Effects of Pore Fluid Compressibility on Liquefaction Resistance of Partially Saturated Sand

It has been recognized that the soil resistance to liquefaction increases significantly as the degree of saturation decreases. However, the effect of the degree of saturation reported in the literature varies widely between researchers. In this study, influential factors of the liquefaction resistance of partially saturated sand are derived from theoretical consideration and effects of the factors are examined through a series of triaxial tests. It was confirmed that the degree of saturation has a significant effect on the liquefaction resistance. It also appeared that the liquefaction resistance depends on the initial confining pressure and the initial pore pressure; the higher the confining pressure and the lower the initial pore pressure, the higher the liquefaction resistance of partially saturated sand. A unique relationship between liquefaction resistance ratios and the potential volumetric strain was found, which enable to estimate the liquefaction resistance of partially saturated sand with the effects of the three factors taken into account.     

Cyclic resistance of two unsaturated silty sands against soil liquefaction

The changes of the cyclic resistance of two silty sands under unsaturated, partially saturated and fully saturated conditions are examined based on a series of undrained cyclic tests conducted using triaxial test apparatus specially equipped for testing unsaturated soils as well as ordinary triaxial test apparatus for testing partially saturated and fully saturated soils. Based on the observations of volumetric strain, pore air and pore water pressures of unsaturated soil specimens, the possibility of soil liquefaction triggering under different degrees of saturation is examined and discussed. The changes in the cyclic resistance under different degrees of saturation are then examined. Those two unsaturated silty sands with different grain size compositions are found to give rise to different responses on the volumetric strain as well as pore air and pore water pressure developments during undrained cyclic loading, leading to different relations between cyclic resistance and degree of saturation, covering unsaturated, partially saturated and fully saturated conditions.     

Liquefaction of Unsaturated Sand Considering the Pore Air Pressure and Volume Compressibility of the Soil Particle Skeleton

A series of cyclic triaxial tests of unsaturated soils was conducted to get a better understanding of the general liquefaction state of unsaturated soils. In the tests, cyclic shear strain was applied to fine clean sand with the same dry density but different initial suction states under the undrained condition. During cyclic shear, the volume change of the soil particle skeleton, the pore air pressure and the pore water pressure were measured continuously. Having used the effective stress defined by Bishop (Bishop et al., 1963), where the net stress and suction contribute to the effective stress, our test results showed that unsaturated sand specimens with quite a low degree of saturation lose their effective stress due to cyclic shear. At a zero effective stress state, unsaturated specimens behaved similarly to liquids in much the same way as saturated specimens. From experimental and theoretical considerations, the zero effective stress state (i.e., liquefaction) for unsaturated sand was found to have been established when both the pore air and water pressures build up to the point where it is equal to the initial total pressure. A volume change of pore air under the undrained condition, if a volume change of pore water is negligible, is equal to that of the soil particle skeleton. Therefore, it can be concluded that the liquefaction of unsaturated soil generally depends on the volume compressibility of the soil particle skeleton and the degree of saturation. On the other hand, according to the ideal gas equation of Boyle-Charles law, the volume change required to bring about a zero effective stress state can be calculated from the initial pore air pressure (usually the atmospheric pressure) and the final pore air pressure (the initial confining pressure). Therefore, the liquefaction of unsaturated soils also depends on the initial confining pressure. Based on this concept, the liquefaction potential of unsaturated soil can be evaluated by comparing the volume compressibility of the soil particle skeleton and the volume change of the pore air required to bring about a zero effective stress state.     

Triaxial apparatus equipped with elastic waves and matric suction measurement techniques

A recently developed technique for elastic wave measurement, a disk transducer method, and a pressure membrane technique for suction measurement were merged into a modified triaxial testing apparatus enabling the procurement of both the elastic waves and the matric suction of a cylindrical specimen. The apparatus was employed to evaluate the variation in suction in sandy soil possessing a low range of suction (less than 100?kPa). Fine sand with two types of fines, namely, non-plastic silt and kaolin clay, was mixed with Toyoura sand in order to prepare sandy soil specimens. Both compressional and shear wave velocities were evaluated in conjunction with the associated matric suction. The matric suction was varied by injecting water into the specimens, and the relevant elastic wave velocities were obtained by a disk transducer. This research has corroborated the applicability of the disk transducer method to unsaturated soil specimens as well as the effects of matric suction on the mechanical behaviour of sandy soils possessing a low range of suction.     

