Aging Effects on Small Strain Shear Moduli and Liquefaction Properties of in-situ Frozen and Reconstituted Sandy Soils

In order to investigate the effects of different geological ages on liquefaction properties of sandy deposits, a series of undrained cyclic triaxial tests was performed on three kinds of in-situ frozen and their reconstituted samples which were retrieved from Holocene (Tone-river sand) and Pleistocene (Edo-river B and C sands) deposits. The specimens were subjected to isotropic consolidation at a specified confining stress which is equivalent to the in-situ overburden stress at the depth of sampling, and small strain shear moduli were measured before and during the undrained cyclic loading tests. The liquefaction properties and the small strain shear moduli were affected by not only the natural aging effect of the specimen but also the inter-locking effect that was enhanced by applying drained cyclic loading before the undrained cyclic loading tests. During liquefaction, different tendencies of degradation in the small strain shear moduli which would reflect the aging effects of the specimen were observed between Tone-river Holocene sand and Edo-river B and C Pleistocene sands. The applicability of reconstituted samples as substitutes for in-situ frozen samples was confirmed with Tone-river Holocene sand that has no cementation effect between soil particles, whereas it seems difficult to simulate fully the liquefaction behaviour of Edo-river B and C Pleistocene sands which have higher cementation effect.     

A Study on the Engineering Properties of Sand Improved by the Sand Compaction Pile Method

In order to directly evaluate the effects of soil improvement by the Sand Compaction Pile (SCP) method on the density, deformation, and static and liquefaction strength characteristics of sandy soils, a series of field and laboratory tests were performed. Laboratory tests were performed on high-quality undisturbed samples obtained from sandy soils both before and after soil improvement by the SCP method. The high-quality undisturbed samples were recovered by the in-situ freezing sampling method. The drained shear strength (internal friction angle, φ_d), liquefaction strength (R₁₅: cyclic stress ratio needed to cause 5% double amplitude axial strain in 15 cycles), and cyclic deformation characteristics (G~γ and h~γ relations) were determined by performing a series of laboratory tests on the undisturbed samples. Both the in-situ density and the relative density were measured on the undisturbed samples used in the laboratory tests. A standard penetration test (SPT) and a suspension-type P-S wave logging test were performed to investigate the soil profile of the test site before and after the sand compaction. Both the static and the liquefaction strengths of the sandy soils obtained in the laboratory tests were also compared with those estimated by empirical correlations used in practice based on the SPT N-value and soil gradations.     

Influence of strain histories on liquefaction resistance of sand

The liquefaction resistance of sand increases with cyclic pre-shearing and pre-shaking as a result of earthquakes if the strain level in the pre-shearing is small. When larger shear strains are imposed, liquefaction resistance decreases. These complicated effects of pre-shearing histories on the liquefaction resistance are investigated in this study through a series of cyclic triaxial tests. Various combinations of cyclic stress amplitude and number of cycles of pre-shearing are examined. The tested sand is Toyoura Sand at 45% relative density, under a confining pressure of 50 kPa. Test results indicate that for the range of shear strain amplitude in pre-shearing smaller than 0.35%, the liquefaction resistance increases with pre-shearing. The increase in the liquefaction resistance depends strongly on the volumetric strain in the pre-shearing, and several effects of the shear stress amplitude and number of cycles can be negligible. Small volumetric strain of the order of 1% doubled the liquefaction resistance. Meanwhile, in the range of shear strain amplitude larger than 0.6%, the liquefaction resistance decreases. The liquefaction resistance decreases as the shear strain amplitude increases. Shear strain amplitude is one of the factors dominating this degrading effect, and the volumetric strain exerts beneficial effects to a certain extent. In this study, another series of tests are conducted to investigate the combined effects of small and large strain amplitude pre-shearing. It is observed that small shear strain pre-shearing cycles subsequent to large shear strain cycles erased the degrading effect of the latter. However, a large shear strain pre-shearing after small strain cycles degrades the beneficial effect of the small shear strain pre-shearing cycles previously applied to the specimens; however, the effects of the former small strain pre-shearing remains.     

