比影响不大,随固结比的提高最大阻尼比略有降低。基于沈珠江动力变形特性模型,提出了可以将固结比影响归一化的最大动模量和模量衰减的修正公式,该公式能很好地消除围压和固结比对模量衰减规律的影响。结合其它工程试验成果,通过小于5 mm粒径颗粒含量初步探讨了尺寸效应对动力变形特性的影响,研究表明室内试验得出的最大动模量较工程原位土体的要低,而最大阻尼比要略高。     

海东地区原状黄土动剪切模量与阻尼比试验研究

使用英国GDS双向动态三轴试验系统对青海省海东地区原状黄土进行动力特性试验研究。试验结果表明:动应变ε_d 1%时,动剪切模量随动应变的增加急剧减小;动应变ε_d1%时,动剪切模量随动应变的增加减小缓慢,后期基本趋于稳定。动剪切模量随固结围压、固结应力比、加载频率的增大而增大,且增大幅值随应变的增大呈现减小的趋势。在动应变ε_d 0.5%时,阻尼比随动应变的增加迅速增大;在动应变ε_d0.5%时,阻尼比随动应变的增加缓慢增大;在较小动应变时,固结围压、固结应力比、加载频率对阻尼比无明显的影响,随着动应变的增大,阻尼比随围压、加载频率的增大而减小,随固结应力比的增大而增大。     

循环振动对饱和粉土初始动剪模量的影响

初始动剪模量是土体多种结构性因素的综合反映,除固结压力和孔隙比(密度)这两个主要因素外,还受循环振动影响。以往对该因素的研究偏重于干砂,且预振时施加的剪应变幅多低于10-3;对于饱和土体,尤其是对经受过较大振幅振动后土体初始动剪模量的研究十分有限。本文利用安装弯曲元的动三轴仪,在等向固结条件下对不同相对密度的饱和粉土进行不排水循环三轴试验,同时监测试样的剪切波速,获得循环动力加载过程中土的初始动剪模量。为保证试验结果的可靠性,同时进行了共振柱试验,比较确定弯曲元接收信号的到达点;评估了不同孔压发展程度下试验暂停时间对测试结果的影响。结果表明:在一定次数大振幅循环荷载作用下观察到初始动剪模量有别于相同应力下固结后得到的模量值,出现附加衰减或增长,正是循环荷载作用下土微观结构变化的外部宏观表现。这种附加变化由土颗粒接触行为决定,受到试样初始条件和振动幅值等多种因素的影响,表现出不同的变化模式。     

A unified approach to link small-strain shear modulus and liquefaction resistance of pumiceous sand

Natural pumiceous (NP) sands containing pumice particles, a type of volcanic soil, are commonly found in the central part of the North Island in New Zealand. The pumice particles are highly crushable, compressible, lightweight and angular, making engineering assessment of their properties problematic. In this paper, several series of bender element and undrained cyclic triaxial tests were performed on reconstituted and undisturbed NP sands to determine their small-strain shear modulus (G_max) and cyclic resistance ratio (CRR). Furthermore, similar tests were also conducted on normal hard-grained sands (e.g., Toyoura sand) for the purpose of comparison. The results showed that the NP sands have considerably lower G_max compared to normal sands, resulting in their higher deformability during the initial stages of the cyclic loading test. The high angularity of NP sands play an important role toward the end of the cyclic loading and contributed to their higher CRR. Next, the ratio of CRR/G_max for each sample was correlated to a level of strain denoted as cyclic yield strain (ε_ay), which was found to be significantly dependent on the percentages of pumice particles present in the natural soils. On the other hand, the ε_ay was found to be less sensitive to the consolidation stress (σ′_c) and the relative density (Dr) of the materials. For example, over different values of σ′_c and Dr, NP sands have substantially higher values of cyclic yield strain due to their lower G_max and higher CRR when compared with those of ordinary sands.     

Effect of reinforcing technique on strain-dependent dynamic properties of reinforced earth walls

Due to lack of sufficient understanding of the strain-dependent dynamic properties of reinforced mass, existing soil and reinforcement models are not capable of accurately representing the seismic response of reinforced soil structures in numerical and analytical analyses. In the present study, to evaluate the effect of reinforcing technique on strain-dependent dynamic properties of reinforced earth walls, the values of equivalent shear modulus (G_e) and damping ratio (D) were estimated for soil-nailed wall (SNW) and steel-strip reinforced-soil wall (SSW) as a function of shear strain level using 1-g shaking table tests. The results obtained showed that the variation trend of G_e and D versus γ is strongly influenced by the type of reinforcing technique and confining pressure, so that the variation trend of these two parameters versus shear strain can be well expressed as an exponential equation with a high correlation coefficient for each type of reinforced earth wall.     