Liquefaction response of loose gassy marine sand sediments under cyclic loading

Gassy sediments have often been encountered in the marine seabed, and they have different features from common saturated and unsaturated soil. By developing and improving an effective methodology, triaxial gassy sand specimens with different initial gas content (saturation ≥85%) were prepared in the laboratory. Their state parameters can be controlled in real time. A series of undrained dynamic triaxial tests by a Global Digital System (GDS) dynamic testing apparatus were conducted to investigate the liquefaction characteristics of gassy sand sediments. The results show that the gassy sand can liquefy the same as the fully saturated sand, but gas existence monotonically increases the sand liquefaction resistance. The occluded gas bubbles have significant influences on sand liquefaction properties. The dynamic pore pressure of gassy sand shows obvious features of slower accumulation, greater amplitude fluctuation, and deeper groove shape in time history curves of pore water, resulting from the effects of gas compression/expansion, migration, and dissolution/exsolution. By introducing a parameter of saturation, a modified model was proposed to describe the evolution of dynamic pore pressure of gassy sands. It was found that the model parameter θ is linearly dependent on the initial gas content (or initial saturation degree S_r).     

Critical State Behavior of a Compacted Silt Specimen

Shear strength of unsaturated soil is commonly obtained from a consolidated drained (CD) triaxial test. However in many field situations, fill materials are compacted where the excess pore-air pressure developed during compaction will dissipate instantaneously, but the excess pore-water pressure will dissipate with time. This condition can be simulated in a constant water content (CW) triaxial test. The critical states of an unsaturated soil obtained from the CW and the CD triaxial tests have not been extensively investigated and compared. A series of CW and CD triaxial tests was carried out on a statically compacted silt. The results from this study show that the critical state lines at different matric suctions on the (q-p) plane were parallel with a slope of 1.28 for both the CW and CD triaxial tests, indicating the unique relationship between deviator stress and mean net stress. The results also indicate the unique relationship between the specific volume, v, and mean net stress, p, on the (v-p) plane for both the CW and CD triaxial tests. The slope of the critical state lines on the (v-p) plane for both the CW and CD triaxial tests decreased with the increase in matric suction.     

Insight into excess pore pressure generation leading to liquefaction of sand with stress history under saturated and unsaturated conditions

Assessments of the liquefaction resistance of clean sand still involve considerable uncertainties, which are a current research topic in the field of soil liquefaction. The factors considered and discussed in this study include the loading history, degree of saturation, and partial drainage. The effects of each of these factors on pore pressure generation and liquefaction resistance have been studied for decades in the laboratory, and empirical relationships have been derived. In this paper, an attempt is made to explain these effects using the unique index of volumetric strain. A pore pressure generation model is developed which is similar to that of Martin et al. (1975), but based on stress-controlled triaxial tests. The model is verified through comparisons of its results with those of laboratory tests. It is confirmed that the plastic volumetric strain that has accumulated in sand, either by drained or undrained cyclic loading, dominates the increase in the liquefaction resistance of the sand. However, the plastic volumetric strain caused by overconsolidation is less effective in reducing the volumetric strain potential for subsequent cyclic shearing, thus enhancing its resistance to liquefaction. The model provides a better understanding of the physical processes leading to the liquefaction of saturated and unsaturated sand with and without stress history.     

非饱和土土水特性试验研究

在改进的非饱和土三轴仪上对洛阳地区非饱和土开展了三轴试验,并依此对非饱和土土水特性、试样重塑对基质吸力的影响进行了分析研究。研究表明:试件的基质吸力随围压的增大而非线性减小,基质吸力随饱和度的增大而连续减小,饱和度与基质吸力的关系是连续的。     

山西粉土的动力特性试验研究

通过对山西地区代表性的粉土进行室内的共振柱试验及动三轴试验,研究了本地区粉土的动力特性和粉土在振动过程中孔隙水的变化规律,重点把粉土的共振柱试验结果与Seed和Idriss建议的砂土及饱和粘土的剪切模量比与剪应变(G/G0-γ)曲线和阻尼比与剪应变(D-γ)曲线的变化范围进行了对比分析。研究结果表明:粉土的剪模量比要比饱和砂土的大,其阻尼比小于砂土的阻尼比;粉土的抗液化强度与液化振次之间的关系可用乘幂函数来表示,其振动孔隙水压力的变化规律可以用二次抛物线拟合;结合了本地区的工程实践经验,可为工程设计与施工提供参考。     

饱和、非饱和有机质粉土抗剪强度的对比

通过对饱和–非饱和淤泥土的抗剪强度和土–水特征曲线SWCC测试,以及利用SWCC对非饱和淤泥土的抗剪强度预测,结果显示了饱和土的抗剪强度τsat小于非饱和土的抗剪强度τunsat,预测与实测的非饱和抗剪强度基本一致,并且非饱和抗剪强度随基质吸力ψ增加而增大,也反映了野外现场的物理条件和应力状态对细颗粒土的性质有重要影响。     