Effects of small and large shear histories on multiple liquefaction properties of sand with initial static shear

It has been reported that soils belonging to slope grounds show different types of liquefaction behavior than those belonging to horizontal grounds. Some research has also revealed that liquefaction histories can significantly affect the shear behavior of sandy soils. However, the combined effects of the slope angle and the magnitude of past shear histories on the liquefaction properties of soils have not been studied comprehensively. Based on this background, several multiple liquefaction tests with initial static shear were conducted on Toyoura sand. In each of these tests, a single specimen was sheared several times up to small or large double amplitude shear strain under a constant volume condition using a specially designed stacked-ring shear apparatus. The behavior of the Toyoura sand observed in these tests was discussed considering various perspectives, such as the increase in relative density, the induced anisotropy, the change in liquefaction resistance, and the shear strain accumulation. The findings of this study established that shear histories of smaller magnitude had relatively less influence on densification and induced anisotropy than those of larger magnitude. Moreover, shear histories of smaller magnitude also resulted in the relatively higher liquefaction resistance of sand specimens against the next cyclic shear, while the opposite trend was observed in the case of specimens subjected to shear histories of larger magnitude. Finally, shear strain accumulated less easily in tests with small shear histories than in those with large shear histories.     

砂砾土液化的剪切波速判别方法

 剪切波速也正逐步成为土层液化判别的基本指标之一,但采用现场波速资料得到的砂砾土液化判别方法尚较少见。针对2008年汶川8.0级地震显著的砂砾土液化现象,获取45个场地剪切波速结构,以此提出基于剪切波速的砂砾土液化判别方法;构建相应模型和计算公式,并分析现有2种典型砂土液化剪切波速判别方法对砂砾土的适用性。提出的砂砾土液化剪切波速判别方法由初判和复判组成,初判包括地质年代、埋藏条件和含砾量3个条件;复判模型则由地震烈度、剪切波速基准值、地下水位、砂砾土埋深和和含砾量等5个参数构成,并分别采用归一化方法和优化方法推导出剪切波速基准值以及地下水位和砂砾土埋深的影响系数。砂砾土与砂土属不同土类,相同波速值下二者密实程度不同,现有砂土液化剪切波速判别方法对砂砾土不适用,给出的判别结果明显偏于危险。获取的砂砾土液化资料扩充现有液化数据库内容,提出的砂砾土液化剪切波速判别方法简单明了,回判成功率高,可为工程应用及规范修订提供参考。     

广州地铁砂土层液化判别

在广州地铁工程砂土地震液化判别过程中,考虑了地铁结构与液化土层的相互作用。通过大量的现场实验、室内动三轴实验,总结了水平场地、区间、车站土层液化分布情况和液化特点;为了提高液化判别精度,进一步详细地对比和检验了现场和室内的判别结果,分析了液化土层与结构的空间相对位置以及结构对液化势的影响,所采用的多参数和多手段的液化判别技术为合理的抗液化设计提供帮助。     

Behavior of Liquefied Sands Under Extremely Large Strain Levels in Cyclic Torsional Shear Tests

In order to study the cyclic behavior of liquefied sands at extremely large strain levels up to double amplitude shear strain of about 100%, a series of undrained cyclic torsional shear tests while keeping the specimen height constant was performed on saturated Toyoura sand under different densities, two kinds of in-situ frozen sandy samples and their reconstituted specimens. Due correction was made for the effect of membrane force on the measured shear stress. After exceeding a certain level of overall shear strain, the specimen deformation became non-uniform, which is called as “strain localization” in the present study. The initiation of such localization was associated with the changes in the cyclic amplitude of deviator stress and the increment of shear strain. In the case of Toyoura sand, the limiting value of shear strain to initiate strain localization was found to increase with decrease in the relative density, and such a trend was consistent with the empirical correlation of soil liquefaction when the relative density is higher than 30%. In the case of in-situ frozen sandy samples, their limiting shear strain values were smaller than those of the reconstituted specimens, suggesting that their soil structures were different from each other under different degrees of natural aging effects.     