含黏粒砂土动力特性试验研究

为研究含黏粒砂土的动力特性,使用GDS共振柱试验仪器,以青岛地区典型含黏粒砂土为原型,利用福建标准砂和马来西亚高岭土配置试样,进行饱和排水试验,分析动剪切模量、阻尼比随动应变的变化规律及其影响因素。实验结果表明:含黏粒砂土G-γ曲线、D-γ曲线形状与无黏粒砂土类似,动剪切模量随动应变的增加而减小,阻尼比随动应变的增加而增加。对比发现,相同干密度条件下,对应同一动应变,含黏粒砂土围压越大,动剪切模量越大,阻尼比越大;无黏粒砂土围压越大,动剪切模量越大,阻尼比越小。相同围压及干密度条件下,含黏粒砂土的动剪切模量要小于无黏粒砂土,阻尼比要大于无黏粒砂土。     

循环扭剪作用下黄土的动剪切特性试验研究

原状黄土具有显著的结构性,在增湿及循环剪切作用下均可导致其结构破坏。通过不同固结围压条件下大尺寸原状黄土圆筒试样的动扭剪试验,测试分析了原状黄土从小应变到大应变的动应力应变关系,动剪切模量和阻尼比的变化规律,以及逐级增大循环扭剪作用下黄土的剪切强度。得到了10^-5~10^-2剪切应变范围内黄土动剪切模量随固结围压和含水率的变化规律,分析了黄土最大动剪切模量随黄土构度的变化规律。建立了黄土最大动剪切模量与构度和固结围压的关系式。揭示不同固结围压条件下不同含水率黄土的阻尼比随动剪应变对数值的变化分布在一个带内;循环扭转作用下圆筒黄土样存在两组破坏面。     

海积软粘土的单剪试验研究

开展了天津新港海积软粘土的一系列基于应变控制的单剪试验,研究了动剪切的频率、土样超固结比和剪切应变幅值对该土的等效动剪切模量影响,以及等效动剪切模量和阻尼比与动荷载作用时间的变化关系。试验结果表明:剪切频率越高或者土样的固结比越大,相同应变幅值对应的应力幅值和等效剪切模量越大,但是存在一个动荷载频率的阈值,低于此阈值,荷载频率对等效剪切模量的影响可以忽略;等效剪切模量随着循环振次增加而衰减,这种衰化主要发生在循环的初始阶段,超过一定的循环周次后,振动周次的影响逐渐减小;阻尼比受循环振次的影响较小。     

考虑变围压因素的饱和软黏土循环纯压动力特性

饱和土体的动力特性表现出对应力路径的依赖性。越来越多基于变围压动三轴的试验结果表明：循环围压应力路径对砂土等颗粒材料的变形和回弹特性存在较大的影响。基于变围压动三轴试验,通过循环偏应力与循环围压的耦合模拟真实交通荷载下竖向循环正应力与水平循环正应力的耦合,研究了循环围压对饱和软黏土孔压、永久和回弹变形的影响。试验结果表明：在不排水条件下,与常规恒定围压动三轴试验结果相比,循环围压的存在较大程度地改变了孔压的发展规律,减少了永久变形的累积速度,同时增加了回弹变形（即减少了回弹模量）;循环围压幅值与循环偏应力幅值的比值（RPD）越大,永久应变的减少值与回弹应变的增加值越大;并进一步建立了考虑循环围压因素的饱和软黏土永久沉降和回弹模量预测模型。     

城市固体废弃物动力特性试验研究

参照杭州天子岭填埋场城市固体废弃物(MSW)主要成分,人工配制固体废弃物试样,利用中型动三轴试验仪研究其在较大应变范围内MSW的动力特性。MSW的动剪切模量Gd和阻尼比D随着动剪应变γd的变化曲线与泥炭土的相关曲线形状基本一致,并且在相同应变时数值相差不大。在相同的动剪应变水平下,随着围压的增大,Gd增加而D减小;当动剪应变增大时,Gd减小而D增大。由于MSW的高压缩性,初始孔隙比不同对试样的动力特性影响不大。同时进行了现场剪切波速试验,确定了最大动剪切模量Gdmax的估算式。为便于应用,建议了归一化Gd和D与动剪应变依赖关系的取值范围和平均值曲线,并将其与OII填埋场MSW动力特性的研究结果进行对比,可以看出MSW的成分对其动力特性的影响还是比较大。     

双向激振下饱和软黏土动模量与阻尼变化规律试验研究

 通过GDS双向动三轴系统对双向激振循环荷载作用下饱和软黏土的动模量与阻尼变化规律进行研究。结果表明：随着径向循环应力增加,孔压比增加,双向激振对孔压的影响仅限于对初始孔压的提高,且初始孔压提高的幅度近似与径向循环应力相等;双向激振对门槛循环应力比的影响不明显;径向循环应力对动模量与阻尼的变化规律有显著的影响,在动应变一定的情况下,随着径向循环应力比的增加,动模量降低,阻尼比增加。随着径向循环应力的增加,小应变弹性模量随之减小,且近似与径向循环应力比成线性关系,据此实现了Hardin公式的修正,建立了双向激振下小应变弹性模量经验模型。径向循环应力及围压对 及 关系曲线影响不明显,通过对双曲线型模型修正,建立双向激振下饱和软黏土动模量与阻尼随动应变变化的经验模型。     

黏土与EPS颗粒混合轻质土的动力变形特性试验研究

通过室内动三轴试验研究了黏土与EPS颗粒混合轻质土(LCES)在动荷载作用下的变形特性,着重分析了围压、水泥含量和EPS掺入比的影响。结果表明:LCES的动应力应变关系符合双曲线关系;在相同的动应力作用下,LCES产生的应变随着围压和水泥含量的增大而减小;在动应变相同的情况下,随着围压和水泥含量的增大,LCES的割线动弹性模量Esec增大而阻尼比λ减小;EPS掺入比对LCES的动力变形特性的影响相对较小,不同EPS掺入比的σd–εd曲线、Esec–εd曲线和λ–εd曲线都发生了相交,交点前后EPS掺入比的大小对LCES变形特性的影响趋势是截然相反的,交点处的动应变值εint一般在0.5%～3.0%范围内,其大小与LCES的配比以及围压有关。