Study of Strain Localization and Microstructural Changes in Partially Saturated Sand During Triaxial Tests Using Microfocus X-Ray CT

It is well known that strain localization and microstructural changes are important issues in the onset of failure problems. In particular, unsaturated soil exhibits more brittle failure due to the collapse of the water meniscus, caused by shearing or the infiltration of water, than saturated soil. The aim of this paper is to observe the strain localization behavior and the microstructural changes in partially saturated soil during the deformation process using microfocus X-ray CT. The microfocus X-ray CT system employed in this study has a very high spatial resolution of 5 μm, which is enough to visualize the sand particles and the other particles individually. In addition, X-ray CT scans can be performed under triaxial conditions. The strain localization of fully saturated, partially saturated, and air-dried sand specimens during triaxial compression tests is observed and discussed. The microstructure of unsaturated soil, consisting of soil particles, pore water, and pore air, is successfully observed in partial CT scans. Through a comparison of the microstructures in the shear bands and in the initial state, the microstructural changes are discussed.     

前期动载对低塑性粉土静态和动态强度的影响

 低塑性粉土广泛存在于世界范围内,在地震中容易产生液化现象,然而一些基础设施破坏不仅见于地震中也发生在地震后,这就决定了研究低塑性粉土震后行为的必要性。以美国中部密西西比河沿岸低塑性粉土为试验材料,研究动载对低塑性粉土静态和动态强度的影响。在动三轴仪上对试样施加动载引起超孔隙水压力,排水重固结后,分别对2组震动后试样进行静态和动态三轴强度试验。试验结果表明,当液化水平小于0.70时,前期动载对粉土的不排水剪切强度影响不大;相反地,只有当液化水平大于0.70,密西西比河沿岸粉土的震后重固结体积应变和不排水剪切强度才伴随着液化水平的提高显著增加,但相对于砂土而言,重固结体积应变在较低的液化水平时即有明显增加。与前期动载对不排水剪切强度的影响不同,当动载所引起的液化水平为0.35或轴向应变为0.2%时,抗液化强度达到最大值,若液化水平大于0.35,抗液化强度伴随液化水平提高而降低。如果前期荷载引起较大的压应变,在重固结后第二次动载循环中,轴向压力相比轴向拉力引起较小的超孔隙水压力。     

不规则动荷载作用下砂土孔压特性试验研究

以多组人工调制的不规则正弦波荷载作为输入荷载,对饱和松砂开展一系列动三轴试验,探讨应力时程中不同脉冲幅值和脉冲顺序对砂土孔压特性的影响。试验结果表明,出现更早、幅值更大的应力脉冲更易导致孔隙水压力的发展,同时也更易诱发砂土液化。进一步地,峰值应力之前和之后的脉冲波组对孔压发展的影响有所不同。此外,不同荷载模式下,饱和松砂动孔压比与振次比存在近似唯一关系。根据砂土孔压特性,引入单位体积剪切功并考察其与超静孔压的内在关联,得到了孔压比与正交化剪切功的归一化关系。这一关系具有应力路径无关性,受动荷载不规则性影响较小,但与材料特性即土体种类有关。     

路基非饱和土抗剪强度的吸力效应

从宏观的吸力控制型直剪试验和微观的土体颗粒结构2方面入手,对路基非饱和土抗剪强度的吸力效应进行了研究.在不同吸力和不同法向应力条件下完成4组剪切试验,并选取2种不同含水量的同类型土样进行结构扫描.研究结果表明,与粘性土不同的是,当粉质砂土含水量逐渐降低时,土体基质吸力对土体抗剪强度的贡献效果并不是一直增加的,而是存在一...     

非饱和黏土变形和强度特性试验研究

 利用双压力室非饱和三轴仪,进行非饱和黏土脱湿、等吸力固结和排水剪切试验,研究非饱和黏土的体变、屈服和强度特性,结果表明：在低吸力范围内,非饱和黏土在脱湿过程中的体积收缩呈弹塑性体变性状,验证了非饱和土本构模型中SI屈服曲线的存在;在等吸力固结试验中,黏土固结屈服应力随着吸力增加而增加,LC屈服曲线呈二次抛物线变化,固结压力的增长比基质吸力的增长对体变性状的影响效应要大。在剪切试验中,非饱和黏土应力应变关系依赖于净围压和基质吸力的不同组合,基质吸力增强土体应力–应变关系的硬化特性;在不同的吸力条件下,固结排水剪的有效内摩擦角基本不变,黏聚力的增长与吸力的增长基本呈线性关系。     