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.     

柔性与硬性地工格网在砂土与风化泥岩围压下之力学特性

地工格网（以下称格网）用於加劲土壤时，除考虑无围压下的张力行为之外，围压下之力学性质更是设计考量的重点。实际工程应用而言，基於经济考虑，期以现地土壤作为回填材料。本研究分别以拉出、围压抗张与直剪三种试验来探讨格网放土壤中之力学行为；并利用凝聚性泥岩与非凝聚性细砂作为回填材料，评估两种回填材料对加劲成效之影响。结果显示，柔性格网之肋条在拉出过程中易扭曲，造成主应力面旋转的现象，以致拉出阻抗大放硬性格网；围压下格网抗张的应力-应变行为可分为三阶段，即束制阻抗期、张力发展期与破坏期。束制阻抗期大都於3％应变内即已完成；在低围压情况拉出阻抗达20％～60％之拉出强度（相同应变），在高围压下达150％。由直接剪力试验结果可以预测：（a）格网／泥岩加劲结构-低围压时，剪力破坏面应通过格网／泥岩之界面；而高围压时，剪力破坏面应通过泥岩上体。（b）格网／细砂加劲结构-低围压与高围压下剪力破坏面应通过格网／细砂之界面。     

Static liquefaction and effective stress path response of Kutch soils

The current research is focused on the static liquefaction and effective stress path characteristics of soils of the high seismicity Kutch region, India. In previous studies, the effects of the fines content and the plasticity of the fines on the undrained behavior were explored in a controlled and systematic manner with either non-plastic or plastic fines added to standard or river sands. The undrained characteristics of natural soil deposits having the simultaneous presence of both silt and clay fractions have not been explored. In the present study, the effects of a varying fines content and the nature of the fines on the static liquefaction and effective stress path characteristics of various soil deposits in the Kutch region at their in-situ densities have been studied. Various liquefaction indices were determined to quantify the static liquefaction, namely, the undrained brittleness index, the collapse potential, the liquefaction potential, and the resistance to further deformation. The variation in these parameters was analyzed in the context of the fines content, silt content, clay content, and plasticity. The effective stress paths of the Kutch soils exhibited a strain softening, limited strain softening or strain hardening response and their behavior was controlled by the fines content and its nature. Due to the presence of non-plastic fines, and irrespective of the content, the silty sands exhibited intense strain softening which was captured by the liquefaction indices.     

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.     

Effect of Specimen Size on Unconfined Compressive Strength Properties of Natural Deposits

In order to use the advantages of unconfined compression tests, a new testing procedure using S (or Small size) specimens (15 mm in diameter and 35 mm in height) is proposed and a new portable unconfined compression test apparatus with suction measurement is outlined. The effect of specimen size on unconfined compressive strength properties of natural deposits is discussed from laboratory tests. The standard deviations of the ratios of q_u and E₅₀ values of the S specimens to O (or Ordinary size) specimens (35 mm d and 80 mm h) were in the range of 0.09 to 0.16. The 10% variation from the mean value reflects the homogeneity of soils since the coefficient of variations of the undrained shear strength for the undisturbed and reconstituted soils were 8% to 17% (Matsuo and Shogaki, 1988). In an engineering sense, there was no difference in shear strength and deformation characteristics between the S and O specimens for soils having plasticity indexes ranging from 10 to 370 and unconfined compressive strengths of 18 kPa to 1000 kPa, that were taken from 26 different sites in the United Kingdom, Korea and Japan. These soils consisted of Holocene and Pleistocene clays plus diatomaceous mudstone and highly organic soils.     

Evaluation of the damping ratio of soils in a resonant column using different methods

This paper addresses the differences between two approaches of damping estimation in the resonant column testing: Steady-State Vibration (SSV) and Free Vibration Decay (FVD) method, at small (<0.005%) to medium (0.07%) strain range. The tests were conducted on “two types of reconstituted sands” and “two types of clayey soils” at different relative densities and confining pressures. The test results suggested to use the SSV method in small strain damping measurement and the FVD method (two or three successive cycles) in medium strain damping measurement. A systematic decrease in the damping with the increasing number of cycles was observed up to a certain strain level in the FVD method. Furthermore, the effects of relative density, confining pressures, soil types on the damping ratio derived from the two methods for the chosen soils were studied. The results showed that the damping ratio of clayey soils exhibits a little higher value than those of sandy soils.     

红砂岩粗粒土剪胀效应大型三轴试验研究

 采用大型三轴试验仪,进行不同应力状态下的红砂岩粗粒土三轴试验,研究粗粒土在不同应力状态下的剪胀性和剪胀趋势影响因素。试验研究表明围压对粗粒土的剪胀性具有明显影响,在不同围压状态下,红砂岩粗粒土整体表现为高压剪缩低压剪胀,并且低围压下表现出先剪胀后剪缩趋势。当围压＜200 kPa时,体积增量比dev/de1为负值,土样表现为剪胀趋势;当围压＞400 kPa时,体积增量比dev/de1在整个剪切过程中为正值,土样表现为剪缩趋势。粗粒土剪胀趋势还随着轴向总应变发展而改变,开始时剪胀明显,随着轴向应变增加剪胀趋势缓减。粗粒土Rowe模型剪胀参数K值离散性较大,充分反映粗粒土剪切过程中粗、细颗粒间变形不协调性,并且随着总应变值e1的增加,K值离散性减小。本试验结果认为红砂岩粗粒土的Rowe剪胀模型参数K = 20～25。     

砂卵石土动力特性的动三轴试验研究

砂卵石土在自然界分布广泛,并具有抗剪强度高、地震荷载作用下不易液化等优良工程特性,因此在工程建设中得到广泛应用。为反映其在复杂应力状态下的动力变形强度特性,通过砂卵石土室内动三轴试验,对不同饱和度的砂卵石土的动力特性进行研究。主要分析围压、固结比和振动频率对砂卵石土动强度的影响。试验结果表明:(1)砂卵石土的动应力随固结比的增大而略有增加,随振动频率的增大而有较大增幅,而且其动强度随着围压的增大而显著增大;(2)在相同围压下,随动应力增加,破坏振次减小;(3)砂卵石土的动弹性模量随动应变的增大而减小,随围压增大而增大;(4)其阻尼比随动应变的增大而增大,明显表现在微小动应变中。     

砂土液化势剪切波速简化判别法的改进

结合压电陶瓷弯曲元波速测试技术开展了饱和标准砂的不排水循环三轴试验,并根据试验结果改进了以往提出的利用剪切波速进行砂土液化势判别的简化方法。这种方法本质上基于砂土抗液化剪切强度与弹性剪切模量之间良好的相关性。用改进后的方法全面评价了26次地震、70多个液化场地的液化势,并与国内外其他液化势简化判别法的判别结果作了比较。分析结果表明,改进后的简化方法的评价结果与现场震害调查数据更趋一致。最后,通过一个实例分析]示了利用该改进方法进行土层液化势判别的一般步骤。该改进方法仍有待于深入研究,尤其是对密实砂土场地在强震下的液化评价,需要进一步的试验和现场数据加以佐证。     