非饱和土孔隙比与基质吸力关系的通用模型

基于土的土–水特征曲线(SWCC)和收缩特征曲线(SSCC)的特点及二者之间的联系,采用三直线的分段SSCC模型及非饱和土的三相比例公式,推导出了反映非饱和土孔隙比与基质吸力关系的通用模型。为了证实所提出模型的可靠性,采用GDS三轴仪进行了一系列吸力平衡试验,并对所提出模型的理论假设进行了验证。试验结果表明:利用该假设并通过吸力平衡下试样的排水量,可以准确地预测饱和试样在某一基质吸力和净围压共同作用下的体积变化量、进气量和总体变,证明了所提出模型的假设是成立的,且假设中的系数u具有明确的物理意义。     

基于饱和土总应力强度指标的非饱和土强度 理论及其应用

 实际工程中求解和测定吸力比较困难,特别在不排水条件下,吸力并非常量,从而难以确定。而饱和度相对容易确定,选择饱和度代替吸力,建立关于饱和度的非饱和土的抗剪强度公式有着重要的实用价值。提出不排水(等含水量)条件下的基于饱和土总应力强度指标的抗剪强度公式,克服了以往相关模型只适合于较小范围的缺陷,能够实现从非饱和土状态到饱和状态的平稳过渡,同时更能反映土体的工程特性;结合非饱和土的土水特征曲线试验及常含水量三轴剪切试验成果,确定适用于云南红黏土的相关拟合参数;将所得抗剪强度公式应用于地基承载力分析中,得到地基承载力随饱和度的减少接近线性增加的结论。     

非饱和土强度公式的比较研究

 非饱和土力学的基本理论已经确认了基质吸力的存在有利于非饱和土的强度提高,但是对于强度提高的机制到目前为止没有统一的结论,非饱和土强度理论中存在着单应力状态变量公式和双应力状态变量公式2种基本的理论表达式,并在此基础上产生了许多实用的强度公式。通过珞珈山土样的土–水特征曲线试验和非饱和三轴剪切试验对非饱和土强度公式进行比较研究。结果表明,珞珈山土样的进气值和残余含水量分别为237.7 kPa和4%;珞珈山土样非饱和强度在低吸力范围内,与吸力基本成线性增长关系,验证了非饱和土双变量强度公式的适用性;珞珈山土样的非饱和抗剪强度参数约为20.7°;现有的非饱和土实用公式精确性较差,非饱和土抗剪强度理论的应用有待进一步的研究与完善。     

非饱和土的基质吸力和张力吸力

首先在既往关于非饱和土分类方法的基础上,根据孔隙水弯液面与土颗粒表面的搭接状态,将双开敞非饱和土进一步细分为搭接双开敞非饱和土和不搭接双开敞非饱和土。然后基于热力学原理,提出了另外一个与基质吸力紧密相关而又不同的吸力概念-张力吸力。通过基于水封闭非饱和土的理论计算,得出了张力吸力与基质吸力之间的定量关系,同时利用作者们所提出的等效吸力概念,对比了由基质吸力、张力吸力所产生的等效吸力,从而一方面揭示了张力吸力在非饱和土力学中的重要性,另一方面论证了等效吸力概念的科学性与实用性。     

Effects of System Compliance on Liquefaction Behavior of Thin Sandy Layer in Undrained Cyclic Triaxial Tests

In a case history of dip slope failure caused by the 2004 Niigata-ken Chuetsu Earthquake, it has been reported that the slope contained a thin sandy soil layer. The layer may have liquefied if it had been saturated at the time of the earthquake. Undrained cyclic triaxial tests comprise one of the available experimental approaches for evaluating the liquefaction behavior of such thin sandy soil layers. In this study, a series of undrained cyclic triaxial tests was performed on specimens containing an artificial sand layer in order to investigate the effects of system compliance that are possibly induced by partial drainage caused by the changes in volume of the filter paper used to saturate the sand layer and the local drainage at the interface among the specimen, the top cap and pedestal, and the rubber membrane. The observed liquefaction behavior depended on the thickness of the sand layer under otherwise similar conditions, suggesting the significant effect of system compliance. By conducting special tests, while correcting the partial drainage, it was possible to reduce its effect on the liquefaction behavior. Cylindrical specimens with a top cap and pedestal, all having the same diameter, exhibited a smaller effect from partial drainage than prismatic specimens with an oversized top cap and pedestal.