Static liquefaction-triggering analysis considering soil dilatancy

The failure of a sloping ground due to static liquefaction occurs when the shear stress applied by a monotonic triggering load exceeds the undrained yield (peak) shear strength of the saturated liquefiable cohesionless soil. Current practices for determining the in-situ undrained yield strength for grounds subjected to static shear stress rely on either a suite of costly laboratory tests on undisturbed field samples or empirical correlations based on in-situ penetration tests, which fail to account for the effect of soil dilatancy in decreasing the degree of strain-softening and the brittleness of cohesionless soils with an increasing penetration resistance. In this study, the effect of soil dilatancy on the static liquefaction failure of cohesionless soils is characterized by an empirical relationship between the soil brittleness index and the undrained yield strength from a database of 813 laboratory shear tests collected from the past literature. The application of this relationship for estimating the static liquefaction-triggering strength of cohesionless soils under sloping ground conditions is validated by comparing several cases of liquefaction flow failures. Finally, a procedure is briefly demonstrated for evaluating the triggering of static liquefaction in a dyke to the north of Wachusett Dam and Duncan Dam which incorporates the dilatancy behavior of cohesionless soils in a semi-empirical procedure based on in-situ penetration tests.     

Liquefaction analysis of sandy soil during strong earthquake in Northern Thailand

Northern Thailand has experienced several earthquakes which led to soil liquefaction in the past few decades. Traditional methods of evaluating liquefaction potential involve standard penetration test (SPT) or cone penetration tests. This research augmented experimental results with numerical methods to evaluate the liquefaction potential of Mae Lao Sand in Chiang Rai province of northern Thailand. SPT and downhole seismic test data collected during a field investigation at the Mae Lao site were compared to a 1D site response model analysis of the site. A series of undrained monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests was conducted on Mae Lao Sand specimens with different initial void ratios and confining pressures. Cyclic triaxial test results with varying deviator stress amplitudes were used to draw liquefaction resistance curves. Results from numerical simulation of sand liquefaction were used to characterise the stress–strain-pore water pressure response of Mae Lao Sand. 1D site response analysis determined seismic responses with different geological and groundwater conditions. All put together, the results showed that pore water pressure ratio decreases with increasing sand stiffness, the thickness of a soil layer significantly increases its liquefaction potential, and in-situ conditions and groundwater depths have major influences on the liquefaction potential of sand layers.     

Liquefaction and post-liquefaction resistance of sand reinforced with recycled geofibre

The present study provides an insight into the effect of recycled carpet fibre on the mechanical response of clean sand as backfill material subjected to monotonic loading and cyclic loading as well as post-liquefaction resistance of both unreinforced and carpet fibre reinforced soils. To achieve these goals, a series of multi-stage soil element tests under cyclic loading event resulting in liquefaction followed by undrained monotonic shearing without excess pore water pressure dissipation as well as a series of monotonic undrained shear test is conducted. All the specimens are isotropically consolidated under a constant effective confining stress of 100 kPa by considering the effect of cyclic stress ratio and carpet fibre content ranging from 0.25% to 0.75%. The obtained results revealed the efficiency of carpet fibre inclusion in increasing the secant shear modulus and ductility of clean sand under monotonic shearing without previous loading history. The impact of carpet fibre inclusion on the trend of cyclic excess pore water pressure generation and cyclic stiffness degradation was minimal. However, adding carpet fibre significantly improved both liquefaction and post-liquefaction resistances of clean sand. The liquefaction resistance of clean sand, at a constant 15 loading cycles, improved by 26.3% when the soil was reinforced with 0.75% recycled carpet fibre. In addition, the initial shear modulus of the liquefied specimen significantly increased by adding recycled carpet fibre.     

不排水条件下轴向加卸载时结构性土的力学特性探讨

 为研究结构性土在不排水条件下的力学特性,开展固结不排水条件下初始应力各向异性结构性土、各向同性结构性土及重塑土在25,50,100,200及400 kPa共5种围压下的三轴加卸载试验,并利用二元介质概念对试验现象进行了分析。结果表明：结构性土在固结应力较低时结构性保持较好,存在明显的结构屈服强度,不同应力循环中平均模量无明显变化;固结应力较高时结构性减弱,表现为与重塑土相似的特性,受结构性减弱及正孔压等因素影响,平均模量随εa增加而减小;结构性土胶结元破损率与摩擦元中土颗粒间距随轴向应变增加而增大,卸载时体缩趋于明显。